Page 31 of Fever

“A little cold up there for a retiree, no?”

“Cold, but no impending war.”

I glance at Sotay. He bends and kisses my neck. “Smile, baby, and don’t say anything. They’re baiting me.” His lips linger on my ear, and he starts purring. I force a smile to my face when I really want to moan. He purrs low and seductive, and it reminds me of the time he purred on my clit. Pussy liquid wets my panties. The camerawoman snaps a shot.

Sotay chuckles and puts a palm on my hip, squeezes. I look up and see he’s smiling, but his words give him away. “I don’t like the sound of that, John. How did he leave the perimeter?” We move toward the hotel’s entrance, and John steps in with us. The Orchid, one of the many five-star hotels in San Diego, with over a hundred rooms on a property that stretches for at least a mile, retains lights during Silence. The entrance is as big as my house, though I bet with full-powered tech on, it would look more glamorous. The lights are dim and few, but at least they’ve got power. During Silence, they shouldn’t have power, but maybe they’re exempt from the rule. The rich always find ways.

Inside, a panel display shows that there are several restaurants open, and I wonder which one Sotay has picked.

“Like it or not,” John says, “it’s happening. People are smuggling people out.”

I snap my head his way. “Smuggling?”

Sotay squeezes my hip.

John, as if just noticing me, gives me a fast once-over but doesn’t linger. He’s only got eyes for Sotay, who stops and glares. “The prince will be very displeased to hear people are paying smugglers to move them outside the secured perimeter. The inside is heavily guarded. The beyond is where the danger lies. Let me take this opportunity to say I doubt your former cameraman made it to Canada. Everyone smuggled beyond the perimeter has been found dead. Road kill.”

The other man speaks for the first time. “Fever, my name is Diego, from theOfficial Hordesmen News.”

Sotay laughs. “What the hell isOfficial Hordesmen News?”

“Official. Meaning no hearsay. From your mouth to print. No middlemen or males.”

“So no king on the news?”

“Well, yes.”

“He’s not a Hordesman.”

“We’d make an exception.”

“Okay, Diego. I’ve got a minute left. As you can see, I’m on a date.” He squeezes my hip again. I gulp a little. A date. I haven’t considered it a date. A date precedes sex. We did everything backward. As Sotay delivers a statement, namely saying the Hordesmen are aware of the smuggling and can’t be bothered to stop it because they’ve other pressing problems, I stand there thinking that even if he didn’t collect me and even if Mom was with me at home, and nothing had changed, if he asked, I’d still go out with him tonight. He’d pick me up from home, and we’d fly over the city. A date indeed.

The what-ifs in my head consume me so much that I don’t even notice I’m inside the restaurant, hand in hand with Sotay. No press. Glass windows allow for a beautiful view of the beach, where lights from ships in the distance twinkle like stars. They also have enough tech to hold the lights. The restaurant’s seating is on either side of a large oval bar space, where a pair of chefs are preparing food. The bar with drinks, I presume, is actually in the back. Interesting.

“How come they have power?” I ask.

“Solar batteries, or maybe an old fuel-powered generator somewhere in the back.”

The few guests sitting on my left and facing the front gardens avert their gazes.

A woman in a navy-blue suit approaches. Her name tag reads Sandy, and her smile doesn’t reach her eyes as she introduces herself as a manager and escorts us to the seating area with the other guests. The marble floor rings under my heels, the sound breaking the uncomfortable silence surrounding our arrival. Sandy pulls out a chair and gestures me toward it. Sotay has different plans. Hand in hand, we cross to the other side. He stands next to the table near the window overlooking the beach. He pulls out a chair for me, and I sit. Sotay’s breath is on my neck as he whispers. “This morning, the Horde sighted a Swarm male nearby. Sitting near the window facing the beach is a statement. If anyone is conspiring with the Swarm, they now know we’re scouting. And me bringing my date here tells them I’m unafraid.” He kisses my neck. “You’re gonna flood the floor tonight. I’m gonna fuck you so hard, you will bruise. What’s a good girl say?”

“Yes, please?”

“Did you wear underwear?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Take them off and find a way to give them to me without anyone seeing.” Sotay sits across from me and pretends like he didn’t just make me leak all over my panties.

Sandy delivers the leather-bound menu and leaves without a word. As she’s walking, she drops something and bends to pick it up. A gun holster peeks out from her back, and immediately, my heart speeds up. Alarmed, I look at Sotay.

He lifts his gaze from the menu. “Yes?”

“She’s carrying on the job.”

“Carrying what?”

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