Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t hurt now, but it did just briefly when we moved through the crowd. It went high-pitched and screeching for a moment. It stopped as soon as we were in your, whatchamacallit--- sky car. Then again when you phoned your son, though just briefly. And then there was a period where your lips moved and no sounds came out at all while we were sort of rising up into the sky, so I don’t know what you said to me then.”
“It was painful?” he asked, eyes sharp.
I nodded. “Not the silence, but the screeching, yes. Sharp pain deep in my ears, but only for an instant.”
“May I examine it?” he asked, but he was already moving to me before waiting for my answer.
I was unable to break my gaze away from his. What a vibrant and unique shade of light blue. And there were so many prisms inside of his eyes; it occurred to me that I could get lost in there.
He led me toward the orange drapes and moved them aside with a hand. A round bed covered with a shiny jewel-toned patchwork quilt with frilled lace border and all sorts of similarly toned tufted pillows took up almost the entire space. This bulging cubby had a domed stained-glass ceiling. Before I got a chance to be embarrassed about being in a cubby with a giant bed in it with a sexy alien, I got caught up in admiring stained glass roses in orange, turquoise, green, and red panels outlined by gold.
“Oh wow.” I stared up in wonder.
And then I spotted a light-blue leafy plant with close to a dozen blooms that were closed tight in a cluster on top like white tulips, sitting in a blue planter pot on top of a glass shelf protruding from the wall. Tucked behind the plant stood a drawing, done on peach-colored canvas with pastel-like markings. Three people.
Us.
Me, Ollie, and Zane. It was very much drawn like a child would do, but with a definite artistic flair, almost as if an adult had attempted to draw like a child. It was pretty darn good for a little child, and you couldn’t mistake who the people were. One big person with curly black hair held hands with a medium-sized person with red hair and nestled between them was a littler person with curly dark hair and green eyes. The ‘me’ had a big smile. Oh, my heart.
That Ollie drew red hair showed me he absolutely did expect me to be the one his father brought home.
“May I?” Zane asked, reaching toward my ear.
My attention snapped from the drawing to him. His eyes were focused on me intently as I took in my surroundings.
“Uh huh.”
“He loves to draw nearly as much as he loves to read.”
I smiled. I felt the same about writing. Reading and writing were my passions.
He sifted his fingers through my hair to expose my ear, eliciting a shiver from me that rolled all through me. This made his smile broaden – he knew what he was doing. He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and his fingertips remained there a beat longer than they needed to. His teeth skimmed his lower lip and his chest moved with a big breath. He blinked and then held a small, square digital device over my ear and studied it. He then produced a small pen-like item from his pocket. He inserted it just barely into my ear canal. I felt a bit of warmth. He pulled it out and the tip was lit. He touched it to the screen in his hand and symbols appeared.
As he looked at the screen, frown lines appeared over the bridge of his nose.
“Oh, Tanya. Best stop for now,” he said and reached for my wine glass, which was on its way to my lips. “Your blood-alcohol level is quite high.”
I reached, about to protest, my mouth even forming the letter b for but… but then I deflated and nodded.
His serious face split into a wide smile as he put my wineglass down on a little table beside the bed. He kept smiling as he examined his screen. I then examined the prisms in his icy blue eyes some more until he broke the spell.
“Good girl.”
Oh wow. Why did that make my nipples tingle? A swallow moved down my throat and my heart thumped hard at that.
His eyes widened and he moistened his lips with his tongue before giving his head a shake. “I have to get to the office. I’m so sorry, Tanya.” He turned away from me and put his device back into his pocket. “I need to troubleshoot the problems with the translation devices many of the girls are reporting.” His eyes were filled with regret as they swept over me. “I’d just like you to be awake when I get home so we can talk some more. We’ve barely had the opportunity.”