Crystal

It's the smell which wakes me. Hot vegetation, like a green house, although not the sort you grow tomatoes in. The huge, Victorian sort, filled with tropical specimen plants. Wet, sweet, sour—it's what I've been craving for months…greenery.

And as I haven't left Station X42, I suspect I might have died. Especially as my last memory was of a huge jaw filled with the sort of teeth a T-Rex would be proud of.

So, if I'm dead, I might as well open my eyes.

I'm not dead.

But I am in a jungle, which is not unwelcome, if somewhat confusing. My eyes drift to the left and I'm not in the jungle anymore. Instead I'm back in Station X42 with its metal walls and flashing lights.

Wait…Station X42 was never this clean. I'm lying on a floor I'm not sticking to and which doesn't smell like rotting garbage. I look right at the jungle again, then I attempt to push myself into a sitting position.

Pain spikes through me, concentrating in my left calf. It's so strong it takes my breath away, air hitching in my lungs, tears forming unbidden in my eyes.

I was never very good with pain, and this is debilitating.

"Take it easy."

The smooth, deep voice startles me and for the first time, I see him.

Lounging in what seems to be a pilot's chair, one leg hooked over the armrest, is the biggest, and I genuinely mean biggest, scaled alien I've seen since I woke up at the mercy of my abductors. Even sitting, I can tell he has to be well over seven feet in height, broad and extremely well-muscled, because he's eschewed clothing on his top half. His fiery eyes have slit pupils like slivers of darkness which burn in a handsome reptilian face.

He is like Nayl's hot cousin, very hot cousin, with no tail…

Which is when I see it, the tail tip, curling down behind him, twitching slowly from side to side like a cat. It's sinuous, thick, and in a weird and very wrong way, it sends a frisson through me I absolutely shouldn't be feeling.

"You've damaged your leg, female. I have fixed it up, but the venom will take a few nova-hours to take full effect. I recommend you stay where you are and rest it."

I blink at him, then look down at my leg. My trousers are missing, and there is a large grey bandage around my calf. I swivel back to look at him.

"Did you undress me?"

Because that's the important thing here, Crystal.

I mentally roll my eyes at myself.

"Yes," the alien says with not even a hint of apology. "To treat you."

"I don't…" My head spins. "Why am I here? Who are you?"

"I'm Drelix, Sarkarnii warrior," he says, swinging himself upright in an easy movement my pain wracked body can only envy. "And you're trouble."

He's not wrong.

"Actually, I'm Crystal. I'm a human…from Earth," I reply, watching him closely as he checks over a console and then, more alarmingly, he turns and stalks towards me, hips swinging. The mention of my species doesn't even cause an eyelid flicker, if he even has them.

I attempt to shuffle away from his approach, pushing myself backwards on my hands and testing out my limbs. Despite the injury to my leg, I'm thinking I could possibly make a run for it if I needed to.

Only it looks like this is a pretty small space ship, and other than running out of the front, which is entirely open to the jungle, there are not many places I can go.

And given how big and scaly Drelix is, whether I'll get far is another matter entirely. His lip hitches and I see them, the fangs.

"You! It was you back on Station X42!"

"It was me, little morsel. Whatever you were doing, it meant I didn't get the weapon I wanted, and what's more, not only was I forced to leave the station, but we've crashed on the moon below it."

My head spins again as he closes the gap between us entirely, his scaled and chiseled torso filling my vision, a scent of smoke and spice swirling around us both.

"So, not only have I had to break my vow of silence, but you've put me in a very difficult position," he adds, towering over me, fangs on full display.

I dive through his legs, scrambling to my feet and discovering, rapidly, my leg cannot take my weight, causing me to pitch forward. I close my eyes, knowing once again, this landing is going to hurt.

Only I don't hit the deck. Instead an arm wraps around me, and before I can even release a squeak of surprise, I'm pulled against that epic chest as Drelix slides a hand under my chin, holding me in a grip which is firm but gentle. Massive claws spear from his fingers and they hover over my skin.

I am unable to get away from his burning eyes.

"Do you think to run?" he rasps. "Because if you do, you should know, I love the chase." He leans in even closer as a wisp of smoke escapes from his nose, as if he's been smoking a cigarette. "And I like the capture even better."

His mouth is filled with sharp teeth, two incisors sharper than the rest. I can't go anywhere, and I can't stop staring.

"I can get you back on the station," I rush out. "I have friends on there who can help."

Why do I want to go back there? I'm finally free of the place, and I can breathe fresh air, smell something other than a thousand alien armpits. Probably because I don't want this fanged and clawed alien to eat me. And not in the fun way.

Drelix narrows his eyes. His grip loosens, but I'm still being held against his hot body.

I'm surprised at the heat he produces. If he is a cousin of Nayl, he should be cool to the touch, surely.

But Drelix is stubbornly hot. In far too many ways to be reasonable. He looks down at me, inhales deeply, and his hips twitch.

"W-what do you want me to do? If you want to get back on the station, I'm your best chance. Maybe your only chance," I say, unsure what is happening but wanting to make myself indispensable.

"Then once the ship and your leg are fixed, you can prove to me you're telling the truth, trouble," Drelix rumbles.

I'm suddenly and sadly released from his grip as he stalks away to the back of the craft, leaving me panting in his wake.