Page 18 of Braax's Bride
“Oh, yes, I paint. Sometimes.”
Evelyn nodded, hooking an arm around hers and guiding her away from her husband. She shot him a glance, but focused back on the woman as she spoke.
“Braax sent me a holophoto of the one you made for him. I’d be interested in seeing more of your work if you’d like to send me what you’ve got.”
“Yes, um, I could send you more. But I wasn’t intending on showing them—”
“Nonsense!” Evelyn interrupted, patting Sofia’s elbow with her free hand. “It would be an honor to host your first exhibition on Olara 8. And it’s always great to meet another human. There aren’t many of us around here.”
First, as if there would be more than one.
Sofia let the words sink in as Evelyn took her around the gallery, telling her more about the Hileth who had created the sculptures.
“Is Evelyn one of the humans youbedded?”
Braax smiled as they stood outside the gallery hand in hand, though his mouth twitched ever so slightly.
“She is… I am sorry, Sofia. I should have told you before I introduced you. We had a casual relationship for a few months many years back, but it never went anywhere. I did not think—”
Sofia shushed him, placing a hand on his scaled chest. “It’s alright, really. She seems nice.”
He gave her a relieved grin, pulling her into a tight hug. Evelyn had been more than nice, treating her like an old friend, even as she went over the fine print of a gallery exhibition.
“She is nice,” he agreed, though his voice was tentative.
“And pretty,” she added, unable to bite her tongue as her cheek pressed against warm scales.
“Pretty, yes, though no one will ever be as lovely as my beautiful wife.”
Sofia had never been the jealous type—had even been in a polyamorous relationship with two people before she got married—but her mind felt warped by Greyson’s infidelity. She hated the creeping suspicion that coiled through her like a dark shadow, but it was impossible to deny its presence.
Still, his words were comforting, and she had sensed nothing but kindness coming from Evelyn, no lingering tension like she had belatedly recognized between Greyson and her former best friend.
“Will you consider Evelyn’s offer?” Braax asked quietly, pulling away from the hug so he could gaze down at her.
Sofia pushed aside the emotion clenching her chest, threatening to burst her protective cloud. An exhibition in a gallery, a posh one on an alien planet at that. It was somethingshe had never dreamed of, the last few years of her life consumed with marital woes and infertility.
Dealing with treatment and surgery and the intense depression that went along with so many failed cycles had stalled her creative output, had made it difficult to focus on anything other than surviving.
But perhaps having a new goal would be beneficial, something wholly focused on her own effort. Something she could control.
“I’ll think about it.”
Braax beamed, squeezing her into another hug and planting a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
“I am so happy to hear that. Your artwork deserves to be shared, seen by all.”
The words warmed her like his assurances always did, and Sofia let herself dream, at least for the time being.
Chapter 7
SOFIA GRINNED AS SHE stood on the bed, one foot firmly on either side of Braax’s prone form. He smiled up at her, clearly enjoying the view of her bare body though his muscles tensed with control, his arms tied to the bedposts just as he’d done to her a few days ago.
She’d wanted her own turn, especially after how much she’d enjoyed the sensation of being restrained while he’d fucked her. It was fun being the one in control, though a part of her did wish it were the other way around.
Still, she had more than enjoyed teasing Braax… with her fingers, her tongue, anything but her slick cunt that he so clearly desired.
“Is this what you want?” she asked, swiping her fingers through her slit, already wet with the arousal that throbbed through her entire body.