His strong arms coiled tight around my waist, pulling my back flush against his chest. Warmth flooded through me at the contact, encouraging me to lean deeper into him and seek out a comfort that could only be found in his touch.

"Do you see that cluster of stars there?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. His breath fanned against my cheek sending a torrent of goose bumps up my arms.

My gaze followed his hand to a small bunch of stars, nearly too far away and too jumbled together to be distinguished by the human eye. They hardly stood out among the billions of other tiny silver gems that stretched far beyond eternity. Their light the only thing to break up the inky blackness of the night sky.

It was a breathtaking view from here.

"Just beyond those stars there," he continued, bringing his hand back to rest over my crossed arms, "lies a planet more beautiful than anything you could ever imagine."

I stared off into the midnight sky, trying to imagine what it must look like. It had to be incredible.

"Further beyond that is another, darker planet," his voice had grown considerably closer. He rested the side of his face against my temple. Heat flooded my cheeks with the intimate contact.

Somewhere in my subchoncious I wondered how well I actually knew this man.

My heart began to beat a little faster in my chest. Whether I really knew him or not, there was a chemistry between us stronger than anything I had ever felt in real life.

"Is that where you are from?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I was struggling with wanting to turn around and find out if the rest of him was as attractive as his voice.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a strange emblem tattooed on his inner forearm, but I looked away too quickly distinguish what exactly it was.

"No, that is Klraya."

Klraya.

My eyes shot open and all at once I found myself back in bed, in my room. My faceless, nameless, nighttime-under-the-stars cuddler was nowhere to be seen. I fell back into my pillows and sighed.

It was all just a dream. Dammit!

"Anastasia?"

I jumped, nearly falling out of bed and turned to where my uncle stood, leaning in through my door. Couldn't he have at least knocked?!

"What do you want?" I asked sharply, hoping the look on my face would be enough for him to see that I did not want to be bothered, least of all by him.

What if I had been one of those people who slept naked... or had been getting dressed when he decided to just pop in unannounced?

But, of course, Tony was as clueless as ever. He smiled, leaning in further through my door. "Oh good! I see you are already awake."

"Well I am now." I bit out.

Tony paid no mind to my sharp tone, and instead smiled. "Can you be dressed and meet me outside your door in five minutes?"

I sat up with an annoyed sigh. How did he justify this after basically offering me up as his alien experiment yesterday? He had basically brought me before the thing on a silver platter.

"Can't you just ask whatever it is now and spare me the drama?"

He kept a cool, straight face. "No. Five minutes, Anna."

Before I could protest he stepped back out into the hall pulling my door closed behind him.

I figured I might as well see what he wanted, so I got to my feet fumbled to my closet and dug for something to wear.

I emerged from my room five minutes later, dressed in a white tank top, denim leggings, and sandals.

"Now, what is so important that you had to drag me outside my room?" Before I had even finished talking the sweet aroma of coffee filled my senses.

Instantly I began searching for the source of the heavenly smell and found it had come from two styrofoam cups Tony held.

He merely smirked, offering me one of the cups. I took it, not caring it was hot, and took a long drink of the smoldering black liquid. It was sharp and strong, just the way I liked it.

"Thank you." I muttered, staring down into my cup. At least he had good taste in coffee.

"Thought that might get me off the hook." I looked up and Tony smirked. "Anyway, I was stopping by on the off chance that you might want to come with me to wake Jayce again this morning."

I completely dead panned. "You are joking, right?"

Were they serving audacity around here by the pound, or was Tony really this dense?

"I am still very intrigued with how he will respond the more he is around someone of the," he coughed and looked away from me, "opposite sex. Aside from his obvious differences, we know very little about his social skills."

Rolling my eyes, I began to follow Tony down the hall. Maybe I was a little intrigued myself... Not that I would ever let him know that. "So, let me get this straight, you want me to be... what, exactly?"

I could see the smirk playing at his lips from out the corner of my eye. "How about my partner? Just this once, Anna, please. I give you my word if he tries anything I will throw out the...