by Joanna Wylde
“If I tell you this, you’ll never be able to leave.”
“More bullshit, I’d never be able to leave anyway. I already know too much.”
He nodded his head, acknowledging the point.
“We’re not just building a settlement of people who were off-planet when Danube
was interdicted. We’ve formed an organization, part military, part espionage and for
the past year, we’ve been blockade running. We bring out refugees a few hundred at a
time and settle them here.
“Our headquarters are most unfortunately located under the garnet deposits. We
discovered them while we were building but didn’t think much of it. They weren’t
worth anything back then.”
Tessa took a deep, hissing breath.
No wonder they’d planned to kill her. This was big, bigger than anything she could
have imagined. Suddenly she wished she’d listened to him instead of demanding the
truth.
“So you’re actively engaged in treason against the Emperor.”
“Yes. That’s why it’s very convenient that you can’t testify against me.”
38
Garnets or Bust
Chapter Five
Tessa spent several long seconds calming herself.
“I hate to say it, but killing me makes a hell of a lot more sense than marrying me.”
“I suppose so,” Daaron replied, reaching out to touch her cheek gently. “But I
couldn’t do that to you, Tessa. You were the only person at university who didn’t fall all
over themselves to kiss my ass. You were the only one who told me the truth, who
stood up to me. You were the one who taught me that everyone—even someone born in
the Warrens—has as much right to freedom and prosperity as a noble.”
“Wow.”
“Not to mention the fact that I still hadn’t gotten into your pants,” he added, a sly
little smirk stealing across his face. It broke the tension that hung so heavily in the
room. Tessa snatched a pillow and hit him over the head with it, hard. He grabbed her
and wrestled her down, kissing her roughly even as he reached around to tickle her.
She kicked at him, pulling away from his kiss and screeching. He clapped one hand
over her mouth.
“Be careful,” he said. “Remember our listeners in the hallway. We’ve already given
them enough of a show.”
She nodded her head and he released her. Goddess be-damned, touching him made
her want him again. All those years of celibacy must be coming back to haunt her,
because all she could think of was sex, sex, sex.
“So where do we go from here?” she asked finally. “I understand why you can’t let
me have the garnets. I don’t think I want them anymore, not if it means hurting so
many people. And I certainly don’t have any love for Imperials. I grew up in the
Warrens, remember? Their own personal hunting grounds? Where I live, a person who
39
Joanna Wylde
works for the Emperor is likely to get gutted if he strays too far without armed guards.
I’m not going to rat you out, Daaron.”
He nodded his head.
“I believe you,” he replied. “But only marriage is enough to convince my people of
that. They’re different than most living within the Empire, very religious. When their
priestesses declare a marriage valid, they don’t just see it as a social contract. It’s a
lifemating. And something strange happens between them, I’ve seen it. I don’t think
those couples could separate even if they wanted to. Our marriage will keep you safe.”
“I have an obligation to my mother,” she said, feeling tired. “I was going to use the
money from the garnets to buy her freedom. I can’t just let her rot away. Will you help
me?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Easy enough to buy out one woman’s indenture. I’m sorry for
that—I know you wanted to do it yourself.”
“My pride isn’t worth destroying lives,” she said firmly, pulling away from him.
“This isn’t how I would have planned things, but I can accept reality. We should make
the best of it, Daaron. I don’t want to fight with you if I don’t have to.”
“Then I guess we’re stuck with each other,” he replied. He reached up and tousled
her newly shortened hair. She sighed, rolling her head into his touch. It felt good,
comforting. For the first time in her life, she felt safe. Pretty pathetic, considering she’d
just entered into a conspiracy against the Emperor.
“I suppose so,” she replied. “At least, let’s give it a try. I never considered marriage
to you, Daaron. It’s going to take some getting used to. But when I was a little girl,
getting out of the Warrens and going to university seemed like an impossible dream. I
made it there. Maybe I can make it here.”
Daaron gave a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized just how nervous he was until she’d
said yes. He thought about when he’d cut off her braids, marking her as his in the way
men of the Warrens had for centuries. His noble peers had always laughed at the lower-
40
Garnets or Bust
class practice, mocking the masses of Tyre for their barbaric traditions. He hadn’t
understood until now just how satisfying those traditions could be.
“Come here,” he said, reaching for her.
“Why?” she asked, her tone suspicious. “I’m not up for more ‘boinking’ as you so
eloquently put it. I need a shower first.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“Because you’ve done me a great honor and I want to thank you,” he replied,
willing her to believe and understand him. “I know this isn’t what you planned, but I
promise you I’ll care for you, Tessa. And your mother. I still have enough contacts on
Tyre to find her.”
“Thank you,” she said. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Daaron smiled at her, feeling strange, almost light. Happy.
“I had no idea how much you could mean to me,” he said. “Never dreamed it, but I
can’t imagine anything better.”
* * * * *
Tessa tried not to get too lost as Daaron guided her through the training center. The
place was a maze, but she’d always been good with directions. Who would have
imagined a conspiracy of this scope against the Emperor could exist, let alone that she’d
become part of it? Although the politics really didn’t really matter to her. All that
counted was her mother’s freedom and their new life. Daaron’s compassion for the
Danubians, his willingness to risk his own life, had taken her completely off guard.
Who could have imagined the mighty Lord Von Saur’rel could have a soul?
It certainly made up for the loss of her garnets.
After leading her in what seemed like endless circles, Daaron finally brought her
into a large dining hall. Round tables surrounded by bench seating were bolted into the
floor. At some silent signal, people filtered in through the doors, more men than
41
Joanna Wylde
women. They eyed her closely, some looking friendly but most seeming suspicious,
even hostile.
She supposed she would feel the same way about a potentially threatening stranger
if she found herself in their shoes. Daaron took her hand, guiding her up and over a
bench onto one of the tables.
“This is my wife Tessa,” he said, voice firm and in command—the voice of a man
whose authority had never been questioned in his entire life, she thought. “You will
treat her with the same respect you treat me. Do you have any questions?”
“I do.”
The woman who spoke was young and lovely, but her face held a brittle tension
that spoke volumes about the life she’d led. No one could ever mistake her for someone
who had been granted anything. Tessa knew instinctively that if anyone could
successfully challenge her presence, this woman would be the one.
“Why should we believe you won’t betray us?” she asked, her voice ringing in the
barren, metal-walled room. “Daaron says you’ll obey him, that you’re his true lifemate.
Will you obey?”
Good question, Tessa thought. She knew she should say yes, but she’d never been
good at lying. Warrens culture might tell her to obey her husband, but somehow that
didn’t seem to apply to a woman who had been to university and now found herself
married to a noble-born rebel. And she wasn’t even sure she knew what a lifemate was,
let alone whether Daaron was hers. He looked at her expectantly, nodding his head as if
to give her permission to speak. Needing a man’s permission just because he’d cut off
her braids rankled. Time to lay her cards on the table. She figured it might not be smart,
but Tessa didn’t care. She should be honest if she hoped to make a new life among these
people.
“No, I won’t just do what he says,” she replied, holding the woman’s gaze with her
own. She needed to get this just right. “Just because I’m from the Warrens doesn’t mean
I’m a puppet. I’m a thinking, feeling human being.
42
Garnets or Bust
“My mother sold herself into slavery to give me a better life, so I understand what it
means to hold a debt to those who sacrificed for your freedom. I hear you lost your
homes and families to the Emperor. I’ll never betray your secret. You dream of a galaxy
where nobody dies because a seating chart gets fucked up. I dream of a place where
nobody’s parents become slaves to provide their children with an education. Sounds to
me like we’re on the same side. But I’m not just going to obey him blindly.”
Tessa snapped her mouth shut, shooting Daaron a defiant look before turning to
meet the woman’s gaze. She expected to see hostility there, perhaps even a threat.
Instead she caught a smile.
“Good,” she replied. “He deserves to be put in his place. He might threaten you if
you don’t obey, but I’ll kill you if you do. There aren’t many women on this planet and
we have to stick together. Otherwise the men will get the idea that they own us, and we
can’t afford that. They already hold most of the power. The priestesses will agree with
me.”
Daaron glared at her, but she laughed, walking up to Tessa and offering her hand in
friendship.
“I’m Leezal,” she said, helping her step down. “Don’t worry about Daaron, he
made it clear to us from the moment he saw you that you were special. I think he’s the
only one who didn’t realize just how he felt about you. Your people seem to be awfully
stupid about lifemating. And I’m sorry we shot you with the flechettes. It was the only
way we could think of to keep you from getting hurt.”
“I’m just happy that I didn’t hurt Daaron,” Tessa replied, wondering if Leezal could
be a friend. How strange things had become! “When I thought I’d killed him, I wanted
to die myself.”
“And you would have too,” Leezal replied, her face suddenly serious. “We owe
him everything, Tessa. You can’t imagine.”
43
Joanna Wylde
“I’m beginning to,” she replied, meaning every word. “I’m starting to realize just
how much I want to learn more about him. I’ve never been so wrong about anyone in
my life.”
“I know the feeling. I’d just lost my home and family when he found me. I thought
he’d come to kill me for the Emperor. Instead he gave me a new life and purpose. Come
with me, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
44
Garnets or Bust
Epilogue
Six months later
Tessa leaned forward, kissing her husband’s neck and hugging him so tight it
almost hurt.
“A message arrived today,” she said. “My mother will be here in about a week.
She’s very excited to meet my new husband.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Daaron said, reaching down with one hand to rub her
slightly swollen belly. The Danubians were thrilled about the pregnancy—they took it
as a sign that the Goddess looked upon their lifemating with favor. He wasn’t sure he
believed in the Goddess, but he’d never been happier in his life. And now that they
were becoming a family, everything seemed different. Brighter and better somehow.
Glorious.
Tessa reached up to kiss his mouth and he lost track of his thoughts. He’d always
been a man of lusty habits, able to go two or three times a night, but the speed his cock
rose to meet her was almost embarrassing. It was always this way between them.
Intense. Some day he’d have to figure out a way to draw things out a little more.
She pulled back from the kiss, and smiled up at him. Then she looked at the bed
pointedly, and gently pushed his chest. Daaron fell back, taking her with him. He
reached for her breasts, but she stopped him, giving him a smile that was pure
woman—filled with mystery and a knowing wisdom that he could only wonder at.
“I’m really excited to see my mother again,” she said, dropping kisses along his
chest. “I hope it won’t offend you, but I have an old-fashioned way I’d like to show my
appreciation.”
He looked at her, hoping desperately it would involve her lips on his body.
45
Joanna Wylde
“Helping your mother is the least I could do,” he said. “You’ve made my life
complete, Tessa. You don’t owe me anything.”
“You might think that, but I’m feeling a rather urgent need to make myself clear,”
she said, giving him a smile. She dropped her head, kissing down to his nipple,
suckling it with gentle insistence. Then she flicked it with her tongue and looked up.
Accepting defeat gracefully, Daaron relaxed against the bed, allowing her free
reign. After a moment’s pause, she leaned down and bit his nipple.
He started.
“Just making sure you’re paying attention,” she said, and gave the tiny hurt a
gentle kiss. Then she nuzzled down his body, finding the gentle rises and swells of his
muscles and ribs. When she reached his stomach he froze, every part of his body
focused on the feel of her lips grazing his sensitive flesh. With agonizing slowness, she
kissed, licked and nipped her way to his navel, then darted her tongue inside. He felt it
right at the base of his cock, as if a string connected the two spots. His balls tightened,
and he clenched the muscles of his ass to keep from rearing up at her.
She gave a low laugh, full of power, and Daaron felt it run through his bones. He’d
never heard anything sexier in his life. After long moments spent t
oying with him, she
allowed the bottom of her chin to brush the tip of his straining cock. Once, twice, the
skin catching as moisture welled up from his eager slit.
Tessa laid her cheek against his stomach and flicked her tongue out quickly,
swirling it around his cock head. He gasped.
“I’d heard that men like it when women do that,” she said, her voice all innocence.
“I take it that rumor is accurate?”
He gave a groan, incapable of offering her any other answer. She opened her
mouth, resting her lips against the round head and deliberately licking his slit, poking it
with the tip of her tongue.
“Salty,” she whispered. “Yum.”
46
Garnets or Bust
Daaron took a deep breath, trying to focus on the moment. Pressure built in his
balls. He knew he’d come too fast if he wasn’t very, very careful. She was a heady drug,
one he couldn’t begin to resist.
She sucked him in like a piece of candy, her mouth barely fitting around his girth.
She reached down with one hand, finding his testicles and cupping them. Then Tessa
rolled the orbs between her fingers, pulling at them within the sac of skin. He shivered
and she sucked him in deeply, continuing to roll and tug at his testicles.
Daaron closed his eyes, awash in sensation. He took deep, gulping breaths,
desperate to calm himself. He wanted to savor this moment, and yet the more she
touched him the greater his urgency grew.
He’d gotten blowjobs from the best, most expensive and exclusive pleasure workers
in the Empire during his old life, but their skilled touch was nothing compared to
Tessa’s at that moment. She was far from expert—for all her boldness, she was still
perfecting her technique. Every once in a while her teeth grazed him. It should have
hurt, but instead it turned him on. There was something so amazing, so sexy, about
having been the first man inside a woman’s body. Each time they made love it was
special, beautiful.
A blessing.
As the thought passed through his head, her tongue found the little notch on the
underside of his cock head and flicked it. Suddenly he couldn’t think at all, he could