She couldn’t spend the entire cruise wondering whether Madame Eve would come through for her. She had work to do. But during the next six months, when she crashed on her bed during her off hours, she would imagine all of the possibilities.
***
“Run, Nate, run!”
Natazekiel, well aware of the stupid remark he’d made, bounded out of the pub behind his friend. As he rushed past, he toppled tables and chairs on their sides to slow his pursuers. Slamming into the doorframe, he lost his footing. He spun around, catching sight of the burly, blue-skinned Otarians lumbering after him, veins throbbing in their thick necks.
Regaining his balance, he scrambled down the street. He spotted Wyn ahead of him, rounding a corner. But the men he’d pissed off remained on his heels. If he followed his friend, they would chase him, too. If Wyn reached their star cruiser first, Nate hoped he would find a way to rescue him.
A beam of red light slammed into the road in front of him, blasting chunks of concrete all around him.
Shit!
He faked to the right, pretending to follow his friend. Then he weaved left. The cursing from behind made him pause, but he valued his life too much—even if no one else did—to turn around.
Ornate stone pillars decorated the front of the tall, posh building ahead of him. An Otarian man stepped out of the entrance, and Nate raced to catch the door before it slammed shut. Inside, he glanced down the long hallway—lit by lavish sconces—at the multitude of doors lining either side. Would he find a way out behind any of them?
With his heart pounding, he grabbed each large brass-colored handle as he rushed by. None of the doors opened for him.
“There he is. Shoot him!”
Nate glanced back to see multiple laser guns aimed at him. Crap, he needed to escape. Fast. He slammed his shoulder into the next door. It flew open, revealing a luxurious suite full of silks and tapestries from the planet Earth. Not a suite he would ever receive an invitation to visit. He darted into a smaller room, finding a slender Otarian woman, naked save for a thin strip of cloth across her breasts and between her legs.
She drew a finger along her delectable blue curves. “Are you my date?”
“Date?” How he wished.
“Yes, did Madame Eve send you?”
For a second, he considered saying yes. Too much time had passed since he’d gotten laid. But with the barbarians after him, he wouldn’t have the chance to satisfy her the way any honorable man should. “Um, no. He’s a lucky man, though. Sorry to intrude.”
He sidestepped to the lofty window, yanking it up. Propping himself on the ledge, he somersaulted through the opening then, dropping farther than he’d expected, crashed to the ground. He didn’t have time to survey his injuries, as a beam blasted the frame above him, sprinkling bits of mortar on his head.
Poor woman to have those brutes in her room
.
Jumping to his feet, he glanced back and forth down the alley he’d landed in. He raced away from the busy street at one end into darker, unfamiliar territory. Best not to have his pursuers blast innocent bystanders.
After rounding another corner, he ducked behind an immense steel bin, expecting to have lost the bulky, determined men chasing him. A few moments passed in silence. Nate peeked around the edge. Nothing. He’d lost them.
Ready to get the Claustrum off Otaria, he crept farther into the darkness. Even with the sun high in the sky, very little light permeated this space. Pipes from the buildings and holes in the ground released steam around him. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, stinging his eyes. He wiped the moisture away then picked up his pace. A radiance shone ahead.
Freedom?
Once he returned to the main streets, he would locate Wyn, and their ship.
A beam shot past his head, singing the tip of his ear.
Too close
. He shot off again, bursting into a cluster of Otarians. He skidded around the next corner toward the open port. His ship was supposed to be there, but the dock where he’d parked it lay empty.
Shit. Where is Wyn?
He searched the skies, spotting the star cruiser barreling toward him.
What in Claustrum?
His friend would kill him and everyone on the streets. Nate continued running to the field and a line fell from the ship. His chest tightened.
No way! I have to climb that?
Yeah, right. He didn’t do stunts.
Dirt shot up around him as more blasts came from the men wanting him dead.
Guess I have no other choice. Time to be a daredevil
. He darted toward the dangling rope, praying to the gods Wyn’s stunt would work. Lifting his arms, he reached for the knot at the end and grabbed hold, asking for the strength to maintain his grip.
In an instant, he lifted off the ground, clinging to the lifeline. A few more laser beams shot past. All at once, the burly men below lowered their guns, staring at him. And his denims rested around his ankles, exposing him for all to see.
Well, that explains the sudden breeze
.
“Told you mine’s bigger than yours,” he shouted.
When another beam burnt a hole through his pants, he pulled his knees up, trying to save his vital organs. He spun around, hanging on tight while Wyn circled back, racing him away from danger.
Beyond the docks of the port, Nate dropped the line. He yanked up his still smoking jeans, waiting for Wyn to land. Once the door to the ship opened, he rushed inside.
“Go, go, go.”
He swung into the second seat, his heart hammering, as he helped program a course out into space.
“Why do I always wind up catching you with your pants around your ankles every time we go out?”
Nate grinned as the vessel shot out of Otaria’s atmosphere. “Because you like to see my cock. Admit it.”
Wyn jerked the ship starboard, tossing Nate out of his seat and onto the floor.
“Fucker. What’d you do that for?”
“Nothing. Wait ’til you do something.”
He punched his friend in the arm then scrambled back into his chair. With Wyn busy flying them to their next destination, Nate decided to connect to the uni-web. The woman he’d burst in on back on Otaria had stroked his curiosity. He typed
Madame Eve
and
date
into the browser, waiting for the results to pop up.
A few seconds later, he stared at the screen, unable to believe what he’d read. He clicked on the first link.
1Night Stand? A dating service?
He thought the woman he’d seen too attractive to need someone to find her a date. If she’d found him half an hour earlier, she could have had him for the night. But no matter how much the idea flabbergasted him, he couldn’t stop reading about Madame Eve’s magical matchmaking abilities. Could there really be someone out there for him? He shook his head. Maybe for one night, but not for a lifetime. That bridge had come and been stolen away from him, never to be crossed again. Of all the people he’d met in his life, Wyn remained the only person who stuck around. Yet, Nate believed one day he would lose him, too. Last star cycle, Wyn had a serious girlfriend, Carlotta. She’d forced him to choose between her and Nate. He’d almost cried when Wyn showed up at the star cruiser the day he’d set to leave. No one had ever chosen him before, his own parents dropping him off at the spaceport on Earth, never to be heard from again. But then he’d done the same thing to the one girl who’d ever mattered. He winced. If he hadn’t been forced to leave the planet, he might still be with her.
Nate shook away the memory, returning his attention to the screen. He snorted when he read the cost for one of the arranged dates. Sure, he had the money, but on Rolox, he could get five women to spend the night with him for the same price. Though on that planet, he might leave with any number of diseases and other nasties. He clicked the form for fun, and whistled at the hundred or more questions on the application. This Madame Eve seemed thorough in learning about her clients.
“What are you lookin’ at?” Wyn leaned over the side of his chair. “You? A dating service?”
He chuckled, his cheeks warming. “No. I just heard a woman mention it when I escaped through her room. She’d apparently used this service and was waiting for her date when I barged in.”
His friend stood behind him, clasping his shoulder. “I’m surprised you didn’t take advantage of the situation.”
“Didn’t have a chance.” Yet, he wouldn’t have. He refused to pretend to be someone else. A woman had to want him for him. He would no longer hide what he was.
“You should give it a try.”
The comment came like a kick to the nuts. Spinning around in his chair, he faced Wyn. “You’ve got to be joking. This woman sets people up on a one-night stand, but according to her clients, more often than not, the relationship lasts well beyond one night.”
“Exactly. You’ve spent all this time zooming around space, searching for someone. I think it’s about time you stop to find her.”
He clenched the arms of the chair. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m fully capable of finding my own dates.”
“C’mon. The women you find are willing to fuck anyone who asks. It’s all a ruse as you search for the one woman you’re pining over.”
“You think I’m looking for love? Yeah, right.” That ship had sailed a long time ago. Best friend or not, Wyn had pushed the boundaries of their camaraderie. Nate rose to his feet and shoved past him. “Stay out of my business.”
“If I did, you’d be dead by now,” Wyn shouted after him.
Nate slammed the door to his cubby behind him and pounded his fist against the wall. The fucker was right, Nate would have been killed numerous times if Wyn hadn’t come to his rescue. And perhaps he was lonely, always yearning to run into his one true love. But she resided on Earth, a place he could never return. He stripped off his pants and slumped onto his cot. The darkness helped to soothe his anger.
He thought of 1Night Stand.
Am I ready to settle down? Is there really another woman out there for me?
Madame Eve guaranteed one night. He huffed out a breath.
No harm in trying
. Yes, as soon as Wyn retired to his bunk, Nate would fill out the questionnaire.
What would happen after that? He’d let fate decide.
Ava buckled her safety straps in preparation for landing. She’d already secured her assigned group of guests in their seats in the passenger bay, and now waited for Michelle to claim the cushion beside her.
The last three months on the Star Spirit had passed so slowly, a repeat of every other journey through space she’d experienced. Most guests wouldn’t give her the time of day. Those who did wanted sex. But this time, she’d refused them. Ever since she’d received confirmation of her application to the 1Night Stand service, she vowed to save herself for her date, no matter how long she had to wait to hear back from Madame Evangeline. A detail that would serve to make her date even more special, just as she’d hoped for her first time. The guy she’d decided to give herself to had opened her eyes to the idea of sex as nothing more than sport. He’d fucked her a few times then ditched her to seek out a new conquest, never to be heard from again. Wiping a tear from her cheek, she sucked in a deep breath. She’d loved him, believing he loved her, too. Now she didn’t even know if love existed with all of the cheating and philandering occurring every day on mother travelers. Call her old-fashioned, but she thought sex should only happen between people who loved each other.
She groaned, remembering the one-night stand she’d signed up for. How was she supposed to find love from such an arrangement?
She leaned back in her seat, thinking she’d made the costliest mistake of her life. Madame Eve likely wouldn’t give her a refund because she’d changed her mind. So, she either went through with the date, or received nothing from her investment.
Better to know what to expect than wish for something more.
Oh well, she had another three months on Star Spirit before returning to Earth, and at least that long before she learned the details of her one-night stand, if a match could even be found for her.
“We are now landing on Elatia,” the ship’s captain announced. “Please be sure to remain buckled until your assigned staff member returns to escort you off the ship.”
Ava glanced at the empty seat beside her.
Late, as usual
.
Michelle raced toward her then slammed onto the cushion. “Jeez, why can’t we have buckled seats in the rooms like other mother travelers?”
She rolled her eyes, sighing. “Who was the guy this time?”
“Oh, not one, but two. Remember the twins from Room 317 I told you about?”
Gasping, she clasped her hands over her mouth. The twins were hot, but two at the same time? She definitely had different morals than her friend. “You’re unbelievable.”
“No,
they
are. I’m meeting with them again on Elatia. Want to join us? I’m willing to share.”
“No, thank you.” She blushed, imagining having sex with someone her best friend had done the deed with, and being in the same room while Michelle got busy with another guy. She would never do such a thing. Sex happened behind closed doors.
“C’mon. We’re going to be on the pleasure planet. Time to have our sexual fantasies come true.” Michelle squeezed her thigh. “You haven’t had any fun on this voyage at all. Did you meet someone back home before we left and not tell me?”
She shook her head. How she wished. “I’m saving myself.”
Michelle snorted. “For what?”
“Never mind.” She sighed. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Whatever.” Michelle frowned, turning away, leaving her to wallow in her own guilt.
“By the way,” her friend continued. “You’re supposed to go to the communications center after you’ve escorted your passengers off. You have a message from someone named Madame Evangeline.”
Ava groaned, her stomach twisting in knots. “I didn’t expect to hear from her so soon,” she whispered, fingering the hem of her shirt. Now she’d have the return trip to increase her anxiousness for the date.