Page 60 of Planet Zero
What was it that Samantha had seen in him?
The yellow Ihr sunlight peeked inside from where Vircea left the teepee flap folded up. Addie’s eyes examined his face. With his strong animal features, try as she might she couldn't find the appeal. Except for his mouth. Half-open now to reveal the edge of his scary teeth, it was surprisingly sensual, with its bowed upper lip and downturned corners. With his defenses down, the usual stern expression was gone from his face, leaving behind something elusive, an indefinable essence lurking right under the surface of his skin, teasing Addie, calling for her yet not revealing itself.
Her gaze slid back down. He had a strong neck and a firm torso, though he was definitely on a lean side. His waist was trim and taught, but his thighs remained thick and muscled.
It was despicable of her to appraise him like this when he was unconscious, to speculate about what kind of maleness he had, and wonder how a human woman could be attracted to him enough to commit the most intimate of acts on her own free will.
Suddenly, Addie couldn't look away.
His thick thighs were splayed apart from his restless tossing around. His belly, with its seal-smooth fan of hair, rose and fell with each steady breath. The thick bones of his shoulders and wrists implied physical prowess - she remembered well the heavy axe he wielded with ease against the Wrennlin. Her eyes followed back up to the column of his long neck, took in the mass of spaghetti-thick copper hair, and landed again on his mouth.
Addie reared up and almost fell.
Like a hidden picture that at long last revealed itself, she saw it. A predator even in repose, Zoark didn’t look cute or beautiful or sexy. He was too animal for that.
And he was delicious.
His eyes flew open without warning, and Addie was impaled by the force of his blazing stare. He turned his head, owl-like.
“What do you want, strange woman?” His voice was pure gravel, his tone pure venom.
Addie’s heart was beating too fast.
It was hard, but she made firm eye contact. “Treating your wounds.”
“I don’t need to be treated.” Hatred rang clear in his voice.
“The skin on your chest was laid wide open from where your comrade Iguell went all crazy werewolf on you over a hunk of Tek meat. Of course, you needed to be treated.”
Zoark rose on his elbows and looked down, examining the swath of fabric covering his stitches. Addie was half-afraid he’d tear it off and rip the stitches out.
“Treated,” he repeated with quiet menace. His angry For eyes found hers and stared her down, and she badly wanted to run. Or at least to take a step back.
She did neither. Instead, she raised her chin. “You need stitches or you run the risk of bleeding to death. Open wounds can easily get infected.”
“So what?” Zoark’s words were like stones thrown in the water - flat and heavy.
“How’s your head?” She reached to touch his forehead to feel for fever but he swatted her hand away none-too gently.
“Screw off.”
“You should rest for a while.”
“I’ll do what I damn please.”
“You may die from a concussion,” she said, exasperated.
“Been a long time coming.”
Fast and furious, he grabbed her by the neck with one hand. She gasped. Her ribs protested with a sharp stab of pain in several places at once. Clawing at his arm, she knew right away that his grip was impossible to break. She expected to suffocate any second now, but Zoark’s grip was firm, not crippling. He pulled her closer so their faces were mere inches apart. His face was feral. The dark-colored teeth showed in a sneer that terrified her almost as much as the Wrennlin’s tongueless mouth, and she had to close her eyes to block it all out.
“Stop sniffing around. You want to put your hands on me, fine, I can give you what you want.” Without the visuals to scare her, his low voice washed over her in a cascade of warm sound, surprisingly soothing. “I’ve played this game before. But you better be ready to look at me when you come.”
He released her, and she fell backward, catching her elbow painfully against one of the supporting posts with a thump. Her eyes flew open.
“Understood?”
She nodded, unable to breathe despite being free of his hand.
