Page 2 of K'Vella

No one spoke to me at the last ceremony except Kiena, who told me I looked like I was aging and miserable. That night, I decided to try a different tactic to see if someone not on Varon might be willing to help me.

That night, I got in contact with Pleasure Crew Enterprises. I thought there would be males desperate enough forcompanionship that I could find someone willing to offer me what I want in exchange for companionship.

Instead, I learned that birth control was one of the main pillars of the pleasure crew's rules. Even if I alter myself to conceive another species young, Pleasure Crew Enterprises doesn't allow their crew to be without protection from it. Which is fair enough. I suppose they don't want their employees or clients dealing with pregnancies that they don't want. But I do want it.

Their rules didn't stop me from trying to plead my case to Via, the Straxion female in charge of helping me with my paperwork, which ended up getting rejected. It wasn't so much a pleading as it was me begging her to help because I didn't know what else to do.

Via told me she thought she might be able to help me but that it would need to be kept quiet and that it wouldn't be going through very legal channels. Maybe it should have been a red flag, but I'm desperate. I'm so desperate that I'm waiting for Via to message me back. If she says I need to be ready to go right this second, I'll be ready to go right this second.

It's not like anyone here will miss me. Kiena is busy being housed in different males' houses every few months, and my mother is busy telling Kiena how wonderful she is. I doubt either of them will even register I'm not planet side until I've been gone for weeks.

My brothers are coming to pick you up. Let me know when you're headed to the shipyard. They're going through the customs agent now.

Via's message catches me by surprise, but my surprise lasts only a moment before I move around my room, grabbing anything I think might be important. I have a go-bag ready with a few outfits that should stretch as my body grows and a goodchunk of credits that I should be able to use to get transport back to Varon once I'm pregnant.

There's one thing I have always wanted. The problem with Varon conception is that it's difficult. It's almost impossible now that I've had important parts removed from my anatomy. That hasn't stopped me from finding a way to get what I want.

For eight years, I've tried to do this the legal way. For the last six months, I've been working with Via in a less legal way. She's my last hope, and I'm willing to risk anything to build my future and my family.

I send a message through a transportation service to have a ride pick me up from the shared housing. When it pings to alert me that my ride will be here in fifteen minutes, I message Via, telling her I'm about to head up to the Varon docking port. It's not one of the bigger ports, and it's the middle of the night, so I doubt anyone will be up there except for Via's brothers.

I write a note and leave it on my dresser. It's brief and tells the other women in the house to give my room to another female who doesn't want to go through the housing ceremonies. I don't want them to think they need to save my room for me. If I have my way, I'll be moved into a single mother's unit when I return.

I debate writing that I'm not being kidnapped so they don't worry, but the more I think about it, the more worrisome adding it seems. I feel like the only person who says they aren't being kidnapped is someone who's definitely being kidnapped. I leave the sparse note on my dresser, hoist my bag up in my left arms, and make my way outside to wait for my transport.

The trip to the dockyard is short. While I'm traveling to the edges of Varon's atmosphere, I flip through Via's latest message. There's a picture attached to the message. Four males, who all look slightly like Via with their black hair so dark it's almost blue, their pale orange skin, and their tails all at various stages of swishing in the air when the picture was taken.

The four males are in the middle of messing with one another. Their hands are in the air, and their faces morph with laughs and smiles as they mess with one another. Via's in the picture, ducking down in the middle of the group, hands over her head, like chaos is about to ensue.

Here's a picture of who's picking you up. If they don't look and sound like idiots, don't get on their ship. The picture was taken about five years ago before they left to start their crew. They wear a lot more jewelry now and act tougher than they are. They should be respectful. If not, message me, and I'll take care of it.

I look back over the picture, making sure I know what the males look like. The transport docks in the loading zone of the shipyard, and I take a peek out before getting out. Just as I suspected, there's only one ship up here and no one else.

Thankfully, Via's brothers must realize how sketchy this all seems because they're all four standing outside the ship, waiting for me.

Via was right about them wearing more jewelry now. Each male has at least three rings on each hand, and a few of them are wearing multiple chains around their necks. The lights from the port hit one of them just right, making the gems adoring his nipples sparkle.

My chest turns violet, but thankfully, I'm wearing a more conservative top, so my flush is hidden.

"Via's brothers?" I ask as I step out of the transport. My voice is quiet, but considering I'm the only person besides them in the shipyard, they're paying full attention to me.

"K'Vella?" the male with the nipple piercings calls my name.

My chest flushes even more. This is what happens when I haven't been given male attention in almost a decade. I'm getting warm just seeing a shirtless male.

"Yes, that's me," I say, grabbing my bags and slinging them over my left arms.

I hold out my lower right hand to shake his, but he's already turning around and doesn't see me. I cringe internally at the awkward blunder but recover quickly since no one saw it. The three other brothers turn when the first does.

The jewelry doesn't end on their fingers and necks. All four have a few chains and rings on their tails, making me wonder why they dress up as they do. It's preening, it must be, but they're the only ones on the crew. At least, I don't think there are any others for them to try to entice.

"Kor will show you to the navigation pit. You should get buckled in and stay there. We have one jump to get to the ship we're dropping you off at," the male with the nipple piercings says before ducking down a different hallway and leaving me with who I assume is Kor.

"Do you want me to take one of those?" Kor offers, pointing at the bags in my arms.

"No, thank you," I say in my most polite voice.

It's been a while since anyone's interacted with me at the housing ceremonies, but I still remember some of my manners regarding being around males. Kor isn't a Varon male, but how different could things be?

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