by Zoey Draven
It was Sunday and Eve had always liked Sundays. It was when the Programmers’ unleashed the rains over Everton to water the landscaping spread throughout the colony, the Lake District specifically. Some Evertons complained that they made it rain so often, but Eve thought that nothing felt more divine than Sundays.
Three weeks, she couldn’t help but think, standing there with her eyes closed.
It had been three weeks since she’d last visited Madame Allegria’s…since she’d last seen Khiva.
Three weeks of self-doubt, of wondering if everything Genni had accused was true…that Khiva had been carefully and deliberately doing everything in his power to make her return for another visit, and another, and another, driven by the reward of credits.
Had he been acting the entire time they’d been together? Eve didn’t like the thought that he’d been someone else, that he’d changed who he was to please her.
But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that what Genni said hadn’t been true. At least not entirely. Eve had been an observer all her life and she’d observed people most often, had observed their interactions and the way they spoke to one another. And while Khiva was not of her species, the softness in his voice when he’d told her of his home planet, of the firestones, of his ancestry had been real enough. Why would he share something so intimate with her if all he’d wanted was her credits? He’d had no reason to.
Besides, she’d thought often, did it really matter? Eve was paying him for a service. At its core, it was a business transaction. They both knew it.
It was Eve’s own fault for developing feelings.
Pesky feelings that wouldn’t quite go away, despite her not seeing Khiva in almost a month.
Eve shivered, goosebumps breaking out over her skin. The air was turning chilly, signaling that the seasons were changing. And while the weather was never extreme—not as extreme as it had been on Old Earth at least—the Programmers’ had a liking for colder temperatures during the later half of the yearly cycle.
Autumn and Winter, she knew the seasons had been called. She’d seen old digital photographs of those seasons, of colorful leaves and snow. She would never see either. All the plant life on Everton had been genetically engineered to remain in a constant state of optimal health and the Programmers’ had never made it snow, not daring to make the temperature cold enough inside the orbiting colony.
It was another lifetime when those simple things existed and Eve had always wondered if the soil on Old Earth smelled the same as the soil on Everton.
She heard her Nu device ping inside her townhouse and Eve’s eyes fluttered open, listening to soft patter of the rain drops across the grass for another moment, before she reluctantly turned back inside. In her sitting room, she saw an alert from Genni. Eve listened to the voice alert about Genni inviting her out to Restaurant Row with her newest lover.
Their friendship had been rocky since their confrontation weeks ago. And while Eve had forgiven Genni when she’d eventually apologized, Eve was hesitant to try to resume the ease and familiarity she had with her so soon. Words were permanent and Eve had seen a side of Genni that she didn’t like, a hateful, judgmental part. Eve couldn’t stop remembering the way she’d spat out ‘whore’ in reference to Khiva.
Eve simply declined the invitation. Before, if Eve didn’t want to meet Genni’s newest lover, she always felt like she needed some excuse so as not to anger Genni. But now? She simply said no. Eve was beginning to realize that she didn’t need to constantly justify her responses, that she didn’t always have to do the things that Genni wanted her to do.
Even still, a twinge of guilt settled in her after she replied, but then she shook it off.
Eve stood there for a brief moment, looking out the bay window towards the front of the street. Then, unable to help herself, she checked her credit balance. In her own savings account, she had 356 credits. Before her visits with Khiva, there had been well over two thousand.
Then her eyes strayed to her inheritance account. Five digits worth of liquid credits that had been sitting there since it had been transferred to her since her father’s death. And she had more, from the townhome, from her father’s private antique collections, from the two merchant vessels she hadn’t sold yet sitting in Port.
She’d debated with herself internally for the past three weeks. One moment her mind had been made up…the next, not. Frustration and restlessness ate at her. She felt like Khiva had become her drug and she needed her next fix.
But would she spend her inheritance credits to get that fix, to get him?
Just one more night, she’d told herself. But she knew that her thoughts were mere, fleeting lies. One more night would never be enough. She knew that as instinctively as she knew the length of her desire for him.
Whether he returned that sharp, deepening desire remained unknown.
But she wanted to find out. Eve thought it might drive her crazy, not knowing.
Maybe it was the rain, or that particular Sunday, or finally saying a simple ‘no’ to Genni, but at that moment, Eve felt strong. She felt…different. And all Eve needed was a few moments to take advantage of that courage to bring up a familiar landing page on her Nu device and to connect a call.
Valerie’s hologrammed face appeared. In her usual, melodic voice, she greeted, “Good morning, Miss Tesler. How can I assist you?”
Eve wondered if the girl was surprised she’d called after three long weeks, but no emotion showed on Valerie’s face. Her ever-present professionalism and calmness patched through the line and Eve found herself saying, “Hi Valerie. I’d like to book a visit with Khiva. When is he available next?”
Eve tried not to think how many women he’d been with since she’d left him, or how many he would be with until her next visit.
Valerie paused only for a moment, no doubt to check through his schedule. “He is free on Thursday night. Shall I book you then?”
Four days. He must have had a cancellation, she thought.
“Yes,” Eve replied without hesitating for a single moment.
Valerie nodded, her eyes flickering over Eve’s face. The girl, for the first time, seemed unsure of herself and looked behind her shoulder briefly, before peering back at Eve.
In a soft voice that bordered on a whisper, Valerie said, “Khiva…he’ll be very pleased to see you again, Miss Tesler.”
Eve’s cheeks immediately reddened, not quite sure how to respond to that, or even what it meant. How would Valerie know that unless Khiva had told her something?
The only thing Eve managed to choke out was, “I’m looking forward to seeing him again too.”
Valerie smiled. She nodded and said, “We will see you on Thursday evening, Miss Tesler.”
Four days, Eve thought after the call disconnected.
She’d lasted three weeks without seeing him. What was another four days?
An eternity.
Chapter Eighteen
“Who is my client this evening?”
Khiva was already in the mating room and Valerie watched him prep for the evening from the doorway. Twilight hours were spreading over Everton and Khiva expected his client within the next half hour.
Valerie didn’t answer right away. Soon, she would make her way to the second floor of Madame Allegria’s, where Dravka’s mating room resided, as was her routine every night, checking all the floors. Madame Allegria was currently off Everton, gone to Genesis, the largest of the New Earth colonies, for the remainder of the week. The relief that Khiva felt at that knowledge was dizzying.
When Valerie didn’t answer right away, Khiva turned to look at her after finishing with the fire.
It was Valerie’s serious expression that had Khiva straightening.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Khiva,” Valerie said softly. “Allegria…you know how harsh she can be. How controlling. I worry that…”
Valerie trailed off.
“Val?” Khiva questioned, wondering why she wa
s acting so strange that night, or where these words were coming from.
Valerie asked him suddenly, “Do you think I’m just as bad as her, Khiva? Truthfully.”
“As Madame Allegria?” Khiva questioned slowly.
Valerie nodded. “I know you’ve never trusted me, not fully at least.”
Khiva looked past her into the darkened hallway, at the elevator at the very end.
“No,” Khiva said softly. “You are not. How can you ask that? You are trapped by her, just as we are.”
“But I have freedoms you don’t,” she commented softly. “I can come and go as I please.”
“Because you are human, on a human colony. Of course you have more freedoms than we do.”
“Do you…do you think Dravka resents me sometimes because of that?” Valerie asked.
Khiva said carefully, “I think Dravka knows of the limitations placed upon him when it concerns you.”
Valerie bit her lip and nodded, probably sensing that Khiva did not want to speak for Dravka and would say no more of their strange relationship.
Valerie said softly, backing out of the room, “Let me know if you need anything tonight.”
“Valerie,” Khiva called when she turned away. “You never said who my client is.”
Valerie gave him a soft smile, but it struck him as sad. “You’re right, I didn’t. Be careful, Khiva.”
And with that, Valerie closed the door behind her and Khiva’s brows drew down in confusion, before he shook his head.
He didn’t have much time before six, so he quickly bathed and then smoothed oil over his skin, knowing most of it would absorb by the time his client came. Some females didn’t like the feel of it.
Not Evelyn, he suddenly thought and he froze. For over three weeks now, he’d failed miserably at the pact he’d made with himself…the one where he’d told himself he would try not to think of the dark-haired beauty, who’d smoothed oil down his limbs and torso and back and made him so crazed that he’d needed to mate her right there and then. The human female who made him feel like himself, someone he hadn’t felt like in a long time, who looked at him like he was a male and not a whore. Whose smile made his hearts stutter and his chest clench.
Yes, he might as well have made a pact to stop breathing.
His ears twitched, hearing movement outside his door and he drew in a deep breath, relaxing the tight muscles in his shoulders.
Khiva tilted his head to the side, listening, when the door didn’t immediately open, though he sensed that someone was on the other side.
Briefly, he wondered if she was a new client, but when the door finally opened, revealing a familiar figure with a scent he would never forget, his mind went blank, even as his body responded.
Khiva let out a growl, immediately stalking towards her as his cock surged. His two hearts were thrumming wildly, catching up with his realization that she was standing in front of him and she wasn’t just a hopeful hallucination.
“Hi,” Evelyn said, her voice slightly breathless, her eyes wide. “Khiva, I—”
But whatever she’d been about to say got lost as he caught her up in his arms, making her squeak in surprise. The dress she wore bunched around her thighs as her legs automatically wrapped around his waist to steady herself. Not that he would’ve let her fall.
Khiva brought her to the bed and laid her down, lowering himself over her. Her breaths came quick and her lips were parted in surprise. Khiva groaned, remembering the feel of her body, and unable to wait another moment, he caught her lips in a fierce, hungry kiss.
Demav, she tasted divine, he thought, lapping at her pink tongue.
Through their kiss, he heard her murmur, “Khiva.”
Khiva reared back his head, noting her reddened lips, and ran his eyes over her face. A part of him still believed that she wasn’t real, though she felt real enough. But how could she be real when she felt so good in his arms?
“I have dreamed of you, leeldra,” he rasped down to her, trailing the edge of his nose up her soft neck, inhaling her scent where it was strongest behind her delicate, sensitive ear. She shivered and gasped when he suckled on the lobe. “I thought I would never see you again.”
Khiva had had many dreams of Evelyn since he’d last seen her. Dreams that left him aching and desperate upon waking, willing her to return to him, if only for one last night. Khiva was beyond questioning why he felt this connection with her, a connection that he had felt with no other female, not even on Kerivu. It simply felt right, albeit frightening.
And he hoped that she felt it too. He hoped that was why she’d come back to him. He hoped it was because he’d been on her mind as well, that he had perhaps appeared in her dreams, and that she’d ached for him just as much as he’d ached for her.
Vauk, how he ached for her…
Immediately, his fingers moved down to the hem of her dress, impatient for a taste.
Her hand on his shoulder made him still.
Her cheeks were flushed when reared his head back to properly look at her. A trill of masculine satisfaction rose up in his throat at the glazed look of desire in her eyes and the way she rapidly blinked, as if trying to clear the fog of lust in her mind.
“Wait, Khiva,” she said, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “I…we…I didn’t come because…”
The tone of her voice made Khiva shift his fingers away from her dress and pull back slightly. Though surprise and arousal at seeing her still coursed through his body, it had been over three weeks since he’d last seen her and perhaps she needed time to become accustomed to him again.
“I apologize, Evelyn,” he murmured softly, smoothing her dress back into place and mentally trying to restrain himself. “I find myself always apologizing to you for being too…hasty.”
When Khiva pushed off her, he rolled to lay on his side so that he faced her, so that she was still close. It was difficult to process that she was there, that she’d returned for another visit. Something warm, but intense, surged in his chest, his hearts pumping with the unknown emotion.
Evelyn lay on her back, her breasts rising and falling with her deep breaths, and Khiva memorized the graceful lines of her profile, unable to stop himself from reaching over to trace her soft, small jaw.
At his touch, she turned her head slightly and looked at him as his fingers stroked over her cheek before brushing her softened, reddened lips.
Khiva’s chest squeezed again. Whenever she looked at him with those brown eyes, he felt…undone. Unhinged and spiraling, in the best possible way.
“Vellka,” he rasped. Beautiful.
She remembered that word because he watched with fascination as her cheeks grew even more pink and her lips tilted up at the corners in a small smile. He swallowed hard.
“Hello, Khiva,” she whispered across the short distance between them.
“I thought that I would not see you again,” Khiva confessed.
“I thought the same,” she admitted.
“What changed your decision?”
Strangely enough, her cheeks went slightly pink again. Khiva trilled in his throat, thinking that she’d come back for the reasons all the rest of the human females came back. His teela, the sex.
If she came back solely for that, he wouldn’t question it. He would accommodate her…thoroughly.
His hand skimmed over the front of her body, feeling the softness of her dress material, brushing over the generous curves of her breasts, her hips, before trailing further.
Again, she caught his hand and Khiva’s eyes flashed up to hers. Evelyn licked her lips and then after a brief moment of hesitation brought his hand up to kiss the very center of his palm.
Khiva froze. That feeling that he’d had last time he’d seen her…created when she’d stroked down his back returned full force.
And he’d realized what it was…affection.
Something he hadn’t felt in over ten Earth years. He’d forgotten the sensation.
“Don’t take this th
e wrong way,” Evelyn said softly, “but I don’t want to have sex with you tonight. I didn’t come here for that.”
His world stilled. Khiva’s brow furrowed. “Kruvu?”
“I just came to…to see you,” she said softly. “I came to find out if I hadn’t just…made it all up in my mind.”
Khiva didn’t know how to react, so he didn’t speak. At least not immediately. It was a difficult concept for him to wrap his thoughts around, considering that human females came to him specifically for sex. Evelyn, originally, had come to him specifically for sex. And for that constant to be erased away…it jarred him more than he thought it would.
“Is that a problem?” Evelyn asked softly, when he failed to answer, and he realized that her body had stiffened slightly. “Should I…go?”
“Veki,” he growled, panic flooding him at her words, his hand unconsciously holding her in place when he felt her muscles tense to move. Softening his tone, he said, “Veki. You are…you always seem to be surprising me too.”
Like when she’d told him she was untried…a virgin, come to a Krave to experience sex for the first time.
“Forgive me,” he murmured, pulling her closer.
“There’s nothing to forgive, Khiva,” she said softly back. “I’d imagine it’s an odd request.”
“You truly do not wish to mate tonight?” he asked slowly. Truthfully, he didn’t know how to feel about that. “Was it painful for you last time? Did you not like it?”
“No, of course I liked it, Khiva,” Evelyn said, frowning. Then she sighed softly, turning on her side so that they faced each other. “More than liked it. It’s just hard to explain.”
“Try,” he urged.
Evelyn’s gaze dropped to his chest, absentmindedly smoothing her thumb over his palm. When she finally spoke, she said, “My father was a merchant.”
Khiva trilled in agreement, remembering her speak briefly of him. But what did her father have to do with her visiting him? “Pax, you said he traveled the Quadrants often. He used Keriv’i firestones.”
