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Current Kim Knox Book three in the Planetary Bodies series.

Alexandra Syato has complete control of her life. She‟s rich and has Captain Rhearden Lawe as a delicious friend with benefits. Her life couldn‟t be more perfect. Until the mysterious force known as sheen turns her world upside down. It changes Lawe in a way she doesn‟t expect and now her easygoing friend has become a dark and brooding stranger, determined to take her control. She can‟t fight their new, blistering attraction. But the price for having him may break her. Completely.

Ellora‟s Cave Publishing

www.ellorascave.com

Current ISBN 9781419935367 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Current Copyright 2011 Kim Knox Edited by Grace Bradley Cover design by Syneca Photography: Les Byerley/Stockphoto.com Electronic book publication September 2011 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora‟s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora‟s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher‟s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author‟s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author‟s imagination and used fictitiously. The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book. The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party Web sites or their content.

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Kim Knox

Kim Knox

Chapter One Alexandra Syato palmed shut the door to her quarters. And paused. She frowned. It felt as if only seconds had passed since she‟d stood behind Len on the Theseus, watching the atmosphere of Uranus churn around them. Callie‟s chatter had filled the air—the woman could waste breath like no one Syato had ever met—and her gossip had swiftly mixed with the throb of claxons, white heat and light… Now Syato stood outside her room, dressed for the Millicent. How was she going to her club? Lawe wasn‟t due back from his run to Galatea for another week. And one didn‟t…trawl for flesh at the Millicent. It was bad manners. She rubbed at her brow, easing the tension of her thoughts. Her memory was flawless, eidetic. Time didn‟t just…disappear. She pressed her thumb to the ident-chip on her palm and the implant below her ear pulsed. “Connect me to Captain Frederick Jannes.” “Syato?” His deep voice, abrupt as always, burst against her ear. “What?” “I need to account for the crew.” “I have the ship in dock. Official downtime for the next seventy-two hours.” And he cut the line. Syato took a calming breath and reminded herself why she worked on the Theseus. The money. Jannes was a good captain and more importantly had luck on his side. He‟d held his crew together for longer than other mine-ship captains and that stability had secured them all a good living. She pushed herself away from the metal door. A better living than other captains she could name. She straightened her shoulders and strode down the long, narrow corridor, cut into the rock and ice of Miranda‟s core, weaving her way between the other residents of the interior habitat block. 5

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The artificially grass-scented air eddied around her. She pulled it deep into her lungs, finding a freshness that the Theseus couldn‟t hold. Three standard days of downtime. Her insides fluttered. Until she remembered that Lawe was off-planet. Still, she moved forward and couldn‟t seem to make herself turn back to her room. In the noise of the corridor, the shuffle of boots, the chatter of people and the answering hum of technology, her heels clicked against the smooth stone of the floor. The sound was a reminder of where she was going, the rhythm matching the quickened beat of her heart. Her shoes, made from the finest Jovian leather, only came out of their box for her time in the Millicent. Wearing them, she stopped being Syato, the Theseus’ purser. She became someone else, someone desired. Someone sexual. Her lips thinned. And Captain Rhearden Lawe was millions of miles away. She pushed her palms down over the length of her silk wrap dress, her fingers stiff, the sudden anxious need surprising her. She flexed her fingers. Her luck usually ran better than that. There was a chill to the filtration units, which had to explain the shiver running through her flesh, and she drew her heavy cape around her body. The soft warmth of the cashmere stirred her skin, the sensation sparking an unexpected and delicious heat between her thighs. Her quick indrawn breath made her the focus of two navigators, one she recognized from Lawe‟s ship, Actaeus. Mike Dorjan. The corridor was too narrow to avoid him, so she didn‟t. Dorjan tugged his companion to a standstill and made the path past him little more than a sliver. He smirked at her, his gaze sliding down over her short wrap dress, with its hints of revealing skin beneath, to her bared legs ending in impossible heels. Syato remained calm, breathing through her irritation. Lawe had always said his new navigator was a dick. “It‟s little wonder Lawe‟s had the Actaeus in dock for four days straight.” Dorjan‟s smirk deepened. “He‟ll be blue-balled by now.” 6

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The quick heat in her flesh deepened. Lawe was on Miranda. She willed her voice to be calm, and edged her politeness with authority. “Thank you for the update, Navigator Dorjan.” She looked behind him to the queue of people starting to clog the corridor. “But you‟re causing a jam.” A line furrowed the man‟s brow and his right hand flexed at his hip. He‟d spent too many years out on unruly Umbriel. They often found it difficult to adjust to Miranda‟s more civilized ways. Lawe had to try harder in recruiting his replacement crew. Not that it was any of her concern. She used Rhearden Lawe for one thing. Sex. Any other part of his life was not in her purview. She lifted an eyebrow. “You‟re not moving. Did you have something else to tell me?” The navigator‟s mouth thinned and his shoulders tensed. He was about to get ugly. More ugly. All right, playing nice with him was over. “I‟ve been a citizen of standing on Miranda for seven years. That entitles me to this.” She lifted her hand and curled her fingers into her palm. She opened them again. The shape of a weapon, small and sleek, formed in white light and shadow. It solidified. A flick of her thumb and it was primed. It began to whine. Dorjan blinked. His colleague stepped back. He‟d obviously met with radiant weaponry before. Syato let a smile touch her lips. “I‟m rich. Do not fuck with me.” Light flashed across the curve of the rock ceiling and the quick burst of a warning siren hurt her ears. “Is there a problem here, Purser Syato?” The synthesized voice of a security officer quieted the growing mutterings of the gathering crowd. “Respond, please.” Security on Miranda was always polite. At first. “No problem, officer. Navigator Dorjan and,” she fixed her gaze on his colleague and her eidetic memory filled in his name, “Deckhand Otkel were just passing on information.” 7

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“Is your conversation finished?” “It is.” “Then move along please.” “Happy to.” She gave a pointed look at the weapon in her hand and Otkel shuffled away. Dorjan frowned at her, anger burning in his dark eyes, but he stepped back, allowing enough room for her to pass. She smiled. “Thank you.” “So it‟s your money the captain wants. Now I understand.” Syato ignored him. She closed her hand into a fist and the weapon dissolved. She stretched her fingers. The huddled crowd ahead of her stepped back, parting, allowing her to stride through, her heels clicking in the almost silence. Dorjan

was

wrong.

She‟d

never

once

paid

Lawe

for

his

services.

Their…arrangement was one of convenience. When their schedules coincided, they met at their room in the lower levels of the Millicent and entertained themselves until their downtime was done. Just there. Nowhere else. It suited them both. She stopped at the dull shine of lift doors cut into the dark rock and palmed it open. People pushed past her, leaving the small, metal space empty. The door mechanism groaned and the doors clunked together. “Level twenty-three. Private.” Gears ground and after a few dull thunks, the lift descended. It cost her, but she needed the quiet time. Syato leaned back against the metal bar soldered into the back wall and blew out bad air. Something about Dorjan saying she had to pay Lawe for his body cut under her skin. She didn‟t pay for sex. And her first few wild meetings with him had been fueled by mutual desperation and Millicent‟s atmosphere. After that, they came together because the sex was incredible. A smile touched her mouth and heat stirred through her body again. Lawe was a much better lover than he was a freighter captain. Her smile turned wry and she rubbed at her palm, tracing the edges of the ident-chip. Before their arrangement, long before, she‟d turned down a position on his ship. He could never make the money she wanted. Never. 8

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“Level twenty-three.” Her feet moved forward on automatic, the heavy doors lurching back. Warmed air brushed her face, currents of it finding her exposed skin. The familiar scents of grass, of trees, swept around her, spiked with something else, something that ran goose bumps over her flesh and peaked her nipples. She frowned, unable to work out what brought on her sudden hunger. It didn‟t matter. Lawe would be in their room. Waiting. Her tongue wet her lips. It had been exactly sixteen standard days since their last meeting. She was more than ready to see him again. The gilded doors to the club filled the end of the corridor, Millicent cut across the supporting arch. Others hung around the entrance, eager for permission to enter. Fresh money, old money. She recognized a number of faces, putting names and histories to them with ease. It was why her lapse in memory didn‟t make sense. Syato stopped and her gut tightened. No. It couldn‟t be that. Jannes was freakishly careful about sheen overtaking his ship. He was almost as aware as a pilot about the dangerous energy that could tear through a crew, pushing insane sexual cravings— A soft curse broke from her. It wasn‟t just weeks away from Lawe that had her body on a dangerous edge. She was bristling with sheen. Anger burned under her skin, tension tightening every muscle. Jannes would pay her healthy compensation for this inconvenience. She stared at the closed doors of the club. And she should walk away. Sheen complicated lives and she didn‟t want her arrangement with Lawe…confused. “Purser Syato, welcome again.” Habit made her take the hand of the club‟s proprietor, Mallory Baruch. She fixed on a pleasant mask and fought not to pull her hand free of the other woman‟s firm grip. “Ms. Baruch, a pleasure.” Baruch frowned and a line creased between her eyes. Her fingers pressed against her skin. “You‟re not leaving us?” Her dark eyes glittered and a smile lifted her lips. 9

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There was a rumor that the woman belonged to the Cult, was a planet-worshipper. “I can feel the fire in your blood. Sheen caught you at last.” And there was her proof. Only a cultist could sense the energy in her flesh. “I would rather not—” “Captain Lawe is not with us, if you don‟t wish to…sully your experience with him.” She eased her grip and took Syato‟s arm, urging her past the throng of muttering people. “I have some beautiful new boys visiting from Callisto. Sleek, bronzed and with the longest tongues I have ever seen.” A smile twitched her lips. “Genetic enhancement is a wonderful thing.” Syato didn‟t want to return Baruch‟s smile but she couldn‟t help herself. “Indeed it is.” She paused. “But don‟t they appear odd?” “Ah…” Baruch pressed her palm to the center of the doors and the soft hum of technology thrummed through the warmed air. “Now there‟s the thing. They‟ve been enhanced in such a way that their tongues are perfectly normal, if slightly wrinkled…until they want to arouse…” Syato bit her bottom lip. “No, they aren‟t…” “Controlled penile tissue. Yes.” Laughter broke from her, probably as Baruch meant her to, and the doors to the club swung inward. Warm air swept over her, bringing with it the familiar odors of the Millicent, skin and musk and the hints of woodland. She pulled the scent into her lungs and the lick to her flesh deepened. Lawe wasn‟t there. The tip of her thumb rubbed at the bump of the ident-chip on her palm, toying with it. But she didn‟t contact him. Sheen would complicate everything about their arrangement. A part of her regretted it. Sex and sheen. It was rumored to be the finest aphrodisiac ever experienced…but it bound and tied and fixed a couple together. She couldn‟t risk the chance that he was “her one”. She enjoyed her freedom far too much. She knew Lawe felt the same.

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Syato followed Baruch across the floor of the club. A couple of Baruch‟s interesting new additions and she‟d be set for her unexpected downtime. No problems. No complications. The heavy beat of music, of sex and lust throbbed around the rock arches and caverns. Bodies writhed on the sparsely lit open floor, lost, caught in the uninhibited atmosphere. Only once had she let herself loose on the floor of the club, after a shitty run where they‟d lost their shipment. The crush of flesh, fingers, mouths, cocks, touching, kissing, sucking, fucking wrapped around her, the sighs, moans, the cries of release bursting back through her memory. Hands and mouths had found her, almost taking her body to orgasm. Almost. But even they hadn‟t been enough. Like now. Her skin burned and the quick ache tightened her belly. Lawe had found her that night. It was his mouth that ripped her release from her. Her breath caught as the crowd parted and she saw a tall, dark man, his naked skin glistening, a blonde woman wrapped around him. Lawe. Her heart surged, a swift, tight pain. What was he doing here with her? Syato blinked. The sheen had to be playing with her. It wasn‟t him. And relief hit her almost as hard as the desire riding her body. They had agreed on exclusivity. She didn‟t share. “Sheen can be overwhelming,” Baruch murmured, palming open one of the club‟s small, private lifts to the lower levels. “If you can‟t have the one you want, let the experience take you. Offer you freedom. Sheen is a gift to be enjoyed.” Syato pressed her lips together. Lawe wasn‟t the man to drive sheen from her. They were a convenience. Not commitment. She gave the club owner a short smile. “Thank you for your opinion, Ms. Baruch.” The doors slid shut and they stood in sharp silence for the few minutes it took to descend. 11

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“I meant no disrespect,” Baruch said as the lift doors opened onto a short, well-lit corridor. “A number of my clients find my club when the sheen has found them. It can be a stressful time.” Syato gave her a more genuine smile. “Stressful. Yes.” Baruch ran her fingers down a long panel and the door to their room slid back, silent and smooth. The cool air from her usual suite wrapped around Syato. It teased the ache in her flesh, the need she had to find a man and fuck him. Any man. That wasn‟t Lawe. But still…she thought she caught a hint of his scent. The familiar and distinctive warmth of his skin. She could almost taste it on the tip of her tongue and the need in her belly deepened. She could pretend. Pretend Baruch‟s new workers were her usual sex partner. That had to work. She pressed her lips together, suddenly nervous of asking Millicent‟s owner about the replacement. She‟d been…exclusive with Lawe for months. Syato held down a wince. Perhaps it was time to rethink that exclusivity. Her request went unsaid. “How long?” Baruch smiled, her smooth skin crinkling at the corners of her eyes. “He is already waiting for you. I always meet my clients‟ needs.” That sounded too much like a planet-worshipper. “Only the one.” The older woman‟s mouth twitched. “For now. Should you require more, then they will be provided. You‟re one of my best—and favorite—clients, Purser Syato. Have been for a number of years. Your finding pleasure here is my priority.” Syato nodded, unwilling to reply. The mention of years twisted something hard in her gut. Something that felt like regret. She pushed it down. She earned enough to find her pleasure how she wanted, and Millicent provided for her needs. Had and would. “Thank you, Ms. Baruch.”

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She stepped into the room and the door closed behind her with a quick rush of scented air. Syato slipped her long cape from her shoulders and dropped it over a nearby chair. The lights were dimmed, lower than she was used to, but she knew the suite as well as the room she lived in on the Theseus. The hint of Lawe lingered. Was it simply wishful thinking, or the sheen in her spinning her thoughts to a place they didn‟t belong? “Lights up.” She paused when the level of light stayed low and frowned as her order went unheeded. “I said, „Lights up‟.” She pressed the panel beside the door, but it made no improvement. “Best and favorite client,” she muttered. “She‟s giving me a discount on this.” She rolled her neck, wanting to ease the tension in her muscles. Her heart beat hard and there was a close sweat on her spine. The sheen threw her off balance. And where was her replacement? No, not replacement. Her…relief. “Hello? I‟m Syato. I have you— and possibly some of your friends—for the next few hours.” Still silence. Her jaw tightened. Was Baruch fucking about with her because she knew she‟d been afflicted by sheen? Did she think she should wait for Lawe? Inform him? Fuck him as some sort of moral responsibility? Syato stopped herself from snorting. She paid good money for the suite, a regular weekly payment regardless of whether it was used. This was her place. Had been for five months. The smaller rooms—little more than a bed and a curtained washroom— had felt cheap. And she hated to feel cheap. She paused in the doorway to the bedroom, the lack of light making her suddenly wary of entering the familiar space. Her palms were sweaty and her fast-beating heart made her head light. She pressed her hand to the doorjamb, the metal cool to the touch. Her fingers tightened against the metal. She flew through the turbulent Uranian atmosphere on an almost daily basis and a stretch of darkness had her stomach in a knot. “I didn‟t pay for games.” She kept her 13

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voice steady, sure. She negotiated with major corporations, had even had run-ins with Lord Thorne. She could build a confident mask. “Show yourself. The meter‟s ticking.” Nothing. She frowned. Had the genetic enhancements made them incapable of speech? Still, he could come forward and make himself known to her. She kicked off her heels, losing height, but the soles of her feet pressed against the warm carpet and soothed her. “Fine.” She grabbed her courage and strode into the darkness. The bed was off to her left, the small washroom to her right. The air smelled of soap, shampoo and the metallic tang of steam. She drew it in deep. She‟d caught Lawe more than once, showering and singing, his decidedly off-key voice echoing around the stone walls. A blow to his neck had fractured his laryngeal cartilage. And Lawe, always short of money, had repaired his voice box with an inferior modulator. He loved to strain it by singing. Still, it gave his normal range a husky burr that could send a charge of lust straight to her toes. Her stomach twisted and she remembered their last time, how he‟d whispered the filthy and depraved things he wanted to do to her… She shivered but the sudden flush of desire soured as her body remembered he was not waiting for her. She was not going to call him. In fact, she wasn‟t going to think of him at all. Her new lover would have his scent wrapped around him. It would satisfy. Her leg bumped the bed, and with her hand stretching out into the dimness, she dropped to the thick mattress. “I definitely want compensation for this, Baruch. At least four weeks free lease of this place. And complimentary food.” She rubbed her thumb along the pained arch of her foot and let out a tight breath. Her blood pulsed, the damp heat of her skin sticking the smooth silk of her wrap dress to her spine. Why was she so hot? She dug her thumb into a tender spot and winced. “I want to be fucked. I‟ve paid to be fucked.” “Well, if you‟ve paid…” The male voice growled out of the darkness.

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Chapter Two Syato‟s heartbeat spiked, she jumped up, defense training moving her body for her. A yelp broke from her as a solid form shoved her against the wall. The scratchy nap of the lunar tapestry rubbed against her face, her chest, a strong hand pinning her arms above her head by the wrists. Hot breath burned against her neck. The muscled length of a torso pressed into her back and she closed her eyes as his erection dug against her. “I didn‟t pay for this.” A large hand skimmed her hip, teasing over the smooth fabric. “What did you pay for?” His scent was throwing her off. He smelled like Lawe, but then whoever had used the shower had used his products. But his voice, and the fact that the man was nowhere near the club, made it impossible. She swallowed, trying to find her own voice. He seemed to be expecting an answer. “The new workers. The ones with the tongues.” “So you want to be…licked?” Syato closed her eyes, denying the hot flicker of need that filled her belly. She could imagine this was Lawe, use the darkness and the borrowed scent to make her body believe it was him. Safe. It would be safe. “Yes.” She pulled in a deep breath, drawing in the dry odor of the tapestry and fighting the twinge of guilt. She and Lawe had an arrangement, not a relationship. “Do you agree?” He growled against her ear. “No deals. Not now. You take what I give you.” “That‟s never been a part of any understanding—” Sharp teeth tugged at her earlobe and she gasped. His fingers pushed over her hip to cup her sex. “This is mine.”

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Sparks danced behind her eyes. He had Lawe‟s build and scent but her captain never pushed, never took. Sex was light, debauched, filled with laughter…not whatever this was. “I don‟t think—” “Do that.” Irritation swelled and she jerked back against him. Enough. She‟d had enough of this game. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” His laughter skittered over her skin and she ignored the prickle it left behind. “Baruch is giving you what you need.” Baruch? She knew it. The woman was giving her a Uranian year of free room use. “I do not need to be held against my will with my face pressed into a moldy tapestry.” “So much fire…” His voice had dropped to a whisper across the shell of her ear and her tight irritation wavered as his thumb followed the sensitive crease of her thigh. His fingers played, pushing the smooth silk between her thighs, teasing, pulsing little shocks of fire up through her belly. “You‟re going to beg me to fuck you.” The unexpected twist of guilt caught her. She hadn‟t been with another man since she began her association with Lawe. Her time was precious and he was convenient. No it wasn‟t guilt, just the unfamiliar. “Is that the deal? What else do I get?” “You beg and I tell you who I am.” Syato snorted. “Please, oh please, fuck me now, big boy.” He growled and his fingers tightened at her wrists, pressed deep into her sex so that her body arched back against his. “You think this is a fucking joke?” His teeth found the curve where her neck met her shoulder. Pained pleasure lanced and Syato bit back a cry. “Feel like a joke now?” Dark spots danced across her vision and she fought to breathe. What was he doing? “No. No it doesn‟t.” He pulled at the smooth material of her dress, bunching it, his every touch finding sensitive flesh. “Good girl.” His satisfaction warmed through her, unbidden,

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unexpected. He teased his fingertips over her bared sex and the heat of his touch spiked her pulse. “Does your crew know about this?” Had it been a conscious choice? Her mind was blank. Lawe lusted after her underwear. Expensive silk, handmade, delicate and beautiful. She hadn‟t planned on him being at the Millicent, so she saw no point in wearing them for another man? Angry with herself, she pushed the captain out of her head. He was not here and what he didn‟t know— Her stranger stroked her clit and it broke her thoughts. “Thinking about him?” He knew about Lawe? If he worked for Baruch then he‟d no doubt observed them. But she wasn‟t going to bring the captain into this little fantasy. “Who?” “Oh now you‟re being a bad girl.” He nipped at her neck, quick little bites that forced a gasp and bucked her back against him. “Can‟t have that.” Syato groaned, the heaviness of her need thickening her blood. His fingers stroked over her sex, slick and pushing deeper. The ache to have him burned up through her body, overwhelming the strain of her lifted arms, her trapped wrists and the force of his solid body pinning her to the wall. This had never been her fantasy. Was it sheen making this demand? Had Baruch known? “I‟ve seen him.” Syato stared ahead of her into the blackness, her heart pounding. He knew him? Panic edged her thoughts. He‟d tell. “Who?” His laughter echoed around the room and he ground himself against her back. The hard length of his cock brought what she was about to do into sharp focus. She was going to have sex with someone else. He released her wrists and her sore arms flopped. Maybe that was it. A test. The test she needed to see if another man would turn her on. He had. Her skin was still on fire, her body throbbing. But that had to be the sheen. Nothing more.

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Her forehead pressed against the rough stitching of the tapestry. She could almost ignore his fingers still buried between her thighs. Almost. Until a finger curved and his hand shaped her ass. The sudden slap ran through her, hot and quick. She squealed. “How dare—” “Oh I dare, believe me.” His cock brushed her ass, hot and hard and her belly clenched. She couldn‟t fuck him. Syato bit at the inside of her cheek, the wildness in her flesh fighting with an insane guilt that she was somehow betraying Lawe. But she wasn‟t. Theirs was an arrangement. A convenience. There was no obligation. No permanence. “Fuck me.” He laughed, the sound harsh and tight. “Doesn‟t sound like begging to me, Syato.” The head of his cock teased down the cleft of her ass, his knuckles skimming her flesh. She pushed back against him, wanting him, wanting to prove to herself that she could have anyone she fucking well wanted. His fingers stroked her sex, sinking deep, moving in an increasing rhythm, one that beat with her heart. She fisted the old tapestry, clinging to it, pushing back against his hand and the tantalizing press of his cock. No other thoughts. Just the pursuit of pleasure. “Now. Fuck me now.” “More.” The word was a growl, sharpened by the thrust of his fingers. “Fucking beg me.” “Please.” She could only manage a gasp. The need for him to fuck her, to wring an orgasm from her pounded through her blood. Her skin was hot, sticky and everything had narrowed to his pumping fingers and the delicious promise of his cock. “Please. I want you to fuck me. I don‟t care who you are. Just. Now.” “You don‟t care?” His cock slicked over his fingers and there was a strange edge to his question. “Maybe you should.”

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The deep thrust of his fingers was replaced with his cock. He gripped her hips, stroking into her, driving hard and fast. Relentless. The rough material of his trousers rubbed against her thighs and ass. His breath burned against her neck, quick and harsh. Syato fought to keep with his rhythm. No one had ever treated her this way. Sex had always been about control, her control. But now… She gasped as his fingers found her clit. A bolt of pure pleasure rocked her and a cry escaped. Intense, sharp. She wanted to beg him to stop, but his fingertip flicked and stroked and teased in perfect time with his fucking her. She couldn‟t think, could hardly breathe. There was only him and the rising heat of her release, one that burned at the edge of her tightened flesh, promising, promising… He pushed her hard into the wall, trapping his hand and sparking yet more unbearable pleasure. “Want to know who I am?” His mouth touched her ear, his voice hot and uneven. “No…” If she didn‟t know, then this wouldn‟t… This wouldn‟t be a betrayal. His voice was a low, angry growl. “I‟m Captain Rhearden Lawe.” White light and heat smashed over her, pulling a scream from her, her hands straining as she fisted the heavy material of the tapestry. Waves of pleasure rippled through her flesh, Lawe‟s fingers and cock still fucking her, deepening the fire, almost, almost taking her to the edge again. “Miss me?” And he bit her shoulder. Blistering fire crackled over her mind. She stopped breathing. For a long moment, gray shadows swamped her, held her and she was only vaguely aware of his long, low moan and him finding his own release. Her body was barely her own, loose and sated, Lawe‟s strong arms wrapped around her, he buried his face against her neck. He always held her after sex. Solid muscle hugging her tight, her ear pressed to his heart, hearing it slow into its strong, even rhythm. She wanted that now, to sink into his arms and find blissful sleep.

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He pulled free of her body and straightened. “Lights, dim.” They obeyed him, the darkness lifted to a soft gold. He gripped her shoulders and half shoved her toward the neatly made bed. She fell against it, her numb fingers tugging at her dress, watching him as he straightened his own clothes. Her thoughts were still spinning. What was he doing here? He wasn‟t supposed to be in their room. And certainly not pretending to fuck her as a stranger. Her anger surged. “What‟s going on here, Lawe?” He rolled his neck, there was a distinct crack and his voice…changed. He‟d been playing with his busted modulator. Disguising himself. Bastard. “Have a good time?” His smile was dark. “I did.” She pressed her palms to her hot cheeks, fighting to compose herself. “And Baruch set you up for this?” “Baruch? No.” “You never left the signal you were here.” “So?” He ran his fingers through his short hair, tangling it. He strode across the small space to the side table and the alcohol he charged to their room. He knocked back a half-bottle of beer in one swallow. “We fucked, Syato. It‟s what we do.” This wasn‟t him. There wasn‟t this edge to him. He was smart, funny…not this dark, brooding stranger. Was it the sheen that gripped her? Had it changed him? Sheen. Damn. In the dizzying rush of her orgasm she‟d forgotten the reason why she couldn‟t have sex with Lawe. She couldn‟t tie herself to him. She frowned. But he wasn‟t besotted with her…if anything he was more distant. Her gut tightened with surprising pain. Maybe he wasn‟t the one? Good. She told herself that was good. Their arrangement could continue. But not like…that. He was not pulling that kind of shit on her again. “We have an agreement, Lawe. Grabbing me in the dark was not part of it.”

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He stared at her, the slim bottle still close to his mouth. His lips were moist and glistened in the light. Syato had to resist the sudden need to taste him, lick the remainder from his skin. “Did we also agree that spontaneity was out? Shit, Syato, when did I marry you?” Anger was a sour, twisting burn in her chest. She glared at him. “We agreed—” “You‟re not my purser, brokering deals. We agreed to be fuck buddies.” “I dislike that term.” “Fuck buddies because it suits us, our life, our work plans.” He waved the bottle back to the half-mauled tapestry, that unfamiliar dark smile on his mouth again. “And we fuck well.” She had a memory of his list. It was something she‟d said to him far back when they first came together. “We‟re not whores.” “No. Whores get paid.” He was spoiling for a fight. Her blood was up. She didn‟t know whether it was the sheen working with her, separating her from a man whom it considered unsuitable. She ignored that thought. He wanted a fight? She‟d give him one. “Is that what you want? Money for your time? Your dick?” He flushed and his dark eyes glittered. For the first time, she felt nervous around him. She wasn‟t in control of their time. Not anymore. He sneered and cupped himself. “How much is that worth to you?” “You really want to go there?” Lawe gave a half laugh. “Why not? You‟ve always been good at knowing the value of a commodity. So, how much is me fucking you worth?” Syato sat up, straightening her dress. She watched her hand tremble as she smoothed the material over her knee. This was them breaking up. She pressed her lips together before she spoke. “Going forward? Or should I tally all past custom?”

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Lawe leaned against the side table and crossed his legs at the ankle. Casual, calm…but lethal. She didn‟t know this man. “Past custom? All right. Calculate that too. My ship is fucked. I need all the money I can get.” “Your ship…?” His gaze narrowed and a muscle jumped in his lean jaw. “My price, Syato. I worked hard.” What was she doing? She wanted to get out. Hide somewhere quiet and sane and think through what had happened. With his ship out of commission, Lawe had lost his livelihood. Was it totally beyond repair? That was the question she wanted the answer to, not this…bitter thing. She pushed steel into her spine. She needed it. “How much for a kiss?” Lawe shrugged. “Closed or open mouth?” “Both.” “Closed. Five Jovian silvers. Open. Five Jovian golds.” She blinked. “That much?” His head tilted and the glitter to his eyes changed. It brought a hitch to her chest. “Do you doubt I‟m worth it?” He placed his beer bottle on the table and pushed himself away with an easy grace. She watched him and tried to remember to breathe as he stood over her. His thumb brushed her parted mouth. She tasted herself on his fingers. “I made you come with a kiss the first time we met.” Her mouth dried. She remembered again. Others on her skin, trying to fuck her on the main floor of the Millicent. But Lawe… She‟d taunted him and he‟d kissed her so thoroughly that she was weak and shaking in his arms before she realized quite what had happened. “And of course there are levels.” His voice was that soft, low growl that sank into her flesh and forced her memory into reliving all the times he had whispered wicked and depraved things into her ear.

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She swallowed. “Levels?” “How much money do you have, Syato?” Where was this going? She wasn‟t going to pay him for kissing her. She wasn‟t…but he dipped his mouth to hers, so close she could taste his breath. “Transfer the money.” “Bastard.” “You know it.” She closed her eyes, her lips moving silently as she accessed her credit. She made a payment into his account. A sizeable one. “Use that up.” He paused. His smile was wicked and she hated the way it made her so eager to kiss him. “Thank you.” He pulled her to her feet, his mouth only millimeters from hers. “Hello, Purser Syato. I‟m Lawe and I‟ll be your whore for tonight.” She wrenched herself free from him, anger and pain pushing hard at her chest. “Fuck you.” “That‟s what you‟ve paid for.” He crowded her, backing her up against the wall, when she had every intention of getting the hell out of the room. The heat of his skin, his body, his scent familiar in so many ways clashed with the dark lust in his gaze. This—whatever it was—had to stop. She pulled out her last card. “I‟ve been hit by sheen. The whole crew was.” She pressed her hands to the solid wall of his chest, her nervous fingers smoothing over the creased cotton. “We‟ve fucked. Let me get away before it gets worse.” “Baruch told me about the sheen.” Syato stared up at him. “She did?” “Sheen won‟t affect us.” He brushed her tangled hair from her jaw, her cheek and a shiver caught her at the light stroke of his fingertips. He‟d always been so…considerate. “Now let me get to work.”

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Chapter Three Syato fought not to close her eyes because she knew a tear would fall. “Stop this, Lawe.” “The promise.” He was ignoring her. His mouth ghosted over hers, leaving an impression of taste, of air, of warmth, so close but never touching, even as she moved to try to capture his mouth. “Wanting. The anticipation.” His words were soft, low, a hot vow. Syato knew she shouldn‟t be this turned-on. It wasn‟t fair. Her fingers clutched his shirt. She wanted him again, the fierce, hot ache deep in her belly pushing her against the hard plane of his body. “Ready for the next level?” She couldn‟t reply. Her lungs ached, her head dizzy with pulling in too little air. But breathing was completely overrated. “All right. The tease.” She gasped as his mouth finally brushed hers, his lips warm and sharp with the tang of alcohol. Underneath was pure him. Something she couldn‟t quite describe, bitter, but with a delicious edge of sweetness. A flavor she‟d know anywhere. “Tasting you. Will I take it further, or will I leave you unsatisfied?” His smile pressed against her mouth. Her heart turned over at the thought that they were finished, that the time in their suite had come to an angry end. “You‟d try to take it. But would I let you?” His fingers traced over her jaw, tipping her face to the perfect angle, his lips never leaving hers. Only the moment mattered. No regret. She had him now. And it was hard to think, to do anything but let Lawe have his way with her mouth.

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“Finally, the consummation.” The words were said in that familiar low growl. A soft moan escaped her, her body hardly her own. She wanted him and she closed her eyes tight, aching to fall into the old bliss. She opened her mouth under his, eager to lose herself. But it wasn‟t the hard wildness of their very first kiss, all fire and passion. It was better. Or worse. The hot tease of his tongue met hers and she melted, only his hands, the hard length of his body holding her up, pinning her to the cold stone of the wall. He deepened the kiss and fire ran through her veins. He pressed his firm thigh between hers and the added spark, the sudden jolt to her flesh danced light behind her eyes. Her release burned so close, so tantalizingly close that she couldn‟t stop herself writhing against him. Eager. Desperate. All control gone. “That‟s it. Let go for me, Syato.” His whisper was hot and raw…and just him. The white fire of her release swept over her, fierce and tight. She arched into him, never wanting it to end, never wanting to let him go. Her mouth took his. And if that cost her another five Jovian golds, it was money very well spent. She muttered swear words when he drew back. He wiped his hand across his mouth and the sated joy of her release faded. She‟d become a job. He stepped back and rubbed his hands together. “One Jovian silver for me to remove your clothes. Three golds for me to remove mine.” Syato caught her fingers in her tangled hair. Two of the fiercest orgasms she could remember had her thoughts spinning. She was infamous for her control, her planning, her cold-blooded reason, but all that was failing her in the face of her captain changing the rules. “You‟re serious? All this? Lawe, what‟s going on?” He laughed. “You‟ve paid for me.” He grinned at her, something sharp and not…him. “I should‟ve taken this deal from the beginning. Seeing how much it turns

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you on I‟d be a rich man by now.” He moved closer again and his palms ran down her sides, pulling her away from the wall. The heat of his skin melted through the thin fabric of her dress. “So…undressing you.” She shrugged free. “I‟m not playing this game.” “It‟s not a game. This is what you‟ve always wanted. Total control.” His smile was wicked and she ignored the way her heart jumped an extra beat. “I am at your complete disposal.” “You were before.” His mouth thinned. “No. I wasn‟t.” He looked down for a long moment and Syato wanted to touch him, run her fingers though his hair, offer comfort. Be how they used to be. Not this mockery. He looked up and his gaze was dark, shuttered. “Time to undress you.” “No.” “No eating you either? Or should I just start with straight penetration?” Syato closed her eyes. Memories of how Lawe nibbled and sucked and played with her had kept her fingers busy during her lonely hours aboard the Theseus. Now to have something so…precious reduced to a commodity stabbed at her. She shook her head. “No.” “Then we‟re done.” He wet his lips and rolled his neck. “Easiest money I‟ve ever earned.” He pointed to the ceiling. “Up to you if you want to keep this suite. One of the smaller rooms is cheaper. The club floor is free.” The words stabbed hard into her gut. “Why are you like this?” “This is what you wanted from me. A sex worker. A dick for hire. A whore. And I‟ve worked hard for you over the past six months.” He held her gaze, his eyes revealing nothing. She‟d never realized he was so good at masking his emotions. Had she ever really known him? He pulled in a long breath. “I‟ll pass on a list of my full rates.”

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His expression turned wry. “Wonder if Baruch would take me on? With my ship dead in the hangar I have the time.” He rubbed at his jaw, the rough scrape of bristles against his fingertips too loud. “Part-time, maybe. Piecemeal. A supplementary income.” The thought of another woman touching him, of him kissing someone else as he‟d just kissed her shocked pain through her chest. In that hard moment, she realized she was jealous…and damn him, she was not letting him go. “You think we‟d be non-exclusive?” “You often said I never made enough money for you. This way I would.” She was certain her mouth had fallen open. “I have never—” “I‟m a clever man. I worked it out.” Guilt pushed at her. Had she made it obvious that his lack of success compared to her own had made her think less of him? She‟d been a dismissive bitch. It was time she salvaged what she could. “You want money? I‟ll pay you to be exclusive.” Lawe stilled. He pushed his hands into his pockets and his head tilted. “How much? What‟s the deal? How much am I worth to you?” This was wrong. Everything about this situation was wrong. Had sheen thrown something off? She‟d heard the rumors that it could almost act subconsciously, affecting the environment. Could it change personality too? Lawe wasn‟t the one she was meant to be with so it somehow allowed sex, but nothing deeper? Lord Thorne and his pet scientists needed to work out what the hell was going on with it, because now it was changing her life. She resisted the need to cover her eyes, to squeeze her fingers into her temples. She had to make a deal. Lawe had always been a determined man. He would go through with his plan to work at the club.

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Anger and fear had her insides wound tight. Sheen be damned. What did a bolt of unidentified energy know about her life? What did it know about the man she wanted, needed? “I want your list.” His gaze narrowed on her briefly. “A full practical breakdown?” Her heart ran too fast. She didn‟t want to do this. She‟d been herself with him. Let her guard down with no one else and she wanted their old relationship back. It had been a relationship. More than simply a convenient fuck. Sheen had taken it away from her. She‟d hold tight to what she had left. “Why not?” “Why the change, Syato?” “If I‟m paying for you, I‟m not sharing you.” She gave him a sharp smile, her face a mask. “I don‟t share well.” Something flickered in his gaze. Maybe it was amusement. She couldn‟t read him. Her own nerves were obstructing clear thought. “My list. All right.” His fingers flexed and Syato‟s stomach gave a little flip. “You still have a fair build-up of credit.” “Use it all.” “Impatient?” “I‟ve been here almost half an hour and you‟re still fully clothed.” Lawe smiled, the hint of his new darkness making her breath quick and causing heat to swell across her skin. “As I said, one silver for me to undress you. Three golds for me to take my clothes off.” She lifted an eyebrow. “I know my market, Syato.” It should‟ve been a joke and maybe he did mean it that way, but it was proof that he‟d become a part of her work life. Money and brokering commodities. He‟d become another deal. “Agreed. So.” She lifted her arms. “Undress me.” 28

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Lawe stepped forward. His hands skimmed over her side to the hidden tabs of her wrap dress. The heat of his body burned through the thin silk and she ached to kiss his throat, taste his skin, fall onto the bed in a laughing tangle of limbs. Syato closed her eyes. The feel of his confident touch against her waist, her hips, the warmth of his palms, his fingertips against the skin he exposed forced her to draw in a breath. Had they ever been this precise before? His breath, slow and even, burned against her neck, the scratch of bristles tickling sensitive skin. “Almost there.” His soft murmur ran through her. “Hardly.” He paused, but she didn‟t feel his lips curve into a smile. Yes, this was business. The silk dropped from her shoulders, his sure touch easing it down over arms, her breasts to her hips until it fell to a puddle of cloth at her bare feet. His gaze was hard as he stood back to stare down the length of her body. Syato lifted her chin. He liked her underwear. Expensive silk fripperies that had cost her the profit from a six-day tour. Her silk was still in its drawer in her rooms. She stood before him naked. He‟d already fucked her. He knew. No surprise. “Should I get a discount if you continue to stare?” He pushed a hand down over his shirt. “Do you want me to take this off or do you want to? It‟ll cost you extra.” Syato breathed. She couldn‟t touch him. Not yet. Running her hands over his body would be a painful reminder of what she once had. And she wasn‟t ready for that. Not yet. She found her voice. “You.” Another breath and she was able to complete her sentence. “You do it.” “Too much for you?” Her mouth thinned. “I should have a meter.” Lawe‟s fingers moved to his shirt and he slipped the buttons through, slow and easy. He held her gaze. “By the hour or by the act. A meter sounds like a good idea.”

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The shirt dropped from his back and Syato curled her fingers into her palms to break the need to touch him, trace the line of dark hair over his stomach, let her mouth tease and taste a nipple. He was worth three golds. But no one else would pay to see him. His fingers moved to his trousers and the buttons snapped open. He kicked off his boots, his trousers hit the floor and his erect cock sprang free. Syato couldn‟t move her gaze from it. She‟d had the panic, the fear that his new disinterest would be obvious. It wasn‟t. “So…not eating you.” He hummed to himself, his head tilted. He took her hand and pulled her toward the bed. Cool air brushed her bared skin and she shivered. “How about I discover your skin. Ten golds.” He drew her onto the wide mattress with him, slow and formal and she ignored the kick to her nerves. She earned enough to keep him. She ignored the quick worry for the day when her money wouldn‟t be enough. “Relax,” he murmured. “It‟s not as if we haven‟t done this before, Syato.” You never fucked me for money then. But she couldn‟t say the words. She closed her eyes and let her head sink back into the pillow. Lawe knelt over her, his body tantalizingly close, the heat, the roughness of hair a torment to her skin. His mouth found the overly sensitive bite he‟d left on her shoulder, licking, sucking, no doubt deepening the bruise, but it pulsed pleasure. Her body arched into him. “What will you do?” She wanted to keep him talking. They‟d always talked and laughed. His ribs were ridiculously ticklish, a weakness she‟d often played on. Syato bit her lip and opened her eyes to stare up at the low, rock ceiling. “I need details.” “Want to know if I‟m cost effective?” His breath burned her ear and she couldn‟t deny the little curl of joy low in her belly. He grazed his teeth over her earlobe. “Details.” The word was a sigh. “This little spot behind your ear.”

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Syato squeaked. His lips, his tongue played, teasing little jolts of pleasure, and she fisted the sheets to stop her body bucking. Damn the man, he did know every inch of her. “And here.” He licked his way down the line of her neck. This time she did buck, the fierce pull of need dancing spots in front of her eyes. Lawe had also brought her to orgasm there too. “You want me to earn out. Can‟t have you coming too soon.” He pulled her hands free of the sheets and held them above her head. With a hard press of her ident-chip under her middle finger, radiant light caught her hands to the rock wall. “One Jovian silver.” Syato arched under him, unused to being…confined. “What are you doing?” “I need to work without distraction.” He sucked and kissed along her collarbone, his hair brushing her jaw. He paused over the curve of her breast. “New body wash, Syato?” His breath stirred her damp skin. The almost-touch of his body to hers, its familiarity tightened her chest even as his touch ran fire into her belly. “A Europa shipment. I did—” He licked her nipple, breaking her words. “A deal.” “When do you not?” There was an edge to his voice she didn‟t want. His mouth teased the underside of her breast, licking, tormenting her with light bites, while his body remained taut and unmoving over her. Syato twisted, her arms straining against her bonds. His control was too much. “Lawe…” “You paid for pleasure. You‟ll have it.” His tongue drew a wet line down to her navel, the dip of it catching her breath. Her legs kicked against him, fighting the tease, the flare of too much need. Sheen had made her skin impossibly sensitive. He cursed under his breath and moved away.

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“What? Where…?” Was he leaving her? She tugged at the restraint that held her to the bed, the radiant-wear caught between her fingers and making it difficult for her to free herself from it. He couldn‟t leave her like this. His flat gaze turned her heart over, before he opened a drawer and drew out the thin scarves Baruch packed in every room. “Lawe. That isn‟t necessary.” She tied him up and had her wicked way with him more than once, but she‟d never agreed to it herself. It simply wasn‟t something she liked. He‟d never pushed before. “One silver for each leg.” He snapped the blue-green silk between his hands. “Something new. Something more interesting.” He ran a finger along the underside of her right sole and she yelped, her foot jerking. He gripped her ankle and bound her to the bed frame. “Can‟t be the same as we always were, Syato.” “Why?” Her gaze tracked him as he ran his fingers along the calf muscle of her left leg. Her sex throbbed, her chest tight with want and with the fear of them cracking apart. She sucked in air as he tied that leg to the bed. She felt exposed, beyond control. Her heartbeat ramped. “It was—” “What?” He stroked his palm over her leg, his fingers caressing. “Convenient? Ordered?” His eyes moved from her face, skirting over her skin. She couldn‟t read his expression. “Dull?” Syato shut her eyes. He thought they‟d been dull? “I enjoyed our time together.” “You say that with such…enthusiasm.” The bed dipped under his weight and he knelt between her parted thighs. His mouth found her stomach again, chasing light little kisses over her skin to the ticklish dip of her waist. She tried to twist away from his ruthless mouth, but his firm hands held her hips, pinning her to the mattress. “You pay. You get a much more interesting experience.”

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Syato cursed him, the fire under her skin flaring, pushing at her need for him to take her and fuck her. “Enough!” It was half command, half plea. Sheen had her mind and her wants in turmoil. “I can‟t—” “Can‟t what?” He growled the words against her hip, following with bites and licks that chased over the curve over her belly, so close to her mons that she ached for him. But he wasn‟t going to lick and bite and suck her there. A low moan escaped her. “I have sheen in my blood, Lawe.” He licked the crease of her thigh and a loud “fuck” burst from her. “I…” “You…?” Syato glared at him, hating him in that moment. Every inch of her was taut, aching and he was making fun of her? “Untie me.” Her growl rolled from her like one of his own. “Fuck me.” Lawe leaned over her, his hands planted on either side of her chest. His mouth dipped to hers. “Yes to the second. No to the first.” Her gaze narrowed. “Untie. Me.” “How often did I ask you to untie me?” His teeth teased her bottom lip. “Beg you?” Her breathing quickened. What had she done? “You didn‟t like it?” “Never came so hard in my life.” His low voice brushed her jaw and she shivered. “Told you. A paid service. So much more interesting.” His cock pressed against her mons and she arched up to meet him involuntarily, her binds stopping, training her. This new man was dark, ruthless, but she wanted a trace of humor, the sly grin that said he was enjoying their time. That it had him as tightly wound as her. She twisted beneath him. “Damn it, Lawe.” “Twenty Jovian golds? Fair?” “Yes.” “Sure?”

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She swore at him and his reply was to brush his hand down over her shoulder, her breast, with a tormenting tease over her pebbled nipple, to her stomach and the curve of her belly. His knuckles stroked over her sex, the head of his cock pushing against her and spiraling stark pleasure. Lawe held her gaze, his eyes dark, his jaw clenched so tight it had to be painful. She had to stare at him as his cock stretched her and sank into her, wanting to see something of the old Lawe. The joy that always took him. The sigh as they touched. But there was no slow-lidded pleasure in his eyes, simply the closed darkness she‟d found in him since she‟d entered the suite. It forced her to close her eyes. Close them and remember other times. How he‟d whisper and promise and fuck her. Or the slow, slow loving that would torture her for hours. “Syato…” His voice was a low growl. “Here with me. Open your eyes.” She did and for a fraction of a second, she thought she saw something flicker in his gaze. “Lawe?” His mouth ghosted over hers. “Time to make you scream.”

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Chapter Four He pulled back and thrust into her, breaking a cry. Her spine arched, her arms and thighs straining. Pleasure burned in every muscle, her belly tight, the promise of her release already a searing joy at the edges of her flesh. She missed, she wanted Lawe, but this stranger he‟d become… He was fucking hot. “Try.” His lips quirked upward, a brief, hard smile before his mouth flattened again. “I don‟t have to.” He stroked into her, faster, harder, each thrust rubbing against her clit, forcing fierce joy into her flesh. Unrelenting. Powerful. She ached. Her heart pounded. Her breath was fire in her chest. She wanted, she needed everything about him. All of him. And she wouldn‟t let him go. Ever. “Taste it, Syato.” He‟d changed his voice to the one that had fucked her against the wall. She almost cried out at the sudden surge of heat ripping through her body. Sparks flickered in her vision and she thrust her hips against his, desperate for more of him, for him to ride her out though the beginning of her release. He fucked her. Hard. His thrusts grew more erratic. Broken words poured from Syato, whispers of how he could fuck her, have her. How she wanted him. Would do anything, anything so he‟d fuck her. She‟d lost all control…but then this was Lawe. And even this stranger, he could do it too. Make her forget everything but his skin, his body, his joy. His mouth took hers in a wild kiss, teeth and tongues clashing. It robbed her of her breath, her body struggling for air, her thoughts dizzying. There. She clung to the

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promise, the fury of her release. Lawe growled her name against her lips and it was all she needed. The heat of her release swept through her, as hot and relentless as the man who still stroked into her. He swallowed her long, low moan, his own orgasm taking him, driving him hard against her, chasing the echoes of her own release. He buried his face against her neck, breathing hard, saying nothing. Syato closed her eyes, sated, hot and vaguely aching. A quick laugh broke from her. “Lawe, you really have to let me go now.” He pulled away from her, quick and sudden. Again, she thought she caught something in his expression. It looked like bitterness. What she said hit her and she closed her eyes, didn‟t watch him as he moved to untie her ankles and released the radiant-wear that bound her hands to the bed. She rubbed at her wrists, working the blood back under tingling skin. She stared up at the ceiling as he dropped down beside her, his breathing uneven. His arm moved, but it wasn‟t to hold her. He pinched at the bridge of his nose, then let his hand cover his eyes. His knuckles showed white. Would her money be enough now? Was fucking her for money a burden? But she had to have one last thing. If this was over, she had to have his arms wrapped around her one more time. “How much for you to hold me?” Her final request broke her and she fought the tears that burned and threatened to escape. Everything used to be so natural. Almost perfect. She‟d been a fool to treat it so lightly. “What‟s left?” She didn‟t even have to think. “Thirty Jovian golds.” “Then that much.” Was he trying to get her to change her mind? That wouldn‟t happen. “Agreed.”

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For several heartbeats he lay there, his hand covering his eyes, his jaw tight. A long, slow breath lifted his chest and he turned. He lifted his arm and waited, his expression blank. Syato closed her eyes and hugged herself to the damp heat of his body. The scent of sex and him washed over and she clung to him, her face against his chest, her arms wrapped tight to the solid muscle of his back, her legs tangling with his. Lawe‟s arms moved around her, slow, careful, almost hesitant. Or was that reluctance? Her chest tightened. “I‟ll pay for you, Lawe.” She whispered the words into his skin, too aware of the heavy beat of his heart. “I‟ll keep you however you want. Sheen fucked up everything.” “Syato…” His chin moved against her hair. He was about to turn her down. “Sheen will find you again. It‟s persistent. You have to find a compatible man.” She listened to his heart, wanting the rhythm soothe her. It didn‟t. “And how much did that piece of advice cost me?” “On the house.” A bittersweet smile tugged at her mouth. It was how they used to be. Easy. Friends. More than friends. Lovers. Somewhere in the previous six months she‟d fallen in love with him…and hadn‟t even known it. Love. She loved him. She pressed her lips together. Hard. Wanting the pain to stop the fall of tears. “What if I‟ve already found him?” He was quiet, his body tense. The sudden quickening of his heart thudded under her ear. “Syato…” Maybe it would ruin the farce they had now, but she had to tell him. He was already halfway to backing out of the deal. His tension forced her own muscles tight…but she‟d argued with Lord Thorne. And lived to tell about it. “It‟s you.”

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Lawe pulled away and stared at her. “Me?” “Fuck sheen. What does it know? I‟ll pay you to be here if that is what it takes. I have money. I want you. I…” She swallowed and clung to the courage to continue. “I love you. I think I have for a while.” “You love me.” His fingertips touched her jaw, trembling. He closed his eyes. Silence surrounded them and Syato willed herself to stay silent. He wet his lips. “Baruch said you‟d been hit by sheen. I don‟t know how she knew…but it smacked me in the head.” He pulled in a heavy breath, but still he didn‟t look at her. “I thought what we had was convenience. I was an idiot. It wasn‟t. Isn‟t. But sheen, it twists you. I knew I had to offer you something more…and if I wasn‟t the one, then I knew you‟d keep a commodity. Keep me. Baruch agreed.” Baruch. Syato fought the sudden surge of anger. Lawe opened his eyes and his gaze held hers, his thumb stroking over her lip. “I didn‟t know what else to do.” His quiet words sounded…lost, and it broke her fury at the club owner. His pain echoed the feeling that had gripped her. She could forgive him. He‟d been as scared as she was that they were over. She kissed his palm and the action flowed like relief through her veins. She could touch him, kiss him again. “I was in denial. Scared. It couldn‟t be you I wanted.” She kissed his palm again, her tongue curving over the base of his thumb, knowing how sensitive he was there. Her smile deepened at his sharp hiss. “Maybe…maybe Baruch was right. I needed to think I‟d lost you to appreciate what I had.” “Emotions, Syato? You?” She thumped him, angry and laughing as a sudden grin lit up his face, wiping away their uncertainty. “You played a hired dick too well.” “A missed calling, d‟you think?” “Enjoyed it too, bastard.”

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He paused and pulled her tight to him, his lips buried in her hair. “You weren‟t mine. Not the way you had been.” Her heart tightened. She had some righting of her own to do. “I‟m sorry.” She pressed light kisses to his chest, the taste of him, the satin quality to his skin with the tickle of hair sending a quick warmth under her flesh. “I‟m sorry if I ever made you feel inadequate.” Lawe kissed her hairline before he tilted her head back so she met his gaze. “You‟re Alexandra Syato. Men‟s balls shrivel at ten paces.” “Hey!” She slapped him, but he continued to grin at her. “Deny it.” “Five paces.” She smirked at him, unable, and not wanting, to resist his infectious smile. “I have empirical evidence.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Is that your hobby? Ball feeling?” Syato laughed, something free and open, and quickly it became fierce and far too loud. She couldn‟t stop, her lungs heaving, her chest tight. It coursed tears down her cheeks until she had to bury her face against his collarbone. Lawe held her, his fingers stroking her hair and gently rocking her as her body shook. This was them. Properly them. The relief of it burned through her soul. Sheen hadn‟t been wrong after all. They were meant for each other. Maybe she‟d be less hard-headed in the future, more able to see what was staring her in the face. And accepting it. She pulled in a long, cleansing breath. Probably not. That Captain Rhearden Lawe was a free and unfettered part of her future was all she cared about. “I love you.” She bit at her lip as a certain amount of guilt gnawed at her. She couldn‟t deny how hot he‟d made her feel, taking her against the wall. That she would miss. “And if you want to surprise me again. As him. It would be…good.” He rubbed a hand over his throat and she heard a distinct click. “Where do you want me? Here?”

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The ripple of that voice. Syato let the thrill of it run through her. She would forever thank sheen for this aspect of Lawe…but not right now. She pulled herself back. “No.” She paused. They‟d never taken their meetings to anywhere but the Millicent. That had to change. “We pool our resources and get a new allocation of quarters.” She waited in the silence, listening to his heart, wanting him to agree. “Lawe?” The click sounded again and his normal, husky voice warmed her. “Deal. Absolutely.” His arms tightened around her. “I love you too.” He pressed a kiss into her hair. “So…how much is that worth to you?” She looked up, sniffing, and he wiped the wetness from her skin. He was a bastard, but she couldn‟t live her life without him. “It‟s priceless.”

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About the Author Kim lives on an ancient boundary line, once marked by a Neolithic burial tomb. The tomb‟s now a standing stone circle—thank the Georgians for that one—and stirs her mind with thoughts of history and ancient myths. She mixes the essence of the past into fantasy, along with the essential mix of magic and sex. She also writes science fiction romance, pushing out into the far future with effortlessly sexy men and the women who can‟t resist them. Kim is multi-published. You can contact her on her website or come and chat at her blog: www.darknessandromance.wordpress.com

Kim welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Also by Kim Knox Chosen One Consort Demonic Attraction Flesh and Shadows Her Dark Soul Hunting Evander Painted Promise Perfecting Naia Planetary Bodies 1: Magnetism Planetary Bodies 2: Friction Ruthless Beauty Skin Magic Warflesh

Print books by Kim Knox Creamy anthology Succulent anthology

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