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In the past, others had called her an adrenaline junkie. Now she knew they were right, because she was one stripper pole away from playing cocktease-the-dragon.
Yet she might have taken it too far. His previously heated expression was becoming darker now, stony, and she perceived a shift in him. His aura seemed to grow rigid and stiff, his eyes narrowed, and a hint of anger rolled off him, making her falter.
Need to step it back a skosh.“I, uh…want to thank you for showing me this place. It’s a wonder, truly.”
He stood to his full height and took several menacing steps toward her. “Whatareyou?”
Jessie blinked, glancing around as if he might be speaking to someone else. “What do you mean?”
“How is it you have no fear of these things?”
“What things?”
He gestured to the flowers she’d been petting. “This world is alien to you, no? Queen Juniper has assured me there are no flowers on Earth that move like these. You should be cautious at the very least. I’d expect you to be frightened of them. Yet you reach out to dauntlessly touch them. You cuddle strange insects when you know nothing of them. And the pixies flying around you? They doona approach people as though curious. They doonalandon people. What is going on here?”
Pixies? She glanced up. Sure enough, there were little creatures circling her. They moved so fast she could barely track them. Every now and again, one would stop and hover, gazing back at her.
She gasped, delighted. “Oh, look at that. They’re adorable!” The pixies were about the size of her ring finger with an almost humanoid body, large ears, and black button eyes. They came in different shades: light pink, lavender, and sky blue. It appeared as if an extremely fine fur covered every inch of them but for their iridescent wings.
Unable to resist, she reached her hand out toward them. The lavender one reached back, placing its miniature clawed hand on the tip of her finger. Then the entire group darted away, vanishing into the surrounding forest.
Orik’s jaw went slack. “Queen Juniper had been afraid of all these things at first. Even the Faieara who’d visited this place long ago were wary of the things that were alien to them.”
“The fay-er-what?” She tried to roll her tongue on the middle syllable like he had.
“They are our allies from another world.” He paused for a moment and shook his head. “Never mind about them. How is it you are so comfortable here?”
Maybe he was used to softer women, raised to shriek at the sight of a bug. She must be an oddity to him. She shrugged. “I’ve just always been good with nature.”
He took another step toward her. “These flowers shy away from touch,” he declared, almost accusingly. “Yet they reach for you. Why?” His expression turned fierce, as if that meant there was something wrong with her.
“How would I know?”
“The fish follow you, too.”
She glanced over at the pond where the fish had gathered nearest to where she stood. “Is that not normal?”
He spoke slowly, as though to a child. “Nay. It is no’ normal.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.” Although she had always had an affinity with animals, they had never actedabnormallyaround her. On Earth, the mere notion could land her in an insane asylum. “Yes, Doctor. The fish are following me. What’s that? More pills? Yes, please.”
“Are you sure you’re human?” he grated, taking another step closer as though to intimidate her.
She stood her ground, throwing her shoulders back. “What? Of course I’m human. What else would I be? Should I be screeching and making a fuss? Sorry to disappoint, but that’s not me.” She had to incline her head to meet his gaze.
He searched her expression, crowding her. “Something is strange about you. I canna put my finger on it.”
She bristled. She’d never considered herself a normal female. Essentially raised like a boy by a father who, sure, was maybe a little emotionally distant, but who had cared for her the best way he knew how. When she was ten, she’d gone to summer camp in the mountains. She’d been so excited to go hiking and fishing and build birdhouses and such. But she’d been a little too good at it. The boys had viewed her with disdain, like she was taking something that was theirs. They’d tease her and call herweirdbecause she wasn’t afraid to pick up frogs and snakes and gut her own fish. She had never understood why it was okay for them and not her. But even back then she had thought she was pretty fucking fantastic and that everyone else could go stuff themselves.
Now she knew why they had reacted to her like that. It was hard for little boys to be outperformed by a girl at that age. Their little egos couldn’t take it. But what in the world could have triggered Orik? Just because she wasn’t afraid of his planet? First off, June, the only other human around, sort of, had assured her there was nothing to fear here, and Jessie had taken her at her word. Second, it stood to reason there wouldn’t be any dangerous plants or animals in aroyalgarden. Acting afraid would feel silly to her.
She and Orik now stood toe-to-toe as he loomed over her, an aggressive masculine move meant to cow anyone weaker than he was. Anyone who hadn’t grown up with Sergeant James Knight and his battle-hardened, testosterone-driven buddies who liked to teach an impressionable young woman how to shank a dude who invaded her space.
Only she didn’t want to shank this one. Her body responded in other ways to his nearness.
His aura shifted again, becoming molten and languid. His nostrils flared. as though taking in her scent, and he seemed to be committing every inch of her features to memory before his gaze dipped to her lips.
When she brazenly licked them, a muscle ticked in his jaw. Again, she got the sense he was enticed by her. So why was he being so combative? It could only be because he didn’t want to be.
