Zaureth: A SciFi Alien Romance (Enigma Series Book 4) (3 page)

Chapter Five

Zaureth paced his room, fighting feelings he shouldn’t have. He’d run his hand through his hair enough times, it stood on end.

Seeing Amy lying on that bed, small and pale, had torn at his heart. But nothing had prepared him for the jealousy he’d experienced after hearing of Anderson’s part in saving her life.

On the one hand, Zaureth was grateful for Glenn’s timely arrival on that beach. Had the guy not been there, Amy wouldn’t be alive today.

Had Glenn just happened upon Amy in the water? Zaureth wandered, making another pass across the carpet. Or had he been watching her all along?

A growl rumbled in Zaureth’s chest before he could stop it. He told himself that it was nothing more than protective feelings he had for the tiny human. He was a healer, after all. But deep in his heart, he knew it to be a lie.

With a sigh of frustration, Zaureth took a calming breath and turned toward the door. He would go check on Amy once more and then head back to Aukrabah, where he belonged.

Zaureth stepped into the hall, noticing a cart sitting outside Amy’s room. He recognized the contraption as something the humans used to deliver meals.

Amy must be up and eating, he assumed, striding to her door.

He lifted his hand to knock, pausing when he heard laughter coming from inside.

Glenn’s muffled voice reached Zaureth’s ears. “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

Zaureth lowered his hand and stepped closer, listening for Amy’s response.

“I— Can I get back to you on that? It depends on how I’m feeling.”

A brief silence ensued before Glenn answered. “Of course. I completely understand. I’m going to get out of here and let you rest. Call me if you need anything.”

Zaureth moved to the side and propped his shoulder against the wall to wait for Anderson’s departure. He didn’t have long to wait.

The door opened, and Glenn stepped out into the hall. He didn’t look surprised to find Zaureth standing there. “Any particular reason why you’re lurking out here?”

Zaureth waited for the door to close behind Glenn before answering. “I am not lurking. I am here to check on Amy.”

Glenn crossed his arms over his chest, a move meant to intimidate. “She needs to rest. Maybe you should come back later.”

Zaureth raised an eyebrow, not intimidated in the slightest. He could disable the soldier without laying a hand on him. “I have not had a chance to thank you for saving her life.”

Glenn appeared surprised and more than a little uncomfortable by Zaureth’s words. “Anyone would have done the same thing. I’m just relieved that I happened to be on the beach when she went under.”

“Did you?” Zaureth questioned, staring into Anderson’s eyes.

Glenn cocked his head to the side. “Did I what?”

“Happen to be there.”

“If you have something to say, then say it,” Glenn bit out, uncrossing his arms.

Zaureth straightened away from the wall. “I believe I did.”

The door opened, and Amy’s beautiful face appeared in the opening. “Zaureth? Is that you?”

“It is,” Zaureth replied, his entire body reacting to her presence. “I came by to see how you are doing.”

Amy stepped back to allow Zaureth entrance. “Please, come in.”

The first thing Zaureth noticed upon entry was that Amy wore a bathrobe and that said bathrobe was gaped open at the top, exposing the swell of her breasts. Breasts that Glenn had no doubt been ogling without Amy’s knowledge.

Zaureth found himself hard-pressed to keep his eyes off them as well. He shut the door and touched his forearm to her hand, a move he’d perfected during the previous time they’d spent together. “Come. Sit.”

She accepted his help, allowing him to lead her to the couch. “I’m really glad you came by.”

“As am I,” Zaureth admitted, averting his gaze from her chest before taking a seat next to her. “How are you feeling?”

Amy shrugged, causing the robe to slip another inch.

Zaureth had seen many breasts in his lifetime. He’d dealt with the sick, the mothers giving birth, and had even happened upon some of the nude Bracadyte women returning to their rooms from the bathhouse.

He’d always prided himself in his ability to remain aloof, professional. But Amy affected him in ways he seemed to have no control over.

The mere hint of breast she unconsciously showed had him squirming in his sharkskin shorts.

He took a deep, calming breath and looked away. Big mistake, he silently groaned as Amy’s clean, sweet scent drifted up his nose. His eyes rolled closed in bliss. He could sit and inhale her all day.

It took him a second to realize she’d asked him a question. “I am sorry. What did you say?”

“I asked if you would like to watch a movie with me. Not that I can actually see it.” She laughed, resting her palm on his thigh. “But you can brush my hair while you watch it.”

Zaureth’s heart skipped a beat. “You would like for me to brush your hair?”

Amy nodded, staring somewhere just over his right shoulder. “It’s my favorite thing in the world. My sister used to do it for me when I was a little girl.”

“If that is what you wish,” Zaureth found himself saying. If he lived to be a thousand, he’d never understand what possessed him to agree to such madness. It was wrong on so many levels.

It’s only hair, he reminded himself. It wasn’t as if she’d asked him for a massage.

The thought of running his palms over her shoulders and caressing her flesh sent heat spreading through his body with lightning speed.

Blood began to pool in his sex, leaving him with an erection that throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

“The brush is in the bathroom, next to the sink.”

Zaureth surged to his feet, fighting the urge to run from the room and sail headlong into the crashing waves of the gulf.

He was a healer, a deep spiritual being who had dedicated his life to being pure of body and mind. Yet there he stood, aching for even the smallest of touches from a tiny human asking him for help.

Confusion over his reaction to her washed through Zaureth in a tidal wave of emotion that left him weak.

He staggered to the bathroom and retrieved the brush.

Returning to the room, Zaureth pulled up short. Amy sat on the floor with her back against the couch.

She turned her face in his direction, and though he knew her to be blind, her eyes seemed to look right through him. “Thank you so much for doing this, Zaureth.”

“Where shall I sit?” he croaked, inching ever closer.

“Behind me, if you don’t mind.”

Mind? He wanted nothing more than to sit behind her and pull her onto his lap. His sex twitched in reaction.

Zaureth swallowed around a throat gone dry and settled behind her, the insides of his thighs cradling her shoulders.

His hands slightly shook as he lifted his fingers to her hair and gently dragged the brush through it.

Amy moaned, the sound traveling through Zaureth’s body to settle in his groin.

He wanted her. Plain and simple. There was no other explanation for the effect she had on him.

Another soft sound escaped her. She tilted her head back to give him better access, and his breath caught. With her robe gaped open, he had the perfect view of her breasts.

“Amy,” Zaureth rumbled, unable to stop himself from leaning in.

She exhaled a soft sigh, her head dropping back against his thighs.

Like a moth to a flame, Zaureth cupped her face in his hands and touched his lips to her forehead.

“Zaureth,” she whispered, laying her palms over his as if afraid he might let go.

Unable to stop himself, Zaureth, breathed in her scent, lightly dragging his bottom lip over her skin. It skimmed across her nose and settled against her mouth.

Heat slammed into him as her mouth opened beneath his own. She tasted of sunlight and something else he couldn’t name. It drew him in, seducing him in its sweetness.

Amy’s hands tightened over his. She tugged him closer and kissed him with a passion that belied her trembling.

Zaureth had never tasted anything as intoxicating as Amy. The feel of her lips moving against his, her hands tightening their hold as if afraid he would pull away, and the soft sounds coming from her throat were his undoing.

He broke off the kiss, gripped her beneath her arms, and jerked her onto his lap.

Zaureth crushed her against him, his mouth everywhere at once. On her neck, her face, her shoulder. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her.

A moan of surrender escaped her, and she threw her leg around to straddle his lap.

The feel of her feminine heat settling against his throbbing erection was Zaureth’s undoing.

He wanted inside her. No, he
needed
inside her. Now.

Zaureth reached between their bodies to rip open his sharkskin shorts and free his aching sex.

Reality settled in.

“Forgive me,” Zaureth rasped, lifting her from his lap. He jumped to his feet in horror. He’d nearly done the unthinkable. He’d almost broken his vow and taken Amy.

Chapter Six

Amy couldn’t seem to form a thought beyond her body’s need for Zaureth. She remained perfectly still, listening to Zaureth’s rapid breathing. “Did I do something wrong?”

Zaureth made a tortured sound in his throat. “Wrong? No, my sweet Amy. It is I who did wrong. I cannot express how sorry I am for overstepping my bounds with you.”

Pain sliced through Amy’s heart. “Is it because I’m blind?”

Another torturous sound came from him. “You are the most beautiful female I have ever known. Perfect in every way.”

“Then why are you running from me like a hunted animal?”

“I am an animal,” Zaureth growled, his footsteps fading toward the door. “And you would do well to stay away from me.”

“Don’t go,” Amy whispered, desperate to have him close.

Her stomach clenched at the sound of the door opening. “Zaureth?”

“I am sorry,” Zaureth confessed, pulling the door closed behind him.

Amy stood on shaky legs and blinked back tears of humiliation. She’d practically thrown herself at Zaureth, and he’d rejected her.

She made her way to the closet and chose the first thing she touched. From the feel of the ties at the top, she knew it to be a sundress.

Dressing with jerky movements, Amy felt around the floor of the closet and snagged a pair of sandals before arranging her hair into a ponytail.

Satisfied with her attire, she left the room to go in search of the only other person besides Zaureth that she could open up to.
Oz
.

Out in the hall, Amy touched her fingertips to the wall as a guide and made her way to the elevator. She stepped inside, feeling around for the correct button, and pressed the one for the lobby.

“Good afternoon, Miss Brighton,” Oz called out as the elevator doors slid open with a
ding
.

He was suddenly at her side. “You look like a ray of sunshine. What brings you down stairs?”

“I was looking for you,” Amy admitted in a small voice.

Oz laughed. “Lucky me. To what do I owe this privilege?”

Amy accepted the arm he offered. “Do you have a minute? I could really use some advice.”

“I always have time for a beautiful woman,” Oz smoothly answered.

Amy found her humor returning. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Indeed, I do,” Oz quipped, leading her across the floor. “With my ugly mug, charm is the only weapon I have in my arsenal.”

A chuckle bubbled up unbidden. After everything she’d been through over the past three months, it felt good to laugh. “I highly doubt that you’re ugly.”

Oz rested his hand on the arm she had looped through his and led her outside. “Bless you, sweet thang. But ugly comes in many forms.”

The sun felt good on Amy’s skin as she walked along the beach on Oz’s arm. “Though I’ve led a pretty sheltered life, I’ve experienced my share of ugly. Being blind doesn’t mean one can’t see.”

“Ah,” Oz murmured, stopping and helping Amy into a chair. “I’ve often wondered what it must be like.”

“To be blind?” Amy asked, adjusting herself in her chair.

“Yes.” Oz sat next to her, speaking to someone in a low tone before touching Amy on the hand. “Would you care for a drink?”

“An iced tea would be nice.”

“Excellent. The lady will have an iced tea, Pedro. I’ll have a rum and coke.”

Amy leaned back in her chair. “I’ll tell you what it’s like to be blind. Since I was born this way, I don’t know what it’s like to see. I’ve never known color, only shapes and voices. I can imagine what a person looks like, but I have nothing to compare them to.”

“Interesting,” Oz rumbled. “So, if you were given a brief moment of sight, and I happened to be the only thing you could see—”

“I still wouldn’t know if you were ugly,” she interrupted with a giggle. “Like I said, I have no others to compare you to.”

A great booming laugh erupted from Oz. He lifted both of Amy’s hands and kissed each one. “You are so refreshing. Not coy like a lot of women. If not for Zaureth’s infatuation with you, I’d snatch you up in a heartbeat. You’d be a proper corrupt and dishonest woman in no time at all.”

Amy would have laughed any other time. “Wait. What? Zaureth isn’t infatuated with me.”

“And here I thought you had the inner sight,” Oz teased, gently releasing her hands. “So, tell me what I can do for you, sweet one.”

Amy had to swallow around the lump forming in her throat. “Actually, I came to talk to you about Zaureth.”

A brief silence fell over the table before Oz responded. “If you are looking for information on Zaureth, I’m afraid you came to the wrong person. Vaulcron knows the healer better than anyone else.”

“I can’t trust Vaulcron with this,” Amy blurted, embarrassed at her outburst. She softened her tone. “He’s my sister’s mate. He keeps nothing from her.”

The drinks arrived, and Amy reached for her tea. “Thank you, Pedro.”

Oz picked up his drink, the sounds of ice clinking in his glass. “I understand your dilemma. What is it that you would like to know?”

“Why he pulled away from me,” Amy began. “We were becoming close. I mean… I trusted him. And then he just…”

“Disappeared without saying goodbye,” Oz finished for her.

“Yes. There are times I feel that he cares for me, and others when he can’t stand to be in the same room with me.”

“Zaureth is a strange creature, Amy love. I can’t pretend to know his thought process, as he is not like me. Or anyone else I know, for that matter. He was born different, and he has gifts beyond anything I can comprehend.”

Amy leaned forward, desperate for any and all details she could gather. “You mean his psychic abilities?”

Oz softly laughed. “All Bracadytes possess certain psychic abilities. No, Zaureth is capable of more. So much more.”

“Tell me,” Amy pleaded. “Please?”

“I’ll tell you what I know. If you need more, you’ll have to speak with Vaulcron or go straight to the source and ask Zaureth.”

Amy took a sip of her tea, listening with rapt attention as Oz began to speak.

“He’s known as the healer because he possesses an otherworldly energy that assists in the healing process. He can move objects with his thoughts alone.”

Amy’s gasp was swept away by the crashing of the nearby waves. “He’s telekinetic?”

“So, I’ve been told. I have never actually witnessed it. But the Bracadytes are honest to a fault, so I’m inclined to believe it.”

“Wow,” Amy whispered, completely blown away by what she’d just heard. “No wonder he insists on staying away from me.”

The sound of Oz’s glass returning heavily to the table told Amy that Oz wasn’t on board with her train of thought.

“I know what you’re thinking, and you couldn’t be more wrong. Zaureth doesn’t think himself above anyone. If anything, he probably feels that you deserve normalcy. Something he can’t give you.”

Amy’s mouth fell open. “What? I’m as far from normal as one can get.”

“Then you two have something in common, after all,” Oz finished quietly.

Tears of uncertainty threatened. Amy breathed her way through it, hoping against hope that it would go unnoticed. It didn’t.

“Please don’t cry,” Oz insisted, jumping out of his chair and pulling Amy to her feet. He wrapped her in his arms. “Everything will be all right. I promise.”

Amy wanted to tell him that she had no intention of crying. That she’d simply had a moment of weakness, but she was ripped from Oz’s arms before she had a chance.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Oz growled in a low voice.

Amy didn’t have to ask who Oz spoke to; she could sense him, could smell his incredible essence. “Zaureth?”