For Everly: A Xeno Sapiens Novel (Genetically Altered Humans Book 8) Read online

  FOR EVERLY

  Rena Marks

  For Everly

  A Xeno Sapiens Novel

  Rena Marks

  In futuristic Earth, it’s never okay to be singled out and given favors. In futuristic Earth, we blend. Nothing stands out and everything’s the same.

  Until a giant, sexy, green-skinned Xeno Sapien begins showering you with gifts and attention.

  In a perfect world, it’d be romance. Young, budding love. And sex. Lots and lots of exploratory sex.

  On Earth-Ground, it’s a death sentence. Especially for a hidden felon like Everly.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Xeno Sapiens

  Alien Stolen

  Abducted

  Space Babies

  Artificial Intelligence

  Stargazer Series

  The Hunter

  Also by Rena Marks

  Chapter One

  Everly:

  “Here, honey, take a drink. It’s important to stay hydrated.”

  Everly held the metal cup up to Adam’s mouth. His bottom lip trembled, looking pink against the pale skin of his face. His golden freckles popped starkly against his clammy skin and the white-blond hair at his hairline circled his small face like a halo.

  “Thanks, Everly.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetie. Now let’s get you tucked back into bed.”

  “Can’t I stay out here for just a little while longer?”

  More than likely, the fresh air would do him good. He was fine in the lounge chair. So far, the sun was being kept off their section of camp because of the huge, stone wall barrier. His fair skin wouldn’t be able to take much of the sun otherwise.

  “Okay, a bit more,” she said, ruffling his crop of messy hair. “I have to go see to the other kids.”

  The poor tyke was kept separate from the other children. They didn’t want everyone in the encampment to get sick. But it made for an interesting day as she had to head back and forth between his tent and where the rest of the children played.

  “Let me see where your lunch is!” The snarl came from a dirty, sweaty man standing near the oldest of the children. He moved toward the small electrical box that drew energy from the electromagnetic wall. Her box. The one where she’d stored the children’s leftovers.

  “Hey! Get away from the food source,” Everly yelled out as she hurried to where the children clustered together, afraid of the much larger man who glared down at them.

  His head whipped around to her. “Who the hell are you?”

  “It’s none of your business. Get the hell away from our food stores or I’ll scream bloody murder.”

  “We’re grown-ass men risking our lives to keep you all safe. What are you doing back here? ‘Protecting the food stores.’” He mimicked her voice.

  She was calm when she spoke to the frightened children. “I want the rest of you to run back to Adam.”

  “But he’s gonna take our lunch,” Savannah whispered. The seven-year-old had stayed with Everly all night while her parents worked patrol together. They were sleeping as much as possible during the day. Savannah had been present as Everly taught the children to preserve a small portion of their dinner so they may have the snack for lunch during story time. Normally only two meals were provided each day, and that was amazing considering how many people had taken to the camps outside the walls of Xenia.

  “You want our protection, don’t ya?” The man towered over Savannah, trying to intimidate the small girl.

  Everly pulled Savannah from his space. “Go on. All of you. To Adam’s spot.”

  The children left with hesitant, backward glances over their shoulders. As soon as they were out of range, she turned to face the dirty man. His sour smell washed over her, salty sweat and the tang of vinegar. There was no reason for it. Part of the area was doused with artificial clouds—a test area that ran often enough to provide several bathing ponds. There was no reason why someone should smell overripe unless they were just too lazy to bathe.

  “I can’t let you have the children’s lunch.” Her eyes narrowed on him. He was a bully and she knew the sort. But these were innocent babies.

  “How do you honestly think those children should eat lunch when they do nothing but play all day? When grown men like me are out working and need our strength and energy?”

  “Not only are the children not simply playing all day—because who the hell did you think prepares your vegetables for the evening meals, elves? But the lunch in the box is their own food. They saved a small portion of last night’s dinner to sit and eat today for story time. They didn’t receive extra while you were out manning the borders for us.” Her voice was sarcastic.

  “They ought to be grateful enough to us to hand it over,” he insisted. “Move aside.”

  “No. I won’t let you take it.”

  He grabbed her by the upper arm, but she was prepared for it. She jerked back and opened her mouth to scream. Not that there was anyone to come to her defense, but hopefully a piercing shriek would at least shame him. Hurt his ears. Something.

  “I know you didn’t just grab a lady.” The voice boomed from the top of the wall, incredulous. Both of their heads whipped up at the sound.

  The man who stared down at them was green, large, and muscled.

  And green. And muscled. But green.

  That he was one of the Xeno Sapiens was apparent from first sight, though she hadn’t seen any up close. She was usually too busy at the back of the border to have any contact with the ones who helped protect the homeless. There were lots of different looking Xenos, even a purple one. One with wings. But the green guy? Not sure if it was his size or his muscles, but…dayuum. Her delicate parts lit up with a spark.

  The man with her sneered. “A lady? What kind of lady is this? She’d keep food from the soldiers protecting her?”

  The Xeno Sapien jumped, landing next to them with a thud. He’d bent his knees slightly, and now stood upright to his full height.

  Everly’s jaw dropped. That had to be at least twenty feet and he didn’t even flinch. And to see him up close?

  Holy moly.

  He was over six feet—way over. Probably closer to seven. And she was a tall woman, but still looked up to him. His skin was more luminescent than it appeared from further away, and his eyes were…unusual to say the least. They were larger than normal and yellowish brown…a warm bronzed shade with large, round pupils that appeared dilated and irises that almost appeared to glow with their lighter colored rings of warm, honeyed browns.

  His voice was almost gentle as he spoke to her. “Are you hiding food from the men patrolling the borders to keep you safe?”

  She was suddenly ashamed of herself—as if she’d actually done something wrong. But then she realized the Xeno Sapien avoided calling the human a soldier, like the man had referred to himself.

  “I’m not hiding food—”

  “She lies!”

  “The children saved a portion of their own dinner last night to have a light lunch during story time today. He wants the leftovers they sacrificed.”

  “Miss Everly.” The s
mall voice quivered. Up ahead, behind a tall piece of worn fabric erected to avert sunlight, three of the children hid. And stared.

  Her jaw dropped. “Savannah! Jacob. Stevie. You shouldn’t be here.”

  The children ran to her, wrapping skinny arms around her waist. “We didn’t wanna leave you all alone.”

  She hugged them back, but still spoke sternly. “It’s important to obey me. I know what’s best to keep you safe. And I couldn’t stand it if you’d have seen something that wasn’t meant for little eyes. Promise me you’ll do as I say next time? Or I’ll need to move on to avoid bringing harm to you.”

  “No, Everly, we promise! We’ll listen from now on.”

  “Okay.”

  “The children can decide if they want to be honorable enough to share their rations,” the man said triumphantly, knowing the children had just been shamed by her into being agreeable. Dammit, what was she thinking?

  “On the contrary,” the Xeno Sapien said. “Everly.” He seemed to test her name out on his lips. “Is part of your dinner saved also?”

  Her cheeks pinked. She’d given hers to Penelope, who’d still been a bit hungry after saving her scraps. The darling little girl was adorable, and her chunkier form required more nourishment. Plus, those big brown eyes had filled with tears, and when she licked her lips…“N-no.”

  “So you were going to eat theirs?” The human sounded gleeful.

  “Miss Everly doesn’t eat.” Stevie’s voice was indignant. “She tells us the story while we eat. I sit next to her and hear her tummy rumble.”

  She thought she’d die of embarrassment. Sometimes the things the kids said would make her laugh. But not in front of the oddly attractive Xeno Sapien.

  “I’ll bet she doesn’t eat any,” the human sneered, eyeing her attributes. Even ten pounds lighter than she normally was, she still had her bubble butt. It was lovely, damn it.

  “I’ve heard enough, and it is lunchtime for the small ones,” the Xeno Sapien said, turning to the man. “You get back to wherever you’re supposed to be, and stay away from this sector from now on.”

  “Are you kidding? You’re gonna to let her get away with—”

  “I said leave.” Though not quite a bellow, something must have shown in his face when he stared at the human.

  The man gulped and nodded, turning abruptly and stomping away. It was silent for a few moments when he was gone. She watched him until he was out of sight, barely aware of the Xeno Sapien studying her.

  Everly released a sigh. “Thank you. I’m sorry we interrupted your patrol.”

  “I just finished my shift,” the green man said. “I’m Thane.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m Everly McMillan. This is Savannah, and Stevie, and the little one is Jacob.”

  Thane dropped to one knee to be eye-level with the children. “Do you think you’re squishing Miss McMillan by hugging her so tight?”

  “She l-l-likes it,” Jacob said, sucking his thumb and staring at Thane without releasing his hold on her.

  Thane laughed. “She does, does she?”

  “Uh, huh.” Jacob nodded solemnly. He would never waver on that.

  “Go on, now,” Everly said, pushing the children. “Go set up the chairs near Adam’s tent. I’ll bring our snacks, and we’ll start story time.”

  The children smiled broadly and scampered away, not even hesitant this time about leaving her alone.

  Huh. The little boogers.

  “Thank you for your assistance, Thane,” she said. “But I can handle it from here.” She smiled widely to show her thanks, but it wavered as he looked taken aback. She turned abruptly, heading toward the wall where they kept their food.

  She reached the storage box, entering a series of codes to open the door.

  “How was he going to get into it?” Thane asked, watching her enter the large sequence of numbers.

  She shrugged. “He was probably going to break it. Anyway, thanks again.” It wasn’t that she was dismissing him, exactly. But her tummy was nervous as if butterflies jumped around in there, and she had to process exactly what this feeling was. Remember every detail of his face, his mannerisms, his speech.

  Not remember details! What was she thinking? He was a Xeno Sapien, protected within the city’s walls, and she was homeless, locked outside in the dangers of the city in a tent.

  And she would not think about why those flitting butterflies suddenly felt rather delicious.

  He grinned at her, not noticing her inner warring with herself. “No problem, Everly. It’s okay if I call you Everly, isn’t it? I think I’d like to sit with you all and hear the story, too.”

  “Uh, okay,” she said. Yes! He’ll be around us some more. We’ll have more to study than just a few words. Does he have a nice ass? I bet he has a tight little bum. Now her inner self was gleeful in her mental argument. She tamped her hussy down. “But…they’re just kid stories. Something to keep them occupied for a couple of hours until the dinner rations come and we start preparing the vegetables for the cooks.”

  “The children work?”

  She nodded. “They like to be productive. It gives them a purpose.”

  “What about school?”

  She shrugged. “They’re out for summer break in a month, anyway. I’m sure the public school system will make concessions for the homeless. We’ll be able to do a summer school or something like homeschooling to catch them up.”

  “Are any of the children your own?”

  “Mine? No. I just keep an eye on the group while the parents are assigned to various work shifts during the day. They all come and go. Adam, the one who’s feeling under the weather, just has a dad. So my little group began with him. One by one, the other parents would leave another with me, and so on and so forth.”

  “They’re lucky to have you.”

  Her cheeks heated a bit. “Not really. We all do what we can to help each other. For the most part. Sometimes, there are assholes like the one who’d heard about us saving our lunches. If the practice attracts too much attention, I’ll have the kids stop doing it.”

  He helped her carry the small paper sacks of food, each one with a child’s name written on it. As soon as they arrived at a small cluster of tents, they saw the children eagerly waiting, sitting in a circle. They sat tightly together, avoiding the sun that was sneaking their way.

  Everly sat down, aware of the large man who sat next to her. They passed out the bags and the children began to dig in. She couldn’t tell if they were excited because they were hungry or just excited to unwrap a treat. To a child—even though they packed their own food the night before and knew exactly what it contained—it would be a bit like unraveling a present.

  “This is going to be a short story today,” Everly said. “Our drama earlier took a bit of time, and now the sun’s creeping around the wall faster than expected. Adam will have to go inside the shaded tent, and the rest of us need to go to the preparation hut.”

  “I’m feeling much better today, Everly,” Adam said.

  “You look much better,” she agreed. “Just a couple more days of rest, and you should be good as new, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She grinned at her first charge. He was the sweetest.

  She spoke quickly, not wanting to drag out the story as usual. She didn’t need any of the children suffering from heat exhaustion or sunburn. Not that the elements were that bad yet—thankfully it wasn’t summer—but living as homeless was quite different than many were used to. And while the tents offered shade and protection from the elements, they could also become stifling.

  She told a quick addition to her made-up tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. She’d told the story many times previously, but each time Jack climbed into the clouds, she embellished the stories a bit to tell of his discoveries in the strange new lands. Her own spin on things, but always a teaching lesson.

  This story told of Jack finding a dwelling with odd contraptions in it, like a shi
rt with three sleeves. A hat with holes. A spoon, larger than his arm. It left the children wondering what people could possibly be like to exist in the magical land he discovered and to own such strange paraphernalia. But she would let them wonder for another day, and all during food preparation, they would discuss the possibilities of what the items could mean.

  The children didn’t complain as she ushered Adam into the tent and gathered the bags for recycling, rounding them up to head to the kitchens. They would return their trash there. Thane kept to her side, and as they walked along the edge of the wall, she could tell the children had no reservations whatsoever toward him.

  Then she heard a voice up above.

  “Thane?” A security guard was up on top of the wall, where she’d met Thane earlier that day. This time, a human. A very attractive human though she didn’t get the same squirmy feeling in her tummy when his gaze focused on her.

  “Jason.”

  “I thought you were off?”

  “I am. I’m on personal time. But I need to get back and rest up so I can cover my shift later tonight.” Thane turned to Everly. “Thank you all for allowing me to listen to the story. I hope to visit again soon.”

  “We’d like that, wouldn’t we, children?” Everly said. Just then her tummy rumbled, and she realized Thane had to be starving, too. That’s why he was headed back to where he belonged. Access to food. Not that she blamed him. She’d certainly do the same in his position. The children cheered, drowning out the sounds of her growling stomach, and she watched as Jason gave Thane a hand up the wall.

  A human would never have been able to jump high enough to clasp the hand of the man waiting on top. Even if it wasn’t for his green skin color, his abilities alone would have given him away as other.

  The children waved as Thane scaled the other side of the fence. There was no way the human—Jason, who patrolled in his absence, would have been able to jump down the other side of it. No wonder the food-thief from earlier had run off empty-handed when confronted by Thane. A Xeno Sapien was nothing to sneer at.