“We had noticed that,” Amun said dryly.
Leto tugged at the bows at her side. “The robes are floor-length; no one will see anything.”
Luxi gripped the silk. “But I’m not ... I don’t ... You just don’t go around without underwear!”
“Are you kidding? Under heavy court robes?” Leto bit back a grin as he stood up. “It’s done all the time.”
Luxi almost stomped her foot. “But I don’t!”
Amun covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes briefly. “Unless you bring attention to it, no one will be the wiser.”
“You’re not serious?” Luxi’s fingers tightened on the robes. “No underwear?”
Amun lowered his chin. “Mind your hands, don’t crease the silk.”
Luxi released the robes and tucked her hands behind her. “Amun, I don’t walk around without underwear!”
Amun rolled his eyes. “You’ll survive an evening without panties, I promise.” He caught her shoulders and turned her toward the open door by the dresser. “We have much to accomplish and not much time to accomplish it.” He nudged her toward the next room. “Go.”
Leto stepped into the room ahead of them, not even bothering to hide his chuckles.
The next room was enormous and done in black marble and silver with deep scarlet carpeting. The monstrous bed commanding the center of the back wall was twice the size of hers, and draped in black velvet. A massive black marble and smoked-glass desk took up one entire corner.
Leto picked up a short silk robe of deep black from the edge of the bed and shrugged into it. “Is this going to take long?”
“That depends on Luxi’s download speed and how many files she needs.” Amun walked to the desk and turned the black leather chair toward Luxi. “Sit here.” He leaned over the desk to pick up a data-feed cord.
Luxi gathered the robes and sat carefully in the leather chair. The rich silk slid sensually against her bare rump. She scooped her long hair out of the way of her data port and leaned forward. “I really need to tie this hair up.”
Amun carefully plugged the data-jack into the port at the back of her skull. “I prefer to see all those wanton, fiery curls down.”
Wanton, fiery curls? Luxi rolled her eyes. “I noticed, but it gets tangled on everything.”
Amun leaned over the desk to access the holographic keyboard display. “I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.” He turned and flashed a smile. “Let’s see what you need.”
Luxi felt the scan shimmering at the back of her thoughts.
“Ah, your array and interfacing are quite current, but you definitely need data files, including a number of languages.” He tapped the top of her hand. “Incoming data.”
Luxi closed her eyes and cleared her mind. It was better to simply let it go where it needed to be without bothering to scan through it. It saved on download time.
“Are you going to tell her?” Leto asked softly.
Luxi opened her eyes.
Amun had his back to her, facing Leto. “Of course.”
Leto raised his brow at Amun as he tied a knee-length robe of deep silver over the black silk. “Now would be good.” He picked up a black sash and his eyes narrowed. “Before the jewelry?”
Alarm jangled along Luxi’s spine. “Am I in some kind of trouble?”
“Not at all.” Amun lifted his chin but did not turn to face Luxi. “You are safe from Vincent and listed on my staff as my personal secretary.”
Safe from Vincent and gainfully employed, thank glory! Luxi released a sigh. “Then Vincent’s claim was false?”
Amun peered at the floor. “Not quite.”
Luxi’s hands tightened on the arms of the chair. “Not quite?”
“Amun ...” Leto rolled his eyes. “Just say it.”
Amun turned to face her, but his gaze was focused on the holographic display floating over his desk. “I’m afraid that to put you on my staff, I had to pull what is known as a dirty trick.”
A dirty trick? Luxi’s frown deepened. “What did you do?”
Amun pulled a shimmering card from his pocket and held it up. “I jumped Vincent’s claim.”
Luxi froze. A ripple of unease went through her. “Is that my data card?” The words came out breathlessly.
Amun turned to glance at her, then turned away. “Yes.”
“The kiss ...” Luxi’s pulse pounded in her throat. He had taken the card when he kissed her. “You put in a counter claim, only you had the card.”
Amun nodded. “And your verbal consent.”
Luxi blinked. Fate and glory ... Yes, he did. In the garden, she had formally “consented” to his service.
Leto cleared his throat. “I had your DNA.” He carefully avoided looking at her as he tied his robe.
Of course he did. They had just finished sex.
“Then I’m ...” Luxi’s breath stopped in her throat. “I’m ...” She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t even think it. Her heart ached as though a fist had tightened around it. “Is it done?”
Amun held her gaze. “There were no delays in the processing.”
Leto shrugged into a floor-length robe of black and steel gray. “You were done before you walked into the shower.”
Luxi took a small shallow breath. This was it? This was the future she had chosen? Her new future was as an indentured employee, a legal slave? She stared down at the scarlet carpet, concentrating to access her talent and scan the lines of possibility. Her line of synchronicity was broad, with few knots. Clearly a future marked by very few decisions; a life under someone else’s control. Mother of glory ... A shiver raked her.
Amun moved to her side in a whisper of rich silk. He dropped to one knee and set his warm hand over her chilled fingers. “Luxi, I had not intended for this to happen, but it was the only way to keep you out of Vincent’s hands.”
Luxi stared hard at Amun. “Then why did you ask for my ‘consent’?” No employer asked for consent; there were too many legal connotations. And why, by glory, didn’t I think of this before, when he asked for it? She looked away and her cheeks heated. Oh, that’s right, I was still getting over my screaming orgasm.
Amun dropped his chin and his cheeks flushed. “I will admit to considering it -- that’s why I asked -- but I had already decided that it was unnecessary.” He caught her gaze and his jaw tightened. “Vincent’s active claim made it necessary.”
Luxi bit her lip. Amun had to be telling the truth. It was too ... unreal to be anything else.
Amun pressed her fingers and stood up. “I swear I will take very good care of you.”
Luxi took a slow deep breath. There wasn’t a whole lot she could do at this point. It was done. She was indentured. She was owned. Fate and glory, it didn’t feel real at all.
“Just so you know, you’re not the only one.” Leto wrapped the black velvet sash around his robes at his waist.
Huh? Luxi blinked at Leto. “You’re ...” She still couldn’t say it. “You, too?”
“Yep, only with me it was deliberate.” Leto jerked the knot on his sash tight. “One minute, I’m a freelance contract assassin, and the next, Amun has legal rights to everything I own, including my person. He blindsided me.”
Amun smiled tightly. “You should have been paying attention.”
Leto snorted and started to pick up knives from the bed. “I was a little busy at the time -- trying to keep you alive.” He tucked small blades here and there into his sash.
Amun glanced over his shoulder at Leto. “And I was attempting to keep the Imperial guards from executing you on sight.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better about being at the end of your leash.” He smiled cynically at Luxi.
Amun leaned over the desk to check the data he was downloading into Luxi’s mind. “You don’t appear to be suffering.”
Leto lowered his chin and peered from under his brows. “You trapped me with a legal loophole.”
“I honestly didn’t think it would work.�
�� Amun turned back to face Leto. “I assumed you had made provisions for it.”
Luxi frowned up at Amun. “What did you do?”
Amun abruptly blushed and stared down at the carpet.
Leto scowled. “He claimed salvage rights.”
“Salvage rights?” Luxi shook her head. “I don’t see how?”
Amun sighed. “Leto is listed as a cyborg, but in actuality he’s completely non-biological; therefore, he’s technically ...” He paused, biting his lip.
“Dead.” Leto lifted a long black sheathed sword and belt from the bed. “I’m technically a fully functional corpse.” He pulled the sword belt around his hips and buckled it. “He got a verbal consent out of me for something else, then broke into my ship’s logs for the rest of the information he needed.”
“I did not break in.” Amun poked at the holographic display hovering over the glass desktop. “You voluntarily let me into your ship’s system.”
Leto frowned and picked up more blades from the bed. “Not that far.”
Amun shrugged, but a smile played on his fill lips. “Was it my fault your codes were easy to guess?”
“So it was my fault you trapped me?” Leto knelt to tuck a blade into the top of each boot.
“You should have been prepared for the attempt.”
Leto straightened and groaned. “Arguing with you is like arguing with a bulkhead!”
Amun grinned suddenly. “This comes as a surprise?”
Luxi glanced from one to the other. The argument between Amun and Leto sounded more like practiced banter than a real argument. The sarcasm was loud and clear, but it sounded more like two very close friends bickering, not like real grievances. She felt a smile creep onto her lips. They sounded like an old married couple.
Leto rolled his eyes but couldn’t quite bite back his tight smile. “For someone who is serious about the truth, Amun, you have no problems changing the rules when no one’s looking.”
Amun’s brows lowered. “I don’t need to change the rules. Most people are simply unaware of how to use them properly.”
Luxi raised her brow at Amun. “You sound like a lawyer.”
Amun snorted. “I’m a diplomat. We’re much worse.”
Leto shook his head. “He’s not kidding. I’ve seen him in action.”
Luxi tilted her head to look up at Amun. “Should I be worried?”
Amun sighed dramatically. “Oh, it’s far too late to worry now.” He turned and smiled down at Luxi. “And that appears to be all the files you need at the moment.”
“Thank glory ...” Luxi leaned forward so Amun could unfasten the data jack. She only hoped that the new information was in the proper place and she could access it when she needed it.
Amun coiled the data jack and set it on the desk. He lifted his head to look over at the door. “Ah, dinner has just arrived.”
“It has?” Luxi’s stomach took that moment to growl.
The main entry chime sounded out in the hall.
Amun’s glanced down at her, his eyes wide then smiled. “With perfect timing.”
Luxi frowned toward the door. “How do you know who it is?”
Amun tapped his temple. “Our service has recognizably loud thoughts.” He looked over at Leto. “Shall we go?”
“Thank the Maker, I’m starved!” Leto lunged across the room to open the door to the hall.
Luxi stood up and tugged at her hair. “Go where?”
Amun smiled. “The informal dining room.”
Chapter Eleven
Across the hall, the “informal dining room” may have been small, but it certainly wasn’t informal. Artistic frosted-glass fixtures spilled golden light down the deep-burgundy walls. The long wall directly across from the door was commanded by a huge window with a gorgeous view of space. The round table that seated six was covered in a white cloth that looked like real Terran damask, the plates were Shido porcelain, and Luxi strongly suspected that the water tumblers were Dinarian crystal.
The food displayed in the heated silver tureens looked incredible. Luxi was pretty sure she recognized a few of the vegetables, and the sliced roast floating in steaming juice smelled like it was from an actual bovine, rather than processed.
Leto dropped into the chair on the right and started scooping food onto his plate.
Amun rolled his eyes, winked at Luxi, and walked around Leto to sit in the chair on Leto’s right with his back to the window.
Luxi took the chair on Leto’s left, facing the window, with her back to the door. She set her cloth napkin in her lap and served herself from each of the three steaming tureens.
Amun promptly started asking about her former duties at the last three companies she’d worked in.
Luxi replied as politically correctly as possible. She had never found it good business to mention some of her former employers’ nastier habits.
Amun then posed a pile of questions on his personal schedule.
Luxi answered succinctly and smiled. Apparently, Amun was checking to see if the information he’d downloaded was filed properly. Then she realized that Amun’s questions had been posed in a variety of languages. Well, damn, looks like my translator’s up to speed. She sipped at her water to cover her smile. Her translation program had worked so smoothly, she hadn’t noticed.
Amun smiled. “So, you finally noticed that I was testing your translation program?”
Luxi choked, just a little. Telepathy or a good guess?
Amun raised a brow and smiled.
Ah, telepathy. Luxi used her napkin to cover her smile. She opened her mouth to make a comment and her inner scheduling alarm went off. Amun’s appointment was in ten minutes. She rose from her chair. “The negotiations appointment! We’re going to be late!”
Amun set his glass down. “Ah, the ten minute warning.”
Luxi nodded.
“Good.” Amun rose from his chair and smiled. He turned to Leto. “Are we ready?”
Leto set down his fork and used his napkin hastily. “Yep.” He tossed the napkin onto his plate, stood up, and headed for the door. “Let’s go.”
After collecting Luxi’s heavy cream court robe from where they had left it on the bed, they left the guards standing by the suite door and strode deeper into the suite’s apartments. In a small side alcove was a lift door. Leto pressed the call button on the side and leaned back against the alcove’s wall.
Luxi blinked at the blank reflective door. “You have your own private lift?”
Amun patted her shoulder. “It is standard in diplomatic suites. For far more secure arrival at conferences.”
Amun and Luxi stood at the back of the lift, facing the door while Leto applied a slide key to the menu panel on the door’s right. He punched in a destination, nodded, then leaned back against the right wall. He focused on Luxi and his smile became decidedly lascivious.
Luxi’s cheeks heated under Leto’s stare. She scowled. “What?”
“I was just thinking ...” Leto folded his arms and lifted his knee to prop one booted heel on the wall behind him. “About the panties you’re not wearing.”
The air exploded from Luxi’s lungs. “Leto!”
Amun covered his mouth, closed his eyes briefly, and inhaled deeply. “Children, this is not the time to play.”
Leto raised a brow and his smile broadened. “That never stopped you.”
A small smile lifted Amun’s lips. “That is entirely beside the point.”
The lift door opened on a hallway painted a deep gold with autumn-red carpeting. An energy grid crackled before the door at the far end.
Leto stepped out of the lift.
Luxi took a shuddering breath. Just beyond that grid were the crowned heads of whole planetary systems. It was exciting. It was terrifying. Luxi froze. What was she doing here?
Amun took Luxi’s chilled hand and folded it over his arm. “Relax. You are only required to sit still and be pleasant to anyone who addresses you.” He drew her from the lift with a s
mall tug.
“Sit still, be pleasant. Okay.” Luxi tugged her mouth into a smile. “Sounds like every job I’ve had.”
Amun grinned. “The display may be rather pretty, but I assure you, you will find the conference itself to be deadly dull in a matter of minutes.”
Leto turned back to grin at her. “Do what I do -- stare out the big window.” He frowned and stopped, then turned to face them. “Amun, the jewelry?”
Amun jerked to a halt. “Oh, yes.” He reached into his pocket, and tugged up his robes to kneel down on one knee. “Luxi, may I have your left foot?”
Luxi blinked. “My foot?”
Leto stepped closer and offered Luxi his hand. “You’re putting it on her ankle?”
Luxi took Leto’s hand for balance and lifted her slippered foot.
Amun took her foot in his hand and enclosed a plain iridescent ring around her ankle. “No need to announce her status.”
Luxi’s heart thumped in her chest. It was a binding ring, meant to control the wearer by tapping into their internal robotics, their augmentations. They were worn by indentured staff to keep track of their whereabouts and actions. She looked up at Leto.
Leto peeled back his left sleeve to show her a similar ring. He smiled and shrugged.
She frowned. He hadn’t been wearing it earlier.
Amun released her foot. “There, that will take care of security’s concerns.”
Luxi felt a shiver in her mind and the hair lifted at the back of her neck. The ring was tapping into her internal computational.
Amun stood. “It’s only temporary. Security demands that all indentured staff wear them during conferences. I’ll take it off when we return to the suite.” He leaned close to her ear. “I know you’re not an assassin.” He turned to smile at Leto.
Leto’s smile soured. “Very funny.” He turned and headed for the sizzling grid. The grid snapped off to let him pass, then snapped right back on. He turned around. “Come on, you two.”
Luxi stopped before the grid and swallowed. That thing could kill her in seconds.
“Your clearance is already programmed.” Amun pushed Luxi gently after Leto.
Hard Candy Page 21
