Hide to Stay Alive (Club Release 1) (23 page)

“
I’m glad you got away and
I’m sorry for your loss, little seema. Your father was a good man.
He taught you well. A smart warrior always teaches his children to
take care of themselves.” His hand slides down my back and then
rests on my hip.

I enjoy the feel of his
touch and rest in his arms for a while. Looking up, I ask, “Are
your parents still alive?” They haven’t come by and I never met
them at the club. That worries me. Were they murdered like my
parents?

He sniffs and squeezes me
for a second. “Stop worrying so much, seema. My parents are alive.
They live on the other side of the planet. My father is Second in
Command so he has to spend a lot of time at work. You’ll meet them
one day.” He repositions me so that I’m straddling his hips and
then he presses my head against his chest and strokes my hair. “For
now, let’s just enjoy the day.”

I relax into his warm
embrace. This is the position I’m supposed to be in. The feel of
his growing erection pressing into my clit has the pearl between my
legs agreeing wholeheartedly.

♥ ♥ ♥

The yellow petals of the
purrdot flowers open wide when I get near them.

I smile as I hold my arm
out for the crazy flowers to smell me. One gets too close and
brushes the underside of my arm. My giggle blends in with the music
lightly playing in the background. I water the ever begging plant
and then move on to the next one.

The house is different
without Zar in it. I think of him as Zar most of the time now. Din
seems too formal to call a lover. Heat flashes through me at that
thought. Since he’s not here, I force myself to think of less lusty
things.

I’ve been here for a month
and this is the first time since the night I arrived that I’ve been
alone. It’s different but not bad. My heart swells and I have to
confess that I miss him a little. I knew he couldn’t work from home
forever.

Get a grip, Hallie Mead.
You’ve got it good here. Now get to work so he’ll be proud of
you
when he comes home
, my logical side states. She’s right. I need to do everything
I usually do. I want him to be proud of me.

I spray a snaplot’s leaves
and stem. The pretty blue petals vibrate and then bam. The petals
open and then slam closed. A small whoosh of air brushes across my
face. “Thank you for the vitamin enriched air,” I say to the plant
before moving on to the next one. All of the plants here on Zaphin
are so cool. I’m lucky to be here.

The floor cleaner zips by
me. I watch the device move around the room sucking up any particle
it can find. I’m glad I don’t have to sweep and mop. That is a job
I wouldn’t like at all. The beauty of living in the woods is that
you never have to do certain tasks.

I move to the kitchen
cabinet to get more plant food. As I’m bending down to get it, I
hear a bang. I freeze and my pulse starts to race. I nearly jump
out of my skin when I hear the noise again.

My first instinct is to
run and hide. I take a few steps toward the corridor and then stop.
I’m safe in here. I don’t have to hide all the time.

Zaphin is safer than
Earth. The light banging sound happens again, so I listen closely
to where it’s coming from. I think it’s coming from outside. For
the first time in my life, I go to see what the noise is. I hope
it’s not some big and deadly creature that likes to eat
humans.

Covertly, I tiptoe over to
the kitchen window and peek out. At first I don’t see anything.
Then a movement on the patio catches my attention and a second
later the banging sound happens again. I chuckle. “No way.” It’s
not a big human eating beast. It’s a bird.

The bright yellow bird has
purple feet and a long sturdy purple beak. I watch as the bird
drills its beak into the glass. Once again, I wonder if the glass
is breakable. As hard as the bird tries, he or she doesn’t make a
dent in the glass. I’m guessing the bird is a Zaphin
woodpecker.

I smile and go back to
work. Zar should get a kick out of me telling him what’s been
happening while he was away. My father used to say that sometimes
the best stories are the ones that happen to you personally. My
life has definitely produced some wild stories lately. I’m glad Zar
is around to share them with.

With the floor cleaner
buzzing around, I continue feeding the plants. It feels normal and
good to be doing this. I can’t believe how different my life is.
Zar TocGar has given me a normal and secure home. For that, I’ll
forever be thankful.

CHAPTER

27

~ Hallie ~

♥

With my hand in Zar’s, I
walk down a corridor I haven’t been down before. This is the area
the playthings live in. Club Release is just starting to come to
life. Music is pumping through the club.

The beat is meant to heat
people up. The notes are played in a way that is sensual and heart
pounding. The club has a life to it that is unique and
irresistible.

Zar pushes a door open and
ushers me in. I look around to see that I’m in what looks to be a
large living room. There are several playthings hanging out in
different areas of the room. He leads me to a table where two
females are smiling as they watch our approach.

“
Hallie, this is Lingma and
Babshi. Playthings, this is my seema.” Zar’s gaze is trained on the
two pretty beings. “Keep her occupied while I do some
work.”

Lingma’s dark green tail
swishes and her black eyes light up. “Is she here to
play?”

“
No, she’s here to hang out
and get to know you two.” Zar’s eyes are hard as he looks them
over. “Take good care of her.”

The women don’t seem to be
offended by his gruff, dominating attitude at all. Jealously hits
me when I realize that they’ve known him for a long time. Zar’s
gaze lasers in on me and a knowing look enters his eyes.

Heat blooms across my
cheeks.

“
Aww, she’s adorable. We’ll
take good care of her Din Zar,” Lingma assures in a friendly
voice.

“
Yeah, we’ll take good care
of her,” Babshi adds with a nod. Her full pink lips are curved into
an inviting smile.

“
No playing around. Just
hang out here. I’ll be back to get her in a bit.” Zar releases the
cuffs from our wrists and slides them into the pocket of his fitted
black pants. The dark body hugging shirt he’s wearing moves along
with his rippling muscles. The lovely sight never gets
old.

With his thumb and index
finger, he raises my chin and stares into my eyes. His commander
look is back. “Stay here, seema.”

Heat instantly pools in my
core. That certain tone he uses does it to me every time. He sniffs
the air and the side of his mouth kicks up. “Be good and I’ll
satisfy your need later tonight.” I moan when he brushes his lips
over mine. For me, the sweet kiss didn’t last long
enough.

I long to go home and have
him take care of my need right now. From the look in his eyes, I
know that’s not going to happen. He pulls a chair out for me and
gestures for me to take a seat. I quickly sit. He smiles at me and
my heartbeat picks up its pace.

Din Zar is the only male
I’ve ever wanted to please. He does something to me that I don’t
understand. As I look into his unique eyes, I don’t care about
understanding my feelings. I just want to continue to feel them
forever.

He inhales and grins at me
in that sexy I-know-your-secret way that has my cheeks
stinging.

“
I’ll be back soon, seema.”
He gives the girls a hard look and then leaves.

Like a love struck puppy,
I watch him leave and long to go with him. Each step he takes
pinches my heart. I barely stop myself from running after
him.

“
Aww, you’ve got it bad for
him. That’s so cute.”

Lingma’s words have fire
shooting through my face. I turn to look at my tablemates. Lingma’s
tail is busy moving as she looks me over. I glance at both of them
and note that they are dressed similar to me. We are all wearing
skimpy tops and short skirts. At least in that way I’m fitting
in.

Tling By smiles as she
walks up to me with her black hair shining and her pink skin
glowing. A female is next to her. The tan skinned female has long
purple hair, pretty green eyes, and a bright smile. I can’t help
but admire all of the intriguing people in this club.

“
Hi, Hallie. I just wanted
to say hello and have you meet Fraysta. We were just heading out
but I wanted you two to meet,” Tling By says. Her glowing pink skin
looks good next to her short black hair.

“
It’s nice to meet you,
Hallie. This is an exciting place. I look forward to seeing you out
there,” Fraysta says with another smile. A sincere one. Her
stunningly green eyes are lively and her purple hair is long and
shiny. I’m pretty sure purple is her natural hair color. It makes
me wish my hair was more lively.

“
It’s nice to meet you too,
Fraysta. The club does seem to be interesting,” I reply. I don’t
know what else to say. They save me by waving and walking off. Too
many people still make me nervous. I have to get used to crowds
though if I’m going to be here.

“
How are you liking living
on Zaphin?” Babshi asks. Her light blue eyes and pink lips starkly
stand out compared to her maroon skin. All of the beings here are
interesting and very healthy looking. Looks like the red being was
right.

“
It’s nice here. How long
have you two been here?” I ask, desperately trying to seem
normal.

Lingma pats my hand with
her green tail. “Give it time, Hallie. I was once a wildling
too.”

“
A wildling?” I wonder what
that means. I wish my translator would have recognized the word so
I wouldn’t have to ask. I long to fit in.

“
Yeah, you know. A person
that lives alone on a planet and survives in the woods. Sometimes a
wildling can live with a few others, but they always live in the
woods. I like living here better. The males are quite impressive.
Soon you’ll fit in. This club will be your second home—a very good
home.” Lingma smiles sexily as she looks at me and then
Babshi.

Oh, she’s good. “Are you a
mind reader?” With the wild thoughts that go through my mind that
wouldn’t be good at all. Especially, when Zar is around looking all
hot and making me want to jump him.

A sweet laugh comes for
Lingma. “No. Your eyes gave you away. I read emotions very well. It
makes me good at my job. The other night when you fell asleep in
Din Zar’s arms I talked to him for minute and found out you were a
wildling like me.” Her green tail pats my hand again. “Trust me you
are going to like it here on Zaphin.”

“
Yeah, there are so many
hot males here at the club.” Babshi rubs her maroon hands together.
“I’m guaranteed as much sex as I want. This is the best place I’ve
ever been.”

Lingma enthusiastically
nods her head causing her dark blue hair to bounce. “There’s always
plenty of sensual fun to be had.” Her black gaze excitedly zeros in
on me. “Din Zar is a great lover. That’s one male that loves some
raunchy sex.” Her eyes glaze over.

“
That’s for sure. He once
mastered the two of us together in one of the rooms. By the time it
was over we had a crowd watching. That was so hot. I’m getting
horny just thinking about it,” Babshi says in a dreamy tone.
“You’re so lucky to have him. I hope you two put on a show tonight.
Do you know if you’re going to?”

Dread fills me up and
nearly suffocates me. I don’t think I can do that. Being totally
naked in a club doesn’t seem like a good idea. My heart pounds as I
worry about him forcing me to put on a show for the others. A naked
show! Shit, I don’t think I can do it. My stomach hurts as worry
builds within me. I’m a terrible seema. Why couldn’t I have been
left in the woods?

Lingma’s soft green tail
wraps around my wrist and tugs gently. When I look up she smiles
and releases me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how new you are.
I love sex and get excited about it. Din Zar is a good male. He
won’t force you into doing anything you don’t want to do. He may
push your limits sometimes but he’s smart enough and caring enough
to not hurt you. Trust him, honey, he knows what he’s
doing.”

Babshi nods her head and
then takes a drink of her stros. Her eyes brighten as she licks her
naturally bright pink lips. “All of the owners are good males.
Trustworthy. Now let’s get back to your question. I’ve been working
here for ten years and Lingma has been here for fifteen
years.”