Then she heard a familiar, shocked voice come over the line.
“Valerie?Oh my god, is that really you?”
Eve.
Chapter Eighteen
When Dravka blinked his eyes open to late morning light, he was momentarily bewildered.
But then he scented Valerie, dragging her into his lungs, a low groan tumbling out of his throat. When he looked next to him, however, he found his bed was empty, the sheets cool where she’d lain throughout the night.
Dravka sat up, feeling half-drunk on sleep and Valerie’s scent. He didn’t remember the last time he’d slept this long but he felt refreshed. Though, he strongly suspected that sleeping next to his female—feeling her warmth against him and her even breaths drifting across his chest and her soft belly pressed into his aching cock—had something to do with that.
And he had a lifetime of it to look forward to. If only his stubborn little female would trust him.
In the morning light, Dravka realized that they hadn’t spoken of her dinner engagement. He’d meant to ask but something told him that she wouldn’t speak of it.
It doesn’t matter,he thought.She won’t have to worry about the Larchmonts much longer.
With a deep, chuffing sigh, Dravka rose from the bed. He was still naked from the night before—still hard, too—but his skin was sticky with the pre-cum that he’d tried to wipe away.
He left his room to bathe quickly, intent on finding Valerie. He was loathe to wash her scent from his skin, but he figured it couldn’t be helped. Soon, she would be all over him, her scent mingling with his own, until they were both covered in one another.
When we get off Everton, Dravka thought, rising from the bathing tub, drying his body off. He marveled at the determination rising in him and a hope that he hadn’t felt in years.
He’d been a fool to wait this long. He’d been a fool to not leave with Khiva a few months ago and drag Valerie with him, despite her protests.
But he would do right by her now.
Once he exited the washroom, he found Ravu and Tavak in the sitting room.
Ravu tilted his chin up when he saw him, his eyes sliding to the door of his bedroom.
“Was Valerie here last night?” Ravu asked, his eyes glinting with…amusement? “I thought I heard her.”
Dravka stiffened. The possessive Keriv’i in him didn’t like that his female had been sleeping so close to other unmated Keriv’i. Then again, it couldn’t be helped.
When we are on Dumera, I will build us a house far away from other males, he promised, feeling a little of his possessiveness drain at the thought. He couldn’t help it. Keriv’i were singularly jealous creatures when it came to their chosen mates. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for Keriv’i males to mark their females’ necks in theirteela, especially if they would be around other males.
He ignored the question, knowing he would have to put off locating Valerie for a little while longer. The three Keriv’i had matters they needed to continue discussing.
“On Jrika,” Dravka started and Tavak’s head whipped up from the Nu device, “I heard rumors about you, Ravu.”
Jrika had been the backwater colony that Madame Allegria had found them all on. A seedy one, only good for drinking away sorrows and perhaps fucking them away as well. Unlawful merchants, space pirates, bleary-eyed miners, criminals, thieves from all over the universe frequented the colony. And those unfortunate enough to live there?
Well, there was a reason the Keriv’i had chosen Everton, after all. Jrika had been a hellish place to call home.
Ravu’s gaze narrowed. “What did you hear?”
“That you ran with space pirates and scrappers,” Dravka told him. “That if they needed stolen tech unlisted, if they needed data extracted, then you were the one to find.”
Ravu exchanged a small look with his brother, his lips pressing together. Then he shrugged, a human gesture they’d all seemed to pick up over the years.
So Tavak had been selling sex and Ravu had been helping to sell stolen goods off raided vessels. Dravka didn’t blame them, didn’t judge them.
Hell, Dravka had sold himself once or twice on that colony when he needed to eat. It had been surprisingly easy, that first time.Andhe had turned a blind eye to some goods that had passed through his hands. It had been a difficult life back then. They’d done what they needed to do to survive.
It had been why all of them were so unwilling to follow Khiva and Eve to Dumera, after all. Because of the memories of Jrika, the fear that all neutral colonies might be the same.
