With the skills she’d shown in the prison, I doubted she’d come from
Earth. “Everis, then?” I fed her a bit of a savory tart. She frowned, then scrunched up her face as she chewed, then swallowed.
“Not good?”
“Not my favorite.”
“What is your favorite?” I asked.
She listed off a few Everian dishes, then leaned and reached for a piece of cut fruit. Lifting it with her fingers, she brought it to her mouth, but the sticky juices dripped onto her upturned breast.
“By the gods,” I whispered, watching the droplet slide down the curve and toward her nipple. Without thinking, I shifted to lick it up, then glanced up at her face.
She was watching me, her eyes now soft and a little hazy.
“Sweet,” I murmured, then took her nipple into my mouth.
“Quinn,” she said, her voice breathless.
“I know,” I groaned. I’d made it my mission to get to know her. To talk. Not fuck. I sat back up, turned her so I wasn’t tempted by her breasts. Only to be enticed by the feel of her ass against my cock, knowing if I shifted her a few inches I’d be deep inside her. “So, human, not from Earth. Not Everis. Explain.”
She laughed then, knowing I was close to the edge. “I grew up on Earth.”
“Didn’t you feel out of place?”
She stared at me. “How did you know that?”
I shrugged. “Humans are simple creatures. Far from advanced. They’re… fragile. I’d think you’d have been faster than your friends, even early on. You could probably hear better. See better. Hell, do everything better.”
She nodded once. “I could. I felt like a freak.”
I didn’t know what a freak was, but I guessed.
“When I was fourteen, a group of Hunters came to Earth on a mission. Heard about me. I broke records for running races through the school program.”
Ah.
“They came to see me and knew. The mark on my palm was the ultimate proof for them.” She grabbed another piece of fruit—which seemed to be her favorite of the foods on the table—and took a bite. “I wasn’t allowed to stay on Earth. No aliens allowed, especially ones who stood out. I had to go with them to Everis.”
“What about your parents? Hadn’t your father been discovered?”
She glanced at me, then grabbed the spoon from my hand. “My father, I guess, was on Earth for a mission. Met my mom and got her pregnant. I never knew who he was. I never knew he was Everian. Hell, I never knew I was Everian until those Hunters showed up.”
“Your mother didn’t tell you?”
“She died when I was six. I lived in foster care.”
I frowned, not understanding, then she explained as I ate. The more I heard, the more I didn’t like. The idea of Niobe alone with families who didn’t really care about her, who didn’t love her, made me angry. She’d been alone since she was six.
But now she had me.
“I went to Everis with the Hunters and I lived with one of them with his mate and children. They were nice. Kind. But I was human, at least culturally. It took me a while to assimilate, but I didn’t really fit in. When I was eighteen, I volunteered to be a fighter.” She sighed. “God, that was the first place I felt… normal. I loved it. They knew how to use my skills and it felt good. I felt like I belonged.” She shrugged. “Needless to say, I excelled. I served in ReCon for years, then began to teach at the Coalition Academy. Now I run the place.”
Impressive. It made sense now, her need for control. It also made sense why she needed to hand it over.
“What about you?” she asked.
I couldn’t wait a second longer. Instead of responding, I kissed her. Tasted the sweet fruit and a flavor that was all Niobe. My fingers tangled in her hair and I held her just where I wanted her.