As though he heard her thoughts, Rio turned and peered into the shadows of the alcove.
Talan gulped. She drew a breath, squared her shoulders, and walked briskly out, pretending she’d simply spent a long time washing her hands.
Rees turned. He smiled. He held out his hand, drew her into the circle of his arm. “Hey, baby, I missed you.”
His eyes were warm, his smile fond. Her heart turned over.
He bent and kissed her. His lips were hot and hungry. She wound her arm around him, let him open her mouth with practiced, sweet kissing.
Rio snickered.
Rees broke the kiss. But he didn’t look offended or embarrassed. He gave his friend an annoyed look and picked up his ale.
Talan drank her drink. It was slightly warm now, and very minty.
“Oh, Rees, I forgot.” Judith reached under the bar, pulled out a plastic disk. “You got a message yesterday. They looked for you at home, then called here.” She handed it to him.
Rees palmed the disk, studied it. “I’ll take care of it.” He looked at Rio, then back at the disk. “Judith,” he said. “Don’t let Rio eat her.”
Judith smiled, shook her head.
Rees slid his hand down Talan’s spine to rest on her backside. “Be right back, sweetheart.”
He turned and sauntered to the alcove. Talan had seen the com-port there near the facilities. She was surprised he didn’t have a handheld, but then she’d left her own handheld at home.
She already missed Rees’ warmth. There was something about him, not just his enhanced body and the way she could make her hormones dance. His smile. She liked it, she wanted to see more of it.
Judith started washing glasses. With water. Bor Narga had plenty of water—deep wells drew it to the dry surface, which was why they could have gardens. That wasn’t the problem. But no one washed things you drank from in water. They used a sterilizer.
Just one more clue that she did not belong here.
Rio moved to her so quietly she never heard him. She’d been watching Judith scrub glasses with a brush, and all of a sudden, she felt Rio’s heat at her shoulder.
She turned her head. He caught her chin with his fingers.
Judith looked up, then gave them an “oh, it’s harmless” look, and went back to work.
Rio stroked his thumb across Talan’s lower lip. “So, what has Rees taught you about Sha reem?”
His voice was low, silken, sultry. His good-natured grin was gone.
“Only a little,” she stammered.
His thumb went back and forth on her lip. “What did he tell you about level three?”
She couldn’t speak. Her throat was dry, like the sand on the floor.
“Bondage,” Judith said flatly. “Everyone knows that, Rio.”
Rio kept his eyes on Talan. Deep blue eyes, flecked with midnight black.
“It’s not what you think it is,” he said softly. “It’s not confinement. It’s surrendering and trusting, letting go. It’s opening yourself. Putting yourself in the hands of another. Entirely.”
His eyes grew darker, the irises widening.
Talan tried to turn her head, look to where Rees had gone, but she couldn’t. Rio’s gaze invited her to surrender to him. It promised that she would not regret it.
He lifted her hand in his large fingers. “I’d bind your wrists. Tight, but not so tight you wouldn’t like it. Then I’d strip off your clothes one at a time. Or maybe rip them off, depending on how I felt.” His hand closed, trapping her. “Then you’d kneel to me. And do whatever I wanted. Absolute surrender.”
Her heart hammered. She could feel herself getting wet, no matter how much she tried to stop it.
But she knew one thing. As gorgeous as Rio was, as mesmerized as he had her, she didn’t want him.
She wanted Rees. She wanted Rees to touch her like this, Rees to say these things to her.
Rio went on. “You’d suck my cock, open your ass, whatever I wanted. You’d resist me. I’d punish you. By the end of the night, you’d be begging me to punish you. Loving it. You’d wrap my whip around you and rub your pussy on it, you’d love it so much.”
He lifted her hand, flicked his tongue across her fingers. “How about it, Talan? We can let Rees watch, if you want.”
Talan gulped. Her lips parted, and she wished the cream would stop.
No, she wished Rees would take her somewhere and lick it off her.
Maybe Rio was putting pictures in her head, but she had a sudden vision of herself, naked, her hands bound, kneeling in front of Rees, taking his cock in her mouth like he’d taught her. “That’s it, Talan,” he’d say hoarsely. “Suck me hard.”
Rio would be there, watching with his dark eyes.
She gasped for breath. The vision fell away and it was just Rio, and the bar digging into her side, and Judith splashing water. “I think I’ll stick with level two for now.”
Rio looked puzzled. “Level two?”
“Rees is level two.”
Rio and Judith exchanged a quick glance. Talan opened her mouth to ask a question, when the doorway darkened and two tall women came in from outside.
Rio looked at them, snarled a swear word, and backed away from Talan. The sexual miasma that Rio had wrapped ‘round her vanished.
Judith did nothing. She didn’t greet the women or offer to sell them drinks. She just went on washing glasses.
The two women wore gray overalls and a faint coating of sand. Both had ear- and mouth-pieces and carried handhelds. The first one grinned and walked over to Rio. “Okay, Sha reem. Ident time.”
Rio gave her a dark look. “This is getting boring. You idented me last week.”
“I just seem to keep running into you. Come on.”
Rio leaned against the bar. He was much taller than the woman, and that seemed to annoy her. “You know who I am, and you know where I am. I’m Rio and I’m standing right here. What do you need an ident for?”
The woman smiled at him, not a nice smile. “I know you’re here, but the computer don’t. So hurry up, Sha reem, shove it in the slot. Isn’t that what you’re good at?”
Her partner snickered.
Rio jerked an ident card from his jacket, thrust it into the little machine she held out to him. “I wouldn’t put anything in your slot, sweetheart. Not a damned thing.”
The woman checked her handheld, kept smiling. “You would if I paid you.”
“You will never have enough money, darling. Never, ever.”
The woman got the insult, slammed her finger to the pad. “What’s this? Looks like you’re expired, Rio.”
“Cock. I renewed the card last week. You know it.”
“Hmm. The computer seems to think you haven’t. If you come with me, we’ll fix it. Might have to lock you up a while, though, until the process is through. Can’t have a Sha reem with no ident wandering around loose.”
“Lick me.” Rio was furious. But Talan knew the woman could do it. Sha reem weren’t people. Not real people.
“Leave him alone,” Talan said suddenly. “I will vouch for him.”
The words did not have their intended effect. The woman should have recognized a high-born, bowed her head, looked sheepish, and given Rio back his ident. Maybe even apologize.
Instead, she looked Talan up and down and barked a laugh. “Who the hell are you?”
Talan lost her temper. “I am Lady Talan d’Urvey, and don’t you dare address me in that manner.”
She’d learned something living with Lady Petronella all these years. Her voice rang with crisp authority.
The two women stared at her. So did Rio and Judith. Even the old men in the corner woke up and listened.
The first woman gave her an insolent look. “Oh, yeah? Where’s your ident?”
“I do not have one. I am not required to carry one to submit to the likes of you.”
“Is that so?”
Talan held up her finger. “Do you have a fingerprint machine? You do know that
all officers of the law are required to carry one? That is, if that is what you are.”
They weren’t. She didn’t know quite who these women were, but they were not police, people who kept order and were respected.
Whatever they were, they’d been given a low job, and they struck back at Rio because they could.
The woman, with bad grace, removed a slim handheld from her coverall, held it out to Talan, still smirking. Talan did not want to touch the pad because it was greasy, but she pressed her finger quickly to it. She reached for a cloth on the bar and studiously wiped her finger.
The first woman stared at the handheld in some dismay. The second asked, “What?”
“She really is Lady Talan d’Urvey.” The woman looked up, swallowed. Her pallor enhanced the dirt on her face. “Sorry, my lady. I didn’t know.”
“Give him back his ident card,” Talan said sharply.
The woman removed Rio’s card from the slot, handed it to him. He took it without snatching and tucked it back into his coat.
“Go,” Talan finished. “If you harass this man again, I will hear of it, and it will not go well for you.”
The first woman looked cowed, but the second drew up her courage. “My lady. Sha reem ain’t men.”
Talan bathed her in a freezing stare that would make Lady Petronella proud. “They look like men. They talk like men. They seem to be men.”
“They ain’t,” said the woman, defiant. “They’re rutters.”
An awful silence fell. The woman grew red, tried to look anywhere but at Talan.
“When you speak to me, you will answer my questions and not offer opinions,” Talan said coldly. “Now go.”
The first one said, “Yes, my lady.” She turned around and nearly ran out of the bar. The second scuttled out after her.
Rio let out a whoop of laughter. Judith applauded. Rees came out of the back just then.
Talan wondered why he’d deliberately stayed out of the way. He’d behaved as though he hadn’t wanted the women to see him at all.
But he’d clearly heard everything. He smiled and slid his arm around Talan’s waist. “That’s my girl.”
She felt cozy against the warmth of his body. “But why were they identing you?” she asked Rio. “She knew who you were. What was the point?”
“The point,” Rees explained, “is that they’re making sure we Sha reem stay where we’re supposed to, like good little boys.”
“I don’t understand.”
“We’re not allowed to leave the planet,” Rio said.
“Why not?”
“Because we Sha reem might do something bad, like settle down,” Rio said. “Get married. Have a life.”
“What is wrong with that?” Talan asked, puzzled.
“They don’t want Sha reem having kids,” Rees said. “Reproducing our enhanced genes the old-fashioned way. If we stay in the city, get our inoculations, then we’re allowed to live.”
“But that’s not right.”
“Ain’t she sweet?” Rio asked no one in particular.
“It was the bargain when DNAmo let the Sha reem go,” Rees said. “It was either that or get hunted down.”
“Some got hunted down, anyway,” Rio said, anger on his face. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“So you agreed?” Talan asked.
“I wouldn’t say agreed,” Rees said.
“One day, though, I’m blasting off this rock,” Rio put in. “Going somewhere that gorgeous guys like me are appreciated.”
Judith had gone back to washing glasses. “You say that all the time, Rio.”
“Yeah, but one day.”
He and Rees exchanged a glance that Talan couldn’t interpret. Rees gave his friend the barest nod.
Then Rees slid his arm around Talan’s waist. “Time to go, babe.”
He led her to the door. Judith looked up, smiled. “Don’t be a stranger, Talan.”
Rio found his grin again. “Hey, Rees. You need help explaining anything to her, you just give me a call.”
“Right,” Rees said. He went through the door first, checked the street, then reached back for Talan. “Stay out of trouble, Rio.”
“Hey, I am trouble,” Rio chuckled, and then Rees led Talan away.
Chapter Eight
The streets, if anything, had gotten more crowded. Rees held Talan’s hand tightly, afraid that if she slipped away, he’d never find her again.
She might be Lady Talan d’Urvey, and she might have scared the patrollers, but she’d never last by herself in these streets.
Rees had no business bringing her down here. He knew that, now.
Rio had nearly swayed her. Rees had smelled it when he’d returned, the tang of her female juices that had been worked up. Rio had worked her up. She’d looked guilty.
A pain had jabbed his heart, catching Rees by surprise.
Rees couldn’t believe it. He was jealous. Of Rio.
No, maybe he was just worried for Talan. She was so innocent. Even if she’d read books and taken classes about sex, she didn’t know how dangerous desire was.
Rio was up front about how bad he was and what a woman could expect from him. Rees hid it inside him. Ladies thought Rees was gentle, until it was too late. So who would Talan be better off with?
Rees also had things to take care of. The message Judith had given him was from another off-world pilot he’d been in contact with. The pilot had decided he wanted nothing to do with Rees and Rio. Too hot for him. Unless Rio wanted to pay him a fortune.
Rees had argued but had to give up. He had other connections, but it was going to take time. Rio was too impatient. He might screw everything up just by doing something impetuous or opening his big mouth.
But Rio was the only person on Bor Narga who knew the secret of Rees. Rio had kept the secret, Rio had been his friend. Rees owed him.
Rees owed Talan, too. She looked at him and smiled her sweet smile and did things to his insides.
He wanted Talan in every way possible. But he also wanted to protect her. It was weird.
Her hand was soft and trusting in his. Just that light touch fired up his hormones.
He dragged Talan out of the crowd to a relatively calm spot near some buildings. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Her sweet lips responded to his instantly. Innocent kisses that trusted him.
He so wished he could trust himself.
“We should go back,” he said.
Talan looked up at him, her eyes shining. “I don’t want to. Not yet.”
“You don’t belong here.”
He tried to sound severe. He would like nothing better than to wander around hand in hand with Talan all afternoon. Like sweethearts.
“What did Rio say to you?” he asked.
She turned bright red. “Oh, he—well—”
He put his fingers under her chin. “Tell me.”
She looked around quickly, but the people passing by on the street weren’t listening or even looking at a Sha reem and his girl.
She wet her lips. “He said he wanted to use his whip, and I’d be begging for it.”
She was embarrassed. Actually embarrassed. Most women Rio charmed were drooling on themselves by the time he finished.
“And what did you say?” Rees asked.
“What on earth could I say? No one has ever said things like that to me before.”
“Did you agree to meet him later?”
She looked bewildered. “No. Why should I?”
That strange jealousy bugged him again. “Well, don’t. No matter how pretty he talks, I don’t want you anywhere near him. Not without me.”
He turned abruptly and started to lead her away.
“I sent for you,” she said behind him.
He stopped. A man in a faded robe ducked around them with a snarl.
“What are you talking about?”
“Lady Pet brought you home for me. To teach me.”
“Yeah, so?”
H
er eyes were sparkling, her chin lifted. “So I can always ask Rio, too.”
He wondered how hard it had been for her to say that. The timid lady was learning independence.
Rees growled. He grabbed her hand in a hard grip, dragged her back into the crowd.
“Where are we going?” she panted.
“Home.”
“But I said I didn’t want—”
Her words were cut off as they zigzagged through the crowd.
Rees had no intention of taking her back to Lady Petronella’s. Not after she’d said that.
She was going to learn just who was in command here.
Rees led her a few streets over, through a bazaar and down a quieter side street. Here the houses were neater, the street washed clean of the sand of today’s storm. A few hover vehicles were parked against the sides of the tall houses.
A man in gaudy robes came out of one of the houses. He had blond hair and blue eyes and opened one of the hover cars. “Hey, Rees,” he said.
Rees said “hey” back. The man ogled Talan, but Talan didn’t notice. She was too busy looking around.
Rees palm-keyed open the door of a house halfway along the street.
The elegant tiled hall, cool and dark after the heat of the sun, soothed Rees’ feet even through his shoes.
On the left side of the hall lay a drop tube. Without explaining, Rees led Talan to it and stepped inside.
The null-grav unit kicked in, and they floated gently down to the floor below.
He led Talan out of the tube and into another elegant hall. She waved her hand in front of her face.
“Those always make me queasy.”
Rees almost smiled. But he wasn’t here for laughs.
He palm-keyed the single door on the bottom floor. It opened readily, and he took Talan inside.
“Where are we?” she breathed.
“I told you,” he said, shutting the door and sliding his hands around her waist from behind. “Home.”
She looked around eagerly. “Oh. Your home.”
Home was an apartment that was comfortable, if not showy. Rees liked things simple, clean.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked.
He leaned down, nibbled the shell of her ear. “To spank you. I didn’t want to do it on the street.”
She looked back at him, eyes wide. “You don’t really mean—?”
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