Banished (Heat Strokes 2)

The mirage had returned, shimmering in the heat. If Disa looked at it straight on, it would morph with the normal air disturbances above sun-baked sands. Her only companion on this hell of a planet, the shifting form always appeared at the edge of her vision, and even then only when she didn�t seek it.

�That�s it, then,� she said to herself. �I�m losing my mind.�

There. It moved again.

�Go away,� she called. �Stop taunting me. You�re not real.�

It approached. It had never done that before, but then, she�d never spoken to it, either. The image took on form. A person. And male. Wavy lines radiated around its torso and limbs.

She ought to run. She couldn�t know what this creature meant to do. Maybe people didn�t die of the crushing isolation here. Maybe this thing, whatever it was -- or whatever he was -- killed exiles. Something fluttered in the pit of her stomach, but not fear.

Desire -- warm and intoxicating. It moved outward to where her nipples hardened under the light cloth of her tunic and down to the space between her legs.

You�ve been alone too long, whispered through her mind in a deep voice. So have I.

She whimpered, but she stood, stuck to the spot, as he got nearer and nearer. Finally, close up, he came more clearly into view. Still no more than an outline in her mind, he revealed a face of sorts. Ample lips, high cheekbones, a slight kink to his nose, as if it had been broken.

His eyes flickered in a blue deeper than the cloudless sky. She stared into them, and warmth blossomed in her belly. No heat of the sun, this, although that seemed to beat down on her shoulders more fiercely than usual. As though he channeled the light through him as a prism does.

�What are you?� she whispered.

Let me touch you, came the answer.