This, Lauren thought dimly, giddily, was a convergence of senses and emotion and intellect and passion that was more extraordinary than the rarest of riches.
She was in love with him and nothing this powerful and wonderful would ever touch her again.
She mourned the inevitable loss even while she gloried in the feelings he inspired in her, relished every touch, hungered for more.
She knew he couldn’t possibly feel for her as she did for him, and yet the reverence of his touch almost seemed to tell her just that.
Because she wanted to believe that, she told herself.
She’d set herself up for the fall before she’d ever left the colony, ever met him. She’d been more than half way to being his when she’d arrived in Proushta.
If he had failed in any way to meet her expectations, that would have been the end of it, though. Instead, he’d exceeded them in every way.
It could just be her imagination, but she didn’t think so. She was convinced he was everything she’d ever hoped for, dreamed of.
And just as certain that he would never be hers.
He was a hereditary ruler, not simply a leader—someone who might be replaced the next time there was a vote—but despite all the differences between this world and Earth during a similar period, the one thing most important to her was just the same.
Rama had to form a political alliance with one of the ruling houses of Kali.
Very likely the Princess Althea would be his future queen and, even if she could’ve brought herself to be his mistress under those circumstances, she wouldn’t get the chance.
It wasn’t ‘meant’ to be because it couldn’t be.
And yet when he entered her, when he lifted her up and pressed the head of his anterior cock into the mouth of her sex, pulling on her until she was fully mounted, it felt like more than a deep physical connection.
To Lauren it felt like the joining of two souls.
He didn’t attempt a double penetration, but she scarcely noticed.
She was so enthralled by the feel of their joined bodies, by the wonderful tension coiling tightly inside of her that she reached her pinnacle and soared into heaven before she even realized her senses had reached critical mass.
She didn’t even realize that he’d reached culmination at the same time for many minutes afterward as she slumped weakly in his arms in the aftermath.
“We will shrivel to nothing if we stay much longer,” he murmured after a few moments, his voice tinged with amusement.
Nodding, she struggled to get her feet under her and dismount.
He lifted her away, got up, and climbed from the pool.
Lauren discovered she was as limp as a ragdoll from the climax she’d just had and the heat of the water they’d been soaking in. It took all she could do to climb out and she was fairly certain she would have wilted to the stone floor, or simply fainted, if Rama hadn’t steadied her and dried her briskly with a cloth himself.
She was still damp when he gathered her into his arms and carried her to his bed. Without any of the hesitation of before, he settled her there.
The only significance of that, though, was that he wanted her close in case he was interested in another round of sex, she told herself.
And she was still disappointed when his actions seemed to bear up her conclusion. He climbed into bed beside her once he’d doused the lamps, coiled around her, and proceeded to try to revive her for another round.
Unfortunately for his intentions, she’d been weak already and by the time he got into the bed she was more than halfway to Lala land. She couldn’t summon any interest in anything beyond snuggling for warmth and swimming deeper toward sleep.
After a while he gave up on trying to breathe life into her cooling corpse. Left in peace at last, she dropped into oblivion almost instantly.
* * * *
Rama woke with a sense of well being he did not recall ever experiencing before in his entire life. He thought it was likely that he had. He just did not recall such a time.
Not since the deaths of his parents, certainly.
He dismissed that wayward thought as soon as it popped into his mind, unwilling to allow it to overshadow his rare sense of well being.
It did not take a great search to identify the reason for it.
She had her nose planted against the center of his chest.
His cocks lifted their heads with interest the moment he looked down at her which, of course, directed his mind just as instantly to sex, but as tempted as he was to wake her to satisfy his cravings he had grave doubts she would be thrilled to accommodate him.
It had been his experience that women were not particularly happy to be woken for sex.
Not that that was anything he was inclined to concern himself over in the ordinary way of things, but he discovered that it was very important to him that he do nothing that might mar the few hours they had left together.
He wanted the memories to be sweet—his and hers.
In any case, he recalled as soon as he grew more alert that he had unpleasant business to attend to, business he could not delegate to the advisors that had put him in such an unfortunate situation to start with.
Disentangling himself from Lauren with reluctance, he went into the bath chamber to relieve himself, took a quick dip in the pool to come fully awake and alert and then dressed.
Lauren was sprawled face down on the spot he had vacated when he returned to check on her.
He smacked her on the ass playfully to get her attention and then had to stifle a laugh when she reared upward and turned a drop dead look upon him.
So much for her affection!
His amusement took a nosedive at that thought.
He had been as certain the night before of her highest regard and affection as he had ever been of anything in his life.
But how well did he truly know her?
Would he ever be able to trust that anyone felt for him as a fellow being who needed affection the same as they did?
Or had he been right all along? No one, no woman, would ever be able to see past his crown?
“Wha ..?” she asked, rubbing her ass.
Relieved to have his attention redirected, Rama forced a chuckle. “Stay put! I have … matters to attend, but I will expect to find you here when I return.”
Lauren blinked at him, feeling outrage surface. “You woke me up to tell me not to get up?”
He laughed more easily that time. “Exactly. Otherwise I would return later and find you off collecting dust.”
Lauren snuggled back into the pillows. “I don’t have any more kits. I already collected everything I could,” she muttered drunkenly.
Rama frowned but dismissed it. Whatever it was that she had been up to, he no longer believed that it was any threat to his peace or the people of Proushta.
In any case, his mind went to the princess, Althea, as soon as he had left his suite.
He found enough turmoil in the wing where she had been located—servants scurrying here and there with her belongings—to assure him that she was working toward a hasty departure as he had ordered the night before.
Having no particular interest in further discussion with her, he left them at their task and headed down to the great hall to break his fast. Unlike other meals taken in the hall, the first meal of the day was informal. The people rose per their particular work schedule and made it to the table as they could. For this reason, Rama wasn’t surprised to see little more than a smattering of the Do-ran du’s inhabitants.
His captain of the guards was there, however, and that was the man he most wished to speak with.
Settling at the high table, he sent a servant for beverage and bread and summoned his captain.
“The princess will be returning home today, Captain Kilgen,” he said without preamble.
The captain nodded. “Aye, Sire. I heard tell of it.”
Rama’s brows rose. He hesitated, but it was never a bad thing to hear what the com
mon folk had to say about things. “And?” he prompted.
Kilgen shrugged uncomfortably. “I do not like carrying tales, Sire.”
Rama’s eyes narrowed. “That was a request for a report, Captain Kilgen.”
Kilgen swallowed audibly and looked even more miserable. “There’s a lot of talk. Has been since the star woman came.”
An uncomfortable mixture of anger and fear filled Rama, twisting in his gut. “I was under the impression that you were referring to … the decision not to form an alliance with the house of King Alf-red of Livina?”
Kilgen nodded anxiously. “Aye, Sire. They are saying it is because of the witch that the princess has been sent packing and that there will be war. That the star woman has bewitched you.”
Knowing how very dangerous such talk could be, Rama’s fear inspired fury nearly got the best of him. “Lauren is no witch!” he growled. “Her people are star people. There is nothing that she has done that is the least bit unusual for her people. And, as for the princess—I am not certain her purpose in coming was to forge an alliance. Her behavior suggested otherwise. Do what you can to put a stop to the gossip.”
Kilgen nodded, but it was easy to see he had no idea how he was supposed to do that.
Rama expelled an impatient breath. “Make sure you tell anyone who will listen that she is not a witch and she is like the rest of her people—who only appear capable of magic because of the amazing things they have made. Hopefully, that will turn their minds in another direction.
“Also—I want you to round up a contingent of guards to escort Princess Althea to the southern border and see her cross into her own land. I do not want any incidents. Is that clear?”
“Aye, Sire,” Kilgen responded. Bowing low, he went off to set up an escort as commanded, leaving Rama to his indigestion while he tried to think if there actually was some way—besides simply waiting for the gossip to die down—to convince his people that Lauren was not a danger to them.
Because if he could not convince them, he knew from firsthand experience that they would be a danger to her.
That would not be of any significance if she left them and returned to her people.
But it had occurred to him that forming an alliance with her people through Lauren would be far more to his liking than any of the princesses that had been paraded out for his inspection.
He had never believed that she truly was Di-ore. It went beyond her skills in entertaining. She carried herself like a woman of class—high class if not royalty. She behaved as if she felt herself to be his equal. He believed that she was and he could not see that his advisors would have any reason to object to such a match.
Assuming it could be done, that her people were willing to consider the possibility.
If they were not open to negotiating the matter ….
He shook that thought. They were open to it or they would not have sent Lauren to start with.
Negotiating for her specifically might be difficult, but they would find that he was not interested in any other alliance and perhaps that would sway them without the need to force the issue.
Chapter Eleven
Lauren was comfortable enough that she felt more inclined to stay where she was, drowsing, than to force herself to rouse fully and get up. Her stomach finally drove her from the bed, though, that and the reflection that Rama was bound to take it as an invitation if she was still sprawled naked in his bed when he came back.
Not that she was against enjoying as much intimacy as she could handle while there was still a little time for it, but letting him fuck her raw wasn’t going to make it last any longer.
She still only had one more night and would be leaving the day after.
That thought prompted her to check to see if Central Command had delivered the launch pad. To her relief, she found it on the ledge where they had promised to deliver it via drone. Removing it, she returned to the room and looked around for a safe place to store it until she needed it.
She finally decided to bundle her belongings up and slip it under the bedroll since it seemed unlikely she would be using it again.
She didn’t actually need any of it any longer. She’d filled all of the kits she’d brought and sent them back to the lab. And she was pretty sure that the only entertainment Rama had any interest in at this point was romping in bed.
She should test the launch pad by sending her things back, she decided.
The pad was a target for use in calibrating the transport—which had been designed and solely used for transporting new colonists, visitors, supplies and materials, and trade goods from the new world to the home world or other colonies. That was why she wasn’t terribly keen that she would have to return to the colony that way. Time-space was vast and virtually empty. There was a very great deal of interference in using the conveyer for local transport.
After a little thought, she decided it would be best to wait until she’d had the opportunity to find a promising location for set up. Heading into the bath, she bathed and then put on her hab suit since she would be using it for the transport back to the colony.
Rama occasionally had a servant bring food and drink to him in the sitting room that was part of his suite so she headed into the lounging area after she’d dressed in the hope she would find something that would make a trip to the great hall for sustenance unnecessary. Unfortunately, there was no sign of leftovers to appease her grumbling belly so she headed down to the great hall.
Rama was gone, she discovered, dismayed.
She had no friends in Proushta—hadn’t met anyone who was even friendly toward her. She’d met a couple that were outright hostile, though, and that made her reluctant to continue.
She hesitated on the stairs at the daunting prospect of not only eating alone, but under watchful and possibly unfriendly gazes, but the hall was virtually deserted already and she didn’t think she could wait until the midday meal for something to eat.
Struggling to ignore her misgivings, she headed to her usual seat and settled.
And waited.
And waited.
Just about the time she’d decided she could sit till doomsday and they would still ignore her—because it was a very deliberate snub—someone dropped a platter on the table beside her and slammed a goblet down hard enough the liquid inside sloshed over.
She glanced sharply at the person who’d deposited the food and drink, but the woman was already heading away at a clip just shy of a run.
Frowning, she turned her attention to the bread and butter—well the Uti equivalent of it. The bread was still warm, crusty on the outside and hot and soft inside. Slathered in butter it was probably the most unhealthy thing she’d eaten since she’d arrived on the colony, but it tasted like heaven.
Maybe because it was made for taste?
The fruity wine-like beverage they typically had with meals was chilled and better for that—even though she wasn’t particularly fond of the drink in a general way.
She thought she could’ve really enjoyed her meal, regardless of the snub before and the grudging service if not for the fact that she slowly began to piece together snatches of conversation going on around her that made her uncomfortable and then downright uneasy.
The gist of it was that she was directly responsible for the fact that the king had virtually thrown Princess Althea out on her ass. She had bewitched him and now he had no regard for the possibility that he had started a war with Princess Althea’s father by treating her so callously.
There was more—a great deal more—but they were muttering and she only caught a few words here and there.
It was sufficient, though, when taken with their attitude, to deduce that she’d somehow become public enemy number one.
She didn’t brazen it out so much as she was so shocked at the turn of events that it took her a little while to decide what would be the best way to handle the situation she found herself in—surrounded by hostiles.
She thought, for the most part, s
he simply couldn’t gather the nerve to make herself more of a target by standing up and she was desperately hoping Rama might return.
No such luck.
She managed to choke down a respectable meal and drained the mug. Then, as casually as she could, she got up and headed back the way she’d come.
She wanted to run, but there was a corner of her mind dedicated to self-preservation that convinced her that running would only inspire a chase—well, might. She didn’t want to take a chance. When one got right down to it, everything she’d learned about the Uti pointed to the fact that they were motivated by pretty much the same things as humans were and therefore their behavior and reactions could be expected to be very similar.
She’d upset their sense of balance—somehow—and they were showing scary signs of the pack mentality. She didn’t want to do anything, behave in any way, that might break their restraints, that might encourage them to act on their worst impulses.
She was vastly relieved, though, when she reached Rama’s suite again.
She struggled with the desire to bolt the door behind her, but decided that they were just blowing off steam. They weren’t rioting. It seemed ridiculous, now, to think she was in imminent danger.
They wouldn’t dare burst into the King’s suite and drag her out!
She paced a little and finally settled in the corner on the fur pallet since she’d already bundled her sleeping bag and packed her carry bag.
It was probably next door to insane that her main feelings about the situation—once her uneasiness began to wane—was unhappiness that the animosity towards her made staying any longer completely out of the question.
Of course, Rama hadn’t even hinted that he wanted her to stay longer and she knew, according to their customs, it wasn’t considered ‘friendly’ to keep a Di-ore past the week that was customary.
But even if he’d been thinking in those terms, it seemed pretty clear that his people were disinclined to accept her in particular—probably any of the ‘star people’.
Well, she didn’t want to cause trouble even if staying a little longer had been an option. The entire ruse had been cooked up to prevent escalating hostility between their colony and the natives.
The Nine Realms of the Uti I: Warrior Prince Page 10