The Pleasure Rites Series

by Ines Johnson

  "What kind of business do you run that you close at odd hours of the day?"

  In answer, Adom bowed.

  "I came for my dress," she said when he straightened without a word.

  She looked like a queen on a mountaintop, reigning down edicts to her subjects. Adom climbed the steps slowly, taking in her every detail for his next painting.

  She squirmed under his gaze. "Is it ready?"

  Adom reached his hand out. She inhaled, moving slightly. His hand grazed her hip as he reached for the door handle. With a flick of his wrist he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He pressed his body against the door, and waited for her to cross the threshold. They stared at each other for a moment. He itched to mix paint to match the color of her churning gold eyes.

  "You don't talk much," she said.

  "I prefer colors to words."

  She smiled, and it lit her whole face. "Me too."

  Adom knew he should walk away from her. Hand her her dress and then lock his door and his mind to her. But that smile, the light in her eyes, it called to him. To more than his need to capture her expression.

  "Your dress is ready, my lady."

  She turned from him and stepped further inside.

  Adom followed and shut the door behind him.

  The dress hung on a rack in the center of the room. He'd covered it in plastics, preparing to have it couriered. She ran a hand over it as though it were precious.

  "I'd like to try it on."

  That would be a mistake. The last thing he needed was an image of her naked in his dressing room.

  "The dressing rooms are through there," he pointed off to the side.

  When she came out a few moments later, Adom's dick throbbed. He ducked behind the counter.

  "It's a little tight in the bodice."

  "It's supposed to be." His voice grated on its way out of his throat.

  She stood before the mirror. The woven threads hugged her every curve. The knots down the center of the dress were perfectly aligned. Adom made the dress a year ago. It was as though he'd made it for her alone.

  "Woven ropes." She ran her hands over the choice of fabric. "Wherever did you get such a clever idea?"

  Adom didn't answer. His fingers gripped the counter.

  She turned and sauntered over to him. "How much do I owe you?"

  "It's yours."

  She blinked. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm certain you need the money. It doesn't look like you have many...any customers. Which is a shame since you really are talented. But I suppose women just aren't used to males with Goddess-given talents."

  "No, they're not, my lady."

  "Well, your business will pick up once people see me in this dress and-"

  She picked up a piece of parchment. Paper wasn't rare, but what was on the paper must've caught her attention. It was the sketch of the Goddess walking the firmament. He'd drawn it after her initial visit to his shop.

  "This is simply exquisite.”

  Adom cringed at her use of adverb.

  “Though why you chose this shade of yellow is beyond me," she wrinkled her nose. "She has my skin tone. My best color is purple."

  Adom straightened his face and took a purple pencil from his stash below the counter. He went over the yellow lines with the purple pencil. "You're right."

  "Also the green isn't dark enough. Do you have something more like a teal or a viridian?"

  Adom found both colors.

  Lady Alyss took the viridian pencil from him and added to his purple lines. His mouth watered, his heart pounded, as he watched her deface his art. He tore his his from her face and gazed down at her work to realize...

  "You're an artist."

  The pencil froze in her hands. Then as though it were hot, she dropped it. "No," she said firmly. "I'm not."

  She didn't meet his eyes. She reached for her purse and pulled out gems. More gems than the dress was worth. She reached her palm out to him. Adom opened his palm. When their skin made contact he felt a spark. From the flare in her eyes, he knew she felt it to.

  She looked away from him and back down to the drawing. Her eyes roamed the contours of the woman's face. Then she looked back at him. Then back down to the drawing. He saw the connection being made in her eyes in real time.

  "Is this...is this me?"

  Adom didn't answer.

  She picked up the drawing and looked at it again, anew. Her eyes going wide. "It is me. You made me..."

  Her eyes went back to him. He knew what she would say before she said it. She would ask him to do her portrait. Some boring pastoral creation. He prepared himself to say no. Told himself he couldn't. Told himself to think about Emet and all he'd worked for. All they'd both worked for. He couldn't be alone with a woman. He shouldn't even be talking to this one in light of her occupation, her current assignment, which directly opposed his bondmate. The last time he'd been alone with a woman had nearly cost him his freedom. This one would cost more than his life. She'd cost the life and livelihood of the man he loved, the only person on the face of the Earth who understood and accepted him.

  Adom hadn't told Emet about his dealings with Lady Alyss because he'd planned to make it a non-issue by never seeing her again outside of his imagination. Not telling him last night was one thing. But not telling him after today would be another. And if they worked together he'd have to tell him. Emet would definitely see this as a betrayal.

  So when Lady Alyss opened her mouth to finish her sentence, Adom swallowed down his desire and prepared to answer her with the only answer he could.

  "You made me look fat," she frowned.

  Adom burst into laughter.

  "You've got my skin coloring right, but my hair is wrong. That won't due. You'll have to do it again. And this time, we'll use more purple."

  Adom laughed harder. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed like this.

  "I don't see what's so funny?"

  "I don't see what makes you think you can order me around. I'm not your bondmate, my lady."

  "Thankfully."

  Adom winced.

  "Don't feel insulted. I have no interest in bonding ever, with any man."

  Adom had never met a woman disinterested in bonding and having little girls. Lady Alyss just became more and more intriguing. "But you have an interest in art?"

  She hesitated while considering her words. "I have an interest in beautiful things."

  "You think my work is beautiful?"

  "I think this is the most beautiful art I've ever seen in my life. And I've seen a lot of art. But you've rendered some elements wrong. I like for things to be perfect."

  Adom looked her over, not a hair out of place. Her jewelry matched her wardrobe down to the hue of her shoes.

  "I've hated every portrait ever done of me. You did this from memory. Imagine what you could do if I sat for you?"

  Chapter Six

  Alyss hung the dress in her closet. She’d wear it tomorrow and be the envy of every female in the Chamber. Most of the girls followed her fashion sense, trying to copy whatever she did day to day. But Alyss was always one step ahead of them. This time she’d be leaps ahead. And when they asked her where she got the dress, she wouldn’t tell. She’d say it was a private designer made especially for her: a one of a kind.

  Which was the truth. The dress felt as though it were designed especially for her. Adom did excellent work on the tailoring. The fabric molded to her curves in perfection. Alyss was tall with a narrow waist, ample breasts and a large derriere. Everyone envied her for her derriere. Those and her breeding hips that were good for fashion. She hadn’t minded that Adom had drawn her with a few extra pounds. Alyss admired art from the Grecian time period where women were drawn with more flesh on their bones. But to her it was a matter of perfection. And he was so near to capturing her image perfectly. He just needed to make a few adjustments.

  She ran her fingers over the fabric of her dress. The texture of the ropes on her fingertips sent a sizzle down h
er spine. Instead of pulling away, Alyss leaned into the gown. She caught the faint scent of Adom’s musk and paint. Alyss’ hands itched to hold a brush. She hadn’t experienced the urge in months.

  Before she made a conscious decision, her feet were already in motion. She made her way down to Merlyn’s old lab. She hadn’t been there in months. Not since Merlyn left.

  The door was unlocked. When she entered, the entire room was empty. The tables clear of beakers, microscopes, and cages. She actually missed seeing her sister in here with all of her vermin, bent over a scope, and jotting down notes in a paper book. She even missed the sight of Liam slunk down in a back corner, sneaking glances at her sister when he should’ve been calculating his numbers.

  Alyss went over to the closet at the back of the room. She hesitated at the knob to the closet door. She could smell the faint scent of paint. Her fingers twitched. She hadn’t done this in so long. Her Mother never once encouraged the hobby. It was not scientific and would add nothing to the advancement of their society. That deemed art a waste of time. She’d told herself that the last painting would be the last time. She’d repeated that lie for years. Until three months ago when Merlyn left.

  After her glimpse at the canvases being wheeled into the Chamber of Arts and Culture, the itch began. After visiting with Adom today and seeing his artwork, she itched to scratch. With Adom she’d not only seen the art with her eyes, she’d felt it on her skin with the dress. She’d seen herself through his eyes in his portrait of her. She ached to let her fingers fly free over parchment if only for a moment.

  Just for one moment.

  And this would be the last time.

  Alyss threw open the closet doors and gasped.

  It was empty.

  Gone were all of her canvases. Canvases she’d had since childhood. The itch tore down her spine. It buckled her legs with its force. Alyss held onto the door knob to stay upright. Her hands shook, her eyes watered, her breathing came in shallow gasps. Pain bowed her shoulders as though her soul had been ripped from her body.

  Without thinking, Alyss raced from the room. She ran down the hall on unsteady legs. She burst into the great room and gave her Grand Mother a start.

  “Where are they,” Alyss demanded.

  Her Mother looked up at Alyss. Her eyes narrowed. “Where’s what?”

  “My -Merlyn…Merlyn’s things? What have you done with them?”

  “Merlyn is no longer welcomed in this house and neither are her things.”

  Alyss’ bravado seeped from her spine along with any vestiges of her soul. “What did you do with them? The things in her lab?”

  “I had them taken out with the rest of the garbage.”

  Her Mother’s eyes challenged hers. Alyss saw that her Mother knew exactly what she was referring to when she said garbage; the list of items included more than just microscopes and beakers.

  “You should worry about your presentation tomorrow before the chambers.”

  Alyss didn’t answer. Her mind frantically tried to remember each painting that was now lost to her forever. Years of work, her innermost thoughts and dreams displayed in the perfect balance of lines, curves, and color, all gone.

  “Alyss. If this bill doesn’t get passed our family name will be ruined.”

  With her soul ruptured, her bravado gone, frustration boiled up and out of her. “It's just a bill, Mother. They can’t stop your work.”

  Angyla stood.

  Alyss took a step back.

  “This family has faced embarrassment after embarrassment. First with Celia’s spawn returning from the wild and marrying those men.”

  Alyss’ cousin Chanyn had been raised in the Wastedlands by her aunt Celia, who wanted no part of their society or its men. After Aunt Celia passed away, two men found her cousin Chanyn. Lord Khial and Lord Dain were outcasts, and against her family’s advice, Chanyn bonded with the males in a great scandal.

  “And now your sister’s renouncement of her own work after taking up with those other men. If you fail, we will not get the funding or permissions to go ahead with the human trials. I will not give up my life’s work. I’ll use you as a human trial to prove that insemination works.”

  “Me?” Alyss took another step away from her Mother. Her back met the wall.

  “Yes, you.”

  Alyss made a deal with her Mother years ago. Because she had no interest in bonding with a male or having children, and her scientific aptitude was abysmal, they’d decided she’d go into the Sisterhood and work for her family’s interest.

  Alyss had kept up her end of the bargain. “You can’t force me to be inseminated, Mother.”

  “It would be your choice. Move the bill forward or be inseminated. Two options equals a choice.”

  The threat hit her chest harder than the insult. It landed with an empty thud. With her soul ripped from her being after seeing the hollowed out closet, Alyss had nothing left. She would not allow her Mother to replace that hole on her insides with an inseminated creation.

  A spark lit inside her gut when she remembered her encounter earlier today. She remembered the tall, dark male advocate talking out of turn. She remembered him being reprimanded. Her stomach unclenched when she realized that she was going up against an ordinary man, not the Male Voice.

  She’d face him with her smile, her eyes, her breasts and her hips. No man had ever failed to do her every bidding when she’d turned the full light of her attention on them. She’d use everything in her arsenal to hold him back and push this bill forward. And she would win. He was, just a man after all. It would be easy. And then, after the bill passed, she would move onto the rank of apprentice where she would no longer need her family backing. She’d be able to leave this Goddess forsaken house and live on her own terms. Perhaps even have a paint brush outside of a closet.

  Alyss straightened her back, her once empty spine reformed to solid steel. “Don’t worry, Mother,” she smiled. “I’m prepared.”

  Chapter Seven

  Emet tugged on Adom’s bottom lip to get his attention. Adom had spent the night in his studio, then trudged up the stairs this morning for a bite of first meal. His hands and arms and face were smeared with paint. He gave one word answers or unintelligible grunts in response to all Emet’s attempts at a conversation. There was tension in his bondmate’s body. Adom also wouldn’t hold his gaze. Emet saw Adom’s gaze flickering to the entryway that led to his studio. The male was obviously ready to get to work.

  Emet didn’t resent Adom for his lack of attention. Adom’s dreams were about to come true. Emet’s were too. So with a final peck on Adom’s cheek, Emet left his bondmate to his creations, and took off to begin his own big day.

  It was a bright spring morning. Birds chirped their songs above as he shut the door to the storefront. Leaves rustled from the hustle and bustle of insects going about their work. Emet hopped into his car, alert, in tune, ready.

  He turned the ignition and headed to the Sisterhood compound. Once or twice he had to tap the brakes against his eagerness.

  Inside the chambers of the full council, Emet took his place at the podium for the Male Voice of their society. The actual Voice sat in the audience with other males in his employ, mostly other novices and apprentices. The other four advocates had too much work on their plate to take time out to view the outcome of a single bill, no matter the importance. To the advocates, all of the bills were of grave importance.

  The young males in the audience beside the Voice looked at Emet with both awe and envy. Most of their work involved prepping dockets for the Voice in his crusade to keep what few rights men had alive. Emet understood the trust and responsibility the Voice had placed on his shoulders.

  He rolled his shoulders back now. They were still light thanks to the loving restraint Adom had roped him into two nights ago.

  He was ready. But where was his opposition? They were due to start in two minutes.

  There was an uproar at the back of the room. Women gasped and o
ohed. Males groaned and awed. It didn’t take long for Emet to figure out the source of the commotion. Obviously she had arrived.

  Males and females alike gaped at Lady Alyss. Emet could only see her head, preening above the masses, obviously loving their adoration.

  Emet rolled his eyes. They were about to engage the debate of a serious matter and everyone was more concerned with her dress than the matter at hand.

  Emet’s frustration sat with the men as well as the women. The women were entrusted to run this society in the name of the Goddess. Yet, he saw so many of them concerned with the material trappings of the world. Trappings like clothing and status. As for the men, the passage of this bill would directly affect each and every one of them. Yet, they lusted after the woman who held the fate of their testicles in her virginal, entitled, untried hands.

  The seas parted and Lady Alyss drew near to him. Emet set his face to the unaffected mask he’d learned from Elder Gerry, his former teacher at the temple. The mask failed him and crumbled when she came into full view.

  Lady Alyss stepped forward in a masterpiece of a garment. It was a gown that Emet knew. He’d seen it hanging in his home just the other day. The color was simple. The detail was all in the fabric. The pattern knotted around the bodice, banding her breasts into a swell that threatened to spill over the top. It clinched at her small waist and then lassoed around her ass, which Emet got an eyeful of as she steeped up to the podium beside her with a smile lashed with cunning. The Male Voice had told him not to underestimate Lady Alyss and her family. Emet had been wrong to ignore the male’s words.

  She turned to him. Her eyes expectant. Expecting what? To trip him up at seeing her in Adom’s dress? That she flaunted her money before him? He wasn’t sure what her game was, but he wasn’t about to play with her. The fact that she was playing a game showed that she wasn’t taking this matter seriously; that she didn’t care for anyone other than herself. She likely had a manservant order the dress so Adom was none the wiser.