13
Agents employed by Command Intelligence accepted deep cover assignments with complete awareness of the potential need to commit morally gray acts for their monarchy. Some agents discovered ways to acquire desired intelligence without resorting to debasing themselves. Others enjoyed the thrill it brought to sexually manipulate their targets.
When given a choice, Veryn always relied on brute force and psionic finesse to handle the job. She studied the man sitting across the room and wondered which group he fell into—whether he’d known beforehand he would be playing the role of a pleasure slave. He hadn’t said a single word since Bennu brought him to the room the day before.
“Do you need anything?” she asked, not for the first time. His sunken gaze lifted to her, eyes dark and intense, and he said nothing. So she pressed further. “What about your name? Can I have that much at least?”
“My master has not given me a name.”
Annoyance pursed her lips as she considered how far to push. Her mind worked all the angles, chief worry among many being that he was a plant by Vashta to spy on Bennu. Then again, she ordered his death, so maybe not.
But couldn’t that have been another test, a disposable human who now had access to their private conversations? It would be a calculated maneuver but ultimately of little risk to Vashta who saw no value in humans.
There’s no way to find out for sure.
She would have to trust him.
“He won’t give you one. He’ll want the one you were born with. Or, at least, the one you’re using for your cover.”
His jawline tensed.
“They already know you’re a spy. Why not bloody speak with me?”
“Why do you care?”
“Maybe we can work together.”
He scoffed, a short, bitter sound. Trying to look at it from his perspective, she wondered what she might have done in his shoes, discovered and placed under watch. Not all prisons were behind bars. To him, this was just another trap. Another cage.
She needed a new tactic and a better way to talk without any risk of being overheard. She still didn’t trust that Vashta didn’t have any sort of surveillance on the room. Scooting closer, she allowed her knee to brush against his and projected her voice into his mind.
I need to get a message out, if you really can do it without the aliens deciphering the true meaning. She waited a beat, but he remained silent, his mind closed. I need to get a message to Queen Catherine.
A twitch, the slightest shift of his gaze, gave him away. Veryn pressed into his mind, pitting her will against his. The man wasn’t a psionic, but he’d been well trained to resist mental manipulations. Unfortunately for him, she knew how those walls were formed, and that allowed her to chip through them. Images rushed her mind, intimate memories of his pain and humiliation at Massui’s hands coupled with desire and ecstasy. Deeper in his mind, a stalwart sense of loyalty to his queen and country lay embedded beneath the persona of a trained pleasure slave.
He considered his mission a failure and would take his own life before betraying the UNE.
“Who are you?” he hissed when she released her grip on his mind.
“I am my master’s servant, tasked with discovering your uses,” she said aloud. Believe it or not, I am one of two people on this ship you can trust. Now then, can you get a message to the queen or not?
No, not to her directly. He studied her face with squinted eyes, but no recognition dawned. Nor did she expect any. He would have been undercover well before her face was ever released, and she doubted the Lexar onboard granted extranet access to their pets.
Veryn shifted to place herself behind the other agent and placed both hands on his shoulders. They tightened more. Does your handler have access? “Our master does not like uptight servants. Let me help you.”
Yes.
It wasn't much, but she admired his resolve to protect his sources. It spoke well of his training and his character.
Then I need you to get them a message when Bennu returns.
The traitor? You heard his threats, and I’m aware he is more than capable of carrying them through. Why should I risk his anger so soon?
Because he’s here for the same reason you are, I wager. I knew the UNE was aware of the Lexar rebel issue, but I had no idea we sent in our own spies.
The wariness returned, tensing his entire body. Who sent you?
No one. Myself, I guess. I came with Jin-Bennu from the Exemplar. “I promise I won’t hurt you.” The defined, whipcord musculature beneath her hands finally eased, but the thoughts rampant in his mind at last broke through with fleeting sparks of anxiety and open doubt.
You trust him? slithered through the agent’s surface thoughts, followed by a gently verbalized, “Thank you.”
At last, Veryn relaxed as well. Slow progress was better than none. Her head hurt from skimming his mind so long, the delicate work of crashing through such protected walls not without its drawbacks. With my life, came her mental reply. Which is why when I say “if you betray him, I will kill you,” I mean it. I’ll enjoy it far more than he ever would. But he saved your life, and these rebels are going to expect you to pass on false information.
The man chuckled. And you want me to use that to get your message through as well.
Yes. So how do you do it? How did you manage to not get caught for so long?
Because I use Massui’s codes.
Her brows shot up. How did you manage that?
I have been with my master for three years.
Three years undercover as a slave, suffering beneath the treatment of someone who believed humans were scum. Veryn could hardly imagine what he endured. Busy with her own assignments, she hadn’t realized Command Intelligence had been so far ahead of the game when it came to the rebels.
Of course I wouldn’t realize, she thought to herself. I had my own mission to accomplish without external distractions.
Veryn was only one agent within a network of potentially hundreds trained to explore the galaxy without ever learning the identities of their peers. They operated in cells, led independently of the Royal Navy to guarantee their absolute safety. It wasn’t too long ago that traitors to the monarchy had been uncovered among Command Intelligence.
Only her own handler knew of her mission.
And it was all together possible only one intelligence officer knew of this fellow’s vital task.
“You will have to speak with him eventually,” she said aloud. “It will displease Master Bennu if you do not.” Does Massui know?
“Will he punish you if I do not?”
“Yes.”
He sighed. “I am called Alexander.” As for Massui, I’m not certain. He has been irritable lately. When we were together, he sometimes spoke angrily about Vashta’s methods. He doesn’t agree with all her plans. Sometimes, I thought he went out of his way to leave me alone with his console. When he input his codes into the terminal, he knew I stood behind him and did it anyway.
Then he never changed them?
Alexander sighed. He never did. It seemed like a test initially until I realized he could kill me at any time with or without cause.
That was something, at least. A small crack that Bennu might be able to exploit. Even if they didn’t have an ally in the other Lexar, they could still use him to create a schism in the rebellion.
“Get some rest, Alexander. I am certain my master will have tasks for you once he returns.” And when the time comes to send out whatever misdirection Vashta wishes, you’ll have to slip in an extra infopacket.
What will I tell them?
Give word that you have found the royal heir and will need all hands on deck.
When Bennu returned to the small stateroom, he found dinner awaiting him and Veryn alone, freshly emerged from a steaming bath. She had just wrapped the towel around her slender frame, and water glistened on her bare shoulders.
Big feline eyes fastened on his and held seconds longer than was considered safe
in the presence of Vashta and her crew. He wanted to stare into those eyes for days, to touch and caress her and tell her how much she’d come to mean to him in just a handful of weeks.
The mere sight of Veryn sent his heart into a stampeding rhythm, galloping in his chest.
They could be watching.
Another voice, one less reasonable than his conventional wisdom, said, Veryn says the room is clean.
That means nothing. They could observe my activities through a dozen different technologies.
So what if they are? Bennu’s impulse demanded. So what indeed.
He crossed the room to her in three long strides and tore the towel from her grip before sweeping her into his arms.
“Master—”
Mine, he pushed at her with all the intensity he possessed, barreling the declaration into her thoughts. Those gold-flecked emeralds opened wider. She stared at him then melted as Bennu hoisted her onto the bed. She didn’t waste a moment of time in clawing open the fastening to his ship suit. Standing on the bed, she peeled down the layers of fabric past his chest, breath quickening.
He couldn’t resist the Frenzy another day.
Not another minute.
Her hot mouth lowered to his cocks and kissed the tip of each while holding them together in her two fists, lingering heat and parting lips enveloping the two. He groaned and grasped a handful of her hair.
“I don’t know what part of your body I want most right now, kitten.”
Her mouth came off him with a wet pop. “You definitely want my pussy, Master Bennu.”
His left cock twitched hard, jerking with arousal. The right tensed just as hard.
“I want both of your holes,” came impulsive words he never thought he’d utter.
A moment of silence passed before her tongue darted out to tease the sensitive tip of his right shaft. “I want you in both.”
Be mine, he pushed at her again.
I’ve always been yours.
Since when?
He must have wondered with more clarity than intended, for her answer came in a dazzling mosaic of thoughts and emotions, the euphoria experienced when he first touched her, the amazement of their kiss, and the heartache that followed his silent departure.
I thought I was only a passing fancy, Veryn. I didn’t realize—
She sucked him down deep until he thought she’d pull his soul through his dick, and then any excuses or awkward explanation vanished under a cresting wave of pleasure.
They both fell into the bed together where they traded kisses and touches too tender for the relationship they portrayed. He tasted and licked her, making her writhe on the bed in orgasm long before he uncovered a bottle of lubricant from a bedside table.
Taking Veryn fully and completely, the goal to bury both cocks full hilt inside her, was an act that required the utmost patience to avoid causing her unnecessary harm. As she lay on her side before him, supported by a pile of pillows to elevate her sweet body with both entrances exposed and glistening in lube, all Bennu could wonder was how he’d become so lucky.
How had the Mating Frenzy finally seized him?
With all the patience Bennu could muster, he guided one cock then the other home, groaning a low, guttural sound of relief when he sank to the hilt and the scorching need boiling inside him was finally quenched. He could have cried as he bent over her and the knot of tension in his chest loosened.
“Mine,” was all he breathed.
“Yours,” she replied on a shuddering breath.
At last.
All along, Veryn thought Bennu wanted her absolute surrender and for her to be bare and exposed before him. Instead, thoughts and emotion long buried beneath a strong exterior surfaced during the moment of their joining.
Mating Frenzy.
His heart pounded. Need gripped him. The fury of his desire was a wild, reckless force that he barely restrained. Through a smoldering psionic link, he grappled with his self-control.
Give it to me.
I’ll hurt you.
You won’t. Because I trust you.
He sank into her again, time after time, hips pistoning a delicious rhythm that pushed her close to the edge. She gasped as he withdrew to the head of both, leaving her empty and somehow craving the overfull sensation that returned on the next stroke.
Still, he was so careful.
I want all of you, Bennu.
His rhythm faltered. The next thrust was delivered on another sharp slap of skin to skin. Pleasure rippled through him and mingled through their link as rough hands caressed her body. When Veryn raised a hand to her achingly tight nipples, Bennu brushed her fingers aside and took the lead.
Another sharp slap followed on the heels of crumbling resolve. Increasing tempo told her he could no longer hold back.
Good.
His hips snapped forward again, rocking her on the bed. She writhed as psychic fingers explored every sensitive place and introduced her to ecstasy. She was so full of him that her clit seemed to throb with more sensitivity than ever, a foreign sensation she didn’t understand.
Harder and faster he fucked her until it all bubbled over, a blistering inferno of need erupting. She came, shuddering. His pleasure was hers, a feedback loop given and taken in an infinite mirror through their linked minds.
Veryn barely had the energy to move once Bennu fell beside her and wrapped one arm around her middle. Lazy thoughts of a shower together drifted through his mind on a haze of bliss and satisfaction.
Bennu?
It was dangerous to claim you here. And foolish of me.
It was worth every second.
Bennu’s thoughts fell silent. Then he hugged her closer and buried his face against her hair, breathing her in. His fingers stroked down her belly and elicited an involuntary purr. She stretched out alongside him languorously, much to the amusement apparent from his deep chuckle.
Stupid cat genes.
Yet, despite the irritation, she’d grown fond of it.
As have I.
I’m not tainted?
You never were, Veryn. Nothing could ruin you in my eyes. Not this, not anything else.
Sometime later, after they had showered and eaten dinner, they returned to bed, and Bennu shared everything discussed between Bet-Shavri and Vashta. Her eyes were only beginning to drift shut when the door opened and closed with Alexander’s return.
The spy cleared his throat thrice as had been agreed for a signal.
The message had been sent.
Now, all that awaited was their arrival to Paradiso.
14
Of all the planets in the UNE, Paradiso had to be Veryn’s favorite. She loved the little private islands and archipelagoes that dotted the entire planetary surface.
If only they were visiting for a vacation.
Rather than placing the new embassy building near the military center of Valencia, the stunning complex had been constructed in the city of Thrace. Veryn approached the building at a leisurely pace alongside Alexander, tasked with playing a journalist asking hard questions about why the Lexar should be allowed an embassy on a UNE planet—at least, so far as Vashta and Shavri were concerned. They wanted her to stir agitation and resentment. To get thrown out if at all possible and cause a scene. Three of the other humans from the ship entered earlier in the day, and another two joined the crowd outside.
True to human nature, protestors exercised their rights with signs and loud chanting, xenophobes who didn’t want aliens on UNE soil. How quickly they forgot that humans were the initial intruders throwing their weight and that there was enough universe for all.
“Why are we walking into the building with a bomb?” the man hissed under his breath.
“Because we’re going to find it and disarm it.”
“If Shavri’s people find us—”
“They won’t. And if they do, they’ll be handled.” She hoped. They had only gotten one message out, a misdirect worded by Vashta that assured Alexander’s handle
r the rebels would be nowhere near Paradiso, while Veryn’s encoded subscript said the exact opposite.
Alexander cast a quick glance around the room once they passed through security with their phony media badges. Massui leaned against a fountain farther ahead, talking quietly with an Eloran. His brief glance barely acknowledged them.
Veryn paused midstep, gaze locked on the aquatic alien in her beautiful protective suit. The aquiline features behind the unbreakable glass of her facemask were mesmerizing shades of orange and pink.
“C’mon,” Alexander urged. “We can’t get anything done if you’re staring.”
“I didn’t realize the Elorans would be here as well,” she whispered, a leaden weight in her stomach. “They’ll be stirring up anger and resentment against humans from both the Lexar and the Elorans.”
“Everyone will hate humanity, exactly as they want.”
They couldn’t let that happen, no matter what.
What do you know about the bomb, Alexander?
A sculpture made of simsarin quartz. It naturally shields the energy signature.
And creates deadly shards when it explodes?
Yes, but the blast will do the real damage. It will implode the building and everyone inside while also disrupting psionic abilities within a small radius.
Sometimes, she really hated technology.
Bennu couldn’t get Vashta to tell him who would be holding the detonator. Were you able to get Massui to tell you?
The mention of Massui’s name brought a tidal wave of emotions to the forefront of Alexander’s mind. Feelings he forced back down, but not quickly enough.
You care about him.
“Let’s just get the job done,” Alexander snapped, promptly dumping her from his mind with the mental equivalent of drenching her in ice-cold water. “It will either be Heshra or Gillian. All he let slip was ‘she’ was assigned that glorious honor.”
Find the detonator, get rid of the bomb, and save the empress.
All in a day’s work.
Able to roam freely thanks to their phony identification, they moved from room to room while passing beautiful works of art, lavish buffets, and friendly attendees. Only one sculpture in the entire building was made of simsarin quartz. The three meter-high work of art depicted coral spiraling around an obelisk printed with the royal lion crest of the UNE. A physical representation of three cultures united.
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