Close Obsession by Anna Zaires Page B

“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered.
    “For tonight, you can wear this,” Korum said, pulling out a delicate-looking light-pink dress.
    Mia put it on, secretly pleased by the heat in Korum’s eyes as she changed in front of him, and walked over to look in the mirror. Like all Krinar clothes so far, the dress fit her perfectly, ending just above her knees, and didn’t require any kind of bra underneath. There were no sleeves, and her back was left entirely exposed. However, her shoulders were covered with wide ruffled straps, and the square neckline at the front was surprisingly modest. The color was beautiful, giving her pale cheeks the illusion of a rosy glow.
    “I’ve noticed you don’t wear any kind of bright or dark clothing,” Mia commented, wondering about that peculiar fact. “In general, you seem to favor light colors in everything. Is there a particular reason for that?”
    Korum smiled, looking at her with a warm glow in his eyes. “There is. Bright or dark colors have historically been associated with violence and vengeance in our culture, and we prefer not to have them around in the normal course of daily life. Of course, when we leave our Centers and interact with humans, we usually wear human clothes – and we don’t care about the colors as much for that. In fact, some of us enjoy clothing that we’d never normally wear here or on Krina – like the bright red dress you saw Leeta wear in New York. If she were to dress like that among the Krinar, everyone would think she’d gone crazy and was planning a vendetta of some kind.”
    Something clicked for Mia. “Is that why the Protector was wearing black at the trial? Because he’s on a warpath?”
    “Exactly,” Korum said. “He’s making a statement that he believes he’s been wronged and that he intends to seek revenge.”
    “Seek revenge how?” Mia wondered, and Korum shrugged, apparently not in the mood to discuss politics right now. Since they didn’t have much time, Mia decided to let it go for now and focus instead on the upcoming dinner.
    “Here, you can wear these shoes,” Korum said, handing her a pair of soft ivory booties. Like all K footwear, these seemed to have a flat sole. Apparently, the concept of high-heeled shoes was not as popular among Krinar females as it was among human women.
    Mia pulled on the boots – which immediately conformed to her feet and became comfortable – and tried to tame her hair a bit with her fingers. After lounging for hours, she had a serious bedhead look going on, with her long curls tangled and sticking out in all directions. After a couple of minutes, she gave up on the hopeless cause. Even with the regular use of Korum’s wonder shampoo, her hair would never be as straight and sleek as she’d like.
    “It looks beautiful, Mia. Leave it,” Korum said, observing her efforts with quiet amusement.
    Mia couldn’t help smiling at him. It was one of the things she found peculiar about him: he actually seemed to have a thing for her hair, often touching it and playing with the curls. Since she’d never seen a curly-haired K, she assumed he simply liked it because of the novelty factor. “Okay, then I’m ready, I guess . . .”
    “One more thing,” Korum said, coming up behind her and fastening an unusual iridescent necklace around her neck, his warm fingers brushing against her throat. It was a deceptively simple design, just a tear-shaped pendant on a thin chain, but the shimmery material made it indescribably beautiful. It was as if all colors of the rainbow were gathered around her neck, competing with each other for attention.
    “Wow,” Mia breathed, touching the pendant with reverence. “What is it?”
    “It’s a genuine shimmer-stone necklace,” Korum explained. “Shimmer-stone occurs naturally only in my region of Krina, and this one has been passed down through generations in my family. It’s just shy of a million years old.”
    Mia turned around to stare at him in shock.