A definite flash of annoyance crossed Tanaca’s voice, but before he could respond, all three men started as a streak of grey fur dashed in through the open door to the garden and dived under the couch.
“Chika, n-no.” Ella’s voice followed close behind the tigren and she appeared in the doorway. He fought back the desire to laugh, even as his body responded to her presence. Her hair was as disheveled as if they had been in bed together, the oversized shirt she was wearing—one of his, he suspected—was slipping down to reveal the top of one creamy breast, and her eyes were sparkling with laughter.
The laughter died as she surveyed the other occupants of the room. Despite how frequently Tanaca joined them for breakfast, she still treated him with a wary distrust. Even though her vocal skills were improving, she had never spoken in his presence, and his brows shot up at the sound of her voice. Her eyes traveled to Athtar, who was scowling furiously, and she edged closer to Karthajin. Before he could reassure her, Chika emerged from under the couch, sniffed the air cautiously, and then made a dive for Athtar’s chair. The tail of the big man’s coat reached the floor and the cub disappeared under it. A moment later, Athtar’s chest began to shake as growls and hisses erupted from under the coat.
“Ouch! Gods fucking damn it, stop that. Precious, behave yourself.” The big man tore his coat open to reveal Chika on one side, her claws clutching his chest, and an extraordinarily ugly animal with mottled brown skin clinging to the other side. Chika hissed and the other animal growled, mouth gaping wide open to reveal an impressive double row of teeth.
“Is that a Pardorian war beast?” Karthajin asked in surprise. The animals were incredibly rare.
“Aye,” Athtar said proudly.
“And you brought it to an audience with the emperor?” Tanaca asked.
Athtar glared at him. “She doesn’t like being left alone.”
Karthajin choked back a laugh, then realized that Ella had edged her way over to Athtar.
“P-puppy?” she asked hopefully.
“Kitten, don’t get too close. They have a reputation for being vicious…” Karthajin warned. He might as well have saved his breath. She was already stroking the ugly little creature’s head and cooing softly, even as she picked Chika up with her other hand. The tigren hissed again, then settled against Ella’s shoulder and contented herself with glaring at the other animal, who was wiggling happily under Ella’s touch. Athtar was staring at Ella, and Karthajin decided she was entirely too close to the other man’s bare chest for his liking.
“Ella, come here,” he said firmly.
With a last stroke of the war beast’s head, she returned to his side. He put his arm around her and drew her close. Athtar was petting his animal and frowning at him. “What’s she doing here?”
A number of responses rushed through his head, but in the end, he settled for simplicity. “She belongs to me.”
Ella smiled and snuggled closer. Athtar tracked the movement and shook his head.
“Perhaps we should return to business before there’s another interruption?” Tanaca said dryly. “Do you have any more surprises, Captain Athtar?”
“Could be. Looks like your scanners don’t pick up everything, do they, spymaster?”
“You will have the pleasure of explaining that to me before you leave.”
Athtar growled and the war beast echoed him with a miniature growl of her own.
“By Napisten’s elbow, enough.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his annoyance was quite obvious. The two men stopped glaring at each other and turned to him. Beneath his desk, Ella snuck her hand into his. Her touch calmed his anger.
“Captain Athtar, I want you to return to Hothrest and obtain one of the scientists from the lab for me.”
“You’ve gotta be shit—” Athtar took a deep breath. “I mean, I don’t believe that’s possible, Sire.”
“It’s true that Advisor Tanaca was unable to perform the task. I believe your more… unorthodox methods will be more successful.”
“Couldn’t get the job done, eh, spymaster?” Athtar sneered at Tanaca, then tugged on one of the braids in his beard and looked thoughtful. “Maybe there’s a way. But I need supplies.”
“What kind of supplies?” Tanaca asked.
“A container stocked with Foldaran liquor, another one of oishu furs, and a large quantity of untraceable credits.”
“How large?”
Athtar named a figure that had Tanaca shaking his head. “Impossible.”
“The Empire running out of money?” Athtar asked sardonically. “My taxes not going as far as they used to?”
“Done,” Karthajin said. “Tanaca, please make the arrangements.”
His advisor opened his mouth, then shut it and nodded. “Yes, Sire. Immediately.” He bowed and left the room.
He and Athtar looked at each other, then the other man’s gaze traveled to Ella, still standing quietly at his side.
“She’s human, isn’t she?”
A little annoyed that Athtar had picked up on it more quickly that he had, he nodded. Before he could continue, Ella tugged on his sleeve.
“P-play?” She looked hopefully at Athtar’s pet, now draped over his arm and panting softly.
“Is that animal safe?” Karthajin demanded.
“Just p-puppy,” Ella said indignantly, and Athtar grinned.
“Precious doesn’t take to everyone but she likes you, little girl. Do you want to hold her?”
She nodded eagerly, then looked at Karthajin with big, hopeful eyes.
He laughed and nodded. “It’s fine, kitten. As long as you can stop Chika from terrorizing her.”
She giggled and kissed his cheek. Her anxiety about Athtar seemed to have completely disappeared. She danced over to him and held out an imperious hand. Shaking his head, he handed over the animal.
“Be careful with her. She’s just a baby.”
Ella gave him a solemn nod, then carried both animals out onto the veranda. He could see her talking to them, her little face solemn, and suspected she was telling them to behave. They were watching her just as intently and he smiled, only to turn back and find Athtar scowling at him.
“Why’s she here?”
“I don’t believe that is any of your concern.” His voice would have frozen metal, but Athtar didn’t take the hint.
“Maybe not, but anyone can see she doesn’t belong in this fucking palace. She’s just a child.”
“She is most definitely not a child. And she is safer with me than anywhere else in the galaxy.”
“But is she happier?”
He bit back his immediate response. He knew she was happy here now, but it was a confined life and he wondered how long that would last. The memory of his mother’s pale face and sad eyes haunted him.
“She’s happy.” His voice was not as certain as he would have liked.
Athtar sighed. “Look, I know it’s not my fucking place and all that, but I like the girl.” He held up a hand when Karthajin couldn’t suppress a growl. “Not like that. But she seems like a sweet little thing. Why don’t you let me take her to Rast and his consort? Deb is human, too. She’ll make sure she’s happy.”
His first instinct was to reject the idea, but when he reluctantly gave it additional consideration, it did make a certain sense. She could be with someone of her own kind, on a pretty little planet where nothing bad was likely to happen to her—although he would, of course, send a full complement of guards along to protect her. His stomach felt hollow at the idea of her leaving but he had originally intended to make other arrangements for her. Those intentions had disappeared after her first night in his bed, but his original reasoning was still valid. His mother’s face flashed across his mind again. However much his heart protested, perhaps it was time to let Ella go.
Chapter Thirteen
Ella laughed as Chika pounced on Precious’s stubby little tail. The puppy whirled around but instead of snarling, she extended an extremely long tongue and licked
Chika’s nose. The kitten jumped back so quickly she fell over backward, then mewled pitifully.
“P-poor thing.” She picked Chika up and cradled her while Precious gave her an apologetic lick with that snake-like tongue. It was a pointed reminder that Precious wasn’t a puppy, she was a Pardorian war beast, but she gave a mental shrug. Young animals were the same everywhere.
“Know you d-didn’t mean it,” she said, and petted the puppy’s oversized head. Why was it so much easier to talk to the animals? Perhaps because they didn’t rely on her words to understand what she meant. Karthajin was the same way; he always seemed to understand her, especially at night in the big bed. Her nipples stiffened under the soft fabric of his shirt and she wished she could rub them, or, even better, have Karthajin rub them, but when she looked back at the office, the big man was still there.
They both looked very serious and she decided to sneak a little closer, knowing there was a good chance the other man would dismiss her presence. Most people did. Whenever Karthajin let her, she would sit in her chair in the corner while he held audiences with a wide variety of people. She always kept her head buried in her book, but she paid attention and often scribbled notes to him afterwards. The fact that he took her input seriously and considered her opinion was just one of the many reasons she loved him.
The thought made her sigh. She wanted to tell him so badly, but she didn’t want to write it down; she wanted the words to come out of her mouth. If only she could be sure they would come out properly. Nokatan had been helping her with her speech and she knew it was improving, but it was a slow process and the words tended to disappear when she was anxious. Still, she supposed he understood her feelings, just like he understood so many other things about her.
Her quiet progress toward the study was brought to a halt when Precious fell over one of her oversized feet and yelped. Both men looked up and Karthajin beckoned her inside. He looked unusually solemn and her hands shook as she shooed the animals in ahead of her. She had a sudden sinking feeling that something was wrong.
“Come here, kitten,” he said softly, and she went to him with shaking knees. To her surprise, he pulled her onto his lap. He was very affectionate when they were alone, but he usually didn’t touch her in front of anyone other than a few trusted people. However, she wasn’t about to object and snuggled against him willingly, even though she could feel how stiffly he was poised.
“Ella, this is Captain Athtar. He has a… suggestion that I think you should consider.”
The sinking feeling returned.
Chika had curled up in her basket so Precious wandered back over to the captain. He picked her up and tucked her against his chest, before giving Ella a restrained smile. “Would you like to play with Precious some more?”
Not sure why he was speaking so slowly and carefully, she gave a cautious nod and he looked relieved. “Good. That’s good. You see, we’re going on a trip and she could use some company.”
Really? He thought she was some stupid kid to be lured away with the promise of a puppy. She rolled her eyes and turned to look at Karthajin. To her surprise, he wasn’t sharing her disgust. In fact, he looked… worried. Did he want her to go?
To her relief, he shook his head at Athtar but spoke before she could relax.
“Athtar, despite what you seem to think, Ella is not a child. She’s a very intelligent person. Just tell her what you’re proposing.”
“Fuck, you could’a said something instead of letting me make a fucking idiot of myself. All right, girl, this is the deal. I have a human friend.”
Human? The one memory she remained from when she was taken was her friend Faith. Surely there couldn’t be more than the two humans out here. It had to be her.
“F-f-fa?” she tried to ask, but in her excitement, the name wouldn’t come out and he only looked confused. She grabbed her tablet from Karthajin’s desk.
Who?
“Her name is Deb.”
Her excitement disappeared as quickly as it had arisen. She had no real interest in some human she’d never met. She frowned at him.
Why are you telling me?
“She’s mated to my friend, Rast. They live on Sherae. It’s a—”
Water planet. Exports Fru seed. I know.
He looked startled but kept going. “Anyway, I thought you might like it there. It’s a pretty enough place and you’ll have another human for company.”
Her immediate reaction was to shake her head but then she turned to look at Karthajin. Why hadn’t he objected? Why had he said she should consider it?
“W-want me to go?” she whispered, trying to keep the hurt out of her face.
His eyes closed. “No, kitten, I don’t want you to go.” He opened them again and studied her face, his completely serious. “But you need to think about the option. You would have company there. Human, female company. And you would be free to go wherever you wanted, not hidden away like you are here.”
The idea didn’t tempt her. She knew he worried about her, but she was perfectly happy in his rooms. She had the gardens and the books, Chika to amuse her, and Nokatan and Sendat to teach her. Saban spoiled her and even Vradaz begrudgingly visited her every few days. But she would have stayed with him without any of those things.
“D-don’t care.”
“You might not care now, but that will change.” The shadow on his face deepened. “My situation could change as well. I might not be able to keep you with me.”
That statement pierced her heart, but she reminded herself that she had never expected it to last. She raised her chin, refusing to let him see how much she dreaded that day. “B-but not now.”
“No, it’s not like that now.”
“S-stay,” she said firmly.
Expressions flashed across his face so fast she couldn’t decipher them, but she felt the tension leave his body. Picking up her tablet again, she wrote in large letters and flashed the words at Athtar. Thank you but I’m staying HERE!
“Women. Should’a known. I should just mind my own fucking business.” Athtar shook his head, then grimaced. “Sorry, girl. Still, the offer holds. If you change your mind, I reckon the emperor will let me know.”
“I will,” Karthajin said solemnly. The men exchanged a glance, then Athtar stood up, tucking Precious inside his coat once more.
“I’ll go check the ship, see if your little spymaster has delivered. If we’re successful, I’ll be back with your scientist as soon as I can.”
“Good. You do realize that if you’re not successful, I’ll have no choice but to deploy the Fleet.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
The captain had almost reached the door, when Karthajin called after him. “Captain Athtar, how did you get that animal through the scanners?”
Athtar turned and gave them a devastating grin and she was suddenly aware that despite his massive size and intimidating appearance, he was actually rather attractive in a way completely opposite to Karthajin’s refined elegance.
“Remember Precious is Pardorian—she has the same ability to camouflage herself. Deliberately as she gets older but for now, she is just tuned to me. Nothing shows on your fucking scanners except what looks like my body.”
Karthajin laughed and shook his head. “I’m sure Tanaca will be devastated to know that simple biology can beat his technology.”
“Biology is a motherfu— a hard thing to beat.” Sharp eyes darted between the two of them, then he dipped his head and disappeared through the door.
Karthajin turned to look down at her, his face serious. “Ella, are you sure about this?”
“S-stay with you,” she repeated firmly.
His eyes wandered down her body, lingering on where his shirt had slipped down again, revealing the upper swell of her breast. Little flames started to dance in his eyes and her nipples responded. She saw his horns pulse.
“If you stay with me, I’m going to make you mine. Completely.”
A pleased shiver traveled up her spine
and she actually felt her clit throb.
“Yes. P-please.”
The flames intensified and he stood abruptly with her in his arms, then paused to press the communication panel.
“Tikaren, cancel everything on my schedule for the rest of the day.”
“S-sire?” The secretary actually stuttered as much as she did. “B-but the—”
“Everything, Tikaren. Unless the planet is about to explode.” He looked down at Ella, the hunger in his gaze so intense it felt as if he was touching her. “And perhaps not even then.”
Chapter Fourteen
As Karthajin carried Ella back to their bedroom, she realized she was trembling. It wasn’t fear, or only the tiniest amount, but rather a giddy mixture of expectation and excitement. She could feel her body dampening, softening, preparing for him. Her nipples were so hard they ached, and she rubbed them as she wanted to do earlier. He saw her action and increased his pace.
“Wait for me, kitten,” he ordered.
“H-hurry.”
As soon as they reached the bedroom, he placed her gently on her feet, letting her feel the rigid bar of his cock as she slid down his body. She rubbed against him, shivering again with anticipation, and the flames in his eyes intensified.
“Is that what you want, kitten? You want to feel my cock deep inside that sweet, innocent little cunt?”
Her eyes widened. He’d never talked that bluntly to her before but somehow the words just added to her arousal.
“Y-yes.”
“That’s my good girl.” His hand traced along the collar of the shirt. “Is this my shirt?”
“Y-yes.” Not that she’d intended for him to see it. She’d been feeling lonely after he left for his office and wearing something of his comforted her, the fabric wrapping around her along with his comforting musky scent. Since it was so large, she hadn’t bothered to put on anything else—a fact he discovered as he slowly pulled it up. She saw his horns pulse again at the discovery.
Ella and the Emperor (Alien Abduction #5) Page 8