Page 125 of Planet Zero
His words hit her like a slap. “I don’t have a mate!” she forced between clenched teeth. “It isn’t like the city. I’m not Samantha. I am leaving, Zoark.”
“Leaving?” he repeated, his brow furrowing in the most fearsome sight. He moved, closing the gap between them in his fluid limp, his burning hot eyes intense on her face.
She nodded. “I hope you find another woman to take the edge off your needs. Maybe you and Shur can put your heads together and source females from another tribe. Your own kind.”
“I’m a cripple, remember? Defective goods. There’s no marriage market for me.”
Addie took in his powerful form. “Believe in yourself. Someone will see you for who you are. Don’t ever settle again.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Who told you I settled?”
“Some things don’t have to be said to be understood.”
“You got it wrong,” he stated flatly.
“It doesn’t matter now.”
A curious expression entered his features. “Tell me, Addie-woman, did I ever hurt you?”
Yes, he did. Or rather, his indifference did. But it wasn’t what he was asking.
“No, you didn’t. How could you? You’re always so careful.” She didn’t mean to sound bitter, but that’s exactly how the words came out.
His forehead wrinkled again, now in puzzlement. “That is rather the point. Of course I try to be careful. You’re so small. I can crush you if I don’t pay attention.”
“I’m not that fragile, you know.” She gave a small watery smile.
He looked highly skeptical. “Physical power scares you. My people’s men scare you.”
“They can be intimidating, I admit. No one should have so much raw strength.”
“You were scared of me.” His gaze burned her.
“I wanted you,” she gave him another truth. “It was wrong of me to offer, but then I didn’t know about Samantha… Remember, at the caves? You refused me.”
“I remember.”
“Well…”
“You don’t know what that refusal cost me.”
She glanced up, not sure she heard him right.
“And I tried to stay away from you, but the damned trek across the mountains made it hard.”
“And then you realized your tribe needed you?”
He gave a short bout of laughter, and it wasn’t pleasant. “Bugger the tribe. It was when you and Qalae came upon us, and the stupid Kivek startled you.”
Addie winced, remembering.
“The way you reacted,” he continued, “and the way you laughed afterward - so much light. Looking at you made my chest hurt. Life churns inside you, Addie. Males were already starting to notice you, and sooner or later one would have asked you to mate him. I couldn't stand the idea. I wanted you for myself. After Samantha, a human woman was the last thing I intended to touch. But fate can play with you in different ways.”
Addie’s stomach went airborne. It was too much, and she was breaking under the emotional onslaught.
Without thinking, she turned and fled. Running as fast as her legs could carry her, Addie took a sharp left, heading toward the incline. Skidding on loose gravel, she hopped over the dwarf bushes that tore at her soft boots as her legs grazed them, and sprinted away.
Breathing hard, she turned again, and almost collided with Zoark.
