Kazan

by Starr Huntress

  “As if.” Shaking my head, I threw my mat onto the ground, placing it beside hers. “Unless there’s some kind of freaky courtroom activity planned, I doubt you’ll do better than me at anything.”

  “Stop being such a cocky bastard,” she protested, and punched me in the arm. “You only won that holo-shoot thing because you were lucky.”

  “We could have both won if only you had listened to me.”

  “I didn’t listen because you were screaming like some brute who—”

  “Please, please,” Yilap cut us short. “Let us be peaceful and mindful of others. No arguing. Besides, you two must remember that these activities aren’t about competing with each other. It’s about building and strengthening your relationship.” Clearing his throat, he glanced around the deck and raised his voice. “This is the first session of yoga we’re holding here at the resort, and I want you all to keep an open mind. I’ve been studying it for the last year and a half, after being introduced to it by the lovely culture of Earth, and I’m excited to share it with you.”

  There were a few murmurs among the group of women, and I quickly figured out that none of them had any idea what they were in for. Good. At least I wasn’t the only one feeling like an idiot here. Elle, though, seemed pretty confident about the whole thing. If this yoga thing was a physical practice, could she be some sort of undercover Yoga soldier? I didn’t know much about Earth’s elite soldiers, so that was entirely possible.

  “I’m happy to announce that we have with us an experienced practitioner of this ancient practice, and she’ll help me demonstrate.” Suddenly, Yilap waved at Elle, motioning for her to join him at the front. “You’re all going to struggle today, as this is your first time, but Elle will guide you through the correct postures.”

  “Me?” she pointed at herself, surprised, but didn’t seem scared. Instead, she grabbed her mat from the floor and joined Yilap at the front. What the fuck? That wasn’t right. How could she be better than I was at something physical? Whether this was some kind of freaky martial art, or some bullshit workout for women, I was more than sure I could do it just as well as Elle.

  “I’ll help, too.” Rolling my mat up, I walked past the rows of kneeling women and placed my mat beside Elle’s once more. Now facing the audience of expectant women, I puffed out my chest and held my chin up. Elle desperately wanted to prove that she could beat me in these stupid activities, but she would have to work for it. If there was something in life I hated more than everything, it was losing.

  “Very well,” Yilap said. “Let us begin with Child’s Pose.”

  Easy enough.

  I watched Elle and Yilap do it, then kneeled on the mat and bent forward, mimicking their motions. From there, we stood up into something called Mountain Pose, followed by Downward Dog.

  What kind of stupid shit is this? I thought, my lower back trembling as Elle just held onto her Downward Dog pose. Then, she flowed effortlessly onto the ground, pushing the upper part of her body up. As I imitated her, beads of sweat started rolling down my forehead, my muscles already complaining from being stretched in such a way.

  Curious, I snuck a glance at the rapt audience of women. Some of them were struggling with the poses, but others were mimicking Elle and Yilap with ease, no signs of effort or sweat.

  That’s because most of these women are built like fucking clams, I tried telling myself. While that was true—some of the females did belong to some sort of squid-like species—the others didn’t seem to have an advantage like that. They were just more flexible than I was.

  Not that I was going to let that stop me.

  Gritting my teeth, I just doubled up on my efforts, pushing my limbs and spine to the absolute limit. It didn’t take long before my shirt was drenched in sweat and my whole body trembled with exhaustion. How the fuck was that even possible?

  “How are you holding up?” Elle asked me, her legs arched as she bent at the waist, doing some kind of freaky pose I would never be able to repeat in a million years. “You’re putting on quite a show.”

  I said nothing.

  I glanced at the women, and some of them were openly snickering, disdainful smiles on their faces as they watched me struggle through the poses. Damn it. Why the hell did I have to come up here and make a fool of myself?

  “I’m doing alright,” I lied, and proceeded to imitate Elle’s pose. Immediately, I felt something in my spine snap, but I held firm. Clenching my jaw, I ignored the pain and rotated my arms like a windmill, struggling not to tip over from the deck and into the ocean.

  “You have to keep your core stabilized,” Elle said with a mocking smile, her whole body flowing from one posture to the other. Going further than Yilap, she allowed her body to melt into some absurd poses no one would be able to repeat, her body suddenly becoming a contortionist’s wet dream.

  Mesmerized, I let my eyes take in the perfect shape of her body, her thighs and ass moving in such a way that I didn’t even know if I was awake anymore. Was I dreaming? It had to be that. How could a woman be so flexible and look so damn hot at the same time? It should be illegal for someone to be that hot.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered, watching as she balanced herself on one leg, bringing the other up. With her right hand on the floor, she then used the left one to reach behind her back and grab the ankle of the leg she had lifted up.

  Determined not to lose, I took one deep breath and planted my right foot on the deck. Then, focusing as hard as I could, I let my left leg rise up. It took me a couple of breaths to stabilize myself, but then I finally started reaching behind my back, hoping to grab my ankle. Instead, I felt myself wobbling in place like a spinning top.

  “Need any help there?” Elle asked with a mocking tone. “Take it, champ.”

  “I’m fine,” I grunted. “I’m perfectly capable of—shit.”

  Suddenly losing all balance, I found myself hopping on one foot, completely losing all control as my body lurched toward the edge of the deck. Before I knew what the hell was happening, I fell, hitting the water head first. If I hadn’t needed to breathe, I would’ve remained underwater for the entire month.

  When I finally resurfaced, more humiliated than I had ever felt, Elle was sitting right above me, her legs dangling off the deck’s wooden edge. A few seconds later, a dozen more heads popped up over the edge, all belonging to those snickering women, happy to see a grown man making a fool of himself.

  “Pride comes before the fall,” Elle said. “Literally.”

  “No, no, no.” Suddenly materializing beside Elle, Yilap looked from me to her, and shook his head in disappointment. “These activities aren’t meant to be a competition! That’s why you were placed on the same team during the holo-shoot. And yoga...yoga is a balm for the soul! Not a battlefield.”

  “Sure it is.” Smiling like an angel, Elle looked up at Yilap. “Still, I won this round.”

  Elle

  “Come on, don’t be such a sore loser.” Perched on my bar stool, my elbows resting on the small table in front of us, I glanced at Kazan. He was sitting beside me, a deep frown on his face as he nursed his drink. He had been acting like this ever since we left the yoga deck, complaining about the inhumane poses and practices the humans had developed.

  “I’m not a sore loser,” he finally said, a hint of defiance in his voice. “And that’s because I didn’t lose anything. I won the holo-shoot, and you won at yoga. In my book, that means we’re tied.”

  “I like being tied,” I said, smiling as Kazan spewed out half his drink onto the face of a resort guest who now looked pissed off. “Still, I don’t think that you’re doing the math right. Sure, you won one of these activities, and I won the other one...but remember that night at the beach? Who won that?”

  “I wasn’t aware that it was a competition.”

  “Everything’s a competition.” I shrugged, taking a sip of my cocktail. “Especially sex. That’s the best competition there is.”

  “Well, then I don’t thin
k you won that one.”

  “But I did.”

  “Nah.”

  “Whatever you say.” Laughing, I slid down from the stool and patted the front of my sarong. “I’m just going to get another drink. Want me to order you anything?”

  “I’m fine,” he replied, probably still wondering about who had won our little romp on the beach. Truth be told, I believed that he had been the victorious one that night. After all, he had caught me by surprise—I hadn’t been expecting his tail to join the fun, nor had I realized he would be so damn massive. Still, his victory had also been my victory. That night was the most fun I’d had in...forever.

  Waltzing through the crowd of resort guests, I cut my way across the dance floor and headed straight toward the bar. I was trying to grab the attention of one of the bartenders when I noticed someone familiar standing beside me.

  “What a pleasure to see you here tonight,” Alzon, the resort owner, said. He flashed me his toothy smile, his golden tooth making an appearance. Nonchalantly, he leaned against the bar and snapped his fingers. Not a second later, three bartenders appeared in front of us.

  “Hmm, another one,” I said, tapping my finger against my empty cocktail glass.

  “How are you finding the experience?” Alzon asked, his gaze boring into mine. “It’s a damn shame the humans are unaware of how large and full of life the galaxy truly is. I’d love nothing more than to have more pretty humans like you in my resort.”

  “I guess most humans would just freak out if they knew about the existence of all this,” I said, waving my hand at the assortment of aliens surrounding us. “It’d be absolute chaos. I think Earth is still a few decades away from sending spaceships filled with snapshotting tourists all over the galaxy.”

  “What about you, Miss Ashby?” he asked, then hesitated slightly. “May I call you Elle?” He only continued talking after I nodded. “This is the first time our resort has been involved in the Earth-Jorkan matching process. I was quite curious about the whole thing, to be honest, and it has been an absolute delight to provide you with the best our little resort has to offer.”

  “We’re very happy with it.” Once more, I waved one hand around me. “I mean, this place is amazing. I’ve never been anywhere as beautiful as this.”

  “What about Yilap? Is he treating you right?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” I said, then couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “I mean, he’s a bit over the top, but he has been extremely nice to us.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” He remained smiling, his golden tooth reflecting the bright lights of the dance floor. He could be charming, even more than one would expect, and there was a certain classic beauty underneath his flashy appearance. Sure, he had a golden tooth, and his demeanor reminded me of a Sopranos-style mafioso at times, but he wasn’t that bad to be around. “Let me offer you a drink, Elle,” he continued, and waved at the bartender.

  “Oh, I’m fine,” I said. “In fact, I should return to my table. Kazan’s waiting for—”

  “In that case, let me offer him a drink, as well.” Another snap of his fingers, another drink on the bar. “I really hope the process works for the two of you. You’re quite the woman, Elle. Kazan is a lucky man.” As he spoke, he kept his eyes on mine, except for a tiny fraction of a second when he glanced at my body. Something I didn’t quite recognize flashed in his eyes, and my first instinct was to think of it as hunger. It didn’t make me uncomfortable…

  But it didn’t make me comfortable, either.

  “Thank you for your kindness, Alzon.” I was about to turn around to leave when I noticed a tall shadow falling over me. I saw a hint of red from the corner of my eye, then Kazan was standing between Alzon and me.

  Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the drinks on the bar, and back at Alzon. I noticed him clenching his jaw, and it was painfully obvious that he was upset. God, what was it with men and jealousy?

  “Nice seeing you, Colonel,” Alzon said, calmly taking a sip of his drink. “Elle and I were just having a pleasant conversation. I hope you’re aware of how lucky you—”

  “Oh, just fuck off,” Kazan growled, then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away from the bar. “Are you alright, Elle? I came the moment I noticed that guy.”

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I said, raising my voice so that I could be heard over the heavy bass music. “You don’t get to walk up to me like a caveman and drag me away. I was just having a freaking conversation. I get it that you’re jealous, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to do shit like that.”

  “What are you talking about?” He sounded confused, but it didn’t take long before anger replaced that confusion. “I’m not jealous. You really think that’s what this is about?”

  “No?” Folding my arms over my chest, I started tapping my foot. “Then why make a scene? That guy is the freaking owner of this entire place, for God’s sake, and it wasn’t like he was hitting on me.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Rolling his eyes, he shook his head. “Listen, I just don’t trust him. I can’t really put my finger on it, but there’s something off about that guy. Right before he walked up to you, he was talking with a group of men that didn’t look like they were resort employees or guests, and—”

  “Oh, c’mon.” Sighing, I raked one hand over my face. “Don’t try to justify your actions like this. You’re better than that.”

  “I’m telling you, there’s something off about him.”

  “Well, I think there might be something off about you,” I countered, growing more and more annoyed with the conversation. The entire day was turning out to be a disaster. After one of the best nights of my entire life, our competitive edge had put us at odds, and now this. “You’ve been acting like an insecure idiot all day, and now you’ve graduated to a possessive idiot. Let me remind you that there’s absolutely nothing between the two of us. Remember what we agreed on? This is supposed to be fun, nothing more than that.”

  Now that I had worked myself up, I took one step forward and jabbed a finger into his chest. He merely arched one eyebrow up, trying to make it look as if he wasn’t impressed, but I could tell he was just as mad as I was.

  “You don’t own me, Kazan.”

  “Why would I want to own you, anyway?”

  I didn’t know why, but his words were like a gut punch. Instead of giving him another tongue-lashing, I bit my lip and closed my eyes. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I did my best to calm myself. It didn’t work.

  “I’m going back to the cabin,” I muttered. “You’re staying?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Fine.”

  “Yeah, fine.”

  Kazan

  Jealous?

  Fuck that.

  I wasn’t the jealous type, and that was because I never got attached to anyone. Why would I? My life was the absolute best, and the last thing I needed was some crazy woman around me, even if she was as beautiful, smart, and confident as Elle was. Sure, I had never met someone quite like her, and the sex was mind-blowing, but…

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered, my mind already going off the rails. I needed to get a grip. These past couple of days with Elle had been fun, but they were just that: fun. Still ruminating on the stupid argument we’d had, I made my way back to the bar. Sitting on a stool, I only caught myself ordering a Scotch when it was already too late.

  As I looked down at the amber liquid, my mind raced back to Elle almost right away, and I was forced to drink it all in one single gulp. I needed something stronger, and something that preferably didn’t remind me of the sexy pissed-off lawyer I was sharing my bed with.

  “Trouble in paradise, Colonel Kazan?” Appearing out of nowhere, Alzon sat beside me, his stupid golden tooth shining like a beacon. “Where’s Miss Ashby?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I muttered under my breath. “She was just tired and headed back to the cabin.”

  “Ah, what a pity,” he said in a wistful tone I didn’t
particularly care for. This guy had a thing for Elle, and that was definitely fucking with my head. I wouldn’t go as far as saying as I was jealous, but I sure as hell didn’t appreciate the way this asshole talked about her. “I was looking forward to asking her for a dance. With your permission, of course, Colonel.”

  Was this guy serious?

  For a moment, I wondered if it was a good or a bad idea to punch his stupid face.

  “She’s not my slave,” I shot back. “She’s free to do as she pleases.”

  Annoyed, I rose from my seat and walked away, needing to put as much distance as possible between Alzon and me. Had I remained there, I might have ended up doing something stupid, like dragging him all the way to the beach and kicking his ass into the ocean.

  It was odd.

  I had never felt like this before, and I wasn’t exactly sure about what to make of it. I wondered if things would get better once the thirty days were up. Elle and I would go our separate ways, and it’d only be a matter of time until my head cleared again. As I thought of that, a tightness took over my chest, and I felt the stab of anxiety as I imagined what it’d be like to never see her again.

  That was going to suck.

  Still, it was for the best.

  There was no way we’d be able to stick together without blowing up our own personal lives. I wasn’t willing to step down from being a Colonel and leading my guys into battle, and I was pretty sure Elle would throw me into a vorgon-infested pit before giving up on her career as a lawyer. In the end, I had to accept that our separation was inevitable. The sooner I resigned myself to that, the better.

  Walking across the club, I made my way to the bar opposite Alzon and ordered three shots. The bartender spread the glasses out in front of me, probably expecting buddies of mine to show up, then arched his eyebrow as I downed one shot after the other.

  “Fill ’em up,” I said, rapping my knuckles against the bar as I leaned against it. As the bartender poured me some more poison, I turned around and scanned the dance floor, my eyes immediately drawn to the group of Aurvelian chicks dancing near the sound machine. Long-legged and with glowing pink skin, Aurvelian women had quite the reputation, and it was a reputation well earned.