Close Obsession (7 page)

“Thank you – that was delicious,” she said when Korum was done.

“You’re welcome,” he replied casually, sitting back down at the table. The look on his face was amused and slightly mocking, as if he suspected exactly what she was going to say next.

Mia’s temper began to simmer again, and she decided not to disappoint him. “So why are charl not within the Council’s jurisdiction?” she asked stubbornly.

“Because that’s the way it’s always been, Mia,” he replied softly. “Because humans are only accepted in Krinar society on those terms – as belonging to one of us. The only exception are those like Dana, who choose to leave their former life behind in order to become pleasure givers on Krina. So you see, my sweet, the Council cannot go to you directly. They have to go through me because, under Krinar law, you’re mine.”

Mia sucked in her breath, feeling like there was insufficient air in the room. “So I was right,” she said quietly. “The Resistance didn’t lie to me – you did.”

He leaned toward her, his eyes turning a deeper shade of gold. “They did lie to you. A charl is not a pleasure slave, or whatever it was they told you. It’s very rare for us to have a charl, and when we do – these are genuine and caring relationships.”

“How can a genuine and caring relationship exist when the two people are not considered equals in your society?” she asked bitterly.

He laughed, looking genuinely amused. “Those types of relationships exist all the time, Mia. Just look at your human society. Are you going to tell me that you don’t care for your children, your teenagers, or even your pets? Not to mention that your so-called developed nations have only recently accepted the idea of women’s rights, while many regions of Earth still don’t –”

“Is that what I am to you? A pet?” Her stomach churned as she waited for his answer.

He shook his head, looking at her intently. “No, Mia, you’re not a pet. You’re a twenty-one-year-old human girl who still has quite a bit of growing up to do. I wish I could leave you alone, so you could meet someone like that pretty boy from the club –”

He was talking about Peter, Mia realized, surprised.

“– but I can’t.”

Getting up, he walked around the table and sat down on a chair next to her. Raising his hand, he gently stroked her cheek while Mia stared at him, unable to look away from the golden heat in his eyes. “You’ve gotten under my skin,” he said softly, “and now I want you, in ways that I never thought were possible. I know you still have a lot to learn about me, about your new home here, and I will do my best to make things easier for you, to help you with your adjustment. But you need to stop worrying so much and fighting me at every turn. It can be very good between us, Mia . . . especially if you give it a chance.”

Chapter 4

That night – her first night in Lenkarda – Mia had strange and disturbing dreams. She was flying somewhere again, only this time Korum held her on his lap for the duration of the trip. Her body felt unusually heavy and languid, and she couldn’t move – could only lie helplessly in his arms as he carried her somewhere after they landed. In her dream, he brought her into a strange white building where everything seemed to float and walls dissolved on a regular basis. Suddenly, she was lying on one of these floating objects, and it felt incredibly comfortable, as though it had been made for her body and her body alone. There was a mellow light illuminating everything, and a beautiful woman spoke to her softly, gently touching her face with elegant hands. Mia dreamed that she spoke to the woman too, told her how beautiful she was, and the woman laughed, telling Korum that his charl was charming.

And then there was only darkness and Mia slept deeply for the rest of the night, the dream fading from her memory.

As soon as she woke up the next morning, her mind immediately began replaying the conversation from yesterday and she groaned, burying her face in the pillow. Right away, the bed began a soft massage regimen designed to relax her suddenly tense muscles.

Sighing with pleasure, Mia let it do its thing while she lay there, trying to make sense of Korum and their relationship.

After his little speech last night, he had carried her to the bedroom and spent the next few hours showing her exactly how good it could be between them. Her genitals still throbbed delicately when she thought of everything he’d done to her, the many ways he’d made her scream in mindless ecstasy.

She still didn’t understand what Korum really wanted from her. Did he truly think she could just calmly go along with everything? From what she’d learned thus far, being a charl in Krinar society was not all that different from being a slave. As far as their law was concerned, she was Korum’s possession – something that belonged to him. How could a genuine and caring relationship arise from that? He held all the power; he could do anything he wanted with her, and nobody would interfere.

And even if she were willing to accept that kind of dynamic, there were so many other issues to overcome. As he’d said, she was a twenty-one-year-old human girl – immature and inexperienced compared to a K who’d lived for two thousand years. How could he ever regard her as anything but naive and ignorant? Not only did his species have far more advanced science and technology, but Korum himself must’ve also gathered tremendous knowledge over his centuries of existence. How could a human ever come close to that over a mere eighty- or ninety-year lifespan? Not that he would even want her when she got older; however strong their attraction was now, he would definitely lose interest in her when she started getting wrinkles and grey hair – if not much sooner.

Closing her eyes at that painful thought, Mia tried to think about something else, to distract herself from such depressing reflections.

On the plus side, physically, she felt amazing. Despite the dreams she vaguely recalled, she must’ve gotten great sleep because she was filled with energy, and her body was completely free of the soreness that usually accompanied their long sex sessions. Korum must’ve used some healing thingy on her again, she decided.

It was difficult to believe it was only Saturday. Was it only last week that she was frantically writing her papers? It now seemed like a lifetime ago, with everything that had happened in the last couple of days.

On Monday, she was supposed to start her internship in Orlando, working as a counselor at a camp for troubled children, and instead . . . Well, Mia had no idea what she would be doing instead – or what the future held for her, in general. Her life had taken such an unexpected turn that any kind of planning was impossible.

She was also supposed to be packed and out of her room on Monday, she suddenly remembered with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Mia had made the arrangements to sublet her room out for the summer several months ago, and the subletter – a very nice girl named Rita – was supposed to move in at the beginning of next week. However, given Mia’s sudden departure from New York, all of her stuff was still there.

Jumping out of bed, Mia ran to the small table where her purse was sitting. She’d brought it with her from New York, and it contained something extremely valuable: her cell phone. She needed to call Jessie as soon as possible. Her roommate was probably already getting worried since she hadn’t heard from Mia yesterday, and she would definitely freak out if all of Mia’s belongings were still in her room when Rita moved in. Jessie would never believe her to be so irresponsible as to forget about the sublet.

Pulling out her cell phone, Mia held her breath, praying that she had reception. But, of course, her hopes were in vain – there were zero bars. Not only was she in a foreign country, Mia realized, but the Ks’ shielding technology likely blocked all cell tower signals.

Sighing, she put on a robe and went to brush her teeth before looking for Korum. If she didn’t contact Jessie this weekend, her roommate could easily have the police at Korum’s TriBeCa apartment by Monday.

Entering the living room, Mia saw Korum sitting on the couch with his eyes closed. Surprised, she stopped and stared at him. Was he sleeping? Hesitant to disturb him, she just stood there, using this rare opportunity to study her alien lover with his guard down.

With his eyes closed, the bronzed perfection of his face was even more striking. High cheekbones blended synergistically with a strong nose and a firm jaw, forming a face that was as masculine as it was beautiful. His eyebrows were dark and thick, slanting straight above his eyes, and his eyelashes looked incredibly long, spread out like dark fans above his cheeks. His hair had grown in the month that she’d known him – he’d probably been too busy chasing after the Keiths to get a haircut, Mia thought wryly – and it was starting to brush against his ears.

As though sensing her gaze on him, he opened his eyes and smiled when he saw her standing there. “Come here,” he murmured, patting the couch next to him. “How are you feeling?”

Mia blushed slightly. “I’m fine,” she told him.

He just continued looking at her with a mysterious expression on his face, almost as if studying her for some reason. Feeling a little uncertain about where they stood after yesterday’s conversation, Mia cautiously approached him. Even though she’d spent most of last night writhing in pleasure in his arms, there was still so much unresolved between them. Pausing a couple of feet away, she asked, “Were you sleeping just now? I’m sorry to interrupt if you were . . .”

“Sleeping? No.” He looked surprised by her assumption. “I was just taking care of some business.”

“Virtually?” Mia guessed, and Korum nodded, patting the couch again.

Mia came closer, and he reached out with his hand, pulling her onto his lap. Burying his hand in the dark mass of curls, he tilted her head toward him and kissed her, his mouth hot and demanding, his tongue stroking hers until she forgot everything but the incredible sensations he was provoking in her. Barely able to breathe, Mia moaned, melting helplessly against him, her loins filling with liquid heat despite the fact that she should be wrung out after the excesses of last night.

Apparently satisfied with her response, Korum raised his head and looked down at her with a half-smile, releasing her hair but still holding her tightly in his arms. “You see, Mia,” he said softly, “it really doesn’t matter what labels are placed on our relationship. It doesn’t change anything between us.”

Mia licked her lips. They felt soft and swollen after his kiss. “No, you’re right. It doesn’t change anything,” she agreed quietly. Learning more about her role in K society didn’t lessen her attraction to him one bit. Her body didn’t care that, as a charl, she had no say in her own life.

Korum smiled and got up, placing her on her feet. “I have to leave in about thirty minutes for the trial. Would you like to watch it from here?”

Mia’s eyes widened. “Like on TV?”

“Through virtual reality,” he told her. “I don’t want you there in person in case the Council tries to pressure you to testify.”

“What would happen if I did? Testify, I mean?” Mia was suddenly curious why Korum was so determined to protect her from that. She wasn’t exactly eager to go in front of the Krinar Council, but he did seem unduly worried about it.

“The traitors will have a Protector,” Korum explained. “It’s a bit like your lawyer, but different. The Protector is someone who genuinely believes in the innocence of the accused – it could be their family member or a friend. When you act as a Protector, you stake everything on the line – your reputation, your standing in society. If you don’t succeed in proving the innocence of those you’re protecting, then you lose almost as much as they do.”

“And do the accused always have this Protector?” Mia asked, trying to wrap her mind around such a strange system.

Korum shook his head. “No. But these traitors do, unfortunately. One of them, Rafor, is the son of Loris – one of the oldest Council members – and Loris took it upon himself to be the Protector in this case. He’s one of the most ruthless individuals I know, and he would stop at nothing to protect his son. He also hates me. If I let you go up there as a witness, he’s going to do everything he can to make your testimony seem like it’s coming from an irrational, hysterical human that I’ve manipulated for my own purposes. He’s going to publicly humiliate you, make you break down in front of everyone, and I won’t let that happen.”

Mia swallowed, beginning to understand a little. “You don’t have some kind of rules about the types of questions that can be asked of the witnesses?”

“No,” Korum said. “With so much on the line, all is fair game. The only thing the Protector is not allowed to do is physically hurt you. But there wouldn’t be anything to prevent him from verbally destroying you – and believe me, Loris is really good at that.”

“I see,” Mia said slowly, her stomach tying into knots at the thought of going up against a ruthless Krinar Council member determined to protect his son.

“But don’t worry,” Korum reassured her. “It’s not going to happen. At best, they will get a recorded testimony from you – and that’s only if Arus really begs for it.”

“Who’s Arus?” Mia remembered that name mentioned earlier, during Saret’s visit.

“He’s another Council member and, among other things, he’s our ambassador to the human leaders.”

“You don’t like him either?” Mia guessed.

Korum’s lips curved into a grim, humorless smile. “Let’s just say we’ve had our share of political differences.” The look in his eyes was cold and distant, and Mia shivered slightly, glad that it wasn’t directed at her.