Chapter 14
“You want me to do what?” Daisy asked in dismay as she studied the alien standing in front of her with his blaster extended in her direction.
She scratched at a raw spot where the sunburn was tight and angry on her cheek. Zil pushed away her hand impatiently with a frown of disapproval.
“Do not. You will open a wound,” he murmured. “Your skin is still suffering damage. However, your hearing is not. You know very well what I said. You will learn how to shoot,” he repeated, a touch of annoyance in his voice.
Daisy’s eyes dropped to the blaster with reluctance. “I don’t think you quite grasp this, but... I wasn’t named Daisy because I am some kind of tough warrior woman. I’m a daisy... a fragile freaking flower.”
He studied her for a long moment. “Are not some types of daisies considered weeds on your world?” He leaned forward and the corner of his hard mouth curled in a smirk. “They are quite resilient. And so are you,” he added as he straightened once more. “Or have you already forgotten how we met?”
“I think it was pretty obvious that I didn’t have a clue how to use it,” she pointed out before giving him a sweet, cheerful smile in the hope of softening him up to her way of thinking.
“But I don’t expect you to remedy that. I do not think blaster lessons are part of the package I’m paying for.
No need to overexert yourself with tiresome lessons. ”
He stared back at her. Her smile faltered. That didn’t do it. For a credit-hungry mercenary, his expression didn’t change even fractionally.
Well, damn.
She lowered her gaze to the weapon again and pursed her lips. “You do realize that thing is about as long as my forearm and twice as thick. How do you expect me to even lift it?”
“With practice,” he replied as he stepped forward and pushed it into her hands.
She fumbled it awkwardly and grimaced. “Great. Well, don’t expect much,” she muttered. “I’m going to handle it about as well as a virgin who has her hand around a cock for the first time.”
Zil’s eyes sharpened on her speculatively, and she gave a nervous little laugh, though she couldn’t understand for the life of her why she was so awkward. She was never awkward when it came to sex.
“But hey, we’ve all been there. Touch one pistol, touch them all.
I mean... some pistols have a bit more than others, sure, but it is all the same in theory.
Handle it wrong and it can still go off and the wrong moment.
Nothing kills the mood like a misfire,” she rambled.
He continued to stare throughout her comparison of pricks and pistols, making her feel increasing self-conscious.
There wasn’t judgement in his gaze. He just studied her, his eyes brightening as if fascinated by all the things she was unintentionally revealing about herself.
She cleared her throat. “But yeah... practice should work. I will get familiar with your... ahh... big gun.”
She closed her eyes. What the hell was wrong with her?
“Good,” he growled. “I have never allowed another to touch it.”
Daisy’s eyes flew open and her jaw came close to dropping before she managed to catch herself. Wait, they were talking about his blaster... not that. Heat climbed up her cheeks, and she cleared her throat again. She couldn’t believe she was blushing! When was the last time that had happened?
“I’m... uh... honored,” she managed to reply.
He inclined his head gravely and stepped back. “You will get much experience from this,” he gruffly assured her. “Every night you will touch it and familiarize yourself with it and learn the best way to operate and maneuver for optimal firing.”
Gods, this wasn’t getting any better. The heat in her face deepened and seemed to cause an echo of a deeper heat to unfurl within her as her imagination kicked into overdrive.
She squeezed her eyes shut with the idea that it might help her control herself, but they flew open in the next moment when Zil positioned himself behind her and his big hand rested on his arm for a moment before sliding down to her wrist.
“Begin with both hands,” he growled softly into ear, making her belly clench with a rush of heat. “Familiarize yourself with its weight and girth.”
With his hand resting on the back of hers, he guided her arm upward, lifting the blaster.
Her arm shook with effort, but his touch steadied her somehow.
They stood together like that. Her arm ached from the unfamiliar weight, but she didn’t drop it.
Instead, she kept a hyper-aware focus on Zil as he leaned forward again, and the warmth of his chest grazed her back.
“Steady. Find your target. See the upright stone just ahead of us?”
She squinted at the landscape in front of them and found the stone that jutted up at an odd angle. It was heavily pitted with age from numerous sandstorms that likely swept over the planet every year.
“Got it,” she whispered.
“Good.” His hand slid up her forearm, supporting it. “Now squeeze to fire.”
Fuck, that sounded so dirty. Daisy squeezed her thighs together in an attempt to restrain her mounting desire. That wasn’t the squeeze that he meant, but it was necessary to get the rest of her body under control so that her finger would do what it needed to do.
The blaster went off, spitting a tongue of plasma fire. The rock exploded under the force. Well... part of it did. It took a large chunk from the side of the thickest part of the stone, leaving it even more lopsided.
And that was with help.
“Well,” she mumbled, “that was a bit anti-climatic. I barely fucking hit it.”
Zil squeezed her arm gently. “And that, too, requires practice. It is not the firing, but the special touch that determines how it is fired that is the most effective.”
Why did she feel like they were once again not talking about blasters? Blushing, she turned and thrust the blaster back at him.
“Here,” she mumbled. “I’m not so sure I’m cut out for handling it.”
His mouth slowly curled as he took it. “You did very well. And you will do better tomorrow. And better yet the next day and the day after.”
“I doubt I will ever be able to perfectly fire it,” she retorted.
“What is perfect? There is no perfect. In anything worth doing, there will always be room for improvement,” he rumbled.
The flush in her cheeks deepened, and she ran a hand through her tangled hair. “So, what is the point of learning?”
“To put into practice what you have learned so as to utilize it effectively to the best of your ability,” he rumbled. “And to enjoy the art of just practicing.”
Daisy closed her eyes with a groan. Weapons. They were talking about weapons. Still, she had the niggling feeling that sooner or later they were going to end up fucking. If the tongue action hadn’t spelled that out already, this confirmed it.
She squeezed her thighs even tighter and groaned. With everything else that seemed to be growing the more she got to know him, what would she do if they took it further? If they fucked, how was she going to ever get him out of her system?
That same question repeated night after night.
Every evening when they stopped for the night, Zil dragged out his blaster, his eyes hot as he pressed it into her hands.
And every night afterward she fed while she desperately tried to ignore the blaze of lust consuming her.
It was a heat that rivaled the desert sun.
She was definitely cooked.