by Stone, Layla
His Minky pinged again, and he pulled it out and accepted the voice call.
“Z.”
“Hey. Adelia and I are having drinks to celebrate that I sold all five hundred genie pistols in less than twenty-four hours. I left you three messages. Come over.”
“I’m already drinking here. Food’s on its way, too. I’ll try to stop by after,” he lied.
“No, you won’t. Why are you acting like a nip?”
Shine moved to his couch and sat down. “Had something to take care of at the apartment.”
“Like what?”
“Something Karr twisted me into accepting.”
“I’ll be over in fifteen.”
“No, I’ll see you tomorrow. We can do lunch.”
“Why not breakfast?”
Why not? Because he wanted to spend time with Z, not Adelia. And breakfast at Teeda’s was always Z and Adelia. “Busy until then. Lunch? Yes or no?”
“Lunch at Teeda’s. Fine.”
“See you then.”
Z terminated the call. Shine didn’t want to think about what Nara had heard, and he didn’t want her asking questions. Since she wasn’t sharing anything about her job, and he wasn’t willing to play, he turned on the Minky screen and continued with the Numan documentary.
“I know I am not seeing this,” Nara said when she walked over carrying her glass.
She sat down close to him to the point where their thighs touched. “Drinks and documentary night…yay.”
It was then that he sat back and thought: I’m an idiot. Nara was blunt, but she was making it clear that she liked touching him. Was she waiting for him to make the first move? In Northend, when he went hunting, it wasn’t hard. He waited for a female to stare too long, and then he would point to the door. That was all it took to solidify a blitz.
But this was Nara. He knew her, and he knew if he got it wrong, she would still be in his apartment.
At the same time, if she was letting him know that she was interested in a blitz, he wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass. She was too damn beautiful to say no to.
That’s when his ears picked up the narrator on the documentary saying, “And Numans don’t give off any scent. Their biology does not use pheromones to attract breeding partners. Instead, they attract each other based on the electrical impulses that each gives off.”
“Electrical impulses. How the hell does one do that?” Nara said to the program.
He didn’t answer. He was rehashing what he’d just heard. No scent? Nara had no smell, and Numans didn’t emit pheromones. “Nara.”
Her face lifted from near his shoulder to his face. “Yes?” The way she said it sounded like someone who was secretly smiling inside but trying to play it cool on the outside.
“Are you a Numan? Or a Sennite?”
“I don’t know how you could ever think I was a Sennite. Have you ever seen the breasts on those females?” She used her free hand to demonstrate how big they were. But he couldn’t wrap his head around that image. Didn’t care about some other female’s breasts.
He moved to sit in front of her, holding the back of the couch with his free hand. “You’re a Numan?”
She took a sip of her wine. “I’m a Numan.”
“You’re a Numan,” he repeated, taking it in. A real Numan was in his home. She had designed his apartment and was now drinking with him. Looking down at her hand, her nails were white with a purple swirl design.
Numans had purple nails. Had she not painted hers, he would have known right away that he was housing a female from a diabolical race. Was she trying to hide her race? Was she trying to trick him? “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because it does.” He stood up, still taking in the fact that a member of one of the most dangerous races in history was in his apartment. As a contradicting thought, he was living a dream…a real Numan was talking to him.
Nara crossed her legs, her face hardening. “Really. Why does it matter? Are you afraid I’m going to chop you into little pieces at night? Or experiment on your body?”
He wanted to say “yes,” but he was also aware that she had a sensitive disposition. She couldn’t cut him up and feed him to a new race of ghouls. He took comfort in that.
Shine took a large gulp of the quib, and his jaw clenched as it went down. “Gah,” he said.
“You’re going to feel that in a few minutes.”
Ignoring her, he realized he needed another drink. He walked into the kitchen, found the bottle, and poured himself two fingers worth. He downed that, too.
“I would tell you to stop, but what kind of roommate would I be if I got in the way of you getting blissfully drunk. By all means, pour another one.”
He had every intention of doing just that, but his Minky pinged, alerting him that there was a pod down in the lobby.
“Food’s here,” he said as he tipped the bottle in her direction.
This time, he didn’t down the glass. He sipped it and let the burn slide. Then he opened the door, and Nara led the way to the food.
By the time they got back, he felt it. So much so, he fumbled with the lock and almost locked himself out by trying too many times.
Nara didn’t say anything, but he felt her eyes behind him as he walked in. He didn’t stop at the kitchen table, he walked directly to his bed and laid down on his side.
To his surprise, Nara had her food in hand and moved to the floor in front of him. He didn’t like that, so he backed up sluggishly. He patted the area in front of his stomach. “Sit.”
Her back was cradled between his legs and his torso. Being buzzed, he freely admitted, “You feel good right here.”
Opening her food carton, she asked, “Good enough that you will try and blitz me later?”
“I do want to blitz you.” He couldn’t believe he was being so honest.
She forked out a piece of meat, and instead of eating it herself, she brought it to his lips. When he took the offering, she asked, “Why haven’t you offered to blitz me then? I thought all Demons were into pleasure and entertainment. You’re more of a non-Demon Demon.”
He finished chewing. “I don’t like Demons. No, that’s a lie. I hate them.”
She fed him another bite. “Why?”
He didn’t want to tell her, but his mouth moved anyway. “Because being a Demon is what killed my mom.”
Nara’s eyes lowered. “How did she die?”
He really didn’t want to tell her that either. In fact, he tried not to, but the words came out against his will. And that’s when he realized that he was drugged. The quib must have been mixed with a truth-by-the-way tab.
No matter how much he didn’t want to talk, he still opened up. And when she was finished feeding him and asking him questions, she brushed his mouth with her small thumb and said, “If we were on my ship, I would have already blitzed you. I would have treated you to a night of luxury and given you presents. I was taken in by a Sennite and taught to be like them. But you know what I like most about your kind? How honest they are about what they want.”
“You’re on Lotus Adaamas now, making deals like a true Demon. What’s stopping you from being honest about what you want?” Shine asked slowly.
Leaning down, her eyes turned watchful, hesitant. “Can I kiss you?”
Of all the things she could have asked or said, she’d shocked him with that one. “Do it.”
Closing the gap between them, he felt her soft lips against his. He wanted to pull her close, but his arm flopped on her back instead. Damnit. “Get on top of me.”
She didn’t stop kissing him as she moved her legs to straddle his waist. His hands were heavy, and when he tried to touch her, they flailed around. It was a mercy that she didn’t pull back. Her taste wasn’t flavorless like her skin. No, she was a little sour with a hint of the sweet wine she’d been drinking. It reminded him of his favorite candy.
“I want to taste you.”
She p
ulled away. “You don’t taste me?”
“No, I want you to take off your pants and panties and let me taste you.” He couldn’t do it himself. He needed her to do it for him.
She hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“Do it,” he demanded and watched as she did what he’d told her to do.
She didn’t just remove her pants, she removed everything. Shine soaked it in, even though it was hard to focus.
“Come here.”
She moved over his head but didn’t get low enough. He had to instruct her again and again. Finally, she was within reach. At the first lick, he knew he had made the right decision.
He’d never tasted anything better in all his life. She was warm, pink, and wet, and he couldn’t move to take her. Damn her tricks. He wanted to be inside of her. The closest he could get was using his tongue, which was good. He couldn’t complain.
He circled around her clit and feathered it until he heard her moan, then he teased it and sucked it hard.
A small tingle tickled the back of his head. It felt wrong.
Refusing to stop, he kept teasing and sucking until he heard her intake and felt the small quiver from her pussy.
He’d done it.
He finished her off with a few more licks until she moved away. That’s when the tingles reached the back of his eyes. Her face was blurry, and he couldn’t get his mouth to work. The tingles consumed his mind, and then his world went horribly dark.
13
Regrets
Nara was in the lab, making progress on the glowing female she’d started on the day before. The female was heavily sedated, and Nara wore purple-shaded glasses, trying to ignore the blood. All she had to do was focus on the lines of skin and cut along them to remove the illuminated string. Thank goodness for the pills Shine had given her.
The woman was hooked to a bag of blood and had a small, round medscope on her chest, healing the wounds that Nara inflicted. The whole thing was a slow process, and her neck was starting to ache from being hunched over so much, but at least she was making progress. All she had left was the female’s backside.
The lab door opened, and she didn’t bother looking up. Nara was too busy pulling out a microscopic strand that she couldn’t actually see. She just had to guess where it was and then gently lift it out of the skin so it didn’t break. Slow and steady was best.
“Look at you, getting it done,” Karr said, walking in.
Nara didn’t respond.
Karr put his hands on the other side of the medical bed and leaned over to see her progress. “Look what a little motivation does to a Numan. I’m so impressed with your work that I am inclined to be lenient on you. So, I came to say that you’re staying until you finish this one.”
Nara didn’t stop what she was doing other than to say, “Okay.” Not because she wanted to stay, but because she was still processing what had happened last night.
Nara didn’t usually feel regret, but the way that Shine had looked this morning as he’d poured out the bottle of quib, made her wonder if she had gone too far. He didn’t say a word, even after she reminded him that he’d drugged her with a fat-black-night tab.
He’d told her that was different, and that she should have understood that.
“Okay. Just like that? You don’t care that you won’t see Shine? I thought you were getting along with your new Numan-obsessed male,” Karr said, butting into her thoughts.
Nara finished pulling out the last of the microscopic string and waited for the section to heal over. “The sooner I finish with this Flourg, the sooner I get to leave this barbaric planet. So, win-win for me.”
“Things that bad?” Karr mocked concern. “If you want to know why I chose Shine, it was because he was the only person I know of who you couldn’t convince to leave. Nor would he take advantage of you.”
The irritating part was that she wanted him to at least try to take advantage of her. She’d literally had to ask to kiss him. Who did that with a Demon? No one. “How thoughtful of you.”
He smiled. She wasn’t sure if it was real or not. “You’re welcome.” He leaned forward a little more, flicked her forehead, and then jumped back when she swatted at the air. Karr headed back to the entryway and didn’t turn around as he told her, “Back to work, princess. A big pile of freedom is waiting for you at the end.”
Nara looked down at all the lines she had yet to do. She wished she didn’t have a sensitive stomach. If she didn’t, she would simply flay the skin and be done with it.
Before taking the tip of the scalpel to the skin, she wondered how Shine would take her absence. The jerk had better miss her by the time she got back, or she would do something drastic.
14
Where is She?
Shine paced from the entryway to the kitchen. Nara wasn’t back, and it was long past stardown. He raked his hand through his hair and hoped to Seth of Stars that Karr hadn’t hurt her. Worse, if he had, Shine would never know because he didn’t have Karr’s contact information, nor did he know where Nara was working.
He stopped mid-stride and shoved a hand into his pocket.
She still has it.
Shine rushed to the living room and tapped his Minky screen. He pulled up his account and sent himself a message but directed it to his Minky pad.
Nara,
Are you okay?
Shine
He hit transmit and held his fist against his mouth, hating every micro-second that passed. He hoped for an answer, but nothing came. Karr was a notorious cut-throat. If Nara messed up, it didn’t matter how much he needed her, the Silk would kill her. Shine had seen it before. Karr didn’t put up with mess-ups or betrayal—which was horribly ironic considering he’d betrayed both Z and Shine.
Images of burned bodies popped into his mind. Karr burned Demons that tried to double-cross him. Shine didn’t want Nara hurt. She was a better person than he gave her credit for and smart, too. Acid in his stomach burned as he waited for her response.
His Minky pinged. A new message. Tapping the message, he read,
Alive. Can’t talk. Cameras. Miss me.
That was all.
Shine stepped back and wanted to send another message, but he didn’t want to do anything that would set off Karr. He stepped back until he was sitting on his couch, staring at a blank screen.
He continued staring, hoping against logic that Nara would send another message to give him an idea of what he could do. Reading that she was being watched made him mad but he could also see Karr doing that.
Leaning forward, he rubbed his eyes, regretting the way he’d spoken to her. She’d tried to apologize, and he wouldn’t listen. He had too many emotions ranging from wanting to blitz to wanting to scream at her for asking him about things that weren’t any of her business.
If Karr did something to her and the last words out of his mouth were “you should have known better,” he was going to lose the last of his sanity. He didn’t have room for any more guilt in his life.
Lifting his arm to refresh the screen, he noticed that his hand was shaking.
He was that worried. “Don’t kill her, Karr. Please don’t kill her.”
The pit of his stomach dropped at the way he had seen Karr get rid of bodies. He wasn’t gentle about it. Shine had to think.
A stupid thought came to mind. She’s not going to stay anyway, what does it matter?
But it did matter because he could still taste her. The sweet and sour. He still craved her. And even if she left, at least she would be alive. She’d crawled her way into his routine, and now that she was there, he felt ruined. Because without her, his existence felt empty.
The Minky screen pinged, and he looked up, hoping it was another message from Nara. It wasn’t. It was an alert saying that he had a delivery in the lobby. Shine wondered if Nara would have thought to send him dinner or another drink or something clever. She was thoughtful like that.
Rushing down to the lobby, he found a single pod waiting for him.
When he opened it, he discovered his Minky pad. He reached in and plucked it out, feeling a wave of guilt wash over him.
Did Karr find it and punish her? Pressing the Minky pad to his forehead, he prayed to Seth for real this time. Please, don’t let her die.
His Minky pinged in his palm. He checked it.
The message read:
You didn’t show for lunch. I’m on my way to your apartment now, you better be out front, or I’m coming to get you.
Z
Shine growled. He didn’t have time to talk to Z. He needed to figure out how to help Nara. But he also didn’t move from his spot. Seeing Z’s new Grummer, he hated how similar Z and Karr were. Striding forward, he decided that now was the worst possible time, but Z had brought it on himself.
The doors to the Grummer slid up. Z watched him from the bench seat. “I’m glad I didn’t have to go in to get you. Knew you were smarter than that.”
Shine was inside, looking at his friend’s face and feeling numb.
“Why did you skip lunch?”
“I forgot.” He had been running tests on the small chip of polymer and stewing over what Nara had done.
“So, this between us is not important?”
Shine bent forward and rubbed his face. “I didn’t forget on purpose. I was busy.”
“Right, with Karr’s stuff. Want to explain that to me?”
Did he? No. It was private. At the same time, he wanted to get it off his chest, too. For the first time, he understood why Z had been so closed-mouth about his mate.
Z never explained or excused his behavior.
Not that Nara was Shine’s mate, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about her.
Z said, “At first, I thought you were too busy and overlooked our message. But now I can see you didn’t miss it on accident. You probably just deleted it. From my side, it says the message was unopened. So, I know you got it, and I know you purposely didn’t open it. So now I’m going to ask you a question, and I expect you to answer me honestly. Do you have an issue with Adelia? Or me?”
