Page 40 of A Monster’s Future

I’d recorded everything, organized my notes, and planned on prepping the data into a comprehensible presentation during the trip back to Vokira. I needed time for all the details to solidify first.

The rest of the evening had been a blur of celebration, which included a massive dinner with the crew with enough food to feed a small army. Afterward, Annabel had dragged Igor and me for a walk through the station’s park, insisting I join them. I felt very much like a third wheel, but she’d waved off my protests.

Then she’d shown me the drone she’d recovered earlier as Igor insisted on checking the hallways one last time. It was the very drone that had tried to hunt Grtirr and me down. Even if the idiots it had belonged to weren’t currently in lockup, they wouldn’t dare claim it. They’d deliberately ditched the drone into the bushes to hide the evidence that they’d been flying the drone illegally to begin with.

“Is it just me, or are you using me as a shield between you and Igor?” I asked when we were alone. “Do you need help turning him down gently?”

“I’m not sure I want to turn him down, and that’s the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

Annabel’s face turned red. “I mean, I think I like him too. But it’s not right. I am, for the lack of a better word, his mechanic. You heard those guards earlier; they called me his handler. It doesn’t feel right for us to… you know.”

Aww, Annabel was so innocent. She couldn’t even talk about sex without turning bright red. “I feel like I’m taking advantage of him or something.”

“You? Take advantage of him? Have you seen the size of him? And it’s not like he doesn’t know how to make his wants and needs known very clearly. Remember today? He was very clear that he wouldn’t mind and that his equipment works.”

Annabel’s face was as red as the raspberry puree I’d had earlier. “I know. But I still feel like some people will judge.”

“We are surrounded by interspecies couples. No one’s going to judge.”

“It’s not the same. There’s a power dynamic, and…”

“But is there, though?” I asked honestly. “Is there really? Lemme ask you this: Is he smart enough to make his own decisions?”

“Yes.”

“Is he an adult?”

“Yes. But—”

“Then I don’t see the problem. Now that he isn’t controlled by Exotech, he’s grown into his own person. I understand it was a problem in the beginning, when he felt like he had to do everything he was told, but it’s not like that anymore. He has his own brain, and he uses it. You should know that best of all. It’s not fair to treat him as anything less. If some idiots think it’s not proper because they’re too prejudiced to think he has his own agency, that’s on them, not you.”

She nodded, clearly with a lot to think about. “Thanks, Julie.”

We made plans to visit the market one last time tomorrow, and I returned to my room a few doors down. So here I was, bored as fuck. And worse yet? I couldn’t believe I was actually missing Grtirr.

I would even welcome him telling me to remember to take my vitamins. And yup, those reminders have been coming daily, even here on Halcyon Station. Yesterday, after I’d received one, I stomped over to him and asked him to stop the auto-reminders. Grtirr had shrugged and asked if I’d taken my supplements yet.

I groaned, rolling onto my stomach. This was ridiculous. I’d spent years perfectly content on my own, and now, after a few days with him, I was pining like some lovesick teenager.

Stupid mate bond.

I got up and got ready for bed, rinsing my mouth extra well before changing into my favorite sleep dress and tucking my pretty hairpin into the front compartment of my bag. I hadn’t been sure I wanted to bring it along this trip because I was afraid of losing it, but I wanted something familiar to remind me of home. And by home, I no longer meant Nova Vita. That hadn’t been home for years; I meant the stronghold. Every time I looked at it, it reminded me of laying down the base of the swimming pond with Clara. It was the moment I started feeling like I truly belonged.

I tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult.

The bed was too soft, not supportive enough. The sheets were not the ultra-silky, temperature-regulating fabric the Vokirens made that kept me cool at home. And the damn station never shut up. It was the constant whirr of the ventilation systems and the occasional clank of maintenance bots rolling past in the hallway.

Even the air smelled wrong. There was something natural but clean that permeated the air back at the stronghold. Here, everything was just this side of stale.

I flopped onto my side, punching the pillow into submission with the side of my face, but it didn’t help. My brain was stuck on one very specific Kadrixan warrior. A sexy-as-fuck warrior with red skin, majestic horns, and that hard look that made my stomach do somersaults like it was trying out for the circus.

I might complain about him being overprotective, but I liked egging him on. I liked missing my vitamins just to spite him. I liked doing something just because he told me I couldn’t, just to see the look on his face.

I groaned and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling again. Sleep wasn’t happening. Not when every time I closed my eyes, I saw Grtirr’s golden gaze locked onto mine, like he was two seconds away from pinning me against the nearest wall and—

I exhaled sharply, my fingers already drifting down my body. I knew just the right thing to help me sleep. I was always sleepy after an orgasm. It would never be as good as the ones I’d had last night, but it would have to do. The station’s hum faded into the background as my thoughts zeroed in on one infuriating Kadrixan.