General- CrossGenre/D.L. Jackson - [Elatia 3] Courtesan Boot Camp.txt

[ Author: D.L. Jackson; Title: Courtesan Boot Camp; Genre: Science Fiction, Erotica ]
Shay sat in the tree and stared down into the garden. Custos would kick her butt if she caught her barefoot, climbing in the orchard and scratching up her skin, possibly scarring it, but the lure of warm starlight beaming down from the first day of Ruellan spring proved to be too irresistible.
Well, that and the laughter of young men engaged in a heated match. The prince had brought a friend today, the first time she'd seen him. They practiced archery, firing starbolts into a mobile target, making her sigh with each flex of muscle. Both were tall and handsome. They'd shed their shirts in an attempt to remain cool now that the star had risen mid-sky. The prince and his friend were close to nineteen star-cycles of age. Shay couldn't resist watching them, even if she'd been forbidden to do so.
Yet another rule she'd broken on the long list of do-nots. What was one more?
Of course, she'd never met the prince. The royals' wing of the palace was off-limits, but she knew she loved him. She rested her chin on her hand, dreaming about what it would be like to be his someday.
"Whatcha doing?" A redheaded girl dropped down from the branch above, landing next to her.
Shay startled and flailed. Seconds later, she lay on her back, staring up at the sky.
"Hold!" the prince cried out and rushed to her side. He kneeled beside her, concern on his face. Strong hands slipped under her shoulders and lifted her to sitting. "What are you doing in the garden?"
"I'm a courtesan. I live here."
He held his hands up. "Forgive me. I did not recognize you as one of the trainees." He cast a mischievous glance at his friend. "But you do know this part of the garden is off-limits to all except the royal family and our guests."
"I meant no harm."
"I know that. So, what's your name?"
"Shay."
He gave her a heart-stopping smile. "I'm Tavin, but I'm sure you already knew that."
She laughed. "Of course I knew that." She glanced around. "I should probably go."
"Probably." His friend meandered over to the tree she'd fallen out of and leaned against it, crossing his arms.
"Or..." the prince said.
"Or what?"
The prince's friend threw his body back against the trunk, causing the tree to jar. With a screech, Rory dropped into his arms. He grinned and set her on her feet. Retrieving his bow, he walked back over to the range and activated the remote target.
"Or you and your friend can sit over on the bench and watch from a safer location. We knew you were there." He reached out and pulled a twig from her hair. "Whatever would your custos say?"
Shay grabbed his arm in panic. "You're not going to tell, are you?"
He tipped his head back and laughed. "Gods, no. We'd never snitch. We don't mind the company of pretty young ladies."
Rory jerked her head toward the courtesan wing on the palace and mouthed we should go.
Shay shook her head and moved over to the bench. She sank onto the cool stone surface as Rory walked away with a snort. No way would she leave, not when he'd invited her to stay. She pushed her feet into the warm soil, burying her toes, and watched as they took turns striking the target. And every second that passed, Shay fell deeper in love.
Someday she'd be his courtesan. She just knew it.
***
Ten star cycles later...
Elatia. Shay grabbed the rail inside the lift as it settled onto the dock. The umbilical locked on with a loud clank that jarred her teeth and rattled her bones. She waited, tapping her toe, her heart pounding. A loud hiss filled the cramped space as the pressure stabilized, bringing her closer to meeting her Dominus, and finally attaining her lifelong dream of becoming the Ruellan courtesan.
After thirty hours of quarantine, and what seemed like a million background checks, here she was, standing on the pleasure planet.
Elatian greeting. Let him flip your hand and kiss your wrist. Slight nod as he does, but do not take your eyes from his. And for gods' sake, Shay, keep your mouth shut unless he addresses you. You can't afford to offend him. Even though it had been weeks, her custos's voice still echoed orders in her head. Probably best not to admit that.
Her stomach went through a series of tumbles and Shay swallowed, attempting to dislodge the lump in her throat. Everything she'd consumed for breakfast that morning churned and threatened to come up. Whatever you do, don't barf on him.
She glanced around to make sure no holo-vids watched, or possibly recorded her behavior, then put her hand up to her mouth and belched to relieve some of the pressure. Custos would kill her if she saw it. As with passing gas or adjusting and picking one's undergarbacies from one's ass, belching was strictly forbidden in public. And damn, if her undergarments didn't take the most inopportune time to bunch. She shifted on her feet and tried to forget about them. It would be her luck the door would open and she'd get caught picking her crack.
Tat, tat, tat, tat. She glanced down at her overactive foot and forced it to remain still. Twitching and fidgeting were also looked upon with great distaste.
In moments, she'd meet him, and she needed to keep herself together, even if her entire future hung on this training. She blew out a breath, putting forth her calmest face while she quivered inside like a land shake. Now is not the time to fall apart, Shay.
Ruellan royal courtesans were born and bred for one purpose, to ensure the royal couple never became dissatisfied with their relationship—or bored. They were, for all intents and purposes, a sexual advisor, a confidant, not a whore as some believed. She would bring so much more than sexual gratification to the royal couple's marriage—if she made the cut.
Three others were here, training for the same reason she'd come. Only one would be chosen. The others would have to walk away from the only life they knew, what they'd been born to be. Never had her anxiety run so high. This was it. All she did from this moment forward could decide her fate. One mistake and she'd have to figure out her place in the galaxy.
Shay rubbed her palms on the silk pants that peeked from beneath her split skirt, an overdress that looked more eighteenth-century than the one she lived in. The moisture from her skin stained the delicate spider silk. She tugged the overskirt closed over her britches to hide the offending marks.
If her custos, the woman who'd raised her and the closest thing she had to a mother, had witnessed her lack of refinement, she'd have been severely reprimanded. Not one hair should ever be out of place, nor did a Ruellan fret, or appear anything other than flawless in public, a lesson she hadn't quite mastered after years of intense training. But custos insisted she must if she were to become the Ruellan courtesan to the royal couple.
What had custos said his name was? Her top teeth clamped down on her bottom lip, and she quickly corrected herself. Lines and indents would mar her pout. She tipped her face up and stared out the porthole at the private dock, seeking another distraction.
People milled around everywhere. Some were tall, others petite, of different races and subspecies, an intergalactic melting pot. At any other time she'd appreciate the excitement of being on Elatia. Now, not so much.
Gods, what was his name? Shay caught her lip between her teeth again and concentrated, furrowing her brow. Dayne. His name was Dayne. The name sounded so virile, masculine. Her stomach fluttered and she pressed her hand over her belly to steady it. It did little to calm the jitters. One thought about where the journey would take her, and little jolts of lightning zipped through her body and started it anew.
The world began to spin around and her corset suddenly felt too tight. She sucked in several shallow breaths to avoid fainting. She'd been told to wear the traditional dress of the Ruellan, and her finest. She had, but it didn't make it comfortable—or practical. She glanced out the porthole again, watching the crowds on the dock.
Would he be tall? Short? Would he have the golden skin of an Elatian, or another shade of the spectrum? Was he handsome?
Or not?
Her heart skipped several beats. She could do this—had to do this. There was no other place in the galaxy for her. Nothing to worry about, she reassured herself, and grabbed her bag. Lights in the lift began to blink, indicating the door was about to open. Custos said he was the best, and if she gave the training her all, she would be the one chosen.
Millions of women would kill to be in her place. The legendary Ruellan courtesans were known on every world, and on some were considered celebrities, like the holo-stars from her home world of Earth.
So why did she feel like running, and why couldn't she know a little about this stranger before meeting him? He was to be her lover for the next few weeks. Advising her of his likes and dislikes made sense. Unless he was beastly? Her stomach knotted and she began to hyperventilate. Custos hadn't said he was attractive, or even favorable.
The door slid open, letting in the breath of Elatia, a combination of heady spice and clean oxygen, so different than the recycled air of the ship she'd traveled in for weeks. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, surprised at how much she'd missed fresh air, and how it seemed to calm her.
"Uh hum."
Someone cleared his throat, drawing her out of the moment. Startled, Shay looked down at a stocky man at least a foot shorter than herself—when she didn't have on her heels. He wore a heavily embroidered ambassadorial robe in brilliant orange, turquoise leather pants, and accessorized his outfit with a bald pate, a ruddy complexion, and the worst case of acne she'd ever seen. But worst of all, he doubled her in age. Surely not.
"Dayne?" She held her hand out for him to take in the appropriate greeting.
He stared back at her from under very bushy brows. "My name is Milos. I am to escort you to your new companion's home."
Escort? Shay breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected perfection in her master, but she certainly hadn't expected Milos. She almost giggled when she thought about doing the deed with him.
Milos frowned, ignored the hand she still held out, tugged her bag from her grip, and turned. He strode down the ramp, not waiting for her to follow.
She dropped her hand. Okay... Narrowing her eyes, she watched him go. Why Milos? Her master didn't even bother to show himself? Shay grabbed her long overskirts and jogged to catch up to her escort.
"A moment, please."
He didn't stop, glance back, or slow down. The boning in her corset cut into her ribs and her breath became labored from her exertion, testing her temper. "Hey," she gasped.
The clear, high-heeled boots that zipped up to her thighs proved to be a bad choice for the grated-metal decking under her feet. A crystalline stilt dropped into a hole and snapped off, falling for several seconds before a splash sounded back. Fuck! She inelegantly limped after the escort, cursing internally with every step.
Inches behind him, she regained her composure. Poise. Dignity—always dignity, she silently repeated to herself, sucking in a breath and straightening her spine. "Excuse me, where's Dayne?"
"He had another engagement and asked that I bring you to his home."
"Yes, well." She took a chance, reached out and touched his shoulder, hoping he'd stop and turn around. Some subspecies didn't like to be touched and considered it rude, but he wouldn't wait, and maintaining her bearing with a broken heel was damned hard. Doing it while chasing him proved impossible.
Lucky me, it worked. He slowed down so she could keep pace. "How can I be certain you are who you say you are? And just why couldn't he be bothered?"
The little man didn't look back. "I am, and I told you, he had another engagement. It's not my place to explain Dayne. That's his place—if and when he so desires to do so," he said in Universal Tongue.
Shay touched his shoulder again, a little harder this time. "Pardon?"
"You heard me." He snorted and turned, coming to a full stop. Shay didn't. She ran into him head-on and staggered back, after his face smacked into her cleavage. Not the best display of form.
He tipped his chin up and glared at her, finally giving her his undivided attention, and from his expression, he wasn't pleased. "So you think you're too good for a man like me?"
She retreated a step, putting little more space between them, pressing her hand to her chest. "You can read my mind."
He snorted. "Did you expect that a Toric couldn't?"
"You're a Toric?" Legendary advisors. Highly intelligent and yes, clairvoyant. Oh hell, she'd inadvertently insulted the man, a dignitary. She'd been trained to identify every subspecies of humanoid in the galaxy, and in her nervousness, seemed to have forgotten it all. Not a smooth move for her first day on the planet, but in her defense, she'd always heard they were taller.
"Not all of us are grand of stature—as not all Terran women have big breasts." His gaze flitted from her chest to her face.
"Did you just...?" Shay frowned. Now that was rude. She glanced down at her breasts. She had boobs. Certainly he could see them, with the way she had them cinched up to her chin. After all, they were at his eye level. Perhaps she'd misunderstood. He couldn't be insinuating she didn't.
"You got that right, princess."
"I'm not a—"
He snorted. "Try to keep up. My supper's getting cold, and I have three wives waiting for me to fuck them into oblivion when I get home. I don't have to compensate for my height." He leered. "I have other attributes that make up for it."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you could read—"
"Save it for someone who cares." He turned and left her again, striding up to a transpod that hovered two feet off the docks through a magnetic technology that was amazingly simple.
The bottoms of the transpods had a layer of magnetic material and the streets were paved with the same material, except the residents had placed the north poles together, creating a bed of resistance between the two. This reverse polarity caused enough resistance for the vehicle to float without the use of traditional fuels. From there, movement was simple. Little fans built into the disc-shaped base propelled the transpod forward, side to side, or in reverse. No pollution. No consequences to the environment, and most of all, quiet. She'd heard of the magnetic hovers, but had never seen such a vehicle. Practical, but they certainly didn't look like a comfortable mode of transportation, not when she'd just traveled in a private shuttle with all the amenities one could ask for.
Milos tossed her bag on the deck as if it were garbage.
"Hey, I have delicate..." Perfume bottles, conditioning oils and creams.
He lifted a brow as if to say, then carry them yourself.
"Never mind." She'd replace them later if the bottles had broken. After all, this was Elatia and the best place to find top-of-the-line toiletries. Shay walked to the passenger side and waited for him to give her a hand up to the deck. She lifted her chin and turned her face toward him. Anytime, now. Shay cleared her throat.
He gave her a smug smile, turned, and went to the other side of the transpod.
He did not. She frowned and clenched her fists at her sides. Never, ever, had she been required to board a vehicle without assistance. Surely, the man must jest. Her gown weighed at least a quarter of her body weight and she still hadn't acclimated to the planet's natural gravity. He couldn't possibly expect...
"Climb on. I'm not your manservant." He jumped behind the controls. "Any day now. Parking costs a fortune here, which of course, you will reimburse me for."
Shay gaped. The nerve. She eyed the disc. How? She'd always had assistance in the past and never had to ask. Some Ruellan costumes weighed half of what the courtesan did, and simple things, like stepping up on a giant disc, weren't as easy as they appeared. Of course he wouldn't know that, because he wasn't wearing the damned dress and overcoats.
"Reach out, grab the rail, and step up, Ruellan."
"I know that."
"Of course you do."
She growled under her breath and grabbed the rail, snapping a nail off in the process. Shay jumped up and down, shaking her hand. The grouch leaned over, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her up onto the deck, causing her to stumble. "Get on before your hair falls out of place, or some other tragedy occurs."
Shay drew in a deep breath, steadied herself, and braced her feet hip-width apart, grinding her molars together. Dignitary or not, she no longer cared if she insulted him. Besides, she'd already done that damage, if there was any to be done. "You're a miserable little mud slug."
He chuckled.
"What?"
"If you think I'm miserable, wait until you meet Dayne." He shoved on a stick and the transpod shot forward, sending her to her ass on the deck. He glanced down. "I forgot to tell you to hold on. This transpod shifts a little rough."
Of course you did.
He laughed and began to sing some Elatian aria about a whore, which, as she was fluent in more than twenty languages, made it clear as to whom he sang about. They swerved around foot traffic, nearly hitting several pedestrians who turned and flagged them with rude gestures that brought heat to her cheeks.
"Hey, slow down."
"So you're telling me how to drive now?" He dodged an old woman who shook her fist and said things that should never come out of a lady's mouth.
More heat, and certainly a good dose of color washed across Shay's face.
"Sorry," she called out to the woman as they passed. A bright pink fluff of fur on her shoulder broke out into a torrent of chirps, showing as much displeasure from the near-hit as its owner. The old woman lifted her hand and flipped her an Elatian salute. Shay pressed a hand over her eyes and glared from between her fingers at the miserable little man. "You almost hit..."
He swerved around a giant furry beast pulling a cart.
"Eeeeee, slow down!" Shay screeched and flailed around, looking for something to hold onto. A sharp lurch in the other direction and she tumbled across the deck, coming to a stop on the edge. With a gasp she rolled back to center and safety. One more inch and she'd have been dumped from the transpod. "I've never encountered such—incompetence. You're a horrible driver, a rude—person, and—"
"If you think you can do better, get off your ass, come up here, and show me."
He didn't just say that.
"Yes, I did."
Shay blinked. Screw him. She shuffled on her butt across the deck to her bag and crossed her arms. No, he wouldn't get her to lose her dignity, regardless of how he baited her. But... A chime went off in her head. Something he'd said came back to her. What did he mean when he'd said wait until she met Dayne? Certainly her master wasn't nasty. Her custos would never have sent her into the keeping of a monster. She looked up at the asshole beside her. The corner of his mouth lifted into a smug smile.
Oh gods, what had she gotten herself into? She should just drop out, tell them she wasn't up to the task, find a job—doing something. But what? She'd been trained all her life for one thing. The thought of doing anything else terrified her, and terror wasn't becoming. But then again, neither was sitting on her backside on a transpod, which one was meant to stand upon.
Shay let her face relax to a blank expression. I will not let him win. Milos only wanted to upset her, and she certainly didn't plan to give him the satisfaction of seeing her unnerved. No, Dayne wouldn't be bad. Ruellan did not train with animals.
"He's not an animal. Dayne doesn't like people."
"He's a Dominus. He has to like people."
Milos laughed. "Right."
Panic shot through her again. Oh, hell. Her corset wouldn't give and the breath wouldn't come. Five seconds later, the lights went out.
***
"Wakey, wakey, princess." Someone slapped her cheek.
Shay knocked the hand away. "I'm not a princess."
"We'll you're not an ornament for my transpod either. Get off. You're drooling on my deck."
Shay's eyes snapped open, and she found herself face to face with the mud slug again. "Courtesans don't drool."
"You aren't a courtesan yet, cupcake, and what do you call that puddle on the deck?"
She turned and her eyes widened. No, no, no. She'd committed the unforgivable. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth and chin, hopefully blocking the view of any spittle left on her face.
"Yup, Dayne's going to have fun with you. What street corner are they finding you girls on these days?"
"They didn't find me. They bred me for... why am I explaining this to you?" She kept her hand over her mouth, waiting for him to look away so she could take care of business.
He shrugged, dropped her bag beside the transpod, and headed for the front entrance to a large minnica spire.
She used her palm to wipe her chin and watched him go. "Hey, do I go in there?"
If he heard her, he didn't indicate that he had. He entered, leaving her to her own devices. Okay, she wasn't some helpless flower. She could make the introduction herself and didn't need Mr. Personality's help.
Shay reached into her bag, retrieved a mirror, and checked her face and hair. All evidence of the mishap had been wiped away, and without smearing her makeup. At least something had gone well. Once satisfied, she climbed to her feet with as much grace as she could muster, smoothed the fabric down on her overdress, and grabbed her bag.
Sometime during the trip to her new home, her right ass cheek had gone to sleep. Combined with the missing heel, she hobbled like a crone. Not the most elegant example she wanted to put forward, but also not her fault. Too bad about the boots. The heels were hand-carved crystal, irreplaceable, and her favorite pair. If not for the fact she had to undress to reach the tops to unbuckle her boots, she'd have changed on the transpod.
She stopped in front of the tall door and stared at it for several seconds before she found her courage. Shay cleared her throat. "Open," she spoke in her most commanding tone. Stepping forward on instinct, she smacked face first into the hard surface, which had failed to vaporize as expected.
Shay reached up and rubbed the tip of her nose. What kind of freaking planet is this?
She poked it and cleared her throat. "Open." The door didn't move. Shay glanced around for a button, or something, anything to activate the mechanism that opened it. Lever? Fuck. Nothing but a round thingy. She bit her lip again. Certainly nothing as primitive as...
You have to turn the round thingy, honey. This time Milos's voice came through by brainwave, telepathy, or whatever he was using to annoy the shit out of her.
"Stay out of my head."
Turn the knob. Open the door. It's not rocket science.
"I know rocket science. I don't need your instructions."
"Of course you don't," the voice in her head said again.
"You're an asshole!"
"Nice language."
Shay lifted her chin to look in the face of... dear gods. Dark hair, green eyes, strong jaw and chin. The man standing in the doorway had looks that would melt a woman where she stood. And she'd just called him an asshole, or he thought she did. Her mouth dropped open.
Outside of the Ruellan prince, he had to be the most attractive man she'd ever seen, and even then, he might even be more handsome than Tavin. He had a good four inches on her, making her five feet nine feel petite. The tall drink of Dominus wore loose-fitting pants like her martial arts instructors, and no shirt, unlike her martial arts instructors.
On his chest, he bore a tattoo of a Ruellan military insignia from a spec-ops unit made up of Toric soldiers—for-hire mercenaries. The tattoo, a dragon-like creature known an avenger, whipped its tail around, moving across the surface of his skin through a nanite-infusing technology. The nanites were housed in microscopic beads that made up the ink used by the artist. They were programmed to change the color inside each bead, going from clear to any hue in the spectrum within a micro-second, creating a moving picture that could travel from head to toe on its host, if the person had been tattooed in that manner. A lengthy and painful process, Shay had only ever seen pictures of it before.
The avenger opened its mouth as though it were roaring and slipped down his chest, across his abs in a serpent-like, undulating motion, sliding back up onto the opposite shoulder, where it wrapped its tail around his arm before freezing in place.
It was not uncommon for a Toric to be tattooed in such a manner. The general population of the mongrels had a touch of sadism, making her wonder if what Milos told her were true—that he didn't like anyone.
Most Toric were mixed breeds, with roots on every planet in the galaxy. Full-blooded Torics were rare and most often were advisors to royalty, or like the little asshole, Milos, close to the royals.
And dear gods, abs like that really existed in more than airbrushed images in holo-mags. Her head began to spin and Shay grabbed his arm to keep from swooning.
He glanced down at her hand and back up to her face. "I hope your manners are better than I've seen thus far."
She yanked her hand off. Heat flushed through her body, certainly turning her a nice cherry red. Again, an inappropriate response for a Ruellan courtesan. "Oh shit." Followed by another—she was making a stellar impression.
The corner of his mouth twitched. Are you coming inside?
She sucked in a breath and stepped inside. Fantastic, another mind-reader. "Dayne?"
"At your service."
***
It had been a mean trick to alter his appearance, but he needed to know if she had spirit, and he wasn't sure if she'd remember him from the garden so many star cycles ago, when he'd first met her. Besides, as far as she was concerned, she'd traveled to his home with Milos, his attorney, the man who'd negotiated her contract and training with him. Since Milos rarely came around, she'd never know, which was good. Something told him she wouldn't take his mind-trick well.
She didn't appear to recall their brief meeting, which was good. The less she knew about the deal between Tavin and himself, the better. As for personality... When pushed, she certainly displayed what he'd been looking for. If she were to succeed, she'd need it. But what a pampered priss. Breaking this one would be a joy. Dayne eyed her.
"What?" She reached up and checked her hair, ensuring it was in order.
He fought the smile when he thought about the drool incident. Gods, she'd been mortified. He raised a brow and shook his head. Oh yeah, this one was going to be F.U.N. Courtesan boot camp starts now. Dayne turned and walked away, heading for a grand staircase.
Give her a second.
"Um, excuse me, Dayne."
A smile tugged at his mouth. Predictable. He'd have to do something about that. "Call me master."
"What?" she asked as if she hadn't heard him. As he'd begun to discover, it also happened to be her favorite question, and one that would make others think she didn't listen. They'd have to work on that, too.
"It's 'what, master'." He started up the stairs. "And you're forbidden to use that word, going forward."
"What word?"
"That word."
"What?"
Use it again and see where it gets you.
"Please don't do that in-my-head-thing. I don't like it." She took a couple of steps toward the stairs and stopped. "Stairs? You don't have an anti-grav lift? Really?"
"Really. Grab your bag and follow me."
"Yes, master," she snarled from behind him.
He could feel the irritation radiating off her, but she did as told. She didn't like the intrusion in her head, but she'd better get used to it. In the future, her thoughts could get probed, and she needed to learn to guard them, lest she offend a guest of the royal couple.
As it was, she telegraphed everything loud and clear, preventing the need for a mind probe. Telepathy and clairvoyance were big reasons as to why they'd picked him. Well, two of the reasons, but not the biggest.
The other reason was his reputation. He was good. Damned good, and she'd find out soon enough. Until then, he needed to teach her about the real galaxy and her place in it, that if she didn't use her wits, she'd become just another whore. They might not think that way on Elatia, but out there on other worlds, she'd face an ugly reality. Most people weren't accepting of her profession. The sooner she embraced that lesson, the better. She struggled up the stairs behind him, huffing with indignation all the way. He snickered again.
As he reached the landing, he waited for her to stagger over to him, bag in hand, chest rising and falling—and what was that? A slight sheen of perspiration glistened on her forehead. She gave him the evil eye and dropped the bag. Her breathing seemed labored for someone who exercised twice, sometimes three times daily, to stay fit. Another thing they'd have to work on. He added it to his mental checklist. Increase stamina. She'd need that, especially with the training he had planned.
"This way," he said and started down the corridor. She mumbled something incoherent and grunted as she picked up the bag and started after him. What would she think if he told her about the indelicate sound she'd just made?
Probably faint in shock.
Once he reached her room, he opened the door using the manual means she seemed to despise. Sure enough, she curled her lip. Gods forbid she get her pretty hands dirty. "This will be your quarters."
"My quarters? That sounds kind of military." She peered around him and frowned.
"Does it?" He gestured her inside. She stepped past him and he followed her in.
He watched as she surveyed the room. The word "really" echoed through his head several times as she projected her distaste of the setup.
Gray walls. Where's the color? Really? Black scratchy blanket? Oh that won't be good for my skin. Really? And what's that, a view of... She stepped up to the window and stared at the street below, one of the only things she could see, and the reason he'd given her this room. An enormous frosted glass spire blocked her view of the city's skyline on the right. On the left she had the alternate scenery. A view of the port in the distance, outside the city, where ships docked and the only place they were allowed—a place where common people labored for a living—who'd she be if she didn't make the cut.
Really?
"Enough already. You're giving me a headache. I want to discover your personality for myself. I felt it best if we start with a blank slate and see what traits come out. I have to say I'm not pleased with what I've observed, and before you say it, yes—really."
She snorted and glared.
"Strip."
Her eyes widened. "Here?" She gestured around her. "Now?"
"Yes. Does that make you uncomfortable?" He cocked his head and studied her. Her thoughts read panic, a jumble of mixed emotions, exactly not what he'd expected. If she were to be the Ruellan courtesan, she'd need to get over the modesty.
"You want to take me now?" She swallowed, as though horrified with the concept.
Gods forbid a courtesan actually fucked. What did she expect, to have her first time on a bed covered with flower petals?
"No. I want you to strip. You don't deserve the other yet, and when I'm ready to teach you more, I will. Stop questioning me and undress."
She let out a breath and turned her back to him. I don't deserve him? As if.
I heard that, he projected. "Don't turn your back."
"I need you to unlace the corset, please."
He sighed internally. She needed to assume less and work on the interaction a bit. Dayne reached out and loosened the ties, letting the garment fall to the floor. She turned around.
"Thank you, master."
"Why do the Ruellan courtesans wear such primitive dress?" He swept his hand toward the garment on the floor.
"It helps us to remember where we come from, that sex and seduction are in our blood. Everything about this gown is seduction, the way it's cut, and that the laces make it impossible to undress oneself. Even the fabric is soft, tempting to touch. It's been the traditional dress of Ruellan courtesans for thousands of years—the roots of which come from my home world."
"Updated with modern touches."
"Yes." She looked down at her boots and lifted the broken one, turning it back and forth. "A mix of the past and present." She tilted her head back and looked him in the eyes. "Why the primitive doors and stairs?"
"It reminds me that when one becomes lax, he can forget how to do the simplest things. When you forget, you become dependent on others, and that's never a good thing."
She unbuttoned the front of her overdress and shoved it off her shoulders, dropping it to the floor behind her. She reached for her pants and he snagged her hands. "Let me." The buttons slipped free and he pushed the silk down her hips, allowing the fabric to puddle around her ankles. The mismatched heights of the clear thigh boots gave her hip a flirty angle. The lacy underwear in a soft pink matched the innocent blush on her skin.
And not for long. When he was done, there would be nothing innocent about her. She'd be brazen, taking what she wanted, and giving with as much daring as he'd seen on the docks.
"Satisfied?" She crossed her arms over her bare breasts to hide them.
He caught her wrists and pulled her arms away before nodding. "Now I'm satisfied." Assessing his student inside and out took a great deal of study. He didn't only look at her body; he looked at her body language and listened to what it said to him. Her physical appearance was everything he could hope for, since she would become the Ruellan courtesan.
Her beautiful breasts were not too big, not too small, as he'd insinuated on the docks, but in perfect proportion to her frame. Her nipples were the color of her lips, a dusky pink like a starset on Elatia. And her finest asset, her hair, was a rare recessive gold, a color that had almost disappeared from the galaxy.
Her features—Terran no doubt. High cheekbones, eyes slightly slanted and the oddest shade. They were a blue violet, light near the pupil, darkening as they went out. She possessed lips that were made to be kissed, full with a natural pout, and seductive as anything he'd ever seen. Gods, the woman was beautiful.
He'd asked them not to tell him a thing about her, as discovery was half the fun, and knowing went much deeper than what someone said about her. It was much more intimate to learn for himself what made her tick.
He let his gaze travel down her flat belly to lean legs that seemed to stretch to the stars. His cock began to swell. Until now, he'd controlled his base desires. Now his hungers were getting the better of him. Dayne reached out and cupped her breasts, drawing his thumbs around her nipples. Her breath hitched at his touch, a noticeable sign of discomfort, another trait he'd need to eliminate. "Lose the boots. You have a broken heel and we don't want any accidents." He dropped his hands and turned away.
The sound of fabric rustled behind him.
"Leave the dress. You're wearing all you're going to wear until I say otherwise."
"This is ridiculous."
"This is training."
"This is freezing."
He turned back around. "Would you rather I have you lose everything?" He cocked a brow.
Fucking asshole. Lose everything? Pompous, arrogant... prick. Really?
"Really." He walked out, fighting the grin. And a temper, sweet gods of the galaxy, what a feisty woman. He'd leave that. A little sass went a long way in bed.
***
Shay twisted the noodles on her dining trident, watching them slip around her plate. Why would custos do this to her, allow her to suffer the indignity of sitting at dinner, naked except for her underwear?
Did he have any clue who she was? The royal family hand-picked her parents to breed her. They'd selected a total of ten couples. Intelligence, beauty, good health, and a strong will were the requirements. After the women conceived, they were taken to a specialized facility. Once they gave birth, the babies were inspected for the desired qualities. If they met the requirements, they were whisked away and raised with the highest of educations and lived inside the palace, until the final selection.
Martial arts, music, dancing, science, galactic languages and mathematics, literature, history, politics, religion, and art were all part of her daily studies. The training gave her the ability to spar with her lovers, mentally, physically, and sexually.
All Ruellan were experts in these areas, and only one Ruellan courtesan served a generation. Three existed in the galaxy—the past, present, and future. As the children grew into young women, they were weeded away until only four with all the desired traits remained. Upon their twenty-third birthdays, they were sent to train with a master Dominus—as innocents, to prepare for the final selection.
She did not deserve to be treated like this.
"What name do you prefer to go by?"
Obviously he referred to her formal names, all five, only two of which she could pronounce with her Terran tongue. She lifted her gaze, exhausted with the mental and verbal battles; she decided it would be easier to answer him than spout something nasty. "Shay."
"What hobbies do you have?"
"The usual."
He set his trident down and frowned at her. The expression on his face clearly demonstrated his distaste for her bluntness. "Like...?"
"Hand-to-hand combat, painting, dancing."
"We have several clubs here. Would you like to go out—dancing?" He didn't wait for her reply, but picked up a round vegetable with his fingers and stuffed it in his mouth.
"I suppose, if I don't have to go out like this." Her heart pounded in her chest. Anything to get out of the house and back into clothing.
He tipped his head back and laughed. "No, you don't have to go out like that, even though you look charming. You will leave your clothes at the door when you come back, though."
"It's degrading."
He tipped his head. "I can take my clothes off if it would make you feel comfortable. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Nudity is natural, and without props, you'll learn how to use your body to seduce a man, or woman. Props come later." He eyed her breasts. "Much later."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't." He gave her a wink and plugged the last vegetable in his mouth, chewing slowly. When done, he shoved back from the table, his chair gliding on the same technology that kept the transpods off the street. In three steps, he was beside her, holding out his hand for her to take.
Shay slipped her fingers into his and he pulled her to her feet.
"You have a huge wardrobe. It contains anything you could possibly want to wear, specifically made for you. Your custos sent it ahead. I liked the boots, so I think you'll wear a pair similar to those. A short skirt. No—a dress where the neckline drops to your navel and the back to the dimples over your ass. A violet one, like your eyes."
"You're to choose my garments, too. Lovely." She thought about the plain white gowns she'd worn at the palace, neckline to her chin—skirt to her ankles. She'd never worn anything like what he'd described. They'd encouraged virtuous dress, even though she was to be a courtesan. This part of her training took her completely outside of her comfort zone, but so did walking around naked. At this point, any clothing would be better than nothing.
"Yes. This way." He led her to another room and pushed the double doors open, dragging her behind him into possibly the biggest bedroom she'd ever seen. The bed could sleep four. Off to one side sat a sunken bath. Minnica walls blocked out most of the daylight, but silhouettes of flying beasts could be seen gliding across the skies, making her wonder if one could see the outlines of the people inside, and more importantly, what they were doing.
"The answer is yes. We're not bashful on Elatia."
Obviously. She glanced down and realized the voyeurism went further than the minnica walls. Black stone floors were polished like mirrors, leaving no view of her body unexplored. Never had she felt as exposed as she did then. With a push of a button, walls slid away, opening up the space to more rooms with everything from clothing to... Shay blushed again. Sex toys.
"Yes. See any you want to try?"
She shook her head and stared at the dildo-covered wall with imitation penises that mimicked about every subspecies in the galaxy. On the other side was a swing, with stirrups and cuffs. She closed her eyes and shivered, but not before she got a good look at the rest of it. Next to swing, on a table, were various clamps and restraints—and what was that clear glass tube that ran from floor to ceiling for?
"That is a sex capsule. They fill the device with warmed liquid oxygen, which not only makes you buoyant, but prolongs the sexual experience. Mostly for mermaid fantasies, but we can give it a go if you desire."
Heat washed across her cheeks and he reached out, running his thumb along her lower lip. "I love that you blush." Dayne pulled her to him and lowered his mouth to hers. He cupped the back of her head and drew her in deeper.
Her lips parted slightly and he dove in, slipping his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her, inhaling her as though he would die without it. She grabbed on to his pants, fisting the fabric in an attempt to steady herself. Instead, it seemed to excite him. His kiss grew more intense, taking her breath away. The world reeled and she tightened her hold on him, afraid she'd tumble to the floor without his support.
The action spoke more than words ever could. Dayne was pure sexual, dominating energy. And she was completely out of her element.
His other hand ran along her body to her hip and tugged her underwear down until his fingers found her curls and slid between the lips. They slipped around, coating the pads with slick heat, teasing her clit until she bucked against him and whimpered.
Dayne pulled his mouth away and rested his forehead against hers. "I could take you now, but not yet. I know where I want you first, and I fear if I keep kissing you, I will alter that plan. He drew his hand from her pussy and sucked his fingers into his mouth. He popped them out and gave her a wicked grin. "Let's get you into your party clothes."
He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward a room full of garments, some male, some female, some she wasn't sure the sex of the wearer, but they didn't cover enough to keep it a secret either way. Her gaze landed on a garment in the corner, a military uniform with the same Toric patch he had tattooed on his chest, but with a Ruellan crest.
"You served in the Ruellan military. You're Ruellan."
"I am part Ruellan, and I did, until I came here for shore leave one day. Shortly after, I requested my discharge to follow my true calling."
"Oh. You're a courtesan?"
"Not quite, but not so different from you. I am a master of the art of love. I instruct others in giving and taking pleasure."
"Do you ever want something more?"
"More? Like a family, children?"
She nodded. The thought had often crossed her mind. What if she walked away from her predestined future and found someone to love, give her children? Ruellan were forbidden children, were sterilized after they took their vows. Had he ever wanted that? Were her thoughts wrong?
"No, your thoughts aren't wrong. It's natural to want offspring to carry on your legacy. I guess it's not out of the question if I find the right mate. I do like the whole procreation process."
Heat exploded across her cheeks. He chuckled and reached for the dress he'd mentioned. She lifted her hand to take it, and he moved it out of her reach. "I will dress you."
She sighed and dropped her hand. "Fine. Dress me."
"It doesn't work that way." Masculine fingers skimmed along the flesh on her belly, making her knees quake. They caught the edge of her panties and tugged them down her hips, letting them drop to the floor. He brushed her mons and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Just get it over with.
"A courtesan never just gets it over with. She savors every second of contact—gives when she's asked to give, and takes when she's asked to take."
Shay sucked in a staggered breath. She ached between the thighs, in need of something she'd never had. Sure, she knew about sex. Her custos had instructed her on the basics, but the hands-on lessons were left for the masters. She'd been told it wasn't about having sex, it was about mastering an art. They would not leave the most important part of a courtesan's training to anyone other than an expert. Twenty-three years she'd waited to learn what all the fuss was about, and now that she would, it both terrified and excited her.
No, she didn't want him to get it over with, but needed whatever her body cried out for, witnessed by the juice that ran down her thigh. He captured it on the pads of his fingers and locked gazes with her. "Touch yourself."
"What?"
"I told you that word is forbidden. It indicates you weren't listening. Use it again and I'll punish you." He nodded toward the restraints and clamps to indicate just what her punishment would be. With a smile, he stepped back, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms. "Now, touch yourself."
"I..." Not in front of him. "Um." How humiliating.
"Surely you've touched yourself? In order to take and give pleasure, you need to know what feels good. Masturbation is natural."
More heat rushed to her face. She must look and sound like an idiot. And blushing when she was to become Ruellan, courtesan to a king and queen? Yet she couldn't touch herself? Well, not with him watching like that. "Yes, I have, but not with—witnesses."
Amusement flashed in his eyes. "It's a very erotic act to do it in front of a lover. Show me how you would like to be touched. Pretend it is my hand. Close your eyes and touch yourself."
Even with her eyes closed, she could feel his intense gaze. Her hand slipped down between her thighs, shaking so hard she could barely hit her target.
"Widen your stance."
She stepped out, spreading her legs. With jittery fingertips, she rubbed her clit. More cream trickled down her thigh. Gods, she'd never been so wet—or embarrassed—or turned on.
"Show me more."
She opened her eyes, stared back into his, and slipped a finger into her pussy. Hunger washed across his face and nearly dropped her to her knees. Oh gods. She was masturbating in a closet, in front of a man she'd just met and... loving it. Shay began to fuck herself, each thrust of her finger bringing her closer and closer to what would surely be a mind-blowing climax.
Her thighs tightened, her breath grew ragged, and forgetting he watched, focused on bringing her orgasm to fruition. Everything was about her, and the pleasure that waited. Closer. Another stroke. Closer. Energy zinged through her body and her toes curled. Oh gods, here it...
Dayne stepped up and pulled her hand away, denying her the release. "Hold that thought for later."
She let out a frustrated whimper. Hold that thought. Oh, fuck no. So close. So damned close. She'd die if she didn't come. She reached down to finish the job and he grabbed her wrist, pulled it behind her back and restrained her. No pain, but with a little pressure he could inflict it, and the look on his face said he would if she disobeyed him. What a bastard. She opened her mouth and he captured her lips before she could complain. The bulge in his pants testified she'd preformed remarkably, and wouldn't be the only one suffering until later.
And something about that suited her fine.
***
Shay stepped into the club. Dayne's hand pressed into the small of her back, guiding her across the packed room toward a table in the corner. The beat pulsed, throbbing up from the soles of her feet to her torso, each boom driving her need deeper.
Everywhere around them dancers undulated, grinding bodies together. On couches sprawled across the room, patrons in various states of dress and undress committed acts that would make her gasp in shock, if she hadn't been so barraged by it.
Just what kind of club is this?
"The best kind."
Mirrored pillars at least five feet across and twice as high supported a minnica floor over their heads. If one looked up, he could see more dancers and sexual acts of every kind. Shay swallowed, thankful they hadn't gone to the second floor. Once her panties had been removed, Dayne hadn't let her put them back on. Anyone looking up would get a good look at her... Please don't make me go up there.
He chuckled and sat down to the table, pulling her into his lap. One arm wrapped around her waist and his finger began to trace a puckered nipple through the thin fabric of her dress.
"I thought you said we were going to dance."
"I didn't say we. You're going to dance." His gaze swept the room and stopped on a woman grinding on a hovering platform, surrounded by men. She danced with complete abandon, swiveling her hips and running her hands along her body. Anytime anyone tried to touch her, she kicked them away, which only seemed to make them more determined to get to her.
He pointed. "With her. Seduce her. Get her to agree to go home with us, and bring her back to the table."
She swallowed. "Her?"
"Yes."
The woman planted a high-heeled boot in the middle of a man's forehead and launched him back across the room, where he was caught by a couple of buddies. "She doesn't look like she wants to be seduced."
"Not by them. But she wants to be seduced by you."
Shay shook her head. "I don't think so."
"I wasn't asking you to do it. I'm telling you."
She balled her fists. Rea—
"Really."
She pushed up, and he pulled her back into his lap. "One moment." With the tip of his index finger, he hooked her chin, tilted her face to his, and kissed her. Seconds later, as she was certain she'd melt into a puddle, he broke the kiss and tapped the tip of her nose. "Now you can go." Hands grasped her waist and lifted her from his lap. Dayne slapped her ass and gave her a shove. "Go on." With complete irreverence for the personal property of the club owner, he tossed his feet up on the table. Leaning back, he crossed his arms and stared into the distance, away from her.
Seduced by me? Is he out of his freaking mind? Shay didn't have any training to cover this.
When she didn't move immediately, he nodded at the woman.
Okay, then. Shay gathered her courage and started across the crowded club toward her objective. She'd made it halfway there when someone snagged her wrist and yanked her into his arms.
"Where you going?"
With a coy smile, she grabbed the amorous man's shoulders, kneed him in the groin, shoved him, and continued on her way. Not part of the mission. Maybe not the most graceful move, but she'd long since lost her patience with the whole setup.
Once there, she jumped, trying to see past the crowd around the dancing women. She hopped several more times, but couldn't get a look over their heads. Not working. Shay bit her lip and surveyed the room. Off to the side was an empty floating stage, just like the platform the woman danced on, only a bit smaller. Gathering her courage, Shay climbed up, wobbled on the disc, and found her footing. Once balanced, she began a slow, undulating dance. She focused her every thought on moving her body like a Pelerian dancer.
The woman on the other platform stopped and stared. All heads on the floor turned in Shay's direction. A smile crept onto her target's face, and she began to sing, taking back the crowd's attention.
Shay propped her hands on her hips. Oh no, you didn't just do that. She'd had vocal training, and might not be as good as the woman on the other disc, but it wasn't going to stop her. She could be brazen. Slutty, even. She'd show her she wasn't the only one with the power to hold a room captive.
Shay chose a sexy blues song, a song from her home world, and began to purr the words out, filling the air with wicked promises.
The men turned back to her. She lifted her hand and crooked her finger, beckoning the tall brunette to join her. The woman stopped and watched her, as though debating her next action. That's right. Come and get it. Shay continued to dance and sing, grabbing fistfuls of her skirt and drawing it up just enough to keep them from getting a peek at what lay underneath, but also showing off a lot of thigh. She rolled her shoulders and body, moving around like a belly dancer, singing the seductive song. Not once did she break the beautiful woman's gaze, making it clear every note was for her only.
That's all it took. The brunette hopped off her platform and parted the crowd as she made her way over to where Shay sang. Two men lifted her up on the hovering table. She ran her hands up Shay's body as she stood, finally settling them around the waist. A sliver of air hung between them. Up close, the woman was even more stunning.
"Well, now you've got my attention. What do you want?"
"I want you to come home with me and my companion."
Her eyes glittered in the dim light and a wicked smile tugged at her luscious lips. "And I get what in return, bel concubina?"
"What makes you think I am a concubine?"
The woman leaned in, her lips so close to Shay's, she could feel her every breath. "Because you have come in with a Dominus. Yes?"
"Yes," she whispered back.
The woman's tongue slid along her lower lip as though she were hungry. "Innocens?" She leaned in and sniffed Shay's neck. "A..." She lifted her head away and locked gazes again. "Virgin. Yes?"
"I am, and not a concubine."
"And yet you are with Dayne?" She traced a finger down Shay's shoulder, to her breast, and around her nipple. It puckered like a stone.
"Yes." The woman's touch sent energy zinging through her and her pulse racing.
"How intriguing." A dimple appeared in the corner of her mouth and her eyes sparkled. "I will come with you." She grabbed Shay's hand. "But you will give me something I need in return."
What could she have that this woman would possibly need? "What do you want?"
"You really are an innocent. I will explain when the time comes. I am what one would call a siren. I come from a small planet called Cerrius. Do you know what a siren is?"
Shay shook her head. She'd never heard of them in anything but Terran lore. Surely the woman couldn't be referring to that.
"Let's get out of here, and I'll show you."
***
Dayne watched from across the room. He'd certainly not thought the courtesan would catch on so quickly. He'd expected her to continue to stand at the siren's feet, begging her to notice—not steal the attention away from her while she fed.
Seducing the siren had been a lesson on learning the needs of a lover, and acting upon them. Xenori's people had once visited Shay's world of origin. Often myth had its foundation in truth, which was the case with the siren. Xenori was a song psychic, and fed on the energies of those in the throes of a strong emotion. Emotions created during sex gave some of the most fulfilling results, hence the reason sirens were most often linked to lust and hungers of the flesh.
When Xenori's people visited Earth, the inhabitants hadn't known what to make of them. They incorrectly labeled them monsters, called them incubus, succubus, and sirens. No, they didn't drain life energies, but only that which they created, and only what they needed to restore their own energy levels—or feed.
Unknowingly, Shay had agreed to provide this energy to the siren in exchange for going home with her. This was the way he wished to take her: while she spiraled down from the rapture of a siren's song. Shay would learn her full sexual potential, and awaken to the world of carnal pleasures.
Dayne rose to his feet to meet them as they approached. Because of his own psychic strength, Xenori's song would affect him little, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to reap the benefits of it. He reached out, grabbed her hand, and flipped it palm up, kissing the inside of the siren's wrist. A greeting of lovers and friends.
"Xenori," he said. "You're more beautiful every time I see you."
She shook her head and pulled her hand free. "Always the flatterer, Dayne." She frowned, pretending she thought the praise obnoxious, but he knew it stroked her ego. Her mind practically preened under the comment. She tipped her chin toward Shay. "You have a Ruellan courtesan in your care?"
"Not yet. It's my job to see she becomes that."
"How delicious." Xenori hooked her arm through Shay's. Dayne watched as more color moved to the Ruellan's face, painting her complexion perfectly. Every nerve in his body fired with lust, something he rarely experienced. Usually his primitive desires didn't get the best of him, but Shay had thinned his control.
His cock had ached from the moment he'd watched her climb up on the disc and begin to sing and dance, capturing the energy in the room and enslaving everyone around her. Even without the psychic energy behind her vocals, she'd drawn the attention of the crowd, and had stolen it from someone who'd already had them under their spell. If her passion in bed was as hot as what she'd applied to her task to seduce the siren, she'd melt the world down when he took her.
Xenori must know this as well, or she wouldn't be standing here with him.
Dayne gestured toward the exit. "Shall we?"
***
The moment she stepped through the door, Dayne's hands were on the clasps at her shoulders. With a flick of his fingers, the garment dropped to the floor. Shay gasped and spun around, using her hands to hide her breasts.
Xenori's gaze drifted up and down. "Why do you cover such beauty?"
She began to hum the blues song Shay had sung in the club, circling her slowly. A strange buzzing filled her body, centering in her pelvis, radiating out in waves, forming a ball of heat that blossomed in her stomach and rolled outward, swallowing her flesh to the tips of her fingers.
The siren came up behind her and leaned in, pressing her lips to her ear. "Do you feel it?" She kissed down the nape of her neck, running a finger down her spine. She murmured the first line against Shay's skin and hummed the rest. "Such a wicked song."
"It was the only song I could think of." Shay's thighs clenched and moisture flooded her pussy.
"Was it?" The siren lifted her mouth to Shay's ear. "I'm going to sing you a little song. You're going to come multiple times, and I'm going to have a feast on some of the energy you create. This is what I want. Do you understand?"
"Yes." She turned toward the siren. "Your music is..."
The siren nodded.
Sex.
She nodded again. Magic.
Dayne grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. "Let it happen. You'll like this. No damage done." He nipped her lower lip and across her chin, tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. More heat, more cream. The siren hit a high note and Shay's legs gave. Dayne caught her before she dropped to her knees. He swept her off her feet and carried her toward his room.
"This way."
The siren followed, singing softly, a pulse from every note thrumming through her body as though someone were playing her like a musical instrument.
He placed her on his bed and stepped back. Unable to control her body, Shay writhed around, grinding her hips, needing... The feel of the black silk sheets against her skin stroked her like a lover. The song...
"If you need me, I'll be in my office." He turned and walked out.
His words were a haze in Shay's mind. Hands touched her everywhere, or did they? No, he didn't leave her. She could feel him, tongues, hot breath. She arched up and squirmed, crying out. Her fingers went to her clit and she began to rub, desperate to relieve the ache building between her legs.
"Let's get a look inside your head," a woman's voice said from somewhere across the room. "You're from Earth, you like... cowboys..."
Yes, she did. She was passionate about her world of origin. Studied the history, read the literature, immersed herself in it every chance she'd had. The siren couldn't have read her better. One of her favorite times was the ancient American West. Gunslingers. Annie Oakley, and the Pony Express. The song intensified. The world around her spun. Seconds later, a piano played in the background and sunlight filtered through dirty windows, barely illuminating the inside of a dark room. Men stood at a long bar, drinking warm whiskey. Others sat at tables playing cards.
***
"How much?"
She spun around in her red velvet dress, eying the gunslinger behind her. "Pardon?"
He snagged her wrist and yanked her into his arms, burying his face in her neck and hair. "How much to get between your legs?"
Shay leaned back and slapped him, pressing her hands against his chest. "I'm not for sale."
The saloon filled with laughter. She turned her head and surveyed the crowd. Cowboy hats, six-shooters—everything she'd seen in the history holograms she'd studied. Something wasn't right. Time travel was impossible. "Where am I?"
"Texas, ma'am."
"Texas?" She reached up and rubbed her head. Even her words had come out in a soft Southern drawl. Had Dayne drugged her? What was going on and why did the man who'd groped her look so much like the Dominus she'd been sent to for training? "Texas doesn't exist anymore. It's a wasteland."
"No, ma'am. It's full of ranches and people." He ran his finger up her face. "So pretty. I'll double your fee."
His lips grazed hers and traveled down her throat. Butterflies took flight in her stomach.
"Oh," she gasped.
"Did you miss me, Kate?" He didn't wait for an invitation, but swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs, where he tossed her on a bed and kicked the door shut behind him. "I've missed you."
Kate? She licked her lip as he unbuckled his holster and set his revolver on a side table. She crab-crawled backward on the mattress.
"Come here." His hand caught her ankle and pulled her back down into the middle of the bed. He crept across the feather stuffed mattress and pinned her down, staring into her eyes. Fingers walked up her bodice and pulled on the laces in front. Her gown fell open. Downstairs, she could hear a woman singing a love song. Her eyes closed and she sighed. "Dayne."
"Ah, sweetheart. I love the way you say my name." He buried his face between her breasts; his whiskers tickled her flesh. Heat spiked through her pelvis. "I need you, Kate."
"I'm not Kate."
He lifted his eyes to hers and grinned. "What game are we playing tonight?"
"I'm a royal courtesan. I don't... I'm not who you think I am."
He rolled to the side so he lay next to her, resting his head on his hand and bracing up on his elbow. The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes sparkled. "Tell me more."
What beautiful green eyes. "I..."
The other hand slipped inside her open bodice and tweaked a nipple. Shay gasped and bucked up.
"A courtesan," he said. His hand traveled down her dress and tugged her skirt up. "Have you been reading the dime novels again, Kate?"
"No. I'm... Or I mean I will be a courtesan, a consort to a king and queen." She lifted her hand, which felt like lead, and pointed at the ceiling. "Up there."
"On the roof?"
"No. In the stars." She giggled, unsure why what she'd said sounded so idiotic to her ears now. She was Kate, a saloon whore, in love with a bank robber named Dayne. For a moment it seemed—false. Now, as she looked in his eyes, she knew nothing could be further from the truth.
"I like it. A courtesan from the stars. Do you have wings?"
She shook her head.
"So how do you come down to earth, angel?"
She screwed up her face. "By ship, of course."
He chuckled. "Enough small talk." He leaned in and captured her mouth, working his body back over hers. He pried her thighs apart with his knee and slid his hand up her dress to stroke her bare pussy. "I want to hear your pretty cries, Kate, my courtesan from the stars."
She gasped as his fingers sank into her. He kissed along her jaw to her ear. "So tight. You've not worked lately?"
"No." She'd never worked—or had she? The haze still clouded her memory, as though she'd missed something.
"Oh, darling, you smell good." His mouth moved down to her cleavage, where he pulled the front open more, freeing her breasts from the taffeta. Fingers closing on the fabric, he tugged it off her shoulders, shucking her like a husk of corn. He stopped for a moment to suck a nipple between his lips and swirl his tongue around the hard bud.
She bucked up, gasping with the sensations racing from the point of contact.
"You like that, sweetheart?"
"Yes," she hissed. There wasn't a thing he did she didn't like.
He moved down her body, taking the dress with him, dropping it to the floor, leaving her bare except for her stockings and boots. "I like that you've waited for me, turned your customers away. You always know how to make me feel special."
"I do my best."
"Then I'll do mine." Dayne backed off the bed and yanked off his boots, tossing them to the side. With heated eyes focused on her, he unbuckled and dropped his pants. "I've been thinking about you for days, darling." He unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it into a pile with her dress. From the narrow wooden chair, he grabbed his saddlebags and pulled out a long strand of pearls, then let the bag fall to the floor. "I brought you a present, honey."
He walked over to the bed and dropped the strand, one pearl at a time onto her body, starting at her pussy, letting it slide into the cleft between her lips. Slowly, he let each bead fall on her naked flesh as he crawled up the bed, finally releasing the necklace to puddle between her breasts in a delicious, somewhat wicked, sensation. "Wear them while I fuck you, Kate. Every good courtesan should have pearls. I want to watch them bounce between your tits."
Kate lifted the strand off her chest, eyeing the beautiful spheres. Never had she held anything so fine. "Where did you get them?"
"I bought them off a madam in San Francisco—said girls dove in the sea to fetch them up."
"They're beautiful."
"Not as pretty as you."
He lifted the strand from her hand and pulled the beads one at a time over her clit. Bump. Bump. Bump. She jerked as each pearl rode over the sensitive nub.
"Oh." Kate arched up as the last pearl came free. He dropped down beside her and rolled to his back, pulling her onto his body to straddle him.
"Put them on and ride me hard. Show me how much you like them."
She took the gift and sat up, dropping it over her head so it rested between her breasts and stopped over her mound, lying against her clit. He reached up and cupped her breasts, pushing them together over the necklace.
"They make me jealous, Kate." His thumbs circled her nipples. "Take me, sweetheart."
Yes. She grabbed his cock and pressed it against her saturated entrance, slowly lowering her body an inch at a time until they were joined.
"Oh, sweetheart, you're so tight, so hot."
She began to ride him, the pearls bouncing between her breasts, slapping her mons with each movement. Kate threw her head back. He stretched her so tight, filled her as though he belonged there. The head of his cock rubbed her magic spot like nobody else's could, sending throbs of pleasure through her cunt. He bucked up each time she came down, grabbing her hips and fucking her harder with each thrust. Her thighs tightened, her pussy clenched, down seconds before pleasure exploded through her.
He continued to spear her, his hard cock rubbing every nerve, firing a new orgasm as the previous one began to fade. Unable to catch her breath, she collapsed forward. Dayne flipped her to her back, hooked her knees over his shoulders. And thrust into her. In and out. Harder. Faster.
"I'm coming." He grabbed her ass and buried himself as deep as he could go. Hot jets of cum streamed inside her. Each throb of his release pulsed inside her pussy.
"Dayne," she cried out, pleasure washing over her, through her.
He released her legs but remained between her thighs, even after his orgasm ebbed. He kissed her softly, resting his forehead to hers. "Did you enjoy that, Shay?"
She looked to the side, where the voice came from. Gone was the man who'd been in her arms, gone was the siren's song, and the feel of Dayne's cock buried inside her. She reached down, and found her pussy drenched. He clit throbbed at the light touch and her body was soaked in sweat. "Did we?"
He shook his head. "The power of the mind is an amazing thing, and though you might feel like you have, you've only imagined it."
"I couldn't have. I felt you, inside me. We..."
"So you fantasized about me." He grinned.
Heat bloomed across her cheeks, creeping down her neck and up her scalp. She eyed him. Sometime while she'd dreamed, if what she'd experienced could be called that, he'd changed into a robe. He slipped it from his shoulders. "It's time to lose your innocence, courtesan. You should be ready for me now. I am rather large, so we'll take this slow."
Shay managed to turn even redder and gasped, unable to put words to what she stared at. Gods, he was beautiful—as he was in her fantasy.
He sank on his knees beside the bed and dipped his fingers between her thighs, stroking the excited flesh. "Wet." He rested his chin on the bed and looked into her eyes. "I want to bring you so much pleasure your first time, but I need to warn you, it might hurt a little."
Who cared? All she could think about were his fingers and what they did to her. Shay moaned. Everything had seemed so real, making her wonder where the dream ended and reality began. Not that it mattered: the experience had been more than she'd expected. But one thing did bother her. "Where's the siren?"
"She left." He pushed a finger inside her. "You've been given all the necessary nanite inoculations? Birth control?"
"Yes," she gasped and rocked against him. He slipped a second finger inside, stretching her. With a twist of his wrist, his hand turned palm up and he pressed the pads of his fingers into her G-spot.
The orgasm hit so fast, all she could do was arch up and cry out. Shay fisted the sheets and gritted her teeth. He hadn't even taken her virginity and already she'd fractured to a thousand pieces.
You don't know fractured yet, he projected, and lowered his mouth to her clit. The pleasure seemed almost painful, the nub so swollen, so sensitive it seemed to vibrate with each swipe of his tongue. This little bundle of nerves is a favorite. Only few parts of a body can take someone apart the way this spot will.
"Good to know," she said from between her clenched teeth, digging her heels into the bed. Dayne pushed his fingers deeper inside her again, moving them around, stroking near her special button. Oh ho, gods... right there, right there. But he didn't touch right there. She tried to shift her hips to force him to where she wanted him, but Dayne was having none of it. He moved his fingers with her body, denying her the orgasm that sat right there, waiting to explode at his touch.
"The more a woman comes, the more sensitive she is. It's a process of warming up. The more you warm up before you come, the more powerful it will be."
"You don't say." Warming up? Really? Shay's grip on the sheets tightened. If he kept going she'd certainly combust—bypassing the warming-up phase completely. "Anyone tell you you're a tease?"
"Mmm." Her muscles locked as he wound her tighter and tighter, every nerve in her body igniting, ready to fire off with one stroke to the right place. When his teeth grazed her clit, she came up off the bed. "I can't take it."
Dayne grabbed her hips and forced her back to the mattress. "I wasn't done."
"Pleassse," she whined.
"Begging isn't becoming."
"Please, please."
He stopped his torture, looked up and locked gazes with her. "Please what?"
She shook her head, unsure what she wanted.
"Let me show you what a lover who knows your body can do." He crawled up the mattress, captured her mouth and kissed her. As he pulled back, Dayne caught her lower lip between his teeth. He let go, kissed the corner of her mouth, moved along her jaw, to her neck, behind her ear. Chills exploded across her skin. "Loving isn't an act, it's an art." His fingers skimmed down her body, his lips trailing after. "You engage all your senses. Smell. Taste. Touch. Hearing." He cupped her chin and turned her face to his.
"Sight. Immerse yourself in the experience," he whispered. His irises had smoky gray around the pupil. She'd never noticed it before, the soft, sensual look, taking bedroom eyes to the next level. She felt so connected to this man in soul, in body. In that moment, she was the only woman who existed in the world.
He thrust inside her, breaching her virgin's barrier. But she was so caught up in him, she barely noticed the pain as he tore her hymen. His hands stroked her body. His lips worshipped her flesh, and every touch came with intensity impossible to define. As he began to move, she became aware of how he filled her, stretched her. His cock didn't spare an inch. The velvet flesh felt as though it belonged sheathed inside her.
As he moved, she soared with him. Slowly, gently, each stroke brought her closer to climax. The walls of her pussy tightened onto him and his breath caught. His fingers dug into her hips as she rocked against him, driving him deeper.
"You are so perfect. I've never felt anything so divine."
Her pussy clenched again at his words, sending her into a euphoric abyss. He rode her through the orgasm, and as she thought it would end, she exploded again, harder than before, taking him with her into oblivion.
***
Never so sated, Shay lay tangled in limbs and silken sheets. Would it be the same when she became courtesan? Would she feel what she'd felt when Dayne took her?
Dayne traced a finger along her side and hip, leaning up on his elbow, watching her. "Your first will always be special. I wanted you to have memories you never want to forget—something to take with you when you leave."
She rolled to her back and turned her face from his, fighting the pain his words brought. No, she'd never forget the night before—or him. Her stomach twisted. This wouldn't last forever, and as he'd said, she would have to leave eventually. If Dayne succeeded in making her everything he claimed he would, she'd have a new life, new lovers, and a job giving and receiving sexual pleasure. For some reason the thought pained her. She controlled the shake in voice as she spoke. "I won't ever forget."
He hooked her chin with the tips of his fingers and gently turned her back to face him. "Never regret. You will always be special to me." Sincerity filled his expression. Her heart stuttered.
"I'm not sure what I want anymore. I'm so confused."
"It's normal for a woman in your position to question where her life is going—if being the Ruellan courtesan is truly what she wants. It's a huge commitment, one you can't change after you take your vows. It's why they wait until you're mature, into your twenties, for this last phase of your training. They want you to be sure. They need you to know what pleasure with another is like before you commit to a life with them."
"I wasn't confused before, but now they've given me a choice—the opposite of everything I know is within my grasp. Part of me wants to reach out for it and see where it takes me. My life was always choreographed exactly as it should be. I don't know how to do anything else, be anyone else, but whom they've taught me to be."
He nodded. "I understand. I've been in that position before, faced with changing everything I knew, becoming someone other than who I'd grown up to be. I wish I had an easy answer for you, but it's something you have to figure out for yourself. What you choose will affect the rest of your life. I can't influence you one way or the other. You have to live with your decision, whatever that will be. I am to show you what life on the other side is like, give you everything you need, so you can make the choice when it's time."
She furrowed her brow. "How will I know what's right for me?"
"You'll know." He gave her a soft smile.
She didn't have money, anything beyond the clothes on her back, and even those did not belong to her. How could she possibly have a choice?
"You have a trust that was set aside from the time you were born. Everything you have is yours to take if you choose a different path, or if you're not selected to be the Ruellan courtesan."
"I don't have anything."
"You have more than you realize." He shook his head. "Would you like to look at your accounts, your property—houses?"
"I have a home—homes?" It couldn't be possible. Custos never mentioned them.
"Yes. You are part of the royal family—have been since they took you into their household. Much was set aside for you. You're far from penniless." He stroked his hand from her belly to her hip, eyeing her as though she were a feast. "The prince wants your decision to be from your heart, not because you have no other choice." Dayne rolled over, pinning her to the bed, cupping her face between his hands. His thumbs petted her skin softly. "This time with you means more to me than you can possibly imagine. Just know you're not the only one in conflict." He glanced out through the minnica walls, keeping his gaze from her. She watched the way the light ignited the surface, sending a prism of colors dancing across the polished black floors of his room. "We should get up," he said, but didn't move to leave the bed.
"Yes." She lifted her gaze to his. "We..."
He captured her mouth, kissing her softly, increasing in demand until her lips parted, and she gave him the access he sought. How could she want anyone else after she'd had him?
"You think too much, courtesan."
***
But she wasn't the only one thinking too much. He'd told himself she was a student, no different than those he'd trained in the past, but after spending the night with her, he could no longer convince himself there wasn't something more he wanted, and damned if he didn't want it with her. It was a mistake to admit he felt conflict. He was ordered not to influence her choice in any manner, but he couldn't stop the admission. It had slipped from his mouth and could have altered the future. He'd not make the mistake a second time.
It was said that somewhere in the galaxy, a perfect mate waited to be claimed. That some spent their lives searching for that missing piece of their soul, their animus, and he'd brushed it off as romantic lore until he'd tasted Shay's lips, heard her cries of passion, felt her nails as they raked on his back—until he looked into her eyes and became lost.
Tavin, the Ruellan prince, had paid him a substantial sum of gecbaga to make her the perfect Ruellan courtesan, but it wasn't all about the money. Tavin trusted him with his most precious possession. Teaching her was as much about helping his friend as it was adding notches to his reputation. He'd teach her everything she needed to know and when the time came, he'd step back and let her make her choice. It was what he did—who he was.
As he pushed her thighs apart and thrust into her, he couldn't help but notice how perfectly she fit him. How everything about her seemed crafted to give him pleasure, fill the void in his life, one he'd never realized he had, until he'd met her.
***
"Would you like something to eat, master?"
Would he? After they'd made love, he'd held her and fallen asleep. Rarely did he share a bed for the night with a client, most definitely not into mid-day, but with her it had seemed natural, right. Her softness and breathing had lulled him like a baby. He hadn't been aware she'd climbed out of bed until he'd heard her voice as she stood over him.
Dayne cracked an eye and stared up at the ravishing beauty that'd donned his red spider-silk robe. In her hands she held a tray covered with various breakfast dishes. Though tall for a Terran, his robe engulfed Shay as though she were a tiny sprite. Golden curls hung in a riot around her shoulders, making her look like a sexual goddess. Her kiss-swollen mouth had a pout he could envision wrapped around the head of his cock and her cheeks held a soft tint of pink. And with sultry eyes, she stared—not moving—not talking. Waiting.
He should reprimand her for dressing—she knew the rules—but he couldn't. She looked so right wearing his garment, and it gave him a sense of possession—that she belonged to him, if not forever, at least for the moment.
The corner of his mouth twitched and he cleared his throat, snapping her out of a trance. "What have you brought me, Shay?"
Her gaze dropped to his chest, sliding down his torso to where the sheet had slipped to his hips. "A little of this—and that," she mumbled.
He watched as her gaze swept lower, stopping where the sheet rested over his groin. He didn't get a projected thought, but felt the lust in her mind as his own. It vibrated through his body, riding every nerve, centering in his belly. Heat balled below his navel, rolling outward. Gods, when she projected, she didn't do it half-assed. It was impossible to ignore. It gave him a strange thrill that he turned her on.
The sheet began to tent and he fought the smile that tugged on his mouth. Her eyes widened a fraction and her nostrils flared. It took all his strength not to pull her back into bed, food and all, and give her a taste of what she'd ogled—teach her the wonders of oral pleasure.
"Would you like to share this and that with me?" He patted the bed next to him, but her attention remained fixed on his now fully erect cock. "Or is there something else you'd like?"
Her cheeks exploded with scarlet, the color rushed down her neck to hide behind the silken fabric of his robe. She set the tray on the table beside his bed and began to back away. "I have to exercise. Work out. I mean, practice my self defense."
"Um." He grabbed a piece of fruit and bit into it. "For a moment I thought you'd come in here for another kind of exercise, which I'm happy to help you with."
She shook her head. "I'm... I really need to practice." She whipped around and headed for the closest exit—the wrong one, his equipment room.
"Are you looking for something special?"
She glanced over her shoulder. "No, why?"
"That's my toy room." He took another bite and cocked a brow.
She gave a nervous laugh and turned around, heading back across his room for the real exit, her skin redder than before.
"Hey, courtesan." He'd waited until she hit the center of his room to stop her.
"Yes." She froze mid-step.
"You know the house rules."
"What rules, Master?"
"Lose the robe." He took another bite, waiting for her reaction. Even though they knew each other intimately, he couldn't help but be charmed by her innocence and the way she blushed. He wanted to see the lovely pink tint from her head to her toes. He adored provoking the blush, and gods if she didn't look so pretty every time she dropped her clothes in front of him.
Shay surprised him by turning to face him. She loosened the tie and shrugged the robe off, letting it slide down her body to pool around her feet. Dayne's gaze zeroed in on her pussy.
Good gods. His hand tightened on the ripe fruit and it exploded in his fist. Juice ran down his wrist and bits of the sticky flesh covered him and his expensive bedding. Any blood that hadn't already found its way to his cock rushed there, leaving the rest of him dumbstruck. His reaction to what she'd done bordered on painful. His dick throbbed under the sheet. He was so stiff and sensitive even the light touch of the silk was torture.
"I shouldn't want to break the rules, master."
Indeed not. The little siren had removed her body hair sometime after she'd climbed out of his bed, and then went a step further, adorning her pussy with star stones, known for their ability to increase sexual pleasure.
"Anything further I can do for you?" she asked with a sweet smile and cocked her hip to give him a good look, letting the stones catch the light and dance before his gaze.
He swallowed. "No." If he wasn't so damned hard, he'd be out of the bed and she'd be on her back before her next breath. Instead, he shook his head, unable to utter another word. Gods, she'd taken him completely by surprise. He'd never expected her to lose her inhibitions so quickly. Hell, he'd only deflowered her the night before, and already she worked her body like a practiced courtesan.
"I thought perhaps I'd use the gym. May I dress for exercise, master?"
He nodded again, certain if he saw her working out without garments, it would be the end of him—or at least the end of any productive training for the day. Gods knew all he wanted to do now was rut. Damned if she hadn't turned the tables on him. He'd have to punish her later for that, when he was back in control. Perhaps something from his equipment room would suffice. His cock throbbed again at the thought. Down boy.
She turned and walked out. No, not walked out. That would be taking it too easy on him. She sashayed her fine ass out of his room, making sure he saw every sway of her posterior as she went. Yeah, he'd say she mastered her body. Something he didn't think she'd catch onto for awhile. That would teach him to play with a Ruellan courtesan and think she'd not bite.
Lesson learned. Hot shower—make that cold shower—masturbation, and he'd join her for a little grappling on the mats. Dayne closed his eyes and groaned. Maybe not grappling. Bad image to put in his head. It would be a long, long day. He needed to remain impartial and not affect her choice, but if she kept doing what she'd done, he'd have a hard time not trying to convince her to stay with him.
***
Shay programmed her workout, released several of the drones from their charging pads, and took a defensive position with the staff tucked under her arm. Moments before, she'd slipped into her workout attire of loose-fitting pants and a fitted sleeveless top that bared her belly, knowing nothing short of a vigorous workout would fix her mood. Freedom of movement was key to achieving her goal.
Dayne had given her a lot to think about—a lot to work through mentally in the next few weeks as she prepared for the final selection. Everything was on the line, but Dayne had made it clear her origins weren't what defined her. She could be anyone she wanted. If selected, and she chose to be the Ruellan courtesan, it would be her choice. Whatever it was, she'd have to live with it for the rest of her life.
She could have fame, money, the love of the people and her king and when he took a bride, her queen. She would have freedoms some could only dream about, and would go on adventures that would take her to every known world in the galaxy, including her home planet. She'd meet exciting and unusual beings.
She'd never have children. She'd never have a chance to explore that spark she'd felt between herself and Dayne—one that made her question whom she was raised to be, if it truly was her calling, what she was born for. That's when she'd decided she'd seduce Dayne. She'd explore this thing she'd felt between them. It was, after all, her only chance.
It had been a bold move to go to the local parlor and have them remove her hair and install the stones. She'd been rewarded with the reaction she'd sought.
He'd felt that something between them, too. That's why he'd mentioned conflict. Now her course was a little clearer. The apprentice was going to seduce the master, let him see she wasn't the only one with a choice to make.
As the four drones whirled around her head, she moved with them, making sure her back wasn't exposed. A sphere charged in from her left. Shay stepped to the side, deflected it with the staff, and nailed a second drone that attacked from her six, sending it into the padded wall with a back kick. Bob. Weave. Deflect. Easy enough.
A drone struck her behind the knees, sweeping her feet from under her and sending her to the floor. Shay pulled her knees to her chest and snapped to her feet in a deep stance.
"Is that all you got?" Not that they understood a word she'd said, but it made her feel as if she had a living, breathing opponent. All four converged at once. She moved with a speed brought about by years of practice. One drone was sent skyward with a hard smack of her staff. A spinning roundhouse sent a second into a third. Back flip, lunge, and the fourth sparring drone joined the pile of scrap left after the last attack. "Amateurs." She spun her staff and poked the pile of debris. This didn't bode well. Those were all the drones she'd seen in his armory. At one hundred gecbaga apiece, she should have gone easier on them, but her mood called for a hardcore session. Nothing less would have worked.
"It's easy to kick the crap out of a machine. How about you try something a little more unpredictable?"
Shay whirled around to find Dayne standing by the door in the same loose fitting pants she wore, sporting a well-loved T-shirt that advertised a form of eletin tea. In his hands he held a staff, and she had to blink to convince herself that smoke wasn't coming off him. Her stomach fluttered and all the energy she'd just expended to get him off her mind became a waste of time. "Okay, if you're set on getting your ass kicked."
He smiled and stepped into the room. "Let's make it interesting, then."
She narrowed her eyes. What surprise did he intend to spring on her now?
"Every point I score, you drop a piece of clothing," he said, his eyes glittering with intent.
"And when I score...?"
"I'll drop a piece."
Shay spun her staff, smiled and gave him a nod. She might be naïve when it came to sex, but he really didn't have a clue whom he dealt with when it came to hand-to-hand combat. She'd trained in more than sixteen different martial arts systems since the time she could walk, and had mastered every one of them before the age of eleven. He'd be naked in minutes.
"You forget I was a soldier."
"In my head again, Dayne?"
"Don't think so loud. You were broadcasting. I'm not as easy pickings as you'd like to think."
"Is that so?" Gods, she wanted to show him he wasn't completely the master of her, that she did have some abilities that far surpassed the average female.
"So you want to dance, courtesan?"
"I'd be delighted." She gave him a bow and took up a fighting stance.
"You don't mind if I play music?"
She shook her head. Though she often worked out to peace and quiet, the noise wouldn't distract her. Dayne hit a button on the wall and turned on a playlist of old rock songs from Earth. "Gets me in the mood."
"Do whatever you need to do, because I'm going to wipe the floor with you."
"I love it when you talk smack, courtesan. Keep it up. I think I'll have you remove the pants first. I'd like another look at those star stones you so boldly had pierced into your body while I slept off a hard night's play."
"You'll have to get into my panties first, master."
He cocked his head and gave her a big smile. "Very well." He started to circle her.
"Come and get some." Shay turned with him, keeping her focus on his center the whole time. Faces and eyes could be deceptive. The torso never lied.
That was—if she could see it. Dayne moved so fast his body was a blur. One moment she was on her feet, the next he had her pinned to the floor, his knees between her legs, his green eyes staring into hers. And while she gasped to try to retrieve some of the wind he'd knocked out of her, his breathing seemed to be with little exertion. Show off.
"You let your guard down."
"Last time." She hooked his ankle and flipped him over to his back. "My pants?"
He gave her a lecherous smile. "To start."
Shay backed off as she stood and grabbed the drawstring, undoing the tie. Her bottoms dropped around her ankles. She stepped out and kicked them to the side. At least she'd thought to pull on a pair of underwear, or the sparring might be a little awkward.
From the look on Dayne's face, he was going for awkward. Really?
He lifted a brow and rose to his feet. "Really."
When he attacked again, she'd anticipated where he'd strike, figuring he used a combination of Toric and Elatian martial arts to give him additional speed he lost with his size, which wasn't much. For being as tall as he was, he moved much faster than she'd anticipated and it had already cost her a garment. She thought left and struck right. The feint worked, and he'd ended up on his backside at her feet. "Lose the shirt."
He pulled it over his head, balled it up and tossed it in the corner. "Not the pants?"
"Those are next." She loved looking at his bare chest. He had the build of a god, and some things just needed to be appreciated in order. No sense in eating a cake without sampling the frosting first. Besides, she'd gotten a tease when his tattoo slid down his body, disappearing into his pants, and she was dying to know where it now rested. More motivation to kick his ass.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or offended you just compared me to frosted cake."
"You'll have to decide when I take a taste of you."
He tipped his head back and laughed. "By all means then—lick my frosting."
Heat exploded across her cheeks. Seconds later she was on her back, staring up at him. "That was cheating. You distracted me."
"No cheating in war, my dear. Not when the spoils are so—rewarding." He poked his staff under the hem of her top and lifted the fabric up and over her breasts, baring her to his gaze.
"In that case..." She did a leg sweep, taking his feet out from under him. He landed with a loud oomph next to her and turned his face in her direction. "Lose the pants," she said and blew him a kiss. "I want to see your avenger."
Dayne laughed and reached for the tie. "I have nothing left to lose." He undid the string and pushed them down, freeing his very hard cock.
The dragon had wound its tail around his shaft, and sat on his thigh. By the gods, she'd never met a man who had the guts to tattoo what was certainly a tender area, much less looked the way he did. Her stomach did a funny, bouncy skip and her heart jumped. Liquid heat seeped into her panties as she thought of the many ways he'd taken her the night before, physically and in her dreams.
She rolled over on top of him, straddling his hips. "I guess I'll claim my prize then." She leaned over and kissed him, tasting the heat of his breath and the sweet mint of his tooth cream. "Um, man frosting. The best kind." She moved down his body, kissing along his naked flesh, worshiping each hard muscle with nips and licks, not sparing an inch.
Dayne groaned and fisted her hair. "You keep that up and you'll be licking more than frosting, courtesan.
She lifted her head and stared him in the eyes. "That was the idea."
***
He'd been with hundreds of women of every size and subspecies. He loved then tall and short, curvy and thin, he loved them on their backs and on their bellies, but never had he really loved them, felt something more than the giving and taking of pleasure, not until Shay wrapped her lips around his cock, took the shaft in her fist, and began to fuck him with her mouth and hand like an expert.
His clients had never been too excited about oral sex, unless it was him performing and they receiving. Most women didn't take it to the level Shay did. She didn't just suck on him, she tasted him, savored every fucking inch, and if her physical demonstration wasn't enough, the dirty thoughts, the sense of enjoyment of the act she telegraphed, more than made it clear she took as much pleasure from it as he received.
And then there were the little moans in the back of her throat. Dear gods. He bucked his hips up, thrusting deeper into her sweet mouth.
"Shay," he growled. "I'm going to..."
Didn't stop her—in fact his warning seemed only to encourage her, and before he knew it, his dick was pulsing between her lips and against her tongue as he filled her mouth with cum. Each swallow of her throat milked more from him, dragging it out until he was breathless.
He fisted her hair in his hands. "Fuck, nobody's ever done that like you did."
She lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. "I've discovered I like your frosting very much, master." She licked the head of his cock with the tip of her tongue and crawled up his body, holding his gaze. "And now, I think I'd like the cake."
Dayne groaned and rolled her over to her back. "Sweetheart, you're going to kill me if you don't slow down. But after what you just did, I'd gladly sacrifice my life to give you more. Let me return the favor."
***
Come downstairs, Shay. You have a visitor.
"Custos?" she asked out loud, even though Dayne wasn't in the room. She'd practiced mind blocks for the last few days, and communicating verbally when she wanted him to hear her had become a habit. One she'd need to break, or people would think she lost her mind. Walking around talking to oneself wasn't conducive to building a creditable public image.
No.
"No to building a public image, or no, not my custos?"
No.
Shay sighed, removed the visor and shut off the holo-romance she'd been watching. A visitor. She didn't know anyone here other than the siren and the miserable little mud slug who picked her up on the docks when she'd arrived. All she wanted to do was relax and spend the day alone. She'd worked hard for the last few weeks and looked forward to the break she'd earned. This was supposed to be her time, space she needed to catch her breath.
You can breathe later. Someone is here to see you.
"Okay, okay." She jumped up from her bed and pulled on a robe. Dayne continued to make her walk around naked when home, but he also allowed her to dress when he had guests, or in this case, when she had a guest. "I'm coming."
I love when you say that.
She smiled. Even though they'd been as intimate as they could get in the last few weeks, Dayne still loved to flirt and did it often. One of the things that made her crazy about her Dominus.
She ran down the stairs and came to a screeching stop in the foyer. Her breath caught in her throat. "Roryeeeeeeee!" She gave out a loud squeal, echoed by the young redhead standing next to Dayne. She ran to her and threw her arms around the petite woman. Both jumped and hugged.
Dayne rolled his eyes. "Since you two know each other, I'll leave you to socialize." He turned and left the room.
Shay put Rory at arm's length. "What are you doing here?"
"My Dominus sent me."
"Whatever for? We're in competition."
"Well, my Dominus thought I could use a break, and since there's no rule about visiting the competition..." She bit her lip. "You want to go out and party?"
"I'm not sure Dayne will agree to me going anywhere without him. He won't let me out of his sight."
"I could be so lucky." Rory sighed.
Go on. All people who land on Elatia have been screened. It's safe. Have fun.
Shay smiled. "It looks like I'm free for the night."
"What?" Rory screwed up her face. "I thought you just said..."
"Don't say that word around here. Dayne doesn't like it. He was talking to me in my head. He's a telepath."
"Lucky you. My Dominus is Elatian. He's sensitive to emotion, but can't read minds, thank the gods. I'd be afraid for him to know half the things that go through my head. Speaking of things going through my head." She gave a conspiring glance in the direction Dayne had gone. "Holy hotness. You've been doing that? I want deets."
"Shhhhh. Keep it down. He can hear you."
"Oh." Rory blushed the color of her hair. "Too late. He said I telegraph, and he would be happy to give me details later if I desired—or show me."
Jealousy knotted Shay's guts. She clenched her teeth together and gave Rory a forced smile. Hell no. She wasn't sharing. Dayne was her Dominus. She latched on to Rory's arm and tugged her across the room and toward the stairs. "Come upstairs. I need to dress and we'll go." The sooner she put something on, the sooner she could leave and get Rory away from Dayne.
"You don't have a lift?" Rory stopped and stared at Dayne's room, to where he'd disappeared moment before.
"Long story." Shay pulled harder, causing Rory to stumble. "This way."
Jealousy is unbecoming.
"I'm not jealous."
"Huh?" Rory screwed up her face and then smiled. "Oh, you're talking to him on brainwave."
"Not if I can help it." Shay imagined a wall around her mind, cutting Dayne off from her thoughts. Yes, she was jealous. Though she didn't want to admit it, she'd grown fond of him and the thought of him touching another woman irritated her. Yeah, it was his job, but it didn't mean she had to like it. "You can help me pick out something to wear."
***
Shay wore tan freighter pants with knee-high polished black military-style boots. A sleeveless spider-silk top in deep violet stopped at her midriff, where she'd wrapped a long, beaded chain around her waist three times, reminding her of the pearl necklace the siren had generated in her dream sex—her dirty little secret.
Rory wore a short skirt and a top that dipped to her belly button in the front and to the top of her ass in the back. A little bustier, Rory had the cleavage to work the blouse the way it was designed to be. Not something Shay would choose for herself, but for Rory, it looked perfect, and together they attracted a lot of attention.
Shay had shot down half a dozen marriage proposals, at least three dozen propositions for sex, and another seven for a ménage—with Rory. Ugh. They'd grown up together and doing Rory would be wrong, on so many levels.
Listening to Rory chatter all night, she'd discovered that not all fell in love with their Dominus. Rory had no personal feelings for her master, was as ready for the selection to start as the day she'd stepped foot into his home. It all made Shay question if being a courtesan truly was her calling. She couldn't turn the attraction off like her friend. To Rory, it was business. For Shay, it went much deeper. She dreamt of Dayne every night and thought about him all day.
"Could this night be a bigger bust?" Rory asked as she stared out at the dance floor.
"Doubtful." She'd just polished off her third cup of Elatian tea and had started on the hard stuff when Dayne walked in with Rory's Dominus. She coughed and her beverage spewed from her mouth onto the table.
"That was so unattractive," Rory said.
Shay shook her head, pointed, and had to blink twice to ensure it wasn't the euphoric buzz playing tricks on her mind. "Dayne," she spluttered. Apparently they'd taken too long to come home, or Dayne had something else on his mind—like a threesome, or foursome. "Oh, hell."
"What?" Rory twisted around to look. "Good gods, that man is hot. You know, he reminds me of someone, but I can't place him."
"Come on. They haven't seen us yet. We need to get out of here before they do." Shay snagged Rory's wrist and pulled her from the table. "Whatever he's here for, I don't want to know." Which was partially true. She also didn't want to share him, and the faster she got Rory away, the better chance that wouldn't happen.
"Don't you want to know why they're here?" Rory asked, still looking over her shoulder as Shay dragged her to the back of the club. "Can't we stay? I'm really horny."
"Small wonder, with all the eletin you've consumed." Shay eyed one of the mirrored pillars and saw a hidden door open on the side. A man looked both ways and stepped out, disappearing into the crowd. Perfect. She picked up the pace and caught the door just before it closed.
"What's this?"
"I don't know," Shay said, shoving Rory inside and ducking in behind her. "A hiding place." The door clicked shut. Shay found herself pressed chest to chest with Rory, and under the influence of Elatia's infamous herb, in a room that gave them enough space to do some naughty stuff, but not enough to avoid contact. The eletin certainly didn't help.
Rory's hand ran up her arm. "Really tight in here." She glanced around. "And dark."
Heat blossomed in Shay's belly and every beat of her heart matched the pounding in the redheaded bombshell's chest. For three hundred sixty degrees, through the one-way glass of the mirrored pillar, they could watch the crowd dancing, grinding, and having sex in the darker corners. The carnal view caused a flush of liquid heat to saturate her panties. Never had she thought voyeurism would affect her in this manner. But something about it...
"Well, this is cozy," Rory said in a breathless whisper that carried the faint scent of eletin. Her hand continued to stroke up and down her arm, sending ripples of energy from where she touched her straight to Shay's pelvis. "What should we do while we hide?"
Shay's stomach cart-wheeled in response. She closed her eyes and tried to gather control of her rebellious libido, but the act made her mind race with sensual thoughts, and the lack of her sight fine-tuned other senses that didn't need it.
Everywhere her body made contact with Rory's, Shay became hyper-aware. Heat seemed to burn through her clothing. She could feel her pulse quicken, smell the pheromones rising off Rory's skin. Damn, she shouldn't have consumed so much of that tea. Now she wanted to fuck her best friend.
A fruity scent, steeped in the sexual herb, saturated their environment. Shay could practically taste sex in the air. She opened her eyes and stared back at Rory.
And she wasn't the only one.
In the dimly lit interior, Rory's eyes smoldered with heat. Her chocolate gaze traveled down to Shay's lips, lower, and back up. She was certainly under the same aphrodisiac spell. Shay's stomach flipped again and a thrill jolted through her.
"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" Rory asked.
"I..." The surface under them began to move, lifting them five feet above the floor. "What's going on?" Shay snapped out of her trance and pressed her hands to the sides of the glass pillar. Oh gods, it was one of those mermaid things.
"Maybe it's an elevator or something?"
"No." Lights came on in the interior, spotlighting them. "I don't think so." She pressed on the sides again. "We have to get out of here."
"Why?" Rory cocked her head. "I kind of like it here, and look, I think the crowd can see us now." She pointed down.
Shay stopped searching for an exit and looked in the direction her friend pointed. "Shit."
Everyone below stared up at them. Everyone above on the glass floor looked down. And they all clapped and shouted. Because the cylinder was apparently soundproof, she hadn't noticed until Rory pointed it out. Now her insides twisted, and she latched on tight to her friend. "This can't be good."
"I'm sure it's just some kind of stage. Maybe we should dance or something."
"Maybe." Shay eyed the crowd. No they gathered to watch something more than two women dance in a glass tube. "I think it has some other purpose." The shower came on. Oh, they were going swimming. Heated water, saturated with eletin, poured down on them, soaking their garments, plastering the fabric to their bodies.
Rory laughed. "I think you're right."
Just as Shay thought she was about to become a fish, vents opened in the bottom and drained the liquid away. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least they wouldn't be mermaids.
Rory tipped her head back and laughed. "It's full of eletin. Taste it." Rory lifted a finger to Shay's lips and stared into her eyes. "It's got a lovely flavor."
Shay forgot everything she wanted to say as Rory ran her finger along her bottom lip. The world faded away. No longer were they in a very public location, on display in a tank, their clothing transparent.
A scant inch stood between them and all she wanted to do was kiss her. Energy exploded through her, balling in her belly, rolling through her center, zipping through her like an electrical current.
Rory slid her hands into Shay's hair and pulled her mouth to hers. "I want to taste it on you."
She sucked Shay's lower lip between her teeth and tipped her head, capturing her in the most erotic kiss she'd ever had. The redhead tasted like fire and sugar—liquid candy.
The eletin buzz consumed her. It roared through her veins, coming to life in a sexual fever, demanding she give into the impulse. The need throbbed between her thighs. Shay slipped her hands inside Rory's top and cupped her breasts, teasing the nipples with her thumbs as she broke the kiss. She nibbled her way down her neck to her breasts, where she licked and sucked the eletin-saturated water from her flesh.
"Forget taste. I want more than that," Rory moaned and leaned back, letting Shay have full access to her breasts.
Steam filled the tube, cloaking some of their view of the outside, and in the process, hiding some activity on inside. Not that it mattered. Regardless if people could see in, or not, Shay wanted her with a desperation she'd never experienced, and nothing would stop her from taking what Rory offered.
Rory grabbed Shay's hips and ground her pelvis against hers. "Do they bother you?"
"No. I don't think they can see everything."
"I find it kind of exciting." Next, Rory tore her pants open and pushed her hand down the front. Her fingers slipped inside Shay's panties, where she rubbed her clit. "Gods, you're so hot."
Shay gasped as Rory's fingers rubbed her. She fell back against the glass.
And kept falling.
Dayne caught her in his arms, gave her a sharp look, and tossed her over his shoulder. She lifted her eyes to see that Rory's Dominus helped her down from the deck inside the cylinder, amusement on his face, making her question what had transpired between the two.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Home." He carried her from the club, out through the front door, and set her on her ass on the deck of a transpod. "Public displays are not going to help you during the selection. What were you thinking?"
"I..." She wanted to tell him the eletin clouded her judgment, that she never would've done such a thing with Rory if she hadn't consumed so much. From the look on his face, he didn't care what excuse she had. Something more drove his anger.
"You weren't thinking. It's a good thing a buddy called me and told me how much you'd had to drink. You're not used to the eletin and it can get you into trouble—erase inhibitions." He hopped up on the platform, put the transpod into gear, and tore down the street for home. "Don't ever do anything like that in public again. You might be training to be a courtesan, but that doesn't make you a whore."
Shay shut her mouth and dropped back to stare at the starry sky. And what if I don't want to be a courtesan?
"Any more public displays like that and you won't have a choice. You'll no longer be a candidate."
***
"What do you smell?"
"A salty breeze blowing off the sea, riding the breath of Elatia as the world exhales from a long night of parties." She lifted her nose and sniffed. "Fruit and baking bread from the market below." She turned her face toward his lips, where warm words brushed against her cheek. A smile crept onto her face. Dayne. "The world is waking up. And you used your eletin and Terran clove soap this morning."
"Very good." His hand slid up her back. "Any other observations?"
Strands of her hair rustled against her neck and a soft snort of some creature welcomed her. "There's some kind of animal here with us."
"Where?"
"On the roof—the open terrace. The mountains are singing in the distance. I can hear the wind chiming off the minnica peaks. I feel the dew from the clouds on my skin—and the heat from the stars overhead as morning breaks."
"Very poetic, Shay."
By forcing her vision to the background, she'd woken to a whole different world. Every touch, taste, smell, and sound had been heightened. "In this state, everything seems poetic." Including making love. For the last four days she'd been touched, tasted, and stroked in a manner that her skin had become hypersensitive to his touch. The slightest brush of his fingertips could bring her to climax. Even now she stood on the verge, knowing one touch from his hand would push her over the edge.
Never had she thought sex could be what Dayne had shown her. Her sixth sense had come alive to him. She could feel him near, as his energy brushed hers in an erotic stroke of her aura. She'd never considered it possible, not before she'd experienced it. Now the very nature of it made her quiver.
"We're on the roof?" She could swear he'd taken her to the roof, but there was no way to know for sure. Dayne had blinded her. The contacts turned the world dark around her and he claimed that it would tune other senses in, make her more aware of what she'd missed by relying on her vision so much.
"Yes."
"I knew it." She smiled again. Dayne had refused to let her remove the lenses. And for the last four days, she'd stumbled around his home, feeling her way by furniture, sound, and the heat of daylight on her face as it radiated through the minnica walls.
She'd also tasted foods as she'd never tasted them before, from his fingertips to her lips, and danced with him, trusting him with abandon, whirling through the dark, but held tight in his arms. Every movement had purpose as it never had before.
"Today you learn to ride."
"Blind?" Her heart jumped in her chest. "Those bird thingies everyone rides around on?" Of every jewel tone one could possibly imagine, she'd seen them flying all over the city with riders on their backs. Agile and swift, the creatures moved with grace across the skies, even though she'd been told they couldn't see, and used sonar to navigate. Really?
Even though she'd enjoyed watching them, it certainly didn't mean she wanted to hop on and give it a try. Something about being splattered on the streets below held little appeal.
"The very same."
"But they're blind."
"They are."
She latched hold of his shirt. "Okay. I think I've learned this lesson really, really well. I'd like to stop now."
"I have a double saddle. You won't be alone. This is about trust. Do you trust me?"
"Um..." It wasn't about trusting him—it was about trusting the giant turkey. Couldn't he see that?
Dayne sighed and his hands circled her waist to lift her up onto a saddle.
Shay swallowed as he swung up behind her. "Do we have to do this?"
"Lean forward, shift your weight over his shoulders, and hang on."
She grabbed hold of two handles on either side of the pommel. "Are you sure he's big enough to carry us both?"
Dayne pressed a hand between her shoulder blades and forced her to lean forward. The yeemid cried out, its screech echoing in her ears. A lurch. A hop. And they launched into the air, tipped forward to the point where she clung onto the handles for dear life, squeezing her thighs as tight to the saddle as she could. It didn't take sight to know the giant bird went into a nosedive from the top of the building and toward the street, plummeting them toward death. Everything in her stomach landed in her throat and the skin on her face was battered by the wind. "Shhhhit!"
"Not appropriate language for the future consort of a king and queen."
Really? We're going to die.
"No. Not today." His arm slid around her waist and he brought her back against his body, showing her the way she moved her body and touched the beast dictated what it did. Good to know, but she was so not impressed. Dayne reached around her, grabbed her palm, and pressed it against the beast's neck. It banked to the right.
Shit, shit, shit.
"Today we live." He guided her to lean back and the yeemid pulled out of its dive, gliding on a sea of air. The contents of her stomach dropped back to where they belonged, but the sick feeling didn't leave her.
"Do you feel the freedom? You're touching the clouds."
"I'm going to hurl."
Dayne laughed and kissed her neck. "I have a surprise for you."
"The same kind of surprise I just got?" she asked, leery of anything else he wanted to spring on her.
"No, I'm taking you some place special."
"Home?"
He laughed again. "Trust me."
"Look where it already got me."
"Yes, look where it got you. Reach up and take the blocking lenses out. You have to see the star rise from up here." He pulled her tighter to his body. "I've got you. Go ahead, take them out."
Shay swallowed the lump lodged in her throat. Taking them out even seemed less appealing than leaving them in. That way, at least she wouldn't be able to see when she fell to her death; only her other senses would be heightened for impact. Dear gods.
"Go ahead. You need to see this."
Shay reached up with both hands and swept the contacts from her eyes, letting them fly away in the wind. As it was not dark, but not quite light, her eyes didn't rebel as they would have in the day. In the distance, light cracked the horizon open in what could only be described as a vibrant prism that stretched across the landscape, igniting the minnica towers of the city and dancing off the glass-like mountains. Never had she seen anything as spectacular. "My gods."
"I'd say they had their hands in it."
How could one describe the indescribable? After days of not seeing, the view became a feast that she devoured with the greed of one starved. It struck her how much she truly hadn't noticed before, and how awake she'd become. Dayne had changed her in this moment. Never would she be the same. She'd experienced seeing the world from her soul, the deepest part of what made her who she was, and the view would forever be melded into her consciousness, as would the man who'd brought it to her.
***
Shay completely missed the trip home. Only when Dayne lifted her from the beast did she realize they were back on the terrace, staring out over Elatia. She slid down his body to her feet, pressed tightly to his torso, clinging to his body. Inside she quivered, shook with excitement. "That was beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as what I'm looking at," he said softly and claimed her lips. All the breath whooshed from her lungs and everything whirled around her. One touch and he turned her bones to rubber, stole all her lucidity.
Gods—I love him.
Dayne lifted his chin and frowned. Heat, pain, confusion all seemed to be wrapped together in the expression on his face. Strong arms lifted her up to cradle her against his chest. Without a word, he carried her into his tower. He didn't bother to go down the stairs to the main house, but stopped on the landing and set her on her feet. His lips found hers again as he backed her against the wall, making quick work of removing her garments. In moments, she wore only her boots. His lips skimmed down her neck to her breasts; his tongue laved a nipple.
Shay gasped and laced her fingers into his hair. He caught her wrists and pressed them over her head, against the wall.
"I want," he said softly as he met her gaze.
I want. Two words never held so much meaning. The longing on his face, the heat in the depths of his eyes told her what he wouldn't, that he wanted more than her body. His expression said he wanted everything. Her stomach fluttered as his mouth went back to work on her body. She tried to pull her hands free, and he tightened his grip.
"Here." He pushed her tighter against the wall and forced a knee between her thighs. His hands released her wrists, and he dropped his pants. "Now." Dayne's palms skimmed down her sides to her ass and lifted her from her feet. Shay raised her knees to grip his hips. The head of his cock pressed against her pussy, fingers gripped the tender flesh of her ass. He tilted her hips and rammed home, driving deep into her, pushing her up the glassy surface of the wall with the force.
"Oh." Shay threw her head back. Her fingers laced into his hair. His lips found her nipple again, his tongue teasing it to a hard bud. He used gravity to piston her up and down as he fucked her against the smooth surface. Each thrust came harder, faster, until Shay became lost in the rhythm.
Dayne didn't let up. He didn't slow to give her a moment to catch her breath. He took, and for the first time since she'd been with him, it hadn't been about giving her pleasure, but claiming it for himself. She tightened her grip in his hair as he forced her closer and closer to climax. Her pussy clamped around him, ready to explode in release.
"No. Not yet. You'll make this too quick." He pulled out, dropped her to her feet, and spun her around, pressing her body against the clear minnica panel. "I need more," he said, lacing his fingers into hers and pressing her palms against the wall. He kicked her feet into a wider stance and drove back into her, screwing her against the glass, not caring that all the riders in the sky could see them.
"I..." He'd never been this rough when he loved her. What was going on?
"I won't hurt you. Right now, I need you like this. Don't talk." He pumped in and out of her as he lifted one of her legs to drape it over his thigh. The next stroke drove in so deep she gasped.
Her pussy clenched down, threatening to explode in orgasm. "Please," she panted.
"No." He swept her hair of her neck and pressed his lips to her ear. "Hold off just a little longer." Harder, faster, deeper, he fucked her. Raw and animalistic. "I want." Hot breath on her nape. Rough hands caressed her skin as he pounded into her. The sounds of flesh slapping against flesh filled the tower, driving her closer and closer. "No, don't you do it." He gripped her hips, pulling her back and down as he moved with urgency.
"I can't," she cried out and bucked back against him. Her body convulsed with need and she squeezed her muscles to try to stop it.
"I need. Shay." Faster he rode her. The need to come so painful she nearly wept, yet he wouldn't ease up. "I need to get you out of my system."
The last came out as a whisper and if she hadn't been so tuned into him, she'd have missed it. Did he feel something more for her? Did he love her? Every stroke pushed her closer and closer. And just as she thought she couldn't hold out any more, he dug his fingers into her hips and slammed into her.
"Now," he growled as he buried himself as deep as he could go. "Come."
She exploded in orgasm, pulsing with each throb of his cock as he came, crying out and frosting the clear minnica panel with her breath. For several moments, silence filled the tower and he held her pressed against the glass, his chest rising and falling against her back. Then, quiet. Tension snapped in the air and her guts twisted. Something isn't right. Shay turned her face toward him. "Dayne?"
"I can't keep you. You don't belong with someone like me." He pulled out. "You don't love me. You only think you do." He walked away without another word.
Her palms remained pressed against the glass where he'd placed them. Shock kept her frozen. What had just happened? Never in the last six weeks had she felt so disconnected from him.
Shay turned around and watched him as he descended the spiral staircase. She slid down the wall and grabbed her top, pulling it over her head, and drew her knees to her chest. If she hadn't heard that last bit, whispered out in agony, she'd hate him.
He loved her and battled with what he felt. And he wasn't getting off that easy. Before the selection, he'd admit how he felt for her. Gods help her. If she had to torture it out of him, he'd tell her.
***
He was an ass. In his need to put distance between them, he'd used her and tossed her away like garbage, treating her like a whore.
He knew what it felt like to be put in that position. He stood there now. Whores had sex without love, and if he'd done his job, he wouldn't have let her open the door to his soul and seize his heart.
Part of what he'd done had been in anger, a need to show her what she'd be if she chose the role of courtesan. It wasn't fair to do that, and he should've considered her feelings. Tavin wasn't a bad guy, and he wouldn't treat her like anything but a treasure.
Dayne stared out the minnica window in his room, angry for a whole lot of reasons he couldn't express. Maybe she'd hate him now, and he could finally let her go. But his heart told him otherwise.
He'd told her the truth. He wanted, with such desperation it ripped him apart. He needed her out of his heart, out of his head, but nothing would free him of the feelings he'd developed. Gods, why did she have to love him? Why couldn't he ignore the attraction, as he had with other lovers?
Dayne watched the silhouettes of yeemid skimming across the sky. Tavin wasn't going to be happy about this. Shay belonged to him, and he'd made it clear he expected it to remain that way. Not that Tavin didn't mind sharing. Hell, it had been the only way he'd entertained women in the past, but this was his courtesan, a woman born, bred, genetically enhanced and trained for all his pleasures—and he'd told Dayne he'd already made his choice, that he wanted her. Nowhere in the contract did it say Dayne could run off with her, nor would he. He respected his friend too much to do that to him.
But Tavin tossed her at his feet like the damned key chips to a starship, making it hard to keep his end of the bargain. Hop on, give her a ride, and while you're at it, teach her what I like. Dayne dropped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He'd thought he could handle the simple request.
Easier said than done. He should have avoided contact with Tavin, as advised. Now he wanted that life back. He wanted to share Shay with him, go back to Ruella and be his friend's right-hand man, as it should be—had always been.
Could never be again.
As a youth, Dayne had never thought someday they'd have to grow up and change their ways. Dayne had never been intimate with Tavin, nor had they been lovers as the king accused. Their friendship had been just that, a friendship, and having sex with the prince held no appeal.
Then the king cut the umbilical and forced them both to change. He'd broken their friendship and sent Dayne away. "Tavin needs to grow up, find a wife, and start thinking about his public image. The time for rebellious youth is over. He'll never settle down with you around." He'd discharged Dayne from the military at the age of twenty-six, packed him up, and told him he'd send him anywhere he requested, as long as he wasn't close enough to influence Tavin with his bad habits and questionable lifestyle.
And that was how he found himself on Elatia.
Before the prince had been ordered to find a bride, it had been a carefree life of sex and debauchery, but when the mantle of the kingdom was placed on Tavin's shoulders, things changed. Tavin no longer smiled, laughed, or enjoyed life the way he'd always had. He'd become uptight and serious. Not himself.
Several star cycles ago, Dayne lost contact and thought for sure their friendship had come to an end, that the king succeeded in his plan to force his son into line. Then, six weeks ago, Tavin showed up with his advisor Milos, a contract, and an offer too tempting to pass on.
Now, in six short weeks, Dayne had managed to fuck up the only happiness Tavin could have. The woman he wanted didn't want him—she wanted his friend, and his friend was ready to betray him and run off with her.
But, that was no excuse to treat her the way he had. This wasn't her fault.
Dayne rose to his feet and went back to the tower where he knew Shay still sat, where he'd left her to sort out what the fuck had happened.
He stopped and stared down at her until she looked up. No tears in her eyes, no anger. And she controlled her thoughts, keeping him out. This was either good, or really bad.
"I'm an ass."
"That you are." She turned her head and looked out the minnica wall. "One great big ass."
"Will you forgive me?"
She turned back to him. "Will you do that again?"
"No."
"Then yes, I forgive you. But..." She rose to her feet. "What did you mean I didn't belong with someone like you?"
"I'm a whore, Shay." He reached up to touch her face and dropped his hand as though he'd made a big mistake. "You are meant to be the Ruellan courtesan, consort to a king and queen."
She shook her head and started down the stairs. "You're not a whore." Shay glanced back. "And I know you don't want me to leave. Do you?"
"That's not up for discussion."
"Of course not." She continued on down to the first level.
Pain slammed into his chest and he sucked in a deep breath to control the urge to tell her exactly what he thought—what he wanted. But that wouldn't be fair. As she disappeared around the twist in the stairs, he whispered, "I love you.
***
"So, it's been six weeks since you arrived and I'd like to throw you a party as you near the end of your training." He wanted to celebrate like he wanted to put a laser to his head. Neither held appeal, but she'd worked hard, deserved the party, and if he failed to host one, everyone on Elatia would question why. Plus, Tavin had come to the planet to pick up his courtesan.
Shay choked on her fruit and put her hand up to her mouth, swallowing hard. Her gaze lifted and connected with his. It was all it took to send jolts of electricity through his body.
The silence in the room seemed to echo around him, making the thud of his heart sound like a war-drum to his ears. He opened his mouth to tell her he wasn't excited about saying goodbye, and shut it. One word and he breeched his contract, put all in jeopardy. "You've nothing to say?"
"I..." She locked gazes with him.
Yeah, that look on her face. He knew it well. She had a lot to say, but she also knew what it would get her. Ever since the incident on the stairs, he'd forced distance between them, or had tried to. Every night after she'd gone to sleep, he stared down at her, craving more than stolen time. He'd give all he had to watch her every night for the rest of their lives, and see her wake as the first rays of starlight warmed her skin.
Shay focused on keeping her mental shields up, blocking any probe he might make on her thoughts. She wasn't very good at it, and he should probably tell her, but reading her thoughts was so much easier to take than hearing it from her mouth. At least pretending he didn't know wouldn't get him into trouble.
"Well? What do you think?" he asked, doing his best to appear excited.
I've fallen in love with you and I don't want to leave, but you won't say one way or the other if this is mutual, or make this decision any easier. If I give everything up for you, will I still have you?
Yes. "So?"
Shay pulled her hand free and sat back. "I guess."
"You guess what?" He studied her, waiting for her response, keeping his face as blank of emotion as possible, and with good reason. He'd sworn never to lose control again, the way he'd lost it on the stairs, and Shay wasn't stupid. The face was the easiest part of the body to use for deception, unlike others. He tapped his foot. His hands shook; those other limbs, not so much. Keeping her attention on his face would prevent her from knowing how deeply he'd fallen, and how painful this situation had really become.
"A party would be fine."
He nodded.
"What's bothering you?"
Dayne squeezed his hands into fists under the table and gave her a smile. "I have a lot to do. Everyone will be here—everyone that is important." He opened his fingers and brushed his palms down his pants. Like the fucking prince, the best friend I've betrayed, who'd have my balls nailed to the palace walls if I break the contract and run off with his courtesan—after he tries me for treason. The same man I owe my life and loyalty to.
Yeah, he hadn't told Shay that part—that the prince had already decided who would be the royal courtesan. She'd been handed over to Dayne with notice she didn't belong to him, and her future would be with the Ruellan king. Tavin had ordered him to do everything to ensure she didn't make any other choice. The selection was nothing more than a meaningless show.
The only way out of this was if she walked away from it, and without any outside influence helping her to make that decision. He was still considered a Ruellan subject and running off with her wasn't an option—no matter how much he wanted it to be.
"You're lying."
"Why would you say that?" Oh, he knew. He was strung out like a drug addict, ready to go off like a bomb.
"You're tense. You just committed an act that my psychology teacher called scrubbing. You rubbed your palms down your pants. I don't have to be a mind reader, Dayne. I know you're lying."
"I omitted." He didn't lie. He'd simply avoided telling her the truth.
"How do you feel about me?"
The question hit his ears like an atomic sledgehammer, making it impossible to think fast enough to stay ahead of her. Dayne pinned her with his best look of displeasure. "We're not getting into this again. I've already told you that subject is not up for discussion. I'm your master, you're my student. You have a decision to make, which I can't influence in any fashion."
"So you're saying you care?" She bit her lip.
He let out an exasperated breath, crossed his arms, and leaned back. "I'm not saying anything of the sort." Yes, I fucking care. You belong to me.
"What if I told you I've fallen in love with you, and I don't want anyone else?"
Pain speared his chest. "I'd tell you that you wouldn't be the first courtesan to fall in love with her Dominus."
"Don't look so excited. Rory isn't in love with her master. There's something here, between us. I know you can feel it." She shoved back from the table and jumped to her feet, leaning over the surface to look him in the eyes. "For once, would you open your soul up to me and show me that there is more between us than the physical?"
"Not going to happen, courtesan, and you know this."
Shay balled her hands into fists at her sides, growled and spun on her heel, leaving the table and her unfinished breakfast behind. "The decision I need to make weighs heavily on if we can have a future."
And that's the exact reason why I can't say anything. And it sucked he couldn't tell her the truth. It wasn't just his life that hung on her decision. Tavin deserved some happiness.
"Stay out of my head unless you're going to tell me how you feel," she snapped as she started up the stairs.
"Make your decision, and I will tell you."
Her bedroom door slammed so hard the dishes on his table rattled. She'd certainly seemed to master the fine art of opening and closing doors, but accepting no for an answer—somehow he doubted she'd ever learn that skill.
Dayne blew out another breath and reached up to rub his forehead. How did he find himself in this situation? More importantly, how would he get out and survive?
He couldn't be sure she wouldn't choose the future that would be offered to her. She'd be foolish not to, and only one thing would keep that from happening.
She was to be the next Ruellan courtesan. So why had he let his guard down and fallen crazy in love with her?
He wanted to shout out how much he cared, how much he wanted her to stay, but he couldn't. This was a decision she'd have to make herself.
She told him she loved him. It had taken all his strength not to sweep her into his arms and kiss her—tell her the truth. But this wasn't how it was to play out. Tavin entrusted him with her training, and he'd sworn not to influence her choice. And he wouldn't.
Even if it killed him.
Watching her walk out of his life would be the hardest thing he'd ever done, and though inside he begged her to stay, the words could never fall from his lips, not if he were to continue to work as a Dominus on Elatia. Which now, he wasn't sure he really wanted. Why else fail to train her for ménage, or share her with another lover?
Why else? For no other reason than he felt a sense of possession, that she belonged to him. He closed his eyes. That could never happen.
He didn't want to let her go—he didn't want her to leave him to become the lover of others. He'd always been a master of his emotions, until now. Love had ambushed him at the most unlikely of times, running over him like a loaded freighter. He, a master Dominus, a man immune to feeling that complicated emotion. It should be impossible for someone with his training, someone who'd lived a devout life of giving pleasure, teaching others in the art.
And yet he couldn't deny what he felt in his heart. Whenever he thought about her he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her away, that thought immediately followed by the need to bury himself inside her—to make babies, to claim her, hold her, keep her.
He'd purchased a wedding amulet recently when he'd gone to buy her pearls the siren told him about. The crystal contained nanites that would activate by body heat when a couple laced fingers and clasped it between their hands. The bridal crystal would fuse a wedding mark into the flesh of their palms.
Dayne reached into his pocket and pulled it out, careful not to touch the crystal. The amulet would make her his, if and when they took vows to become aeternus—mates for eternity. She would have the reverse of his design, a symbol that she was his other half, the mirror image of his soul. He shoved it back in his pocket. This whole relationship was getting too personal. What had he been thinking, buying that? He should have bought the pearls.
Men like him didn't marry. And they sure didn't end up with women like Shay. Her star was too bright for him to grasp and hold, so gods, why did he even contemplate it?
It was best that he put space between them, begin to break away from her before he committed the unforgivable, breeched his contract and all he'd sworn to uphold when he'd become a master Dominus.
***
Shay glanced around the grand room of Dayne's Elatian domes. Everywhere in his home, guests were packed wall-to-wall. Glittering lanterns floated in the air, casting opalescent light around the space. Most of the guests had avoided her, casting sideways glances and whispering behind their hands after giving her a polite smile. Never had she felt so alienated, and Dayne's presence would have helped to calm her nerves.
But she couldn't find him. She bit her lip, and corrected herself. A party was the last thing she wanted the night before the selection, when she'd have to make the decision. She needed so much to hear his feelings for her, but over and over he denied her. And now, when she needed him most, he avoided her.
For the last few days, she'd barely seen him. He popped in and out to see how preparations for her party were going, but rarely said a word to her, or glanced in her direction.
At times, it almost seemed as though he wasn't even in the same house.
How could she walk away from him if he cared for her the way she cared for him? Up in the tower, she'd been certain his actions were those of a man fighting love, but maybe she'd been wrong. She couldn't stay if he didn't want her. Every time she approached him to ask, he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
If she couldn't get his attention one way, she'd get it another. She'd decided to wear a barely-there lace gown that hugged her curves. When she put it on, he looked hungry, as though starved for her, and she'd known she'd chosen well.
The palest of blues, it dropped to her ankles and had a split up to her hip on one side. Lace strategically hid her feminine parts, yet teased the eyes with as much flesh as one could possibly display without being arrested for public indecency—and considering Elatia didn't have any laws on that, it was quite risqué indeed. Yet he didn't touch her again, hadn't since their fight at the table.
She knew he wanted to, and had caught him watching her more than once as she prepared for the party. He'd make no excuse, but turn and leave without a word. No comment about how she looked. Nothing. As the first guests arrived, he disappeared. Now, the night was halfway over, and she'd yet to see him again.
"Ruellan," someone said behind her. "I've heard so much about you."
And yet another man who wanted to make her acquaintance, which she'd rather ignore, but manners instilled in her since infancy prevented her from walking away. Shay turned around, a frown quickly replacing a polite smile. "Milos," she said through gritted teeth.
"Have we met?" He furrowed his brow.
"You're kidding, right?" Here was the man who'd been a complete asshole when he'd come to pick her up as she'd first arrived to Elatia, and he didn't remember their brief, albeit painful acquaintance? Really?
"No. And what do you mean I came to pick you up?"
"From the port? Dayne couldn't be bothered."
"I assure you, I would remember meeting a woman as beautiful as you." He switched to telepathic communication, as though he were embarrassed about the next bit he had to say. If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the kind of guy women throw themselves at.
"What would your three wives think of that?"
He frowned this time. "I don't have three wives. I don't even have one."
Shay opened her mouth and shut it. His face bore a painful grimace, as if she'd just twisted a knife in his gut. He either had no memory, or someone had played dirty trick on her and used him to do it. She leaned in so what she had to say was privy to Milos only. "Dayne's Toric, like you, isn't he? Can he change his appearance?"
Milos gave her a nod. "Not shift his features as you're thinking. More of a mind trick. He can alter the way your brain talks to your eyes, tells it what it's seeing." He scowled. "What are you getting at?"
"I think he pretended to be you, manipulated my mind."
The little man before her looked completely shocked. "Why on Elatia would he do that? Look at him. If he wants to impress someone, he need only be himself. He doesn't have to manipulate your brain to do that."
Good question. She glanced around the room. He could be any one of the hundreds of guests who were present. Locating him to ask why he'd perpetrated the charade would be impossible.
And knowing he could manipulate her mentally irked her. When was he planning on telling her about his special abilities, and that he'd used them on her?
***
"Excuse me. Would you care to dance?"
Shay spun around and slammed into a hard body, yet another come to see if the Ruellan candidate would sleep with him. Her training took over and she forced her nasty retort away. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so close."
His arms went around her waist and pulled her against an obvious erection. "I'm not—sorry."
"You will be if you don't get your hands off me." To hell with manners. This would be the last horny male that hit on her tonight. She'd had her share of it, and without her Dominus to guard her six, she'd had to disengage at least half a dozen overbearing males in the last hour. No more. This one would get a good taste of her fury. He obviously thought he could take liberties because of who she was.
Jerk. She pressed her palms against his chest and pushed in an attempt to break his hold. Frustrated he didn't budge, she tipped her head back to give him a tongue-lashing and lost her voice. Shay immediately bowed her head in respect.
The dark hair, dark eyes, even the shade of whiskers that ran along his jaw and chin were unmistakable. She'd seen him around the palace, and thought him an extremely attractive man, but this was the first time she'd spoken to him, touched him, since he'd rescued her from the fall in the garden. "Your Highness?"
He used his fingers to tip her face back to his. "Yes."
Shay furrowed her brow. Or was it Dayne, playing another trick? What perfect timing, after she'd just bumped into Milos and learned the truth.
"At your service." He nodded and gave her a soft smile. "But I must warn you, I'm also called Tavin, a no-good jerk."
He read minds too, much like Dayne. Shay narrowed her eyes. Let him think she didn't know. "Are you checking up on me?"
"No." He pulled her closer to his body. "I came here to seduce you. I'm tired of waiting. I know what I want." He cocked his head and looked down at her. "Why else would I have come?"
When she didn't respond, he spun her onto the floor and pulled her in tight to his body, moving her around the room with grace a man that size shouldn't possess—like Dayne. "Tell me Shay, what do you want?"
"Your Highness, I..."
"Tavin, please."
Yeah, right. Play it up. You're not fooling me again. "You're not supposed to be here."
"No."
He wasn't even supposed to see her before the final selection, be influenced in any manner, and the real prince would have respected that, but not Dayne. What was his game? To see if she'd dump him for the prince, or was his purpose a way to release her? "I don't think it's appropriate to associate with you before the final selection. It seems so—dishonest. I would hate for someone to say you showed favoritism because we knew each other."
"Does it? Seem dishonest?" He moved her toward a dark corner of the room. "They can say whatever they want. I've already made my choice. How is that dishonest?" Once he got her away from the crowd and tucked behind his mass in an alcove, he backed her against the wall. "So, I'll ask again. What do you want?" He dragged a finger along her jaw. "I have yet to take a wife—a princess."
No Ruellan prince would ask a courtesan to become his aeternus. "I... Dear gods, did you just suggest...?" Did Dayne really think she was that stupid? Only one way to find out. Her fingers closed on the fabric of his jacket, and she gave him her best flabbergasted look, keeping her mind trained on something across the room, as he'd taught her, preventing others from reading her.
"I did. You can be the queen. Have children, anything you desire. You will be worshipped and adored by all. Will you be my aeternus?" Instead of waiting for her answer, he leaned in and captured her mouth. Jolts of electricity shot to her fingers and toes, zinging through her body on high voltage. The man was nothing short of a sexual high, an endorphin rush, regardless that he pretended to be someone else. But something about that kiss seemed different—almost desperate. Dayne was never desperate.
He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "So, you didn't answer my question."
"You didn't give me a chance. You had your tongue crammed down my throat."
"That's what I've always loved about you—that mouth, and I'm dying to explore it more. But first, I really need an answer. Tell me you didn't feel the connection from the moment we met? Since that day in the garden, you've been all I could think about. I knew you were meant to be more than my courtesan, much more. I've followed all your training, learned your likes and dislikes. You are who I want by my side. Say yes."
"I..." Dayne couldn't possibly think that she'd buy into the prince wanting her as more than a courtesan. "What about Dayne?" Until this moment, she'd thought she'd made up her mind, decided to walk away from becoming the courtesan, live her own life, maybe with him. But now, after this little deception, could she trust him? Was he trying to push her into accepting the calling, if chosen?
She pressed her hand to her forehead. She loved Dayne, but perhaps he didn't feel the same, that she'd fallen like a fool, and this was his way to break away from her and not feel guilty about it?
"I was hoping you'd feel the attraction. It's why I paired him with you." He leaned closer catching her in his gaze. "Why are you so convinced I'm not who I say I am? Do I kiss like Dayne? Smell like him? You've been with him for weeks. Surely you can tell the difference?"
He does want me to forget him.
"I—"
Need to run. Punishing him, playing his game, wasn't as fun as she thought it would be. The urge to cry hit so hard she could barely breathe, and looking him in the eyes became impossible. She ducked under his arm and charged toward the ballroom. How could he do this to her? If he didn't want her, he didn't need to play this game to get her to accept the inevitable. He could simply tell her he didn't want her.
"Where is your Dominus?" the prince imposter called out behind her. "He's not doing a very good job of keeping an eye on you. I shall have to have a word with him."
She turned around and asked the one question she knew would irritate him. "What?"
He didn't react. It always got a reaction. But not this time. No glare. No telepathic jab. Nothing. "Why would he leave someone as desirable as you alone, free for the taking? When you are not free for the taking."
"I'm free to make my own choices. You told me so, Dayne. Enough. I get it. You don't want me. Point made."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. I know a brush-off when I see and hear one." Shay turned back around and left him behind.
***
Leaning against a wall, Dayne had watched the entire engagement. From all appearances, the prince had told her he'd selected her as his courtesan. So why didn't Shay look happy about it? Could she have decided to cast aside the role of courtesan to stay with him? Gods, he could only hope so. Dayne pushed off the wall and walked up from behind her, desperate to know what occurred between her and the Ruellan prince.
"So, what was that about?"
She stopped and gave him a smile, the kind that made him want to duck and cover. "I think I just got a marriage proposal, but you already know that, don't you?"
"A marriage proposal?" No. He hadn't been expecting that. Tavin never said anything about marrying her, just that he wanted to train his future courtesan. "Ruellan princes do not marry their courtesans."
"Really?" She put her hands on her hips and glanced back to see that Tavin had disappeared. "You sure you didn't pull a switch on me? I have to tell you that wasn't funny. If you didn't want me, you didn't have to go to all the effort. You could have told me." Her eyes teared up.
He wanted her. That was the problem. It was hard to keep from becoming attached and as the days went by, he knew he'd fallen in love and completely lost his objectivity. He was going to tell her tonight. And then Tavin showed. "What would make you say something like that?"
"After you played this little game once, pretending to be Milos? First you pick me up pretending to be an asshole, who really isn't an asshole, and then the prince appears out of nowhere and, need I point out, disappears just as fast, after he drops an offer meant to knock my world off its axis. I'm not even sure I know who you are, who the real you is, or if you weren't pretending to be the Ruellan prince, which I'm pretty damn sure you did."
"That wasn't me." Dayne raised his hands. "I swear I only pulled that once, when I pretended to be Milos. I thought you might recognize me. I needed to—"
Shay whipped around and left him in a cloud of perfume and fury.
Dayne went after her. "It was part of your training." He grabbed her arm to stop her.
She glanced down at his hand and back up into his face. "I'd take your hand off me, if I were you—if it's you."
He let go. "This is the real me. That was the prince, and whatever offer he made, was very real—but I don't want you to take it. Please listen to me. I love you. I can't think of what life will be like without you. Please, Shay, don't go. I'll make the same offer, right here, right now—give up being a Dominus. I can't give you everything he can, but I can love you until I draw my dying breath."
"Right." She turned to go and he grabbed her arm again. Shay threw him to the floor. The crowd around them froze and stared. The room had gone so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat. "I'm going upstairs, packing, and leaving."
"You can't leave."
"I can, and I will. I'm not spending the night with you—whoever you are."
She grabbed her skirts and ran up the stairs, going as fast as she could go. Until she hit the landing and was out of sight, she kept a straight face. As she rounded the corner, out of view, she dropped to the floor, visualized a solid dome around herself to prevent any eavesdropping, and began to sob, pounding on the wall.
***
Dayne groaned, closed his eyes, and lay back in the middle of the dance floor, ignoring the crowd that stared down at him. How could he compete with royalty? Nothing he could say or do would convince her she belonged with him, even when he'd admitted the truth and screwed his friend over.
Of course she'd take the prince's offer. What woman wouldn't? She'd been raised to be a companion to the royal couple, but this had to be more than she could have ever dreamed of. How could she say no, and damn it, he couldn't fault her for saying yes. Soon enough she'd find out the offer was legitimate and their fight wouldn't help. The trick he'd played when he first met her wouldn't help, either.
Milos stared down at her. "You're just going to let her go?"
"How can I compete with that?"
"She loves you, and I'd say you have a pretty good chance." He gave him a wicked smile. "But you have to ask yourself, if you weren't training a courtesan, then what was going on?"
Dayne frowned. "What are you getting at?"
"Well, the contract was to train the future royal courtesan. Did you stop to think for a moment it wasn't Shay that was being trained, but you?"
"I'm the one being trained?"
Milos raised a brow. "I'm just saying. If he'd already decided to make her his princess, and he told you he was training his future courtesan, maybe he meant you."
Dayne's eyes widened. "I assumed the courtesan would be a woman, that..."
"You assume too much. Now go patch things up with Shay before she never forgives you."
"I don't understand. He said he selected me because I was the best, I was Toric and Ruellan, that I'd served in his army, was his friend, and wouldn't betray him by taking the woman he wanted."
"He selected you to be his courtesan for all those reasons. I drew up the contract. I know what it says. Didn't you read the fine print? It stated you were to train as the future courtesan, to be a consort to both the prince and his chosen princess—not to train the courtesan."
"Gods. And Shay doesn't know?" Dayne sat up. Well, now what?
You get off your ass and fix this.
He blew out a deep breath and climbed to his feet. Milos stepped to the side and nodded toward the stairs. Now or never. If he wanted her, he had to give up everything to have her. After this, he'd never work as a Dominus again—because he'd be the royal courtesan.
And nothing ever had felt more right.
***
"Why do you cry?"
She looked up and sniffled. "You again." Here he was upstairs, sitting against the wall watching her, when the house didn't have an anti-grav lift. In the time it had taken her to get there, he couldn't have climbed to his feet and beaten her upstairs. Reality sank in like a bag of stones dropping to the bottom of a lake. Her stomach lurched.
"Please just stop and listen to me for a moment," he said.
"So you're really the prince." Dayne hadn't played another trick on her. The man before her truly was Tavin, and he'd really proposed to her as her Dominus had said. Dear gods. She rolled from her butt to her knees and bowed before him. "My sincerest apologies, sire."
"Please, don't apologize for speaking your mind. I never pretended to be anyone I'm not, nor have I lied to you, but after reading your thoughts, I understand your confusion. The offer still stands. Be my princess, Shay, and for the gods' sake, get off your knees."
She shifted back to her butt and parked her ass by him. Leaning back against the wall, she sighed. She could have everything. Children. A handsome husband. She could be queen someday. But with everything she could have, there was one thing she'd be missing, one thing she wasn't sure she was ready to walk away from. She swallowed and looked him in the eyes. "Though your offer is unbelievable, something no sane woman would turn down, I..."
"You love him, don't you?"
She gave Tavin a weak smile and nodded her head. "Yes. Very much. I didn't mean for it to happen—it just did."
"Don't apologize. I'd hoped you would fall in love with him. You can't stop the power of the heart. No force is stronger, or harder to defeat. Trust me, I know this. It's why I sent you to train with my courtesan. You were exactly his type. You were always meant to be my wife—were raised for it, but Dayne, he was always meant to be by my side. You can still walk away, but hear me out, because you can have everything—including Dayne, if you take my offer. I know now he would give up everything for you."
Shay's heart skipped. "I'm listening." This was more than she could have ever hoped for. Keeping the life she knew, and Dayne.
"He will not only share you with me, but will be our friend, protector, family. It would be unconventional, something a Ruellan prince has never done, but when I was instructed to select a courtesan, I knew whom I'd choose, without a doubt. I've known ever since you fell out of that tree. You broke the rules, were not afraid to take risks. I wanted a woman who was passionate, didn't try to step into a pre-cast mold, wasn't afraid to be herself, or take chances. That woman is you.
"I knew in my gut you were perfect for us, all we'd ever want or need. From that moment forward, I followed your studies, watched as you trained. I began to put a plan into place, one that would give us all everything we could need or want."
"You were friends before he came here?"
"We still are." Tavin scooted up next to her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. His other hand dropped to her thigh. Sparks ignited from his touch. He reminded her so much of Dayne, but also seemed a little more serious, intense. "You've grown even more beautiful since I've last seen you. You wear love well."
Heat rushed to her cheeks. "How long have you known him?" She wanted to know so much more about his relationship with Dayne, why he'd make this offer.
"He served as one of my personal guards for star cycles, from the time we were young children. He has been my companion since we could walk. His father commanded my father's military and Dayne's family lived in the garrison, inside the palace." He smiled softly.
"I wondered why I'd never seen him." The courtesans were housed on the left wing of the palace, far from the garrison.
"Oh, you met him once, when you fell out of that tree." He chuckled.
"That was Dayne?"
"Oh, yeah. We never went anywhere without the other. We were always into trouble, a trial for our fathers. We explored the galaxy, fought side by side in conflicts, loved and held the same women—have always been the best of friends, even when worlds away from each other. He was always my companion, and when he left, I'd lost someone very special to me, someone I didn't want to live without. I've reached the age of thirty star cycles, and need a wife. You are all I've ever wanted for a bride, a woman who will stimulate me mentally, physically, and set my bed on fire. I see the passion in your eyes, Shay. I saw it when I first met you, and I see it now."
"How can you be sure I'm the one?"
"I'm sure." He grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Dayne and I have always shared women, but my father put a stop to it several star cycles ago. I have to settle down, have no choice, but I need Dayne—my best friend as I go through this next stage of my life. The only way I could sneak this past my father was to send you to train with Dayne. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"That I don't have to walk away from anything—give up Dayne." She wrinkled her brow. "Are you and Dayne...?"
"Gods no." He laughed. "Our relationship has never been like that. We are... like brothers, and what has always been mine, has been Dayne's. So, I must ask. Would you be willing to take two lovers to your bed? Do you have room left in your heart for me as well as Dayne? I would never think of asking you to choose between us—I simply ask you to love us for our strengths and weaknesses. Dayne's weakness is his hard-headedness. He would give up anything to keep a promise, including the woman he loves, and I'm not going to let him do that—never intended for him to do that. Even if you say no, I will not deny him happiness with you."
"So whatever I do, I don't have to leave Dayne?"
He nodded again.
"My whole life I've been trained to be a courtesan, and knew I'd be expected to have two lovers, but I'd always assumed it would be another woman, and that I would have to share your affections with her. This would be different, but I can work with it." She gave him a smile. As she looked into his eyes, things made sense. Her place in the galaxy was set, between two men who would love her and give her more than she could ever have dreamed of.
"That's my girl. Now let's go find Dayne and get out of here. I hear there are some pretty hopping clubs around Elatia and I want to celebrate. This party is a little stuffy." He rose to his feet and pulled her up beside him. Tavin reached into his pocket and pulled out an amulet. "But first, become my aeternus, my princess. My father can still stop this until I've taken my wife. Then he has no say." He held it up, lights sparked inside it, dancing with internal fire. Her heart began to pound.
Tavin looked away from the crystal and at someone approaching behind her. She turned to see who.
"Tavin."
"Dayne. Milos said he gave you the message? Took you long enough to get up here."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did, but you didn't read your contract carefully. I couldn't be too obvious. I didn't want my father to shut my plan down. He's still king until I take my aeternus."
"So what are you waiting for?" Dayne turned to Shay. "I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you about the arrangement, for reasons I'm sure you now understand, but I swear I did not know it was I who was being trained to be courtesan." He dropped to his knees before her and took her hands. "I would be honored to be your courtesan, princess. If you will still have me."
"I would have nothing less, but I'd already decided not to leave you, even if it meant giving up a kingdom."
"In that case..." The prince reached into Dayne's pocket and pulled out an amulet similar to the one he'd presented her with. "Let's make it a threesome and forget the whole courtesan bit."
Dayne grinned. "This is highly unconventional, Tavin. Whatever will your father think when you bring home both a wife and a husband?"
"He'll think nothing has changed, and it hasn't, nor does it matter. Once I've taken an aeternus, Ruella is mine. He has no say in what I do, and I still need you by my side, regardless the past, or that he'd exiled you from our world." The prince palmed the amulet and grasped Dayne's hand. "You're a stubborn bastard. If this is the only way I can get you to come home, so be it." He palmed the other and grasped Shay's hand, lacing his fingers into theirs. "Forever, then."
"Forever," Dayne and Shay said together as the amulets branded them.
Once the process ended, Dayne lifted his palm and looked at the design. "How did you know I had the amulet?"
"I'd have done the same thing in your place. She's not the kind of woman you let slip away and you're not an idiot. Besides, you're not very good at being inconspicuous. You've been reaching into that pocket all night to look at it." Tavin pulled her into his arms, holding her back tight to his chest, and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Who wouldn't want her? I want to party all night, and then I fully intend to show Shay all the benefits of becoming our bride."
Dayne shot Tavin a mischievous glance. "Sounds like a plan."
Feeling the beat of Tavin's heart behind her and looking into Dayne's eyes, Shay bit her lip. "This plan doesn't happen to involve that mermaid thing, does it?"
***