VANESSA

I slumped back as the office door closed on Avren. The usually pleasant room seemed empty as soon as he left. I was shaking and felt weak. My carefully constructed life was crumbling around me into something unrecognizable. For a long time, work had been something I could count on.

Everything had changed so quickly. Losing the job and Avren presenting me with the Auxem project were messing with my head. I felt like I didn’t know which way was up or where to turn.

I knew one thing — every cell in my body was drawn to Avren despite my better judgment, as though I was a compass and he was true north. My magnetic field wanted to align with his so badly I could taste it.

What was I thinking? I wasn’t going to align anything with Avren. He had hurt me and left me. I wasn’t getting involved with him again, no matter what.

I didn’t care how hot he looked.

But he was right about one thing. If we discovered a solution to the Auxem problem, there was a chance for my name to get into the history books, just like Stephen Hawking, Marsten Davenport, and Killa Glavareen. They dedicated their lives entirely to science, except for Hawking and the sex clubs.

I didn’t want love. It was too bad the Auxem only had sex with women they loved and were going to marry. Otherwise, I’d be up for a booty call from Avren. I tried to shut down all the X-rated thoughts flowing through my mind of Avren and me in compromising positions together. It was like trying to stop a raging river.

I should have just gone home. I didn’t have any classes that day. With tenure and my position at the university, I could do whatever I wanted. Leaving these benefits would be stupid.

But I didn’t have to quit forever. I could follow Avren’s suggestion and take a research sabbatical. It wouldn’t be too hard to convince them. My studies always made the university look good.

I could feel myself begin to consider helping Avren with his project, but I wasn’t sure why.

My head was starting to hurt. I would go home and take a bath, then think things through before Avren came to get me for dinner. I could make a decision by then, maybe even tell him when he came to the door. I wouldn’t have to go out with him if I made up my mind.

A stab of disappointment shot through my heart at the thought of eating alone tonight. I didn’t want to feel that way. I thought of myself as a strong, independent woman who didn’t need a man to take me to dinner.

A little voice popped up in the back of my head, saying I could do all those things and still let Avren take out. I tried not to listen to it. With Avren, I had to protect my heart by any means necessary.

* * *

When Avren walked into my apartment hours later, I still couldn’t seem to make myself say no to his face. I had braided my hair and taken an hour to choose my outfit.

One of my local friends had loaned me her wardrobe. My shirt had cut outs on the sides, revealing my bare waist. A slit on the long skirt stretched all the way to the top of my outer thigh. The gap in the material was intentional and allowed Susohnnan women to show off scars they received in a coming-of-age ritual. I didn’t have a scar, but I still thought the slit was sexy.

It shouldn’t have mattered. I wasn’t trying to look sexy for Avren.

Or was I? I didn’t really want to know the answer to that question.

“Are you ready to go? You look fabulous.” I watched Avren push the hair out of his eyes. He looked calm and relaxed, but the mannerism revealed his real state of mind — he always ran a hand through his hair when he was anxious. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one feeling jittery about tonight.

He was wearing fancy looking pants and a button-down shirt which accentuated the gray in his eyes.

“Well, actually Avren...” I trailed off when he gazed into my eyes and forgot whatever I was going to say. “Yes. Let’s do it.”

“Good.” He smiled at me in a way that was so sexy it should have been against the law. “Let’s get out of here.”

He had selected the restaurant carefully. We had been there before, but it wasn’t full of painful memories. It was nice, but not super expensive. I knew he didn’t want his wealth to make me feel uncomfortable. I could pay for myself if I wanted to.

Black tablecloths covered the tables, which sparkled with platinum silverware. Spherical lamps provided illumination that gave the room a romantic ambiance I tried to ignore. I was here for work, not a date.

Once we were seated with our drinks, and a server had taken our orders, silence fell over the table. It could have been awkward, but it wasn’t. I felt comfortable.

“Avren, I have to tell you something.” I continued before he could say a word. “I didn’t plan on coming here with you at all. I was going to tell you no when we were at home. Even though I didn’t get the job with Genetic Futures, I don’t see how I can accept your offer. It’s a bad idea. There are a lot of ethical issues to sort out.” I wasn’t sure if I should keep talking. Suddenly I didn’t know where I was going.

“Well, you didn’t say no. You’re still here, talking to me.”

I felt a crease appear between my eyebrows as confusion set in. Avren had a point. What was I doing here?

“I think we’re overthinking things.” Avren leaned forward. “We don’t have to fix all our problems in a minute. All we have to do is talk, eat, and enjoy the company. We can worry about everything else later.”

My mouth dropped open. Worrying later wasn’t how I functioned. I worried right now, and I worried about everything. I didn’t make mistakes. I could tell Avren wasn’t comfortable with his new philosophy, either, but he was suggesting it. Maybe we needed to relax and stop thinking the fate of a world was on our shoulders.

I should relax. There was no we. And I needed to remember that.

* * *

AVREN

I could tell Vanessa was uncomfortable with the idea of living for the moment, but she was considering it. Maybe I would be able to convince her after all. Even though she hadn’t intended to come to the restaurant with me, here we were, sitting at the table.

I gave myself a moment to wonder why before pushing the thought out of my head. I needed to stay focused. Two parts of my personality were both important tonight. The laid back, charming side of me needed to work alongside the driven, goal-oriented side to convince Vanessa to change her mind. My thoughts about Allex were the only motivation I needed. I would do whatever was necessary.

After a delicious meal and a few glasses of wine, Vanessa and I were getting ready to leave. I felt the evening had been a stunning success. We hadn’t spoken about the job offer at all. Instead, we had caught up like two old friends. It wasn’t hard listening to her talk about her work — everything about her captivated me. As for Vanessa, she seemed interested in me, too. She had wanted me to explain how we had already tried to save our race. When we left, she was questioning me closely about the Auxem men’s pending infertility.

“Avren, were you able to reproduce the results?” She continued without waiting for my response. “It’s hard for me to believe a virus could affect men and women so differently. Did you look at the data, at least?”

I hadn’t thought to question the conclusions of our scientists. Ever since we had arrived on Earth, our decisions were based on the idea our men were becoming infertile and would soon be unable to reproduce.

“They’re not idiots, Vanessa.”

She frowned at me. “I’m not saying they’re incompetent. But anyone can make a mistake, even us. Madellan, you’re hopeless.”

I held the door for Vanessa and hoped she didn’t see me starting to blush. She was right. I had taken their pronouncement at face value and hadn’t checked anything myself. I shook my head as I followed her down the sidewalk, making long strides to catch up to her.

“I think I’m competent, at least.” Vanessa was starting to make me question everything about myself. I was a great scientist.

Wasn’t I?

She turned her beautiful head to look back at me with an affectionate smile on her face. The effect was bewitching. The cut-out panels on her shirt were tempting me with bare skin. I wanted to run my hands over her torso. At the idea of touching Vanessa’s naked body, I could feel my thoughts leaving my brain and heading for my cock.

I shook myself free of her spell and closed the distance between us. “Avren, I know you’re smart, but you really should have peer reviewed them. There could be something sinister going on, too. What if one of them was being paid off?”

“Why would someone pay our scientists to falsify results?” Even though I protested, I knew Vanessa was right.

We walked in silence until we reached her apartment building, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. The endless winds never stopped on Susohn and blew through our already-tousled hair. When we stopped in front of her door, Vanessa turned to face me, looking up at me with enigmatic green eyes that always sent a hint of desire ripping through my body. She stared in my direction before muttering something under her breath. “I don’t know. You look plenty virile to me.” I could barely hear her.

Was she playing with me? “Vanessa, if everyone had made a mistake it would be fantastic news.” I tried to ignore the sexual innuendo and force the words out as cheerfully as I could. I felt my body light up as soon as I stood next to her.

Vanessa felt something, too. She reached out and took my hand. Energy flowed between us, and it took everything in me to refrain from pulling her to me and kissing her until she forgot everything she ever knew.

But no matter how Vanessa looked at me or touched me, I wasn’t going to succumb to her wiles. She loved one thing — her career. I wasn’t going to get caught in her web again. I wouldn’t survive her crushing my heart a second time. I had to remember what kind of a person she was.

I pulled my hand away. “Goodnight.” I turned away before she could see how much she had affected me with a single touch.

Vanessa called after me. “Hey, Madellan.” I reluctantly twisted around to look back at her. I didn’t want to hear what she had to say. I knew she wasn’t going to help me. We couldn’t go back in time.

“Don’t worry. We’ll check the data and make sure their conclusions are correct. We’ll have to make time in between our experiments.”

I froze. “What did you say?” I couldn’t believe my ears. I had given up hope of ever convincing her.

“I’ll fix your mistake, Madellan. We’ll save your people.”

“Do you mean it, Vanessa?” I stood in front of her, not quite sure how I had ended up here.

“Of course I do. You know I don’t say things I don’t mean. We’ll negotiate the terms and work up a contract tomorrow. How soon can we get to Auxem?”

“Thank you.” Gratitude filled my heart, and I couldn’t stop myself from picking Vanessa up and swinging her around. She giggled, surprised at my gesture. Her beautiful laugh made me realize I should put her down. As I set her back onto the floor, I kissed her on the forehead, wishing I hadn’t enjoyed myself so much.

“You don’t know how much I appreciate you. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“I hope I don’t.” Vanessa looked me in the eyes briefly before walking through her doorway.

* * *

VANESSA

I dropped onto the couch, trying to calm my heart. What was I doing?

My rational mind was screaming that this was a bad idea. But there was another part of me I had suppressed for too long, a part that longed for wildness and reckless abandon. I was still thrilled by the way Avren had spun me around and kissed me. It had been on the forehead, but it was a start.

Was I really going to Auxem with Avren so we could solve a problem of genetics? Maybe. I looked around at my neat little apartment. It had been my home for many years.

I didn’t feel ready to leave, but it was probably just nerves. When I stopped thinking about what I was leaving behind, excitement filled me. Things wouldn’t be perfect on Auxem, but I needed a change.

More excitement. More challenges. More Avren.

Where did that thought come from? I was only going for the work because a friend needed me. It didn’t matter if he made me feel things I hadn’t felt in years, like the tingling between my legs when he looked at me with his gray eyes.

I didn’t hope anything would happen. Our relationship was all business and strictly professional. My sex drive would have to get used to disappointment.