by A. G. Wilde
Losing control was the gateway to an end he didn’t want, even more so now that he knew of her existence.
Blinking at the screen as the data began to flow, he started setting up the security system for her apartment.
He didn’t know why they hadn’t done it before, but he assumed that with the other human women safe with his brothers, they just hadn’t considered it.
But the fact that Evren was alone and Shive was hanging around meant it needed to be done. The security system would alert them if anyone intruded.
That would at least help her to sleep at night when she was unaccompanied.
The thought dug at him.
She shouldn’t be alone. He should stay with her like he was now...
NO.
NO, HE SHOULDN’T.
He COULDN’T.
He needed to beat that into his head.
She’d already taken the first steps to putting a much-deserved wall between them. He needed to respect that. Not only because it was her choice but because it was best for their safety. Not only his, but hers as well.
He wouldn’t bring anyone into this nightmare that was his life.
His secret, the one he’d kept all these years, he’d just have to take it to the grave like all other Vorti.
It was just the way things were.
Born a Vorti. Die a Borxclan.
The sound of the cleansing room being activated reached his ear as he calibrated the security system and he realized she must be washing herself.
Kyro gulped, his head lifting as his ears picked up on the sounds of not only the water but her as well.
As she washed, she let out a moan as the warm water hit her skin and that sound traveled all the way from her lips to vibrate all over his skin in a soft caress.
He could imagine her there. Naked. The water running off her pale skin in tiny droplets.
He could see her naked without even trying. He’d studied her enough over the past few days. So much so he could imagine the curve of her neck, the gentle mounds of her breasts, and the larger mound of her backside.
A naked Evren was probably the most gorgeous and exotic thing he would never see.
His heart pained him at the loss, but it was not a new feeling.
He was used to losing things he loved. Life had taught him to make no lasting connections.
She was right.
The kiss had been nothing.
It had to be nothing because if he allowed it to be something, it might lead to the end of him...and her.
And he would rather sacrifice himself than make someone else join his hell.
And who would even want to?
The warm water had felt good. It had helped calm her and as she dried herself off and exited the shower room, she padded barefoot into the bedroom.
The sitting area was so quiet, it was almost as if she was the lone occupant of the apartment and she was tempted to walk out there to check if Kyro had changed his mind and left while she’d showered.
She didn’t want to be alone tonight.
Seeing Shive down in the alleyway not once but two times was making her think of things she’d rather forget.
She was sure she probably had some form of post-traumatic stress disorder from being ripped from her life on Earth. The thought that Shive meant her harm was making her anxiety rise.
Once again, an image of a young Evren being lost in the forest flashed into her mind and she shivered.
For years, she hadn’t had any of those images flashing in her head. It had taken countless therapy visits, but she’d thought she’d overcome the fright of that childhood experience.
No doubt being taken from Earth had reignited old wounds.
In that forest, she’d been alone. Scared. Thinking she would never see her parents again.
She’d only been little. So little. And now she felt like she was walking into that same experience again.
She was little, so little, in this huge universe.
She didn’t want the rug to be pulled from under her feet once more.
Shive’s behavior only underlined one thing.
She wasn’t safe—and that realization was chilling.
Pulling on a piece of soft clothing that resembled a large vest—just one of the items Athena had insisted to buy for her—she padded into the sitting area, her eyes falling on Kyro’s back as he sat in the seat, slightly leaning over the datapad as his fingers brushed across the screen.
A soft smile tugged at her lips.
He hadn’t left.
And just seeing him there was already making her relaxed. He always seemed to make her relax, she just hadn’t realized the extent to which till these last few days.
“Would you like a drink, Kyro?”
“No, but you should probably drink something. It will calm you.” He lifted his head to look at her and she saw him pause, his eyes moving over her before he dropped his gaze, frowned, and looked away.
Did she look that bad? Had the vest been the wrong idea? She’d only wanted to be comfortable.
She was just about to return to the bedroom to put on something else when Kyro’s voice reached her. “Would you like me to make you something to drink? I believe I can make something akin to what you have on Earth called chamomile tea. For calming you...” He paused. “...if you have the right ingredients.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’re my guest. I—”
He was standing before she even finished.
“I insist.” He set the datapad down and was walking away from her and toward the kitchen before she could protest, almost as if he wanted to get away from her.
“Okay...” But her words were floating in the air because he’d already left the room.
Moving over to her datapad, she picked it up.
“What’s this?” She spoke loud enough for him to hear.
“Security system,” she heard him call back. “Your quarters are secured from any intruders. It will alert you if anyone tries to break in and alert me and my brothers, too.”
She hadn’t expected that. “Thank you,” she breathed, looking over the data on the screen. “Is it already on or do I have to turn it on?”
“It is already activated.”
Did that mean he was going to leave now then? If she had a security system in place, he didn’t need to stay.
As if reading her mind, he said, “I will stay the night. If you still want me to.” A pause and, as if to clarify— “Just for added protection.”
“I appreciate it.”
Plopping down into the seat, she grabbed and accessed the Restitution’s server from the datapad to begin searching for information about the Intergalactic Hub.
She hadn’t forgotten about it and if life for her on the base was going to become unnecessarily complicated, it was all the more reason for her to leave.
The other women needed to live their lives without her being a burden. They’d all been through a lot. She didn’t need them to have to nanny her.
And she wanted to live too.
That had been the point about going to the Intergalactic Hub in the first place.
As she researched the hub, she could hear Kyro moving around in the kitchen.
He didn’t call her to ask about anything, so she assumed he was finding what he needed without much trouble. That was good though. It gave her some time to do the research she needed.
With the languages on her datapad, it didn’t take her long to find information regarding the hub and its research center.
As she selected what she wanted to read more on, a holo image projected from her datapad into the space above it.
It was like a mini-city floating right above her lap and Evren’s eyebrows rose in awe.
Towering reflective buildings rose into the air surrounded by elevated highways and hovering vehicles.
There were people, er, beings, everywhere.
It was so busy there, like a megacity. It reminded her of Hong Kong pure
ly for the fact that so many different beings passed through the city’s port.
The number of different alien species she could see projected in front of her was too many to count.
Putting her hand inside the holo image didn’t disturb it and she touched a glowing building, which she assumed was the datapad highlighting what she’d searched for. As the research facility zoomed toward her, Evren pulled her knees up underneath the large vest as she watched what was depicted there.
Kyro had been right in what he’d said about the place. It was huge and it looked like they were studying so many different things there—diseases, culture, politics, biology...you name it.
She was sure she could fit in. And the fact that it was run by so many different species made it even better. She wouldn’t be the odd one out because of being different.
Things were beginning to look positive.
Now, she just had to find a way to make some credits on her own so she’d have money to live on till she had her footing when she arrived at the hub.
A job.
She needed a job.
That would be her order of the day for tomorrow.
As Kyro walked into the room, a steaming cup of something that smelled good in his hands, Evren set the datapad aside.
This whole Intergalactic Hub idea might not turn out to be anything in the end...she may even decide to not do it. But at least she had a backup plan—something to fall back on should things go south and a little independence too if she earned her own credits.
And that was the perfect idea.
16
She’d drunk the warm liquid and then set to reading on her datapad. Now and again, he caught her furtive glances in his direction.
Qrakking nest on Polvrak’s gonads.
He tried not to look at her, focusing instead on his datapad as he scrolled through the feed on it.
He was pretending to read, as he was sure she was, neither of them wanting to bring up what had happened earlier in the day or, perhaps, what had happened between them before.
When she finally retired to bed, not before bringing him a pile of soft coverings to rest under, Kyro let his shoulders droop.
It had been a mistake staying the night.
The security settings would have been more than sufficient to keep her safe.
Now he was treading on thin ice. It took much energy trying to keep focused enough to complete the simple task of getting through till the morning without yearning for her smile, her laughter, her warm gaze...her kiss.
Squeezing his eyes tight, he scolded himself.
What had happened to his years of fortitude? How strong was he really if he was so easily derailed?
He’d thought his brothers had been foolish to fall so easily to the other humans but her pull... Evren was pulling him to her like a moxxi on a leash and no matter what he tried to do to refocus his mind, she was in it, calling him, pulling him.
Bewitching.
He was convinced.
Humans bewitched. Human females, at least.
Maybe it was their softness. Evren’s softness called to him. All he wanted to do was pound his cock into her constantly.
Even now, his cock was straining against his clothing, wanting him to give in and bring himself to release.
Qrak.
Not now. Not with her in the other room.
Tilting his head to the room in which she slept, he listened and a soft, repeating whistle met his ear.
Such a strange creature.
If he were a hunter, her sleeping sounds would make her an easy target. Why would someone so defenseless not have evolved to eliminate such noise? Humans had soft skin and no natural defensive mechanisms but did so many things that made them attractive to predators.
Yet, as he listened, he couldn’t prevent the slow smile that came over his lips.
He couldn’t sleep, there were too many things on his mind, and this whistle of hers, of all things, was calming.
He sat listening for what could be two Earth hours, just listening to her breathe and whistle, when she made a sound that made his ears prick.
It was like a grunt, one that cut off the peaceful whistling completely.
When another grunt came followed by increased, harsh breathing, Kyro jumped up from his reclining position, his entire being on high alert as he rushed into the room in which she slept.
The security system was on.
There was no way there was an intruder.
Yet, it sounded as if she was locked in combat with someone.
He was in her room in the next second, his fists clenched and ready, eyes wide, but the scene in front of him had him slightly confused.
She was on her sleeping area, legs splayed, the soft covering similar to the one she’d given him thrown off her, and she was turning her head from side to side and muttering incoherently.
What in the name of Polvrak...
Was she possessed by some spirit?
“No,” she breathed, her face forming a frown, but her eyes were still closed. “No!”
Kyro blinked, his fists slowly relaxing as he realized what this was.
He’d read about it.
She was dreaming—or rather, she seemed to be having the opposite of a dream...that thing humans called a nightmare.
Blinking a few times, he wondered what he should do. There had been no instructions on what to do in such a situation.
Should he wake her?
As he moved to her side, Kyro watched her face intently.
“No. Please, don’t take me. Please. I’ll give you anything. You can take anything. Just please, leave me alone.” She flung her head to the other side, gripping the bedding beneath her. “Please! Don’t!”
The whimper that left her throat found its way right into him, making something deep within him clench.
“Evren?”
Instead of waking up or responding, she threw her head the other way.
Reaching out, Kyro placed his hand lightly over her forehead.
“Evren?”
She groaned at the sound of her name but still didn’t open her eyes.
“Evren?” He called more forcefully this time and to his relief, he got a response.
Her eyes fluttered open and focused on him. For a few seconds, she said nothing. It was as if her mind was still foggy.
“You were talking while sleeping.” Kyro frowned. “You were doing many strange things. Whistling. Talking. Thrashing about...”
Evren just stared at him and then without warning, she began to chuckle, her eyes growing soft as she looked at him.
He couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized.
Even like this, right now, in this sleepy state, she was affecting him.
“Bad dream,” she croaked, and he felt one of his eyebrows lift. Her voice had completely changed to much coarser than he’d ever heard it before.
There was something husky and sensual about it that was making his body respond.
He could feel himself throb insistently, even as he tried to keep his gaze from wandering to her long, splayed, legs.
“Sorry if I woke you.” Her eyes were still laden with sleep as she regarded him and the whole situation began tugging at something deep within him once more—that same thing he was trying to push away.
Qrak.
Ready to leave the room, he was removing his hand from her forehead when she suddenly grabbed it.
“Please...can you stay?”
Kyro blinked at her.
He was already staying.
She didn’t think he was going to return to his quarters now, did she? Not after she might need him again if her wild sleeping habits returned.
He told himself that was why he didn’t move from her grasp. Told himself that was the reason he was still standing there.
“Can you stay in here?” She used her other hand to rub at her eyes. “With me?”
What?
Kyro blinked, processing what she’d just asked. He mustn’t
be hearing her right.
“You want me to stay in here? With you?”
Evren nodded. “Please. I... I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
He was about to point out that she wasn’t alone. He was in the other room. And he should remain in the other room. Moving so close to her was a bad, bad idea.
“I’ll just scoot over.” As she said this, she gathered her legs and moved over on the bedding, making a space for him to rest.
Kyro swallowed hard.
He should say no.
He should say no and retreat to the other room where he wouldn’t be tempted.
Yet, his tongue forgot how to form words, and his legs forgot how to move. Heck, it seemed as if his entire resolve was waning.
Qrak it.
His own body betrayed him and began moving even before he knew he was going to do it.
As he climbed onto the sleeping area with her, Evren turned so her back was facing him but her delicious backside was jutting in his direction.
The sleeping area was narrow too. Too narrow for him to lie on his back. The only option would be to lie on his side. Swallowing hard once more, he settled in beside her, noting immediately how she fit against him, her rump right in the curve of his pelvis...right against his...
Squeezing his eyes tight, Kyro leaned his head back.
Sleep would not come to him this night.
She wriggled a bit and he had to bite back the groan that began rumbling in his chest.
His cock was hard and ready. He could already feel his tip oozing his pre-spend.
He didn’t know if she could feel him throbbing against her, but he could certainly feel her...and she felt so qrakking good.
So soft.
So welcoming.
Maybe it was his body reacting after so long without any real contact, but she was more than he had ever imagined she would be, and he hadn’t even done anything with her yet.
Not that he was going to.
They couldn’t.
As she reached down to pull the coverings over them both, she settled against him, sighing into sleep so easily he was surprised at her ability to do so.
He, on the other hand, had never felt more awake in his life.
A part of him was rejoicing and a part of him hopeful, but a part of him was devastated. A large part of him.
