Page 436 of Fated Mates of the Titan Empire

Instead, I found myself staring out the window, watching as the cab pulled out of the parking lot and took off in the direction of the spaceport.

I peered around at the apartment.

No matter where I looked, she was there.

She lay across the sofa, naked, with that challenging look in her eye.

She gazed at me with those mesmerizing eyes of hers and that T-shirt of mine that rode up, exposing her.

I shook my head and slapped myself across the face.

“Stop it!” I said out loud. “She’s gone and it’s your fault, asshole!”

When I peered back at the sofa, she was gone.

She was never there in the first place.

I got up and turned on the hologram TV. A show was on. The images and zany noises floated through my mind but made no impression on me.

I paid no attention to it.

I gnawed on my fingers and bit at the nails. It was a habit I hadn’t done in years.

Unable to take sitting in this place any longer, I moved into my bedroom and snatched up my communicator. I cycled through the contacts until I reached the one I was looking for.

I bit my lip as it rang.

I glanced in the direction of the bed.

It was the worst place I could have looked.

Vicky was there again, writhing on the bed in ecstasy. I was on top, pounding her mercilessly. I turned away and shut the images and sounds out of my head.

It’s not real! I bellowed at myself. It’s not real!

“Hello?” Ettana said on the other end of the line.

Relief flooded my system.

“Hey,” I said. “I was wondering if—”

“Who are you talking to? Ha ha!” Ettana said. “Leave a message after the bleep.”

It was Ettana’s voicemail message.

It’d been so long since I last called, I completely forgot about it.

I hung up, growled under my breath, and typed in a message.

IS THERE A PARTY SOMEWHERE? I typed.

I put the communicator down. She was likely busy somewhere doing something. At this time of night, she was likely already at a party.

She surprised me when she replied faster than I expected.

HELLO STRANGER, she replied. NICE TO SEE YOU’RE STILL ALIVE.

HAHA, I responded.

---