“No thank you. Not on a full stomach.” Or any stomach as far as she was concerned.
“I will stay with you the next time you shift. I would fly with you.”
“I’m not ready.” She glanced in his direction, then quickly looked at the hawk again. It would be too easy for him to sway her into doing something she wasn’t ready to do. “But it’s a beautiful bird.”
The hawk suddenly swooped down like a bomber plane. For a moment it was lost in the trees. What the hell was it doing? Had it crashed? When it reemerged, there was a wiggling tail dangling from its mouth.
“Eww.”
“The hawk has great visual acuity. It can spot prey from a long distance.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I
He laughed. A deep baritone sound that wrapped around her, singing to her soul. She met his gaze, and something passed between them. He leaned closer, his lips brushing against hers. His touch was nice and, all too soon, he pulled back. Oh, jeez, she really needed to think about something else.
“Do you swim?” she suddenly asked.
“Swim?”
“You know, in the water.”
He opened his mouth, paused, then shook his head. “I don’t know this.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her. “I know the perfect place: Miller Crossing.”
But when he aimed her toward his bike, rather than her car, she wasn’t so sure.
“I’ve never thought motorcycles were safe,” she told him.
“Are you going to play everything safe?” he asked.
She cocked an eyebrow. “I do not play everything safe. I took a chance borrowing the money to open my animal grooming shop. I could’ve fallen flat on my face.”
He didn’t say anything, only stared.
“Okay, fine, but if I die, you’re going to have to tell my parents.”
He straddled the seat and she climbed on awkwardly behind him. He handed her his helmet.
“You have motorcycles on New Symtaria?” she asked.
“No.”
She frowned. “But you have cars and trucks.”
“No.”
The bike roared to life.
“How long have you been driving?”
“Your time?”
“Yes.”
He pulled out onto the road, but yelled over his shoulder, “Two weeks. Maybe a little less.”
She was going to die. Why did she go against everything she believed in to get on a dangerous machine like this with an inexperienced driver?
“Which way?”
“My house first.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, closed her eyes, and hung on for dear life.
She had to admit on the ride over he seemed to be a skilled driver. Had he been lying? She had a feeling he was. Maybe to get her to hold on a little tighter. She would have done that anyway. She liked holding tightly to him.
She had a feeling her heart was in trouble.
All too soon, he pulled in her driveway and they climbed off.
“I thought you said you didn’t have vehicles where you’re from?”
“Not like this.”
He grinned, and she knew he’d teased her. He always seemed so serious that she hadn’t suspected him of having a sense of humor.
“Well, do you have shorts or something you can wear to swim in?”
“I have a database.”
As they walked inside, he pulled what looked like an IPod of sorts out of his back pocket. As tempting as the thought of his only wearing the Ipod and nothing else, he might cause someone to have a heart attack if they walked up on a naked alien. Especially an alien built as well as Kristor.
“I mean something to wear swimming. You’ll need a swim suit.”
He punched around on the keys, a swirl of lights appeared, and in the center was a pair of swim trunks.
“How did you do that?”
He held up the little computer. “Database. I told you about it.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would do this.” She waved her arm toward the suit. “Can you make anything appear?”
“Most anything.” He punched in some numbers, then smiled. More lights appeared and in the center was the skimpiest string bikini she’d ever seen.
“Funny, but I don’t think so.”
He punched around some more, and the suit disappeared. Before he could bring something else up, she said, “I have my own suit. You can change out here. I’ll use the bedroom.”
But when she went to her bedroom, she didn’t choose the most conservative suit that she owned. Her choice wasn’t a string bikini, but a pretty yellow swimsuit just the same, and one that flattered her figure.
She gave him what she thought was plenty of time, then walked into the living room. She’d slipped on a pair of blue-jean cutoffs over her swimsuit bottom, but the look he gave her told her he remembered what she looked like without clothes, and it took her breath away.
Not that she wasn’t doing the same thing to him. If they didn’t leave soon, they might not leave at all, and there was a lot more she wanted to know about New Symtaria. And Kristor.
“I’ll just grab a couple of water bottles and some towels.” She abruptly turned and went to gather everything they might need. But when she went inside the kitchen, she took a long, slow, deep breath as she tried to get her raging hormones under control.
Hell, it wasn’t every day that she had the equivalent of a male cover model in her house, or in her bed. She had to stop thinking so much about him in that way. She could spend a nice afternoon alone with him without jumping his bones. Surely, it wouldn’t be that hard.
Hard?
Kristor was already at the bike. He took the things from her and put everything in the black leather bags that hung on each side of the motorcycle. She gave him directions, telling him the turns as they came up to them. Her fear of riding on the motorcycle quickly changed to exhilaration. It was a lot more fun than she’d expected. There was a freedom, much like when she ran, except she didn’t have to work for the rush. She had a feeling this would turn out to be a nice day.
Miller Crossing was where she and Carly had spent most of their summers. It was a great place to swim. You couldn’t cross it, though. It was too big, so you had to go around it. That made it more private and, most of the time, anyone could find a secluded spot.
She directed Kristor around to the far side. It was the best place, and she knew it was more concealed than some of the other areas. She didn’t even attempt to question her motives.
He slowed, then turned off onto a narrow trail only wide enough for a motorcycle, bringing the bike almost to a crawl. Ria kept her knees in tight against the hard muscles of his thighs. When the water was in sight, he stopped the motorcycle, turning off the engine, and dropping the kickstand.
It was as though they were the only ones in the world, surrounded by the silence of the pine trees. For a moment, they sat looking at the clear slate of blue water. Perfect, unblemished. Begging for them to jump in.
She quickly climbed off and removed her helmet. Kristor climbed off as well.
“Now, do you have a view like this on New Symtaria?” she asked.
“Better.”
