6. Seth
six
Seth
" H e's waking," Essa nudges me awake from where she's kneeling at the side of the bed on the other side of Adam.
We brought Adam back to the room when he fell asleep last night, but Essa wanted to stay and make sure he didn't have any harmful side effects from her venom. The bags under her eyes tell me she didn't sleep last night. I told her she should try, but it's clear that if she did, she didn't find any.
I sit up in the bed, extracting myself from Adam's arms. His lashes are fluttering, and he takes a deep breath through his nose. I tilt my head to the side, my hands close to his shoulders because I don't know what mood he'll be in when he wakes up.
His eyes shoot open, and he tries to bolt upright. I hold him down, keeping him against the bed, my face close to his, making sure he knows I'm right here. I'm in bed with him. There's a panic in his eyes, just like there normally is when he first wakes.
"Essa," he says, his throat working as he takes another deep breath.
His eyes are wide, and anger hasn't taken over yet, but I still don't trust it. He pushes against me again, trying to get up.
I need to find her. Adam tells me in his mind. He'd see her if he looked next to us, but I don't know if that'll be good or bad.
"Why?" I ask out loud, needing Essa to know what's happening.
The question or maybe the answer seems to clear Adam's mind enough to remind him that he hates her or is still pretending to hate her. His eyes darken, anger flickering, his muscles tensing.
"She fucking drugged me," Adam snaps, pushing against me again.
Essa gets the memo and scoots backward away from the bed. The movement catches Adam's attention, and he jolts to face her. He's quiet for a long moment, maybe remembering how he nuzzled into her touch and whimpered when she called him a good boy.
Now isn't the time to bring it up. It will get brought up, but not right now when he's obviously embarrassed by the memories resurfacing.
"You drugged me," he snarls at her.
"I told you I'd hurt you if you didn't back away," Essa says, her voice holding a stern edge to it.
She told me last night not to look at her if she and Adam start fighting because he gets her so worked up that she ends up looking like she did when we were in the entertainment room. I don't know what it is, but my mind screamed for me to run, hide, beg.
We talked about a lot last night. Adam told me I was fine to pursue her after our argument yesterday in the kitchen. I have no plans of doing anything other than getting to know her until I know Adam's not going to be an ass to her every time they're near one another. Preferably, he'll admit he wants her at some point, and then we can really get to know one another.
Our conversations last night weren't very deep and were mostly about navigating all of this, with Adam being as prickly as he is. I promised her that part of it would get easier, but I'm not sure she believed me. I don't think she believed me when I told her he doesn't hate her, either.
"You didn't hurt me. You drugged me and—" Adam bites off the rest of his words, not wanting to admit to what happened after she bit him. Pink stains the tips of his ears, and I stare at that, wondering if he likes how she cared for him way more than he'll ever tell us.
"I hurt your ego," Essa says. I look at her out of the corner of my eye. She's standing now and moving closer to the door. "That's neither here nor there, though. I wanted to make sure you were okay when you woke. Seeing as you're back to being charming, I'd say you're fine."
Adam bares his teeth at her, and I see something smolder in his eyes. I turn to look at Essa fully, seeing her baring her fangs at him, matching the energy he's giving her. And he's really, really into it. The amount of lust pouring off of him right now is suffocating.
I can't look at Essa for long without the hair on the back of my neck standing on end, sweat starting to break out on my temples, and my mind telling me to run. Adam's still upset with her, but he's turned on too. If I shift my body just right, which I'll be doing as soon as Essa is out of the room, I'll feel his hard on against mine.
"I got this," I tell Essa. "I'll handle him."
"If you need me, I'm next door."
The door opens and closes. Slowly. Oh, so slowly, Adam turns his attention to me. I know what's coming, so I know I need to act fast.
"Want to be my good boy?" I ask, trying and failing to stop my laugh. Adam growls, pushing against my hold on him and pinning me to the bed.
"Don't talk about it," Adam says, biting on my lower lip when he pulls it into his mouth. He waits until I gasp in pain before releasing it. "Don't mention it ever again."
"Because you like it." I tilt my hips upward, my hard cock pinned between our bodies. I want to push my boxers down and feel the warmth of his skin against mine.
"Stop talking about it," Adam growls again.
I smirk at him, opening my mouth to say something else. He makes an unhappy noise before slanting his mouth over mine and forcing his tongue into my mouth. He keeps kissing me, even as he frees himself, even when he pushes my boxers down.
He yanks me by my hair when he moves to get the lube, so I have to follow him. Our mouths stayed fused, and there's not a single second for me to say anything. He lubes his cock and then mine and grinds against me.
I come before him, but it leaves me clear-headed enough to get under his skin. He finally releases my lips as his pleasure peaks, and I move my mouth to his ear, whispering so lightly.
"Good boy."
And he blows hard between us.
"I will kill you." Adam seethes through gritted teeth as his cock twitches between us. I smile and kiss him, knowing he's never going to kill me. He's just going to hate me until he admits he might be into Essa, too.
"They're arguing about letting us watch with them," I whisper to Adam as we draw closer to the entertainment room.
Adam's been anti-social for the last six days, so Sloane invited us to watch a movie with the crew tonight. Well, she invited me and told me I could bring Adam if he wasn't going to be rude.
I've gotten closer to everyone on the crew. It's hard not to, considering there's not much to do on the ship except hang out with everyone. Unless I go the hermit route like Adam. Everyone sees through his isolation. Everyone, even Phial, has asked about him to make sure he's okay. I'll tell Adam they all care once he can accept it, but for now, I keep it to myself.
Phial and Avery spend most of their time in the navigation pit because Avery's learning to pilot, or they're up in Phial's room, where he has some weird igloo thing they hang out in. I've learned that Phial blames his deity for pretty much everything, especially stealing the last piece of pizza. Avery has slave collar scars like Adam and me, but I haven't worked up the courage to ask her about it. I don't know if I will.
Sloane, Jovi, and Alik are always in the entertainment room. Not always clothed. The first time I walked in on them, I had a blaster pointed at me, which was pretty rude considering I was just looking to watch something. The second time, I also had a blaster pulled on me. The third time, I was able to ask them why they didn't lock the door while Alik was pointing a blaster at me. I haven't walked in on them again, but the door is locked pretty often.
Sloane also likes playing party games that Original Seth never played before he was locked in the research facility. He watched enough television to know what Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare, and Never Have I Ever were. Getting to play with the crew has been fun, too, and it makes me hope Original Seth found people to play with when he was finally released.
I snooped in the empty room next to Phial's, which used to belong to the old co-pilot, a male named Holoth, who had moved back to Rythar with his pregnant mate. Essa came in on me snooping, but she didn't chastise me for it. No, she told me Holoth's sister was the last occupant, but she had run off with a Sombran when they were still on Earth. We spent that afternoon snooping through everything, but there wasn't anything interesting to find other than I learned I like the wild look Essa gets in her eyes when she thinks she's being sneaky.
I don't know if Essa's told anyone about drugging Adam or not, but I'm pretty sure no one has any idea. Adam stays in the room with the pendant on red, making it clear to everyone he doesn't want to talk to them and doesn't want to talk to me either. Even when the others have asked about him, they don't bring up anything relating to drugging or biting.
I know Adam doesn't want anyone to know, but that's only because he's not admitting that he liked it. He liked it a lot.
I kept tabs on his emotional state during the time he was drugged, and I've never felt more happiness and calmness from him once since we've been together. Sure, part of that was the venom working in his system, but more than that, I think he craves not having to be in control all of the time. He wants someone to take care of him like he takes care of everything else, but he has no idea how to ask for it. Even worse, I'm pretty sure he thinks he's weak if he does.
"How many are for us joining and how many against?" Adam asks.
His brows are furrowed tight together, and his lips are pulled so hard downward that I know he's trying to make sure the first signs of aging he has will be frown lines. I listen a bit harder, not wanting to get too close to the door in case it opens automatically. There are hushed voices on the other side, but I can hear better than others on this ship, and I use that to my advantage.
"Phial doesn't like you. Big surprise there since you called him a lizard."
"Not to his face," Adam grumbles, shoving his hands in his sweat pockets. We're both wearing lounge pants and dark t-shirts since we're pretty sure this is a casual affair.
"Alik is worried you'll try to cause a fight."
I pause as I try to listen. The rest of them support getting to know us, except for Jovi, who doesn't care either way. Before I can tell Adam, the door opens, and an unamused Phial stands there with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Are you joining or just standing in the hall and eavesdropping again?" He doesn't wait for a response. He just throws his hands up and stalks back into the room.
"You're being mean," Avery whispers as Phial crawls behind her in the beanbag they're cuddling in for the movie. It's covered in furs, blankets, and feathers that have fallen from Phial's head.
He shoots me a smile and Adam an angry glare when we stare at them too long. I move my eyes over the rest of the room, taking in what everyone else is doing. Sloane, Jovi, and Alik are sitting on one of the couches. The same couch they use when I get a blaster pulled on me. Sloane leans against Alik, her legs in Jovi's lap as he massages her feet. There are two empty recliners, the love seat we were sitting on when we first got here, and a sofa that's obviously in use, but Essa isn't around.
I head for the loveseat, but Adam doesn't follow me. One second, his presence is right behind me. The next, he's stepping in another direction. I'm trying so hard to keep the groan I want to release inside.
Tonight will be a good night of bonding with the people we're sharing a ship with for the foreseeable future. The least Adam can do is not cause issues, but in true Adam fashion, he's going to cause issues.
What are you doing? I ask, turning around as nonchalantly as possible to see where he is.
I know before I find him that he's trying to fuck with Essa's stuff. He's standing in front of the couch with about half a dozen pillows piled on it, a couple of blankets, and a bowl of some blue goopy food. His hands are on his hips as he surveys the occupied space before glancing up at me.
"That's Essa's spot," Phial says, catching on that Adam is about to cause trouble. His relationship is already strained enough with Adam, and Adam's only going to make it worse.
Adam doesn't even look at Phial when he pulls the pendant out of his pocket, showing off the faint red glow. Of course, he thinks he can do whatever the fuck he wants, all because of some arbitrary power Alik gave the pendant as though it's infallible.
I hope all he'll do is look at Essa's stuff and make the others think he'll mess with it. But then he starts moving pillows around on the couch, pushing them all over to one side before sitting on one of the blankets. I cringe internally and try to think of a way to salvage this.
I open my mouth to ask Adam to sit with me on the loveseat. I'm even about to mentally offer to give him a handjob while we watch the movie if he comes to sit with me. Before I get the chance, Adam grabs the food sitting on the flattened arm of the couch and eats a spoonful as though it's his. Surprise covers his face like he wasn't expecting the food to be good but was willing to eat it anyway just to be spiteful.
I put my face in my hands, rubbing them down slowly as I try to think of how to fix this because it's obvious Adam's being a douchebag just to be a douchebag. Somehow, Alik and Jovi haven't noticed yet, probably because they're whispering something to Sloane that I'm trying very hard not to pay attention to. However, when they notice, that will be the biggest issue because they could kill Adam. I don't think they would, but I think they're the most likely to do it out of everyone here. Phial might, but he'd need a blaster, and I don't see one around. Then again, Alik always pulled one out from underneath the couch when I walked in on them. They might have blasters hidden all over the place.
"What are you—" Essa's voice has me moving my hands from my face just in time for her to register that the spot she got all situated and nice for herself has been trampled by a beast, and her snack is filling his belly.
Sloane's whispering stops, which means Jovi and Alik's attention is now on Adam. The fucker just keeps eating, something glinting in his eyes akin to humor. Essa's head tilts to the side, her brows tugging together as she tries to figure out what Adam's doing and why. I'd love to know, too.
"Are we going to watch a movie or not?" Adam asks, licking blue goop off the spoon and pointing it at Essa, whose tail thrashes behind her.
He grabs the pendant with his free hand and clicks the color over to green as though he's willing to talk now that he's pissing someone off. Well, I guess now that he's pissing Essa off because he didn't care much when he was making Phial upset.
There's a low rumble of growls behind me where Jovi and Alik are sitting, and I can see Phial shifting around in the weird nest until Avery's behind him.
It takes me a second to register why they're acting that way, but I get it when my eyes meet Essa's again. Her pupils are constricting, her fangs are descending, and her whole body is priming for a fight. I shiver hard, my mind telling me that she's a predator and she can kill me. The only one not affected in the same way is Adam, who continues eating Essa's food.
"Get out of my seat," Essa says, fangs pressing into her lower lip.
I avert my eyes, my chin tucking downward to stare at the floor. My hands shake, and sweat beads on my forehead as I force my limbs to move. My body, my survival instinct, is telling me to get away from her, but I need to keep Adam safe, too. Even if it's keeping himself safe from his own dumb fuckery.
"Make me," Adam taunts, not a hint of fear in his voice.
I don't know if that makes it better or worse for Essa. I'm assuming it's worse since she's trying to scare all of us. I don't think it's voluntary. I think Adam manages to bring out the worst in her, and she manages to do the same to him because he usually doesn't try to pick fights this often.
He does it way more often than he should, but it's never been this bad. This is the third time he's tried to pick a fight with her, and they've only been around each other three times since we've been here. At this rate, the others are going to kick us off their ship, and we're going to be screwed.
"I don't want to hurt you," Essa says, her voice not matching the harshness of her features. No, her voice sounds almost like a soft, soothing song when she talks to Adam.
Her heart is racing, her breathing coming in sharp and shallow through her nose. I listen to those sounds as they grow closer and closer to where Adam's sitting. I try to reach him before she does so I can try to end this fight before it starts, but my mind screams for me to stop, and my limbs are listening to it and locking up in fear.
"We both know I'm not scared of you," Adam says.
I chance a look at him, hoping Essa isn't too close. But she's right there, right in front of him. Her face is so close to his, her fangs dripping a clear liquid that trails down her chin. I get the overwhelming need to lick it off her skin before I can think better of it and tear my eyes away from the scene.
There's a long, tense pause where the only sounds are the low growls in Jovi and Alik's chests, the rapid beating of Essa's heart, and the low chuckle vibrating from Adam's throat.
There's a more feminine snarl before Essa whips around, stomping out of the room. She leaves the rest of us to deal with the fear still tingling against our spines. All of us, except for Adam. I grab his shoulder because I know what he's about to do, and I need to stop him before he does something even more stupid.
"You can't just run," Adam calls out to Essa's retreating back.
He pushes my hand off of him, shooting me a glare that tells me he's doing whatever the fuck he wants right now, and I can either buckle up and go with him or sit back down and let him fuck shit up on his own. I groan and watch him stomp after Essa, curling my hands into fists before jumping over the couch and chasing after them.
"She might kill Adam," I tell the others over my shoulder. "It'll be justified."
I hear a snort and some grumbling, but for the most part, I tune them out. Adam isn't too far ahead of me, and Essa's just barely ahead of him.
He could reach out and grab her if he wanted, but he's waiting for some reason. I hear the whoosh of the entertainment room door closing. That's what he was waiting for.
His hand snaps up, wraps around Essa's bicep, and tugs her to face him again. I dart my eyes down, fear tickling the back of my neck even without looking at her. If I were to look into her eyes right now, I'm pretty sure I'd freeze up.
"If you put your hands on me again…" Essa's singsong voice falters, and then, out of nowhere, she lets out the sweetest sounding laugh I've ever heard. It draws me in and makes me want to look at her, but I don't. It's all some kind of ruse. When her laughing stops, there's a pause. I don't think even Adam knows how to react to her laughing at him. "You want me to bite you, don't you?"
"What?" Adam says in a way that might be believable if what Essa just said didn't make complete sense. Adam's acting even more than an ass than normal, and he's putting his hands on a woman. Sure, he's more of an equal opportunity fighter if threatened, but he's never picked fights with women. "No, that's ridiculous."
Essa laughs again. This time, she takes a step closer to Adam. I want to look up to see how close she is. See if their faces are only inches apart. But I don't know if she's still looking all scary, and I don't want to piss myself in front of her.
"You do!" She takes another step toward him, but Adam doesn't retreat.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Adam says through clenched teeth.
"Then why did you sit in my spot, eat my food, chase me down, and grab me?" Essa asks. There's a brief silence, and when it's clear Adam isn't going to answer her, she continues. "If you want me to bite you, I need to feel in danger. I'm not biting you just because you took my snack."
With that, she turns away from the two of us and starts retreating toward her bedroom. I let out a sigh of relief at Adam leaving it be, at him not making this even worse, and for Essa seeming to understand what was happening.
I go to put my hand on Adam's shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze, to offer him whatever he needs since he's going through something right now. My hand hits nothing but empty air, and my head snaps up just in time to watch Adam stomp after Essa for a second time.
He wraps his hand around her arm again, but this time, when she turns, he's swinging his fist at her. It all seems to happen in slow motion, the fist flying toward her, the way she grabs his calf with her tail, kicks out his other leg, and dodges the hit.
She doesn't let him fall, even though that would be the funnier outcome. No, she loops an arm around his lower back to support him as her other hand grabs a handful of his hair, tilting his head to the side. She sinks her fangs into his shoulder, almost exactly where she bit him the first time.
I watch them for a moment longer, no fear tickling my spine, no panic settling over my nerves. She helps to right him and cradles his face in her hands. Her eyes scan over his features. I don't feel worried because I'm pretty sure Essa's the third we've been missing all along.