Ajos: The Restitution - A Sci-fi Alien Romance, Book 1, стр. 41

Plus, she knew he’d hurt his back.

But that didn’t explain the heat underneath his skin and her instincts told her something else was amiss.

“Let me go,” she repeated and pushed against his arms.

He released her, but it felt as if it was reluctantly done.

She rose over him, moving so she could peer at his face in the darkness.

“Don’t come any closer…”

“Ajos, what’s happening to you?” She touched his cheek and he hissed as if she’d just branded him with a hot iron.

What the—

She rubbed her hands together. Maybe her skin was cold?

When she had a fever, her skin was sensitive to any slight bit of cold. Cold fingers would feel like daggers poking at her. “You have a fever and it’s come on strong. Shit.” Her eyes flicked around in the darkness before settling back on Ajos. “We should probably get back to the ship. Maybe V’Alen knows some doctor stuff that could help.”

Such high fevers usually meant something very wrong was happening. They were never good—at least, not for humans, and she was going to assume that was the case for him too.

She could even feel the warmth of his body without touching him directly.

“You definitely need medical attention.”

“That’s not what I need,” he all but growled and Kerena frowned, refusing to roll her eyes.

He was stubborn.

“This is going to hurt, but I have to check you,” she warned him before she pressed her hand against his skin again.

A deep rumble that sounded like it came from the bottom of his chest filled the air around them and Kerena tried not to panic as she felt the temperature of his forehead and then his neck with the back of her hand.

He felt like a real-life hot water bottle filled to the brim with boiling liquid, and she had no idea what she should do.

Fuck.

She’d been the one to suggest they stay in the middle of the forest. If they’d been back at the ship, V’Alen would have known what to do.

If she had access to a lime tree or even some white willow, she’d have been able to do something for him. But in this alien world, she couldn’t even go hunt the native bushes for anything because she knew nothing about the plants here.

Then she remembered.

“Your medicine.” She brushed her hands against his leg, trying to find his pocket that held the blue vials she’d seen him with.

“No,” he groaned. “I can’t take it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “I don’t know about you, but I’m freaking out because I don’t want you to die.” She continued running her hands over his legs and Ajos groaned some more.

Damn it.

She couldn’t find the damn pocket.

“Where is it, Ajos? Tell me.” She was getting frantic, but he refused to say anything. Frustration rose within her. “Do you want to die?”

To her horror, the hard-headed male chuckled, his body jerking with his mirth.

“That is not what I want.” He chuckled through gritted teeth, then he sobered. “What I want,” he growled, “I should not have.”

Her eyes adjusted enough for her to see a pained expression cross his face before he tensed once more. “You shouldn’t touch me.”

Confused, Kerena eased back a little.

He was breathing harder too. She could hear it now. His chest was heaving with each breath he took, and it seemed as if he was groaning with effort to restrain the pain he was feeling.

Good god.

She needed to do something.

V’Alen.

He’d know what to do.

Tapping the watch on her arm, she tried pushing the buttons on the side of it like she’d seen Ajos do to activate the comms. Hopefully, she’d press the right one.

But no crackle of the comms came on. Instead, the watch turned into a torch, beaming a bright light in the area.

Kerena squinted as her gaze got accustomed to the sudden brightness, and when she focused on Ajos, she gasped.

His mouth was slightly open, and his entire body was covered in the sheen of his perspiration.

The muscles in his neck were tense, his chest was tense, and his arms formed fists at his sides.

But it was his head and his eyes that caught her attention.

His head, the fin-like structure that ran on it, was blazing red and his eyes…his eyes looked wild…feral, and dark.

He looked nothing like himself.

For a moment, a jolt of fear shot through her and she froze.

It slammed into her that she knew nothing about the lifeform in front of her—yet, she was all alone with him on a jungle planet in the middle of nowhere.

Very responsible, Kerena.

Still, she couldn’t move or run away.

Something wrung deep inside her.

He needed her help.

“Go, Keh-reh-nah,” Ajos breathed. “Go. Move away from me. Run if you have to. I will contact V’Alen. He will come for you.”

What? He expected her to leave him when he was obviously dying?

“You don’t really expect me to leave, do you?” She crawled over to him, not caring that it was inappropriate to straddle him the way she was, and began her searching of his garments again.

“I’m not leaving you here like this. Are you insane?” She just needed to find his medicine then everything would be all right.

“Keh-reh-nah, don’t.” Ajos’ voice shook.

“That medicine thing must be in here somewhere.”

“You need to go, I am losing control.”

His words didn’t even register.

“If I could just find the damn thing—”

“Keh-reh-nah!” He growled so loud she was momentarily taken aback.

Ajos jerked forward and spun.

She didn’t know how she ended up on her back so quickly, but she was suddenly staring upward with wide eyes and Ajos was above her.

His hands grasped hers, pinning them above her head as he leaned over her.

He growled again, something feral, something inhuman, and some unknown emotion shot through her.

Ajos dipped his head close to her ear and his breath rumbled from him.

The sound was so raw, so animalistic, that her own breath caught in her throat.

Her heart began doing pushups in her chest, slamming against her ribs and her lungs forgot how