Katarina relaxed and got excited at the same time. “Are you going to enter me there?”
“Am I going to what?”
“Enter me.” Her face grew hot. “Fuck me. In my ass.”
Calder soothed her skin. “Not yet, baby. You won’t be ready for a little while. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I thought The Beast didn’t care.”
He leaned down, his body hot on her back. “The Beast has gone away, sweetheart. He’s left you tied down and exhausted from sex, for anyone to find.”
“Are you leaving?” she asked in disappointment.
“I didn’t say that.” Calder drew his tongue down her spine, all the way to her buttocks. He dipped between them and inside.
Katarina squirmed at the hot, wet feeling. She wanted it, she wanted him.
He lifted his head, taking his wonderful tongue away. “I could call Braden to come up here and find you like this. Would you like that? Him finding you and doing whatever he wanted to you while I watched?”
Katarina indulged herself in the enticing vision of Braden smiling wickedly, touching her back and saying, “Now, what have we here?” Calder would watch, his erection evident. She thought she’d fall through the bed if she squirmed any more.
But she knew what she wanted. “Not right now. I want just you and me.”
“Meaning you might want Braden later?”
“Only if you would. If it gave you pleasure too.”
“Why should you care whether I get pleasure from it?” His voice was suddenly very quiet. “I’m Shareem.”
“I told you why.”
Calder looked at her for a long time, his eyes glittering in the darkness.
He stood up abruptly and slapped her ass. “I’m calling Braden,” he said then strode away from the bed.
Chapter Thirteen
Why did she make everything so complicated? Calder grabbed his undertunic as he left the room, his heart beating so hard it made him sick.
Why couldn’t she keep this about Calder pleasuring her, the way she’d wanted him to when she’d come to his lair in the first place? Let her have The Beast, and let Calder the Shareem remain distant.
Katarina started talking about love and Calder’s brain turned soft. He didn’t know what to do, how to answer.
Because he knew he loved her back.
He walked past the open bathroom door, pulling his tunic over his head. Movement caught his eye in the darkness and he stopped.
Braden? What the hell was he doing here? Maybe she’d already asked him to come up here and save her from The Beast.
A second look showed that he’d glimpsed his own body in the mirrored wall of the bathroom as he’d swiftly passed. “Lights,” he said as he walked in. “Lights full.”
The lights came on, bright but not harsh. This was, after all, the house of a rich woman, and even the overhead lights were elegant.
The mirror reflected a tall Shareem with broad shoulders, square face and mussed black hair. He had Shareem eyes, and his arms were brown and strong, corded with muscle.
Calder ripped the tunic from his body. He saw a chest carved with muscle—prominent pecs and tight, ripped abdomen. A long cock hung between muscled thighs. Black hair curled across his chest and down his arms, with a hint of it between his legs.
Itching. Not just healing, the hair hurriedly growing from cells dormant for twenty years.
He hadn’t paid attention to his skin while he’d pleasured Katarina, having seen it scarred when he first got up. He’d awakened after surgery too many times in the past with little change to believe it would work.
The Shareem who looked back at him from the mirror was healthy and whole. A few light scars remained over the places where Dr. Laas had replaced his organs, but the rest of his skin bore only a little pinkness.
Calder looked back at a body he’d not seen in twenty years. An arrogant shit, but a man who’d known no pain, no darkness in his soul.
Katarina had given that back to him.
Calder bent his head and covered his face with his hands.
* * * * *
Katarina found Calder in front of her bathroom mirror, head bowed, the heels of his hands pressed to his eyes.
“Calder?”
He raised his head. His hard gaze met hers in the mirror, and at the same time, tears streaked down his face.
“What did you do?” he demanded. “What did you do?”
“It’s a new procedure that I learned about after I started treating Shareem,” she answered. “Nano-biology and growth hormones. I played with it so it could be boosted by the incredible metabolism of Shareem. Shareem bodies are excellent at converting intake into energy and then burning it off slowly, like very efficient fuel. It’s why your aging process is so slow, and why you need so much sex—letting off steam, as it were. From your skin sample, I was able to marry the metabolic codes in your DNA with the nano-technology and then inject it back into you.”
Calder said nothing. The silence pressed and Katarina twisted her hands together.
“More than you wanted to know? Truth to tell, I wasn’t sure it would work.”
“You weren’t sure.” His voice, instead of being cracked and harsh, came out smooth and velvet, as it had over the enhanced vocal system in his lair.
“I knew you wouldn’t sit still while I tested it on you, so I gave you the whole dose at once,” she said. “I’d planned to track you down in Pas City, but when you turned up at my gate, I saw my opportunity.”
“What were you going to do, sneak up behind me and empty a hypo into my neck?”
“Something like that.”
Calder turned, his gaze burning. She’d never felt anything like that heavy stare, even though his face was still wet with tears.
Then he started to laugh.
Laughter echoed across the bathroom and boomed into the hall. Calder swept Katarina into his arms and spun her around and around, laughing like a maniac.
“You crazy, stubborn, insane woman. Why the hell do you waste so much time on a wreck like me?”
Katarina looked at him uncertainly. He was laughing and crying and telling her she was nuts for trying to help him. “Does that mean you’re happy I did this?”
“You have to be the craziest woman I’ve ever met.” He slowed the spinning and cupped Katarina’s face with one hand. “With the most beautiful eyes and the sexiest smile. And a fine little ass I always want to spank.” He touched her forehead with his. “Why, Katarina? Why waste so much on a Shareem?”
“I think I’ve told you why.”
Calder set her down, caught her face in his hands and kissed her. The kiss turned brutal, and Katarina didn’t care.
His skin was hot, the cure still working on him. Anyone else would be flat on their back, groaning. Calder smiled, kissed her, laughed.
Katarina stepped back to admire her work. His body was as whole and sleek as Braden’s, but Calder was a little taller than Braden, a little broader of shoulder. A giant of a man. A few scars remained where he’d been rebuilt, organs outward, but the rest of his skin was tight and strong.
His face—it was incredible. He’d pulled his hair out of the way, revealing strong bone structure, the lift of his cheekbones, the entirety of his slow smile. She’d been right—his smile made him beautiful, sexy, amazing.
Katarina thought he’d want to stay here in the bathroom looking at his new, restored self, but Calder laughed again, yanked her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom. For the rest of the evening and all through the night, he showed her that what he’d done before as The Beast was nothing to what he could do for pure joy.
* * * * *
Braden walked into Judith’s bar, fighting a hangover. Katarina’s departure had made the apartment feel empty, so he’d filled it every night with sex. One woman, two, three—he’d entice whoever he could back home with him and go at it all night. As a result, the apartment was a mess and his head hurt like hell.
; Judith gave Braden a warm smile as he crossed the threshold and croaked a request for water. Judith looked as sexy as ever tonight. Maybe after his head stopped pounding, he’d take her upstairs.
A Shareem he didn’t know sat at the table in the corner. He’d taken the chair against the wall, the one reserved for the rare times Calder showed up.
What an arrogant asshole. He leaned back, watching Braden with waiting eyes. He wore a simple white, tight tunic that bared his arms, typical for many Shareem. The tunic emphasized that he was big and built. Aiden would probably give the man a once-over, if only to make Ky jealous.
Braden rubbed his forehead, willing the headache to die. “Hey, Judith, who’s this?”
Judith grinned as she set Braden’s mug of water on the table across from the other Shareem. Her eyes held excitement. Maybe the Shareem shit had already coerced Judith upstairs. Bastard.
“Don’t you know?” Judith asked him.
Braden peered at the Shareem, wishing his head didn’t hurt so much. He gulped water, blinking away the bleariness.
“He has a hangover,” the strange Shareem said. The voice was warm and rich, somehow familiar. “How many women was it last night, Braden? Your record is five. How drunk did you have to get them?”
“Hey, friend, who the hell—”
His fingers went cold and the mug crashed to the floor. The Shareem smiled at him, something Braden had never seen on that particular Shareem’s face. But he knew the eyes that gazed at him so sardonically, the mocking tone of voice.
“Calder?”
“Braden.”
“Calder, what the fuck?”
“You act like you’ve never seen me before.”
“I haven’t.” Braden looked the man up and down, trying not to let his jaw drop. The only time Braden had seen Calder’s full body—weeks ago when Braden had gone after Katarina—it had been pink-white flesh ruined with scars. His features had been pulled and distorted, his body wrong.
This man looked like any Shareem born out of a DNAmo vat. Strong body, brown skin, clear blue eyes. Even his hair looked sleeker, healthier.
“Shit,” Braden said. “She did it. Katarina did this, didn’t she?”
“Did you know about it?”
“No. But she’s a fucking genius. Where is she?”
“At my apartment. She wanted me to come here alone, to see if you’d recognize me. You failed the test.”
“You bastard.” Braden wanted to laugh and laugh. Calder had fooled him all right, the shithead. He’d been friends with Calder for years, and it always bothered him that he couldn’t help the man, that deeply fucked-up Shareem.
Along comes cute little Katarina d’Arnal, and weeks later Calder is sitting here, whole and strong and happy.
“I want to kiss her,” Braden said. He slid into his seat, gladly picking up the ale that Judith deposited in front of him. His headache had suddenly fled.
Calder lost his smile. “You touch her, you’re dead.”
Braden laughed, feeling good. “It’s like that, is it? You poor son of a bitch.”
“Who’s a poor son of a bitch?” a voice growled behind him. It was Ky, wandering into Judith’s in much the same state Braden had been.
Braden started to answer then shut up. No wonder Judith had grinned so hard at him. This was fun.
Aiden’s body warmed Braden’s side as the tall level-one Shareem slid into the seat beside him. “Who’s your friend?”
Braden buried his mouth in ale as Aiden ran his gaze over Calder’s body. Ky took a seat on Braden’s other side, pulling pretty Brianne d’Aroth onto his lap. The man didn’t take chances when there were too many other Shareem nearby, especially ones he didn’t know.
Brianne, smarter than either of her lovers, got it at once. Her eyes lit up but she said nothing.
Calder gave Aiden a cool stare. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, Aiden, your face meets the table.”
“Hey, I can’t help admiring a pretty Shareem. Ky’s not pretty at all.”
“Face,” Calder repeated. “Table.”
Brianne bleated a laugh. Ky looked at Calder…truly looked at him. “Holy fuck. What happened to you?”
Aiden was the last to catch on. He got out of his seat so fast he knocked it over. “Calder?”
“That’s what I said,” Braden chortled.
“Shareem are slow,” Brianne said, smiling. “Look at his eyes. Look at him. It’s Calder.”
Braden slid his arm around Judith’s waist as she came back with more ale. “Did you recognize him, Judith?”
“Not the minute he walked in. I thought he was just a Shareem I hadn’t met. Then I thought about how odd that was—a Shareem I didn’t know? But the way he moved, the way he looked at me. I knew.”
“Women are more perceptive,” Brianne agreed.
Ky snorted. “Women stare at Shareem more than other Shareem do. Except Aiden.”
Aiden lifted his hands. “Cured. I’m all yours, Ky.”
“Oh, lucky me.”
“Where’s Katarina?” Brianne asked. “She’s responsible for the new you, isn’t she?”
“She is.”
Calder set his glass of ale down carefully and rose. No more hiding in shadows, no more watching the others from behind face-concealing cloths, no more shielding his body. His tunic reached mid-thigh, baring legs to the soft sandals most Shareem favored. He looked—normal. For a Shareem.
He picked up his sun-blocking robes but draped them over his arm as he sauntered past them.
“Katarina is waiting for me, gentlemen. I have an appointment with her.”
“The come-to-my-lair-pretty-lady kind of appointment?” Braden asked. His body got hot thinking about the last time he’d seen Katarina in Calder’s lair.
“Yes.” Calder’s smile was quiet. “And no, Braden, you’re not invited.”
“Selfish asshole.”
“You got that right.”
Calder gave them all another smug grin, turned his back and walked out. He slid on his sun-blocking robes as he went, and Braden saw him strolling down the street, looking around in wonder, like a prisoner finally freed.
* * * * *
Katarina finished lighting the candles, giving the room a delicate glow. She extinguished the lighting stick and set it aside, remembering how intrigued and frightened she’d been the first time she’d come here.
Water skimmed down the copper sheet Calder had made her face, her hands in the liquid. He’d played with her, made her feel wild and wicked for the first time in her life.
Here too he’d made her wear the tiny, tight leather dress, and he’d introduced her to discipline. Katarina had never known she’d like a man slapping her rear, but she did. She liked it with his hand, and she’d liked it with his leather strap.
Calder had told her to come here and wait for him. He wouldn’t say how long he’d be away or when he’d arrive. He expected her to obey.
Katarina shivered. What they’d done in her house, before he’d discovered his healed skin, had taken her places she’d never gone.
Afterward, he’d taken her even more places. He’d given her a true taste of what women had willingly come here for him to do. Calder had been her master, and she’d begged him to do anything he wanted.
What would he do today?
Her opening tightened in anticipation. He’d told her to put on new clothes he’d bought her, a tight black corset, no panties, garters and stockings.
Katarina looked at herself in the reflective sheeting of the waterfall and smiled. She was sexy as hell.
She slid her fingers between her legs, finding herself warm and wet. Calder could keep her waiting a long time, but at least he’d taught her to relieve some of her own tension.
Katarina closed her thighs over her fingers, squeezing hard. She groaned with the beginnings of climax just as a door chime rang.
“Blast.” Katarina jerked her fingers free then she quivered in excitement.
C
alder? Or someone delivering mail? She made her way through the secret panel to Calder’s apartment, pulled on sun-blocking robes from the hooks near the back door to cover herself and opened the door.
A woman stood there, not a patroller or a delivery person. Her gown and shielding robes looked costly, but she wasn’t Bor Nargan. Her forehead was too high, her eyes too large, and she didn’t cover her face.
“Where is the Shareem named Calder?”
“Not here.”
The woman pushed Katarina aside with surprising strength and looked around.
“I said, Calder isn’t here,” Katarina repeated. “Can I take a message?”
The woman focused on Katarina again, her gaze sharpening. “Don’t you know who I am?”
A rude, pushy bitch? “Sorry, no.”
“I am Lady Demata from Delta-Terra. Suffice to say, I’m the richest woman in four sectors—and I made myself that way. I’m not accustomed to men who don’t keep appointments and then make me wait.”
“Calder canceled all his appointments.” Or so he’d said.
“Why?” She glared at Katarina. “Are you his errand girl? Be nice to me, sweetie. I might ask him to call you in to help. Maybe we can both use your services. Or just use you.”
Katarina drew back in distaste. Calder had said that many of the women who’d come to him disgusted him, and she now understood why.
“Calder is closed for business,” Katarina said in a crisp voice. “You can leave now.”
“I didn’t travel several dozen light years and ten dusty miles to be turned away by a lackey. He already put me off twice.” She reached behind her and slammed the door then pulled a pistol out of her robes and pointed it at Katarina. “Let me into this lair of his, now.”
Chapter Fourteen
Calder knew something was wrong the minute he entered his apartment. He smelled an alien perfume that wasn’t Katarina’s, felt a coldness in the air.
Katarina.
He’d walked back home filled with anticipation. Katarina waited for him, ready to play. He’d had no doubt she’d wear what he left for her; that she’d put it on and grow excited as she waited.
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