“Come and meet Retsae. We must hurry. The rest of the troop will arrive soon to disturb our privacy.”
“The rest of the troop?”
“You’ll see.” Jannike rolled her eyes and shot a narrow-eyed glower at the silent men with them. “The guards have already blabbed about our destination.”
Jazen followed Jannike from the flymo. Second Street contained a combination of businesses. Food, clothes, a store selling ugly black insects, one with a scantily clad woman standing out the front and a travel bureau. There were others, but the queen swept her away, guiding her toward an estaminet.
“Queen Jannike!” a beefy man with a delicate green complexion boomed from across the room.
Silence fell until Jannike said, “All right people. Nothing to see here. Stop gawking.”
“Retsae, I’ve brought you someone to meet. She wishes to start a business baking pies, and I believe you might be interested in working with her.”
The big man cocked his head and wiped his hand down his hunter-green apron as he assessed her. “I would need to taste your pies before we come to any agreement.”
“Of course. I need to try them too,” Jannike declared. “Is there a spare table for us?” She glanced around the crowded estaminet. “Ah! We will sit at the bar.”
“Your majesty! No, I will move some of my customers,” Retsae said.
“No, I enjoy sitting at the bar,” the queen stated in a firm voice.
Jazen followed her, amused despite herself. It was impossible to stay downcast with the queen bossing her around.
“Your usual?” Retsae asked.
“Please,” Jannike said.
They’d barely seated themselves at the bar when the drinks attendant set two steaming tankards in front of them.
“You.” Retsae’s intense brown gaze bored into her. “What is your name? What pies would you bake to sell to my customers?”
“I am Jazen Lav,” she said, speaking her true name for the first time. “To start, I would bake a savory pie. And also a sweet pie. Once I had learned the tastes of the customers and talked to them, I might make a special pie each day, one to use the available local produce. I would keep the menu to the three pies. Not too much choice to make it easy for the servers.”
“You will give me a shopping list to make your two pies. I will arrange for the ingredients to be here tom-cycle. Make the pies in my kitchen, and my customers shall judge their quality. Do you agree?”
“Yes.” Jazen bobbed her head with enthusiasm. Cooking allowed her mind to settle. Making her pies helped to bring sense to her tumbled musings. Even if Retsae hated her pies, she could plan and finesse her methods. “But I would prefer to choose my ingredients at first. I will shop in the market.”
“Very well.” Retsae turned to the queen. “Should I save that table for your friends?”
Jannike beamed. “Retsae understands my friends. They didn’t approve of me getting you alone. They wished to weigh in on your relationship with Nanu. Thank you, Retsae. That is a good idea.”
Jazen sipped from her tankard with caution, taking a bigger drink when the tart hot juice met with her approval. A sweet pie would match this drink perfectly. She could call it a queen pie. The savory pie, perhaps a king pie. And the pie that changed each day, she’d call the market pie since its type would depend on the ingredients available on the cycle.
“Well, have you decided?” Jannike asked.
“I am coming to cook pies here tom-cycle.”
“No, not that. About Nanu,” the queen said with clear impatience.
“She will discuss that with Nanu,” a gravely masculine voice declared from behind them.
She and Jannike shifted to view the owner of the voice.
Two large men, both with black hair and green eyes, stood behind them.
“My mates,” Jannike said drily.
The king and the duke? Jazen swallowed, fiercely glad she wasn’t standing because she feared her legs would fail her. Royalty surrounded her. Her. The daughter of a prostitute and the prostitute’s customer.
Nanu and Kaya ambled into the estaminet next. Well, Kaya ambled while Nanu had a distinct limp.
“Ah, and the rest of my friends. You couldn’t have dawdled,” she demanded. “I hadn’t finished speaking with Jazen.”
“You’re still here,” Nanu said.
Jazen read his fear, his concern she might have left and the angst inside her settled a fraction. “I’m still here,” she agreed. “Tom-cycle, I am baking pies for the customers to trial.”
“Excellent.” Nanu beamed with satisfaction.
“Nanu, you owe us a drink,” Kaya said.
“I have saved you a table.” Retsae gestured at the large space in the corner with a wave of one beefy hand.
The group of friends settled around the scarred table, some shouting greetings to other customers. Nanu swept Jazen along and seated her beside him. Under the table, he reached for her hand and squeezed.
Annoying tears blanked her sight again, falling even though she attempted to blink them away. Finally, she admitted the truth to herself. She hungered for what these people had.
Friends. Family.
Loyalty and love.
She risked a glance at him. Nanu didn’t seem angry. He was sitting beside her, holding her hand.
“Are you staying?” he asked in a low voice. “Do you want to? Will you stay with me?”
“I-I… Do you still want me here after everything that has happened with Chobe?”
“You aren’t responsible for his actions.”
“But—”
“I want you to stay with me,” Nanu said.
Hope flared in her at his certainty.
“All right.”
If he changed his mind, she could still leave. No matter what his friends believed, she’d never draw attention to this man or place him in danger again.
He squeezed her hand, his eyes crinkling at the corners. His hair tendrils stroked her face, and one wrapped around her neck, tugging as he leaned closer to kiss her.
“Wow, your tendrils are handy,” Kaya said.
Jazen didn’t hear the next comment since she was too busy enjoying the slant of his lips against hers, the hungriness as he kissed her deeply. When he raised his head, she heard the clapping and cheering coming from his friends.
Once everyone settled, he spoke to her in an undertone. “Can I help you tom-cycle? I can take direction in a kitchen. Please, I’d enjoy seeing you work. I won’t get in the way.”
“Your help is welcome.” She secretly thrilled because her cooking interested him. The owner of this estaminet and Nanu’s friends had gifted her with an opportunity, and trepidation already stalked her mind. Hopefully Nanu’s presence would steady her since she wanted to embrace the future she’d only dreamed about until now.
“Are those hair tendrils part of your new crazy powers?” Kaya asked, leaning closer so neither Jazen nor Nanu had a chance of ignoring her.
“What crazy powers?” Jazen asked.
Nanu didn’t seem any different. It’s true she hadn’t noticed his hair at first, but he’d set her on edge with his teasing and she’d never lingered. She’d escaped his presence at first opportunity and concentrated on finding Amme Vanak.
“As members of my race grow older we gain in strength. That’s all Kaya meant,” Nanu said.
Jazen didn’t miss the hard glaring demand Nanu sent his friend. Curious, she cast her mind back and came up blank. Yes, he was strong, and he’d seduced her without breaking a sweat. No, it wasn’t important. Nanu was a man of integrity, and one she trusted.
After their drinks, Jazen wandered back to the castle with Nanu and his friends. She climbed the steps leading to the upper level and wandered across the square to the main gate. Nanu held her hand the entire time, and equal parts of fear and excitement battled for supremacy within her mind.
There was no doubt of her confusion.
Her once clear future had grown murki
er than a Gruseics fog.
“What will you do with my brother?” she asked.
“He will stand trial for abduction, fleeing Viros without clearance and any other charges I can make stick,” Ellard said as head of security. “We will call witnesses, and he will have a fair trial.”
“I’ll have to testify against my brother?” Seeing him again… Reliving the betrayal. A cold sweat broke out on her back and chest. She barely suppressed an accompanying shiver at facing Chobe. Yet she’d do it because it was the right thing to do.
“Possibly,” Ellard said. “It depends on what comes of my investigations. We’re making enquiries about Hanoid. If we learn that he and Chobe are wanted on another planet, it’s possible we will ship Chobe to that planet.”
“We’re going back to my chamber,” Nanu informed his friends once they entered the castle.
Kaya cocked her head, a sly smile curving her lips. “Will we see you for dinner?”
“Yes.” Nanu urged Jazen toward the exit.
“Promise not to be late,” Kaya said. “We don’t want our meal to spoil because we have to wait.”
“Ignore the comments.” Nanu slipped his arm around her waist and guided her toward his chamber. Nanu halted her once they were out of sight of his friends. “It will be all right, Jazen.”
Nanu sensed she didn’t believe him, shock at Chobe’s lies and cheating evident in the way her stare turned unfocused. The way unshed tears shimmered in her eyes. Her brother had done a job of slicing and dicing her confidence. The brother she thought she’d known hadn’t existed and had certainly never loved or cared for her. She probably felt much as he had after losing Yep, and it would take time for her to regain her equilibrium.
He took her hand again because the physical contact eased the slight fear building inside him. Being abducted hadn’t bothered him as much as Jazen’s silence. Her patent unhappiness.
His inner beast roared to life, an urgent need to comfort her. He drew her against his side, lust grabbing him without warning. His mouth filled with sweet honey as his teeth lengthened, the points sharper than normal.
Eager to reach his chamber and gain privacy, he lengthened his steps. Jazen kept pace. Out of patience, Nanu swept her into his arms. With ground-eating steps, he traversed the entrance and audience rooms and entered the corridor that led to his sleeping chamber.
“You don’t have to carry me.”
“I’m an impatient man.” He glanced down at her, passive in his arms, and determination swelled within him. They were the perfect team. His friends were already coming around, seeing in her what he saw.
Nanu reached his chamber and let her slide down his body, the friction sending his pulse leaping. “I’ve decided to leave the talking until later.”
“Oh.”
Nanu grinned, comforted by her reaction. He shunted her inside, then shut and locked the door and sucked in a huge breath to calm himself.
“Your gattoc is still here,” Jazen murmured as they walked into birdsong and the tinkle of water. “It’s hard to believe this is your chamber.”
“I expected my normal chamber,” Nanu said. “I can’t believe Leeam and Sheera are doing this for us. Come.” He extended his hand and once she curled her fingers around his, he led her into his gattoc.
A soft breeze fluttered the gauzy fabric while a bird tweeted and chirped from one of the forest trees. In the distance, he fancied he heard the water tumbling over the falls.
Once inside, he pulled her closer and touched his nose to hers. Her sweet scent tugged at him, urging him to hurry.
“Nanu,” she whispered, her eyes wide. She reached up to cup his face with her hands, and Nanu smiled, his pulse jumping with anticipation. Jazen made him forget everything, even the lingering tenderness in his leg.
He slanted his mouth over hers and sank into a world of sensations and possibilities. If only Jazen gave Viros a chance. It was a fine place to live, and he’d hate to leave his friends. The family he’d adopted.
“You taste sweet.” Her tongue slipped past his lips to savor him, her actions prodding his inner beast into greater urgency.
He continued kissing her as his hands got busy with her clothes. A dimple he hadn’t noticed before dug in to her cheek when he tangled her up trying to take off her tunic, and his mood lightened, some of his angst fading.
“Back up,” he ordered, pushing her lightly away from him.
Jazen smiled and untangled her arms from her tunic. She whisked it over her head and let the black syncotton fall to the floor. After toeing off her boots, she tugged off her trews and undergarments, dropping those with her tunic. She cocked a hip, posing a little and basking under Nanu’s regard. His eyes sparkled and when he smiled, she caught a hint of fang, which she’d come to learn meant arousal.
“You’re slow,” she chided.
“You distracted me on purpose.”
“Maybe.”
Nanu lifted his tunic over his head, exposing the thick slabs of muscle on his chest and the ridges of his abs. He watched her as he removed his boots and foot coverings, and continued with his steady gaze while he lowered his trews.
“Where did you get your underthings?”
“Told you before. Picked them up at a small planet we visited.”
She sashayed closer and ran her fingers along the band that clung to his hips. He shivered at her touch, and when she cupped the bulge of his cock, his patience snapped.
He snatched her up and dropped her on the gel-pad. She stared up at him, her lifeforce muscle beating rapidly. Then, his arms wrapped around her, their lips clinging. The sweet honey she always tasted when she kissed him filled her mouth. Her tongue flicked out and dueled with his.
Hands cupped and teased her breasts, driving her to a point of hunger. A mystery. A few kisses and gentle touches from Nanu and lust simmered through her. Past lovers had left her mind untouched. Not so Nanu.
He parted their lips, dragged his mouth along her neck. He nipped a little and soothed the sting with his tongue. The spot tingled, and when he nipped again and drew against her flesh, she moaned. He sucked harder, and she clung to him, the bite of pain flushing pleasure through her nerve endings. She shivered, the slickness between her thighs growing.
Nanu lapped a circle around one nipple and repeated the action when she squirmed.
“Nanu, please.”
“You please me, sweetheart.”
“I ache.”
He stood to strip off his undergarment and her gaze traced his jutting shaft with unabashed curiosity. She watched him observing her as if her feminine hunger pleased him. A deep rumble escaped him.
She blinked. “What was that?”
“Me showing appreciation of your pretty body.”
Her lips shaped to an O and heat surged to her cheeks. He grinned as he joined her on the gel-pad.
“I need to compliment you more.”
“No one has ever told me I please them.” The truth. Azarious used to grunt when she handed over his percentage of bounties. Chobe used to hold out his hand, and she had seldom received a thanks. Hindsight had her gritting her teeth.
He let out another rumble and pressed his lips to hers. His addictive sweetness washed over her, making her dizzy and hungry for his touch. Their lips and tongues dueled as they shared themselves and stoked the pleasure humming between them. Her hands crept around his neck to draw him even closer while she struggled to contain the demand soaring through her mind and body. She wanted him inside her, but no. Now that he had her in his arms, he slowed, and varied his kisses. Short kisses. Soft kisses. Tender kisses. He nuzzled her neck and sucked her smooth, soft skin.
Another of those masculine rumbles escaped him, and he nibbled, his teeth scraping her flesh in a way that pushed decadent sensations to life. Her quim moistened, her nub aching with need.
“More,” she demanded.
Nanu lifted his head to stare at her, his hooded eyes heavy with lust and male adoration. “Yes,” he whi
spered and dipped his head again.
He licked the slender column of her neck, gliding downward until he lingered at a pulse point. Jazen sighed, lazily running her hand down his arm. His sharp teeth pricked her skin, but instead of hurting, her lifeforce muscle beat harder and faster. She moaned, pressing against him, urging him onward. To do something, anything to assuage the craving building inside her.
Without warning, he bit down, slicing his sharp teeth through her skin. His mouth pulled at her neck, but not a shred of alarm surfaced. He sucked the lifeforce from her, each pull and draw of his mouth pushing waves of pleasure through her veins. Her world shrank to Nanu and the tremors he pulled from her willing body.
The sensations built and built until she trembled beneath him, balanced on the cusp of something bigger. Nanu eased away, and she moaned at the loss. Why was he stopping?
“Grata. I shouldn’t have bitten you so hard.” Regret and shame shaded his words, and alarm flitted over his features.
“It felt good. Fantastic,” she said, her voice emerging thick and slow. She had to push out the words.
He seemed to hesitate, then he dipped his head again. He licked the wound, gathering her lifeforce. His eyelids lowered, shading his gaze from her but he seemed to enjoy tending her. She shuddered at each drag of his tongue and wriggled against him in silent demand.
“Touch me, Nanu.”
“Yes,” he said simply.
His hands cupped her breasts and strummed her nipples. He spanned her hips with his callused hands and rearranged her body, splaying her legs.
Each touch, each caress stoked her pleasure until she feared she’d detonate and lose any semblance of control.
“Open your eyes,” he whispered. “I want you to see me as I love you.”
“L-love?” She stumbled over the word, shocked that he’d utter it to her.
“Yes, sweetheart. You must sense my regard for you.” He ran his tongue along the slit between her thighs, his hot breath against her sensitive tissues pushing her to desperation. His hair tendrils stroked and hummed, adding to her sensual frustration.
“Jazen?”
To her annoyance, he’d lifted his head, denying her the pleasurable strokes that were driving her body to madness of the best kind.
Betrayed & Seduced (House of the Cat Book 6) Page 17
