by Renee Rose
Fine.
She lifted her chin, offering access to the collar at her throat.
Seke’s lips twisted. Was it admiration she saw there? Or pride? She’d pleased him, if she read him right. And judging by the spike of excitement surging through her, she liked pleasing him. Far too much.
She held her head high, following Seke, who kept a steady, gentle pressure on the leash, never tugging it too hard or at an angle that hurt her neck.
The first guard they passed flicked his eyes over the leash and quickly averted them, as if embarrassed. Her own face flamed in response, but she stiffened her spine, not faltering.
Seke led her to the Great Hall, where Zander sat. It was his receiving day, the one planet rotation of the week in which Zandians who didn’t live on the pod could visit to request his assistance, or seek justice and permission to use the crystal bath, which was necessary to maintain their energy. As she understood it, Zander settled disputes, acting as both lawmaker and the arm of justice for his species, who preferred to keep to themselves, rather than engage with the Ocretion justice system. As an ambassador to the United Galaxies, he represented their nearly extinct species and used his influence to assist any Zandians entangled in problems with other ruling bodies.
An elderly Zandian female bowed to the prince and exited, presumably for the crystal bathing room their species used for recharging. No one else waited to see the prince.
Thank the stars. It would be embarrassing enough without an audience.
Seke led her up to the throne, where Zander sat, his large hand curled in a fist at his mouth, his eyes vacant.
He wore the same troubled, pained expression she’d seen on him when she first arrived, when he’d been ready to send Lamira away for deceiving him. He hadn’t known the secret she kept—that she had special psychic abilities—was not a danger to him, but a complement.
She dipped into a low curtsy. “My lord.”
His eyes traveled from the leash to its holder and back again. “Leora.”
“I have come to beg your pardon, my lord. I owe you my service and loyalty. I should have warned you of Lamira’s plan to leave with Rok.” She found it easy to speak the words because they were true—at least from the Zandian’s perspective. It didn’t mean she would do anything differently if she had it to do over again.
Zander’s jaw tightened at the mention of Lamira leaving. He stared unseeing over Leora’s shoulder for a moment. Obviously, he hadn’t forgiven Lamira yet.
He ignored her, flicking his gaze to Seke. “How is the obedience training going?”
“Well, my lord. Nearly complete.”
“And her punishment?” His cool gaze returned to her, assessing.
Her belly tightened, even though the punishment was over. Or was she excited by the humiliation of having it discussed? She worked hard to keep her breath even, her gaze lowered, while her cheeks burned.
“Complete.”
There was a moment of silence, as if Zander expected Seke to expand on his statement, but her new master did not. She had a momentary fantasy of Seke lifting her robes to display her marked buttocks, and while she’d never forgive him for such treatment if it really happened, the idea tweaked her. Moisture gathered between her legs.
Zander rubbed his forehead. “Leora, I expect your loyalty. You will inform me if Lamira puts herself or the young at risk again. Agreed?”
She curtsied. “Yes, my lord.”
“Dismissed,” he muttered, closing his eyes as if his head pained him.
“Thank you, my lord.”
Seke led her by the leash down the main hallway and turned into the private corridor leading to his room. He stopped a few paces down it and turned to her. He released the clip of the leash from her collar and cradled her face with both hands, tipping her head forward to meet his lips—a chaste, fatherly kiss on the forehead.
Veck, she wanted those lips on her mouth, demanding her attention. She remembered the way they’d felt on her sex—oh sweet Mother Earth! She’d never forget the pleasure he’d brought her.
“Well done, Leora.” He did not release her head but stared directly into her eyes. “Beautiful female. You have such strength. Awareness. Just a fragile human, yet you are more powerful than most warriors.”
A shiver tingled down her spine, as if he’d just issued a benediction.
His eyes dropped to her lips, and the irises turned to a dark amethyst.
Kiss me.
One moment she was sure he would pull away. She watched indecision dance there, and his gaze shutter. And then he slammed her up against the wall, his mouth on hers, stealing her breath, teeth nipping her lips, tongue demanding entry.
She lifted one leg and wrapped it around his waist, and he palmed her ass, still kissing her like they could die tomorrow. Steadying herself with her hands on his shoulders, she picked up the other leg and straddled him, bringing the hard bulge of his cock to her dripping core.
He kissed and sucked down her neck as he rocked his hips and pushed his heavy erection right where she wanted it.
“Seke,” she gasped. “I want…” She didn’t want to say it. It seemed crass or vulgar. But she also sensed Seke required coaxing.
“I want your cock inside me.”
A shudder kicked through Seke, but he pulled away as if in pain. Her feet dropped to the floor to hold her weight.
“Leora, I can’t.”
“Because the prince said I’m not to be used that way? Surely with my consent—”
“No. I’m sworn to another.”
Her breath stopped, choked by the tightness in her throat. Or was it her lungs? She couldn’t breathe with the heavy boulder that had landed on her chest, crushing her with its weight.
~.~
Leora looked as if he’d struck her. Her face drained of color, and her mouth opened in shock.
Stars, he wished to absorb the pain he’d caused.
I want your cock inside me.
Had she really said that? Veck! Pulling away when she’d uttered those words had nearly killed him. His balls ached, heavy with repressed vecking need. But his own discomfort was inconsequential compared to the damage he’d just inflicted on Leora.
He caught her chin. “She’s dead,” he said quickly, before her shock morphed to anger, and she unleashed a star storm of fury on him. Because he had no doubt it would come. “But she has my vow nonetheless.”
Shock eased into something softer—was it sympathy? “You lost a mate in the Finnian takeover. And a child?”
A steel band cinched his throat, barely allowing oxygen to pass. “Three children. An infant boy and two girls, seven and eight solar cycles.”
“I’m so sorry,” Leora whispered.
He didn’t want to tell her—he’d never spoken of it, although Zander had tried, on occasion, to acknowledge the sacrifice he’d made. Yet Seke felt compelled. Leora had to know why he could not take her. A strong and beautiful female like her never should feel rejected or betrayed.
“As Master at Arms, I was sworn to protect the king, the royal bloodline. When the Finn attacked, it was a coordinated hit from all sides of the planet. I was able to extract Zander, but there was no time to find my family. I asked one of my guards to get them out.” He couldn’t finish it—not the rest. The guilt and sorrow rising up nearly swallowed him.
As if she was willing to take on the pain he’d held at bay for so long, her beautiful green eyes swam with tears. It ripped open the wound he’d thought long closed. Pressure built behind his eyes and nose.
She touched his forearm. “I’m sorry you had to make that choice.” Her lips trembled so sweetly.
He was glad she hadn’t said he’d made the right choice, or the wrong choice. Hadn’t told him he’d done the honorable thing. Or that the survival of his species and, hopefully, one day, recovery of their planet were more important than saving his family. All the things he’d been telling himself for the past twenty solar cycles.
He pushed h
er back up against the wall and leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. His fingertips brushed down her cheek. “If things were different, Leora…”
She turned away from him and, this time, nothing he could say or do sheltered her from the rejection. She heard it, understood him. And protected her heart.
Veck!
He didn’t want her closed off from him. Didn’t want to agonize now over how he’d betrayed her, in addition to his family. Vecking Zander shouldn’t have put him in this position.
But no. He should have played it differently. Should have remained impersonal with his mastery of her. Won her respect with pain and consistency alone. Except he knew that was an impossibility.
He eased back and let her go. When she glanced over her shoulder, waiting for him to lead, he wanted to drop to his knees and weep. How could he have won her allegiance, bonded with her, and yet not keep her?
“Would you like to see Lamira?” His words came out sounding forced, throat still clogged with unchecked grief.
The startled joy on her face worsened the ache in his chest. “Yes, please.” Her soft voice held no stiffness or rancor.
He dropped an arm around her waist and guided her in the direction of Zander’s chamber. The prince normally worked from his chamber, but he’d been away from it almost constantly since they returned to the pod. Staying away from Lamira, no doubt.
Zander may not approve of this visit, but Leora deserved it, and Lamira probably needed a friend to talk to, as well.
He tapped on the door first, knowing their holograms would be projected into the room to let Lamira know they were there. He doubted she could open the door herself, though, so he pressed his palm to the panel by the door for the scan. As Master at Arms, his handprint worked everywhere in the palatial pod, even on Zander’s door.
Lamira flew at her mother the moment the door opened. “Mother,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around Leora’s neck. When she drew away, she fingered the collar, her eyebrows drawing together.
Something in his solar plexus tightened. He didn’t want to see the accusation on Lamira’s face when she realized he’d been the one to punish and train Leora.
She turned to him, her face tight. Her beauty struck him even more, now that he’d memorized every line of Leora’s perfect bone structure. Lamira’s was the same, only she was younger and pregnant, so she radiated vitality, too. Even so, she didn’t hold a candle to Leora. His Leora.
“What does the obedience training entail?” Her voice came as little more than a whisper, and she worked to swallow as she watched him.
He found he didn’t want to answer. Every answer he could think of would degrade Leora. Because he had degraded Leora. Still, what happened between them had been behind closed doors. No one else, save Zander, need know. Instinctively, he moved to place a protective hand on her shoulder, as if he might shield her pride.
Lamira’s expression softened, though, and he wondered if she’d “read” something with her psychic ability. “Of course you’d take care with my mother,” she murmured. “Thank you.”
Her acceptance, her thanks, made something uncomfortable slither in his belly. He didn’t deserve her gratitude, and yet, the fact she’d offered it felt like forgiveness, of a sort. His throat constricted. Unable to speak, he bowed deeply and stepped backward, out the open door. “I’ll come back for you, Leora,” he managed to say.
She curtsied. “Thank you, master.”
Thankfully, the door swished closed before she saw his surprise. She’d called him master easily, without hesitation. And in front of her daughter. Had he truly won her allegiance? Her bond? Her…
No.
Love had nothing to do with this. Or anything else.
~.~
Leora looked into her daughter’s wide-set green eyes, wondering what she knew.
“He’s protective of you,” Lamira observed.
A trickle of warmth swirled in her chest. “Yes.” He always had been, though. On that first planet rotation when Daneth had brought her to the pod, Seke had defended her against Daneth’s probing, soothing her with a form of chivalry she’d believed long dead in their culture.
Of course, the Zandians weren’t part of their culture. Their species may live on Ocretia, but they lived by a code far different.
Lamira grabbed her hand and tugged her toward a sitting area with a small hover table for two. “It’s not been too horrible, then?”
Her face grew warm. She perched on a hover chair across from Lamira, who pushed a pouch of juice toward her. “Some parts, horrible. Some parts…”
Wonderful.
Did she really think so? Yes. Seke had offered her something she’d never experienced before—such pleasure, such...wonder. With him, she’d discovered the paradox of finding strength within surrender. She’d learned to trust a being other than Lamira, and had her trust rewarded. But more than that—Seke truly saw her. He looked into her very being and understood her, perhaps better, even, than she understood herself. And despite all the humiliating and painful things he’d done to her, there had always been an underlying respect and care.
She didn’t want her training to be over. Being with Seke had become an addiction. She craved his touch, his attention, his nearness at all times. He occupied her every thought. She wanted more of him.
“He won’t have sex with me,” she blurted.
Lamira’s eyebrows shot up, and she choked on the juice she’d been sucking from a long tube. “Why not?”
“He’s been mated. Remember? You told me once you thought he lost a wife and child.”
Lamira nodded. “I remember. I had a flash of it when I first met him. An infant.”
“It was actually three young. He carries enormous guilt because he saved Zander instead of them.”
Her daughter’s eyes rounded with the same sympathy she experienced for Seke.
“I believe his sense of honor made him choose his duty to the throne over love.”
“Sweet Mother Earth. That’s a terrible thing to live with.”
“I know.”
“No wonder he never smiles. But what does that have to do with having sex with you?”
She frowned. “He told me he was bound to another. He meant his dead mate. It’s another honor thing— I don’t know. Maybe a Zandian custom. Don’t they mate for life?”
Lamira tapped her lips. “Yes, but wouldn’t for life mean until one of them dies? If she’s dead, can’t he mate another?”
She shrugged, her chest a hollow locker, empty for Seke. “Apparently not. He seemed sorry about it but told me he couldn’t be with me. And I know he wants me.” She hadn’t expected it to be so easy to talk to her daughter about sex.
A tap sounded on the door and Barr, Zander’s amiable chef, entered carrying a tray of fragrant food. “Master Seke told me you two might like to share a meal,” the elderly Zandian said with a bow.
They both beamed at him. “Thank you so much, Barr,” Lamira said. “That was thoughtful of both of you.”
He lifted the lid from the dish to reveal a beautiful savory pie of some sort. “It’s egg and vegetables. An ancient recipe from Earth. It’s called quiche. Should be very nourishing for the young.”
Everyone in the palatial pod doted on Lamira as the carrier of Zander’s young. Both Daneth and Barr constantly researched human nutrition and sought traditional foods to strengthen her constitution.
Lamira touched his arm. “Thank you. Truly, Barr. It looks and smells delicious. I can’t wait to try it.”
Skin blushing lavender, Barr bowed several times and backed out the door.
Leora served Lamira a piece of the quiche and took a slice for herself. Even though she’d grown Earth-based produce on the agrifarm, they hadn’t had access to the fresh food, relying on tasteless, packaged nutrition packs provided by their masters. Here, everything she ate burst with flavor. The love with which Barr prepared their food, combined with Zander’s access to high quality meat and produce, mea
nt they sampled the finest foods available in the galaxy. Eating had become a nearly euphoric experience. She took a bite of the egg dish, trying to dissect the various flavors. A light, flaky crust, rich, creamy middle with some kind of herb to enhance the flavor of the vegetables. A layer of thinly sliced nutmeat covered the top. “Mmm,” she said, her eyes rolling back in her head. “So good.”
“It’s better with company,” Lamira said, a note of despondency at her confinement in her voice.
She reached out and squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Tell me about Zander. He hasn’t forgiven you, has he?”
Lamira set her fork down, and Leora regretting saying anything that stopped her daughter from eating when her body needed the nutrition for the baby. “He won’t talk to me. He forbids me to speak when he’s in here, and he’s never in here anymore. I don’t know what to do. I think he truly feels like I would leave him—or would choose my family first over him, but that wasn’t it.” Lamira’s voice had taken on a pleading quality, as if Leora was the one she needed to convince. She wrung her hands, and her eyes grew watery. She dashed at them with one finger. “I’m so emotional anyway with the pregnancy,” she explained.
“Of course you are. Maybe you could write him a message. We could have Seke send it, perhaps? Explain you would never leave him, and you’d known it was the only way to get him to engage in the battle to save Lily.”
Lamira sighed. “It doesn’t sound much better that way. I put my life and his unborn young’s life in danger and manipulated him into doing something he didn’t want to do. It’s no wonder he’s hurt and angry.”
“Your sister’s alive because of what you did,” Leora reminded her, the burn of her daughters being strangers to each other still smarting. “She wants to visit us,” she blurted.
