by KD Jones
Later that evening
Phoenix sat at the corner table in the restaurant, waiting patiently for this lawyer Nigel was sending to meet with him. Nigel didn’t say who it was but it didn’t matter. He would recognize the person. Didn’t all lawyers look the same? They usually wore gray or brown suits, ridiculous-looking ties, and had a comb-over. Oh, and usually had square-rimmed glasses that made their eyes look tiny and beady.
He saw movement in his peripheral vision and turned, catching a flash of black fabric. When he took a closer look he was surprised to see Olivia approaching his table. She was wearing a very short skintight black dress with black lace sleeves and collar. Her skin peeked through the lace, inviting him to touch her. She had on a pair of red high heels that made her long legs go on and on. Her long black hair was down and curled to fall in long cascading waves, and her face… She had on velvet red lipstick and dark eyeshadow that made her green eyes darken like she had just had the best sex ever. He nearly came purely from looking at her. That female was dangerous for a male’s sanity.
She stopped at his table and cleared her throat. “Sorry I’m late.”
He blinked with confusion as he stood up and moved to pull a chair out for her. “You’re the lawyer that Nigel sent?” He couldn’t take his eyes off her body. The dress clung to her, and when she sat, the hem rose high on her thighs. Fuck! He was harder than a meteorite.
“Yeah, I’m a lawyer. You look surprised to see me.”
He was going to have to thank Nigel, maybe send him a note with a big fat thank you on it. He sat down across from her, fighting his urge to kiss her. That was moving way too fast, even for him.
“I’m surprised but pleasantly so.”
The waitress stopped at their table. “What would you like to drink?”
Phoenix kept his eyes on Olivia without looking at the menu. “Bring us a bottle of the most expensive wine you’ve got.”
“Yes, sir.” The waitress hopped away happily. She was probably going to get a bonus for selling the expensive stuff.
Olivia handed him a manila folder. He took it, frowning. “What’s this?”
“I don’t know. Lydia asked me to give it to you. I didn’t look inside.”
Phoenix opened the folder. There was a sticky note with the message: You’re welcome. He smiled.
“What is it?”
“Nigel told me I needed to come tonight to meet with a potential GCFA lawyer to go over something on my contract.”
“What? That makes no sense. Lydia guilt-tripped me into going on a date. She made me get my hair and nails done, bought this dress I never would have worn, insisted I wear her red heels, and asked me to bring you that folder. What’s in it?”
He opened the folder flat on the table and turned it around so she could read the message.
“We both got played,” he told her, but there was no anger in his voice. They both burst into laughter.
“Should we leave and call it a night?”
No! He didn’t want to end this so soon. “You’re wearing the dress and I’ve ordered wine. We’re both too far committed to this thing to just leave now. Besides, our date is being charged to Nigel’s personal account.”
“Ah, that’s why you got the most expensive wine.”
“We will also be ordering the most expensive entree they’ve got.”
She laughed and raised her eyebrow with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Why end it there? We should make a real night of it and make sure that they don’t try interfering in the future.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“We should do as many of the normal activities that couples do when they go out on a date.”
He gave her a smile. “I have to confess, I’ve not done a lot of dating. I wouldn’t know much more than having dinner.”
“Me, too,” she admitted.
“Why? You’re a beautiful female, very sexy. I would imagine males fall at your.”
She blushed and looked down at her hands clasped in front of her. “It’s the dress and the shoes.”
He shook his head. “It’s you. You appear shy and innocent but there’s this sensual appeal there that shines through with everything you do.” She looked away and he could tell she was uncomfortable with their conversation. He wanted to know why but didn’t think she would be open to sharing at that moment. Phoenix decided to let her off the hook.
“Anyway, what types of things do couples do while on dates?”
*****
Olivia let out the breath she had been holding and relaxed. She looked up into his dark eyes. God, he was beautiful. Instant attraction sparked between them but they were both choosing to ignore it for now. “Some go to bars or dancing.”
“I remember taking my ex-fiancée to the movies once. It was enjoyable.”
Oh man, she wanted to ask him about the fiancée but if she did, it would open her up to have to answer his personal questions, too, and she was being a bit of a chicken. “They don’t have a theatre on board the GCFA ship, do they?”
“No, but they do have a virtual concert hall.”
“I’ve never been to one of those before.”
“Not even in college?”
“I was too focused on my studies. I rarely dated.”
“The virtual concert is a room that live-streams a concert. It gives you a feeling of actually being there and is definitely worth taking the time for.”
“Then we’ll add it to our list of things to do.” She smiled at him. The waitress came and took their order while bringing the wine. Phoenix poured a glass and handed it to her.
She took a sip. “Mmm…this is delicious.”
He smiled. “We may order a bottle to take with us.”
Olivia laughed. “So we have the expensive dinner, dancing, the virtual concert…what else will we be doing tonight?”
“We’ll wing it after that.”
“Sounds good.”
Their dinner was delivered and she was grateful to have a few silent moments to simply enjoy being around Phoenix. She glanced at him while he wasn’t looking and took in his black silk shirt and dress pants. He’d shaved his face, and his dark skin looked absolutely delicious. She couldn’t stop the naughty thoughts she had of running her hands and tongue over his chest.
“How’s your food?” Phoenix asked, making her jump back to reality.
“It’s wonderful, thank you.”
“I know why Nigel set this thing up with me, but what about you? Why did your sister guilt you into coming?”
“Lydia wants me to…”
“Date?”
“More than that. She wants me to have sex.”
“Isn’t that a given for a Venetian?”
She glared at him but realized she couldn’t hold his misconception about her against him. Many people thought the same way. “No, at least not for me. I’m half Venetian and my mother was human. Venetians in general do love sex. It is actually considered essential to keeping them healthy.”
“You don’t like sex?”
“I have never…”
He stopped eating to stare at her with genuine surprise. “Never?”
She shook her head, looking around to make sure they were far enough away from other tables that no one could hear their conversation. “I wanted something more than a frequent change of bed partners.”
“That must have been hard for you to grow up with your culture so open like that. Seeing all that at such a young age must have been confusing for you.”
“My parents were great and made sure to protect me and Lydia and respect our choices. What a lot of people don’t understand about the Venetian culture is that they are more sophisticated about sex. My people enforce that children are never exposed to anything sexual early on and that they have to be at least twenty-one to have that kind of relationship.”
“Did your mother and father marry? I don’t remember hearing of many Venetians who married.”
“Usually they don’t. My father didn
’t marry Lydia’s mother, who left to move on with a new relationship, leaving my father to raise Lydia on his own. He met my mother while visiting friends on a cruise starship and they fell in love. He offered to marry my mom because that was what my mother’s culture expected. She told me that she refused because she knew it wasn’t something he truly believed in. She said she didn’t want to change who he was because that was who she fell in love with. They did stay together, though. We were a happy family for a long time. My mom loved Lydia just as much as she loved me.”
“I get the feeling that she is no longer alive?”
She couldn’t help but feel the pain of the loss of her mother. “She died when I was six. They had their issues. At six I didn’t understand the complexity of their relationship. It was fine until my mother got really sick. I was too young to understand what was going on and I saw my dad as selfish. That may have been a little unfair of me but I was a child.”
“Do you have a bad relationship with him?”
She sighed. “It’s a strained relationship. I love him, I really do, and he tried so hard to be a good father.”
“But…”
“The day Mom died, Dad had been in the bed of another woman, a Venetian. I only knew about it because the woman made the mistake of coming by the house and had a confrontation with Lydia. I overheard what they were arguing about. Lydia knew about the short affair and was furious at our father about it. My mom had been sick for a while and had not been able to have a physical relationship with my dad. We found out later that my mother knew about the affair but never discouraged it because she felt her time was coming.
“Dad found out about the Venetian woman coming by the house during our time of mourning and told her to never come back. Ever since then, he has been careful about making sure that he keeps any of his relationships out of sight of me and Lydia. I guess I’ve always blamed my father for my mom’s death in a way, because if he had stayed faithful and was there, maybe Mom wouldn’t have died. Looking back now, I wasn’t too fair on him. Nothing he did or didn’t do would have cured her.”
“You were only a little girl and you had this awkward situation thrown on you. It was the worst way possible to find out about men and women’s relationships. Add to that you were half human and raised with different beliefs. It must have been very lonely for you.”
She was amazed that he picked up on that. “It was lonely. Especially when I came of age. I didn’t have sexual relationships like other people that I had gone to school with.”
“You’re very exotic looking. I bet you had a lot of males approaching you for sex.”
“They did and I turned them away. I just wasn’t interested in that.” Until now. She had to admit to herself, she couldn’t stop thinking about having sex with Phoenix. He was mysterious and strong and hot. He was more than that, though. He really listened to her and tried to understand where she was coming from, which she was sure was far different from his own life.
“Anyway, that’s the why of me. What about you?”
“What do you want to know?”
“You mentioned an ex-fiancée.”
“Yeah, that’s not a pretty story.”
“You don’t have to share it with me.” She was willing to let him off the hook if it was too painful to share. She could tell that he wasn’t used to sharing details about his life.
Sighing, he shifted in his seat. “It was a long time ago.”
She waited patiently, letting him take his time. When he looked up at her she found herself trapped in his gaze and fascinated with his story.
“I wasn’t raised in a lab or orphanage like other halfsies. I was created specifically for the military and given to them immediately after my birth.”
“Oh my God.”
“It’s not that bad really. I didn’t know any other life outside the military and they treated me well. When halfsies were granted rights, I was given a choice of staying with the military or going into an orphanage. I chose to stay where I knew what to expect. I excelled at being a soldier. There wasn’t any mission I couldn’t handle. I met a pretty human female who worked as a receptionist on the base. I used every excuse I could come up with to go to her workplace to see her. Eventually I got the nerve up to ask her out. We went for dinner and a movie. After that she asked me to move in with her. We found a little apartment on the base and that was it. I figured that my life was set and I was happy with it.”
“What happened? Did she get tired of the military lifestyle?” She really didn’t care for this woman. Maybe she was a tad jealous.
“I died.”
“What?”
He poured both of them more wine. “I was on another mission and it went wrong. I acted quickly to try to protect my team and ended up getting caught by an exploding bomb. Everyone thought I was dead. The pain was excruciating and I wished for death to claim me. I rose up out of the ashes, literally. I had hoped my team would recover me and take me back. Unfortunately, the enemy found me instead. They took me and tortured me for two years before I was finally able to escape. I came home to find my fiancée married to someone else and expecting a baby.”
She reached over and put her hand on his. “I’m so sorry. That must have been horrible.”
“I survived, but I knew I had to change my life. I couldn’t go back to the military and I didn’t want to stay on the base. The generals didn’t want me to leave and tried to convince me to stay. Even now, they call me up wanting to entice me into another mission. I can’t go back to that lifestyle again. The problem is fighting was all I was ever good at. I was lucky enough to get hired by the GCFA. I feel more at ease here.”
The waitress came by to ask if they needed anything else. He shook his head and sent her on her way. He made sure that Nigel would pay a hefty tip, though.
Phoenix looked at her. “Ready to go dancing?”
Olivia smiled. “Sure. Let’s show Nigel and Lydia to mind their own business.”
Chapter 5
The next morning
Olivia stretched in bed and smiled remembering her long date with Phoenix the night before. She didn’t get back to Lydia’s suite until almost four in the morning. Lydia had fallen asleep on the couch waiting up for her but didn’t stir at all when Olivia returned, which she was grateful for. She didn’t want to deal with the questions she knew would be coming.
Phoenix was a very pleasant surprise. She already knew how sexy he was but to find that he had a great sense of humor and intelligence was unexpected. He took her dancing and a lot of other activities that he proudly charged to Nigel’s account. They would have kept going but they started to run out of things to do. It wasn’t just the activities that she enjoyed. She really got to know Phoenix and found that she liked him…a lot.
She hugged her pillow close to her chest remembering when he brought her back to her sister’s suite. Neither of them wanted the date to end.
*****
“I had a wonderful time,” she told him.
He smiled at her and his eyes darkened with desire. “It doesn’t have to end.”
She leaned against the wall next to her sister’s door. Phoenix leaned close using his arms to box her in. She could feel the heat from his body. Olivia shivered, wanting him to take her into his arms like he had done when they danced earlier. She had placed her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, and his heat enveloped her. She had never wanted the dance to end.
Now, standing there having his body pressed against hers, she wanted to be in his arms again. Only this time she wanted them to be alone and naked. Her breath caught at the thought of feeling his warm flesh sliding against hers. He inhaled and she knew he was scenting her response to him. It was kind of hard to hide that from a halfsie with great senses.
“Come back to my suite,” Phoenix whispered against her ear.
“No,” she whispered back but she wanted to. Never had any man tempted her more than Phoenix.
His lips pressed against her neck
, drawing a moan out of her. “What…what are you doing?”
“Kissing my date good night.”
“Shouldn’t you be kissing my lips?”
He pulled back and looked down into her eyes. “Yes, I should.”
Then his lips covered hers and she felt her knees go to jelly. She would have fallen had he not held her up with his hands on her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him take over, loving how dominant he was. She rubbed her body against his and almost growled when he pulled away.
“I want you.”
“I—” She was about to admit that she wanted him, too, but was saved by the sound of the elevator door opening down the corridor. She managed to push at his chest, giving her space enough to escape his embrace.
“I have to go. Good night, Phoenix.”
“Good night, Olivia.”
*****
A knock on the bedroom door broke into her daydreaming. She didn’t want to get up yet. She wanted to stay in bed and relive her date again and again. “Go away. I’m still sleeping!”
“You can’t do this to me, Olivia! I waited up most of the night and now this morning you want to laze around in bed. I want details right now. Tell me everything that happened with you and Phoenix!”
Olivia kicked the sheets off and stood up. She walked to the bedroom door, unlocked it, and jerked it open. “It will have to wait until I take a shower and eat.”
“Fine, take your shower. I’ll fix the breakfast.” Lydia stomped off toward the kitchen.
She went over to the dresser and grabbed her clothes then headed to the bathroom. A nice hot shower sounded really good. What could she tell her sister? That nothing happened? Olivia wasn’t a very good liar. Maybe just tell her that he kissed her good night and leave it at that. Glancing up at her image in the mirror, she noticed her pink cheeks. Her sister would know immediately that it wasn’t a simple peck on the cheek. Phoenix was one of those rare males who didn’t treat a kiss like a prologue or an epilogue of a story—he made the kiss the whole damn juicy story. She had to get her mind off Phoenix and his delectable lips. She had to present an unemotional facade to her sister so that Lydia would be deterred from trying to set her up with anyone else in the future. If she was honest with herself, it was the best date she had ever had. For that reason alone, she would tell her sister a little bit.