Page 29 of Alien in the Depths
“I can handle a weapon,” she told him after swallowing the mouthful.
“Only use it if it’s absolutely necessary,” he told her with a warning look that made her want to scoff. “Pulling out a blaster is liable to get you shot if you don’t—”
Sofia reached across the table, stopping him in his tracks. With a sigh, he turned his hand over, clasping her fingers in his.
“Sorry,” he relented. “I know you’re more than capable. I just don’t want you to get hurt. I really care about you.”
Sofia felt those exploding butterflies in her chest again and squeezed Zaraq’s hand.
“I care about you, too,” she told him, turning her body toward him so they were gazing straight at each other. “That’s why I’m doing this. And that’s also why you need to give me your blaster.”
At this, Zaraq mustered a smile. “Do you always get what you want?” he teased.
“I told you, feminine wiles.” Sofia ran her free hand over her curves for Zaraq’s benefit, and this time he laughed.
“I guess I can’t argue with that.” He pushed his chair away from the breakfast table and strode over to the bag he’d stashed in the corner of the room. Within a few seconds, he’d fished the blaster out and held it up for her inspection.
The small black weapon had a silver barrel, exactly what she’d caught sight of in the catacombs. The blaster was no more than six inches across, but she knew from experience not to underestimate it. She’d seen one of these pack a punch when necessary, and she didn’t envy anyone who had to stare down its barrel.
“Thank you,” she said as Zaraq placed the gun on the bedside table next to her purse.
When he came back to the table, she grabbed a piece of unidentifiable alien fruit. It dripped with a rich syrupy juice that reminded her of honey.
“Want some… honey fruit?” she asked, leaning forward while the fruit syrup dripped over her fingers.
“Jasfora,” Zaraq corrected with a smile. “And yes.”
Sofia returned the grin, holding her other hand beneath the jasfora to catch the drips. She brought the fruit to his mouth and fed it to him, letting him lick the syrup from her fingers. Thewarmth and wetness of his tongue had her body buzzing with endorphins all over again.
“Now your turn,” Zaraq replied. “Have you tried any laki yet?”
He gestured to a box of what looked like baklava, only white. Sofia shook her head, hoping Zaraq was about to return the favor, and to her delight, he did.
Only she wasn’t quite as graceful as he had been when eating the jasfora. She immediately managed to cover herself in a fine dust of snow-white crumbs. Worse still, some of them went up her nose.
“Achoo!”
Her sneeze sent the remaining crumbs billowing into the air, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that Zaraq was staring at her with a look somewhere between amusement and utter confusion.
“What was that?” he asked, baffled.
“What, the sneeze?”
“Is that what you call it?” Zaraq raised his eyebrows, clearly fascinated.
Sofia laughed, shaking her head. “Don’t tell me aliens don’t sneeze.”
“None that I know of.”
Sofia thought about it. Now that he mentioned it, she didn’t think she’d ever seen Arccoo sneeze, or any other alien for that matter.
“Well, I guess it’s just another one of those weird human things,” she told him with a grin.
“One of those endearing human things,” Zaraq corrected, pulling her out of her seat and into his lap.
For a moment, she thought Zaraq was going to start feeding her breakfast again, but instead, he just held her close. She could feel his breath against her, his arms warm and tight around her.
The gesture was heavy with meaning, and Sofia was forced, all over again, to think about what might happen if her date that night didn’t go as planned. And it wasn’t just her own safety that was at risk.