by Zoey Draven
Without a second thought, he pulled her within the confines of his arms, turning her so that they faced each other on the bed. And as he held her, as he listened to her breaths and felt the dampness of her skin, as he pressed her close to his body, he felt…right. For the first time in a long time.
It wouldn’t last, he knew. Nothing good ever did, not on Everton, not even on his home planet that no longer existed.
All too soon, she would be gone from his life, he thought somberly. She was no longer untried, which was her original goal in seeking out a Krave at Madame Allegria’s.
Khiva already knew that Evelyn wouldn’t be a regular client, from the first moment he’d seen her. She’d come to him for a purpose. Others came to him because they were bored or unhappy in their loveless unions. A wealth of credits, it seemed, didn’t mean happiness. That was what Khiva had learned from his clients. All of them were deeply unhappy.
But from the first moment that he’d seen the female lying in his arms, he’d known that she wasn’t necessarily unhappy. She was lonely. But she did not yet have the jaded, engineered look in her eyes that so many of his clients possessed. Like a disease, Everton ate away at them, slowly. Just as it was eating away at him.
Khiva let out a soft, sighing trill, pulling her closer. It was still early in their evening, not yet nine. They had the entire night and morning ahead, if she wasn’t planning to leave early like last time.
Evelyn’s shoulders began to shake violently, a sound escaping her throat.
Alarmed, fearing he’d hurt her, he pulled away so he could look at her features, an apology on the tip of his tongue, concern stealing his breath.
But the words died before they escaped because it wasn’t human tears he saw as he’d expected, but rather a suppressed grin.
Not only did relief swamp him, but confusion as well.
“Evelyn?” he asked, incredulous. “What is it?”
“I…” she trailed off with a laugh, half-burying her head near where the side of his torso met the sheets. That laugh turned into an endless stream and her shoulders continued to shake.
Khiva reared back at the sound, studying her face, torn between smiling through the warmth he felt in his chest…or wondering if he’d done something wrong. He didn’t think he had, at least. He could honestly say that no client had ever fallen into fits of laughter after he’d cleaned his teela from their bodies.
“What is wrong, leeldra?” he asked quietly.
“Nothing,” she huffed out, making a visible effort to suppress her laugh. “Nothing, Khiva. I, um…” she shook her head before peeking up at him. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks still flushed from her orgasm. “I forgot.”
“Forgot what?” he asked, his muscles relaxing slightly.
Evelyn continued to smile as her laughter died away. Khiva couldn’t help but pass his hand down the curves of her side, brushing the outer flesh of her breasts, her slim waist, her full hips. She was so soft. So impossibly soft.
Their gazes connected as Evelyn slowly lifted a hand and pressed it to the middle of his chest. Masculine pride beat through him at the desire he saw in her eyes.
“I forgot about your…cum,” she finally admitted, her flush deepening.
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Kruvu?”
“I forgot that it would make me react that way,” she told him with a quirk of her lips. “Even then, even if I’d remembered, I don’t think it would’ve prepared me for that.”
Khiva made a purring trill in the back of his throat, showing his amusement at her words. “You truly forgot? When that is what the Krave are known for?”
Her smile died a little when he said ‘Krave,’ but then she said softly, “I was so wrapped up in it that I probably couldn’t have told you my own name, to be honest.”
Khiva tilted his head down, his hearts thundering in his chest. He caught her lips in a brief kiss, unable to keep away from her for more than a moment. When he’d first been taught to kiss human females by Madame Allegria, he’d seen the appeal but had never truly needed it.
With her, he needed to kiss her, to feel that budding, dangerous connection that was growing by the moment.
“I am proud then,” he murmured against her lips. Then he pulled back to study her carefully. “Did I hurt you?”
“I always expected a little pain,” she told him. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought, considering your…um, size.”
Another purring trill rose from his throat.
“What was that device?” she asked next.
“It neutralizes the teela in human females,” he told her. “For immediate…relief.”
“What happens when you don’t have one close by?” she asked quietly after a small pause.
Khiva growled, holding her gaze. “Then you accept the teela until it fades naturally.”
He watched her slick, pink tongue dart out to wet her lips. “How long does that take?”
The corners of his lips quirked in a human way. “It varies. It depends on the female species and how much teela the male releases into her body. No human female, to my knowledge, has seen the teela through to the end.”
Evelyn didn’t say anything, but her eyes dropped to his chest, obviously thinking over his words.
“I probably would’ve passed out long before that happened,” she confessed softly, shooting a shy smile up at him. “Do you get impatient waiting for it to pass?”
“Impatient?” he repeated slowly. “Veki. It it erotic to watch you in that state, knowing my teela is the cause.”
Khiva watched as her eyes flickered between their bodies, to his obviously erect cock, still coated with their combined cum…and some of her blood.
“Oh,” she said, the word coming out slightly breathless. “You, um, recover quickly.”
His lips twitched. “Like I said, watching you is erotic. Natural arousal is very…potent.”
“Natural? What do you mean?”
Khiva stilled, realizing his tongue had been too loose, addled by his desire for her.
“The Keriv’i…” he started, choosing his words carefully, “we have tight control over our bodies. We must if we work for Madame Allegria.”
Realization widened her eyes. “You can control when you become aroused?”
“Pax,” he said slowly. “It helps with…”
“What?”
His lips tightened, once again cursing his loose tongue. “It helps with more demanding clients.”
And with Madame Allegria, he thought with a tightening of his lips. But he didn’t voice the thought out loud.
Since he was holding her close, with his arms wrapped tightly around her body as if afraid she would depart early, like her first visit, Khiva felt the way her muscles tensed, particularly around her shoulders.
“Right,” she eventually murmured quietly. But Khiva feared that the easy comfort they’d shared just moments before had vanished. “I can see how that would be necessary.”
Another pause, but Khiva knew there wasn’t anything more to say. He was a Krave. He fucked human females for the meager amount of credits that Madame Allegria gave them per year. It was a means to an end.
It could be worse, he knew. He had a steady supply of food, he had shelter, and a small pile of savings. How many other Keriv’i could say the same, wherever they had landed out in the vast universe?
Besides…being with the female tucked close to the warmth of his body felt right. Unlike his other clients’ visits, where he felt restless and trapped.
“Can I ask you something, Khiva?” she murmured softly after the lengthy pause.
He took it as a promising sign that she wasn’t leaving, so he would’ve answered any question that she asked at that moment. “Pax.”
“How long have you worked for Madame Allegria?”
His gaze flickered, but he answered immediately, “Approximately nine years now. I trained for a year before that.”
Evelyn’s lips parted, her brows furrowing. S
lowly, she pushed up on her elbow so that she could see his features better. His gaze dipped to the way her full breasts swayed with the movement.
Her next question was slow, “You’ve lived on Everton for ten years?”
Ten years, he thought. Hearing it leave her lips felt different than when he’d said it just moments before. “Pax.”
“And how did you come to be here?” she asked quietly. “Visas are hard to acquire.”
Khiva’s lips twisted. “No human would deny Madame Allegria.” He met her questioning, yet somber gaze. “No Keriv’i either apparently.”
“What do you mean?”
Khiva inhaled a long breath. None of his clients had ever asked how he’d come to be on Everton. None of his clients had ever asked how long he’d lived on Everton, or what his life had been before.
Humans, in his experience, tended to be singularly focused on their own species. On the human colonies, it was easy to forget the wars and fractures of other alien beings.
“Have you ever heard of my species before? Not associated with Madame Allegria, but what we were before?” he asked.
“I…I can’t say that I have honestly,” she replied. “I think most of Everton know of you through gossip and rumors, but only because of her.”
“We were a peaceful race,” he told her, “known for our production and export of special metals and firestones, for the building of vessels across the old and new Quadrants. We were neutral in the Great War. Mostly. You know of the Great War, pax?”
“Of course,” she whispered. “It cost the Second and Third Quadrants millions of lives. I was only eight when it began and thirteen when it ended, but I remember it.”
“You were young,” he commented, with a small lift of his lips.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “How old were you when it ended?”
He shook his head. “Keriv’i do not count ages like humans do. I was in my second phase of life. I suppose the equivalent was around your present age when the Great War ended.”
“25?” she asked.
He tilted his chin down. “Pax. I was a forger. I created firestones, as had my line before me.”
“Firestones,” she repeated softly, her brow knitting together. “That sounds familiar.”
“You have heard the stories of Luxirians?”
“Yes,” she said, blinking. “They’re a great warrior race, spanning back an unfathomable amount of time. They were among the first to breed with Earth humans, long ago, creating an entirely new race of powerful hybrids that some claim helped to end the Great War.”
“Pax, but do you know of their crystals?”
Evelyn frowned and shook her head slightly.
“At one point in the early moments of space travel, Luxirian crystals were the only sources of energy capable of powering vessels. The larger the crystal, the greater the distance traveled. But the resource quickly became depleted or too expensive. During that time…”
“Are you referring to the Dark Age?” she asked.
He nodded, familiar with the human term for that time in history. He reached up to brush a lock of her dark hair away from her cheek, his fingertips lingering on the soft skin there. “What do you know about it?”
She murmured, “It was when space travel completely…ceased. Economies collapsed, since they were so reliant on exports from other planets and Quadrants.”
“Pax,” he said. “Simply because of an over-reliance on Luxiria’s resources. It was doomed from the beginning. Until the Keriv’i.”
She gave him a soft smile. “The end of the Dark Age was because of the Keriv’i?”
“Pax. Kutruu of Kriv created the first firestone, with a specialized technique he had practiced for jurvi. For decades,” he amended.
Realization lit her face. “Now I know why they sounded familiar. My father used to use them for his fleet. He was a merchant. He traveled to different Quadrants often and he would speak of firestones. There was other fuel, of course, that other races developed recently, but he would always choose firestones. He said that they were lasting, dependable fuel, that so many used them, even during the Great War.”
“We exported them far,” he said. Searching for the equivalent word in English, he said next, “Kutruu of Kriv was my direct ancestor, my Virku, through my mother’s line.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “He was?”
Khiva nodded. At one point, he’d been proud of it, to know he’d descended from a great mind that had brought an end to a dark time in history where so many suffered, that had catapulted not only his family, but the Keriv’i race into status and wealth and prosperity. He’d been proud to continue the work of his ancestor, for the greater good and advancement of all the Quadrants, not just his own.
Now, he knew better. What had once been an emblem of pride for his race became its downfall.
“Khiva?” she whispered softly, her brows furrowing.
“Our planet was destroyed during the Great War,” he told her, meeting her gaze, “because of the firestones.”
Evelyn sucked in a soft breath of air.
“I often wonder if my ancestor hadn’t created them, if Kerivu would still exist. If we would still live there in peace. I wonder if he and the continued work by myself and my line had caused the destruction that killed so many.”
“You cannot think like that,” she murmured softly after a moment. Concern touched her eyes. “It will drive you mad, Khiva.”
“It is difficult not to.”
Evelyn went quiet, studying him carefully. Finally, she blew out a small breath and said, “I’m sorry about your planet, Khiva. I can’t imagine the sheer magnitude of that loss or what you and your people must’ve felt.”
It was easy, he realized, talking with her like this. He hadn’t spoken of firestones or Kerivu for a long time, not even with the Krave that resided at Madame Allegria’s, though they had become like brothers to him.
It felt…healing. He’d kept his past and the fate of his people beneath the surface for years, but it felt freeing to speak of it.
Evelyn continued softly, “I can say that greatness comes at a price. Everything does. And I’m sorry you and your people were the ones that had to pay, like so many during that time, but without pioneers like your ancestor who helped advance the universe instead of taking away from it, where would we be? Fuel is more precious than any other resource, especially now, especially then.”
Khiva held his breath, feeling her words sink into his bones.
“You blame the firestones for your planet’s destruction, but I can say with confidence that it was that very fuel, and others, that helped end the Great War, that saved so many lives in the process,” she finished. “You should be proud of that.”
Khiva thought over her words, trying to see it from her perspective. But the guilt he felt was too deeply imbedded. Instead, he said, “You are wise for one so young.”
She dragged her eyes across his features and for the first time, he wondered if she thought him attractive or if he was too…alien for her to think so.
“I’m not that much younger than you, Khiva,” she noted, her tone teasing. “Besides, I’m practically ancient on Everton now. That has to count for something.”
Despite the heaviness of what they’d just spoken of, Khiva felt amusement spark in his chest once more.
He liked being with her. He liked speaking with her. He liked the way her eyes softened whenever she smiled or the way they got shy when he kissed her.
Khiva leaned forward to kiss her then, hearing her soft gasp of surprise, eager to leave the bleakness of his past behind for now, especially when he had such a tantalizing female filling his present. He felt the heat of her tongue, a pleasant distraction, and he growled low in his throat at her sweet taste.
Yes, he liked this human female entirely too much for his own good.
And like she said…everything came with a price.
The question was whether he’d be able to pay it when the time eve
ntually came.
He pulled back and asked, “Are you hungry, leeldra?”
It wasn’t shyness in her dazed gaze right then, he noted.
“For what?” she asked.
He chortled, an alien sound to him, for a long time. “For food,” he amended. “We have a long night ahead. You need your energy for what I have planned.”
A small sound escaped her.
Slightly breathless, she said, “Food sounds like a good idea then.”
Khiva trilled in agreement.
Chapter Fourteen
Eve woke disoriented, from one of the deepest sleeps of her life, with a familiar warmth building between her thighs.
The first thing she noticed, however, as her eyelids fluttered open, was light. Morning light. Programmers’ light.
And in a rush, the previous night—and early, early morning—came back to her.
With a gasp, her head tilted down, her blurry gaze finding Khiva, with his black, long tongue buried between her thighs. Eve didn’t know how long he’d been at it, but she felt on the edge of orgasm and she realized that was why she’d woken so abruptly, as if her body was saying wake up, you don’t want to miss this.
No, she definitely didn’t want to miss this.
“Good morning,” she moaned, her voice husky from sleep.
Khiva lifted his head only long enough to rasp, “Kasunu, leeldra,” which she assumed was the Keriv’i equivalent of her greeting.
And then he wiggled his tongue deep inside her sex, going deep enough to lap at her inner walls, which made sparks jump across her skin. Her nipples tingled as they pebbled tight and her back arched slightly.
Why is he so damn good at this? she thought, her mind still hazy from sleep. Then, she realized that of course, he would be damn good at this. He had to be.
Eve couldn’t help but wonder if he woke up all his clients this way.
She shut down that train of thought before it spiraled out of control and reached down to smooth her hands over his hairless scalp, feeling the different textures of his skin there. Khiva made a rumbling sound and pushed his head harder into her touch. When he gave a gentle suckle to her clit, she lightly raked the tips of her nails across the sensitive flesh, earning her a rough trill that she felt vibrate across her folds.
