Hide to Stay Alive (Club Release 1) (10 page)

With goodbyes being called
out, my male leads me further down the path and then takes another
turn that leads to a parking lot. My eyes widen as I take in all of
the sleek aerodynamically shaped vehicles.

Din Zar pulls some strange
looking keys out of his pocket and then presses a button. Light
flashes on one of the vehicles as he leads me to it. He chuckles
and shakes his head. “I can never tell my vehicle from Dax and
Lor’s. The assholes love to park right next to me.” He removes the
cuff on my wrist with a touch and then opens the door and watches
as I climb in. My wrist feels almost naked without the
cuff.

I look around the
high-tech vehicle as Din Zar opens his door and gets in. On Earth
vehicles are only used by the rich people. From what I’ve seen
though none of Earth’s vehicles are anywhere near a nice as this
one.

“
Strap in, seema. My baby
goes fast.” He tugs at my belt and then shows me how to use it by
strapping himself in.

In his normally confident
manner, he starts the engine. I’m surprised when the vehicle rises
a bit. I hold onto my seatbelt as he pulls the sleek vehicle out of
the lot and onto a path. I feel dizzy as we take off at a speed
that makes the lush jungle plants blur into a mass of green, tan,
and dark blue streaks.

The pressure pushes me
deep into the seat. I close my eyes and breathe in a calming way.
My mind envisions us crashing and bursting into a billion tiny
pieces. His hand on mine has my eyes jerking open and looking over
at him.

He never takes his gaze
off the path. “We’ll be home soon, little seema.”

The word
home
swells in my chest.
I haven’t had a home in a long time.

CHAPTER

12

~ Hallie ~

♥

My white-knuckled grip
loosens when the vehicle slows and pulls up to a glass and metal
building. Since he said he was taking me to his house, I assume
this is where he lives. The structure is tall and looks a lot like
the building we were in a few minutes ago.

The three steps leading to
the door catch my attention. The stone landing at the top of the
steps has an interesting symbol designed into it. It has an angled
knife that’s blocked in with a row of three stars on each side. At
the bottom of the design is a sharp wave. A lot of work went into
making the landing and steps. I can appreciate the
effort.

My gaze moves on. It’s
important to know your surroundings. The green, tan, and blue
jungle plants are no more than fifty feet from overtaking the side
of the glass home.

Instead of being unkempt
looking, it feels rustic and homey.
That’s
because you’ve spent most
of your life in
the woods
, my logical side points out. Once
again, she’s right. If we’d pulled up to a big ass apartment
complex, I would’ve gone into spasms.

Din Zar gets out of the
vehicle and comes around to my side, he opens the door, and then
quickly unbuckles me. I feel heat rising to my cheeks. “Sorry, I
could have done that. I was admiring your place. It looks real
nice.”
After the way you were raised, this
place is a badass mansion
, my logical side
says. This time I don’t appreciate her input.

“
That’s all right. You’ve
been through a lot today. I’m glad you like my home. Especially
since you’ll be staying here.” He steps back and I climb
out.

I long to look at the
plants around the home. They are so pretty and different from the
ones I’m accustom to. My stomach growls loudly demanding to be
fed.

Din Zar takes hold of my
hand as though he doesn’t trust me not to run. For the first time I
notice the scar on his right hand. As thick as his skin is I’d
guess only an extremely sharp weapon could scar it. I am a little
surprised that their scars seem to be white. My attention is drawn
back to his home when he then guides me up the steps and into his
dwelling.

Inside I look around at
the clean lines of glass and metal. The only thing that looks bad
is the sight of his dirty clothes littering the floor. I can see
why he needs me.

My gaze moves on. Little
touches of color here and there stop the place from being cold. The
tan furniture is huge and sturdy looking. I glance up and down his
body. If I were seven feet tall, I’d want solid furniture
too.

My wayward stomach
complains again. He frowns and leads me through the living room and
into what I believe is the kitchen. All of the strange devices are
confusing.

Din Zar pulls out a stool
from under the kitchen bar and orders, “Sit, seema.”

At his commanding tone, I
immediately do as he tells me. For a second I’m not happy with
myself for jumping to do as he orders. Then I look up into his eyes
and see approval. The frustration in me immediately melts away.
Deep down I think that’s a strange thing. How can his approval make
me happy?

Before I can figure it out
he’s placing a square plate in front of me. “Eat. I’ll get you
something else in just a bit, seema.”

I look at the sliced red
food in front of me and then sniff it. It doesn’t smell bad. As I’m
taking my first bite he places something that looks like a muffin
on my plate. I don’t have time to wonder about it because an
explosion of flavor bursts across my tongue.

Sweet and spicy. That’s
what the combination is. I chew it and grab another slice. This one
I shove into my mouth and devour it. I’m on my fourth slice when I
look up and see him watching me intently.

Heat fires across my
cheeks. I must look like a starving animal.
Girl, you are a starving animal
, my
logical side ruthlessly points out. Since the bitch is right, my
proud side doesn’t say anything.

I swallow the food and
give him a small smile. “Sorry about that.” I look down at the
counter in front of him and frown when I don’t see a plate. “Aren’t
you going to eat?”

“
I ate earlier. Zaphinians
only eat one meal a day.” He motions toward my plate. “Go on, keep
eating. I know humans need to eat four to five times a day to be
healthy.”

That’s right, he’s bought
humans before. I look around the room half expecting five human
females to appear. My gaze swings back to his. It’s harder this
time. That’s not good.

He points a finger at my
plate. “Eat.”

I frown at him and he
growls at me. “Okay.” I pick up another slice of food and slowly
put it into my mouth. Just because I’m hungry doesn’t mean I have
to eat like a wild animal. After I finish the red food, he points
at the muffin.

I break it in half and
then sniff it. The muffin smells good, so I take a bite. A fruity
taste floods my mouth. I chew it quickly and take another bite.
Shit! I’m acting like a starving animal again. With more care, I
take my next bite. This time I act as normal as I can. My stomach
is starting to become happy. I eat the last bite and look
up.

His teal and silver eyes
shine with approval which makes my heart beat faster. The way I
react to Din Zar is a little overwhelming
.
Maybe it’s because he’s an alien
, my
logical side says. I agree with her for a moment, then I remember
not caring what the other aliens thought of me.
Maybe it’s because he’s hot
, my
logical side adds. I have to admit that could be part of it. Him
being nice to me doesn’t hurt either, it actually makes me respect
him a little.

He puts another muffin on
my plate and then gets two glasses and fills them with some kind of
purple liquid he got from the cabinet. He sets a glass down near my
plate and then drinks from his own glass.

A shrill sound comes from
a band around his wrist. He pushes a button and starts talking to
someone. As he steps away, I take a peek at his ass. Yep, it’s just
as taut and powerful as I thought it would be. These beings are
tall but well proportioned. I appreciate that as I stare at his
butt.

He speaks so low that a
can only make out a word or two. I don’t mind. For the first time
in my life, I’m enjoying the view of a male’s firm body.

He suddenly turns around.
Shit! My gaze darts to his. A knowing look gleams in his pretty
eyes. Relief floods through me when he doesn’t say anything about
catching me staring at him like he’s a birthday cake.

“
I need to go to the club
for just a few minutes. I’ll show you to your room and then you can
come back in here and finish your snack.” He takes hold of my hand,
watches me slide off the stool, and then leads me down a long
corridor and into a room.

He flashes me a fanged
smile. “You’re safe here, seema. When I come back we’ll talk. For
now, I just want you to rest.”

My heart starts to beat
faster as I watch him pivot on his heel and head for the door. As I
stare after him, it dawns on me that I may not be the only person
in the house. A shiver runs through me as I worry about what the
person will think of me. How that person will react to me being
here. Is the person kind or mean? Is it territorial?

I head out of the room to
catch Din Zar. Before I make it to the living room, I hear the
vehicle start up and drive away. Damn fast assed alien. I
cautiously look around for anyone else who is in the
house.

“
Hello,” I call out. I
stand still as I wait for an answer. When nobody responds, the
breath I’ve been holding whooshes from my lungs. Maybe the others
he’s brought here are away working or gathering food.

Needing to make sure I’m
alone, I start walking around and peeking into all of the rooms.
The first three rooms are bedrooms like the one he led me to. The
next door I open reveals a bathroom. The huge tub has my jaw
dropping, until I remember how tall zaphinians are, that is. For
them this is a necessary size. The shower is pretty with patterned
stone walls and the largest showerhead I’ve ever seen. Not that
I’ve seen a lot of them but this one is four time the size of the
largest one I have seen.

At least I now know where
to go when the need to pee comes on. I cautiously move to the next
room. It’s the one across from mine. I open the door and stare in
stunned silence.

The bed looks like its fit
for a king. The mattress is deep and the frame is massive and
carved from wood. All of the furniture in here is magnificent. I
take a deep breath and smell him. Unable to stop myself, I take a
few more deep breaths. His scent calms me. The masculine aroma even
feels good as it enters my lungs.

My gaze darts around the
room again, there are two other doors in here. One opens into a
closet. Like everything else in the room, it’s huge. I back out and
go to the other door. This one leads to another bathroom. Since
it’s in the master bedroom it’s even more opulent than the other
one. The stonework in here is more detailed and absolutely
beautiful. A few of the stones have been stained blue. They make
the design pop. I touch the smooth stone countertop and shiver at
the cool texture. So beautiful yet so cold. I hope Pretty Eyes
doesn’t turn out to be like this stone.

Knowing I should move on, I
leave his room. I’m surprised when a pang of sorrow pinches my
heart.
Get a grip, Hallie Mead. You
probably don’t mean anything to him
, my
ugly logical side states. Painfully, I remember that he didn’t
introduce me to his friends.

“
Don’t get attached to
him,” I whisper. My heart doesn’t like my words at all.

I remember his words on
the platform from hell and my heart sinks. He bought me to be his
sex-servant who also cleans his house and does who knows what else.
There is no way he can care about me. A picture of him looking at
me with kindness flashes to the forefront of my mind. Maybe it
won’t be bad working for him.

The next room down turns
out to be an office. Moving on, I check out the last room. The only
furniture in the room is a carved wooden chest of drawers. I step
inside, the floor has some type of cushioning on it. The room also
smells interesting, in a good way. I wonder what he does in
here.

Going back to the kitchen,
I take a sip of the purple drink he poured me. It tastes good. I
like the zing it has. A noise from somewhere in the house has me
jumping and looking around. With all of these windows anyone could
be watching me. My heart nearly leaps from my chest when a hissing
sound comes from somewhere behind me.

Not waiting to be eaten up
by a monster, I grab my muffin and slip it deep inside the sleeve
of my bodysuit. The spooky sound has me running to the front door.
I’d rather take my chances in the jungle than in here.