Nikol was starting to wonder if he was being sent out now more as a distraction. Did his father suspect he was continually working behind the scenes to dismantle some of Lothar’s more egregious operations? While he’d never be able to shut down the more lucrative businesses without notice, there were others that Nikol abhorred and were systematically being dismantled at his direction.
At his tone, Lothar’s expression dimmed, taking on the more familiar glare of growing disquiet. Nikol kept his stance relaxed and folded his arms over his chest to wait. The days of being intimidated by Lothar’s deliberate silences were far behind him.
That did not mean Nikol didn’t eye him with caution. Lothar didn’t get where he was by ignoring slights.
“I didn’t want you to be caught off guard,” Lothar stated as he fingered the small statue on his desk. The erotic art was a beautifully hewn depiction of the god Pethi mounting his wife, the goddess Asmine, from behind. The lines of their bodies were veined in shades of twisting gold and pink from a chunk of mordolite stone. It always amazed Nikol that he’d put such an object in a place of prominence on his desk considering Asmine killed herself to join Pethi in death when her ex-lover murdered him.
“Consider me warned.” His heart kicked up its beat a notch though Nikol didn’t change his relaxed stance. There was no telling what had been done while he’d been gone for the last two weeks.
Lothar smirked. “I sent you a gift. I know your fondness for rare things.”
Nikol held his silence.
“Ahhh, so like your mother at times. Stubborn.”
A sliver of ice rolled down Nikol’s spine. They didn’t ever speak of his mother. Lothar had learned the hard way that it was the quickest means of shutting Nikol down and garnering his passive resistance. Mirim too was off-limits.
“I don’t need gifts. We’ve discussed this.” Anything Lothar gave came with strings and favors attached. Always.
“I don’t believe you’ll refuse this one.” Lothar shrugged and moved Pethi and Asmine to the side before going back around and sitting behind his desk. “Then again, if you don’t want it, I’ll make sure it’s disposed of.”
Disposed of could mean one of two things and neither of them good. Nikol calmed his racing heart and maintained his steady breathing. There was a cagey look in Lothar’s eyes once he was seated again. Dropping his arms to his sides, Nikol said, “I’ll check it out. Where is it?”
The smirk became a smile full of cunning. “In your kitse, of course.”
There was only one thing Lothar could have managed to send to Nikol’s kitse. Blood boiling, he held back any reaction and inclined his head. His kitse was closely guarded by two men who stood outside the doors of his suite daily. He trusted both of them after years of routing out the ones who would spy on Lothar’s behalf and report back Nikol’s doings.
No one else was allowed in when Nikol was away. “In my kitse?”
Lothar let out a chuckle though his dark eyes never strayed from Nikol’s face nor did they spark with humor. “Couldn’t leave her in the hall, could I?”
Her.
It was as he thought. Lips firm, Nikol pivoted without a farewell.
“Nikol!”
Lothar called after him, but Nikol ignored it.
“Nikol!” The chair grated against the floor harshly then clattered as if tipped over.
Nikol paused at the door and spoke without turning. “I made my feelings on this clear. I will choose my own tutanis.”
“This one is different. I think you’ll like her.”
No one who lived under Lothar’s roof could garner Nikol’s admiration. Choosing not to respond, Nikol opened the door.
“I do hope you enjoy her.” Laughter followed.
Nikol left Lothar’s office with the same outward appearance of calm he’d entered with but inside he was seething. The dark-haired man leaning against the wall joined his side. “What happened?”
“I’m guessing,” Nikol muttered, keeping his voice low, “but I think I may have received a new tutanis from my...father.”
Dain gaped. As someone Nikol had grown close to in the last couple of years, Dain was aware that the women who resided in Nikol’s harem were all castoffs from Lothar’s older harem years ago. Nikol didn’t touch those women sexually though he never explicitly let Lothar know that. As if he’d ever sate himself sexually with those who had known him as a child.
“I thought you told him you would add your own after the others were given to you.”
Nikol shot Dain a sidelong glance. Lothar abided by his own rules.
Dain grimaced. “Right.”
Despite his pace and sense of urgency, a woman stepped into his path with her head bowed.
“Forgive me, Nikol. My master has given me leave to offer myself to you.”
Nikol had no idea of who her master was. She seemed to be a new addition to the household. He couldn’t keep track of how many women arrived here.
Her body was voluptuous in the overblown way Lothar liked. Full hips and breasts swung with each step she took and the blue shellam hung loosely about her curved waist to sway at her ankles and bare feet.
Was this Lothar’s gift? “Who do you belong to?”
She glanced up and tipped her head to the side, every move graceful and what he would expect from a trained tutanis. Her gray eyes sparked with secrets, her mouth curving with a sensuous smile. Her horns were a dusky gold and clashed nicely with her dark hair. Gold horns and light-colored eyes were rare and prized. His father had really reached deep to find one such as her. Marenians males would fight to bed her.
She lowered herself gracefully to her knees. “Welcome back home. I am Taima. I belong to Vizen.”
Then she was not Lothar’s gift to him. Her presence was still troubling to Nikol. Vizen didn’t have a kitse. His lack of sufficient wealth didn’t allow for it but clearly he’d managed to receive one such as this. He’d look into the matter later. Right now, he needed to know how much damage Lothar had done with his recent actions and gift.
“Stand aside and thank Vizen for the gift. I refuse.”
Not bothering to see her get back to her feet, Nikol circled around her and Dain followed suit. “She was magnificent.”
And probably conniving but Nikol didn’t add that. Dain should know better by now not to trust anyone who lived here.
It didn’t take long to reach the section of the massive home Nikol had claimed as his own. He’d picked the area farthest from Lothar’s kitse and with the best defensible position should an attack ever occur on the premises. Nikol nodded at the two guards at the door. One stepped forward to speak. “Nikol, Lothar has—”
“I know,” Nikol cut him off. “Where is she?”
Tseju met Nikol’s stare evenly. “But, sir Lothar said—”
Nikol waved the excuse away. Later they’d discuss proper protocol to deny entrance into his suite. Garmon, the second guard, opened the doors immediately. Nikol strode inside, leaving Dain behind. No one else entered his private space. Not even the handful he extended trust to.
High ceilings gave the space a cavernous feel. The heavy scent of flowers spilled from the planters on the few tables scattered about the open foyer. The fountain in the center of the room bubbled, spewing water in a rainbow of colors thanks to the lights mounted in the base. Nikol ignored the picturesque setting.
Thick carpet muffled his steps. Shadowy alcoves were discretely carved along one wall in which bedrooms for the tutanis under his care were hidden in the recessed space on the left.
Cecilee was the first to come forward through the glass doors that led to an enclosed garden space. Amia, Tashire and Stasia came next. Cecilee was speaking quietly to the shorter woman at her side. Nikol took in the riot of red curls, the blue eyes glaring at him, the jut of sharp cheekbones in a delicate oval face and slammed a door down on the unusual whirl of feelings including undeniable lust that tried to break through his façade.
He knew exactly w
hat she was.
Earthling.
Fuck Lothar and this forbidden gift.
Nikol braced his booted feet and kept his features stern and unwelcome. He wasn’t sure what Lothar was up to, but there was no way sending this female here was a good thing. “Has Cecilee explained things to you?”
He trusted all of the tutanis to make his rules clear and without embellishment but Cecilee tended to be the spokesperson when the others were too hesitant to speak up.
The newcomer’s jaw clenched and her gaze narrowed. After years of unquestioned subservience, her visible display of defiance was...intriguing. He shut down the unwanted emotion immediately and made his voice deliberately cruel. “If you understand the rules explained to you, then you also know I will not tolerate disobedience.”
Rage flashed through her blue eyes. The others dropped to their knees in a provocative pose he’d grown to ignore and bowed their heads. Not the human from Earth. Desire and anger grew in equal measure within him. This could not be allowed. Nikol folded his arms across his chest to hide the clenching of his fingers.
“Kneel!” he ordered.
The Earth woman lasted all of five minutes beneath his penetrating stare before shifting her gaze to the side of him. Fear practically radiated from her pores, but she remained standing. Nikol wasn’t sure what the outcome of this first meeting would be and hoped she didn’t force him to act.
He’d done things to survive and would do more. Things this Earth woman couldn’t comprehend if the information he had on her people was correct. They were weak when confronted and easily broken.
The column of her throat moved when she swallowed and he detected the rapid beat of her pulse. Her fear ignited his excitement, and once more, Nikol found himself throttling back the urge to put her on her knees himself. He longed to watch the flare of those pretty eyes as he leaned down and took her mouth in a kiss that would have answered his questions about her taste.
Just when he thought she’d force his hand, she lowered her eyes demurely and went to the floor alongside the others. She sat back on her haunches with knees spread wide. It was awkward and showed her inexperience in making such a gesture of obeisance but accomplished the goal of having her where he wanted her.
The split in her green shellam slipped over her legs and revealed the apex of her thighs and the short red curls on her mound. She tried to pull the material over to cover herself, but the effort was in vain. The shellam was meant to reveal all and it did.
She was unshaven. Most of the females he bedded had removed the hair from their nether regions. Their whole bodies were smooth and their skin silky to the touch.
The Earth female with her riot of red curls on her head and between her legs would be full of textures. His nostrils flared as he imagined her scent when desire pooled in her center.
Ignoring temptation wasn’t easy, but Nikol managed it and signaled Cecilee. “Show her an empty room and see that her things are sent.”
There were over a dozen sleeping spaces in this suite and he and the others were only using five of them. Nikol thought of the disruption her presence would cause. Not just in his suite as a part of his kitse but in Lothar’s residence. The Majad had been very clear after Nikol’s apprehension by the Jutaks a few months ago. None of the Earth females taken in the sex slave trade were to be retained on Marenia.
It was too dangerous because, for some reason, the women from that planet had managed to garner the unofficial protection of the entire Enotian military, including their elite Jutak Units. Now Nikol would have to deal with the fall out from the problem Lothar had blithely thrown in his lap.
There was no way he could send her back to wherever she came from without drawing the Jutaks’ notice. The responsibility for her was on his unwilling head.
His lips pressed tight at the thought. He needed her nearby in order to watch her closely. Because it was a certainty that Lothar sent her to Nikol for a reason. He just needed to figure out what the reason was before the trap was sprung. Nikol added to his command. “In fact, put her in the alcove on the right.”
Amia, Stasia, and Tashire gasped, but Cecilee wore a secretive smile. “As you wish, Nikol.”
She would be in the sleeping space next to the one he used.
Chapter 7
Darcy spent the next two nights in the room she’d been given doing the same thing. Nothing. Although room was a generous word for the space. It was an overly large alcove that fit a queen-size bed. Or rather mattress.
There was no frame or any other structure of support and design, just a large two-foot high pillowed thing in a circular shape with amber colored sheets made of a silky fabric. Against the top of the bed rested half a dozen huge pillows covered in yellow and green silks to take the place of an actual headboard.
The walls were a soft white. The floor covered in a thick furry rug in white as well. Mounted on the wall was a small candle holder looking thing and three long tapered, brown straws that burned with a soothing aroma. There was even an attached private bathroom. Though she hated to admit it, it was all very gorgeous.
Despite her expectations and the trauma over the last few days, exhaustion had caught up with her and Darcy fell to sleep on bedding that felt like a cloud.
She ran her hands over the surface. The texture of the bedding truly was cool and calming. Unlike Darcy. Nothing cool and calm here. Any desire to protest her stay died in her throat after her first confrontation with the one the ladies referred to as master. Nikol.
It was easy to see that he’d inherited his father’s striking good looks with the addition of thick long eyelashes that curled over the deep dark pools of his eyes. They were feminine lashes, soft. But the man whose face they graced was the antithesis of those descriptors. From the moment he stepped foot in the kitse and Darcy came face to face with him, she was struck by his beauty and the dark vibrant force of his personality.
Only a fool would have challenged him. Her lips twisted. Hi self, meet fool. She didn’t need the shocked gasps and looks on the other women’s faces to know challenging the large alien had been a bad decision. There had been more than a simple threat in his eyes when he ordered her to her knees. Some emotion she couldn’t place had hovered in the dark recesses of those brown eyes.
She’d been tempted to see what he’d do with her refusal. Lucky for her, common sense had prevailed and she’d followed his directive while inside she’d been quaking with terror and an unexpected twinge of arousal.
“Darcy, are you awake? There is food here,” a voice called beyond the sheer white curtain pulled across the curved archway where she’d slept.
Darcy rose and grimaced at the shellam she was forced to wear again. The skirt covered nothing with its flimsy material and the idea of being bare-chested in front of strangers was still cause for discomfort. Hell with it. She yanked it up to cover her boobs.
“Darcy?”
The curtain was peeled back with the clink of hooks on the rod holding it suspended in place. Cecilee’s anxious face met hers with a scrunched nose and arched brows. “Oh, good. You are up.”
Darcy couldn’t feign a smile but nodded.
“Come out.” Cecilee wiggled her fingers and the bracelet on her wrist jingled from the tiny jewel like stones hanging from it. “Eat with us.”
Her stomach chose that moment to grumble and Cecilee laughed. Darcy bolstered her courage. Avoidance wouldn’t aid in her escape. “I’d like that.”
She followed the woman into the open area of the massive suite. Across from her sleeping area were five similar alcoves with the curtains pulled back to reveal the inside. What beds she could see were covered in silks of varying jewel like colors. To her right were another five rooms forming an L shape. The curtains, all blue, were down, concealing what was beyond.
“We have set up in the garden. The warmer season is upon us and we enjoy taking our meals with the sun on our face and fresh air to invigorate us.”
Darcy stepped in line behind Cec
ilee, noting that there were only two alcoves along the wall where she’d slept. The one next to hers had a shimmery black curtain flecked with gold pulled closed. When Darcy stepped past the glass double doors, chatter greeted her. Cecilee went around the stream and the small waterfall and led Darcy to a nook with pillows galore and knee high table loaded with dishes.
The others were already seated. When she approached they lifted their heads and smiled. Cecile did the smooth fold to her knees thing and sat down. Darcy grimaced and crossed her legs as she plopped to the ground. Amia, at least she thought it was Amia, hid a snicker behind her hand.
Tashire was more blunt. “Have you received no training?”
Genuine curiosity flickered over their faces as they waited for her to answer. Darcy pressed a hand to her growling stomach and eyed the mystery food on the silver platters. Refusing to eat for two days hadn’t been her best idea. “Not exactly.”
What could she say that wasn’t offensive? No, I didn’t train to be a professional sex worker. That didn’t seem to be the way to endear them. She also had no intention of explaining her skill with comps. On Earth, she’d pursued classes to increase her knowledge and training.
There wasn’t a system she couldn’t work her way around. Darcy knew how to access systems and break code with the best. She’d had a job that allowed her to make a decent wage but what did money matter when there weren’t enough men around to fall in love with or have a family.
The Singles Program was an answer to many a prayer. Or at least so Darcy thought before she’d been abducted and sold.
“Eat,” Amia encouraged, pushing a plate with a leafy vegetable mixed with little tan beans in front of her.
Cecilee and Stasia waited until Darcy had put a little on an empty saucer. They each stared intently, making her nervous if she needed to spit out some terrible alien dish. Using the pronged utensil, she took a fortifying breath and tasted a small bite. Flavors burst on her tongue and she scooped up more. The ladies relaxed and began directing more bowls and plates in her direction to try.
Nikol's Surrender (A World Beyond, #10) Page 6