Page 2 of Risking Her Heart

I stare at him in disbelief.

“You’re going to climb that? With me? On your back?”

He frowns and shrugs.

“Better idea?”

I blink several times then my feet are soaked by an incoming wave. The tide is already rising so staying here is not an option.

“No,” I say.

“Good, go,” he says, motioning towards his back.

Seeing no other choice, I make a little jump up and wrap my arms around his neck. He helps me up until my legs are locked on his waist and then he begins climbing. This is the mostinsane, crazy thing that has happened to me since the ship crashed.

That said, the smell of him fills my head, and that creates all kinds of other thoughts. I don’t know this Zmaj, but I am grateful for him. I’d be dead without him for sure. And now I want to know more about him. Who is he? Does he have a mate? Does he want one?

“Thank you,” I whisper partway up the cliff.

“Treasure,” he says.

My heart skips a beat, and my mouth is instantly dry. I don’t think there is a surviving human who doesn’t know what that means. When one of these large aliens says that to you it’s a claim. You’re their ‘one’.

Am I ready to be his one? I don’t even know this guy. He saved me, great, but that’s nothing to build a relationship on. At least not the only thing. There has to be more to it than just that, right?

One thing is for sure, he’s laying his claim. Now, it’s up to me, what am I going to do about it?

1

KATARINA

Waves 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.

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