Page 21 of A Darkside Interlude

The alien’s gaze roamed over her face as he lowered her foot, gently placing it on the armrest of the couch. Mari was unable to read his thoughts as his eyes slowly traveled down her body. Was he still angry with her? His expression gave nothing away.

As his eyes snapped back to hers, he took a deep breath, going very still.

What the hell is he thinking? This guy really didn’t give much away, and he made her all kinds of nervous, but she was also impossibly drawn to him, in a way that threatened to rob Mari of her deeply-rooted survival instincts.

“You are careless,” he said at last. “I do not know how you’ve survived in this place so long by doing what you do, but you need to be more cautious.”

“Cautious? I’ve been doing this since I was five, and you’re telling me how I should act in my own neighborhood?”

“You are lucky I possess some degree of restraint, human, but not everyone in this universe is like me. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

Mari sat up, indignation burning away her fear. “You don’t know anything about me, offworlder. You don’t know what it’s like to survive in this place, to become this,” she gestured down at her scantily clad body, “just so I can scrape together a few credits and keep the fucking Collector off my back.”

Still, the alien’s stony expression didn’t waver. Had she crossed the line? Mari stiffened. The Kordolian might have helped her, but he was still a very dangerous man.

“You’re right,” he said finally, some unreadable emotion swirling in his crimson eyes. “I know nothing about you, and I intend to keep it that way.”

What? Relief, anger, and disappointment surged through her all at once. Why did his cold statement leave her feeling so… empty? Mari withdrew her feet, curling her legs up so that she was hugging her knees. “Fine by me.” She couldn’t help but sound a little sullen.

“There is something I want from you, though. I will pay.”

Emptiness gave way to disappointment. He was no better than all the other sleazebags in this shitty slum, after all. “You’ll pay? This isn’t for sale, Kordolian. I’m not a fucking wh—”

“For your silence.”

“What?” Mari blinked.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Never seen you before in my life.”

“Good. Then you never stole from me, never ran from me, never even saw me. I was never in your home. I do not exist. If the Touched One starts ranting about me, you will publicly dismiss his words as the ravings of a madman.”

“Th-that’s it? You want me to keep quiet?” It confirmed what Mari already suspected; this guy had to be some sort of big-shot.

And he was buying her silence, not her fucking virginity. For some reason, that made her extremely happy. It meant he wasn’t a scumbag, after all.

The alien reached into his jacket and produced a small red metal square. “My payment. This is an Imperial krath. Our Empire may have fallen, but our currency hasn’t. Based on current Universal exchange rates, its value on Earth should be… significant.”

A metal square. Mari held out her hand, and he pressed the object into her palm.

Kordolian currency. A shiver of excitement ran through her, and it wasn’t because of the money. His touch felt so warm, so firm, so good. It sent an electric ripple across her bare arms and set her heart on fire.

And now he was about to leave, and she’d never see him again. Mari took in his proud features one last time, imprinting them on her mind.

Her crazy heart beat faster, faster, faster. It was that feeling she got when she was about to do something stupid and reckless.

Fuck it. If she was never going to see him again, then…

Mari rose to her feet. The silver stuff had dried and formed a second skin over her soles. As she took a step forward, it cracked and shed, leaving her feet perfectly healed.

Magic.

She walked right up to the Kordolian, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a long, slow kiss on his grey lips.

Because I can. Because I’m never going to see you again. Because you’re hot and intriguing and powerful, and I find that combination irresistible.

Because I’m not afraid of you anymore.

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