“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do now. FLOW doesn’t know anything about omega or alpha stuff…”
Careful not to hurt her injured ankle, she maneuvered around so she could straddle his hips, needing to look him in the eyes. His hands met her waist once more, tentacles gently undulating in serpentine waves as they coiled around her neck. It was comforting to be fully enveloped by him, like she would always be safe in her bubble.
“I was serious when I said you could stay as long as you’d like. I didn’t just mean a week or two. Perhaps you could take a leave of absence?” he asked, and Gemini quirked a brow.
“You really want me to stay? And ruin the perfect solitude of your beautiful cabin?”
She didn’t think she was the worst houseguest, but he truly seemed like someone who needed his own space. Why else had he retired to the middle of Lumeris with no neighbors in sight?
“You haven’t ruined anything. I enjoy your company,” he said, the tip of a tentacle brushing over her lips in a familiar manner. “I can help you through any changes that you find difficult if you stay here with me. Make sure you’re ready to… go back to Earth.”
The thought of returning coiled a knot of dread in her stomach in a way that surprised her. Earth wasn’t that bad, was it? She enjoyed her job wellenough, though the long hours prevented her from doing the things she loved.
Like working on her almanac. Or renting out one of the miniscule garden plots on her apartment’s roof.
She had some friends and family—though she didn’t see them much.
“How often do heats happen?” she asked, needing more information.
“Typically two or three times a year, but I don’t know if it is the same for non-Oslieth omegas.”
“Are you sure this change is permanent? Maybe when I… leave you, I’ll go back to normal.”
Apodis smiled softly.
“That was not the case with the Zephells who transformed, but it is impossible to know for sure.”
Gemini considered the fact that she was altered—perhaps permanently—and felt less uneasy than she would have expected. She was adifferent personnow. She’d had something fundamental changed about her biology, and yet there was no anxiety, no dread, no fear.
Just acceptance.
“Will all the heats be that… difficult?”
Apodis cupped her cheek, gazing at her with those mesmerizing turquoise eyes, the gold seeming to contract and expand with each breath.
“They may be. But the suppressants will help.”
The heat suppressants. Pills that would supposedly dull the desire and mask her scent from alphas.
“What happens if alphas recognize me? I mean, there could definitely be Oslieths on Earth, or other aliens who experience the same thing.”
Apodis tightened his grip on her, the tentacle around her neck almost taking her breath away as a low growl reverberated in the space between them.
“Somedo not know how to control themselves.”
The thought sent a shiver down her spine, and not the pleasant kind. He stroked a hand across her cheek, perhaps sensing her tension, his eyes going soft as he continued.
“If you stayed here, I could always protect you. Provide for you. Give you everything you need…”
His words were soft and vulnerable, and his offer? A true invitation this time, no doubts about that. But she remembered what had happened with Kenny, whatalwaysseemed to happen when it came to her love life. People grew bored with her.
Why would Apodis be any different? When he lost interest, she’d be stuck on an unfamiliar alien planet and have no way to get home. She’d be out of a job, with nothing but her savings to hold her over until she found something new.
After Kenny, her life had been in shambles. She’d had to move because she couldn’t afford the rent on her own when she’d kicked him out. Everything hadspiraled from there, and she’d kept herself cooped up in her new, much tinier apartment, missing her old life before it had all come crashing down.
When she’d finally gotten the courage to tell her friends, they acted as if it had beenherfault. Like she was making a big deal out of nothing. The chatbot wasn’t an actual person, so it wasn’treallycheating. She’d slowly drifted away from that group of women, and at this point, she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen any of them.
Instead, Gemini had taken solace in her work, even if it was challenging, even if it meant she had no life outside of NovaFlora. Her job would always be there for her, wouldn’t it?
