Page 3 of Caldar
Sonia slammed the sketchbook shut.
She was not going there.
“I have to go,” she announced, standing up so quickly her knees knocked into the table. The tall glass of cold water teetered, the contents sloshing from side to side.
He caught the glass before it spilled a drop.
Sonia wanted to scream in frustration. How was he so annoying?
“What’s your name?” she demanded, jabbing a finger to his chest. She might as well have been poking a stone wall from the feel of it.
He glanced down at her finger and grinned, all white fang against an aubergine complexion. His eyes crinkled at the corners, betraying a lifelong indulgence in laughter. In the six months since he started stalking her, they hadn’t exchanged more than a handful of words, and Sonia had never demanded his name.
She knew him. Well, she knew about him. She witnessed him abduct her friend at gunpoint a year ago. Sure, sure. Wyn was fine. He just needed her thumbprint or something to unlock a door. Still, Sonia was halfway across the galaxy when she saw the whole thing go down through a video screen and she had never felt more helpless.
So, that guy? Not a fan.
“My name is Caldar,” he said. “What is your name?”
Nope. This wasn’t a conversation. She said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. How rude of me. My name is none of your business. Fuck off.”
“That is a mouthful. Are all Terran names so complicated?”
Sonia stuffed her sketchbook and pencils into her bag. She had better things to do. She pressed her thumb to the payment slot on the table to leave.
Of course, he followed. She sped up, walking at a quick pace.
“You should have dinner with me,” he said, trotting alongside her. People on the street gave them a wide berth, partly due to the furious scowl on Sonia’s face, but mostly due to the Mahdfel dogging her steps.
She stopped and turned to him. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I am charming?” He smiled, and damn it all if the sunlight didn’t sparkle on his fangs.
“Nope.”
“Because all beings require sustenance and you could order the most expensive items to damage my supply of credits.”
While she did like the idea of ordering a fancy meal and sticking him with the bill, she didn’t want to sit through dinner with him.
“What you suggest sounds like a date, and I don’t date aliens,” she said.
“Aliens, or this alien in particular?” He waved a hand at himself and flashed a smile that would be utterly charming on anyone else.
Okay, fine. It was charming. He was attractive in that dangerous daddy way with his silvery gray hair and graying horns. The trouble was, it wasn’t a style choice. Sonia knew he was actually dangerous. Why he latched onto her, she had no idea.
“Look, let’s get this straight,” she said, jabbing his might-as-well-be-stone chest again. Why did she keep touching him? Ugh. “You know my name.”
“Sonia,” he said, practically purring with a bedroom voice that was pure sin. Was that a thing? A voice to go with bedroom eyes.
Yeah, that wasn’t creepy.
“You abducted my friend by gunpoint. I’m not interested. I’m never going to be interested. And I’ve got just about enough patience to tell you one more time,” she said, jabbing his chest with each word. “Fuck. Off.”
His smile did not falter. If anything, the amps on his grin turned up a notch or two.
“Dancing?” he asked. “You move like a dancer.”
Sonia gave a frustrated scream. Walking at a brisk pace, she turned randomly onto streets, having no destination in mind. She didn’t kid herself by imagining that she could lose him in a crowd or outrun him. The man was a literal super soldier, genetically modified to be faster, stronger.
