“He’s a man-splainer,” I agree.

“You never stop Kiva when he is talking to you for far longer than you have the time or patience to listen,” he says. I smile a little at that. Kiva is so enthusiastic; it’s hard to interrupt him without feeling bad. “You did not tell that man in the parking lot to leave you alone. The one I believe wished to court you as a mating partner.”

“Kila!” I slap at his chest lightly. “Were you eavesdropping when you stalked me?”

“I happened to be under the nearby vehicle,” he says sheepishly.

“You are so bad,” I laugh, just imagining him all stiff and serious while lying under a car, waiting for me to get on the bus.

 “As I said, you do not need to extend this treatment towards me,” he says.

“It’s not you,” I sigh out. “Look, let’s walk and talk. This way.” I steer him to the left down an alley that will lead us to a less populated area. He falls into step beside me. The sun is shining and the air is crisp. It’s a beautiful day.

“The conversation just reminded me of some shitty past relationships, that’s all,” I tell him. “I don’t know. I’ve fallen for a few guys that just couldn’t commit and I always dreamed I’d find someone that wanted me so bad that I would never even have to fear they’d cheat on me. I never want to feel that insecurity again. It eats at you, even if you have no reason to suspect them…”

“You are telling me that males you were mating … chose to mate another without your knowledge?” he repeats the words as though they are a particularly confusing math equation.

“Oh yeah. More than a few times. Maybe I just have ‘doormat’ tattooed on my forehead, I don’t know,” I groan. “And I’ve been over it, I really have. It’s just… Life is funny, you know? Sometimes it gives you just what you wanted in the least convenient packaging.”

“I understand only half of what you just said,” he says. “But who are these males? Are they mentally incompetent?”

“You sound like my brother,” I say, rolling my eyes. We’re strolling by the local park entrance now, so I hook my arm in his elbow and steer him down the entry path. The leaves have turned colors and started collecting in pretty piles all throughout the green grass. “But no, in fact, some of them were damn smart or very successful people. I mean, one of them works at the facility, too, as a research assistant. No… I just don’t know how to pick ‘em.”

“At the facility, hm?” He turns to me and grins. “It would be very convenient to pay this male a friendly visit, then.”

“Very sweet of you to offer, but I think that’s just what Pakka’s most afraid of, isn’t it?”

His amusement fades to a deep frown. “I suppose you are right.”

With an immediate pang of guilt, I lean to squeeze his shoulder and bump him with my hip. “Oh, don’t get down, okay? You were joking, weren’t you? We’re supposed to be having fun. Let’s just relax and enjoy a nice day.”

“I am relaxed when I am with you and you are happy,” he says. “So forget about these males. I know I’d like to. You know now that I think it… these wouldn’t be the same males you said you would—?”

“Shush,” I snap. “Back to food. You like fish?”

“Ella, I—”

“Sushi it is. I know just the place. We’ll finish the park and then head there…”

He grunts, finally accepting that I’m going to ignore his further questioning on the subject of my ex-boyfriends (and whether I have them saved to my phone for booty calls). He slides his arms around me, tucking me against his side as we wind around the park’s short loop. I suppose he’s comforting himself with the reminder that I’m here with him. I can’t help but feel a warm tickle of satisfaction in my chest at his possessiveness. I want to be wanted this badly. I need it. And I’m quickly realizing it’s why I welcomed him into my apartment just that easily. Kila makes me feel seen, like I’m the end-all-be-all, like I’m a no-brainer, like I’m worth every second of his time, like I’m worth being exiled over.

Let’s just say a girl could get used to that.

No matter what happens later, I owe it to myself to give this a chance. Who am I to refuse what the universe has dumped into my lap? It’s time to open myself up to the possibility.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 14

KILA

When we return to Ella’s apartment, I find I am in a better mood than I ever remember feeling. We walked in the park, talking for hours. She took me to a sushi restaurant, a cuisine consisting of fluffy white rice, seaweed, and every kind of raw fish imaginable.

Every laugh I coax from her is like a drug. Every small smile and mischievous glance she spares in my direction sends my chest soaring with joy. Every sway in her walk and curve of her body calls to my baser instincts. She must feel something even a little bit similar, because she is humming as she locks the door behind her and removes her coat. She’s twirling in a circle and smirking at me. Her eyes are glittering as if she has some secret joke hidden behind her lips.

“You are very cute, you know,” she says, running her hand over the front of my chest. She begins pushing me backwards, forcing me to peddle back in the direction of her bedroom door.

“What kind of human riddle is that? Cute? Me?” I glower down at her, but my feet carry me where she leads. I believe she could push me out the airlock of a ship drifting amid space and I’d go willingly.

She bursts out laughing. “You have no idea the naughty things I could do to you. And that’s pretty cute. You’re clueless.”

My stomach twists. “Ah, you have sexual acts on the mind?”

“You are,” she says, as she stops before me and tugs at the hem of my shirt, “delicious to look at.”

“Delicious,” I repeat, letting her pull away my top. Her eyes dance over my bare chest. “Humans compare bodies to food?”

She tongues me across my chest, even sliding it over my nipple. I could never have imagined that such a thing would feel so wondrous. “Yes,” she says between licks. “Because I wouldn’t hesitate to put all of you in my mouth.”

“All of me?” I choke out, wondering at the implications of her words. She falls to her knees and pulls down my trousers—the loose black human article known as sweatpants. My cock springs free right before her face, and she opens her mouth to it, surprising me straight out of my skin. A strangled cry comes from me, and I am stunned frozen. She feeds my length into the wet warmth of her mouth and flickers her tongue as she goes. A shooting star could crash through this room and I would not move even a hair from this spot. She begins to bob her head over me, licking as she works me in and out of her mouth.

“Great Ka, Ella, this may kill me,” I say. “What a death that would be.”

She hums in amusement with my cock still in her moving mouth, causing a pleasant vibration. Just when I think I might lose my mind, she comes up for air and nudges backwards. The sight of her then is unforgettable. Her lips are reddened from her efforts, her eyes are shiny with lust, and her chin glistens with saliva. The pink tongue peeking out hovers tantalizingly near the tip of my length.

This is happening, I think. This inevitable bond is about to pull us under. I am helpless against my need.

“I want to see you,” I tell her, running my hand through her hair.

She stands and pushes me back against her bed. I take a seat on the edge and watch her. Though I never thought of clothing before, I now find myself thinking of Ella’s clothing all the time.  Humans wear a different set of clothing every day, and the variations seem endless. Is it related to their sexual depravity? It must be considering the way I sit and think about the coverings she chooses— why she chose them, how they mold to her, and how she would look removing them.