Close Liaisons

Chapter 4



Mia hardly remembered the remainder of the ride.

At some point in the next few minutes, the limo had pulled up to the Bobst Library, and Korum had courteously opened the door for her again and handed her the backpack. He then proceeded to gently brush his lips against her cheek, as though parting ways with his sister, and left her standing on the curb in front of the imposing library building.

Moving on autopilot, Mia somehow found herself inside, sitting in one of the plush armchairs that were her favorite place to study. Going through the motions, she took out her Mac and placed it on the side table, noting with some interest that her hand was shaking and her fingernails had a slight bluish tint to them. She also felt cold deep inside.

Shock, Mia realized. She had to be in a state of mild shock.

For some reason, that pissed her off. Yes, she felt like he had stripped her naked with his words in the car, leaving her feeling raw and vulnerable. Yes, if she thought too deeply about the meaning of his last words, she would probably start running and screaming. But she was hardly a Victorian maiden – her lack of experience notwithstanding – and she refused to let a few explicit phrases send her into vapors.

Resolutely getting up, Mia left her bag in the chair as a placeholder – nobody would steal a computer that old – and headed to the coffee shop to get something hot to drink. On the way there, she stopped by the bathroom. Splashing warm water on her face in an attempt to regain her equilibrium, Mia inadvertently caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The usual pale face staring back at her looked subtly different – somehow softer and prettier. Her lips appeared fuller, as though slightly swollen where he had touched them. Her eyes looked brighter, and there was a hint of color on her cheeks.

He was right, Mia thought. She had been extremely turned on in the car, his words alone bringing her nearly to the edge of orgasm – despite her shock and fear. What that said about her was not something she cared to analyze too deeply. Even now, she could feel the residual dampness in her underwear and a slight pulsing sensation deep within her loins whenever she thought back to that limo ride.

Taking a deep breath, Mia squared her shoulders and exited the restroom. Her sex life in all its extraterrestrial manifestations would have to wait until the paper was done and submitted.

Her priorities were two-fold right now – an extra-large coffee and a few hours of uninterrupted quality time with the Mac.



* * *



The ringing of the doorbell and an excited squeal by her roommate woke up Mia twelve minutes before her alarm.

Groaning, she rolled over and put her pillow over her head, hoping that the source of the noise would go away and let her get the remaining few minutes of precious sleep.

She had gotten home at three in the morning, after finally finishing the evil paper. Unfortunately, she had a 9 a.m. class on Mondays, which meant that she would get less than five hours of sleep that night. Even so, her overtired brain had refused to let go of the day’s events, with dark, erotic dreams interrupting her sleep – dreams in which she would see his face, feel his touch burning her skin, hear his voice promising both pain and ecstasy.

And now she couldn’t even enjoy a few moments of peaceful rest, as Jessie apparently couldn’t contain her excitement over whatever it was that came to the door.

“Mia! Mia! Guess what?” Jessie was practically singing as she knocked on Mia’s bedroom door.

“I’m sleeping!” Mia growled, wanting to smack Jessie for the first time in her life.

“Oh come on, I know your alarm is about to go off. Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty, and see what you got from Prince Charming!”

Mia bolted upright in her bed, all trace of sleepiness forgotten. “What are you talking about?” Jumping out of bed, she flung open the door, confronting her disgustingly cheerful and bright-eyed roommate.

“This!” With a huge excited grin, Jessie gestured toward a large vase of exotic pink and white flowers that occupied the center of their kitchen table. “The delivery guy just came and brought this. Look, there’s even a card and everything! Do you know who sent it? Is there some secret admirer that you haven’t told me about?”

Mia felt a sudden inner chill even as her pulse speeded up. Approaching the table, she reached for the card and opened it with trepidation. The content of the note – written in neat, but clearly masculine handwriting – was simple:

Tonight, 7pm. I will pick you up. Wear something nice.

Her hand shaking slightly, Mia put down the note. For some reason, she hadn’t thought he would want to see her again so soon, much less come to her apartment.

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense!” Unable to wait any longer, Jessie grabbed the note and read it herself. “Ooh, what’s this? You have a date?”

Mia felt the beginnings of a throbbing headache. “Not exactly,” she said wearily. “Let me get dressed for class, and we can talk on the way.”

Ten minutes later, Mia grabbed a breakfast bar and headed out the door with Jessie, who was nearly bursting with curiosity at this point. Sighing, Mia relayed a shortened version of the story, leaving out a few details that she felt were too private to share – such as his exact words and her reaction to him.

“Oh my God.” Jessie’s face reflected horrified disbelief. “And now he wants to see you again? Mia – this is bad, really bad.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe he just openly told you he intends to have sex with you.” Jessie was wringing her hands in distress. “What if you don’t show up tonight – go to the library instead or something?”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to find me there. He’s done that before. And I don’t know what he’ll do if he gets mad.”

Jessie’s eyes widened. “Do you think he would hurt you?” she asked in a hushed tone.

Mia thought about it for a few seconds. All his actions toward her thus far had been . . . solicitous, for lack of a better word. It could all be an act, of course, but somehow she doubted that he would physically abuse her.

“I don’t think so,” she said slowly. “But I don’t know what else he might be capable of.”

“Like what?”

“Well, that’s the thing – I just don’t know.” Mia nervously tugged at one long curl. “He’s definitely not playing by any kind of normal dating rules. I mean, he practically kidnapped me off the street yesterday . . .”

“What if you go home to Florida?” Jessie was obviously desperate to find a solution.

“That seems like an overreaction. Besides, it’s the middle of the semester. I can’t go anywhere until this summer.”

“Crap.” Jessie sounded stumped for a second. “Well, then just tell him no when he shows up tonight. Do you think he would force you to go with him anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Mia said wryly, pausing in front of the building that was her destination. “I’m going to have to think about this some more. Maybe if I look particularly ugly tonight, he’ll lose interest.”

“That’s a great idea!” Jessie clapped her hands in excitement. “He wants you to wear something nice tonight? Well, you show him! Put on your ugliest clothes, eat some fresh garlic and onion, put some oil in your hair so it looks all greasy, and maybe do something that makes you sweaty – like a run – and don’t shower or use deodorant afterwards!”

Mia stared at her roommate in fascination. “You’re scary. How did you come up with all of this? It’s not like you try to un-attract guys on a regular basis.”

“Oh, it’s easy. Just think of all the things you’d do to get ready for a date – and do just the opposite.” Jessie breezily waved one hand with such a know-it-all expression that Mia couldn’t help but burst out laughing.



* * *



At six o’clock, Mia began implementing Jessie’s plan. Her roommate had been dying to see her first K and lend Mia moral support for the confrontation, but she had a biology lab that couldn’t be missed. Mia was glad about that. The last thing she wanted was to put Jessie in harm’s way.

She started out by doing jumping jacks, lunges, squats, and sit-ups. Within fifteen minutes, her leg and stomach muscles – unused to so much exertion – were burning, and Mia was covered with a fine layer of sweat. Without bothering to shower, she put on her oldest, rattiest underwear, thick brown tights that her sister absolutely despised, and a long-sleeved black dress that Jessie had once claimed made her look completely washed out and shapeless. A pair of old black Mary-Janes with medium-height heels, worn out and scuffed, completed the look. No makeup, except for a slight dusting of dark blue shadow directly under her eyes – to imitate under-eye circles. Her hair already looked like a frizzy mess, but Mia brushed it for good measure and added hair conditioner only to the roots, leaving the ends to poof out in every direction. And for the grand finale, she cut up an entire clove of garlic, mixed it with green onion, and thoroughly chewed it, making sure that the smelly mixture got into every nook and corner of her mouth before she spit it out. Satisfied, she took one last look in the mirror. As expected, she looked ghastly – like somebody’s crazy spinster aunt – and probably smelled even worse. If Korum remained interested in her after tonight, she would be very surprised.

When the doorbell rang promptly at seven, Mia put on her scruffy wool peacoat and opened the door with a mixture of trepidation and barely contained glee.

The sight that greeted her was breathtaking.

Somehow, in the short span of a day, Mia had managed to forget just how beautiful he was. Dressed in a pair of dark designer jeans and a light grey button-down shirt that fit his tall, muscular body to perfection, he fairly gleamed with health and vitality, his bronzed skin and glossy black hair providing a stark contrast for those incredible amber-colored eyes. Mia suddenly felt irrationally embarrassed about her own grungy appearance.

At the sight of her, his lips parted in a slow smile. “Ah, Mia. Somehow I suspected that you would be difficult.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mia said defiantly, lifting her chin.

“I’m glad you decided to play this game.” He reached out and stroked her cheek, sending an unwanted shiver of pleasure down her spine. “It will make your eventual surrender that much sweeter.”

Still smiling, he politely offered her his arm. “Ready to go?”

Fuming, Mia ignored his offer, stomping down the stairs on her own. Idiot! She should’ve realized he would see her deliberately ugly appearance as a challenge. With his looks and apparent wealth, he probably had women fawning all over him. It must be refreshing to meet someone who didn’t immediately fall into his bed. Maybe she should just sleep with him and get it over with. If the pursuit was what he enjoyed, then he would lose interest very quickly if he got what he wanted.

The limo was waiting as they exited the building. “Where are we going?” Mia asked, wondering about it for the first time.

“Percival,” Korum answered, opening the door for her. The place he named was a popular restaurant in the Meatpacking District that was notoriously difficult to get into, even on a Monday night.

Mia mentally kicked herself again. It was one thing to look repellent for Korum – a wasted effort, as it turned out – but it was a whole different level of embarrassing to show up in the fanciest, trendiest district of New York City looking and smelling like a homeless person. Still, she’d rather die of embarrassment than give Korum the satisfaction of knowing how discomfited she felt.

He climbed into the car and sat down next to her. Reaching out, he took one of her hands and brought it to his lap, studying her palm and fingers with some apparent fascination. Her hand looked tiny in his large grasp, his golden skin appearing much darker next to her own whiteness, creating a surprisingly erotic contrast. Mia attempted to yank her hand away, trying to ignore the sensations his touch was provoking in her nether regions. He held her hand just long enough to let her feel the futility of her struggles, and then let go with a small smile.

It was strange, Mia thought, somewhere along the way she had stopped being so afraid of him. For some reason, knowing his intentions toward her – as crude and base as they were – gave her a peace of mind. The scared girl who sat in this car yesterday would not have dared to oppose him in any way for fear of unknown retaliation. Mia no longer had such qualms, and it was oddly liberating.

A minute later, the limo pulled up to the door of the restaurant. Korum exited first and Mia followed, noticing with mortification the double-takes they got from the well-dressed men and women on the street. A gorgeous K in his limo was bound to attract attention, and Mia was sure they wondered about his dowdy companion.

A tall, rail-thin hostess greeted them at the door. Without even asking for their reservations, she led them to a private booth in the back of the restaurant. “Welcome back to Percival,” she purred, leaning suggestively over Korum while handing them the menus. “Should I start you off with sparkling or flat?”

“Sparkling would be fine, Ashley, thanks,” he said absentmindedly, studying the menu.

Mia felt a sudden, shocking urge to tear out every straight blond hair from Ashley’s model-like head. A strange nausea-like sensation roiled her stomach as she pictured the two of them together in bed, his muscular body wrapped around the blonde’s. Stop it, Mia! Of course, he slept with other women! Undoubtedly, the creature left a trail of Ashleys anywhere he went.

“Have you decided what you’d like?” he inquired, looking up from his menu, seemingly oblivious to the murderous expression on Mia’s face.

“No, not yet.” Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to concentrate on the menu. This was undoubtedly the nicest restaurant she’d ever been to, and the menu – which lacked prices for some reason – listed some dishes and ingredients that she’d never heard of. Her eyes widened as she noticed goat cheese and caviar in the appetizer section and eggs in one of the noodle dishes. Her mouth watered. “I think I’ll get the roasted beets and goat cheese salad, followed by the pesto-artichoke Pad Thai.”

Korum smiled at her indulgently. “Of course.” He motioned to the waiter and relayed her order. “And I will have the watercress jicama salad and the shiitake parsnip ravioli in cashew cream. We’ll also get a bottle of Dom Perignon.”

Mia looked at him in fascination. She hadn’t known that Ks consumed alcohol. In fact, there was so much that she – and the public in general – didn’t know about the invaders who now lived alongside them. It dawned on Mia that she had the perfect opportunity to learn sitting across her at the table.

Feeling slightly reckless, she decided to start with the question that had been bothering her ever since their first meeting. “Is it true that you drink human blood?”

Korum’s eyebrows shot up on his forehead, and he nearly choked on his drink. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?” A big grin breaking out on his face, he asked, “Are you asking if we have to drink human blood, or if we do it anyway?”

Mia swallowed. She was suddenly far from sure this was the best line of questioning. “I guess both.”

“Well, let me set your mind at ease . . . We no longer require blood for survival.”

“But you did before?” Mia’s eyes widened in shock.

“Originally, when we first evolved into our current form, we needed to consume significant amounts of blood from a group of primates that had certain genetic similarities to us. It was a deficiency in our DNA that made us vulnerable and tied our existence to another species. We have since corrected this defect.”

“So it’s true? There were humans on your planet?” Mia was staring at him open-mouthed.

“They weren’t exactly human. Their blood, however, had the same hemoglobin characteristics as yours.”

“What happened to them? Are they still around?”

“No, they are now extinct.”

“I don’t understand,” Mia said slowly, trying to make sense of what she’d learned thus far. “If you needed them to survive, how and when did they go extinct? Was that before or after you . . . um . . . fixed your defect?”

“It happened long before then. We succeeded in developing a synthetic substance before the last of their kind disappeared, and it enabled us to survive their demise. They were an endangered species for millions of years. It was partially our fault for hunting them, but a lot of it had to do with their own low birth rate and short lifespan. Just like you, they had a weak immune system, and a plague nearly wiped them out. That’s when we began to work on alternative routes of survival for our species – synthetic hemoglobin substitutes, experimentation with our own DNA, and attempting to develop a comparable species both on Krina and on other planets.”

A lightbulb went off in Mia’s brain. “Is that why you planted life here on Earth? Is that how humans came to be – you needed a comparable species?”

“More or less. It was a shot in the dark, with minuscule odds of success. We disseminated our DNA as far as our then-primitive technology could reach. We didn’t know which planets and where would be hospitable to life, much less bear any similarities to Krina, so we blindly sent billions of drones to planets that are located in what you now call the Goldilocks Zones.”

“Goldilocks Zones?”

“Yes, these are also called the habitable zones – regions in the universe around various stars that potentially have the right atmospheric pressure to maintain liquid water on the surface. Based on our knowledge, those are the only places where life similar to Krina’s could arise.”

Mia nodded, now remembering learning about that in high school.

Satisfied that she was following along, he continued his explanation. “One of the drones reached Earth, and the first simple organisms succeeded in surviving here. Of course, we didn’t know that at the time. It wasn’t until some six hundred million years ago that we reached this part of the galaxy and found Earth.”

“Right before the Cambrian explosion began?” asked Mia, goosebumps breaking out on her arms. It was public knowledge now that the Ks had influenced evolution on Earth to a fairly significant degree, the timing of their initial arrival coinciding with the previously puzzling appearance of many new and complex life forms during the early Cambrian period. But their motives for planting life on Earth and later manipulating it had remained a mystery, and it was incredible to hear him speak about it so nonchalantly, revealing so much to her over dinner.

“Exactly. We have occasionally stepped in to guide your evolution, particularly when it threatened to drastically diverge from ours – such as when the dinosaurs had become a dominant life form –”

“But I thought the dinosaurs had been killed by an asteroid?”

“They were. But we could have easily deflected that strike. Instead, we simply ensured that the necessary life forms, such as the early versions of mammals, survived.”

Mia stared at him open-mouthed as he continued the story.

“When the first primate appeared here, it was a tremendous achievement for us because its blood carried the hemoglobin. However, we no longer needed it by then because we’d recently had the breakthrough that allowed us to manipulate our own DNA without adverse consequences.”

He paused when the salads were served, and continued speaking between bites of his watercress. “At that point, Earth and its primate species had become the grandest scientific experiment in the history of the known universe. The challenge for us became to see whether we could nudge along evolution just enough to see another intelligent species emerge.”

Mia felt chills going down her spine as she listened to the story of human origins told by an alien from the gazillion-year-old civilization that had essentially played God. An alien who was munching on his salad at the same time, as though discussing nothing more important than the weather.

“You see,” he continued, “the primates on Krina were of the same intelligence level as your chimpanzees, and few of us thought that a species as short-lived as yours could develop a truly sophisticated intellect. But we persisted, occasionally stepping in with genetic modifications to make you look more like us, and the result has surpassed all our expectations. While you share a lot of the characteristics of the Krinian primates – presence of the hemoglobin, a relatively weak immune system, and a short lifespan – you have a much higher birth rate and an intelligence that’s nearly comparable to ours. Your evolution rate is also much faster than ours – mostly due to that higher birth rate. The transition from primitive primates to intelligent beings took you only a couple of million years, while it took us nearly a billion.”

Dozens of questions were running through Mia’s mind. She latched onto the first one. “Why did you care if we looked like you? Is that somehow a requirement for intelligence?”

“No, not really. It just made the most sense to the scientists who were overseeing the project at the time. They wanted to create a sister species, intelligent beings that looked like us, so that it would be easier for us to relate to them, easier to communicate with them. Of course,” he said with a wicked smile, twirling his empty fork, “there was an unexpected side benefit.”

Mia looked at him warily. “What benefit?”

“Well, you see, when the first Earth primates appeared, some of the Krinar tried drinking their blood out of curiosity. And they quickly discovered that, in the absence of the biological need for the hemoglobin, drinking blood gave them a very pleasurable high – an almost sexual buzz. It was better than any drug, although synthetic versions of your blood have since become quite popular in our bars and nightclubs.”

Mia nearly choked on her salad. Coughing, she drank some water to clear the obstruction in her throat while he watched with an amused look on his face.

“But the best thing of all was our more recent discovery.” He leaned closer to her, his eyes turning a now-familiar shade of deeper gold. “You see, it turns out that there’s nothing quite as pleasurable as drinking blood from a living source during sex. The experience is simply indescribable.”

Mia reflexively swallowed, feeling horrified and oddly aroused at the same time. “So you want to drink my blood while . . . f*cking?”

The corners of his mouth turned upward in a sensuous smile. “That would be the ultimate goal, yes.”

She had to know, even if the answer made her sick to her stomach. “Would I die?”

He laughed. “Die? No, taking a few sips of your blood won’t kill you any more than giving blood at a doctor’s office. In fact, our saliva contains a chemical that makes the whole process quite pleasurable for humans. It was originally intended for our prey, to make them drugged and docile when we fed on them – but now it merely serves the purpose of enhancing your experience.”

Mia’s head felt like it was exploding with everything she’d just learned, but there was something else she needed to find out. “How exactly do you do it?” she asked cautiously. “Drink blood, I mean? Do you have fangs?”

He shook his head. “No, that’s an invention of your literary fiction. We don’t need fangs – the edges of our top teeth are sharp enough that they can penetrate the skin with relative ease, usually by just slicing through the top layer.”

Their main course arrived, giving Mia a few precious moments to regain her composure.

It was too much, all of it.

Her thoughts spun around, all jumbled and chaotic. Somehow, in the past twenty-four hours, she’d gotten used to the idea that an extraterrestrial wanted to have sex with her, for whatever reason. But now he also wanted her to serve as a blood donor during sex. His species had basically created her kind, and they now used human blood as some sort of an aphrodisiac. The idea was disturbing and sickening on many levels, and all Mia wanted to do was crawl into her bed, pulling covers over her head, and pretend that none of this was happening.

Something of her inner turmoil must have shown on her face because Korum reached out, gently covering her hand with his, and said softly, “Mia, I know this is all a huge shock to you. I know that you need time to understand and get to know me better. Why don’t you relax and enjoy your meal, and we can discuss something else in the meantime?” He added with a teasing smile, “I promise not to bite.”

Mia nodded and obediently dug into her food as soon as he released her hand. It was either that or run out of the restaurant screaming, and she wasn’t sure how he would react to that. After everything she’d learned today, the last thing she wanted was to provoke whatever predatory instincts his species still possessed.

The Pad Thai was delicious, she realized, tasting the rich flavors complemented by bits of real egg. For some reason, despite her delicate build, nothing ever interfered with her appetite. Her family often joked that Mia must really be a lumberjack in disguise, given the large quantities of food she liked to consume on a regular basis. “How is your ravioli?” she asked between bites of her noodles, searching for the most innocuous subject.

“It’s great,” he answered, enjoying his dish with similar gusto. “I often come to this restaurant because they have one of the best chefs in New York.”

“I don’t know,” Mia teased, trying to keep the conversation light. “The salad and sandwich you made yesterday was pretty tasty.”

He grinned at her, exposing the dimple that made him seem so much more approachable. It was only on his left cheek, not the right – a slight imperfection in his otherwise flawless features that only added to his appeal. “Why, thank you. That’s the best compliment I got all year.”

“Do you cook a lot for yourself or mostly go out to restaurants?” Food seemed like a nice safe topic.

“I do both quite a bit. I like to eat, as you apparently do too,” he motioned to her rapidly disappearing portion with a smile, “so that necessitates a lot of both. What about you? I imagine it’s tough to go out too much in New York on a student’s budget.”

“That would be an understatement,” Mia agreed. “But there are some really nice cheap places near NYU and in Chinatown, if I want to venture out that far.”

“What made you decide to come to New York for school? Your home state has a number of good universities, and the weather is so much better there.” He seemed genuinely perplexed.

Mia laughed as the irony of her school choice only now occurred to her. “When I was applying to colleges, my parents were afraid that you – the Krinar, I mean – might establish a Center in Florida, so they wanted me to go to an out-of-state school.”

Korum smiled in response. “We did actually think about settling there, but it was too densely populated for our taste.” He took a sip of his champagne. “So I’m guessing they wouldn’t be particularly happy that you’re here with me today?”

“God, no.” Mia shuddered. “My mom would probably be hysterical, and my dad would get one of his stress migraines.”

“And your sister?”

“Um, she wouldn’t be particularly happy either.” For a moment, she had almost forgotten how much he knew about her.

“She’s older than you, right?”

“By nearly eight years. She got married last year.”

“I wonder what it would be like to have a sibling,” he mused. “It’s not a very common occurrence for us, having more than one child.”

Mia shrugged. “I’m not sure if my experience was particularly authentic, given our age difference. By the time I was old enough to be anything more than a brat, she had already left for college.” Her curiosity kicking in again, she asked, “So you don’t have any siblings? What about your parents?”

“I’m an only child. My parents are back on Krina, so I haven’t seen them in a while. We do communicate remotely, though, on a regular basis.”

Their waiter returned to clear the table and give them their dessert menus. Mia chose tiramisu – made with real cheese and eggs – and Korum went with the apple pecan tart. Somehow, in the course of their conversation, she’d managed to down two glasses of champagne, and was beginning to feel buzzed. The evening took on a slightly surreal tint in her mind, from the restaurant filled with Manhattan’s most beautiful people to the gorgeous predator who sat across the table from her, blithely chatting about their families. Mia wondered how old he was. She knew the Ks were very long-lived, so there was really no way to tell his age from appearance. Had he been human, she would have guessed late twenties. Her curiosity got the best of her again, and she blurted out, “How old are you?”

“About two thousand of your Earth years.”

Mia stared at him in shock. That would put him somewhere in the very ancient category by human standards. Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire still ruled the Western world, and the Christian religion was just getting its start. And he had been alive since that time?

She drank some more champagne to help with the dryness in her throat. “Does that make you old or young in your society?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I guess on the younger side. My parents are much older. It doesn’t matter, though. Once we reach full maturity, age literally becomes just a number.”

“We must all seem like infants to you then, huh?” Mia took a big gulp from her glass and felt the room tilt slightly. She hoped she wasn’t slurring her words. She probably should stop with the champagne. He could easily take advantage of her if she got drunk. But, then again, he could easily take advantage of her sober too. She was completely at the mercy of an alien who wanted to f*ck her and drink her blood, so she might as well enjoy this undoubtedly excellent vintage.

“Not infants. Just naive in certain ways. More like teenagers, if anything.”

Mia rubbed an itchy spot on her nose with the back of her hand, wondering if she wanted to know the answer to her next question. She decided to go for it. “So are you immortal, like the vampires of our legends?”

“We don’t think of it that way. Everybody can die. Our species has always enjoyed negligible senescence, but we can still be killed or die in a bad accident.”

“Negligible senescence?”

“Basically, we don’t have the symptoms of aging. Before we were sufficiently advanced with our science and medicine, we could still die from a variety of natural causes, but we’ve now succeeded in achieving a very low – almost negligible – mortality rate.”

“How is this possible?” asked Mia. “How can a living creature not age? Is that something peculiar to Krina?”

“Not really. There are actually a number of species right here on Earth that have that same characteristic. For instance, have you ever heard of the four-hundred-year-old clam?”

“What? No!” He had to be making fun of her ignorance; surely such a thing didn’t exist.

He nodded. “It’s true – look it up if you don’t believe me. There are a number of creatures that don’t lose their reproductive or functional capabilities with age – some species of mussels and clams, lobsters, sea anemones, giant tortoises, hydras . . . In fact, hydras are pretty much biologically immortal; they die from injury or disease, but not from old age.”

Trying to process this incredible information, Mia rubbed her nose again. That’s it, she realized, no more alcohol for her. For some reason, her nose had a tendency to get itchy after a few drinks, and Mia had learned to respect it as a sign of when to stop. The few times she’d ignored this warning, the consequences hadn’t been pretty.

Seeing her weaving slightly in her seat, Korum motioned the waiter for the check. Mia hazily wondered if she should offer to split it, the way she always did when she went out with college guys. Nah, she decided. He had practically forced her to come out today, so she might as well get a free meal out of it. Besides, she wasn’t sure she could afford this place, given the priceless menu. So instead, she just observed when Korum waived his wristwatch phone-wallet over the waiter’s tiny digital receptor, and added what seemed to be a generous tip, judging by the grateful expression on the waiter’s face.

“Ready to go?” He helped her put on her coat and again offered her his arm. Mia accepted this time, as she felt somewhat woozy and didn’t have a high degree of confidence in her own ability to make it out of the restaurant without tripping at some point.

“Are you drunk?” he asked with amusement, observing her slightly unsteady gait as they exited onto the street. “I only saw you drink a couple of glasses.”

Mia raised her chin and lied, “I’m perfectly fine.” She hated it when people pointed out what a lightweight she was.

“If you say so.” He looked like he was about to laugh, and Mia wanted to smack him.

Roger and the limo were waiting at the curb, of course. Mia hesitated, her heart rate accelerating at the realization that she would be alone with an extraterrestrial predator who wanted her blood.

She turned to him. “You know, I really feel like getting some fresh air. I can just walk from here – my apartment is only about a dozen blocks away, and the weather is really quite nice and refreshing.” The last bit was a lie. It was actually quite chilly, and Mia was already shivering in her thin coat.

His expression darkened. “Mia. Get in. I will take you home.” It was his scary tone of voice, and it worked just as well on her the second time around. Shaking slightly from a combination of nerves and the cold air, she climbed into the car.





The ride to her apartment was oddly uneventful, taking only a few minutes in the absence of traffic. He again held her hand, gently rubbing her palm in a soothing manner. Despite her initial nervousness, Mia closed her eyes, leaned back against the comfortable seat, and was just starting to drift off when they arrived at their destination.

He walked her up the five flights of stairs to her apartment, holding her arm as an apparent precaution against any alcohol-induced unsteadiness. She felt tired and sleepy, wanting nothing more than to collapse into her bed at home. At one point, she managed to stumble and nearly fall anyway, missing a step with her high-heeled shoe. Korum sighed and lifted her into his arms, carrying her up the remaining two flights despite her mumbled protestations.

Upon reaching her apartment, he carefully set her back on her feet, briefly keeping her pressed against his hard body before letting her pull away. His hands remained on her waist, holding her at a short distance. Mia stared at him, mesmerized. Her breathing picked up, and warm moisture pooled between her legs as she realized what the large bulge she’d felt in his jeans meant. His breathing was a little fast too, and she doubted that it had anything to do with carrying a hundred-pound human girl up two flights of stairs. He leaned toward her, eyes nearly yellow at this point, and Mia froze as he cupped the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers.

He kissed her leisurely, his tongue exploring her mouth with exquisite gentleness, even as he held her against him in an unbreakable grip. Mia moaned, a wave of heat surging through her body and leaving an oddly pleasurable sense of lethargy in its wake. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a warning bell was going off, but all she could concentrate on was his mouth and the sensations spreading throughout her body. He brought her closer, pressing his groin against her belly, and she felt his hardness again, her loins clenching in response. He lightly sucked on her lower lip, pulling it into his mouth, and his hand slid down her back to cup her buttocks, lifting her off the ground so he could grind his penis directly against her *oris through their layers of clothing.

The pressure building inside her was different and stronger than anything she’d ever experienced, and Mia groaned with frustration, wanting more. Her hands somehow found their way to his shoulders, kneading the heavy muscles through his shirt, and it was not enough. She wanted, needed the feel of his naked skin against her own, the slide of his heavy penis into her vagina, quenching the empty pulsing sensation she felt there. She wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding against him, and the sensations built to a fever pitch. She hovered on the edge for a few delicious seconds, and then went over, climaxing with a muffled scream against lips. He groaned as well, his other hand reaching under her skirt and tearing at her tights as he let go of her mouth to press burning kisses on her neck and collarbone.

“Mia? Is that you?” A familiar voice reached through her daze, and Mia realized with mortification that Jessie had opened the apartment door and was staring at them in shock. “Are you okay? Do you want me to call the police?” Her roommate clearly wasn’t sure how to interpret what she was seeing.

Still wrapped around Korum, Mia felt a shudder go through his body as he visibly fought to regain control. Suddenly fearing for Jessie, Mia barked at her, “Yes, I’m fine! Go back inside and leave us alone!” A hurt look appeared on her roommate’s face, and she vanished inside the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Mia pushed at Korum, trying to put some distance between them. “Please let me go,” she said quietly, wanting nothing more than to curl up into a little ball in her room and cry. He hesitated for a second, and then lowered her to her feet, still keeping her pressed against his body. His golden skin appeared flushed from within, and his eyes still had a strong yellow undertone. The bulge against her stomach showed no signs of abating, and Mia shivered, realizing that he was holding onto his self-control by a hair. “Please,” she repeated, knowing that there was nothing she could do to make him release her until he was ready.

“You want me to let you go? After all that?” His voice was harsh and guttural, and the arms locked around her back tightened until she could barely breathe.

Mia nodded, trembling, the white-hot desire she’d felt earlier giving way to a confusing jumble of fear and acute embarrassment. He looked at her, his expression dark and unreadable, and then very deliberately removed his arms from around her waist and stepped away.

“All right,” he said softly. “Have it your way. Go to your little room, and tell your roommate all about it. Have yourself a good cry about what a little slut you are, coming like that from a kiss right out in the hallway.” His eyes glittered at the stricken expression on her face. “And then you better get used to the idea that you’ll come a lot more, from everything I do to you – and I will literally do everything.”

With that promise, he turned away and walked toward the stairs. Pausing before entering the stairwell, he looked back and said, “I will pick you up after class tomorrow. No more games, Mia.”