Page 13 of Stealing Samantha

Even speaking her name had him on edge. He could feel the heat in his voice, could taste the sound of promises he had no right to be making, and he only hoped that she didn’t hear them, too. Humans weren’t like his people. Their men had no venom, no fangs. She wouldn’t understand why he was compelled to come searching for her, and if she did learn, she would misunderstand. Even as he felt the bite of pain begin to burn in his gums, even as his body tightened in recognition, he knew that he’d need to ignore it all, to show her that there could be something between them besides simple attraction. From what he knew of the Sa’isthess clan, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn they’d told her of the bond and had diminished it to an animal need. She hadn’t yielded to them, and she wouldn’t yield to him without something more.

If Jaess ever had the chance to claim Sam, he’d have to tempt her heart first.

“Despite Lithi’s promises, I’ve learned far less of humans than I’d hoped during my time so far on Earth,” he said as they took the narrow steps up to the right side of the stage. “I’m curious to see your instrument. Back in Vastiss our people used several types of flutes.” He flashed her a smile, lowering his left wing a bit so that he could meet her eyes over his shoulder. “I’ve heard your music is different. I’m glad.”

The color of her face shifted slightly, as if she momentarily glowed brighter, and he found himself once again taken aback by the intriguing strangeness of humans. He wanted to learn what caused all the slight changes in her color, to be the one who could call the flush to her soft skin..

“I didn’t get a good look at the flutes your musicians were using today, but honestly, I had my eyes on the stage, not the pit. Still, from the sound and what little I did see when I was in Uvaess’ village, I think mine is quite a bit different. Even if the instrument weren’t, the type of music I’ll play for you is.” They’d reached the stage, and she stopped moving forward as her teeth pressed into the tip of her tongue. “It’s probably different from most typical human music, too.” Her shoulders lifted and fell and she looked away from him as she scanned the stage.

He followed her gaze. He inclined his head towards Vasith, who was watching him sternly from the edge of stage right. Jaess waited for the other man to leave before he spoke. “I think it’s almost safe for you to play.” He tipped his head towards the knot of reporters who were being led out towards one of the backstage exits.

Sam didn’t look comfortable, and he wished he knew how to put her at ease. That part of him that scented her and sighedminehated her agitation and ached to soothe her, but he knew she wouldn’t accept comfort from him—not yet. She barely knew him at all. She hadn’t even remembered him on her own, and that had stung.

She huffed out a heavy breath and bent down onto one knee. She unsnapped the case she’d been carrying, and he watched her remove three parts, sliding them together until they formed one unit. Her flute was made from a shiny metal and was longer than most that his people used.

She rose back to her feet and bent her neck side to side before she looked back at him. “Here it goes, I guess,” she said.

He didn’t like the tremble in her voice. He wanted her fire, the anger he’d seen in her back in Vastiss. That was preferable to this almost-fear. He didn’t expect her to raise the flute sideways, but his confusion over the instrument vanished as soon as she began to play. She still faced out towards the empty seats, looking away from him, but he didn’t mind. At first, it didn’t sound much different from his people’s music. She played a short melody with fast, light notes. Then the music stopped and he watched her shoulders move as she breathed deeply, her instrument held lengthwise, pressed against her chest. He was tempted to walk in front of her so that he could see her face, but something told him to remain where he was.

She lifted the instrument back to her mouth, and this time the first note lingered, sustained yet somehow changing as the seconds passed. It grew louder and then receded like a wave cresting and then dissipating. When the song continued, working its way into his blood, sliding beneath his scales until it thrummed deep inside, he felt its undertow, the way it snuck up on him before he realized its strength.

He may have been thinking of waves and the open waters of Fassalthi Bay, but something about the sound made his eyes close as his vision filled with the green of home. Those living notes spun through the air and he saw the dance of leaves, the swirling flight of the yahvi as dawn’s first light penetrated the canopy. Jaess could smell the sweetness of familiar flowers, could taste the fleeting coolness of morning dew.

He knew he wasn’t the kind of dancer the others were. Jaess wasn’t an artist. He didn’t care about performing, and in fact, he did his best to imagine the audiences were never there at all. He rarely felt compelled to dance, but now he did. He wanted to absorb Sam’s music and let it flow outwards from limb and feather. He wanted to make his role here true, to show her what she did to him with her song that had sunk its talons into his flesh.

Jaess opened his wings softly, not wanting to startle her with their noise. Even though she couldn’t see him, there was a wholeness to displaying for her, the only woman he’d yearned to do this for since she’d first awoken his desire in Vastiss. His body lifted, his feet rising as if he was pulled upwards by a string anchored in his chest, one that she only had to tip her head to control. He forgot the dull ache in his muscles as he let his body follow her song.

Before he knew it, he found his feet moving rapidly over one of the middle platforms, and he wasn’t even quite sure how he’d arrived there. She continued to play, and he danced in answer to her call, determined to prove to her in the only way he knew how that he heard her—he saw her.

Jaess’ movements had been off during the rehearsal. He’d been aware of her presence from the moment he’d stepped on the stage that afternoon. That sense of recognition had only grown stronger, but now it powered him, no longer an obstacle that made him clumsy and slow.

Rippling, extended feathers—see me, know me, take me.Reckless, uncontrolled leaps that veered towards dangerous—don’t look away, let me in, let me learn you.

She watched him now. He wasn’t sure when she’d turned towards the stage, but her eyes followed every motion of his body, every dip and flare of his wings, and he gloried in her regard. He never looked away as he let the dance become more frantic. She was playing those long, throbbing notes again, the ones that straddled the edge of beauty and tipped towards pain, that he felt like a sharp ache in his soul. She did something with her mouth that made them tremble, like drops of water beaded on the underside of a leaf waiting to fall.

When he stepped off of the highest platform this time, his wings were spread from the first, although he barely resisted the fall. Halfway down he began to turn, catching the air beneath his feathers, feeling its rough caress, imagining that her music wove itself around him like a hungry vine, fastening itself against his scales, claiming him as he wished to one day claim her.

Jaess’ feet hit the stage with a thud that would’ve had Lithi frowning and then scowling, but he didn’t care. Sam was still watching, and as she lowered her flute, she stepped towards him, moving as if she’d been caught in her own magic, enthralled by her own song. Whatever it was that pulsed between them, at that moment, he was certain that she felt it, too, that she knew at least a portion of the same yearning.

Before their hands could touch, the harsh noise of clicking nails broke the Lady blessed silence. Jaess turned his head and saw Lithi walking towards them, her arms still raised high, nails meeting in a loud, messy rhythm to signal her approval.

“Jaess of Vastiss, I’ve learned you’re capable of following an accompaniment. Lady,” she said with an exaggeratedly deep inclination of her head towards Sam, “you’ve accomplished what no Xithilene musician has—you’ve forced him to dance to music, not in spite of it.”

He saw Sam’s fingers tighten around her flute. “Maybe he just needed a new kind of music,” she replied with a slight tilt of her head as she looked back at Lithi. “If you were watching, you must realize my style is quite a bit different from what you normally dance to.”

Lithi’s short crown feathers rose, but she smiled. “Yes, that’s true.” She fixed her penetrating gaze upon Jaess then, and he waited to see what would come next. Lithi wasn’t pleased, he could sense that, but she wasn’t exactly angry either. The emotions cycling through her eyes were unclear even though he’d known her now for multiple moon cycles. “You should come with us—on our tour,” she said as she turned back to Sam.

“What?” Sam asked before her expression cleared and she tilted her flute diagonally across her body. “Are you serious?”

Lithi let her wings rise and extend partially, puffing herself up to create a larger presence. “Yes. The purpose of the cultural exchange initiatives is to bring our peoples closer together, to strengthen the bonds between our planets. It’s entirely appropriate to include a human musician, and the fact that you can force Jaess to dance like that only makes it a better idea.” She was looking very pleased with herself. “You have no objections, do you, Jaess?”

“No.” The answer came out as more of a whisper than the confident reply he’d planned to give, and Lithi continued speaking as if he hadn’t said anything at all.

“Are you willing to join us?” she asked, stepping closer towards Sam.

Sam caught his eye as if she hoped to find some sort of answer there. If anything could be read from his face, it’d be telling her that the idea of sharing the next two moon cycles with her was his greatest desire. He could barely force himself to breathe as he waited for her to respond.

“What sort of compensation can I expect?” she asked instead of giving the resounding “yes” he’d hoped to hear.

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