Secretly Abducted by Caitlin Ricci

Ten years ago, Vel’aan was supposed to transport a dog for behavioral trials. Instead, the inexperienced researcher accidentally grabbed a terrified sixteen-year-old human. Now he lives in isolation on an agricultural platform, drowning in guilt over the life he destroyed.

Alex spent a decade believing his three-day alien encounter was a drug-induced hallucination—one that somehow left him clean and sober. When his best friend Finn reveals his own alien abduction, Alex realizes the truth: his savior is real. And he’s going to find him.
What Alex discovers is a lonely Nereidan consumed by guilt for sins he never committed. Vel’aan has built walls of perfect control around a heart convinced it doesn’t deserve forgiveness. But Alex didn’t travel across galaxies to let his unlikely savior keep punishing himself.
Storm shelters force proximity. Bioluminescent skin betrays every emotion. And two damaged souls discover that sometimes our worst mistakes become someone else’s salvation.

A healing sci-fi romance featuring accidental redemption, touch-starved yearning, and learning that forgiveness tastes better when someone else feeds it to you. Low angst, high emotion, lots of spice, guaranteed HEA.

Tropes: Accidental savior • Guilt/redemption arc • Touch-starved alien • Forced proximity (storm shelter) • Size difference • Bioluminescent emotions • Catastrophic mix-up • Self-isolation healing • Found family expansion