“It doesn’t have a name. It was considered too unimportant by the early surveyors. Officially, it’s called HP1500.”
“How sad.” The lift began to slow. “What do you call it unofficially?”
Griffin turned his head so he could look at me. “Home. We just call it home.”
I sighed. Home. That was a good name for a planet.
We stepped off on a high level of the station. Not the highest, as those were typically reserved for the truly wealthy and for members of various governmental entities. Nevertheless, the halls were cool and hushed; thick padding kept our footsteps silent.
We worked our way through the crowds until we arrived at a hotel with a discreet-looking doorman, who ushered us inside.
The lobby was spacious but not huge; the décor was remarkably elegant. Griffin checked us in. I swallowed a twinge of fear as the scanner checked my ID card, but I was confirmed as Markus Dayspring. I guess the hair didn’t seem to be too much of an anomaly.
Shouldering my bag, I followed Griffin into another lift. We rode in silence. The door slid open directly to our room, and with a sigh of relief, I stepped in, grinning at the plush carpeting and luxurious appointments of the suite. I dropped my case and wandered around, peeking in at the water bath and playing with the room settings. In the other room, Griffin was securing the privacy doors on the elevator.
“Damn, Griffin! This place is big enough to….”
I turned, slamming right into the big pirate. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. There didn’t seem to be much point in speaking, so I just held him back, soaking up the luxury of his touch. Sexy as the whole scenario might be, I could feel his fatigue. This wasn’t the time for sex.
“Back then, you did this too. You were always poking around in new places, like a kid.” He sighed and loosened his hold on me. “You asked about our cargo.”
“You said it was mostly agrichemicals.” Now I’d get to the heart of the story. Unless I missed my guess, Griffin had a side business that had nothing to do with fertilizer.
He nodded and walked back into the suite. The room was divided into a business area and a sleeping area. We bypassed the sleeping chamber. I craned my neck to look at the huge bed that dominated the room. Bed, as in singular. That was promising.
He picked up my small overnight case and ran his hand smoothly over the edges, and I watched in surprise as a slender compartment opened. Carefully he lifted out a flat box and carried it to the table. He opened it as though it contained the heaviest burden a man could carry. When I saw the contents, it took only moments to understand why.
“Griffin, where did you get this?” Reaching out, I ran an index finger over a chunk of mineral that was rough edged yet clearly priceless. When he didn’t object, I picked it up, watching the play of fire and light over its surface. “This is candar. I’ve never seen sunstone specimens this large.”
Candar is one of the rarest, most highly sought-after gemstones in existence. So rare that I had no memory of ever touching a piece, and yet I recognized it. Candar is as hard as diamond, with similar characteristics. It’s cherished as a gemstone, but more importantly, a single good-sized crystal can be used to power the engine of a ship or a turbine for energy. A handful of these could power a super-freighter; a dozen could light up a small city. I turned it, watching the crystal shift from clear white fire to hot red and then to cool blue.
“How could you possibly be crazy enough to travel with a case full of these things?”
I gently set it down and retreated a bit. Frankly, being so close to the stones frightened me; many people would kill for these little gems.
“The planet we were exiled to is little more than a barren rock. We could irrigate, but the water is so far below the surface that we don’t have the available technology to drill that deep. Without access to water, we have no crops, so we subsist on imports. And when I say subsist….” He looked at me meaningfully, and my heart dropped.
“One day, a child brought one of these stones to her mother. She recognized what it was and brought it to me. I sold it on my next trip out, and the proceeds fed us for many months. Later we discovered that deposits of candar are scattered throughout the entire planet. Other valuable minerals as well.”
“And if you sell more, you can purchase the equipment you need to farm the planet.”
He nodded.
“Griffin, do you realize the implications of this? You’ve barely settled the planet, and if it becomes known that so many valuable deposits exist, we’ll be overrun by miners. Or worse.”
My mind reeled. “Have you done a geological survey of the planet? Can we possibly be self-sustaining without resorting to this? At least for the present time?”
Something flickered in his expression—apprehension and… relief? Was he relieved to share this burden with me?
“Not yet. The council was so elated to find something marketable that it didn’t stop to consider the consequences of revealing that we were the source of the mineral.”
“You brought it here to sell? All of it?”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “I tried to tell them how dangerous it could be, but I was overruled. They told me I’m a dangerous man and could deal with the situation accordingly.”
“Shit.” I rose and paced the room, looking warily at the glittering gems. They shimmered with malevolent charm. They represented food and warmth and prosperity, but when I moved my head just so, their gleam turned the same red as the flow of blood. To send Griffin out with this case of stones was enough to seal his fate. Many people would kill for a single stone this size. That case had dozens of stones.
“I’m….” I cleared my throat; the words just caught there, unwilling to come out. “I’m king now. Is that correct?”
Griffin nodded. Had he been afraid of this responsibility? Had Markus known what was in the travel case?
“Griffin, if you show these… like this… you’ll die. We’ll both die. We won’t make it off the station.”
“I know.”
“I’m king. I’m sure there are formalities, and if there’s a council, it may not even recognize my claim. But at this moment, I’m king, and I forbid you to sell all of these.”
Can I tell you how hard it was to force those words from my mouth? The imprint screamed…. Griffin was the master… not me. Not me. But if I remained silent, he’d die, and the imprint screamed even louder at that thought.
I stepped up, plucked two moderate gems from the tray, and stepped back. “We’ll sell these. Later in the trip, we can sell another if the opportunity arises. We’ll imply that they’re stolen… perhaps from our own royal treasure.” Two stones would buy much, particularly if the buyer was carefully chosen. When Griffin slid the tray back into the hidden compartment, the tension gripping my chest eased a bit. There was another tray, and I glimpsed more mundane stones…the fire of diamond and the graceful gleam of sapphire. All exquisitely cut and polished. All priceless. I removed several and added them to the small cluster of stones.
“The buyers will be here soon.” The confident, dangerous mask slipped over his face once again. It was amazing that he’d shown me his moment of weakness. It moved me deeply. It spoke of confidence in my judgment. It spoke of trust.
I slipped the stones into a pocket and then ran my hands through my hair. Strands had pulled loose from the braid; they trailed around my face. Impatiently I opened the top of the case and pulled out my hygiene set, then headed to the bedroom to put myself to rights. The braid unraveled into a sheet of rippling fire cascading down my back. It was really too much.
“Griffin, can I cut it? Maybe just to my shoulders?”
He moved up behind me and peered into the mirror. “You don’t have to ask my permission.”
But I did. He put out his hand, and I set the brush into it. The feeling of having another tend my hair was luxurious and decadent. Since it was Griffin… well, it was beyond that.
My eyes dropped closed in pl
easure as he stroked gently, separating strands, massaging my scalp. When I looked, the expression on his face rivaled any look of love or passion I’d ever seen. He was enjoying himself. Nurturing me was becoming second nature to Griffin. I let out a long sigh of pleasure.
“You like it?”
“It’s beautiful.”
It aroused him. I pictured myself astride Griffin, the silkiness of my hair trailing over his skin. “I won’t cut it, then.”
“Thank you.”
He gave a small lopsided smile and then looked up at my image in the mirror. For a moment, we froze as our gazes met.
“Helios… your eyes….”
I glanced at myself, seeing nothing unusual. “My eyes?”
“Did you bring the cosmetics you wore when we met?”
I flushed; I’d dropped the brushes and kohl into my bag along with a few other items. They were the only things that were really mine.
“What exactly are you thinking?”
“You were an uncommonly beautiful whore, you know. Once the veil came off, it took me by surprise. In fact, I nearly didn’t recognize you with rouged lips and blackened eyes.”
“And you think….”
“You might be a very effective distraction.”
I wasn’t sure I liked this idea, but in a way, it appealed to my sense of adventure. I hadn’t been ignorant of the looks I’d drawn from both men and women as we walked through the station. Griffin hadn’t been indifferent either; he’d growled under his breath the entire time. I suppose the imprint might have made me a bit more willing to obey Griffin’s orders as well. Damned imprint.
“The robes were left at U’shma’s.”
“I don’t want you to dress as a whore, Lio. Just… pretty.”
“Pretty?” Great.
“Yeah, man-pretty. Get rid of the utility vest. I packed a silk shirt….” And he had. Within moments, I was out of the knit shirt and he was dropping a white silk tunic over my head. The fine fabric was nearly sheer, clearly an item meant to be worn under a dress jacket. The style was strange to me but oddly familiar. The garment felt appropriate against my skin.
It was a little large, which added to the drape and flow of the garment. When I moved, the silk clung to my body, a clever contrast to the deep brown leather of my pants and boots.
“Can you put your hair up partway?”
I played with it a moment, finally drawing it back from my face and into a tail hanging from the crown of my head. It was the style of a swordsman and a warrior but so very appealing. It took only moments to shade my eyelids and to subtly tint my lips.
I turned, spreading out my hands to show Griffin the entire effect. His eye went wide.
“Damn, Lio… just… damn!”
I returned to the mirror and was pleased with the result. Not feminine, not exactly. The makeup was subtle. The hair was a common style among cultures that wore long hair. The clothing wasn’t flamboyant, just slightly exotic.
“You need a sword.”
“You wouldn’t let me bring it.”
He sighed impatiently and dug into his own pile of discarded weaponry, finally settling on a long, slender blade. After giving it a few test swings, I belted it over the tunic, low on my hips. He stood back to evaluate the effect. “Dangerous in more ways than one.” He grinned, then pulled me tightly to his body, grinding his pelvis into mine. His lips were close to my ear.
“You’ll do anything I tell you to do, won’t you?”
I didn’t like the gleam in his eye as he said that. I did like the feel of his cock pressed snugly against mine.
“What are you planning on telling me to do?” I decided to play the sex card and gave him a glance from under my lashes. “I might say yes…. I might say no.” I rubbed my cock against his and reached around his body to stroke his ass.
“You’re going to do exactly what you’re doing now, Helios. You’re going to flirt.”
“With you?” I leaned in close, my lips dangerously near his.
“With me. With anyone who walks in that door.”
“So I’m back to being the distraction.” I wanted to be surly; after all, this wasn’t far from what I’d done for U’shma. Maybe a bit less hands-on.
“With U’shma, you were distracting his opponents so he could cheat at cards. With me, you are distracting our opponents for the lives of our people.” He hadn’t moved back, and his lips feathered against mine as he spoke.
“That does make a difference, doesn’t it?” I reached up and stroked his cheek as I pressed a kiss against his lips. I caught his tongue with my teeth, drawing it into my mouth, sucking lightly. Immediately heat flared between us. He clasped my head, and the kiss grew hot and wild. My heart pounded as loud as a drum in my ears. The sound of our labored breath filled the room.
“God, Lio, I want you. I thought I’d left it behind….” He looked down into my face; hunger radiated from his body. “I never thought I’d need you as badly as I did back then.” He stopped speaking and returned to my mouth, kissing me with lips and tongue and teeth. For a moment, I forgot everything—the gemstones, the buyers, even the unknown people waiting for me on a nameless planet. For that moment, my world was Griffin.
He was the first to break the kiss, but he didn’t let me loose. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, and I held him too. The next kiss was light, nearly apologetic. He stood back then and carefully rearranged my hair as he ran a finger over my swollen lips.
“You look like you’ve just been kissed.”
“Is that good or bad?” I stepped back slightly, looking steadily into his rugged face.
“It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.” His hand dropped, briefly caressing my cock. It couldn’t possibly get harder, but under his touch, it did. I stood mesmerized, wishing he’d keep going, keep fondling, but just then, a buzzer sounded lightly. Our guests.
He let me go and turned away to return to the side of the room that had been set up for business. Following him, I then took a seat on a low sofa and relaxed, letting my thoughts settle. Time to go to work. I looked at Griffin, and he smiled—a harsh, wicked expression. His gaze darted to my groin, to where my cock swelled and ached so sweetly. His own pressed tightly against the front of his pants. If he wanted our guests to think they’d interrupted something, he’d no doubt succeed.
He flicked a switch on the wall, disengaging the security.
“Enter,” he called.
Chapter Eight
HE’D CALLED the game just right. From the moment they walked in the door, our buyers were fixated. One was a tall, dangerous-looking woman. Her braided black hair was liberally streaked with white and fell to the middle of her back. Her lean, muscular body was clad in serviceable black leather, and she wore blades at her wrists as well as at her waist.
I exchanged glances with Griffin, wondering if he found her as attractive as I did. My guess was that he did.
She stood nearly as tall as her companion, a male who looked as though he’d be more at home in a government office than on a space station. I rose and offered my less-injured hand when Griffin introduced us, allowing her to hold it overlong and him to stroke my wrist with his thumb.
Once seated on the other sofa, they faced us. A low wooden table divided the small space, allowing us room to work. Griffin leaned back with his arm casually thrown behind me. It wasn’t quite intimate but a clear demonstration of territory. I wondered if he’d done it on purpose. His fingers caught in my hair, and a fingertip trailed along my neck.
The woman was Carlotta Berne. The man was her business partner, Tomas Cassel. I had no doubt who was the brain and who was the muscle in this pair. Carlotta bristled with nearly as many bladed weapons as Griffin did. Her eyes moved restlessly, from me to Griffin, and then to the hidden part of the room. She was cool and efficient, not letting my subtle flirtation distract her from business.
The same couldn’t be said of Tomas. He could barely look away from the front of my pants, and when he
wasn’t staring at my groin, he fixated on my face and on Griffin’s hand as his long fingers toyed with the length of my hair.
“Captain Griffin, your copilot doesn’t look like the images we’ve seen of Markus Dayspring.”
Hmm. She’d done her research.
“My official images were recorded several years ago, Ms. Berne. I’ve allowed my hair to grow.”
“That changed his appearance greatly,” Griffin added.
I met her gaze and smiled slightly as she colored up a bit. She was younger than I initially thought, but dangerous. Very dangerous. She’d have my head in a flash if I gave her the incentive.
“Your communication indicated that you had something that would interest me greatly. As you know, Captain, I primarily deal in gems and minerals. It would take something extraordinary to intrigue me.”
The old scoundrel looked at me then. Clearly he felt I would be of interest, even if our offering was not. I smiled at Griffin, who nodded. After slipping the crystals from my pocket, I carefully opened the cloth that covered them and laid them on the table.
Tomas frowned, squinted, and then his eyes grew wide in shock.
“Where did you get these?” He dug into the pocket of his tunic and pulled out a pair of tweezers and an illuminated magnifier. Ignoring the other precious gems, he went straight for the candar. He picked up a stone and turned it to the light. It refracted, throwing flashes of color throughout the room. It was the smallest crystal and was about the size of the tip of my thumb.
The bodyguard stood back, her attention divided between us and the candar crystals.
“Sadly we’ve come to realize that in order for our people to survive, we need to part with the remnants of our royal treasure,” I lied. “We are confident that if he were present, our king would support this decision.” I reached up and casually caught Griffin’s hand, linking our fingers. It felt completely natural.
“How much do you want for these?”
The dealer’s color was high, and his distraction had fled. I didn’t like that, so I sat forward, letting my hair cascade around my shoulders. He glanced at me while listening to Griffin.
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