Hide to Stay Alive (Club Release 1) (14 page)

I reach out and touch her
hand. The ever present zing of electricity between us has my pulse
picking up speed. Needing to reassure her, I say, “Don’t worry
about it, seema. You’re fine just the way you are.” By fine, I mean
fine all the way around. I breathe in her happiness. My heart
lurches in my chest.

Wanting her to get
healthier, I stare into her eyes. “Eat, seema.”

She jerks and her cheeks
turn pink. I love the way they do that. Silence reigns as we eat
our meal. It’s a good silence. A comfortable one.

Nervous energy suddenly
radiates from her. I look her over. She’s eaten all of her food
except for a roll. Her fingers close around the vitamin-packed
bread.

“
If you have a question,
ask it.” I take a drink of my stros as I patiently wait.

She wets her lips and then
looks up at me. “Can I get some clothes that have pockets?” Her
full lips roll as she presses them tightly together. Her gaze moves
to the roll in her hand.

The memory of her hiding
the muffin in her sleeve last night hits me with the force of a
lightning bolt. My heart aches for her. My little seema is looking
for a way to hide food while being inside my home. Her fear makes
me more determined than ever to make her feel secure.

I watch her closely as I
answer her question. “No, seema.” At her sad gaze, I quickly add,
“Not around the house. I’ll see about getting you some pants with
pockets for when we go to other places.”

Her relief scents the
air.

I’m happy about that until
I realize what she could do with pocketed pants. A vision of her
going to Von’s home or a restaurant and filling her pockets with
leftover food breaks my heart. I can’t let that happen. She needs
to fatten up a bit. That should help her understand that here on
Zaphin she doesn’t have to worry about food like she did on
Earth.

Giving her my best
commander stare, I say, “Anytime you get hungry, I want you to come
in here and eat. Do you understand me, seema?”

Her cheeks turn a brighter
shade of pink. From the corner of my eye, I see her put the roll on
the edge of her plate. “Yes, Din Zar.”

“
Good. Now let’s store the
leftovers and clean up.” I stand and show her where everything goes
and how to run the dishwasher. I’m pretty sure Hallie hasn’t been
around many appliances. Pride fills my heart at the speed that
she’s catching on.

When everything is done, I
hug her to me. At first she stiffens and then she melts into me.
Nothing’s ever felt better. I caress her back through the curtain
of her hair. I revel in the feel of her silky strands.

As the need to take her
rides me hard, I gently kiss the top of her head and then step
back. “I’m going back to work. All I want you to do right now is
relax. I’ll teach you more this evening.” I head back to my office
with plans to check on her in an hour or so.

When I’m freed up, I go
looking for her. My chest aches at the sight of her curled up on
her bed clutching the purple pillow. Rest is good for her. While we
were cleaning up after the midday meal, I’d noticed how tired she
was starting to look.

I reach out and touch a
strand of her hair. It’s soft just like her. I breathe in her warm
unique scent and long to climb in next to her and hold her. A happy
smile crosses my face when I scent fruity lotion coming from her. I
inspect her arm and notice that the lotion is already starting to
help her skin look healthier. I make a mental note to keep that
lotion stocked at all times. The sight of her shaved legs has lust
stirring in my groin. Yes, my little seema is looking better every
day.

The flashing of my
communicator lets me know I have a new message. I sigh as I leave
her room. She’s had a rough few days. The rest is good for
her.

CHAPTER

16

~ Zar ~

♥

Sitting on the couch in
the living room, I watch Hallie enter wearing a sheer pink uniform.
Desire stirs within me. We are both fresh from our showers. Her
first full day on Zaphin is about to come to an end.

I motion her forward. Her
chocolate gaze glides over me and then stops on my cock. It
twitches in response to her attention.
Down boy
, I reprimand the hungry
beast. Now is not the time.

Red tinges her cheeks. Her
gaze moves away from my cock and stays for a moment on the battle
scar on my left thigh before flitting back to my cock and then up
to my chest. “How come you don’t have any clothes on?”

Her gaze nervously scans
the room and then returns to mine.

“
Because I never wear
clothes when I meditate. I don’t need binding clothes pulling my
thoughts to them and away from my peaceful state. You may keep
yours on.” I don’t want the poor thing anymore nervous than she
already is.

I stand and take her hand.
“Let’s go to my meditation room.” As I lead her down the corridor,
I enjoy the electrical current that passes between us. The
chemistry we have is nice and strong.

After opening the door, I
usher her in and guide her to the center of the room. I leave her
standing there as I light a calming healing combination of dried
flower petals and herbs. As the aroma wafts through the room, I go
back to Hallie.

I cross my feet and lower
myself to the padded floor. “Sit in front of me and cross your
legs. We will do this together. Meditation is good for your mind,
body, and soul.”

Hallie’s pretty lips
purse. “We can do it on the floor?”

“
Yes, seema. Now take a
seat.” I watch her sit. Desire rampages through me when I get a
flash of pink pussy. This is going to be tough but I can do it
without pouncing on her. At least I hope I can.

After she’s comfortable, I
scoot forward until her knees brush against my shins. A new wave of
desire circles my groin making my cock swell. Her dark eyes widen
as they zero in on my erection.

“
Don’t worry about my
erection. It’ll go down in a bit.” Or at least I hope it
does.

“
It’s pretty. Big but
pretty.” Heat singes her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said
that.” Her hand waves up and down a few times. “I think all of you
is very nice. Plus, your nose is straight, not slightly turned up
like mine.”

I grin and take her hands
in mine. “It’s okay. I’m glad you like my cock and the rest of me.
Your nose is cute,” I reassure her. I let my gaze roam over her
breasts and then down between her legs. My erection throbs when she
shifts and I see a flash of pink through her sweet brown curls. “I
like how you look too. That we are attracted to one another will
make fucking a satisfactory experience. For now, let’s get back to
meditating.”

I rub my thumbs over her
delicate fingers and then close my eyes. “Watch me for a moment and
then follow my breathing pattern.” I slowly inhale through my nose.
At the top of the breath, I hold the air in my lungs for as long as
I can. I feel her gaze on me as I slowly exhale through my nose.
Once I’m done, I do it again. I open my eyes and smile at
her.

She tilts her head to the
side causing her long hair to spill over her shoulder. “That’s kind
of the way I was taught to breathe when I’m hiding from bad people.
Only I breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. I
also take quiet shallow breaths. Why are your breaths so loud? Bad
people or wild animals can easily find you when you breathe like
that.”

“
That’s a good question and
a good point. While I’m meditating, I’m not hiding. When you allow
your breath to rasp through your throat your brain focuses on the
sound instead of jumping from one random thought to the next. This
quiets your mind and allows it to rest. A rested mind is a
healthier mind. Try it with me this time, seema.” I close my eyes
and focus on my breath as well as hers.

The first breath she does
real well. Then she starts breathing like she’s hiding. An ache
builds in my chest as I realize she must have hidden a lot on
Earth. Her body naturally slips into shallow quiet breaths by
default. An unknown feeling pinches my chest.

I open my eyes and watch
her for a second. She’s so heartbreakingly beautiful sitting here
in her sheer clothes trying to meditate but failing because of all
the trauma she’s been through.

“
You’re close but I need
you to focus on letting your breath rattle through your throat.
That will help your brain stay focused on the sound so that it
can’t wander off from subject to subject. Let’s try it again,
seema,” I encourage with what I hope is a kind smile. With my fangs
I never know how others are going to take my smile.

This time she does much
better. Pride fills my heart. She opens her eyes and grins at me.
“I did it, didn’t I?”

“
Yes, seema. You did it.”
She’s exquisite. I could watch her forever. That thought has me
snapping out of my dazed stupor.
She’s
just a seema, TocGar. Don’t let her control you
, the warrior within me orders.

I straighten and say, “Now
that you’re getting it. We’ll do it for the next thirty minutes and
then go to bed.” I guide her through the breaths. After a while, I
slip into the healing powers of meditation myself.

♥ ♥ ♥

I pull the triangle shaped
floor cleaner out of the closet and show Hallie how to turn it on.
I watch as she places it on the floor and then watch her jump when
the device takes off. I smile at her actions and overall cuteness.
She’s been here for three full days now. I’m amazed at how well
she’s doing.

Her brows draw downward.
“Does the cleaner ever get stuck? If it does and I don’t catch it
fast enough will it overheat?”

She always asks great
questions. That’s probably why my fascination with her hasn’t
ended. “So far, I’ve never seen it get stuck. To my knowledge, if
that were to happen, the device is supposed to automatically shut
off.” I look out the living room window and then back at Hallie.
“Would you like to go into the backyard while the cleaner is doing
its job?”

The smile on her face
rivals the sun. So zyfing beautiful.

“
I’d love to go outside.”
She glances down and then frowns. “I don’t think I should go out
dressed like this.”

“
As a seema, you are
properly dressed. My backyard doesn’t end near any neighbors so
nobody should see you today except for me.” I cup her chin and
raise her face. Keeping my voice low and authoritive, I look into
her chocolate eyes. “Zaphinians aren’t ashamed of nudity. Since you
live here now, you have to get used to the way we do things. Do you
understand, seema?” Since this is her new home, I really need her
to catch on.

“
Yes, Din Zar.”

The trembling of her voice
tells me that it’s going to take time for her to fully be
comfortable being on display. With her being so willing to try, her
nervousness is okay because I have plenty of time to teach her.
Taking her hand, I lead her out onto the patio.

Instead of looking around
at the yard, she looks from me to the door and then asks, “How did
you do that? The door was stuck when I tried to open
it.”

I want to smooth away the
little lines that have formed between her brows. Instead of
touching her, I answer her question. “The handles are programed to
only open for me and a few of my chosen friends.”

The lines between her
brows deepened. “Shouldn’t I be one of your chosen friends since I
live here?”

Moons, she’s beautiful
when she gets demanding in her sweet little way. “If you end up
living here for a long time, I’ll have it programed to your touch.
Now it’s time for you to explore the backyard.”

Her frown has yet to
lessen. Big brown eyes look up at me. “You haven’t decided to get
rid of me, have you?”

“
No, seema. As long as
you’re happy here and you make me happy, you get to stay here.” I
turn her around so that she faces the backyard. “Now let’s go
explore your new world. You can ask me any questions you
have.”

Delight fills my chest as
I watch her go around smelling the different plants and flowers
that boarder the yard and house. Small things bring her great joy.
She’s so amazing to watch. The scent of her happiness perfumes the
air. It overpowers the jungle. I let her happiness fill me
up.

She approaches another
plant. This one seems to call to her. I watch in fascination as she
touches the soft leaves of the plant and then turns to
me.