Hide to Stay Alive (Club Release 1) (29 page)

My heart swells at the
thought of having a little Zar around the house. I’m stunned by my
own thoughts. On Earth, I never even considered having a family of
my own.
Girl, that’s because the males on
Earth weren’t worth having sex with, much less
having a baby with
, my logical side
wisely says. I can’t imagine having a child with one of the
yellow-toothed males from Earth.

Zar is another story
though.

Zar’s thumb runs across my
lower lip. “There you are, seema. It’s rude to ask a question and
then zone out.”

Shame adds to the heat
burning my face up. “I’m sorry, Din Zar.”

“
You’re forgiven. There
have been a few cases of zaphinians and humans having children. Our
history shows that is hasn’t happened much.” His brows draw
together as if he’s thinking hard. “Since we’ve only interacted
with humans for about fifty years, we really don’t have a lot of
data to go by. That’s because most of the humans here on Zaphin are
playthings who get birth control shots. All of our playthings have
had the shot.”

He pauses and a pulse of
light flashes through his eyes. “Would you like a child someday,
seema?”

“
I never thought about it
before.” I look around the thriving business and then out the
window into the lush landscape. My gaze moves back to his. “Here, I
wouldn’t mind having a child.” I swallow hard as I realize he might
not want a child with a seema. “What about you?” I ask a bit
nervously. My stomach dips and then flips. I could already be
pregnant.
Please don’t hate babies,
I silently beg him
.

He inhales and then
soothes his big hand down my back. “At my age, I wouldn’t mind if
it were to happen.” His gaze softens. “The chance is slim though.
We’re going to live a day at a time and see what the future has in
store for us. I’m content with having you as my seema.”

Joy sparks a rainbow of
satisfied bliss through me. “I’m happy to be with you too.” I feel
like leaping up and down. I have enough excited energy to climb the
tallest tree on Zaphin ten times in a row.

The arrival of our food
brings the conversation to a quick halt. I don’t mind though
because he’s already told me how he feels. Another zing of joy
bursts through me.

I slide off Zar’s lap and
into the chair next to his. I miss his warm embrace but my angry
stomach demands I pay full attention to filling it up.

My nayhew steak is
flavorful in a way I haven’t mastered at home yet. I look at Zar
and watch him eat for a moment. Zaphinians can really tuck some
food away. Granted they are eating enough for a whole day. Still,
the amount they can eat at one time never ceases to amaze
me.

When Zar slows down, I
ask, “Do you think Din Tymor or Din Zima would tell us the spices
they use on their steaks if we asked?”

Rich laughter comes from
behind me. I turn to see Tymor cleaning the table behind ours. “Not
on your life, little human.”

Zima walks over and frowns
at Tymor. “I would give it to them if her life was at
risk.”

“
No, you wouldn’t because
I’d stop you,” Tymor firmly states as he finishes cleaning the
table.

“
Humph. You could try,”
Zima says as she scowls at her husband.

I feel like crap for
unintentionally starting a fight between the couple. Why couldn’t I
keep my mouth shut? Restaurant owners don’t give recipes away. I
hate being so slow at fully understanding things.

I turn to them hoping the
aroma of food doesn’t totally cover my scent of regret. “I didn’t
mean to start a fight.” Trying to butter them up, I say, “I’ll just
come here when I want to eat the best steak on the
planet.”

Zima winks at me. “That’s
sweet, little human.” Her gaze hardens when it turns back to her
husband. “You are not so sweet. You’d let Din Zar’s seema be
killed. For that you must be punished.”

I watch in horror as the
couple fight all the way back to the kitchen. Each determined to
punish the other. Covertly, I look over and up at Zar to see what
he thinks about me starting a fight between his friends.

With a bite of steak on
his fork, he looks at me and shrugs. “Don’t feel bad, seema. They
love to fight.” A sexy grin transforms his face. “From what I
understand, the make-up sex between them is explosive.” As fire
stings my face, Pretty Eyes laughs heartily. “You just did them a
favor.”

When Zar goes back to
eating, I follow suit. Obviously, I still have a lot to learn about
zaphinians. Covertly, I look around at the beings in the
restaurant.

Most of the patrons are
zaphinians but I do see a few of the pink petrokians at one table
and two female mewmosians at another. A sense of normalcy washes
over me when I notice that a few of the people are very slender and
others are plump.

Now I know I’m not the
only person on the planet that doesn’t work out all the time. Come
to think of it, a few people at the club aren’t totally muscle
bound either. I can fit in here.

The people are dressed in
all kinds of clothing. Some look as though they’ve come from the
battle field and others are dressed in comfortable jeans and
shirts. There are a few females clothed in sheer dresses that are
patterned to cover their girly parts.

Music is lightly playing
in the background. The gleaming wooden tables are in different
shades of tan, green, and blue. The varying hues add charm to the
place. The stone floors are clean even where potted plants are
placed near the floor to ceiling windows.

A few older zaphinian
males are playing some kind of game at a table in the corner. Every
so often they laugh or growl at each other. A young couple is
whispering to one another at a table in a corner. The place seems
homey. The owners can be heard fighting through the kitchen doors.
None of the waiters or other patrons seem to care. Yep, this place
is very homey—from the laughter to the fighting—I like
it.

My stomach is full and
happy for the moment. I eyeball the last piclot muffin on my plate.
Food should never be wasted. My right hand automatically goes to
the pocket on my new cargo pants.

The clearing of a throat
has me looking up at Zar. His gaze moves to the muffin and then to
my hand which has just finished unfastening my pocket. “No, seema.
Leave it. You don’t have to worry about it being wasted. They feed
the leftover food to their nayhew herd.”

A flush stings my cheeks.
How did he know what I was planning?

Zar sniffs and then
chuckles. “I’m a warrior. It’s my job to be alert.” He gently
traces a finger down my cheek. “Especially, where you’re concerned,
little seema.”

A waiter comes to the
table and I watch as Zar orders something called blisbom. I wonder
what that is. Zar turns and smiles down at me. My stomach does a
tiny flip and sparks fire through my veins. He’s so handsome when
he smiles like that.

With a sparkle in his
eyes, Zar says, “I think you’re going to like blisbom. It’s a
dessert that’s sweet and creamy.”

I lick my lips as I think
of how sweet and creamy he is.

Zar’s eyes close as he
inhales. I watch his eyes open and roam me with appreciation.
“After I pay, we have one more thing to do and then I’ll see to
your needs, seema.”

The ever present fire in
my cheeks flares to a hotter level. I can’t hide anything from my
warrior. He takes a box from the waiter and then pays for our food.
As he leads me toward the door, he greets a few males but doesn’t
stop to talk.

With my state of arousal,
I’m glad he doesn’t stop to chat.

CHAPTER

32

~
Hallie ~

♥

We head straight to the
parking lot and get in his vehicle. The smell coming from the box
is delicious. I want to take a peek but knowing how fast this
vehicle can go, I strap in and firmly hold the box in my lap
instead.

That he even thought to
bring something new home for me to try proves once again how caring
my zaphinian warrior is. He’s a sweet lover and friend. I think
I’ll keep the
sweet
part to myself. Nothing good can come from riling the tough
warrior within him.

The trip home is much
faster than the one to the restaurant. I guess he thinks I’ve seen
it all now. Obviously, Zar is not a stop and smell the flowers kind
of guy.

Shortly after we arrive
home, he has me put the dessert on the counter and follow him to
his office. My curiosity is aroused. What’s he up to?

I watch him turn on his
computer. After he presses a few keys he has me place my hand on a
black pad. My handprint shows up on the computer screen.

“
You can now open and close
the doors leading outside, seema.” Zar’s teal and silver eyes
darken. “Never go deep into the jungle. It’s dangerous out there.
Don’t open the door to strangers. Do you understand me,
seema?”

“
Yes, Din Zar. Thank you.”
My heart feels like it’s about to burst. Zar trusts me enough to
let me come and go as I please. Not that I can go far, but at least
now I can spend time on the back patio and in the backyard.
Excitement flows through me. Now I can hang out with all the plants
lining our yard. They are so interesting and beautiful.

“
You’re welcome, little
seema. Now let’s see what you think about blisbom. It’s a specialty
dessert here on Zaphin. Din Zima makes some of the best blisbom on
the planet.” He takes my hand and leads me to the kitchen. The scar
on his hand reminds me of how tough he is.

“
You called her Din Zima.
Did she go through the same training as you and the other
warriors?” I still can’t get over how tough the female zaphinians
are. There were a few tall, muscular females on Earth but here all
of the females seem to be tall and stout. Are they all
warriors?

“
Yes, she’s an accomplished
warrior. Worthy of the title Din,” Zar answers as though it’s a
normal thing.

“
Are all female zaphinians
warriors?” I still can’t fathom how all the females here can be so
tough. It makes me feel quite weak. Not a good feeling.

I watch him open the box
and pull out the dessert. The red berries covering the top of the
cake looking dessert are mouth wateringly pretty. Zar cuts a slice
and then plates it.

As he slides it over to
me, he answers, “Many of our females are warriors but not all of
them. As on all planets, we have a group of people, males and
females, who don’t want to work for anything. Most of them live out
in the jungle. There are also a few rare zaphinian females that are
submissive.”

Zar gestures toward my
plate, “Go on, try it.”

The aroma coming from the
dessert is heavenly. I slide my fork through the berries, creamy
frosting, and on through the cake to the pudding in the center of
the dessert, and then through the bottom layer of cake.

Bliss sinks into my tongue
the second I put the confection in my mouth. Creamy sweet goodness.
I recognize a nutty bananaish flavor and a vanilla flavor but I
can’t figure out the other one. It’s a spicy yet sweet something. I
moan as I chew the deliciousness.

On my third bite, I hear a
low growl and look up to see Din Zar’s eyes glowing lightly. His
vents and nostrils are flared and his fangs are peeking out through
his slightly parted lips. I look down and see the outline of his
erection pressing against his pants.

Lust instantly spikes
through my core. With my eyes staring into his pretty teal and
silver ones, I moan as I take another bite of sweet perfection. His
seed is another form of sweet perfection. My clit comes to life as
I think about all the ways he uses that massive erection to bring
me pleasure. I can’t wait to feel it invading my body in a
delicious way.

His claws come out as he
starts taking his clothes off. I shiver as I remember how good his
claws feel as they lightly score my skin. I take another bite and
moan long and low.

“
Strip, seema,” he commands
in that growly tone that causes fire to lick at my
veins.

I put my fork down and
quickly do as I’m told. Naked, I stand with my feet just past
shoulder width apart as he taught me. With a predatory gleam in his
glowing eyes, Zar circles me.

A shiver dances up my
spine when he comes up behind me and growls softly as he kisses my
neck. I feel his hard shaft settle between my cheeks. Desire swirls
through me and pulses between my legs.