by Avery Rae
"I don't know what you're talking about." I wanted to roll my eyes at myself but I resisted the urge, instead shrugging and taking a seat at the bar. "How about you treat a girl to a drink? It only seems fair when you consider the whole stripping my free will thing."
"I'm not the one who did that."
"Oh," I replied breezily, "so you'll let me walk off the ship when we land?"
"Of course not."
"That sounds like imprisonment."
"Consider yourself more like . . ." Artos looked up, frowned, then looked back at me. "A guest who's strongly encouraged to stay."
"So a prisoner?"
"If you want to be negative about it."
I sighed and shook my head. "How about that drink? I would get my own, but considering I can't read any of the labels, that seems risky."
Artos slid behind the bar with a cautious smile. "You're right to be cautious. Talys's collection is not only impressive, but oftentimes dangerous."
I took a seat on one of the raised stools. Although, took a seat doesn't really cover it. It was more like I kicked a leg up and straddled the thing like it was a bucking bronco. Short people and stools would never get along in any part of the universe.
"So, is he a boozehound or something?" I asked.
"A . . . what?"
"An alcoholic?"
"Oh, no." Artos chuckled as he looked through the bottles, carefully inspecting each label. "He's just a collector of oddities. There's many a mind-altering substance in these bottles, some more . . . extreme . . . than others."
"How extreme are we talking?"
"Far more than you could handle," Talys suddenly chimed in from the doorway.
Feeling his eyes on my back, I stiffened and hazarded a glance over my shoulder. Some part of me had been hoping I'd be able to avoid him for the rest of the trip. It was a foolish hope considering it was just the three of us on this ship.
At the same time, some ridiculous part of me was a little irked by his assumption that I couldn't handle his alien booze. I'd had some pretty intense hooch in my days on the ship. There wasn't a lot to do while meandering through space, so we drank. A lot.
By the time I was old enough that they were willing to let me drink (yeah, they made me wait), all the good alcohol had been long gone. Four years was all it took for them to clear out those stores. All the alcohol I'd ever had was made on the ship with scraps. And it did some funny things to your head. And stomach. It was all-around a pretty unpleasant experience but it was better than boredom.
I eyed each of the Korysti. There was caution in Artos's eyes, and a challenge in Talys's. There was only one clear path forward for me.
"You think you can handle your drink better than me, Ambassador?"
"Absolutely."
I spun in my seat to face him. "Prove it."
Talys folded his arms and observed me for a quiet moment, then nodded. "Artos, would you do the honors of preparing shots from everything on the top row?"
There was something in the way he said those words that gave me pause. What, exactly, did he keep on that shelf? I looked back at Artos for his reaction and saw his light purple skin growing even paler.
"Talys, I'm not sure—"
"Let the woman prove herself, would you?"
Artos mumbled something beneath his breath but said nothing more. One by one, he pulled bottles from the top row of bottles and began to pour carefully measured shots of each. Talys sat down on the stool beside mine.
The mirth already sparkling in his eyes was mildly alarming but I'd learned in my days in the lower levels of the ship that backing down from a challenge was worse than whatever was in those bottles. Except for the last one. A skull and crossbones would've been more subtle than the toxic-waste green glow of the liquid inside the translucent black bottle.
"What's that?" I asked, feigning calm.
Talys leaned over in his seat. "Novusian Reserve. We'll save that one for last."
I swiveled my head to the side, looking him in the eye. He was much closer than anticipated but I managed to keep my cool, even as his eyes dropped to my lips. Until, of course, my own eyes drifted to his and my mind began to entertain how easy it would be to just . . . close that distance. No big deal. Just a little kiss from a man so painfully beautiful that I wanted to scream.
As a knowing smile worked its way across his lips, my eyes widened and I pulled back a fraction of an inch. I flicked my eyes toward the bottle of Novusian Reserve. Artos was shaking his head as he poured the green liquid into the final shot glass. It looked even worse outside of the bottle. Nothing should ever be a neon green that vivid—at least nothing that was meant to be ingested.
"Looks like it'll be fun," I lied.
"I could think of something much more fun," Talys replied. "And it won't end up with you being filled with regret."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I pursed my lips, shooting him a look that told him I was picking up what he was putting down, and I wasn't impressed. "I can handle it."
"If you insist."
Five shots into our ten glass long sampler of his top shelf, I was already starting to have some of those regrets Talys spoke of. The first shot had been alright at first. I was just starting to tip back the second when it hit me like a truck, nearly knocking me off the stool.
Luckily, or not so luckily, Talys was there to catch me, his strong hands settling around my waist to keep me steady. I wasn't sure if it was the mysterious substance I'd ingested, or just my dumb brain, but a faint heat flared to life in the pit of my stomach. Stupid sexy Korysti.
I wormed my way out of his grasp and gave him a pointed look. "How nice of you to catch me this time."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"When I was in the pantry."
"You were in the pantry? As in . . . inside it?" Artos asked from his place behind the bar, where he'd been watching us toss back shots with an increasingly disapproving frown. "Why was she in the pantry?"
I downed my sixth and seventh shots, inhaling sharply as they burned their way down my throat. "Don't worry about it, Artos. That's in the past."
Talys laughed. "It happened a few hours ago."
The eighth shot went down with a fight. Fighting the urge to gag, I countered with, "Is that not the past?"
"I suppose you're right."
I squinted at him. "Did you just admit I was right?"
"You probably won't remember it anyway." He shrugged a shoulder and my magpie-eyes caught on the faint glimmer of his skin.
"Why don't you ever wear clothes?" I found myself asking with a frown. I'd been intending to distract myself from how desirable he was—on the outside, that is—but I'd already failed. So, I gave up and continued. "It's like . . . I know why you do it on Korystus, right? It's some sort of weird political mating ritual or whatever, but it's not like you need to do it when there's just the three of us here."
Talys laughed again, only this time it was so much more open. Less calculated. It was kind of nice. To my drunken ears, at least. And they couldn't be trusted.
"Mating ritual? I've read about your politicians and the things they did. It doesn't seem any less weird than what we do."
I blinked as my brain sluggishly processed what he'd said. "You have? Why? Better yet, how?"
"It's my business to know things."
"I thought it was your business to go around touting how wonderful your planet is."
"That too."
"So, then can we get back to why're you so naked all the time?"
"Does it bother you?"
"Yep."
"Because it makes you think of all the terrible things you'd like to do to me?"
"Yep—Nope." I slunk down, cursing quietly as I brought the next shot to my lips. It was the last one before the Novusian Reserve. I was starting to look forward to it. I hoped it would knock me out and save me from my own loose lips.
"What was that, Vera?" Talys purred from beside me, seemingly unaffect
ed by all the liquor we'd downed. I should've known I couldn't compete. Not only was he much taller and roughly a billion times more muscle-bound than I was, this was all just as potent as he'd implied. Our terrible ship-hooch might've packed a punch, but this alien stuff was something else.
"You should have some too, Artos." Needing a distraction, I grabbed the bottle of Novusian Reserve, still sitting on the counter, and grasped at one of the shot glasses I'd already used—it was clean enough, I figured.
"No, no—none for me," Artos soothed as he tried to take the bottle from me.
I clutched it to my chest and blinked him into focus. "But why? You haven't had anything yet."
"Someone has to pilot the ship, remember?"
"Isn't it on autopilot? I mean, you're here and we're still moving."
"Yes, but you'll want someone sober at the helm in case of emergency."
"You're so 'sponsible," I murmured, giving him a lazy smile. "I like you so much, Artos. Never change, okay?"
He chuckled. "I like you, too, Vera."
"Aren't you two sweet?" Talys interjected with a scowl.
"Why're you so grumpy? Is it so bad to see two people getting along?"
"Yes."
"You're just mad because I like him more than you."
He tipped back a shot, slammed it down, then leveled a flat look at me. "So what if I am?"
"Try being nice and maybe I won't think you're such a jerk."
"I am nice."
"No, you're not. You're like . . . not always completely awful, y'know, but you're not nice."
"I didn't jettison you out of the airlock, did I?"
"That's what I'm talking about. You're not awful, but like . . . who thinks not murdering someone is an achievement? I mean, c'mon."
"You did sneak onto my ship."
"On accident."
A triumphant look suddenly overtook his expression as he thought of something else. "How about the fact I didn't make you sleep on my bedroom floor? I thought about it, but I didn't. That was nice of me."
I narrowed my eyes, then looked at Artos. The way he stared up at the ceiling told me all I needed to know. "I'll have you know that Artos told me he had to convince you to let me stay in the servant's quarters or whatever. Was that the idea he had to talk you out of?"
He sat back in his seat with a sigh, a hand extended toward Artos. "Alright, he's a better person than me. Congratulations, Artos. She's all yours."
"I really don't think either of us wants that," Artos replied with a confused look.
Talys grimaced and shrugged. "Could've fooled me."
I tilted my head to the side, studying him for a moment, then let out a boisterous laugh. "You act all cool and unaffected and stuff, but you have a serious crush on me, don't you?"
"I don't know what that means," Talys replied in a bland voice.
"You like me," I sang out.
"Wrong."
"Then why're you so jealous of Artos?"
"I've never had a human before. I figured this would be my chance. But you're being exceptionally difficult."
"Because I won't fall at your feet and beg you to ravish me?"
"Yes."
"You're unbelievable."
"Beyond your wildest dreams, darling."
"Another reference to your sexual prowess?" I squinted the world around me into focus and reached for the glass with the radioactive green stuff in it, then tossed it back. "You're really hammerin' that one hard. Are you, like, compensating or something?"
"Why don't you stop resisting me and find out?"
I pressed a hand to my chest as the Novusian Reserve screamed its way down my throat. It wasn't going down without a fight. "What is this stuff?!"
"I warned you."
Head suddenly heavy, it took a concerted effort to swivel it to look at Talys. Through my rapidly blurring vision, I could see the wobbly glow of his shot of Novusian Reserve.
"Hey, you haven't had yours yet."
"And I'm not going to."
"Th-that's cheating."
"It's smart."
"A-are you saying I'm stupid?"
"I'm saying maybe you should listen when I say you can't handle something." He leaned forward then, flashing me a grin. "Even I don't drink the Novusian Reserve. I just like the way it looks."
Oh, damn it all. I'd like to think I'd given him a piece of my mind in response, but that was right when everything went black.
4
The first thing I thought about when I woke up was how comfortable I was. The second thought was pure alarm at the fact that I was being held in someone's arms. Talys's, as a matter of fact. I knew from that subtly sweet fragrance alone. It was everywhere. The pillow I rested against, the blanket pulled up to my neck, and, most importantly, the person molded against my back.
I tensed, realizing I had no idea how I got here, or what had happened. There was a gaping hole in my memory. I desperately combed through what memories I had, but I couldn't remember anything beyond that glowing green shot glass.
Where had all those hours gone? And why, oh why, was I being held by Talys? In his bed? Surely I didn't . . .? Alarmed, I jolted to a sitting position. Talys made an irritated noise and circled his arms around my waist, trying to pull me back down.
"Just a little longer," he murmured sleepily. "Last night was nice. I don't want you to go yet."
"Oh no—no, no, no. We didn't, did we?" I slapped my hands across my body, finding that I was still fully clothed, and I let out a sigh of relief. "We didn't."
Talys stirred some more, then stared up at me through squinted eyes, expression twisting into a grimace. "Why do you sound terrified?"
"Because that would've been a huge mistake, obviously. So, if I managed to keep your hands off, how did I even end up in here?"
With a sigh, Talys unwound his arms from my waist and sat up, a hand held to his eyes and lips pressed into a flat line. "You should go."
"Wow, that disappointed, are you?"
"Just leave, Vera." Far from the weapon it normally was, my name instead felt like a curse falling from his lips in that moment.
I bit down hard on my inner cheek as I got out of his bed. As I walked through the door, I turned around and met his grimace with one of my own. "You know, Talys, I think it's pretty sad you have to be drunk to be a decent person. But, hey, what do you care? You have women lining up on every planet, right? What's the opinion of one?"
I pressed a hand to the screen outside the door without looking back as it slid shut. I'd only made it halfway down the hallway before I realized I was stomping. I slowed down, taking stock of my mental state. Why was I so angry, exactly? I should be thanking my lucky stars I hadn't slept with Talys, not mad that he kicked me out before he got the chance to play Mr. Seductive for the millionth time.
It was only then I realized my clothing had changed. I'd been wearing my jeans in the lounge, and I wasn't anymore. Instead, I had silky, shiny Korysti-style fabric wrapped around me like a toga. But that didn't mean I'd—No, of course not. I didn't have sex with Talys. I wouldn't have woken up clothed, right? I laughed it off, shook my head, then continued onward into the lounge, hoping I could get into the kitchen for something to ease my wretched-feeling stomach.
When I reached the lounge, I found Artos lounging in one of the armchairs near the window, reading from a tablet. He greeted me with a wide smile. "How are you feeling? Better?"
"Better than what?" I asked with a furrowed brow.
"You became very, very ill not long after the Novusian Reserve." Artos paused and laughed. "Well, first, it made you strip to nothing, running through the halls with both of us chasing you, but—"
"What?!" I shrieked. "You and Talys . . . chased me . . . while I was naked?"
"You don't remember any of that, do you?"
I held a hand to my mouth and shook my head wildly from side to side.
"Oh, well, yes. It was terribly funny. Until you became ill." He frowned. "Then it became terribly
unfunny."
"H-how did I end up—" I gestured at my clothed body. "Did I . . . or did you . . .?"
"Goodness, no. I didn't dress you."
I relaxed, smiling and nodding. "Good to know I managed to dress myself, at least."
"You didn't. Talys did."
My smile disappeared.
"I've never seen him act so nice to a stranger. I mean, he wasn't happy about it, but he cleaned you up and got you dressed again. I checked in after a while and he had you fast asleep in bed."
"Cleaned up?"
"You got into the kitchen. I'd rather not say more about that experience." He paused, holding up a finger. "Except you kept on mentioning something about oatmeal and how much worse it would've been if you were naked?"
"And I was, in fact, naked during all of this?"
"I'm afraid so. Talys made me avert my eyes, so your modesty is mostly intact. It did make wrangling you difficult though. Did you know you're a very agile drunk?"
"N-no," I choked out. "That's just . . . great. Good to know."
It was official. I was a horrendous beast who had not only gotten so disgustingly drunk that I binge-ate in the nude while talking about oatmeal paper cuts, but I'd insulted the person who chose to deal with it. I frowned. On second thought, why in the world had Talys dealt with me? I pinned him as the type to make Artos deal with that sort of thing. It must've been the alcohol. It did seem to make him a lot nicer.
I groaned inwardly. As much as I wanted to hide away, never to be seen again, I owed him an apology. Maybe only half of one. Either way, I didn't like the idea of seeming ungrateful when he helped me out. Whether it was driven by alcohol or not.
I turned around and immediately started for the exit once more.
"Leaving already?"
"Unfortunately."
This one was going to be a real blow to the ol' pride.
Talys was still in bed when I entered his room. I was, frankly, surprised he hadn't turned on the locks after I left. He was still sitting up, arms folded over his knees, forehead pressed against his forearm. I cleared my throat as I stepped inside, the door sliding shut behind me.
"What now?" he asked.