1. Katarina
1
KATARINA
W aves of dizziness hit one after another as he sets me back onto my feet. My knees are weak and the moment he removes his hands they refuse to hold, but he catches me. His hands are on my waist. His touch is cool, yet my skin flushes with warmth. He has big hands, so big that the fingers are resting on my ass.
I blink rapidly, trying to focus my eyes, but my vision continues to swim. People are shouting, though I can’t make out the words. I realize that I’m breathing so fast that I’m hyperventilating. I am sputtering but can’t form actual words.
“Treasure?” his voice cuts through the overwhelm and confusion.
He has a nice voice. There’s a richness to it that resonates inside my head. It’s not a deep voice. A lot of the Zmaj have deep voices, but he doesn’t. It’s more a mid-timbre, but I feel it inside my head in a way I’ve never felt someone’s voice before.
Fingers touch my face, trailing over my cheek, stopping under my chin. My eyes are so dry they burn. Probably from the wind. My stomach is roiling and the ground beneath me doesn’t feel solid.
“Are you okay? By all that’s holy say something!” Dan yells.
Dan. Right. He was the one yelling to shut the machine down. And I didn’t. Not fast enough. Oh…
“I…”
Someone grabs me by my shoulders, and I’m shaken. It’s hard enough that my head rattles. I yelp in surprise more than pain. There’s a growl and then as fast as it starts it stops.
“Mine.” He says it. I don’t know his name, but his voice… I know his voice.
“Is she okay? Shit, that was… you saved her, but she’s not talking. We need to get her into the med bay.”
Dan’s voice is higher pitched than normal. He almost sounds like a girl. Cool fingers touch my cheeks, cupping my face as a shadow falls over me, darkening my blurry vision. I blink several times and finally, my eyes have enough moisture that the world swims into some version of clarity.
He has luscious hair. Unruly curls stick out randomly and drop onto his shoulders. I want to run my fingers through it. It shines, reflecting the double suns, poofing out in some parts, lying flat in others.
His horns are bigger than a lot of the Zmaj. Protruding from right inside the hairline. They are formed of dark spirals that come forward before curling back over and following the shape of his head. His long, thick hair covers portions of them.
I touch the left one. It wasn’t even a thought. I just reach up and run my fingers along it. He bows his head as I do. It’s cool, like he is, and has a ridged texture as I trail my finger along it. It’s hard, but not like a bone. More like cartilage maybe.
His eyes are a rich, deep blue. Darker blue than most blue eyes. So dark in shadow thatthey might appear black. He has thick eyebrows. The left one is broken by a scar that trails over his forehead and a quarter of an inch below his eye socket.
His nose has been broken at least twice, I’d guess, by the two lumps at the bridge. He has wide nostrils that don’t quite fit his face, being a little too big, but he has a great jawline and a gorgeous golden tan color to his scales and skin. He smiles. He has a broken tooth and between it and the way his lip curls it makes his smile twist in a way that is unique and attractive. I like the imperfections. They make him more real.
“Treasure?” he asks.
I trail my fingers down the horn and across his face. My fingers flow with the layering of his scales. The tiny ridge where each one lays over the one below it sends an exotic thrill through to my core. I move my mouth, trying to find my voice but my mouth is still too dry to speak.
“Heh,” I exhale and cough up some dust.
“Katarina, are you okay? Damn, speak girl. Do you need the medics?” Dan demands.
The other workers are huddling around close though they’ve stopped making all the noise. I need to get my head into the game. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here gathering myself but it’s too long, I’m sure.
“F-f-fine,” I finally get a word out.
“Good,” the Zmaj says, showing that crooked smile.
I don’t even know his name but that voice, those eyes, that smile, I want to lose myself in him. I think I have, actually. It feels like there’s a pull going right out of my guts, connecting us. Dragging me into him.
“Damn it,” Dan curses.
Reluctantly, I tear my eyes off of the Zmaj. The machine that we’ve been using to get water from the ocean far below is wrecked. Smoke drifts from it in long, twisting curls. The acrid smell in the air tells me all I need to know. It’s shot. I don’t think there is any way we’re going to fix it.
Dan walks around the broken thing, shaking his head. He stops and kicks it then yelps in pain, holding his foot as he jumps up and down on the other to keep his balance. I suppress a giggle. It’s inappropriate and I know it, but stress always makes me react this way.
“Ow, gods, damn, ow, shit,” Dan curses.
I turn away. I have to try and keep myself from laughing out loud. Tears fill my eyes as I suppress the urge to giggle. This is a serious moment and I’m not really taking it lightly, but if I let this out everyone will think I am.
The Zmaj steps close. His presence brings comfort and then his body is touching mine from behind and oh my.
Is that a rocket in your pocket or are you happy to see me?
I know damn well what that is. My cheeks burn and I dart my eyes around to see if anyone else is noticing what’s happening. The other four have all their attention on Dan and the machine. I smile and push my ass back, pressing onto his hard member. I’m rewarded with a soft groan. He puts his hands on my shoulders, leans down, and whispers in my ear.
“Treasure,” he murmurs.
His breath is warm on my skin causing a shiver then he nibbles my ear and my knees are water. I almost drop to the sand it comes over me so fast. Once more he is there, though. He wraps his arms around me, crossing them over my belly. His hands are resting on my thighs and help to hold me upright. Crazy, but I want more. Now. I don’t even know his freaking name.
“We are fucked,” Dan says, his voice almost a growl that any Zmaj would be proud of emitting.
I’m distracted by the sensations and feelings of the Zmaj holding me tight with his manhood pressing hard against my ass. It’s awakening long-suppressed desires, but Dan’s words cut through all of that. Staring across the rolling red and white striated dunes, reality crashes in. Our sole source of water was that lift. No lift, no water. No water…
“Shit,” I mutter as I reluctantly step out of the Zmaj’s grip.
He doesn’t try to hold on, but his fingers linger across my skin until I am out of his reach. Four humans stand in a huddle staring at the broken machine. Just beyond it, the edge of the cliff is ragged where a section collapsed. Seeing that, my stomach drops with the memory of falling to what should have certainly been my death.
“Shit? Shit ?” Dan says, throwing his hands in the air and stomping around in a circle. “ You think ?”
“Dan—” he cuts me off with a glare and a sharp slashing of his arm.
“I said to shut it down! Why didn’t one of you shut it down? What in the?—”
The Zmaj crosses to him in one long stride, towering over Dan. Dan tilts his head back to look up, his bald head shining with sweat.
“Enough,” the Zmaj says.
It’s not a threat, only a simple statement, but his imposing size and presence make it threatening, whether by intention or not.
“But our water!” Dan exclaims, shaking his head as he takes a step back.
His voice is tight. I get it. We are royally screwed without that source of water, but rampaging about isn’t going to fix anything either. The anger drains out of him and as it does it looks as if he collapses in on himself. He raises his hands and drops them once again then turns and slowly walks towards the ship without another word.
The Zmaj watches him leaving as do the rest of us. The sensation of being lost and alone almost overwhelms me. Despite the brightness of the two red suns beating down on us, glaring off the sands, the world becomes darker. As if the fiery suns are burning away hope and with it the light that it should bring.
A shadow falls across me again, cooling, and I turn. The Zmaj has moved back close. He smiles his crooked grin and motions with one hand towards the ship. The weight of how screwed we are eases, doesn’t go away, but his easy smile makes it feel like it doesn’t matter as much. I shrug and take the lead back to the ship.
I hear the others following along though I don’t turn to look. They can do what they’re going to do. I may not be part of the Council that rules the day-to-day life on the ship, but I am at least partly responsible for what happened.
It feels so natural I almost don’t think about it, but the Zmaj is walking at my side. Strange how he seems to fit there in such a way that it doesn’t even seem like a thing. He literally saved my life, laid a claim on me with one word, and we haven’t even exchanged names. Talk about moving fast.
I watch him out of the corner of my eye. He has an easygoing stride that is full of confidence and certainty. His wings rustle as he walks, making a leathery raspy sound. His tail drags on the sand and the two sounds together make his strides almost musical. He glances and catches me looking.
“Treasure,” he says, flashing that oh-too-sexy crooked grin.
I’m suddenly shy. My cheeks warm and I can’t meet his gaze, no matter how good-looking and attractive he is. I drop my eyes and murmur something that isn’t quite words. What am I doing? What am I thinking? He chuckles which makes me blush even harder.
The ship comes closer without either of us saying anything. I’m in this strange place of feeling absolutely comfortable with him yet conflicting with that is this idea that I shouldn’t be. How am I? Is this the after-effects of the adrenaline rush? I almost died. In truth, by all rights, I should be dead.
As we enter the shade cast by the ship, I work up the courage to look at him again. He sees it or senses my gaze or something because he immediately turns his head and there is that crazy smile, flashing like a brilliant star calling me home.
“I, uh…” I lose my train of thought. I had a plan, all nice and fully formed, but it is gone. I’m left stammering. Blank and stupid.
“Treasure?”
Does he not speak Common? Ah, shit. What if we can’t talk? I haven’t bothered trying to learn the Zmaj language. It seems hard. All those weird sounds and dragging ‘s’es, what am I supposed to do with all that?
“Yeah, uh… hi. Uhm. So,” I stammer. I am making a real shit show of this. Come on! “You speak Common? Human?”
“Little,” he responds, holding up one hand with his index and thumb a couple of inches apart. “You. Treasure.”
He points at me and then presses his hand to his heart. Great. Really helpful. I get it. He’s laying a claim, but how about a name first? Yes, my body very much wants to bang him, got it. But I’m not that kind of girl. I am not going to fuck a guy when I don’t even know his damn name.
“I’m Kat… Katarina,” I say, pointing to myself, then pointing at him. “You?”
“Katssss….” he says, mutilating the short of my name and adding an s sound.
I close my eyes because for some reason it grates on my nerves. I force my eyes open and put a smile on my face.
“No. Just Kat,” I emphasize the ending with a ‘tuh’ sound.
He frowns for only an instant then the smile is back, and he nods.
“Kat-tuh,” he says, emphatically.
“Close enough,” I say. “Now. You? Your name?”
“Zas-tu,” he says, pressing one hand to his chest. “Name. Zas-tu.”
“Zas-tu,” I say, sounding it out. He nods with enthusiasm. “Good. Uhm. Thank you?”
I don’t mean it as a question, but as I try to give him my thanks for saving me, I wonder if he understands the words that make it come out that way.
“Yesss,” he says, ending on a hiss, that wide smile on his face.
My heart skips, my stomach knots, and my pussy all but vibrates with need and desire. This is trouble. Of that, there is no doubt.