Page 10 of Space for More

“Oh, sorry!” My face flames, and I duck my head, pretending to take a sip of my tea while I compose myself. “Just uh, wondering how you’re doing. Having to see your estranged mate must be really tough.”

She sets her mug down and crosses her upper arms with a slight frown. “I was terrified to see Phelix again. When we first met, things went about as spectacularly bad as they could have. That disastrous night ended up being the push I needed to leave that life behind and come to Spire.”

My eyes widen. “Really? I can’t imagine someone meeting you and being anything less than charmed.”

The smallest hint of a flush rises on Mezli’s cheeks, but she laughs it off. “I wasn’t the same person back then. I spent years hiding myself, trying to be the perfect daughter and not do anything unbefitting the Princeps of House Frye. But when my mom went behind my back and located my mate, things quickly fell apart. The night before I met Phelix, I snuck out and got wasted and tried to hook up with a stranger. I was just so fucking terrified of my inexperience and of the thought of being bound to someone without even knowing who I was. The next day I was horribly hungover and the meds I took to counteract it made me feel like I was floating above everything. So yeah, it didn’t go well.” She laughs again, but there’s less humor in her eyes than before.

“Oh god, that sounds awful. I’d never considered how scary having a mate might be. Humans have nothing like that so it always sounded incredibly romantic.”

That’s an understatement. I’ve spent countless nights fantasizing about my perfect match finding me and sweeping me away from my dreary life on a passionate adventure filled with love and lust. I guess imagination is better than reality on that front. “Thatmust’ve been terrifying, and then to be forced to relive those memories now? I’m so sorry.”

I unwrap myself from the blanket cocoon to reach out a hand and place it on top of hers. Sparks of warmth and excitement ripple up from my palm when our skin connects, and Mezli’s eyes dart to meet mine. We look at each other for a heartbeat, both confused by the impact of the contact. That’s twice now that I’ve felt those strange sparks when I touched her. I desperately fight the foolish urge to read something into it.

Logically, I know it doesn’t mean anything. In preparation for my trip to Spire, I went on a deep-dive into alien sexuality and stumbled upon info on nexxit mate bonds. There’s a surprising amount of medical documentation on the phenomenon—along with educational videos I may have watched repeatedly. For research.

When nexxit are around their true mate, bonding hormones flood their systems, and they pump out mating pheromones to increase arousal. If I had to guess, my reaction is a residual effect from getting caught in the crossfire of all those mating signals. Too bad coming up with a logical hypothesis doesn’t make my heart stop fluttering like a caged bird in my chest whenever Mezli touches me.

Mezli relaxes first, her eyes softening and the surprise sliding to a more flirtatious expression. “It’s okay. It means I got to meet you. And hopefully I’ll get to torture Phelix a bit before catching his nefarious dealings and becoming a galactic hero!”

I chuckle half-heartedly at the reminder of the accusations against Phelix. “Do you…do you really think that he’s here to sell those schematics? I just don’t know. Your history aside, everything I’ve heard about him—about his work makes me question things.”

She shrugs and sighs, thankfully not catching my slip up. “Honestly? I have no clue. I barely know him. If he is who the agents think he is, then not knowing him is for the best. Even if he is my mate. I’ve done fine without him the past four years.”

Thinking about the agents must summon them, because a moment later the door to Mezli’s apartment chimes. Mezli answers, and when they enter, Agent Tysea looks at the sight of me snuggled up on Mezli’s couch with curiosity, while Agent Ashlath stomps in and sits down in the chair Mezli was using. She rolls her eyes behind their back and takes a seat next to me, giving me a reassuring nudge. I do my best to refrain from showing the agents how much her proximity to me excites me, turning to give them my attention.

“Alright, let’s make this quick. How did your first contact with the target go?” Agent Ashlath’s flawless orange skin creases slightly as they narrow their eyes at us.

Mezli grins back at them, nudging me subtly again. “Ah, so you didn’t bug us! Good to know you weren’t listening in all night.”

Agent Tysea blinks rapidly at us in surprise. “Of course not. It is unnecessary for us to monitor your activity directly. Debriefs like this will suffice.”

“Don’t make us regret that choice,” Agent Ashlath adds with a scowl. “Be thankful I haven’t chosen to monitor your comms and your apartment and hotel.”

“Aww, and here I hoped that I’d get to put on a show for you,” Mezli replies with a pout. I can’t suppress my shocked snort of amusement and Tysea’s mouth falls open, aghast.

Ashlath’s scowl at Mezli deepens, who gives them a wink for good measure. “Enough. Tell us what happened,” they bark out impatiently.

I speak up before Mezli can antagonize them any more. She may feel okay being flippant with Consortium agents, but I’m somenobody human from a colony most people haven’t heard of, not a nexxit noble like her. “We made contact with, uh, the target. Mezli was incredible—there’s no doubt that he’ll want to see her again.”

“Eden’s right. We both nailed it. Phelix is salivating for a chance to spend more time with me, and our incredible Dr. Mori was able to get a good look at his datapads without him noticing.”

“Can you tell us more about the datapads, doctor?” Agent Tysea asks.

“Oh, uh, of course.” I swallow down a nervous lump in my throat that forms with their attention on me. Ever since they greeted me at the docks, I’ve felt foolish and incompetent around them. “So, uh, right… He carries a handful of datapads in his bag and all of them are the type that use a bio-lock. Sorry! But I’m s-sure you two have ways of getting past that sort of thing, right?”

Agent Tysea rubs the back of their neck and frowns at me like it’s somehow my fault that the datapads require a biosignature. I barely bite back the urge to apologize to them again. “We can create a decryption key but it’ll still take a sample of some of his biological material to bypass that kind of lock.”

“What kind of biological material?” I ask, my voice a bit too high-pitched as my horny brain immediately goes to something inappropriate. You’d think I’m the one flooded with mating hormones. Mezli snorts, obviously having the same train of thought as me.

“Saliva, hair, skin cells…other fluids. Whatever you can get.” Agent Ashlath turns their stern gaze squarely on Mezli. “Do you think you can handle that?” they ask, tone full of skepticism.

“Don’t worry, I won’t have trouble getting close enough to gather whatever you need, and more,” Mezli says, raising a salacious eyebrow at me.

I choke back a laugh, and Agent Tysea gives me another criticallook. They fish around in their briefcase, pulling out two small makeup compacts. Holding one up, Tysea shows a hidden latch that lifts up the shimmery cake of powder to reveal a storage compartment. “Use these for any material you gather. It will safely store it until you can hand it off to us.”

Mezli elbows me in the side. “Ooo look! Finally, a sexy spy gadget. I was worried this whole thing would just be boring meetings.”

I giggle, but stop when Agent Ashlath clears their throat loudly. “Lucky for you, this is our last in person meeting for now. Any future contact will be made via your comms. When you secure the biomaterial, put it in an envelope and leave it at the front desk of Dr. Mori’s hotel for Garlsna Freix in room 4203. We’ll deliver the decryption key to her room once it’s ready.”

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