“What?” She scrunched her nose. “I don’t understand.”
He stepped towards her. Something in his eyes made her tremble. Made her ease back.
Zar kept coming.
Simone kept retreating.
Until she couldn’t anymore.
Until her back hit a tree.
The breath left her body in a whoosh and she glanced up as Zar stepped so close to her that she could see every black fleck in his purple irises. Her chest heaved and it brushed against his. The soft contact caused heat to flash through her body.
“Zar, what are you doing?” she whispered, hating that her voice trembled with something that sounded a little too close to need.
His eyes dropped to her lips and stayed there.
Simone’s heart flipped over.
Was he going to kiss her?
Eight
Zar
What washe going to do with this female?
The question pounded through his mind, aching to the rhythm of his hardness.
It had been a mistake to touch her face. Zar knew that now. The line he had crossed was a small one, but it was great in his eyes.
He knew what Si-Moon’s skin felt like.
He knew its scent.
Sweet. Light. Unfamiliar.
He’d grazed his fingertips over her soft flesh. So delicate. So fragile.
Why had Destin made a creature so susceptible to the elements? To injury? To pain? Si-Moon’s skin was holo-thin, he could see the venas swimming beneath it. Dark threads that formed the tapestry of life beneath her flesh. That gave blood to her heras.
An enemy could simply rake his claws out and shred her. Tear her to bits. It would not even require much effort.
The thought of Si-Moon in such an enemy’s hands made Zar’s jaw harden. What was it about this human female that brought out these strong instincts?
He did not give his loyalty easily. Zar had been a lone Plutonian since his father’s death. He had joined a tribas only recently after being rescued from a Heronas raid by Korben and his warriors.
His heras had been closed off to all others.
Until her.
Until Si-Moon.
Which was a problem.
Zar had a mission. The Healer had been taken by the Heronas three sun-rotations ago. Their only chance of getting him back was to bring a human female in exchange.
The very key to his species’ salvation had stumbled into his hands. He had no choice but to present Si-Moon as a sacrifice for the good of all.