by Lea Linnett
“Not cold,” he said softly. “Is it uncomfortable for you?”
Ellie shook her head, pulling him closer until their bodies fit neatly from toe to chest. “No, not at all. Gives me an excuse to warm you up.”
Her expression was playful, her gaze half-lidded, and Helik wrapped his arms around her, trying to hide his delight. She continued to surprise him. He’d been shocked enough when she stepped out of her dress and made her intentions clear the night before, and to have her affirm her intent now… It was like he was still dreaming.
He just hoped he didn’t wake up anytime soon.
“You humans are absolutely incorrigible,” he said, as if he wasn’t already hardening against her thigh.
“Oh, you have experience?” Her tone was mischievous, rather than accusing, but Helik felt a bolt of fear either way.
“No,” he answered quickly. It was far too long ago to count as experience. “I just meant your kind has a reputation.”
Ellie snorted and pressed a kiss against his jaw that sent thrills through his body. She was so bold. Unlike himself.
“Last night was incredible,” Ellie murmured.
“You have no idea,” Helik said on an exhausted sigh, and the girl giggled.
“I was so scared you were gonna say no,” she added, watching him carefully.
“I was scared you would wake up today and regret it.”
“I couldn’t.” Her gaze fell to his neck, and beneath the sheets Helik could feel her fingertips skating across the hard planes of his chest. They were so soft against his scales. “There’s only one thing you could do to make me regret it.”
Helik didn’t have to ponder her meaning for very long. “You’re safe with me,” he said, his fingers tightening on her waist, and heard her breath hitch. “I would never put you in danger like that.”
He didn’t even try to stop himself this time when the urge to lean forward and kiss her arose. Her small mouth parted in a gasp, welcoming him in. It was gentle at first, a placid tease of lips and tongue, but then Ellie’s leg hiked up over Helik’s hip of its own accord, and he felt the distinct wetness of her arousal against his thigh.
His cock stirred, and Ellie moaned in the same way she might praise a meal as she pressed against it. “Yes,” she breathed.
“Maybe ‘insatiable’ is a better word for you,” Helik muttered, grunting as the human rolled on top of him, seating herself so her hot core was pressed firmly against his cock.
“You seem as interested as I am,” she replied, a pleased smile overtaking her features. She sat up, and the sheets fell away to reveal her small breasts, nipples gone hard even in the warmth of the room. “It does wonders for the confidence.”
She wasn’t wrong. With the way she looked at him, he felt like he could withstand anything: the tabloids, the rumors, the stares. The outside world fell away, his focus entirely captivated by her.
He ran his claws down her sides, enthralled by the pink blush they left behind on her skin, but was interrupted by the high-pitched whine of his alarm, blaring from his wristlet on the bedside table. He snatched it up with a muted groan of frustration. Once he’d checked the time, he threw the wristlet unceremoniously back to the table, sighing up at the ceiling.
“Time’s up already?” Ellie said good-naturedly, but he could hear the note of disappointment in her tone.
“Soon. I have meetings today. It’s going to be a busy week.”
The girl nodded. “I’ll be busy too, with your soot. Then there’s another Monitor meeting…” She trailed off, looking preoccupied.
“Are you nervous?” he asked, gently cupping her jaw.
She tilted her head, her brow creasing. “Not about the meeting. I guess I just…” She hesitated, her hands smoothing idly over Helik’s chest. “Everything feels different now.”
A shiver of unease ran up Helik’s spine, and he reached up, running his fingers up Ellie’s arm as if it were the rope binding them together. “Nothing’s different. At least, not as far as anyone outside this room is concerned,” he said, glad when her eyes flicked up to meet his. “Out there, I’m your boss, I work a lot, and you’re an employee just like all the others.”
She nodded haltingly, a shard of vulnerability cracking through her boldness from before. “And in here?”
Helik hesitated. “In here, we’re just two people who live together and got curious. Who are still curious.” He cracked a smile, grasping for that confident side of himself that he would use when reassuring a business partner while he tried to ignore the twinge of panic that crept up inside him at her hesitation. He felt a sudden, desperate need to see her smile again, and the force of it scared him slightly.
What was she doing to him?
To his relief, her features relaxed, her hand resuming its tentative exploration of his skin. “Oh, I am still plenty curious,” she purred, sending another shiver down his spine, this one far more pleasurable. “But we probably don’t have much time left…” She straightened up, narrowing her eyes at his wristlet.
Helik gripped her hips, keeping her firmly planted against him. “I think I can fit you into my busy schedule.”
Ellie smirked, rolling her eyes even as she arched under his touch. “You think you’re busy?” she said, rolling her hips and making Helik’s breath catch. “You don’t have three bedrooms and a library to dust. Or a heat room that needs disinfecting.”
He guided her down towards him until there was nothing between them but their own heated breaths, lips only inches away. “As your boss, I hereby give you permission to not give a fuck,” he whispered.
“Oh, thanks so much, sir,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes again, but she collapsed into him nonetheless, her lips burning him with their fervor.
“My pleasure,” he said between kisses, and they collapsed onto the bed in a flurry of laughter.
15
When Ellie walked into the Monitor meeting, she was sure that everybody would be able to tell that something had changed.
She felt changed. There was a spring in her step, her nerves tingled, and her muscles ached more than they ever had when cleaning was her only daily activity.
God, she might have had more sex in the past few days than the last two years combined. He called her insatiable, but Helik’s appetite was like none she’d ever encountered. Every spare moment since that first night in the heat room had been spent beneath Helik’s sheets, and Ellie had loved every second of it. Helik held her so tightly, as if he thought she might fade away if he let go for too long, and those touches were addictive.
She tried to keep the blush from her cheeks as she entered the meeting room, but the tension rocking through her was far harder to hide. She’d done something illicit—illegal—and while the idea of anyone discovering it was horrifying, she couldn’t deny the thrill she felt as she looked around the room at the other humans, her gaze sharper than usual.
But no one noticed. Not even Cara, whose pointed gaze usually caught everything.
Ellie found her sitting beside an unusually quiet Anna, her brow knitted in concern.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, taking a seat beside them. Anna blinked up at her, her eyes wide, and Ellie noticed for the first time that the girl’s eyes were a yellow-ish amber. This promptly reminded her of Helik’s scales, and she glanced away.
“I’m okay,” said Anna, and when Cara tried to protest, she repeated, “I’m okay. Really.”
“Did something else happen?” Ellie looked between the two women, her brow furrowing.
“No.” Anna smiled, and her eyes were dry. She seemed more tired than sad. “I’ve just been working hard. Which would be fine, except Ms. Kallo doesn’t…” She sighed. “She’s never happy with my work. I don’t know if I can even do better, it’s just…”
“Exhausting?”
She nodded.
“Maybe you should put in a complaint,” said Ellie, but Cara shook her head.
“They won’t listen. They never d
o.”
“It’s not that bad,” Anna said. “I promise. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Cara frowned, obviously unhappy with the response, but wrapped an arm around her nonetheless. Meanwhile, Ellie cast about for a distraction. “I started on your dress,” she announced, pleased when the girl’s eyes lit up.
“For real? That’s so exciting!”
“Well, it’s only a few pieces of fabric right now, but it’ll look better later.”
“Thank you for this,” Anna said, quieter now, catching Ellie’s eye. They hadn’t had a chance to speak in private about Ellie’s lie, but she knew that Anna’s gratitude was sincere.
“It’s no problem,” she said, smiling.
“I should really pay you something—”
“No need. Really.”
“Oh my god.”
The two both fell silent at Cara’s whisper, a horrified expression crossing the human’s face. Ellie followed her gaze just as the rest of the room’s attention was sucked towards the door, and the large figure that had just entered.
There was a collective gasp, and at first Ellie was confused, seeing only Scott as he hovered by the door, giving everyone a guarded look. But then she noticed the dark purple bruise spreading over his eye, and the cut running over his chin.
He moved through the frozen room with his usual ease, taking up a seat in the circle and nonchalantly leaning it back on its hind legs. The girl beside him asked him something in a low tone that Ellie couldn’t hear, and he waved it off with a grin and a shake of his head.
Beside her, Cara’s eyes had lit up like beacons, but as she rose to her feet to investigate, the door opened for the final time and the Monitor entered, effectively silencing any whispers and gossip that had started up.
Ellie tried to get a better look at Scott’s injuries, using the rush of humans taking their seats as cover. His bruises were dark and fresh, but he didn’t look like he was in pain.
He caught her looking though, his brow furrowing, and she snapped her gaze away. She didn’t dare turn to face him for the rest of the meeting, and when it came time for her to talk, she barely thought about her secrets concerning Helik, her mind instead buzzing with questions.
She went home after the meeting, despite her curiosity. She needed to work on Helik’s soot. Cleaning the apartment was still her main job, but her free time had been rather monopolized by Helik himself that week. She didn’t want to fall behind, especially now that she was making something for Anna, as well.
Working on the pattern for the soot turned out to be a welcome retreat from her worries about Scott. The hours flew past as she lost herself in a world of graphite and paper, carefully measuring and drawing so as to not waste any of the expensive materials she’d bought for the occasion.
Later, when it came time to go meet the other humans for their social night, it was a struggle to disentangle herself from her work. She might have skipped it entirely, if she wasn’t so desperate to know whether Scott would show up, and if he would talk about his injuries.
God, she was turning into Cara.
As it happened, Scott did show up, and the mood around their table was subdued compared to the rest of the hub. Ellie was happy to talk with Cara, who was complaining loudly about her levekk boss again after only two drinks, until the girl leaned over to her other side, whispering something into Anna’s ear.
Ellie raised an eyebrow, but Cara only shrugged.
She was about to ask what was going on, when Anna, looking uncomfortable, called out across the table. “Um, Scott? Is your eye okay?”
Ellie sent Cara a disbelieving look, to which the brunette muttered, “I had to ask her, he wouldn’t have said anything to me.”
Across the table, Scott looked perplexed, but only slightly suspicious. His eyes did dart towards Cara and Ellie, but when the former only raised her eyebrows at him, he sighed.
“I’m fine,” he said, waving his hand and smiling dismissively. “Turns out that when your boss gets you to change the furniture around every other day you start to forget where it is. Tripped over a goddamn footstool on my way to the bathroom last night and went headfirst into a table.” He rolled his eyes. “Not my finest moment.”
There were a few murmurs around the table, but no protests. Ellie wasn’t sure what to make of the admission, but she could tell from the way Cara was looking at Scott that she wanted to press him for more information.
After a few minutes, he excused himself and headed for the bathroom, and he’d only just gotten out of earshot when Cara piped up.
“There’s no way he just fell over something.”
Ellie raised an eyebrow. It was unlikely, sure, but still possible. “Why do you say that?”
Cara sent her a disbelieving look. “A black eye? From furniture? I’d understand a cut lip or forehead or something, but not that. He’s covering.”
On Cara’s other side, Anna frowned. “Covering? What do you mean?”
Cara rolled her eyes, but gestured for them to lean closer. “Someone beat him up, for sure. And there’s only one person it could’ve been.”
Anna looked confused, but Ellie’s brow furrowed as she put two and two together. “No way.”
“What?” Anna looked between them, blinking.
“It’s his boss,” Cara said, catching Ellie’s eye. “Has to be. He never talks about her. He must be scared of what she’d do if she found out.”
Ellie tilted her head slightly, grimacing. “I don’t know, Cara. That’s kind of extreme, isn’t it? You really think a big guy like him would let that happen?”
“If he wants to keep his job, then yeah. Would you stand up to Kaan if he decided to lay a hand on you?”
Ellie felt her cheeks grow warm despite herself, her thoughts automatically running back over all of the times Helik had laid a hand on her in the past few days. She shook her head. “I don’t think Mr. Kaan would allow anyone to treat us that way under the program,” she said, bypassing Cara’s question.
“You sure do have a lot of faith in the program,” Cara muttered, rolling her eyes.
Ellie sighed. She liked Cara, but she was even more suspicious of people than Augusta. “I do—”
“He’s coming back,” Anna squeaked, and Ellie schooled her face into something more neutral. She didn’t want to get drawn into a web of gossip. But as she watched Scott approach, there was something closed-off in his expression that made her worry.
He hid it well, waving off the group’s continued concern and changing the subject. Before long, they were all talking about frivolous things like what they planned to do with their savings and whether they should check out another hub in the Senekkar.
But on her way home that night, her thoughts teemed.
If someone in the program really was mistreating their human, would anyone help?
Would Helik?
It was too early to worry. Cara’s guess was just that—a guess. They had no way of knowing whether Scott was lying. Maybe it was just a freak accident. Their first progress check was only days away, and Ellie refused to believe that anyone would dare lay a claw on one of the humans when so many eyes were evaluating the program.
No, Scott was probably fine.
At least, she hoped so.
16
Ellie’s heart sped up as they approached Kaan Tower, and she made a fist in her lap. Beside her, Helik’s head turned a fraction her way, but he didn’t reach out. They were seated in the back of one of Helik’s hover transports, and with Roia in the front, neither of them were brave enough to even look at each other for too long.
The vehicle buzzed faintly around them, but it was far from soothing. The vibrations droned through her, making her nerves feel reedy and thin.
Today was the day of the program’s first progress check, and she’d agreed to speak again. She was also beginning to regret it.
She was nervous; public speaking wasn’t something she was well-versed in, despite whatever impression she’d
left on Helik and Roia on her first day.
And her shiny new secret only made it worse.
It was nerve-wracking enough to walk into the Monitor meeting with sore muscles and a delicious ache between her thighs, but it was another thing entirely to stand beside Helik in front of a public audience. She sucked on her lip, her gaze glued to the window without seeing anything beyond it. What if someone noticed? What if she looked at him wrong? She’d seen how people in Helik’s situation got dragged through the zines and tabloids; the people writing those didn’t care for the danger it might put their subject in.
And her last brush with the reporters showed how hungry they were for anything to do with Helik. She shuddered at the thought of the cicarian with the sharp eyes. He’d wanted to bring Helik down, and he wasn’t afraid to use Ellie to do it.
The levekk beside her shifted, crossing his legs and being careful not to pierce the synthetic fabric of the seat in front of him with his claws. Levekk rarely covered them, even during formal events, instead opting for fingerless gloves and toeless shoes that left their claws exposed. Ellie had always thought it was strangely impractical. She tried to distract herself with brainstorming some type of covering for them, but the worries lanced back through her thoughts with the rhythmic efficiency of a sewing needle.
“Don’t be nervous,” Helik said, cutting through her panic. His voice was rich and smooth and detached: the perfect timbre for a boss reassuring his employee. “There won’t be any incidents similar to your last public outing.” When she sent him a startled look, he added, “We’ve been especially stringent in determining who can ask questions today.”
God, it was like he could read her mind. “I-I see.”
He tilted his head, studying her. “It might seem like reporters are all-knowing, like they know the exact seam to rip that’ll leave you standing there in your underwear. But really, they’re not that sharp.”