Asha woke up feeling less than well-rested. While the drops he'd given her had stopped the bleeding, the pain remained. She'd tossed and turned until the lights automatically brightened with the sun. Asha reached for the buttons near the nightstand to change the settings. The first button brightened the lights. Asha winced with a groan and sat up.

When she opened her door, she immediately looked for Uh'luka. She found him in the kitchen. The pantry was open, but he had his head in the cooling unit. There were a few things sitting out on the counter. He hadn't even bothered to set them on a plate.

She crossed her arms, "Yea I guess I forgot to say, but help yourself."

"There is nothing edible in here."

Asha unfolded her arms with a scoff and walked up to the fridge. The dividers were missing and containers were knocked over, but it was stocked with fruits and vegetables. She reached under his arm to grab one that looked like an orange and sat down to peel it. Uh'luka made a face when she took a bite.

Before she was finished eating, there was an audible boom that shook the roof, "What was that?"

"Some of my belongings were put into storage after I disappeared. I had them delivered here."

"Didn't they think you were dead?"

"Many males disappear on hunts. You have to be gone for a very long time to be declared legally deceased on this planet."

"Ok, well I'll help bring some stuff in."

There were no delivery guys nor a hovering spaceship. The metal shipping container had been dropped onto the roof like a portable garage. Uh'luka lifted up the wide door to reveal smaller totes with yautja writing on them. He hefted one onto his shoulder then looked around.

He pointed to a smaller gray tote in the corner, "You can grab that one."

Asha bent to pick it up, but it felt like it was full of bricks. She huffed and grit her teeth as she tried to hoist it into the air, but her fingers just slid up the sides of it. She tugged and pulled on it, only to end up out of breath. Asha scratched her head for a moment before wedging herself between the wall and the box and pushing it forward with her legs.

She heard a gruff chortle and glanced up. Uh'luka had his shoulder rested against the wall as he watched her. She stood up and smoothed out her clothes. She could feel just how red her face was.

"That's the heaviest one isn't it?"

"Yes."

Asha slapped his arm. Uh'luka's four mandibles immediately spread wide in a display of aggression. She was aware it was a reflex action a lot of the time, but the look still made her heart leap. His mandibles quickly relaxed around his mouth cavity with a grumble.

Effortlessly, he bent down and picked up a second gray tote. If it weren't for his bulging veins and straining muscles, she would have thought the containers were filled with feathers. She watched the muscles in his back ripple as he set it on his shoulder. She was released from her trance as soon as he disappeared around the corner.

Asha shook her head to clear her thoughts and grabbed a different storage unit. The rest were much lighter. They both made trips back and forth, setting them in the living room to be sorted. When she headed back to pick up another, Uh'luka was carrying one out. The corridor was narrow, so she waited for him to pass first.

"You'll fit." Uh'luka gestured for her to continue.

With a smile, she slipped past him against the wall. Her chest just barely grazed his arm, sending a spark through her. Once she had a box in her arms, Uh'luka was already returning. He brushed past her in the corridor, briefly placing his hands on her hips. From there, the timing seemed too perfect—they always met in the middle of the narrow corridor.

Asha lifted a small tote and waited with it on her hip, knowing Uh'luka would be returning. Several long moments passed. When she finally took a step into the hallway, he turned the corner to do the same. Asha sucked in, flattening herself against the wall this time. Still, his hand grazed her ass.

"You're doing that on purpose!"

Uh'luka made a soft rattle but didn't comment.

There were only a couple of storage units left, and they were above her head. Asha lifted up onto her tiptoes. Her fingertips barely reached. She was attempting to scoot one box to the edge when she felt a surge of heat against her back. Uh'luka was hovering over her.

"Do you need help?"

She hung her head, "Yes."

He closed the gap between them to reach above her head, pressing his pelvis against her, "Which one were you trying to reach?"

"The right one, I guess."

He pressed his groin into her as he asked, "This one?"

"Mmm-hmm."

As he lowered the tote into her arms, his free hand slid around to her belly. His arm tightened suddenly, clutching her against his hard, hot body. Asha drew in a breath, feeling like she was breaking out in hot flashes. She needed a fan. As soon as he grabbed the second box, he released her, drawing away the heat.

They both returned to look for more totes, but didn't find any, "Looks like that was all your stuff."

"There's one more thing I'm taking."

Uh'luka stepped forward with his hands out. She moved out of the way, thinking he was grabbing something from behind her. Instead, a deep growl rolled through his throat. Uh'luka claimed her hips and threw her over his shoulder. He strode into the house with her like a soldier marching home from battle, carrying her as if she were his plunder.

Her body bounced when he tossed her onto the leather ottoman. Before she could recover, a sultry rumble met her ears as his hand traveled up her thigh. Her breaths became short. Her pulse skyrocketed. Asha stopped his hand before it reached her center.

Uh'luka turned away. After a moment, she popped her head up. He was crouched over the storage units. As her breathing returned to normal, she watched him unpack. He opened one tote and lifted out a polished animal skull.

"I won't clutter your home with these, I just had to see my trophies again."

"You can hang them up. As you can see, I don't have any other decorations."

His finger trailed down between the eye sockets of the skull with a hum.

As he placed them each around the house, only one caught her eye. It looked like a small dragon skull. There were three bony projections off the back of its head, and small spikes under its chin. When she looked closer though, she noticed the gill plates and the shape of its mouth.

"Was that a fish?"

"Yes, a labyrinth fish that could breathe on land."

"Oh wow, we don't have any that large back on Earth."

"You like it?"

"Yea it's really cool."

Uh'luka beamed with pride.

The next box wasn't skulls, but other trinkets. While most of it was weapons or jewelry, there were other things in there too. One of them was a line of cream teeth. Her eyebrows furrowed, creating a crease in the middle of her forehead. They looked fake at first, but she quickly realized what she was looking at. It was a dental bridge.

Asha swallowed, "Why do you have human teeth?"

"Found it in prey, as well as this—" He handed her a small yellowish rock.

"A kidney stone? Uh'luka!" She dropped it back in the tote, "I thought you said you didn't hunt humans!"

"No, I said I didn't have ooman trophies."

"So you have hunted on Earth?"

"Yes."

Asha rubbed her hands on her face, "I can't have these in the house. I don't want to see them. That's my species, people from my home!"

"You're home is here now."

"So? That doesn't give you the right to hunt humans! They don't even know you exist—how can you expect them to be ready for an attack by a species like yours? It's not a fair fight, which means it isn't honorable!"

Just like in the cage, he had her around the throat in an instant. His fingers tightened until he'd cut off her air, then he shoved her backward. Her hands were up to pry his fingers off instead of behind her to catch her fall. She tried to bend her knees, but it didn't help much. Her hip hit the stone first, then the back of her head.

Uh'luka straightened with a growl. Without looking at her, he kicked the lid to the tote closed and turned for the front door. Her mouth opened, but only a squeak escaped her. Pain wrapped around her head and pounded in her skull. What hurt worse though was her lower back.

Spikes sank into her tailbone when she tried to sit up, so she rolled over to her stomach instead. Slowly, she rose to her hands and knees. Asha grit her teeth through the pain and was able to stand. Her whole lower back was tender, but when she put pressure on her tailbone her knees just about collapsed. She sucked in a breath through her teeth. Something was broken.