Kyro: A Sci-fi Alien Abduction Romance (Captured by Aliens Book 5) Page 6

  She’d found a cutting instrument in the apartment, a blade she could retract, and she was sure she could use it to cut the fabric the way she wanted. But there was still the issue of finding a needle and thread—or at least something similar.

  Eyeing the fabric, Evren sighed. She supposed she could make some sort of sew-less clothes. She could tie the cloth in a certain way to make it look good.

  As long as it didn’t make her look like a potato and it covered her privates, she was down for it.

  She was just about to begin cutting the material when the chime for her door sounded.

  Evren lifted her head and looked towards the entrance, her hair falling over her face.

  She wasn’t expecting anyone.

  Maybe it was Kyro. He had said he was going to visit to update her translator.

  Her heart skipped a little beat and she straightened her potato sack dress nervously.

  Why was she even nervous? As she shuffled to the door, the answer to that question didn’t arrive.

  The door chimed once more just as Evren depressed the panel to the side that made it slide open, a smile on her face in greeting.

  “Sweet human.”

  Evren’s smile froze as she glanced behind the merchant, not believing that he was there.

  His large body blocked her view of the street below. “M’Agunt, how, uh, very nice to see you. How did you—how did you know where I live?”

  “It brings me pleasure to see you too, sweet human.” His eyes moved over her body and Evren stiffened a little. “You seem to think your residence is a secret. Everyone knows where you live.”

  His voice sounded pleasant, but his words made alarm bells ring in her head.

  It was funny. Without Kyro hovering behind her, M’Agunt’s smile suddenly seemed very, very threatening.

  She’d had no idea she’d been taking comfort in Kyro’s presence.

  She put that in a folder to think about later.

  “What are you doing here?” She made an effort to keep her tone pleasant and not let her unease seep through.

  “I brought you a gift,” the alien said. From behind his back, a tentacle moved toward her. It was gripping a small box.

  As he handed the box to her, M’Agunt’s grin didn’t falter. “Open it.” His tentacle jerked the box toward her. “Please,” he added.

  Taking the box, Evren glanced at him warily as she lifted the lid. Eyes widening in surprise, she stared at the contents of the box before raising her gaze to the grinning alien.

  “Needle and thread?! How did you—”

  “Anything for my new friend,” M’Agunt replied. “I had it made, just for you.”

  “This was very thoughtful of you. But you didn’t have to. You’ve already given me the fabric—”

  M’Agunt raised a tentacle. “It’s a gift, between friends.”

  “Friends?”

  M’Agunt’s face dropped in the same way she’d seen it drop before. His entire countenance drooped.

  “Are we not friends?”

  When Evren opened her mouth to speak again, he continued. “I see. I thought we had a connection back in my shop.”

  “A connection?” Suddenly, she wished she’d taken the cutting instrument with her when she’d come to answer the door. He was getting creepy again.

  “In a base as big as this you’d be surprised that I don’t have many friends.” His facial skin drooped further. “I was just hoping... It can get lonely here.”

  The way his face drooped made the tension that was growing in her shoulders relax.

  He was just lonely?

  She knew how that felt.

  Was that why he was behaving so much like a creep?

  “I could help you create your clothes. As you can imagine, I am very versed in this respect.”

  “That would be helpful but...maybe another time.” She smiled at him, trying to make it as genuine and sweet as possible.

  “Why not now?”

  Opening her mouth to reply, a voice to M’Agunt’s right surprised them both.

  “She has company now.”

  M’Agunt turned and she saw his shoulders slump when he saw Kyro standing behind him. The sigh of relief that left her body came out as she said his name.

  “Kyro, you’re here!”

  Stepping around the merchant, Kyro came to stand beside her in the doorway.

  M’Agunt’s large eyes blinked, opening and closing.

  “I see you already scheduled company,” he said, eyeing Kyro before he turned to her with a smile. “I will see you later then, sweet human.”

  She hoped not, but she was careful not to let that thought slip into the stiff smile that she gave the merchant.

  As M’Agunt sauntered away, she looked up at Kyro.

  “You always seem to be bailing me out of awkward situations.”

  “I am happy to assist.”

  Evren smiled. A genuine one. One that stretched her lips easily, unlike when she’d been speaking with the merchant and her smiles had been forced.

  “Come on in.”

  As Kyro stepped inside and she made to close the door to her apartment, something caught her eye down on the street below.

  There, standing in one of the alleyways, was the form of a male she had seen before.

  Chitin armor covered his entire body as his tail swished menacingly behind him.

  Shive.

  Evren’s breath caught in her throat as she realized where his eyes were focused.

  He was looking directly at her.

  And even knowing she was aware of his suspicious behavior; he didn’t seem to care for he didn’t flinch.

  Couldn’t she get a break?

  Closing the door, Evren pressed her back against it to calm herself, a frown knitting her brow.

  Hopefully, the behavior was because she was new, and they’d never seen humans before.

  Otherwise, she really did need to leave the base and head to that port city. But that could be like jumping from one bad situation into a worse one. Who knew? The port city may be filled with even more creeps.

  Kyro shoved away the annoyance he felt at seeing M’Agunt at Evren’s door.

  Why was the merchant pursuing her? Didn’t he have fah-brik to go sell?

  It shouldn’t annoy him, but it did.

  He had spent much of the night thinking about their interaction in the shop and even Shive accosting her, and both interactions bothered him. They really bothered him.

  “Would you, um, like a drink or something?” Evren’s soft voice reached his ear and Kyro turned to look at her.

  He wasn’t thirsty, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. He knew that offering a beverage was a common human custom. He’d read about it.

  A character in The Big Loud Noise had mentioned it several times as well.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  She rocked on her heels. “What would you like?” she asked, then hurriedly added, “I don’t have much of a selection, let me warn you.”

  She didn’t wait for his answer but instead headed toward her food preparation room, her voice floating to him in the sitting area as he looked around her living space.

  There was hardly any customization in her quarters. Actually, the more he looked the more he realized there was no customization.

  Her apartment was standard. Neutral.

  He knew she’d only been there for a little over a week, but her apartment looked exactly like his did.

  Standard gray seats sat on the floor in the sitting area. The tables were bare. The windows had the standard coverings...if she left tomorrow, it would be like she hadn’t spent any time there at all.

  And she was thinking of leaving, probably because of him. If he hadn’t mentioned the Intergalactic Hub, then she wouldn’t have gotten the idea.

  All night, that had been at the center of his thoughts.

  Her wishing to leave the base shouldn’t bother him, but just as the interactions of the other day, it d
id bother him—bothered him more than it should.

  “There’s something in here.” She walked back out with a bottle of jinn in her hand, screwing up her nose as she stared at it. “I don’t know what this is.”

  “Jinn,” he offered. “It is intoxicating to humans.”

  Her eyebrows rose a little as she nodded her head slowly, still looking at the bottle.

  “You mean it can get me drunk?”

  “Easily, yes.”

  Her smile made his breath hitch a little. “Guess I should save some for later when I need something to drown my sorrows. Would you like some? It’s the only thing I saw in there.”

  “I accept.”

  She smiled at him and headed back into the food preparation room.

  In the next few seconds, she returned with a receptacle and the bottle in hand.

  “Here you go.” She rested the receptacle on the table and poured a drink.

  Kyro nodded.

  “So, um, how do we do this? Is it something you have to plug in to update it or is it wireless or...?”

  Ah.

  He’d forgotten that’s why he’d come by. He didn’t usually forget things.

  “Instead of interfering with your current implant, I thought it best to update your datapad with human languages instead. Updating the implant might be...tricky.”

  Tricky only in the sense that his hands would have to be all over her head and neck and, though his fingers itched for him to do so, he needed to perform some sort of self-restraint.

  He’d already broken several rules.

  “Well, I mean, I just want to be able to read books for now. I guess updating the datapad is fine. Do that instead then.”

  Kyro nodded and she smiled at him once more.

  “I’ll just be over here working on my clothes.”

  With that, she moved over to a table in the corner of the room where she had spread the material she’d bought the day before.

  He watched her move, noticing the sway of her hips as she stepped over to her task. Soon, she was frowning down at the cloth and muttering to herself as she circled the table.

  Getting to work, Kyro took up the datapad that was sitting on the chair and accessed the interface.

  “Ok, so maybe I cut this here and sew this to this. That would make a stylish skirt, right?”

  His nonexistent brows shot up as he glanced over in her direction. Was she speaking to him? It didn’t seem like it. She wasn’t even looking in his direction.

  Instead, her brows were wrinkled as she frowned at the material spread over the table.

  “Who am I kidding? I’m not vying for a spot on Seamstresses of the Galaxy. Nobody will care if the cut is a bit off, will they?”

  She circled the table, tilting her head left and right as if that would make her see the material better.

  “Ok. The best way to do this is to just start.”

  He watched her set her mouth into a thin line and could feel the amusement settle over his features. Why was she talking to herself?

  “I can do this. Just cut...right? Easy peezy.”

  As she cut the material, he watched her body gradually lean over the table till her entire upper section was stretched over the surface and...

  A ball formed in his throat, which he had to put much effort into swallowing down.

  Soft and curvy...

  On the other end of the table, her ass was lifted in the air. In that position, it looked even more rounded and attention-grabbing. The position itself was making him think of other things...the position she was in was so suggestive—it was almost obscene.

  Blinking, his eyes focused and he turned away.

  What was he doing?

  These thoughts.

  Accessing the datapad, he began the update sequence, plugging in the language file he had brought with him.

  He hadn’t allowed himself to slip before. After all this time, after all these years hiding, he had never allowed himself to even imagine having something else...something more.

  Yet, now, since being around these humans, his resolve seemed to be slipping ever so slightly each day. To lose it all would be detrimental.

  He’d played it safe all the time, never getting too close to anyone—Evren included.

  When they’d rescued the humans only to have their ship attacked, they’d had to divert to the desert planet Muk, and he had ended up with her. Yet, he had kept his distance. He’d hardly spoken to her. Hardly stayed close to her.

  He’d gotten them to the Muk outpost so they could be picked up as soon as possible.

  And now what was he doing? He was undoing all his efforts at keeping his distance, that’s what.

  “For fuck’s sake!”

  Her sudden exclamation had him looking in her direction, and he noticed she was now lifting the piece of cloth that she’d cut.

  “Sorry,” she offered when she realized he was looking at her. Then she turned her attention back to the piece of material, mumbling something about it not being cut straight.

  As she went back to cutting the material once more, he couldn’t stop himself from staring.

  Today, she had her hair piled on top of her head in an odd way. He assumed it was supposed to keep the strands high so she could see better, but it was failing at that because a mess of tendrils fell around her face.

  It made his eyes crinkle at the corners as he gazed at her.

  Holding up the material she was working on, she glared at it.

  What had it done to her for her to scowl at it so? Her obvious annoyance at the piece of material almost made him chuckle.

  Almost.

  Humans weren’t endearing. She certainly wasn’t.

  Not the tendrils falling down to frame her face... Not the way she wrinkled her nose when judging her work... Not the way she bit the corner of her lip as she stared at the material...or the way her buttocks pushed out when she stood with her hands bracing on her hips...or the way she spoke to herself as if completely forgetting he was in the room.

  He wasn’t smiling inside because these things somehow gave him pleasure.

  This was all for research, he reminded himself.

  The only problem was that it seemed as if he was beginning to enjoy his “research” a little too much.

  10

  She was horrible at it.

  Why the heck did she think she could even take on such a mammoth task?

  Evren eyed the enemy before her. As if innocent, the piece of cloth just lay there limp.

  She’d lain it flat to cut it, and it refused to be cut straight. Then after much maneuvering, she’d finally managed to cut it the way she wanted only to begin sewing to realize there was no way it was going to fit.

  Maybe if she was making it for a slender teen, maybe then all her effort would have been rewarded.

  Eyeing the skirt she’d sewn, she knew it wasn’t going to go over the rise of her ass.

  “Aah!” Gripping her hair by the sides of her head, she let out a huff of frustration. “Goddammit!”

  Glancing back over the sitting area, she checked to see if Kyro was disturbed by her outburst.

  She was pretty sure he’d finished the update a while ago, for every now and again, she found him watching her when he thought she wasn’t looking.

  Focusing back on the skirt, her shoulders slumped.

  This was supposed to be a fun activity—something to take her mind off things, something she’d looked forward to doing...something to help her regain her independence.

  Instead, it had flopped, falling flat like a jellyfish hitting a hard surface.

  Bracing her back against the table, she folded her arms.

  Was this how her life was going to be now?

  Unfulfilled?

  She knew the thought was illogical, but she couldn’t push it from her mind.

  The skirt hanging from her hands made her feel...useless.

  Was she good at only one thing?

  Evren sighed.

  Sh
e was good at only one thing. And now that one thing was gone.

  It was gone and she hadn’t had a say in it. It had just been taken away from her—not by illness, not by her getting fired, not by her own choice but by the choice of some selfish asshole aliens who’d ripped her from Earth just so what?

  The anger that rose within her almost made her choke and she stifled a sob.

  Gripping the failed skirt in her hands, her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her emotions.

  She didn’t even know why a tear was threatening to run down her cheek. She hardly ever cried. Why now?

  Why let things get to her?

  She knew the answer to that question and even though she didn’t want to say it out loud, it was there in her mind.

  Everything she’d lived for was now gone.

  She couldn’t be an ecologist anymore. She highly doubted going to the Intergalactic Hub was going to fix that but maybe, just maybe, she could find something to do that was close. Maybe she could find another purpose in some way.

  Live somehow.

  It was hard living when you had…nothing.

  As another tear threatened to fall, she sniffed, holding it back with immense willpower.

  “Evren?”

  The deep voice behind her almost made her jump. Kyro was so quiet she’d forgotten he was there.

  It was the first time she’d heard him say her name and somehow, the way he said it had her questioning if he was really referring to her.

  His version of her name made it sound as if it belonged to some sexy temptress. Ev-ren, with an emphasis on the ‘Ev’. The syllables flowed from his lips like they were coated with sugar.

  It was also nice to hear her name for a change, instead of being referred to as “the human” all the time. That one little action gave her some of her identity back.

  Clearing her throat, Evren wiped her nose with the back of her hand before turning to face Kyro. The smile she planted on her lips felt tight, forced, and she almost winced. She hoped he didn’t notice.

  “Oh, are you finished with the update?”

  Instead of answering her question, Kyro took a step forward, the concern evident on his face as he moved closer.

  “Red swollen eyes. Wet eyelids...” Kyro paused. “You are crying.” He glanced at the table and the skirt in her hand as if trying to determine the cause of her pain.