by Avery Rae
I was already close, but the sheer need in his voice could've brought me over the edge from anywhere. My eyes fluttered shut as the heat building in my core flooded through me, my body rolling with each wave. Rylos held me down against him with an appreciative groan, thrusting hard to meet each jerk of my body.
With a deep, final thrust, Rylos's fingers bit into my thighs as he came inside me with a low-pitched moan. He buried his head in the crook of my neck as his body jerked with the remnants of his climax. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. My body was abuzz, agonizingly aware of everywhere he touched me, yet I still wanted more.
"Rylos," I whispered.
He lifted his head, glowing eyes hazy and lips parted, in a daze. He bit down on his lower lip and brushed away a hair clinging to my forehead. He tilted his head to the side questioningly, as if he'd forgotten how to form words.
I smiled softly and cupped his cheeks in my hands as he had done to me so many times before, then leaned forward and brushed my lips over his. Just before I took his lips in a kiss, I tightened my legs around his back and whispered, "Never stop."
Rylos came alive in an instant, hardening inside me and letting out a low growl as he flipped me onto my back. Everywhere was so sensitive every touch was like a little electric shock, jolting under my skin and driving me wild. Each kiss and touch was more frantic than the last, our moans were the only sound filling the air as we insatiably devoured each other until early in the morning.
14
The bed was empty when I woke. I must've been exhausted because my last memory was falling asleep in Rylos's arms, yet I hadn't noticed his departure. I frowned as I sat up in bed. Where had he gone, and why? I wasn't certain when he worked—it seemed like he was gone nearly every morning. I flushed slightly, thinking of how late I had kept him up. Hopefully he didn't have to work.
I hoped that if he really was gone already it meant he was doing something to find Naomi. A pang of guilt hit me as I entertained thoughts of the night she'd had out there all alone. I wished she had come with me, although I understood her hesitation. If it wasn't for Rylos, I would've done exactly as she did.
"Well, well, I can't say this is where I expected to find you."
I jolted and tugged the covers tighter against my bare chest as my head snapped to the doorway between Rylos's room and mine. Solyndi stood there, arms crossed and a smirk in place.
Behind her, Kastia held one hand over her eyes and waved the other. "Good morning, Marion. Or should I say, ahem, good afternoon."
"Afternoon? Yikes," I replied with a hint of amusement.
Solyndi rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her, she's a prude. Doesn't want to admit to herself that the Senator has hot, steamy—"
"Solyndi." She cleared her throat. "I am, in fact, very happy for the Senator and Marion. I wish them both nothing but happiness."
"They had sex, Kastia, it doesn't mean they're life partners now." Solyndi pushed away from the doorframe and walked inside. "Besides, he looked really angry when he left this morning, so it might not be time for celebrating."
"He was?" Kastia asked in surprise.
The same question echoed in my thoughts. Why had he been angry? The night before had been perfect from my point of view. One of the best nights of my life. Easily.
Solyndi leaned against the bed with pursed lips. "Did something happen between you two?"
"Everything was alright last night," I said slowly. "I mean, things seemed okay. But I was still asleep when he left. I didn't even know he'd left until now."
"Oh, no," Kastia gasped, hands flying up to cover her mouth.
Solyndi gave her an exasperated look. "What's got you blushing now?"
Kastia waved a hand in the air. "No, no, it's not because of . . . that. It's because I'd been hoping that the Senator hadn't seen the news yet. But he must've woken early to check it, because of course he would do such a thing. He's so obsessive about these sorts of things. I'll bet he's already downtown causing a fuss."
"What news?" I asked with a frown. "What's going on?"
"Well, that's the thing," Kastia replied, wringing her hands. "There wasn't any news. When Rylos got back that night, he told me he'd left the Governor's while the police were wrapping up their investigation. If Governor Solys had been arrested or charged with his crimes, it'd be all over the news by now."
"So, he got away with it?" I whispered, curling in on myself as I hugged the blanket even tighter. I shouldn't have been surprised. Rylos was only one Korysti. I didn't doubt there were many who shared Solys's callous point of view regarding humans.
And I certainly didn't doubt they were among the police, and others in positions of power. Positions that could be manipulated to keep a kidnapper and tormentor from facing justice, no matter how terrible he was. Was I naive in thinking Rylos could really help me, Naomi, and all the other humans in similar positions? I hated to admit it but I was starting to think so.
It'd been hours since I got the news that Solys went free and unpunished for what he did to Naomi and me. Solyndi, Kastia, and I sat at the dining room table in silence, just waiting for news from Rylos. He hadn't been in contact at all. They couldn't reach him either.
Guards were posted at every window and entrance—not to keep me in, but because apparently Rylos was genuinely worried about a repeat kidnapping. I wasn't sure what Rylos was doing out there, but I couldn't even bring myself to hope something would happen to Solys. That'd be a waste of hope.
Because with all the waiting and questions, my thoughts had taken a turn for the cynical. Why would Solys have faced any charges? We were just humans. What did it matter to the Korysti? If they had charged him with something, it would've been admitting there was something wrong with the way they treated us. Couldn't have that, could we?
Solyndi suddenly got up from her seat and took the one next to mine, sitting sideways so she faced me. "I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'm going to start doing my part."
"Your part of what?"
"Changing things." She sniffed and lifted her chin a little higher. "For one, I'm not going to call humans raska anymore. And if I hear anyone else say it, I'm going to tell them to watch their mouths. I'll channel my inner Kastia, even if it makes me shudder."
I cracked a half-smile. "Thanks, Solyndi. You're really not so bad, you know that?"
"Same goes for you."
Kastia set down her tablet, which she'd been checking endlessly for news, and moved down to join us.
"I promise I'm going to try harder, too," she said in a soft voice. "I talk to a lot of the maids, as we all know, and I've . . . I've heard about a lot of the abuses humans are going through. I want to find a way to speak up. And I'd like it if you let me help you."
"Way to show me up," Solyndi said with a dismissive scoff. "Couldn't let me be the good one for even a moment."
"Hey, come on," I said with a laugh, "you've both officially done more than any other Korysti I've met, so I'll call it a tie."
"Deal," Solyndi replied with a grin.
Kastia was obviously ready to say something about that when a persistent alert chimed from her tablet. She rocketed up from her chair and scrambled over to it. She read quickly, her bright eyes darting back and forth.
"What is it?" I asked with a frown.
"That was a news alert," Solyndi mumbled, watching Kastia's widening eyes with great interest. "What does it say, Kastia? Share with the rest of us, would you?"
Kastia looked up. "It's the Senator. He's—He's formally pressing charges against his brother. And he's going to be speaking about it live in thirty minutes."
"Does it say what sort of charges?" I asked. The more I'd given the situation thought, the more I realized there probably wasn't much of anything to be done. I didn't have any rights on Korystus. I imagined that was why he hadn't been arrested. There was nothing to pin on him because he hadn't done anything wrong by Korysti standards.
"He's apparently charging him for . . .
theft."
"Because I'm his property." That was one way to do it.
Both Kastia and Solyndi lowered their eyes and my stomach sank. I didn't want them to feel bad. I really didn't. I was just frustrated that was the only way Rylos could get any sort of justice for what his brother did, and attempted, to do to me.
Things were still strained thirty minutes later as we all huddled at the table in front of Kastia's tablet. They didn't want to offend me, and I didn't want to hurt them, so we'd chosen more silence. It just seemed the easiest thing at the moment.
On the screen in front of us was a shot of a simple podium lit up to make it more visible in the permanent night of Korystus. It was placed in front of the building I recognized as the one where Rylos had taken me on our one, ill-fated outing.
The doors to the building opened and Rylos strode outside alone, stripped down to that exposing outfit of his. A sign of vulnerability, he'd said. What took me most by surprise, however, was his expression. Fierce determination set his handsome face into hard lines.
Rylos didn't hesitate. The moment he reached the microphone, he stared straight ahead and began to speak in a voice that was brimming with fury. "As Korysti, we have always seen ourselves as beacons of perfection in a chaotic universe. I'm here today to tell you that our perfection does not extend beyond our genetic code. We've become cold and complacent."
He cast a long look out at the crowd that had gathered at the base of the steps. "I want it to be known that although I'm charging my brother, Governor Solys, with theft, I'm only doing so because our legal system prevents me from pursuing the correct charges. He kidnapped a human from my home and kept her prisoner against her will. He deserves much more than the slap on the wrist he'll receive."
As murmurs arose in the crowd, Rylos gripped the sides of the podium and leaned forward. "Furthermore, I will be pursuing changes that will prevent such a crime from going unpunished again. We're Korysti. We're better than this, or at least we should be."
Rylos abruptly pushed away from the podium and stalked back inside the building. When Kastia set the tablet down, it was like some sort of spell had been broken. We all exchanged looks of shock, opening and shutting our mouths like a bunch of fish. I think we were all unsure of what to say. I knew that I was.
"I can't believe he just . . . said all of that," Kastia said with a hand pressed to her cheek in shock.
Solyndi nodded, grimacing. "This is going to get messy, isn't it?"
I had a feeling it was. I remembered Kastia explaining to me how important image was to Korysti politicians. In one day, both Rylos and his brother had undoubtedly sullied an entire family line. It was for reasons which were entirely unequal, but undoubtedly both effective at drawing ire.
As he spoke into that camera, it felt like he was doing it for me. But I knew that was only part of the story. He really had been warring with himself from the start, hadn't he? From the moment we crashed. I didn't doubt his reasoning for avoiding humans had a lot to do with guilt. Why else would he have saved me like he did? He had to have known I'd bring nothing but trouble. If I hadn't grown to like him as much as I did, I would've been a terror.
That dying hope inside me flared to life brighter than it had been in months. I already knew of three fantastic Korysti who wanted to help. Now that Rylos had put his message out there, plain as day, I knew we would find more. And I couldn't wait for that day to come. But in that moment, the one thing I wanted most was for Rylos to come home so I could show him just how much I appreciated everything he'd done.
15
It was late in the evening, yet Rylos hadn't come home. Despite the sleep tugging at my eyes, making them heavy and sticky, I forced myself to stay awake as late as I could. I was just about ready to give in to sleep when I heard the door to his room quietly open and shut. I looked through our shared door in time to see him stride across the room toward his closet.
I quickly got out of bed, suddenly reinvigorated, but the moment I stepped inside and saw that his exhaustion not only mirrored mine, but quadrupled it, I thought about heading back. I was just about to turn around when Rylos lifted his head and his eyes connected with mine.
He looked even more worn out than he'd seemed at first glance. Not just in his expression but in the way he carried himself. His head was slumped and his shoulders rolled forward, as if he wanted nothing more than to sink into bed and never get up again.
"Did I wake you?" he asked.
"No, I was waiting for you." I couldn't help but smile faintly. Even now, he was still more concerned about me than himself.
He gave me a half-smile back, then nodded toward the door between our rooms. "Why did you wait in there?"
"I didn't want to make any assumptions."
"But you already did, pet."
I lifted a brow. "Oh?"
"You assumed that I would rather come home to an empty bed than one with you in it." He crossed the distance between us and enveloped me in a hug, his cheek pressed to the top of my head. "And that's the most ridiculous conclusion you could've ever come to."
I laid my head against his chest. "I could think of a few things more ridiculous."
"Not possible," he murmured.
I bit at my lower lip as I trailed my fingers along his light purple skin, admiring its nearly poreless, flawless beauty. I told myself not that long ago that I'd gotten used to the perfection of the Korysti. That it didn't faze me anymore. But that wasn't true. Rylos's perfection was made whole by the person he was on the inside, and I found everything about him irresistible.
Which was why it pained me that he was so exhausted, and that this wouldn't be a one-time thing. It was becoming clear to me that the line between Korysti and human was a lot thinner than I'd ever thought. I knew how politicians were. Rylos had painted a target on his back, and anyone with a little ambition was going to try and take him down.
"You didn't have to go that far," I whispered. "Just charging your brother was enough."
"No, because then I would've been telling all other Korysti that you're my property. And you're not."
"What am I then?" I asked absently, tracing a small, winding pattern along his collarbone.
He hugged me tighter. "You're someone I care about."
I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him back just as tight. "Thank you for caring."
"Thank you for helping me see the truth."
"You already knew. I just gave you a very rude push in that direction."
A laugh rumbled through his chest. "I suppose that's what I get for trying my best to infuriate you."
"You're very good at it."
"You made it far too rewarding."
We both laughed and unwound ourselves from each other. Rylos cupped my cheek and smiled down at me. "This isn't going to be easy, Marion. It's going to take time. But I promise you I will help humans integrate with our society, or propose that we help find somewhere humans can live. There has to be a solution that isn't this. And I will find it."
I nodded, touching my hand to his. "Thank you. I want to help you, Rylos. Every step of the way, no matter how hard it gets. It's the least I can do for my people. For the people I failed. I owe them that much."
"Yes, of course, but . . ." Rylos tilted his head to the side with a frown. "What do you mean by people you've failed?"
I looked down. "You know that I was an engineer. It's not that hard to figure out."
"Do you think you're responsible for the crash?" he asked quietly.
"Of course I do. I was in there that day. Everyone thought I could fix it. Everyone always thought I could fix it. They put their faith in me." I swallowed thickly. "And now a lot of them are dead, and the rest are being bought and sold like objects."
Rylos cupped both of my cheeks and brought my head back up. He was shaking his head, disbelief in his bright eyes. "It wasn't your fault. It was a miracle that ship made it as far as it did. We could see where the stopgaps had been put in place—and they were brilliant.
If that was you, then you’re the reason why that ship didn’t end up floating in space as you all died a slow, agonizing death. There was nothing more you could've done. That ship was not meant to ever make it this far. It shouldn't have."
Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes. Deep down, I knew he was right. That ship had been built for tours around the solar system. The other ships that fled Earth had rapidly outpaced us. And we'd still managed to cross galaxies looking for a planet to call home. Even still, this galaxy was thriving with life. If we had just made it a little farther . . .
"Stop that, Marion," Rylos said, interrupting my spiraling thoughts as if he knew where they were heading.
"But—"
"You've spent a year fighting. And before that, you fought to keep your ship running. You don't have to make amends. You're doing what you've always done, and that's fighting for your people. I'm not asking you to stop fighting. I'm asking you to give yourself a break. You're allowed to be happy, Marion. You're allowed to enjoy yourself. You'll continue to be a voice of change. I promise you I'll help make that happen."
The tears that'd been threatening to spill over trickled down my cheeks. I tried to look to the side, but Rylos gently stopped me. Using his thumbs, he wiped away my tears. "Your strength was what captivated me from the moment I first saw you. There's greatness in you, and I hope someday you'll see yourself like I do."
"Y'know, I find it funny that I'm now over here thinking . . . Wow, I'm so lucky I was almost euthanized." I laughed through my tears and sniffled. "Because I'm happy that it caught your attention. That it brought me to you. Is that weird? I feel like it's weird."
He chuckled and gave me a soft kiss. "I feel the same way, pet."
Epilogue
A few months had passed since Rylos publicly announced his intentions to fight for human rights on Korystus. The memorial center had finally been agreed upon and the building completed.
It was there that Rylos was set to give a speech about humans and Korysti starting anew, all while remembering those lives lost that day—human and Korysti alike. However, there was still ample resistance. At the forefront of which was Rylos’s own brother.