Uninvited Roommate: A Sci-fi Romance (Marnak Series Book 1)

by Layla Stone

  His fingers were wet with food chunks and a savory sauce that gave the rice a nutty sweetness. He thought of getting a spoon, but it was already too late, and he couldn’t take back the crude way he ate.

  He left the empty container on the counter and walked to the door and stopped to ask, “Will you be here when I get back?”

  She hesitated then nodded quickly.

  He shouldn’t have cared, but he felt something tighten in his chest, knowing he wouldn’t come home to an empty apartment. Painful memories threatened to rise, but he rammed them back down.

  Closing the door, he walked back to the kitchen, picked up the packaged bar lock and a power driver. Going to the door, he removed the lock from the package and knelt in front of the door.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” he said as he lined up the wall plate and put in a screw.

  “Is that a door lock?”

  “Yep,” he said right before securing all four screws to the wall. “This one is industrial, so no one can get in, because we both know you can’t fight an intruder.”

  “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been confused with my own emotions before. I can’t decide if I’m insulted or appreciative.”

  Naff ignored her as he checked to make sure the lock worked. Returning the tool to the drawer he looked at the time. He was late… as in really late.

  5

  Second fight of the night. Naff’s opponent was a Yunkin; shorter than him but a dirty fighter. Naff’s chest was hurt, his vision was a mucked from a swollen eye, but he kept a level watch on the Yunkin’s pale-blue eyes.

  Naff would give the bastard one more hit, and then it was over.

  A bareknuckle fist got him in the arm, then his lower stomach. Naff groaned as he shot out his arm towards the Yunkin’s face. It was telegraphed and so the Yunkin jumped back with an arrogant grin.

  Bastard was already seeing victory in his eyes, and Naff hadn’t even started fighting yet.

  The Yunkin faked a jab and moved in again to deliver a two-three punch.

  Faster than Naff had moved during the last three minutes, he struck out and hit the idiot in the temple, taking him down in one right cross. The male’s eyes were void of consciousness by the time his body sagged on the damp, moss-covered ground.

  A chorus of gasps sounded around the arena. He could see the disgusted look in a few female faces. The male spectators weren’t sensitive to blood but they were sensitive to who won and who lost the fights.

  Knocking out an opponent so fast meant they lost a lot of money. Especially when he was asked to draw it out, play with his foes for a bit. But Naff didn’t cater to anyone.

  And he liked to piss them off.

  With a smug smirk, he held up a hand and flicked it at the sealed-off door that would hold his third and last opponent for the night. “Next.”

  The announcer talked fast and built up the crowed for the next fight. Three fights a night for years was wearing on him. But he wasn’t dead, and he still had enough fire in him.

  The crowd roared, calling for blood. The announcer called for the opponent’s door to open. The shrill of excitement from the onlookers didn’t bother him anymore.

  Focused and moving smoothly on the balls of his feet, he watched the door ascend. The lights were off at the front of the door. Naff didn’t know if that was on purpose, or to hide the person’s body, or if the idiots who ran The Pit forgot to replace them.

  Those thoughts faded away when a six-and-a-half-foot Krant stepped out into the arena lights with a smug look.

  Naff cursed. Krants were bloody bastards to beat. Their skin was hard as hell and they didn’t go down with a simple tap to the temple.

  Naff squared up to the opponent and lifted his hands near his face. Once the buzzer sounded, he didn’t have another thought.

  6

  Naff had made it to his apartment door. He didn’t know how, but he made it with both eyes swollen, and a dislocated shoulder. When his door didn’t open, he raised a hand and pounded. “Steps! Let me in.”

  The sweet scent of lolly-water hit him as the door opened. His hand on the door fell, and so did he. Catching himself against the wall at the last moment, Adya reached and touched his shoulder, “Let me help.”

  “No,” he gritted out because his shoulder hurt too.

  “You’re… not okay. You need to see a doctor.”

  Holding the wall, he slowly made his way out of the entryway and then around the wall into the living room. “I’m fine. Just need a few hours of sleep.” Once he reached the couch, he winced as the muscles in his legs screamed.

  He just needed a few hours and then he would patch himself back together.

  “Stop, you’re in so much pain,” Steps said from a spot lower than he was sitting.

  Was she on the floor?

  “I can’t even feel it, I’m just tired,” he lied, as every part of his body wanted to be anywhere but attached to him.

  “I’m going to call my doctor.”

  His pain doubled when he growled, “No, you aren’t. I’m fine.” He tried to open his eyes, but they stayed shut. Some people, like Baby Steps might look at him and think he was helpless.

  Well, this helpless Demon knocked out a Krant he couldn’t even see.

  Soon she’d learn too, that he was not a defenseless whelp that needed anyone’s help.

  “You can’t lie to me. I can feel it.”

  He was so out of it; he wasn’t hearing her right.

  “Please, let me call you a doctor.”

  “No. Just need to get my shoulder back in the socket.”

  Steps breathed out in quick succession. “Okay…,” she breathed harshly from her mouth and he imagined her lips pursed, “I can do that. I think. Let me look it up.”

  Naff felt her leave. The air whiffed of her sweet scent. He inhaled as deep as he dared and took it in.

  He used it to distract him from the pain.

  Clenching his jaw, he rocked forward. But he didn’t make it halfway. Landing back on the couch made the agony skyrocket, he ground his teeth together as he growled.

  “Okay, got it,” Adya said from behind him. Her quick pace let him know she was running. Then she was back on the ground, he heard her knees it the floor and he distinctly curled his lip. She should not be on the floor.

  “Okay, I think I understand what needs to happen.”

  “I can do it myself,” he snapped still pissed over her wanting to help him. He was a Demon, for Seth’s sake.

  She didn’t say anything. And in return he tried to get up and failed again.

  “Please,” she drew out the word, “let me help.”

  He didn’t need her help. “I don’t want your help. And even if I was in the gutter, with a broken foot and an infected head wound, I still wouldn’t take your help.” Actually, he did need help that morning he woke up in the gutter three years ago. One of the fighters, an Angny, picked him up and tossed him in a Knack Krawler and programmed it to the Feraway Hospital. But even then, he didn’t ask for help. It just happened.

  But this female was in his apartment and determined. He had to figure a way to get her undetermined. Yelling wasn’t working.

  New tactic.

  “Steps,” he said with a wince trying to be as calm as possible, “I promise, I’ll be fine.”

  There was a moment of silence then he heard her wobbly voice. “I won’t be.”

  With his least swollen eye, he peered through the small slit. To his displeasure he saw Adya’s tears. “Steps, you don’t even know me. Why are you crying?”

  “Because it hurts.”

  “It doesn’t,” he lied.

  “I can feel it!” she snapped with a voice that almost sounded angry, but she missed the heat in the tone making it more sad than angry.

  His delicate female was too soft for this. He should have known, but it was too late to change things now. She would have to deal with his ugly, bruised face. “You th
ink you can feel it because it looks bad.”

  A cold hand wrapped around his wrist and, honest to Seth, it felt like a tiny stream of cool water flowed from her dainty fingers, down under his skin, and soothed his muscles. The coolness moved through him, filling him with a balm of relief that he had never in his life felt. No drug, no sex, nothing had ever made him feel this way.

  Naff opened his eye a little more to stare down at his tender roommate. Her slender hand was there on his ugly, scarred wrist.

  “Steps…” he tried to talk but there was a heaviness in his head.

  “Don’t be mad, but I have to do this. I can’t let you suffer.”

  “How…?” he asked.

  She moved closer and kept her eyes on his. All he could see was her – all he could smell was her – and all he could feel was her soft breath on his ear when she whispered, “I’m going to set your shoulder okay?”

  “’Kay,” he said, feeling like an a devoted pet.

  He knew he didn’t want her to set it. She was too delicate and a botched attempt would do more damage, but he couldn’t get those words out.

  “Close your eyes,” she instructed softly, and his skin rippled with shivers and compliance. Her voice was husky and her smell coated his tongue. He wanted a taste of her mouth, to feel her soft lips.

  His eyes closed and stayed closed even when Naff’s arm popped back into his shoulder. The pain he expected didn’t come.

  “You feel good,” No, that wasn’t right, “I feel good.” Ugh, he wasn’t making sense.

  Adya’s voice was back in his ear. “I’ll stay right here. But you need to sleep now.”

  “’Ka...” he said, without moving his mouth.

  The couch dipped and he felt her move from the floor to the spot next to him. He wanted to open his eyes, to see her face, to pull her in and kiss her for the gift she was giving him.

  “Sleep, Naff. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

  7

  Naff woke up to the taste of lolly-water in his mouth. His moved his head to lean closer to the scent. Then he heard a very female grunt.

  His eyes opened and even with the dim light he could see the outline of Adya’s sleeping head and soft silky light hair. His arm wrapped around her stomach, holding her tight against his chest. Her rear was perfectly backed up against his morning fullness and he… was at a loss for thought.

  She stayed. All night.

  With him.

  Slowly, he dislodged himself from his roommate and carefully moved from the couch without waking her. Adya rolled to her back, her silky hair fanned over the tan couch. The sight seared in his mind.

  The soft lines of her face completely contradicted his own hard-angled jaw. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and her lips looked soft and full, perfectly kissable.

  Her sleeping form made his chest constrict. She was more than beautiful. Any male with eyes could recognize that, but she was more than beauty, she was a giver. The kind of female who did things for you because she wanted to – not to get anything back. The kind who became Demon prey.

  A need to possess surged inside and he worried about the underlining desperateness in it. This was only a temporary deal. He wanted to remember that, but he couldn’t. She was too good, too kind and if he didn’t keep her – another Demon would.

  Naff looked at the time and saw that he had another hour until his alarm went off.

  When he looked back down at his little roommate, her brown eyes open and watchful.

  They stared at each other.

  “I’m glad you’re not mad.”

  Mad? Why would he be… wait a minute. Rubbing a hand over his face, he realized he was one big idiot. How did he overlook being healed? No swollen face, bruised ribs – nothing.

  Peering backed own at his roommate he saw her worried brows.

  He had to play this delicately.

  “Neat trick you got. But how did you heal me? I’ve never heard of anyone having that kind of ability.”

  She swallowed. “I called a doctor while you were sleeping.”

  Ah, that was why she was freaking out. He specifically told her no doctor. “Even if you called a doctor, they couldn’t have done this,” he said, rubbing the side of his rib that, for the first time in a forever, it didn’t hurt to breathe.

  “He’s a really good doctor. An old friend of my family’s. He won’t tell anyone.”

  Tell anyone he was beat up? Everyone already knew that.

  Adya bit her lip and then asked, “Why… I mean, is it normal for you to come home so beat up?”

  “Last night was not the worst, but yeah, it happens,” he said moving to the arm of the couch, watching how her chest relaxed at his words.

  She sat up and tucked a foot underneath her. “And you just, let it heal naturally? Why would you do that to yourself?”

  “I have bills to pay. I do what I can and use what I got.”

  He saw a flare of anger in her eyes, and as stupid as it sounded, he thought his own chest flared with the same emotion.

  “And what you’ve got,” she hissed, “is the ability to keep breathing with bruised ribs, swollen face and dislocated shoulders?”

  “Everyone can breathe. My ability is to keep going. Fighting is not pretty, but it’s not supposed to be.”

  She turned away from him and he didn’t like it, so he moved to the cushion and pulled her chin until he had her attention. “Look at my face. Even without the bruises, cuts and swollen eyes. I’m not an attractive male. I’m never going to get hired as someone in customer services. I don’t get to be the nice guy who people turn to when they need help.”

  “That’s not…” she stopped herself.

  He let go of her face. “That’s not what? True? You know it is.”

  “I was going to say… fair.”

  He gave her a dry look. She was old enough to know life wasn’t fair.

  Adya pulled the orange pillow over her lap and sat back against the couch arm in a pout. Naff liked seeing her there, seeing her sulk. He wondered if she realized how open she was with her feelings.

  He was a Demon. She shouldn’t be so open. He could take advantage. Or maybe he could use this no deals thing to his advantage.

  He liked that idea.

  “How do you do that, the cold water under the skin thing?”

  Her lip pulled back, and she chuckled. “What did you call it? Cold water…under the skin?”

  “Yeah, how did you do that? Was it a drug, or was that really just by touching me?”

  Holding up her right hand, palm up she said, “Because I’m a Hetten.”

  A Hetten. He had to think about that for a moment.

  “It means I’m an empath. I feel other’s feelings, and if I want to, I can make you feel emotions.”

  Naff had no words. Feeling emotions was one thing… taking pain away was another.

  Adya played with a loose string from the pillow for a moment. “Are you mad about that?”

  “Do I look mad?” he asked, trying not to sound disgruntled for losing her attention to a random piece of string.

  “No, but I kind of invaded your privacy to do that. Hettens aren’t supposed to force emotions like that, to take command of another person. And when the doctor was here, I helped him heal you, so I kind of…” her cheeks blushed, “got your medical history.”

  “I’m not embarrassed about being a Night Demon or the scars I have. If you want proof, I can strip for you right now. You can see my skin as much as you want.”

  Her blush deepened to her neck. “No, thank you.”

  Naff reached over and covered her hand, stopping it from rubbing the string with her delicate fingertips. Her eyes shot up and he said evenly, “How did you take my pain?”

  Her eyes darted to the side. “I didn’t. I just made you feel peace.”

  Lies.

  Liar.

  He hated being lied to. He remembered distinctly the cool balm moving through his body, healing his muscles and removing his p
ain. Even if he didn’t remember seeing everything, his mind painted a convincing picture.

  “Steps,” he warned just as his alarm went off. He tapped his watch and let go of her hand. When he got off work, they would talk.

  And she would learn that he didn’t tolerate liars.

  Naff left her on the couch. He didn’t have time to waste so he grabbed a new set of clothes, showered and dressed.

  When he walked out of the bathroom she was there, perched on his bed. Correction, her bed.

  She was on a face to face call on her Minky. He couldn’t see the male’s face, but he could hear the voice. “…I’m not going to stop looking for you, Adya. I will find you and bring you home.”

  Adya powered off the Minky and pushed it face down and tried to act like nothing happened.

  He knew it! She belonged to another Demon – and that Demon was looking for him. Well too bad for that idiot – she was his now. “Who was that?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Oh, but it did. He liked to know his enemies.

  “Who’s looking for you?”

  “It’s no one.”

  There wasn’t enough contempt in her tone. It sounded sad, and he was probably going crazy, but he thought he could feel how much she missed the person who was looking for her.

  Something inside his chest cracked and a bitter jealousy swamped him. She missed her Demon?

  She was his roommate, sleeping in his bed, living with him. In the eyes of a Demon, she was his and he’d be damned if he was going to let her think of another male.

  He moved to the bed, reached down and plucked up the Minky pad. He was going to find out who thought they had a claim to her.

  Steps tried to grab the pad, but he held it out of reach.

  “Give it back.”

  Not a chance.

  A small hand grabbed his forearm. Her fingers weren’t long enough to fully surround the muscles. He smirked at the ridiculousness of her efforts. She was too frail to take down someone like him.

  Under her palm, he felt a pressure of heat, and in a snap second, it ripped into him. The shocking pain seared his muscles and he hit a knee. Mother of Seth, he felt like his blood vessels were hemorrhaging.