Rees bent and kissed her, his lips hot and hungry. Talan wound her arm around him and 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 exasperated glance 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 and 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 and 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 and shook her head.
Rees slid his hand down Talan’s spine to rest on her backside. “Be right back, sweetheart.”
He kissed her leisurely one more time, then turned and strolled to the alcove. Talan had seen the com-port there near the facilities. She was surprised Rees didn’t have a handheld, but then she’d left her own handheld at home.
She already missed Rees’s warmth. There was something about him, not just his enhanced body and the way he made her desires dance. His smile. Talan 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 and how people and animals could survive. That wasn’t the problem. But no one washed things you drank from in water. They used a sterilizer.
Just one more clue that Talan didn’t 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, Rio’s heat was at her shoulder.
Talan turned her head, and Rio 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 Shareem?” His voice was low, silken, sultry, his good-natured grin gone.
“Only a little,” Talan said.
His thumb went back and forth on her lip. “What did he tell you about level three?”
Talan 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 when she did she wouldn’t regret it.
Rio 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 do whatever I wanted. Absolute surrender.”
Talan’s 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’s lips parted, and she wished the wetness between her legs would stop. No, she wished Rees would take her somewhere and lick it off her.
Maybe Rio was putting pictures into 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 around her dissolved and 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 that had a faint coating of sand. Both had ear and mouth pieces and carried handhelds. The first one walked over to Rio. “OK, Shareem. Ident time.”
Rio gave her a dark look. “This is getting boring. You idented me last week.”
“Can’t help it that I 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, Shareem, shove it in the slot. Isn’t that what you’re good at?”
Her partner snickered.
Rio jerked an ident card from his jacket and 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 and kept smiling. “You would if I paid you.”
“You will never have enough money, darling. Never, ever.”
The woman got the insult and slammed her finger to the pad. “What’s this? Looks like you’re expired, Rio.”
“Bullshit. I renewed the card last week. You know I did.”
“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 done. Can’t have a Shareem with no ident wandering around loose.”
“Lick me.” Rio was furious. But Talan knew the woman could do it. Shareem weren’t people. Not real people.
“Leave him alone,” Talan said. “I’ll vouch for him.”
The words didn’t have their intended effect. The woman should have recognized a highborn, bowed her head, looked sheepish, and given Rio back his ident. Maybe even apologized, to Talan and to Rio, and also to Judith.
Instead, the patrolled looked Talan up and down with infuriating arrogance. “Who the hell are you?”
Talan lost her temper. “I am Lady Talan d’Urvey, and don’t you dare address me in that fashion.”
She’d learned something living with Lady Petronella all these years. Talan’s 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 don’t have one. I’m 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. Talan didn’t know quite who these women were, but they were not police as she knew them in the Serestine Quarter, people who kept the district safe and were respected. They were patrollers in Pas City,
given a low job, and they struck at Rio because they could.
The woman, with bad grace, removed a slim handheld from her coverall and held it out to Talan. 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 and swallowed, her pallor enhanced by the dirt on her face. “Sorry, my lady. I didn’t know.”
“Give him back his ident card,” Talan said.
The woman removed Rio’s card from the slot and handed it to him. Rio took it without snatching and tucked it back into his coat.
“Go,” Talan said. “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. With all due respect, Shareem 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 and then 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 hurried after her.
Rio let out a whoop of laughter. Judith applauded, then high-fived over the bar with Rio.
Rees came out of the back with the quietness of an animal. Talan wondered why he’d deliberately stayed out of the way and not come to Rio’s defense, but he’d clearly heard everything. He slid his arm around Talan’s waist. “That’s my girl.”
Talan 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 Shareem 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 Shareem might do something bad, like settle down,” Rio said. “Get married. Have a life.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Talan asked, puzzled.
“They don’t want Shareem having kids,” Rees said. “Reproducing our enhanced genes the old-fashioned way. If we stay in the city, get our inoculations against disease and procreating, 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 Shareem go,” Rees said. “It was either that or get hunted down and killed.”
“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 said. “Going somewhere where 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, and tightened his arm around Talan’s waist. “Time to go, babe.”
Judith looked up and 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 led Talan to the door and went through first, checking 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 five minutes by herself in these streets.
Rees had had no business bringing her down here. He knew that, now. Rio had nearly swayed her. Rees had scented it when he’d returned, the tang of a female wanting a male. Rio had worked her up.
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 about sex and tried to learn about Shareem, she didn’t know how dangerous desire could be.
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 contacted. The pilot had decided he wanted nothing to do with Rees and Rio, unless Rio wanted to pay him a fortune. Too hot for him.
Rees had argued but gave up. He had other connections, but it was going to take time. Rio was too impatient. He might ruin everything 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. Rees dragged Talan out of the crowd to a relatively calm spot near some buildings, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.
Her soft 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.”
Rees 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—”
Rees put his fingers under her chin. “Tell me.”
Talan glanced quickly around them, but the people passing by on the street weren’t listening or even looking at a Shareem and his girl.
“He said he wanted to use his whip, and that I’d be begging for it.”
Talan 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 told me things like that before.”
“Did you agree to meet him later?”
Talan looked bewildered. “No. Why should I?”
That strange jealousy bugged Rees 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.
Rees 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?”
Talan’s eyes were sparkling, her chin lifted. “So I can always ask Rio too.”
Rees 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 and dragged her back into the crowd.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Home.”
“But I said I di
dn’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’s 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.
Rees led Talan out of the tube, and 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 asked, looking around.
“I told you,” Rees said, shutting the door and sliding his hands around her waist from behind. “Home.”
“Oh. Your home.”
Home was an apartment that was comfortable, if not showy. Rees liked things simple, clean.
“Why did you bring me here?” Talan asked. “Not that I don’t like seeing where you live.”
Rees leaned down and nibbled the shell of her ear. “To spank you. I didn’t want to do it on the street.”
Talan’s eyes widened. “You don’t really mean—?”
“Yes, I do.”
“But that’s just a game.”
Rees growled. He lifted her, carried her to the nearest chair, sat down and tumbled her across his knee. He grabbed the skirts of her robes, hiked them to bare her pretty ass, and started spanking.
*** *** ***
Back at the bar, Rio moodily watched Judith. She finished her washing, then retrieved the glasses the two old men had left on the table.
Tales of the Shareem, Volume 1 Page 8