by Layla Stone
Ungrateful Roommate
A Sci-fi Romance
Layla Stone
Contents
Things You Need to Know
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Acknowledgments
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Things You Need to Know
Things you need to know before starting this book:
Terrans are humans from Earth.
Roth Demons are an alien race called Kirca that took on the Demon nickname. Roth’s have blue skin and prefer dark places.
Night Demons are an alien race called Kirca that took on the Demon nickname. Night Demons have horns, long sharp teeth or some form of unique bone formations
Marnak is a refugee planet inside Federation controlled space. Many races live on the planet and cultures clash.
1
Ryya was on the plush couch inside her apartment living room watching a video on home improvements. This episode demonstrated how to a covered patio with adjustable walls and a swing bed.
She wanted one.
The house was brand new two years ago when she bought it, but it had absolutely no personality. So, she spent all her free time upgrading and decorating.
Her eyes were heavy, but she needed to finish the episode to figure out the material costs, the directions and possible challenges if she was going to start on it tomorrow. Putting in a patio by herself wasn’t going to be easy, and she needed to know exactly how to get it done.
The show paused as her screen chimed, alerting her to an incoming video call from her mother, Meradi.
Rolling on to her back she covered her eyes and groaned, “Accept call.” Her video transitioned to her mother’s face glaring at her with narrowed eyes. “Why are you still up? Don’t you have work in the morning?”
Rubbing her eyes, she sat forward. “Why would you call if you thought I would be asleep? Which I was. Asleep, I mean. Until you woke me up with your call,” she lied.
“You didn’t look like you were sleeping.”
“I’m learning to sleep with my eyes open, Ma.”
Meradi rolled her eyes. “Anyway, your sister called. She said she needed money to cover a new yearly fee. I need to keep things even between you two so I’m sending you a thousand keleps too.”
Ryya’s skin tightened with frustration. Her sister was a liar. Earlier in the day Wrey called with the same sob story. And yet, knowing it was a lie, Ryya still gave her the money. She knew the kind of life her sister lived. Plus the female couldn’t budget to save her life.
And her piece of crap husband wasn’t any better.
It rubbed her raw to know right after Ryya transferred a thousand keleps to Wrey, her sister went to their mom looking for more.
Rubbing her mouth, she shook her head. “Don’t you dare send me anything. I have money. I work, and I don’t need you to dip into your savings.”
Her mother lived on the interest of an eight figure savings account. Ryya’s father had saved so he and her mother could travel when he retired. Too bad he didn’t survive the on-the-job accident.
“Ryya… are you sure? I have the money.”
Her mother lived so far away all she could do to show her love was send money. It both pleased and upset Meradi that Ryya supported herself.
“Ma, I have the money.”
Meradi frowned. “Okay.”
Internally she rolled her eyes at her mother. It was the same argument every time. “And even if I didn’t have plenty of money, Ma, I’m interviewing for a roommate tomorrow, so I will have more than enough.”
“Who are you interviewing?”
Closing her eyes, Ryya honestly couldn’t remember the name. “I don’t know. I forget. I’ve met with two others, but they didn’t like the room. Or maybe they didn’t like me.”
“How can you say that? You are beautiful. Your house has all those new things. What time are they coming over?”
Trap. Big trap.
Her mother would take a Nack Krawler and come for the interview.
Not good.
“I forget. I’ll check my calendar in the morning.” Yawning Ryya added, “Okay, Ma, I’m serious. I need to go to bed.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Night.”
The call terminated and Ryya walked around the couch toward the central hall that intersected the kitchen, living room and back bedrooms. The carpet was brand new with a soft spongy texture that her toes gripped as she walked. It was like walking on squishy clouds.
Ryya absolutely loved it. And soon, she’d love her new patio too.
2
Ryya’s foot shook as she stared out the window, waiting for her interview, Sorn, to show up.
The windows were open, and the white curtains pulled back to let the fresh air in. It was nice outside and temperature cooled as the star set on the horizon. The sky was filled with burnt reds, gold and orange of starset.
If she wasn’t so frustrated, she would have enjoyed the sight.
Sorn was exactly twenty-six minutes late.
Nope. Twenty-seven.
She had rescheduled her afternoon meetings for this interview and he was late.
Rude.
Her front door camera pinged. The screen showed a tall broad shouldered intimidating blue-skinned male standing at the door.
Blue skin meant one thing. Roth Demon.
Leaning her head back she cursed. Demons were bad news. She stalked to the custom door and jabbed a finger on the open indicator. Crossing her arms, she stepped back.
The Roth Demon wore a simple light gray sleeveless shirt which exposed his wide shoulders. Jagged almost black scars in random lines marred his upper and lower arms.
The flesh on his right hand was gnarled and she wondered if it hurt because he flexed his fingers.
Good Seth of Stars, he was massive. Scarred in a savage way, and yet, somehow, his body looked like a sinful treat.
When she finally looked up at his face, he was watching her. He knew she had been staring.
“I’m here to meet Ryyo,” he bit out.
“You mean Ryya?”
“I could be, if Ryya is the one renting a room. Is that you?” he said in a way that demonstrated he could take the room or leave it depending on his wants, he didn’t care either way.
“I’m Ryya and I’m renting a room. Do you want to come in and see it?”
His nose twitched with disgust. “You’re Terran, aren’t you?”
Rude.
“Yes. All one hundred percent of me,” she said. The anti-aging chip in her neck didn’t count.
“I don’t room with Terran females. Too messy.”
Oh, he didn’t, did he?
What did he mean by messy? As in drama or actually messy?
Despite the insult she laughed. “I don’t usually rent to Demon males. So, I guess it’s a first for both of us.”
Sorn lowered his head slightly, eyes narrowed. “You don’t rent to Demons because you’re scared? Or because you’ve been burned by Demon deal gone nova?”
Neither, but she wasn’t going to admit that. “You were a half hour late and you’re rude.”
Something flashed in the Roth’s eyes. “How many other roommates are there?”
“I live alone,” she answered.
“The other ones moved out?”
“No,” she said. Why did it suddenly sound like he was interviewing her?
“If no one moved out, and you live alone, then you haven’t rented to anyone before now. So, when you said you don’t usually rent to Demons, you were lying.” His eyes looked amused, but his face showed no expression.
Caught. With some remorse, she pressed her lips together and shrugged.
The Roth rubbed his mouth as he looked her over one more time before saying. “Show me the room.”
Rolling her eyes, Ryya confirmed it was no longer her interview.
Behind her the Demon said, “Sammerian carpet?”
Doing a sidestep she faced him, “Yep, brand new.” She was so proud. It was so squishy and amazing.
“This stuff only lasts for a year and the warranty is gone in six months.”
How dare he insult her carpet! Turning, she looked at the two-month old wonderful carpet and bit her lip. It’d better not lose its soft perfect texture after only a year. She paid six hundred keleps for it.
She walked him directly past her couch towards the hall. She passed her own bedroom on the right, turned left and walked to the very end of the hall.
“There’s no keypad lock on the outside of bedroom door,” he said behind her.
“It’s not an apartment, it’s a bedroom,” she said, thinking a pad lock was a good idea.
“It needs a lock. I don’t like people having access to my stuff.”
Ignoring his comment, she opened the door. “The room comes with a bed, nightstand, lamp, desk, Minky screen, and closet.” Gesturing back towards the hall, she said, “Bathroom is the next door.”
The Roth grazed her arm as he entered the bedroom. He turned on and off the lamp, opened the drawers and sniffed the closet.
He didn’t say anything as sat on the bed and pulled up the sheets to look at the mattress.
What the hell was he looking for?
Without fixing the bed he just messed up, he exited the room and checked out the bathroom.
So rude.
Snorting to herself she walked into the room and fixed the fabric, making it smooth once more.
“I’ll make you a deal…” Sorn said coming in the doorway.
Ryya held up a hand, “I don’t make deals. It’s an easy yes or no for the room.”
His eyes lit up, but again, his face gave nothing else away. “I’ll rephrase, how about we see how things go for a month. If I’m the only roommate, then it won’t be too noisy during the day when I sleep. I work nights.”
“I work from home, in my office next door,” she pointed to the door behind her on the other side of the hall.
“Doing what?”
“I’m a freelance accountant. I have several businesses I work and Video-meet with during the day.”
His nose crinkled. “That sounds like a horrible job. At least it’s boring enough not to keep me up.”
Ryya rolled her eyes. The Demon probably didn’t have a personal budget or a retirement fund.
People who didn’t understand money management didn’t like it when people like her made a career out of managing and investing it. And this Roth Demon didn’t look like he made her kind of money.
Hoping to scare him off, she added, “After work I usually work on my house projects. It could get loud.”
Translation… find a different place to live, jerk.
Sorn lip quirked. “House project? Like buying cheap carpet and expensive powder polymer to repaint the walls?”
Powder polymer was a brand-new technology and, yes, it was very expensive. She was impressed he even knew about it.
But it was insulting that he thought all she did was buy her improvements. “I do my own upgrades. Installed my own fabulous carpet, retiled the floors, re-did the countertops, shelves, and built my own bed frame,” she said with pride.
The Roth Demon’s lids lowered as he scanned her, slower this time. “You did all that by your little self? You didn’t hire any help?”
The male was beyond insulting. Compared to him she might be small, but to an average Terran she was considered tall. All the physical work she did gave her plenty of lean muscle, so she wasn’t a pushover.
“No, I didn’t hire anyone,” she said lowering her eyes at him, giving him back exactly what he threw at her. “But I doubt you’d get that because you don’t look like the handy type of Demon.”
“And what does a handy-Demon look like, Sweets?”
Thinking fast she blurted, “Nicer.”
Epic fail.
Sorn’s eyes sparkled with laughter. “Is that right?”
It was time to change the subject.
Running a hand through her hair she stepped back flustered. “Look, it’s fine if you don’t want the room. I’ll let you think it over and let me know by tomorrow.”
Sorn lip curled up in a smug smile. “Only Terrans take hours to make a decision that should take a second.”
“Said the expert on Terrans,” she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.
“This planet’s population is eighty percent Terran, it’s impossible not to notice their poor characteristics.”
Wow. Just… wow.
“A Demon who hates Terrans because we outnumber them. How lame.” His eyes went cold, but she didn’t stop there. “When I go to Lotus Adaamas, I don’t complain its population is mostly Demons. And if you hate us so much, go back to your own damn planet.”
Sorn tilted his head and leaned in. It looked like a warning to stop talking about things she shouldn’t. His reaction made her hesitate.
He took advantage of her hesitation to say, “If you ever went to Adaamas, you wouldn’t make it back. Not with a mouth like that.”
Ryya crossed her arms.
He waited. Then said, “You never set foot on Adaamas, did you?”
No. She hadn’t.
Sorn scoffed. “Figures.”
She winced at being caught in her second lie.
The male rubbed a blue hand over his darker blue lips. “Did you at least write a roommate contract?”
“Of course.” She wasn’t an idiot.
“Where’s the contract?”
She pointed in the direction of the kitchen and, needing to get away from his disturbing presence, decided to get it instead. Her feet moved quickly over the carpet-that-better-not-fall apart, down the hall and into her kitchen. She snatched her Minky pad off the table, turned around without looking and bumped into a mass of blue muscle.
Sorn had followed her into the kitchen and she didn’t hear anything.
Ryya didn’t like that either. Demons were already scary, impolite and invasive. Being soundless made her feel too much like prey to his predator tendencies.
He took Minky pad out of her hands and started reading. Every few seconds his finger brushed the screen up and she watched his face to see if there was anything he didn’t like, or something good.
No facial expression.
“Standard rental agreement,” he said as if he knew what standard was. It was his overly confident tone that eased her mind a little. If he decided to take the room, someone that self-assured wouldn’t be an irresponsible roommate, would he?
He swirled his finger over the pad and handed it back. “Signed.”
What?
Shocked, she didn’t even look at the Minky pad. “Serious?”
Sorn set the pad on the table and stepped closer, dominating her space and her body because she couldn’t move. The air warmed and her skin sizzled with nerves and a heavy dose of adrenalin.
“Look,” he whispered, “if you don’t want to rent to me, say so and I’ll walk. Not a problem for me. If you’re worried I’ll do something to you while you’re sleeping, that’s exactly the kind of mess I’m going to avoid.”
Damn him for giving her images of him messing with her while she was sleeping. She could almost imagine how his hands would feel against her skin.
No.
Bad.
“I wasn’t worried about you trying anything while I was sleeping, because if you were stupid enough to do that�
� I’d cut you up in tiny pieces and feed them to my fish.”
She didn’t exactly have a fish.
Sorn held her eyes. “You’re really bad liar.”
“And you’re an anti-Terran jerk.”
His head tiled slightly, “Sometimes I am wrong about Terrans.”
“Sometimes I’m a bad liar,” she admitted.
Sorn, smiled. It was a split-second emotion, but she saw it and fell in love with it right then. It was like he was a whole different person when he smiled.
Holy hell, he was gorgeous.
Holding out his hand in Terran fashion, he said, “One month, and we see how it goes.”
She took his hand, feeling the rough skin and firm grip. There were not many males with calluses like that. She’d know because her father had the same.
A warmth spread over her skin. He was a handy-Demon that worked with his hands.
3
The Demon was in her room.
It was dark, and her illumination alarm had not gone off, so she knew for a fact it was too damn early for anyone to be in her room. Sorn said something. Her brain fuddled the message. Or maybe it was the pillow she pulled over her head.
“Ssshhhh. Go ‘way.”
The pillow was ripped off her head. “Where are the pots?”
“In the kitchen.” Duh.
“I looked.”
Ripping the pillow out of his grip she scooted to the other side of the bed. “Look again.” Ryya pulled the cover over the pillow over her head to hide from the noise.
“I wouldn’t be in here if I didn’t look more than once,” he said pulling the blankets back. Cold morning air crawled over her warmth. She shivered.
“Go away,” she growled, curling up to stave off the chill attacking her bare legs
Ripping the blanket completely off Sorn said, “You sleep in a t-shirt and panties… not what I would have guessed, but I approve.”