by Claire Kent
Patrice’s choice went up to the throne with her, seated at her right hand at the royal table. Then Patrice waved her arm, and all the other ladies stood up and went to search for their partners.
With the exception of the Potentials, any man in the room was fair game, even those who had come with their lifetime partners. You didn’t come to the Court of Evalon unless you were prepared to spend the night with a Court lady.
Kyla didn’t move. She never chose a man—except for a few times she’d requested the company of men she knew well, who wouldn’t expect any physicality. This evening, she scanned the room, trying to avoid Hall’s eyes.
She had no idea why he was still watching her.
In her attempt to avoid his gaze, her eyes focused on a familiar face. Commander Tor. He’d been born on Evalon and trained by the Palace Guard, moving his way up to the top rank at a surprisingly early age. Kyla knew him well. He was a few years older than her, but they’d played together as kids.
She’d always liked him. He’d been off-world for a while, sent on some mission for Patrice. Kyla smiled and got up, walking down off the dais and over to Tor, who was lounging in his chair with a cup of wine.
He was obviously off-duty tonight.
There was no particular reason that Kyla wanted to have a partner tonight, but she did.
Tor grinned back at her as she approached and stood up as she extended her hand.
“Do you want to sit with me?” she asked.
“Of course.” He had a strong, pleasant face and lovely blue eyes. He was almost a foot taller than her with an impressive shoulder breadth. “Just to sit, I assume, unless you’ve changed your habits in the months I’ve been gone.”
“Just to sit.”
He nodded and followed her up to the royal table, taking the seat next to her.
When Kyla glanced over to Hall, he was arching his eyebrows inquisitively, his gaze moving from her to Tor. Kyla suddenly wished she wasn’t in his line of sight.
The servers started to walk around with trays of food and carafes of red, white, and blue wine. The couples around her had already started to kiss, to touch, and soon it would go much further.
“How were things off-world?” Kyla asked Tor, trying to distract herself from the setting.
“As it’s always been. Cold, rigid, and barren.” Tor gave a faint smile. “Too much Coalition and not enough character.”
Kyla nodded, as his words summarized all of her feelings about the Coalition shadow, which had now fallen over most of the known universe and changed the lifestyle of all but the most primitive and isolated of planets. “We’ve managed to hold onto our world here—for the most part.”
“Yes.” Tor sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Although, I’m not sure how long it will last.”
“What do you mean?”
“Evalon is flourishing economically, and it only has one Coalition outpost. How long do you think it is before the Council starts to notice?”
“But tourists come because our traditions and rituals. If we became more in line with the Coalition, they would stop coming.”
“Yes, but that kind of logic doesn’t always occur to them.”
Kyla’s eyes scanned the lushly decorated room, filled with all kinds of worldly beauty and indulgences. It was almost too much—an excess of any desire known to humankind—and it made Kyla dizzy as she tried to process it. It felt empty to her, all surface, no depth, but that didn’t mean she wanted it wiped out in favor of gray walls and stoic utilitarianism. “Do you really think we’re in danger?”
“If we can stay off the radar, we might be all right. But you might advise your sister against claiming any position or history above the Coalition-ordained Governor.”
Kyla swallowed hard. It was exactly what she’d told Patrice earlier. If Tor, Commander of the Palace Guard and the most strategically savvy man of her acquaintance, had noticed it too, then there was definitely something to be worried about. “I’ve already told her. She doesn’t tend to listen to advice.”
Tor’s eyes were on the throne now, where Patrice was lounging back in a pleased sprawl, her chosen escort kneeling between her legs, caressing her beneath her skirt. “She should start listening,” he said.
Kyla’s concern temporarily distracted her, but soon the behavior around her became too pronounced to ignore. Patrice set the mood and manner of each evening’s Court. Today was obviously more about debauchery than formality, since she was letting the man between her legs pleasure her so early in the evening. The people around her followed suit, and soon the room was full of moans of pleasure, pants and grunts, and writhing, tangled bodies.
Her stomach tightened with that familiar sick feeling. She didn’t understand the appeal. It was so empty, superficial, over-the-top. No orgasm was worth descending into that kind of soulless physicality.
She and Tor ate and chatted occasionally for an hour, but it was too loud in the room for real conversation, and the woman beside them—Patrice’s friend Breah—was practically screaming her head off as the tourist she’d picked out was tonguing between her legs.
Breah certainly seemed to be enjoying it, but Kyla didn’t want some stranger to lick her intimately. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself, losing control like that in front of everyone she knew. She didn’t want to be flushed and damp with perspiration and clutching at anything she could reach as her body shook and jerked so awkwardly. She didn’t want to scream herself hoarse in exaggerated pleasure.
Nothing could really feel that good and be so empty at the same time. Even if it did feel good, it never lasted.
Tomorrow, all of these women would be tired and sulky and bored. Kyla knew it from long experience.
At least she would wake up feeling the same as she felt today. Like herself.
“You sure I can’t tempt you to try something?” Tor asked, leaning over to murmur the question into her ear.
Kyla looked at him in surprise. He was slightly flushed and a quick look at his crotch proved that he was turned on. It wasn’t surprising, given what he was seeing around him.
“No,” she said with a smile. “Thank you, though. You probably should have accepted a different partner.”
“Never.” His smile was sincere.
She chuckled and reached over into his lap, finding his hard cock beneath the fabric of his trousers. “I can give you a hand job, since you got unlucky in your partner.” She’d done it often enough. It was easy and didn’t mean anything to her, and she felt kindly toward Tor at the moment.
“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.” He gasped when she slid her fingers beneath his waistband, and then gasped again as she started to pump him with her hand.
Kyla smiled at him, but she didn’t like to meet a man’s eyes when she did this, so she glanced away, looking around at the room.
Quite without volition, her eyes landed on Hall. He was sitting unmoved, like the rest of the Potentials, but his gaze was once again focused on her. Now, he was frowning slightly.
When their eyes met, she couldn’t look away. She kept massaging Tor’s cock in a practiced manner—men were much easier than women in this regard—but she kept staring at Hall. She felt another hot flush waft over her and a tightening between her legs that completely surprised her.
Breah was crying out loudly again right next to her, almost sobbing as she worked herself up to yet another orgasm. The man she’d chosen must be good. Next to her, a man had bent a woman over the table and was taking her hard from behind. The woman’s face was bright red and her eyes tightly closed, and she was clinging hard to the far edge of the table as he pushed into her.
And Hall was still staring at Kyla.
It shouldn’t make her feel this way—like she wanted him to be doing all that to her.
She never felt that way. It was completely unprecedented, completely unnerving.
Tor grunted a few times as she sped up her rhythm, trying to get him off quickly so she could be distracted by somethi
ng else. But she couldn’t seem to turn her eyes away from Hall.
The man was some sort of magician, if he was doing this to her. She remembered what it had felt like when he’d massaged her neck, that rush of unexpected pleasure.
She wondered what it would feel like if he touched other parts of her body.
Her pussy was throbbing deeply now, and she was wet between her legs. This wasn’t who she was. It wasn’t who she wanted to be. She finished Tor off quickly and pulled her hand back to herself.
“Thank you,” Tor said, relaxing back with a pleased smile. “You’re good at that.”
She wasn’t sure that was true. Anyone could get an aroused man off with her hand. But Tor was being polite, so she returned the favor. “My pleasure. I’m glad you were my partner tonight. I had a migraine earlier, and I think it’s coming back. Would you mind if I slipped away early.”
“Of course not. I’ve got duty first thing tomorrow morning anyway.” He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles, and she gave him a flustered smile before she got up and hurried out of the throne room, giving a brief explanation to the Court Director, Malone, as she exited.
Patrice would be angry, but Kyla didn’t care. She needed to get out of there. Feel like herself again.
She wasn’t one of those silly women, led on by superficial touches. And Hall wasn’t going to turn her into one.
She was in the hallway, heading toward the royal wing of the palace, when she heard a voice call out to her. Sometimes, when she left early, Patrice would send a guard to call her back into the throne room, but that wasn’t who was calling out to her.
Kyla sucked in her breath as she recognized the voice, and she knew who she’d see when she paused and looked over her shoulder.
Hall.
He must have followed her, which was the strangest thing.
“What are you doing out here?” she demanded as he approached. “You’ll get in trouble for leaving. Potentials are supposed to stay all night and study up on what pleases Lady Patrice.”
Hall looked half-amused, which must be his characteristic expression. “I mastered that lesson after my first evening. From what I can see, pleasing her is not that complicated.”
“But still, you’re not supposed to leave.”
“You left. Do you still have a migraine?” His eyes changed from irony to what looked like genuine concern.
She shook her head. “Just a little headache from all the perfume. I was just…tired.”
“Were you?” He stepped closer to her, causing her to move backward.
“Yes.”
“And that’s reason enough to leave on a Feast Day?”
It wasn’t—not nearly good enough reason—but Hall wouldn’t necessarily know this. “I’m Lady Patrice’s sister. I can leave when I want.”
“What’s the matter?” He was still moving toward her, until her back hit the wall of the hallway. He stood very close—far too close. It felt very different from when the gross man had her cornered earlier today.
“Nothing’s the matter.”
“I think something is.”
“Well, it’s none of your business.”
“It feels like my business.” His voice was soft, hoarse, very seductive. It made her shiver.
“You’re a Potential. Your only business is to find a way to please Lady Patrice. That’s written in the law, you know.”
He curled up his lips and glanced briefly down the hall, toward the throne room. “That’s rather an outdated law, don’t you think?”
“We believe in outdated here. You know that. That’s why you’re not allowed any technology within the village and palace limits. The guards don’t even carry mechanized weapons. We like all of our old-fashioned customs and rituals.”
“You don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t participate in the rituals going on in there. You don’t like them. It’s a kind of silent rebellion, I think.”
She stiffened. “It is not.”
“I think it is. I’ve been watching you.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be watching me. You should be watching Lady Patrice.”
“You’re more interesting. I had her figured out in an hour. I’ve been watching you for days now, and I still can’t figure you out.”
She felt a completely irrational swell of pleasure at this knowledge, that she was deep enough, complicated enough, to be a challenge to this charming, intelligent, urbane man.
He smiled. “You like that idea.”
“I do not.” She felt trapped against the wall, with Hall’s body just a few breaths away from hers. “And would you please back up?”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not allowed to touch anyone else while you’re a Potential. It’s a punishable offense.”
“I touched you this afternoon,” he murmured, his eyes caressing her face. “But I’m not touching you now.”
“It feels like you are.” She was trembling now, her body reacting to his proximity, even as she realized that he wasn’t actually touching her anywhere.
She was suddenly terrified. She shouldn’t be feeling this. She shouldn’t be reacting this way. She had no idea who this man was or what he was up to here.
Hall raised a hand and very lightly grazed her cheekbone with his finger. She felt a delicious little tug inside her as her fear transformed into relaxed pleasure. She heard herself moaning as she arched against the hall, her tightened nipples slightly brushing against his chest.
She moaned again, liking how it felt, liking how she felt right now.
Hall’s eyes went hot as he stared at her. She liked that too.
“How are you doing this?” she whispered, wondering what was wrong with her body, that it was acting this way.
“Doing what?”
“Whatever you’re doing to make me feel this way.”
“I’m not doing anything. It’s all you.”
“No, it’s not. Sex isn’t my thing. I told you that before.”
He leaned in a little closer, his hand now planted against the wall. “Sex is everyone’s thing. You just need to find the right partner.”
“You need to save your energy for my sister. That’s what you’re here for.”
“What if I don’t want her anymore?”
The hoarse sound of his voice sliced through her with another wave of sensation. But she managed to think clearly enough to say, “It’s too late.”
Then suddenly she realized it was true. Her life—as well as his—was now dictated by the laws of Evalon. He’d declared himself for her sister. He could never be anything else to Kyla. If her sister rejected him, then he would have to leave the planet forever.
And Kyla could never leave. Never have him.
The truth of it slammed into her like a hammer. She was acting just like those foolish, spineless women she despised.
She pushed him back so she could move away from the wall and ran down the hall, away from him. She needed to get away. She needed to never talk to him again.
He wasn’t for her, and she shouldn’t even want him.
She took another shot of her medication, mostly so she could sleep. It didn’t really work, though. She tossed and turned in bed all night, dreaming about Hall’s eyes, Hall’s laugh, Hall’s hands touching her body.
And when she woke up, she felt terrible, so she decided to spend the day in bed.
At least, that way, she wouldn’t have to see Hall again.
***
“Seriously, Hall, you’re being stupid,” Lenna said, shaking her head at him with an uncharacteristically disapproving expression.
Hall had known Lenna for a long time. She was usually easygoing and didn’t care about whatever he did in his personal life. It was one of the reasons they’d always gotten along well.
“I’m just having a little fun,” he said, ensuring that his expression was nonchalant, although he felt rather defensive, which wasn’t like him at all. “It’s
not going to cause any trouble.”
“It will. Not only is she completely out of your league, but if anyone sees you pursuing her, you could endanger your position in the palace. And then we might as well give up and go home because our job will never get done.”
“I’m not going to lose my position. I have ways of getting people to change their minds, remember?”
Lenna rolled her eyes. “Yes, I remember. But that’s a different kind of danger, and you wouldn’t have to rely on it if you’d just be smart. I’ve never seen you like this before. What is it about this girl that’s got you going like this?”
She still looked faintly annoyed, but also curious now. She had absolutely no interest in Hall herself. They’d had sex a few times when they’d first met, but then they’d discovered they were in the same business and decided to partner up. After that, any personal interest they’d had in each other had disappeared in the face of what was much more important to both of them. Business.
“I don’t know,” Hall admitted, rubbing his jaw and feeling uncharacteristically foolish. “I really don’t know. Haven’t you ever been slammed in the face by something you just had to have?”
Lenna arched her eyebrows. “Maybe one of those new galaxy-class cruisers. Or that ruby we almost got our hands on in Karna. Definitely not a man.”
Hall huffed in faint amusement. “Well, it’s never happened to me before either.”
“I thought you said you were just having fun.”
“I am,” he said quickly. “I know nothing is going to come of it. I’ve got to do something for the next few weeks, until we can get out of here. What does it matter?”
“It matters because it could put you in danger. Or, even worse, it could put me in danger. And it matters because I don’t believe you when you say it’s just for fun. I’ve watched you chase women on every planet from here to Earth, and you’ve never been like this before.”
Hall wondered if that was true. It made him nervous—and just a little bit excited. “It’ll be fine, Lenna. Let me handle my own business.”
She shook her head again as she stood up. “Okay. If you say so. We better not meet again like this until next week. You should probably stay inside the palace walls as much as possible, since you’re not being too smart about other matters.”