Secret by Tana Stone

Fiercely independent. A loyal friend. And a liar.
Maya has a secret she can’t tell anyone—even if it means losing everything she loves.

Maya planned to come to the sand planet, find her missing friend Cat, and go back to her life as a stew on a star cruiser. But when she arrives, Cat is gone. That wouldn’t be so bad, but then her own chances of leaving the planet are destroyed. Now she’s stuck on the primitive planet, and someone is doing their best to keep her there—and hold her captive.
Karv might be a Crestek, but he’d always felt a kinship to the barbarians who live in the desert. Now he needs to keep Maya safe and away from the Cresteks hunting her, which means taking her to the Dothveks. But can they survive the trek across the desert and evade the ones tracking Maya? Can Maya hide from her past or will her secret destroy everything?