Page 3 of K'Vella

I was always rated highly as a female to house, and I had many males who wished to court me until things went badly. I miss the companionship that came with trying to find a pair of males to bond with. There was never a moment where I had to be alone if I didn't want to be. Now, I'm nothing but alone most of every day.

"My sister said you're looking for someone to knock you up," Kor says over his shoulder as he walks through the ship toward the navigation pit.

I choke on my surprise. Okay, so maybe these males are different. Varon males are never the ones to bring up coupling. It's always on the female to tell them when she's available for that kind of thing. None are ever as vulgar as asking me about getting knocked up, either. That's talk saved for after you've agreed to be with a male in a more physical sense.

Not that I'm prudish about the words used during lovemaking, because I'm not. I enjoy a male who can use his words to get me warm, but Kor is not that male.

"That's one way to put it, yes. I'm looking for a species compatible with my predicament."

Kor leads me through one last door and then motions for me to take a seat wherever I want. He loads my bags into a storage bin. When he turns to face me, his lips kick up in a charming smile, and he dramatically places his hands on his hips.

"No judgment from us. If you ever decide to give Straxions a go, you have my sister's number. I'd be more than happy to try to get you pregnant."

"Shut up, Kor." Another of the males comes into the room and throws a bottle of something at Kor's head. He ducks and laughs before chasing the bottle down and taking a swig from it. "Ignore him. He hasn't been around women in too long."

"As much as I'd like to say that isn't true." Kor sighs and plops down into his navigation seat. "It's so true." He types out something in the navigation comm's coordinates log, and the ship begins to rumble back to life. "You sure you don't want to stick with us, K'Vella?"

I open my mouth to tell him I'm very sure that there's only one species I have any chance of being impregnated by, but I don't get the chance as the navigation pit doors open again. The other two brothers come walking in. Nipple piercings checks to see if I'm buckled in and tightens the straps between my arms. He takes the seat next to me and gives Kor a simple nod.

Kor lets out a whoop. "Hang on tight. We're going to see how close we can get to them. Via's still seeing if they need our help, so they might not even know who we are if she hasn't gotten ahold of them yet."

"Is that safe?" I ask.

The sound of the ship stirring to life and preparing for a jump is so loud my question is drowned out.

No sooner do I close my eyes and clench my teeth does the sensation and the sounds stop, leaving us floating in the middle of nowhere space. I crack my eyes open and let out a gasp as I see the minuscule space between our airlock and the airlock of the ship we're meeting with.

"I think that's a record!" Kor hollers as he jumps from his seat. "Ixor, that's a record, right?"

Nipple piercings, Ixor, frowns at his brother before unbuckling himself. He turns to me and helps me with my buckles.

As soon as I'm free, I sway on my feet. I'm faintly aware of one of the males asking if I'm okay, me weakly saying to give me a moment, and then the world is dark.

two

Holoth

"You're welcome!"

Sloane comes swaggering into the navigation pit with a bright smile and a concerning glint in her eyes. The nav pit is silent before her announcement, and her enthusiasm startles Phial awake. His feathers stand up from the top of his head, down his back, and disappear under his shirt.

I've seen many facial expressions on Sloane in the past few weeks since she joined the crew as Jovi and Alik's pleasure crew before turning into permanent crew because we all like her so much. That's how I know that whatever she's expecting thanks for may or may not be something I want to thank her for. She's scheming, but there's no way to tell if it's good or bad until she admits to it.

"What am I thanking you for?" Phial asks.

He works to smooth down the feathers on his head. The feathers have a mind of their own and love sticking up any time Phial's embarrassed or startled. He says he looks like a fool whenthey're upright and will incessantly smooth them down anytime he thinks they aren't lying flat against his scales.

He was asleep in his chair, taking one of his many naps. Ever since we intercepted a human smuggling ship and brought their cargo onboard, Phial's been sleeping like shit. He watches over Avery, the human we stole from the smugglers, every single moment of every single day. Except for when she showers. Then he comes to hang out with me in the nav pit.

Avery can't understand any of us since the smugglers removed her translator, but that doesn't stop Phial from being near her. The only reason he's down here with me right now is that Avery's showering, and she takes at least an hour since she has issues with seeing how her body was modified and the collar she still wears. I try not to bother him when he's here so he can rest his eyes for a few extra minutes.

"Not you," Sloane says, waving away Phial's curiosity.

His scales shimmer softly like he's about to change colors or camouflage. Instead, they darken back into their deep navy color. Now that he knows Sloane doesn't want him, he presses his head against the back of his chair, eyes closing again.

I tilt my head toward the door, and Sloane picks up my message. There's a good chance Phial can find more sleep before he heads back to his room to watch over Avery. We both want that for him, so we talk in the hall.

I lean against the wall when the navigation pit doors close behind us. My arms are tight over my chest, and I try to force my eyes from falling down Sloane's body.

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