The waitress cocked her decidedly emaciated hip his way. He hadn’t stopped to look at the female when he picked her out of the crowd, with the waitress’s words he took her in. She had brown skin that he could spend all day looking at. Her curves were the things of legends, his fingers tingled at the thought of being allowed to touch her. That was the type of woman that a male like him didn’t have a chance at.
“You’re right, she is beautiful.”
The waitress wrinkled her nose, picked up a menu and led him to her table.
“Sorry I’m late love.” He bent over, gave her a peck on the cheek and slid into the chair. The waitress tossed his menu on the table.
“Women like you don’t deserve a man, especially not our men,” the waitress hissed before she flounced away.
“Sorry about that, she doesn’t seem to like the pairing of different cultures.”
“Hmm, and why aren’t you with someone of your own culture?” Keva wasn’t sure what to say, but the waitress’s words made sure she wouldn’t send the man away.
“There are very few women of my culture with us. None of those women find me to their liking. Although I am not against same-sex relationships, it is not for me. That leaves me alone.”
“That sounds legit to me. Why are you here?” Her hand moved to indicate the restaurant and her table.
“I’m hungry.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Hi,” she stuck her hand out. “I’m Keva Hall.”
“Hello Ms. Hall, I’m Kayden Gayl.” He took her hand shaking it.
“Call me Keva please.”
“Likewise, call me Kayden.”
“No nicknames, Kay for short?”
“I prefer Kayden.”
“Then Kayden it is.”
“I thought lunch would be dreary and boring. Already you have brought laughter.” They both studied the menu ordering when their waitress came, thankfully she wasn’t the one that seated Kayden.
They made small talk until the waitress brought their food.
“Tell me about yourself. The comment you made about only a few women with you suggests that you are from overseas.”
“I’m from a place very few people have heard of. We keep it quiet unless we meet someone, we feel is trustworthy enough to keep our secret.” Her smile said you can trust me, but he knew better. He knew what women thought about him.
“Believe it or not. Heck, I hate statements that start that way, I’m usually inclined not to believe it. Anyway, I understand. I have my own secrets and I don’t share them with the rest of the world. I love people, sort of, kind of, okay not really. The thing is most of them can’t be trusted with things that are out of the ordinary. Hello world, I have this great psychic ability that lets me levitate this spoon off the table. Witch, witch, burn her. Okay, we’re hundreds of years away from the Salem witch trials but unless you’re in New Orleans, it feels like it was only yesterday.”
Kayden stared at her with his steak lifted halfway to his mouth. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t the beauty in front of him to rant about psychics and witches. What did she know about psychics? Surely, she wasn’t one? Getting a grip on his thoughts he continued bringing his fork to his mouth. It was lunch, and he was eating steak while the others were waiting for a table to open. This was as good as life got.
“Sorry about that,” she gave him a meek smile.
He wasn’t buying the meekness for a minute. There was a fire in her eyes when she spoke. He bet she was the kind of woman who would lead a man on a chase before she allowed herself to be caught. She was the best kind of challenge, one worth keeping. Not like she was a dog or a cat, but as a partner. Slow down Kayden we don’t do partners. We suffer.
No sense in forgetting who he was. As he ate, his mind cast about outside of where it should be gently picking up spikes of energy and thrusting them towards Keva. He would demand that he stop, but this was one of the ways he was broken. His thoughts went to what happened to him and he shuddered not wanting to remember that day or that female.
“Are you all right you seem to have gone gray? Well grayer than you were when you sat down.”
That drew his attention, he usually passed as Caucasian, most didn’t notice the slight gray tone to his skin. He’d been working on lightening up. Keeping his humanoid shape had been hard in the past now it was second nature. Making his skin lighter was more difficult.
“I’m fine, my skin…”
“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t until recently that I noticed that there were so many shades of white. I know I should be more observant, but if I’m being honest white is white to me or it has been that in the past. One day I was watching one of my favorite shows and saw two people’s arms by each other and I was fascinated that their skin color wasn’t the same. I guess that’s something only my black friends would appreciate.” Not that she had any. When you were hiding what you were from the world you didn’t make friends.
“I never gave it any thought. Now that you mention it there are so many differences in one race. It’s hard to believe that you fight each other over something that small.”
“Oh, is it now?” She gave a laugh that sounded like the tinkle of bells to him. “You’ve decided not to be human? Tell me what is the race of aliens you’ve created in your head?”
“I call them Kur’iks.”
“I love that click in the name. There’s an African language that has a series of clicks in their language. I wish I knew how to speak it; it sounds not only beautiful but different as if they came from a different world maybe the stars and found themselves trapped on this earth. You’re going to have to tell me more. There are times when I make up worlds in my head too. I’m just telling you this, so you don’t think I’m crazy.”
“Are your worlds filled with aliens and battles?”
“No, that sounds so masculine. Mine are filled with people who can do crazy things using their minds. They are accepted for being themselves and the people around them love them. How’s that for fantasy?”
Kayden finished the rest of his lunch before he replied.
“I think we should compare notes on our worlds.”
“I know this great coffee shop where we could get a cup and pie for dessert. Everyone eats dessert with their lunch, right?” She frowned her nose doing something he thought was adorable.
“Right.” He picked up the check before they hurried out with the waitress from earlier shooting daggers at them with her eyes.
Chapter Three
The coffee shop Keva took Kayden to was off the beaten path. The only people who knew it was a gem was the regulars. To others, they wrinkled their noses as they walked past. A few lucky ones were drawn in. At times, she thought this place was almost magical; it didn’t just let anyone in. This was her world where she could almost see the magic that surrounded the people in here.
“Keva you brought a guest.” The barista frowned at her.
“This is Kayden, he’s tight,” she said for lack of a better word. To be tight meant that anything he saw wasn’t going to make its way into the news, it also meant that she wasn’t sure how, but he fit in.
“Hi Kayden, I’m Jean and if Keva is vouching for you, that’s good enough for me. What are you having?”
“Can I order for you? Please.”
“You can,” he gave her a smile that reached his eyes.
“He’ll take the ‘you must be an alien’ special. I’ll take the ‘I need a mental day’ special.”
They collected their drinks and pie before they sat down. The whole place was watching them, watching him. He took the first sip of his drink, a coffee that wasn’t quite a coffee and moaned. It reminded him of home.
“This is excellent.”
“Then you must be an alien,” the whole shop said at once before breaking out into a chorus of laughter.
“I like this place.”
“I knew you would fit in. I found it recently, but the more I come the
more I feel welcomes and accepted.” She took a sip of her drink while she watched him through her eyelashes.
Kayden was a handsome male. She did him the courtesy of not calling him a man since he thought of himself as an alien. He had the greenest eyes. The closest she could come to the color was some photograph she had seen once of water taken in some remote part of the world not only was the water green, but it sparkled in that picture. That’s how his eyes were, they sparkled like the lightest green jewel. She could stare at them forever and be happy.
Then there were his arms. He was built like he was an ex-marine, navy, army or some special branch of the military. He looked like a fighter with those thick biceps and a chest she bet was better looking than his shirt was indicating, and that shirt was indicating a lot. Her tongue licked her lips trying not to drool. He was sitting, but she still remembered what those jeans looked like pulling tight over his ass and how they sat low on his hips. Last but not least, was how his dick looked in them. She’d bet a month’s pay his pants weren’t stuffed, that meant he was a big boy. This male was so out of her league it wasn’t funny.
She knew that some larger women didn’t consider themselves attractive, she wasn’t one of them. She liked her curves. It was unheard of almost thought to be a sickness if a woman said she liked herself the way she was especially if she was plus size. Eff them she was large and in charge, her body was healthy, and she did all types of exercise except run, the thing was she never liked running.
She was out of her league because who wanted a woman with a mind like hers. It made her money though which meant she didn’t need a man. Who needed kisses, and hugs, let’s not forget about hot sex? She slumped in her chair. She might not need a man, but she wanted a partner.
“Why so sad?”
“For a minute there I was thinking about my life. I’m ready to listen you were going to tell me about the Kur’iks,” She took another bite of her pie her eyes focused on him.
“They came from another planet.” She nodded all the best alien stories started that way.
“They don’t know how they got here. Navigation went offline the ship hurtled through space and when it was over there were new planets surrounding them, a different galaxy. They settled on this planet because it was the only one inhabited with life forms they understood.”
“Oh, does that mean we are not alone in our galaxy?”
“You’re not, but we can talk about that later. We settled on this planet and have been making a life for ourselves since then.”
“That was a good story, but it was kind of short. You didn’t tell me anything about your alien powers.” Or your alien dick, but mum’s the word on that one.
“If you want to know about my alien powers, you have to stay close.”
“A challenge I love it.”
“Now it’s your turn.”
“In my world, there are people who can do different things.” She thought about her friend, Ava, who was able to hear other’s thoughts. “For instance, some may be able to hear another’s thoughts. While others may be able to do things that look like magic.”
“Where do you fit in?”
“I guess you’re going to have to stick around to find out.” Her teeth gleamed white as she smiled at him before taking a sip of her drink.
“If sticking around means I can come back here, I don’t think I’ll ever leave.”
“You have good taste. I found this place one day when I was at my lowest. My best friend hadn’t been around in a while and to be honest I was feeling lonely. I think it found me. I felt this overwhelming desire to come in, sit down and grab a drink. One of the best things I ever did.”
Everyone here treated her nice, even though she didn’t make friends fast. Not before she met Kayden, already she told him more about herself than she told others. Sure, she pretended it was a made-up world, but it was about her.
She went to open her mouth when half the coffee shop jumped to their feet.
It was like being in a movie with witches, warlocks, and psychics. There were chants and people with what looked like balls of fire or magic glistening around their fingertips. Yep, it was official she loved this place.
Then a sense of evil hit her. She jumped to her feet along with Kayden. There was something, she could feel it in the air. Before she could open her mouth, Kayden had his hand over it. Several people looked and nodded. Whatever she was feeling was after her. Closing her eyes, she let her mental abilities loose. Its whole presence wasn’t in the room, it had sent feelers. It was looking for, searching for something specific. She could feel the shields that snapped into place while hers was being held at bay.
There was no use fighting. If that thing was looking for her it would sense the minute her protective shields snapped into place. She let the others protect her while thinking about how she would never have done this in the past.
She concentrated on Kayden, on reaching out to touch his mind. It was there for her protecting her, but it was different. It didn’t feel normal as if it worked and was constructed differently than the average human mind.
There was a huge sigh in the room, and everyone stood down.
“What was that?” A man sitting drinking his coffee with the bluest eyes she had ever seen asked.
“A Shadow.” Everyone in the room turned to face Kayden. “I can’t tell you much about them. I don’t know much. We, my team and I, think they are humans who have bonded with an alien life form. They seem to be attracted to the segment of humans you call psychics, those that have greater access to their brains. They drain them. We are not sure if they are a food source or an energy source, or none of the above.”
“You and your team are working to eradicate them?”
“We are. You are?”
“Ren.”
“Kayden.”
“Nice to meet you Kayden. That whatever it was seemed to be looking for our little goddess there, Keva. It’s good to know you can keep her safe.”
“Hey, I’m not a goddess,” she took a minute to preen. “Thanks for calling me one, also I can take care of myself.”
“You keep telling yourself that. Run along you two. Remember you’re both welcome back at any time. Kayden, bring your team we’d love to meet them.”
Keva looked around the room not sure of what just happened. Ren was on his phone not paying them any attention. Kayden led her out the coffee shop.
“You know that place reminds me of a story or stories I read when I was a teen,” she followed him to where they parked.
“Tell me about them.”
“My memories kind of fuzzy it was a long time ago. All I remember was there was this bar and the people who were in it were different, but they didn’t advertise it to the world. I’d love to find that book again. There are things I read as a kid or a teen that now are priceless to me. I guess it’s the memories that I attach to them.”
“Did you read a lot as a child?”
“I did,” she leaned back against his SUV. “Reading is all mental, and it requires you to use your imagination. I was always able to get into the story and read between the lines. I loved it when the author left things open so you could do a little mental world-building of your own or imagine what happens to the characters between scenes. It also helped me with developing my mental gifts.” She held her breath waiting for him to laugh.
“I’ve never been much of a reader too many battles to fight. When we came here, I spent a lot of time in the ground.”
She was back to the little tidbit she was trying to ignore. Was Kayden really an alien? She was really a woman with psychic abilities. He talked about those Shadows as being half-alien. They weren’t giving aliens a good name, she’d watched Predator between her slightly open fingers. Yeah, she wasn’t good with movies like that.
“You talk like aliens are real and you're one of them. You also said those Shadow things were aliens and well they don’t seem nice to me.” That was an understatement, but she didn’t want to hur
t his feelings.
“Aliens are like humans, we come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors. We also come with different temperaments. I am an alien, but I don’t have a desire to hurt you or your people.”
She took her time to look him over. When he didn’t smile or laugh, she knew what he was saying was true. There was a tenseness in his shoulders even as his face was carefully neutral. He looked the same way she looked when she was waiting for him to laugh at her.
“You’re a Kur’ik?”
“I am.”
“I never met an alien before, pleased to meet you.”
He beamed at her. His eyes refracted light making her feel like she was in her own movie with the way the atmosphere around her started to gleam.
“I’m pleased to meet you Keva.”
“I guess I should probably go home,” she moved to her car parked in front of his SUV.
“I’ll follow you to make sure you get there without any problems.”
“Thanks.” Whatever that was in the coffee shop was looking for her. Now that she didn’t have Kayden’s beautiful body to look at, fear settled around her shoulders. Cold hands walked up her spine. Death called her name. She was so screwed.
Chapter Four
Keva lived in what she considered a nice place. She didn’t own the building, but she had an apartment on the tenth floor, not the penthouse, but she was satisfied with it. It was an open floor plan with wide windows allowing her to look out and enjoy the city in its full glory. It was far enough up that her neighbors in the building left her alone and the doorman kept out anyone who shouldn’t be here.
There was nothing to complain about except the loneliness which seemed to press down on her more now that Kayden was taking up space. With him here she could see just how big this place was when it was only her. Before today she thought she was content with her hit it and run attitude. Never get mixed up with a man or a male; they only wanted to use you.
The Wolf & The Pretender Page 2