“You do,” Genni said, realization coloring her tone. “You have feelings for aKrave.”
Eve sucked in a slow, steadying breath, trying to get her hands to stop shaking from the adrenaline and fury running through her veins. The morning was just going from bad to worse.
“Sweetie,” Genni said, purposefully using that word to sound condescending, “get your head out of Everton’s orbit, okay? I’m just trying to look out for you.”
“Oh, so that’s what you’re doing,” Eve murmured slowly, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Genni’s nostrils flared. “Evelyn, listen to me. He works for Madame Allegria. He is paid to fuck human women for credits. And he must be damn good at it if he’s got evenyouspun in his web.” When Eve tried to protest, Genni cut her off with, “Yeah, I’m sure that he’s nice and you’ll say ‘he’s not like that.’ But don’t mistake a good business tactic for genuine romantic feelings, Evelyn. The Krave need repeat clients. That’s just good business and don’t doubt that Madame Allegria pushes that on them. They’ll do and say anything to get you to come back. That’s the simple truth.”
Evelyn thought back to her first visit, when she’d been about to leave. How Khiva had almost begged her to return…
She wasn’t a fool. Of course, she’d always known it in the back of her mind, but she hadn’t cared. She liked the fantasy of it, the pretending.
So why did the thought that Khiva was only vying for her continued business make her stomach hurt? Why did the knowledge that Khiva would most likely be having sex with another woman later that night, when he’d woken up withher, hurt so much?
How many womendidhe have sex with from week-to-week? From month-to-month?
Stop, she told herself. She had absolutely no right to be jealous of nameless, faceless women, especially when she’d paid him to fuck her, especially when she’d known exactly what she was getting into.
She just hadn’t counted on liking him so much. She hadn’t counted on liking the way he called herleeldra, whatever that meant in his language, or liking the small trilling sound he made when he was amused.
She wondered how many women he calledleeldraon a regular basis. All of them?
“I have to get ready for the shop,” Eve said quietly, not quite meeting Genni’s eyes.
Genni was already walking to the door. She left the sitting room, but in the foyer she said, “Glad to know you weren’t murdered by a street lord, Evelyn, and that you were just fucking a Krave. I won’t worry next time!”
Eve closed her eyes, breathing out a sharp exhale through her nostrils.
“Oh,” Genni yelled from the front door, “and thanks for caring but Erik and I broke up!”
The front door slammed behind the temperamental blonde and Eve stood in the middle of her sitting room for another moment, watching Genni stalk down the street through the window.
Well, I was right about one thing, Eve thought, turning towards the stairs, shaking her head.
Genni had truly just wanted to vent about Erik.
Chapter Sixteen
Khiva pushed open the door to the Cluster, a living space he shared with the three other Keriv’i at Madame Allegria’s.
After Evelyn had left, he hadn’t bothered to bathe, wanting to keep her scent on him a while longer, had only dressed to cover his nudity before making his way to the top floor of the brothel. The room they’d shared that night and early morning would be cleaned promptly, erasing all traces of her, and readied for the client he had scheduled for later that evening.
Weariness weighed heavy on his shoulders as he shut the Cluster door behind him. The common sitting room was empty, though he’d expected that. Tavak’s and Ravu’s doors were open, signaling that they were still with their clients, but Dravka’s was shut.
Khiva crossed to Dravka’s door and pushed it open. He found his friend flat on his back in the center of his bed.
“Dravka,” Khiva said, lingering on the threshold. “Has it started?”
“Yes,” his friend’s darkened voice came, his breaths labored. “Tell Valerie to cancel my client.”
“Do you need the chains?” Khiva asked in Keriv’i. “Valerie will check on you if I tell her. You should not be tempted.”
“I amalwaystempted,” Dravka growled, his eyes finding Khiva’s.
Khiva nodded and crossed inside, watching Dravka closely. The Rut made males unpredictable. It strengthened them, but violence was more common among males who were Rutting, an age old instinct when female attention had to be fought for on Kerivu.
Dravka was naked, his cock fully erect and pulsing. Khiva pitied him, knowing intimately how painful and frustrating a Rut was without a female to help ease it. But it happened every month for Keriv’i males. Even when Kerivu still existed, unbonded males withstood a Rut alone.
