Chapter 19 #3
"If you do find anything that you think is substantial, I'd really appreciate it if you'd send it to Mauve," I say to Traci as she wipes her hands on her black pencil skirt and stands from her chair.
"Oh." She looks at me, a little bewildered. "We've already done that. Mauve got everything this morning since we're going to be talking about it during the same show as your interview."
"Thank you," I tell her, standing to join her and offering her my hand as if we weren't just holding them. She lets out a little huff and shakes it. "Seriously, thank you so much. I know it's all conjecture, but I'm really happy to have anything to go off of."
Traci's expression gets a bit pinched, her brows tugging together and up as her lips press tighter together. "You know, in these situations, it's usually an ex or a family member."
I wave my hand dismissively, "I don't have any exes. They were all one-night stands."
And that pinched expression turns into one of sympathy, and the rest of what she said rams into my mind like a battering ram, forcing open the doors to thoughts I've been purposefully not wanting to even think about.
Zill is by my side before Traci says anything more to elaborate on her opinion, and I'm grateful for the easy exit he provides.
"Thank you so much for having me on, and for not pushing," I tell her. "I know I've been very outspoken about how much I dislike these kinds of programs. But yours is the one I always returned to because I appreciate how you treat your guests, and how you never slut shame me."
"Slut shaming is so last century," she says with an eye roll.
"But I won't lie, when you were on Hot Goss and Petty Vibes, I was glued to my comm.
Vic started slipping in snide remarks, and Xia didn't stop him.
If it were me, I would've walked off set, but you.
I mean, asking to borrow their comm and calling Vic's father on live and offering to have a son with him so he would at least have one he could be proud of was so fucking good.
We brainstormed here for a while, trying to think if it was worth it to rile you up to get a clip like that. "
"Best you didn't," Zill says, surprising me with the darkness in his voice.
"Protective," Traci says, glancing up at him before giving me a nod of congratulations.
"Good for you, Empress. And yes, it's good we didn't. I'd hate to be in any way associated with Vic now.
He separated from the podcast and has been doing the news.
As if adding breaking news to the beginning of every gossip headline makes it actual news. "
"Vic's something else, but Zill's pretty great," I tell her, placing my hand on Zill's chest. I could talk all day about how much I dislike Vic, but I'd much rather spend my time with my Sombran. "Thanks again for being my last interview."
She grabs her water off the ground and starts walking off set. "Thanks for giving me the exclusive."
I lean into Zill as she disappears down one of the hallways that leads out of the studio. Zill's arm wraps around me, his shadows finding their homes around my body.
"Marr is getting the transport brought around," Zill tells me after a long moment, the darkness in his voice gone. He's back to my sweet Sombran male. "Isha went with Brandr and Mauve in the other transport. Ingo and Kolos will ride with us."
"I have all of my stuff packed," I tell him, tucking myself as close to him as I can.
Traci talked as though it was already nighttime, but that's because her show airs in the late evenings.
It's just after noon now, and we have plans to visit my apartment to get some more of my belongings. "We can head out now if you want."
I don't have to be looking at Zill to know he's looking down at me with raised brows. "You can wear whatever you want, I have no issues with it, but is this what you want to pack your apartment in?"
I push away from him, looking up as I bite down on my lip. "Maybe I like how you look at me when I'm dressed like this."
"And how do I look at you?" Zill asks, his shadows applying their strength to get me to budge and step closer to him again.
"You look at me as if you want to pin me against something with your shadows and have your way with me," I whisper to him, loving how his cheeks heat and his eyes glow brighter.
He swallows hard before closing his eyes, running a hand over his face, and groaning. "You need to say these things when we're up in my ship."
"Well, let's go get more stuff packed and then I can say it again," I say, turning away from him.
I can feel his eyes tracking down the length of my body to where the fringes are dancing around my upper thighs, barely concealing the handfuls of ass that my body suit isn't hiding.
Zill goes from excited to moving my things to irritated that he can't touch me every time he and his shadows want to.
They're overjoyed that we'll be living with one another, but then he's back to glaring at his own hands because he can't be trusted to keep them in modest places.
He fluctuates like that during the half hour it takes us to get back to the apartment.
Kolos even remains quiet, which I figure means he's aware of how close Zill is to losing it in his need for me.
It feels good to have that much control, even if I want him to snap and do what he wants to me.
I'm good, and only rub my body on him a little bit accidentally while we're in the elevator, while Kolos, Marr, and Ingo pretend not to notice.
Isha and Brandr aren't back yet since they had to drop Mauve off at her house before coming back. My spirits are high, and my enthusiasm to pack as quickly as possible is exuberant. And then we get to my door, and my veins fill with ice.
'You can't run from me!' is painted on my apartment door in big, bold, red letters. Zill's shadows cocoon me in an instant, drenching me in darkness and pulling me with more force than I'm aware they possess until I'm plastered against his body.
"It's still wet," Kolos says. His voice is filled with the same kind of darkness Zill's was earlier, but this is thicker, even more unnatural-sounding, as if his shadows are filling his mouth and distorting the words. "Get everything packed. I'm going hunting."