Page 9 of Zar

“What are you people?” she asked as she walked around to the side of the man and reached out to touch his wings. She never got the chance, because black-wings quickly sidestepped her.

“Do not,” he growled.

Callie suddenly felt as if she’d committed some sort of faux pas. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…sorry.”

He inclined his head. “You could not have known,” he replied, his smile in place once more. “As for your question, I think that for now you would like a shower and perhaps a change of clothes. Some food as well?”

Yeah, she didn’t think she was going to get a quick answer to that. Maybe they were some sort of government experiment. Or even a strange evolutionary anomaly. Twisted things happened in nature all the time, didn’t they? Hadn’t scientist only recently discovered that octopuses could routinely edit their own ribonucleic acid. They had somehow managed to change their brain physiology to adapt to the temperatures in the ocean. Maybe that’s what happened here. That somehow seemed less frightening to her. Nature running amok meant she was still on planet Earth and she hadn’t actually lost her damn mind.

Callie looked down at her clothes and realized she was dirty from her flight into the muddy field and wrinkled from hours in the vehicle. She sighed, admitting when she’d been beaten. A shower and food would rejuvenate her. She could think straight once she had some nutrition. Maybe figure a way out of the weird situation. “I would honestly love a shower.”

His face split into a grin. “I will arrange everything, Ms. Wilson.”

She shoved a stray lock of hair, that had come out of her French twist, from her face. “You kidnapped me. Might as well call me Callie. And you are?”

“Callie,” he murmured. “It’s a very pretty name. I am Zar. I would be honored if you would stay as my guest, Callie.”

She couldn’t help the snort. “As if I have a choice, Zar.”

“My king, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Dyre said.

Callie looked over at Mr. Cranky. “You’re still here, huh?”

His gaze narrowed and a muscle jumped in his jaw. Yeah, I don’t much like you either, buddy.

Zar looked at Dyre. “You may go,” he ground out. Oh, boy, he really didn’t like being questioned.

Dyre glared at her once more and Callie’s smile widened. Good, at least she wasn’t the only one miserable. He swung around, his crimson wings flipping around to his sides, and left the room. That, unfortunately, left her alone with Zar. A king. A winged creature. Who just happened to carry a whip. Crap.

As if sensing her uneasiness, Zar stepped closer and placed a palm against her cheek. “You have nothing to fear from me, Callie.” He held the whip in his other hand and with a flick of his wrist the whip wound around his waist like a belt. It seemed similar to the gold chain that Flare had used to restrain her with in the car. This too seemed to simply mold to Zar’s body. Callie looked at the man’s wings again. God, they really were breathtakingly beautiful. Massive as they lay along the floor behind him. They were the exact blue-black shade of a raven’s wings. Her curiosity got the better of her.

Callie raised her hand in the air and asked, “May I touch them?”

Zar sucked in a breath and his silence went on for so long that Callie was sure he’d refuse her again. One wing lifted in the air and wrapped around the front of his muscular body as if of its own accord. He inclined his head. “You may touch me, Callie,” he said, as if granting her a great gift.

Callie bit her lip and reached towards him. When her fingertips brushed along the bend at the top section and smoothed downward, she was stunned at how soft they were. She could feel the muscle and bone beneath. There was so much strength covered in feathers as soft as that of a down pillow. Zar’s entire body shuddered under her gentle touch. His head shot up and his silver eyes widened in shock. “Ofelia,” he whispered.

She yanked her hand back, unsure what the word meant. Judging by the utter shock on his face it couldn’t be good. “Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry,” she rushed to mend the situation. “I truly didn’t mean to.”

He didn’t speak as he lifted both wings in the air and wrapped them around her body, enclosing her in a cocoon. The gentle brush of feathers drifted over her back to her bottom, then her legs. Every nerve ending revved to life. Zar’s hands stayed at his sides, but the soft tickle of his wings could be felt clear through to her core. She sucked in a breath and her gaze shot to his. Callie could feel her body leaning closer to Zar’s as his silvery eyes darkened. Oh, God, what is he doing to me?

Zar took a step closer. They were nearly touching now and Callie couldn’t think straight. Could barely get enough air in her lungs to keep from passing out. Zar lifted his hand and touched the side of her face, then murmured, “Ofelia.” That word again, as if it meant something of great importance, but Callie was lost.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Zar.” She tried to step backward, but realized his wings kept her prisoner. “Please,” she begged, unsure what she was asking for exactly.

He shook his head as if to clear it and his wings flitted backward to lay on the floor behind him again. “The shower,” he explained. “Go up the stairs. You will find everything you need there. I’ll have something for you to wear as soon as you’re finished.”

Callie wrapped her arms around her body, suddenly cold and unsure why when moments ago she was perfectly comfortable. “You aren’t going to tell me what that word means, are you?”

His gaze hardened. “Shower, Callie. There is plenty of time for explanations later.”

She threw her hands up in the air. “Fine, whatever. I’m too tired to fight you right now anyway.” Callie turned and started towards the stairs in the corner of the room. She would shower. She would eat. Then, when she was back to feeling more herself, Zar would answer some damn questions. Or she was going to start plucking the man’s perfectly preened feathers. One by freaking one.

****

Zar watched the blonde woman take the stairs one at a time, as if it were every day that she was taken against her will and thrust into a world where winged creatures existed. The graceful way she walked, head high and back straight, did wicked things to him. Things he’d never dreamed he’d feel for an Earth woman. Damn, she had such luscious curves. His gaze never strayed from her hourglass figure until she was well out of sight.

Zar took out his cell phone and shot off a quick text to Dyre, requesting food and clothing for Callie. That done, he strode to the other side of the room to the balcony. He swung open the double doors and stepped out, breathing in the fresh air of the forest that surrounded his home. Normally it would give him a measure of peace, but the uncertainty that now filled him was a new emotion and would not be so easily dismissed.

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