4. CHAPTER FOUR #3
I could still feel her mouth on mine. I could still feel the heat of her hand through my shirt. I was trying to be rational about this, but my body had already made its decision, and my brain was outvoted.
Just as I turned to open my mouth to say something, she grabbed my hand and squeezed.
“Your species is very slow, but I can wait.”
“We like to take our time… for the most part,” I said. “It’s a big cultural difference.”
“I see,” she said. “So when can I kiss you again?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed. “Maybe when I know something more than just pop star Zhari.”
“My middle name is Ova, but you probably know that from magazines,” she said.
“I eat dew cakes and Nebs for breakfast most days. I cannot sleep without the sound of white static. I’m afraid of Pilus.
I once cried during a documentary about Earth whales.
I have never been to your planet, but I have watched seven seasons of a human show about baking, and I do not understand why people cry when their bread fails. ”
She paused.
“Is that enough, or do you need more?”
I stared at her. She stared back, completely serious.
Then I laughed. “They cry over failed bread because it takes forever to make.” I laughed some more and then shook my head. "Bread is a fluffy food that we can make sandwiches on or eat as toast. It come's in a ton of different kinds. It's tasty."
“But, it's just bread,” she said, her brows furrowing together.
“It’s not about the bread,” I said with a sigh. “It’s about the trying, you know? You spend a lot of time perfecting it, raising it in a jar for days, just for it to fail? It sucks.”
She looked at me like I had said something she needed to write down.
“Raising it in a jar? You are a very strange creature, Vada,” she said. “I will stop.” She murmured, her hands fisting in her robe. “But it’s… difficult. You are extremely attractive. My body thinks we are wasting time.”
I cannot believe this is happening to me right now.
First, she told me we were fated mates and needed to have sex to seal the bond. Then she called me attractive.
I wished the logical part of my brain would get lost.
“Believe me, I have years of pent-up sexual frustration. But things are moving too fast. My brain really needs to play catch-up.”
Zhari just looked at me as if she had been scolded.
I had no idea Velans were little sex maniacs. That explained all the P.D.A. I’d seen going on since I’d landed.
We sat there for a moment in silence. My hands were sweaty and trembling. My face was hot. But something had shifted. The panic was still there, but it had company now—curiosity.
I didn’t know her, but I wanted to.
We were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.
“Ms. Lumis? We’re due on the post-show stream in five. Have you finished with—”
The door opened a fraction, revealing a sleek Velan in business attire, a tablet in hand, and a very annoyed expression on her face. Her gaze flicked to me.
“Ah.”
“Sira,” Zhari beamed. “This is Vada.”
Sira gave me a glare before stepping fully inside the room. “Ah, yes. The human. Hello, Vada. I’m Sira.”
“She will be staying in my suite tonight.”
“Sorry, I’m what now?” I cut in, my voice doing a weird little octave jump. “Staying where?”
"Would you stay the night with me in my suite?"
"I uh— I mean yeah I would love that," I stuttered, my brain still obviously lagging.
Sira’s eyes widened. “Ms. Lumis.”
“It’s getting late,” Zhari said. “The city is not safe for a human alone after a show this size. You said so yourself last month about the journalist from Oris.”
“That was different.”
“It’s exactly the same, and you know it.” Zhari let out a long, weary sigh. “I just… I don’t want to do damage control for another incident. It’s tiring, you know? So, I’d really like it if she could stay with me, okay?”
They stared at each other. Something was negotiated in the silence that I was not equipped to decode, especially while I was still stuck on the part where I was apparently spending the night in her suite.
“Very well,” Sira said. “One night. Security will sweep the corridor. I will reroute her guest-pod registration. Vada I will take your bags.”
She looked at me.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“You’re the second person to tell me that tonight, and I have to say, I think I’m doing a good job of listening.” I smirked.
“As you should. Humans are curious creatures,” Sira added before leaving.
I rolled my eyes and watched her go.
“Pretty sure Sira does not like humans… or me,” I muttered.
Zhari turned back to me. “Sira is just being Sira. Someone will walk you to the suite.” She sighed. “I have to go chat with ten million people around the galaxy for a few minutes. Don’t run off on me.”
She sang the last part and winked.
“I definitely won’t,” I said, smiling.
Her smile softened as her fingers brushed my arm. “Okay. I’ll see you after.”
“Totally,” I smirked.
She fixed her robe and rolled her shoulders once, as if she were shrugging herself into character. Then she looked back at me and flashed another quick wink.
As I watched her leave, her bodyguards stepped back into the room.
“Ready to leave, Ms. Vada?” one of them asked.
“Yes,” I said nervously. “I am.”