ROLECThe vines parted, immediately flooding the cave with sunlight. I blinked against the assault on my eyes, barely able to make out the shape of Vex. I was thankful when the natural curtain fell back into pce and the cave dimmed. It allowed me to pick out details.

  At a gnce, Vexarok looked spent. His hairline was damp with sweat and his skin held a lingering flush.

  Were I completely naive, I might have thought he'd been out racing through the jungle on another hunt. But his weapons had been left behind with me, and his hands were noticeably empty. It didn't take a genius to piece together what the alien had slipped off to do. Between the hard-on Vex had been pressing against me that morning, and the distant sound of his moans just beyond the hollow, I already knew.

  Awkward, I thought. But I could at least appreciate that Vexarok had the presence of mind to take care of himself outside instead of in the bed next to me. It's the little things.

  "Welcome back," I said through a yawn; one I half forced. I figured it was for the best to feign ignorance, if only to spare us both from the embarrassment.

  At the sight of me being up, Vexarok looked surprised. His ears shot toward the ceiling and his tail shed behind him. Then excitement settled in, and he returned my greeting with a toothy smile. It came with far more fang than one of my own. I watched in silence as Vex moved toward one corner of the cave, where he promptly squatted. The man gathered his things and brought them back to the bed where I still sat. They were spread out in front of me.

  First was the ration pouch, which looked overstuffed. When he tugged on the string, and it spilled open, I could see he'd filled it with fresh fruit and something else I didn't recognize. Then Vexarok offered me the waterskin. Like the pouch, it was nearly overflowing. I was grateful for the water since my throat was bone-dry. I took a few long swigs before offering it back to him. Maybe it was presumptuous of me, but I assumed he'd be thirsty after the beating he'd just given himself outside.

  The water wasn't the end of it, however. Vex was quick to give me one more surprise.

  In his massive fist, he gathered and clutched a tiny bundle of limp, yellow flowers.

  Looking between them and Vexarok's expectant face, I hesitated for a second before accepting them.

  Are they more food? Or...

  Carefully turning the flowers over in my hands, I got the sneaking suspicion that they were just simple weeds. It looked as if he'd pulled them out by the fistful, roots and all. That itself was kind of impressive, considering that the roots made up more than half of their entire length. The flowers, on the other hand, were dainty little things, no bigger than the nail of my thumb.

  They were definitely not food, I decided.

  My eyes flickered up to Vex again, hoping for some clue as to what he expected me to do with them. But he sat motionless, as if his body had been carved from the same stone that surrounded us. I admired him for a moment, taking in his impressive figure and handsome face. Then my gaze dropped to his sharp mouth when he spoke, the words lost without a transtion.

  Whatever his intentions were, I had to py another guessing game to figure them out.

  Part of me wanted to write off the gift, considering the differences between us. I was literally from another world. Flowers didn't necessarily have the same meaning as they did on Earth, assuming that they held any meaning at all. It was hard to ignore the heavy musk that Vex now carried with him, though. Rather than something innocent, I entertained the idea that maybe I'd been the reason for his early-morning masturbation session. That he'd gone out of his way to get me a gift, just to try to make his interest known.

  The flowers had been left amongst his other belongings, I reminded myself. Probably picked the night before. Was it strange to think that mattered? It certainly went a long way in expining why the flowers were in such a state; sad and wilted.

  I wanted to snort, finding the idea absurd. I settled for a wary smile instead. "Thanks, Vex."

  I wasn't sure what more to say. I already knew that every word out of my mouth sounded like gibberish to him. Yet there was a certain freedom that came with that knowledge. I could speak honestly, sharing whatever happened to be on my mind. If anything, Vex seemed to like when I talked.

  "If you're gonna be giving me flowers, I'm gonna start jumping to conclusions. Hell, maybe you actually were feeling me up the st time. I'd given you the benefit of the doubt, but..." Pulling a flower from the bouquet, I pinched off the roots and tucked the yellow blossom behind one of my ears. I did the same with a second and scooted toward Vex. "I guess I don't really mind."

  I pced the second flower in the notch of his ear, realizing a moment ter that it probably wouldn't stay there very long. Still, I was left with a brief but pleasant picture. The contrast between the giant alien across from me and the tiniest of buds in his hair was almost endearing.

  "It's too bad I don't know how make flower crowns. That'd stay on you better. Still, the yellow looks good with your hair. Complimentary colors," I expined with a flippant wave of my hand, flowers and all.

  At my disregard for the bouquet, Vex plucked the remaining flowers from my grasp. I grew still, looking for signs of something; offense, maybe. Yet Vexarok seemed not to care. He immediately went about pcing the flowers behind my other ear. He did this with roots and all. For a moment, his touch lingered there, the behemoth staring in what felt like an appraisal of his handiwork. Then his ears twitched and his flower fell loose. Vex didn't seem to notice.

  Reaching out, I picked it up. "So, tell me. What's this?"

  For a beat, he held me with his gaze before looking down at my hand. "Ushu."

  "Ushu," I repeated carefully. Yet another word to feed to my useless transtor.