Grabbing his jacket, he slung it over his shoulder. It was really too bad she was so shy. His body was aroused, his shaft hard and ready for action. He glanced down at his erection. He was rather big in that area. Women often were apprehensive of his size and she was a mere slip of a thing. Maybe that’s what had scared her off. It would make sense.
Walking back to the ship, Reid thought of Jasmine’s beautiful face. He frowned in disappointment. It was too bad. That was one memory he’d like to have made.
6
Jasmine’s hand shook as she lifted it up to the door scanner. The light shone over her hand, reading her palm. Why was she so shaky? This wasn’t like her. All she could think about was Reid’s face, his roguish smile. But that was all she thought of him. She couldn’t feel anything else. It was impossible.
Maybe her heart actually was getting worse. The door slid up, and she stepped inside. Maybe she should take another pill.
“Where have you been, darling?” Chad said as soon as the door slid shut. His voice was calm, pleasant, but there was a hard edge to his words that Jasmine knew well. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”
Jasmine swallowed. The room was dim, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darker light. The corridor outside their room had been bright.
The suite was nice, rich. They always stayed in such places. As far as the material side was concerned, she had a great life. The front room had thick red carpet and a matching red couch. She found Chad sitting on it, a martini in his hand, almost empty.
“I won the door prize,” Jasmine said. She walked over to the food simulator built into the wall. “Doctor Lowenstein stopped me and asked where I wanted it delivered. I had to give them directions.”
“You won?” Chad asked. “The medical booth, was it?”
“Yes,” Jasmine said. She pushed a button on the food simulator and said, “Earth Martini, dry, two olives, one onion.”
The machine dinged, and Jasmine opened the door. She took the drink out and turned to Chad. His eyes were narrowed in on her. Only from years of practice was she able to keep her face expressionless. She met his eyes.
“And where is this medical booth?” he asked. “If you won it, where did they put it? I’d like to see.”
“I…” Jasmine hesitated. Chad looked a little drunk, but she didn’t point that out, as she took a step toward him. “I donated it. I said that is what you’d want me to do since you’re normally so generous. I thought it would look good for you if we did that. It’s not like we needed it or anything.”
Jasmine knew she lied. Chad wasn’t generous, unless it suited his purpose. She bit her lip, handing the martini forward. He finished off the drink he had and placed the empty glass on the low cherry wood coffee table.
“Did you,” Chad said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” Jasmine tried to force a smile, but it was difficult. Chad didn’t seem to notice. “Many of the doctors were there. They were very impressed by your generosity. One even said that a generous, giving spirit was the mark of a true doctor.”
Chad reached for the drink. Jasmine started to pull back, but his hand darted out to grab her by the wrist. He jerked her forward, standing as he did so. Squeezing her in his grip, he took a slow drink of his martini. When he’d finished the entire thing, he set the glass down by the other empty one.
“And just who did you donate it to?” he asked.
“The—the savage men who Doctor Martens—ah-aah…” Chad squeezed tighter, and her words died with a yelp.
“You like him,” Chad accused. “Is that where you were, Jasmine? With the savage man?”
She gasped, shaking her head frantically. “No, no, of course not! Why would you think I liked him—them?”
“Him?” Chad repeated, pulling her arm so she was forced closer. Her wrist hurt from the strain, but she didn’t complain.
“Chad, please, no,” she said. “You know I can’t do anything like that. It’s impossible. Besides, they’re—they’re savages! They’re primitive. Don’t look at me like that. You know I can’t do—”
“Ah, but nobody else knows your damning secret, wife,” he said, his tone low. “Do you think I was the only one who noticed you staring at them? What do you think the other doctors thought? Your tongue was practically hanging out of your head like a whore in heat.”
“No,” Jasmine answered. “No, Chad, darling, you know that’s not true. I was appalled by them. They’re frightening primitives. I must have forgotten my pill, what with the excitement of your speech today. I know how important it was for you. You did an exceptional job by the way. Everyone at our table said so.”
Chad pulled her closer to his chest, and she felt the entire length of his body against her. She shivered. “I counted your pills. They are as they should be. You’ve taken your pill today.”
“Oh,” Jasmine said, looking at his jaw. “Then maybe you need to check my dosage? I haven’t been feeling well. Maybe it’s all the excitement, or maybe I’m coming down with something. I did feel a little dizzy earlier.”
“You look beautiful today,” Chad said.
Jasmine tensed. His tone had lowered. She knew what that meant. Her voice a whisper, she managed, “Don’t you have to go and meet with the doctors? I wouldn’t want you to miss out on anything. You—”
“I think it’s time I reminded you of who your husband is,” Chad said. He leaned over and tenderly kissed her temple. She flinched. “It’s been awhile.”
“I haven’t forgotten.” Jasmine tried to keep the begging out of her voice. “You don’t have to do this. I know who my husband is.”
“Shh, honey,” he soothed. “Now, go and undress and turn out the lights. I’ll be in the bedroom in a second.”
Jasmine hated herself even as she undressed. Sex was an unfortunate part of marriage, a part she had no interest in. Luckily, for her, it was something they didn’t do too often. It was the same reason she let him go to other women. She much preferred it that way.
In a strange way, she felt sorry for him. He’d married a frigid woman. That couldn’t be an easy thing for a man to face.
When they were first married, she’d tried to connect to him. In fact, she’d felt the stirrings of attraction to him, but then they went on their honeymoon, the attraction never blossomed. In fact, it was as if she were dead inside. He touched her, and she felt nothing. Any man touched her, and she felt nothing, not that she’d let other men touch her. Jasmine couldn’t blame her husband for his anger that first honeymoon night.
Jasmine thought of Ambassador Reid. She felt nothing physical for him, no real longing. Her heartbeat picked up. She pressed her hand to her chest. It was a strange sensation, and it was beginning to scare her.
Hearing voices in the front room, she crawled out of the bed and slid on a robe. It was almost with a sense of relief that she heard someone with Chad. Hopefully, he’d be distracted from her and would forget all about wanting to connect with her. Going to the door, she sat down and listened.
“Doctor Ellington, please, do come in,” Chad’s voice said. “I’m honored…”
Jasmine lay on the floor in front of the door, wincing as she put some weight on her sore wrist. Chad had squeezed it really tight, and she could tell it was going to bruise. Luckily, she had brought her long sleeved dresses and a pair of white gloves. They’d cover it without a problem.
Looking through the narrow space between the floor and the bottom edge of the door, she couldn’t see anything but the legs of the furniture. She heard a muffled greeting. There was some conversation back and forth. She turned her ear to the crack of space. The food simulator dinged once, then once again. Chad was fixing drinks. She heard a creaking sound that made her assume that the men were taking a seat on the couch. When they again spoke, their voices were clearer.
“We at the Medical Alliance were very impressed by your speech today, Doctor St. Claire. We like your ideas,” Doctor Ellington said.
“Oh, p
lease, do call me Chad,” her husband said, affecting a fake laugh that Jasmine hated.
“Chad, I’m going to come straight to the point. We’ve had our eye on you for quite some time, ever since you worked with Doc Francis in Zigar,” Doctor Ellington said. “I’m sure you have some assumptions about what we do, but you don’t know the half of it.”
Chad was silent. Jasmine frowned. Doctor Francis? Doctor Francis? She was pretty sure she’d never met him.
“How’s your wife?” Doctor Ellington asked.
“My wife?” Chad repeated. “She’s sleeping. Why do you ask?”
“Family is very important to us at the Alliance. If you were to be brought in, we’d want to make sure you had a good solid family life. A man is only as good as the order in his home.”
“You have nothing to worry about with Jasmine. I have her well in hand,” Chad said. Jasmine frowned. The way he said it, it was so cold, heartless. “She’s a good wife.”
“Can she bear children?” Doctor Ellington asked. “Surprisingly, we don’t have much in the way of her medical records. Either she’s very healthy, or she never uses a medical unit when she’s sick. I notice from your file you don’t have any children.”
“Actually, my wife is surprisingly healthy, not a thing wrong with her,” Chad said. “In fact, I can’t remember her ever having need of a medical booth since we’ve been married.”
Jasmine frowned. All right, she could see him not wanting anyone to know his wife was frigid, but to say she was healthy? It was a boldfaced lie. She was far from healthy. Her heart started beating strangely again.
“And we were just talking about having a baby tonight,” Chad added.
A cold, icy grip squeezed over her heart, nearly choking her at his words. A baby? With Chad? No. She couldn’t bring another life into this marriage. She… No. No. If she had any doubts as to what she was going to do, Chad’s words gave her the final bit of strength she needed. Ambassador Reid might have said no, but she was going with him whether he liked it or not. Thank goodness she’d heard his plans about leaving tonight, or she’d miss her only chance.
“With Doc Aleksander gone,” Doctor Ellington said, “we’ve been left with a big opening that needs to be filled. I’m not offering you the position—yet. But, well, let’s just see, shall we? Congratulations on the baby. I think it’s a wise decision, for your career with us.”
Doc Aleksander? Jasmine froze. Doc Aleksander was a Medical Mafia boss. The galactic news had just reported that his spaceship crashed. Doc. Doctor Ellington had said Doc Francis. He must have been another mob boss. Chad was working with the Medical Mafia, and now he was joining them full force? Suddenly, many things in her married life made sense. In the past, she hadn’t understood Chad’s decisions, but now it was clear. He wanted to join the Medical Mafia.
“Come on, let’s go to the party. We can discuss this later,” Doctor Ellington said.
“Let me just check on my wife,” Chad answered.
Hearing footfall, Jasmine jumped up and ran for the bed, not bothering to strip from her robe. She pulled the covers up just as the bedroom door opened. Closing her eyes, she pretended to sleep.
“Jasmine, honey?” Chad said. The door closed, and she felt more than heard him crossing over to her. “Jasmine?”
She didn’t answer, focusing on keeping her breath even.
“Jasmine?” he said, a little louder.
She mumbled softly as if sleeping.
“Hm,” Chad said. After a brief pause, she heard the bedroom door open and close.
Jasmine waited, not moving as several seconds passed. The door opened and closed a second time, and she knew this time Chad had really left. He’d tested her like that before, seeing if she actually slept. She waited until she heard their muffled voices leaving before opening her eyes.
Sitting up in the bed, she looked around the dim bedroom. The time had come. She needed to abandon her marriage.
“Goodbye, Chadwick,” she whispered.
7
Reid stretched his hands over his head and yawned. His personal quarters aboard The Conqueror were nice. Rectangular in design and constructed mostly of metal, it had a comfortable bed and plenty of space to move around and relax. There was a dresser built into a wall. A small decontaminator, which used lasers to cleanse the skin, was built adjoining the room. Reid much preferred the use of water baths, but the decontaminator was fast and efficient.
They’d taken off the night before, and he was happy to get away from the planet of Nozando. For some reason, Jasmine St. Claire was in his dreams. She wasn’t doing anything special, at least nothing he’d have done with her if she had been in his home back on Qurilixen. In fact, she’d been sitting on his couch, talking to him. What was stranger was that he’d been talking back, without trying to seduce her into his bed, or his couch, his floor, his balcony, his...
Reid groaned at the thought. He’d never invited a woman into his home, other than one of the farmers’ wives who’d come to clean for him. He couldn’t remember the dream conversation, but he remembered that he’d been interested in what Jasmine had to say.
Reid frowned and thought of her lush lips. He’d much prefer to have a sex dream about them, not a talk dream. The Galaxy Playmates had probably drained him of his sexual appetites more than he thought. Feeling a familiar pull between his thighs, he glanced down his naked body. His shaft was full and very painfully erect.
No. That wasn’t it.
“Computer,” Reid mumbled, his voice sleepy. He didn’t feel like taking care of his own problem. A cyber girl would be agreeable this morning, especially if he could get one that looked like Jasmine. “Is the VR free?”
“No, sir,” the computer’s monotone answered. “The virtual reality room is currently being used by crew members Dev and Jackson in battle simulation.”
“Already?” Reid grimaced. “What time is it?”
“Eleven, sir,” the computer answered, the voice emotionless.
“Hmm.” Reid knew that, in space travel, calculated time was all but useless. Outside was almost always dark, unless they were flying too close to a sun. They merely kept track of the hours so they could have a sense of normalcy. Jarek and the others were used to it. As Reid was the least experienced crewman, he was still adjusting.
“Would you like me to inform you when they are finished?”
“No, thank you, computer.” Reid scratched his stomach. “Computer, give me a personal viewing screen above my bed.”
A nearly transparent screen flashed before him. It was completely blue, sending a soft glow over the metal room.
“Computer, play preset channel,” Reid ordered. He grinned slightly as Viktor’s Earth porn flashed before him. The Var prince could appreciate the thoroughness of primitive Earth’s self-documentation. It was such a great idea to train men and women in how to enjoy sex with visual tutorials. Every time he turned the shows on, the strange background music made him want to laugh. However, it didn’t stop him from watching and enjoying. Humans were very inventive, and some of their positionings even gave him new ideas.
The on-screen woman’s moans were soft and panting as her partner pumped into her from behind. Reid ran his hand down his stomach, intent on beginning his morning ritual of self- pleasuring. Really, there was no better way to start a day.
The memory of Jasmine’s face drifted through his mind. Not being one to waste such a good fantasy, especially when it served to turn him on more, he closed his eyes and focused on remembering her lips and solid dark eyes. The womanly moans filled his head as he imagined it was her mouth on his shaft as he fisted himself, the sound of her voice panting, “Oh, oh, yeah, give it to me. Give it all to me, stud!”
The fantasy was so pleasurable, so much better than anything he’d had in a long time that he began to squirm. His knees lifted up, his heels pressing into the mattress as he really got into it. A low moan sounded, and he was surprised to find it was his voice that produced it, not the
viewing screen. He squeezed harder, imagining Jasmine biting down on him, sucking, licking. His stomach tensed, the pleasure built until it was almost painful. Then, with a gasp of pure astonishment, he exploded, heavily spilling his seed all over his stomach.
Reid lay still for several minutes afterward, his body numb from the intense release. The on- screen woman kept going, moaning for more. The fact that her voice sounded nothing like Jasmine annoyed him, and he called to the computer to turn the porn off.
“Sacred cats,” Reid whispered, a little awestruck by how good his climax had felt. Just fantasizing about Jasmine was better than a lot of the sex he’d experienced in the past. He wondered what it was about her, besides her obvious beauty. Maybe it was the fact that she’d wanted him but had backed out. That had to be it. It was because he hadn’t had time to seduce her before leaving Nozando that made him want her so badly. She was the one night stand that got away.
Reid sighed. It had been a very long time since a woman had played hard to get with him. The natural hunter in him missed the chase, the thrill of overcoming the prey, the glorious feeling of conquest. Usually with just a few charming phrases and a couple of smiles the women were wet and ready for him.
Jasmine St. Claire was just a delectable itch he’d not been able to scratch. If he ever ran into her again, and that was a big if, he’d make sure to give everything he had to get her out of his system. If he ever saw her, he’d charm her out of her dress, into his bed, and right out the door. Then he’d just chalk her up to another pleasant memory.
Not, Reid again assured himself, that he expected ever to see her again.
8
Jasmine’s whole body ached. It didn’t help matters that her wrist was sore from Chad’s hold to begin with, or that she was now cramped into a cargo hold with her one piece of luggage, unable to move around or stretch. A metal seam in the container was along her spine, poking her. She’d been curled in the cargo hold all night and was still too scared to crawl out of it. The ship could have motion detectors in it, and she didn’t want to risk setting them off, at least not yet.
The Rogue Prince Page 4
