Judged Read online

  She found a selection of cleaning supplies but mainly used a damp cloth wrung out until the dust was gone. She located a few dishes that had escaped her first search, and she brought them into the kitchen. A strange man was standing in the centre of the space.

  “Who are you, sir?” Politeness was ingrained.

  “I was looking for Kadenz, but you look like a far better way to spend my time.”

  Alice was on alert. She set the dishes on the counter next to the sink. It was unsurprising when the male came up behind her and pressed himself against her.

  Remembering that he was probably an Oefric, she was going to have to make the first blow count. She found a fork in the pile of dishes, and without looking back, she stabbed it into his ass.

  He yelped and staggered backward into the table.

  She was not going to let him mess up the clean room. She grabbed him by the hair, forced his head to waist level and walked him out of the kitchen and into the yard. If he wanted to continue the fight, she would do it here.

  She faced off against him and waited for the next attack.

  He pulled the fork out of his ass and stared at the blood on it. “You stabbed me with a dirty fork.”

  She waited. He shifted into another, more familiar, form and she winced. “You are the judge’s son.”

  “I am. You are the Companion Duchess that everyone is speaking about.”

  “Apparently. I am sorry, but I will not be manhandled like that.”

  He chuckled. “Is there a particular technique you would approve?”

  “Wait until we know each other better. Now, I am going to continue my cleaning. Do you have any dishes in your bedroom?”

  He winced. “No, but I do tend to change rooms when the sheets get dirty. There is a bonus to having ten rooms.”

  “Well, you will be down to nine. I am trading this for room and board.”

  “Right. Well, fair is fair. You smell amazing by the way.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You smell sweaty. Now, I will continue my work and you can continue yours. Dinner is on the hob. I hope you like stew.”

  “I love it. Right. Well, my name is Kadenz.” He extended his hand.

  She looked at it and took the fork from him. “Alice.”

  He inclined his head. “Thank you, Alice. Any improvement would be welcome.”

  Alice fought the urge to curtsy, and instead, she slipped past him and back into the house. She called out, “Dinner will be ready in two hours.”

  She heard a grunt and got back to her task. Room by room, she was able to work and to forget the loss of a good friend.

  She found his laundry room and was relieved to see machines that she could manage. First, she picked her room and washed all the sheets and pillows. The bedding needed two rounds to get the wine stains out.

  While the washer and dryer whirred away, she stripped the next two rooms and gave them the same treatment.

  Clothing on the floor everywhere made her glad she was wearing gloves that were impervious to water or filth.

  Getting her bedroom ready was her first priority, so she propped open the window and aired it out, wrestling the mattress off the bed and putting it out where the sun could work its magic.

  Once it was out to where the light could break down the remaining oils, she checked on the stew, pulled together some flatbread and baked it on the back of a flat plate of clean and oiled metal.

  It felt odd to be using old camping skills hundreds of star systems away from home, but she managed to bring something resembling a hearty meal into life.

  This house had only the most basic of equipment, so she was making mental notes about what to find at the local markets if her host and employer would offer her funds.

  She set everything to one side to warm and resumed her cleansing of his rooms. The first two were clean and ready when she heard his footsteps in the hall. She poked her head out of the third room and nodded to him.

  He blinked and continued into his room.

  A moment later, she heard a shower running.

  Humming to herself, Alice continued cleaning until she heard footsteps in the hall. She looked up from sweeping to see a very different person than she had initially stabbed.

  He nodded to her. “Clean up and join me for dinner. We have to discuss how this is going to work.”

  She frowned. Her suit wicked sweat and kept dirt from sticking. She headed to the bathroom and snickered when she saw the smears of dirt on her cheeks and tufts of hair sticking up at odd angles.

  Alice scrubbed until her skin was pink, smoothed down her hair and wiped the outside of the suit. As clean as she could get without removing her mourning clothing, she headed down to the kitchen.

  On the large table, the pot was sitting between two settings and the bread was torn into chunks on a platter. Two glasses of chilled wine were waiting.

  Kadenz smiled and helped her take her seat. “May we try again?”

  She nodded and extended her hand. “Companion Alice Pinkerton…Horilian.”

  He inclined his head and took her hand. “Kadenz Roarcroft, retired judge and current vintner.”

  “On the run from my mate’s family.” She smiled and withdrew her hand.

  She dished out stew for each of them and handed the bread over to him before taking her own. When they were ready, she began to eat.

  He groaned in relief and dove in. After a few bites, he paused, shuddered and continued again with good appetite.

  She touched his arm. “Are you trying to swallow it before tasting it?”

  He shook his head. “It is good. I have been living with my own cooking for a while. This is far better than my own efforts.”

  “I am glad. It is the one thing I can cook on any world I end up on.”

  “Is that part of your duties as a Companion?”

  She grinned, “Actually, yes. The comfort of my client is my priority at all times. That includes making food that they can eat after a formal meal is a little lackluster. I even have a kit on the shuttle just for this kind of thing. Bread is bread, no matter where I go.”

  Kadenz scooped out more stew and continued eating.

  “So, I was wondering if you could give me a credit chit so I could lay in supplies for my time here? I would pay myself but my accounts are frozen. I will be happy to reimburse you when I get access to my funds again.”

  Kadenz snorted. “Let me guess, my father locked your assets?”

  “At the Horilian family’s request.”

  He got up, went to the living area and returned with a credit slip. “That should be enough for what you need.”

  She nodded and slipped it into the forearm pocket on her suit. “Thank you. I will try to deal as best I can with the vendors in the market.”

  Alice watched him finish off the stew and was glad that she had taken what she had planned to eat. Three older brothers had taught her that much. A man who worked all day ate until he couldn’t eat any more or there was nothing left. He fell into the first category, and she was going to take that into account.

  Chapter Three

  Chicken fried steak with eggs for breakfast was not a normal concoction for her, but Alice managed to work it into a semblance of edibility.

  Kadenz was delighted with her efforts and wiped the smeared flour from her cheek when they sat down to eat.

  “I haven’t had a decent breakfast in quite a while.”

  “Well, as housekeeper for a week or two, I figure that you need a bit of a feed. You have plenty of muscle but you are looking gaunt around the cheekbones.” Alice was frank.

  “Have you seen many Oefric before?”

  She chuckled. “A few. Your species tends to be wide shouldered, narrow in the waist and built for power. You have plenty of muscle but your soft tissues are depleted. I fed you protein for breakfast because if I am heading into town to do some shopping, I don’t know when I will be back for lunch. I didn’t want you to get hungry.”

  “Thank you fo
r your consideration. I will see you when you return.” He got up and left the kitchen, heading for the vineyard.

  Alice got to her feet and hummed as she washed the dishes and put them out to drain. She dried her hands and double-checked that the chip was still there. When she confirmed it, she headed out to do her shopping.

  Alice had travelled through the market on her way out of the city. It was easy enough to find her way back. By her estimate, it was around seven in the morning and the stalls were hopping with activity. She parked her skimmer and straightened her shoulders. This was going to be a challenge.

  String bags were the first thing on her agenda and she bartered the woman down from twenty credits for ten bags to twelve. Alice had been up all night checking local pricing for the items that she needed and twelve was definitely fair.

  She wandered through the market, sniffing and touching carefully to check ripeness before purchasing. She made small talk with the vendors who asked her about her suit. It was an excellent conversation starter.

  All around her, women wore tunics and trousers or dresses. She was the only form-fitted female on the street, and it created its own audience. She ignored the men pausing to gawk at her and continued her shopping.

  When her arms ached and she had enough food to last the week and beyond, she returned to her skimmer and hung the bags on the small hooks in place for that purpose.

  “That is a lot of food for a woman your size.” The deep and masculine voice sounded behind her.

  She sighed and turned. “Then, it is a good thing I am not cooking for myself alone.”

  He stepped toward her, and she watched in astonishment as his nostrils flexed. “You don’t have a mate.”

  “I don’t have an Oefric mate. I am a Kalian widow. I need to get that cheese out of the afternoon sun, so if you will clear the area, I will be on my way.”

  He stepped forward. “I thought that it must be you. Hold still and I won’t hurt you.”

  He pulled a blade and came toward her with a set of restraint cuffs in his other hand.

  The moment he was close enough, Alice ducked and kicked out, surprising him. The knife grazed against her bicep, and she hissed, kicking him in the head and dazing him.

  With her hands shaking, she started up the skimmer and headed for Kadenz’s home.

  Taking the long route meant that she had to go faster than she would like through the back pathways to make it home before the cheese spoiled.

  She skidded the skimmer down the path to the house and made it inside with the cheese in good time.

  Alice sighed and closed her eyes. The family was after her. If she didn’t have an heir, the title would revert immediately. There would be no need for any messy court case. She was surprised they hadn’t thought of it sooner. She had.

  She brought in the rest of the shopping, ignoring the path of blood that she was tracking into the house. Once everything was put away, she got the med kit from under the seat of her skimmer, next to the power packs.

  Sitting at the kitchen table, she left out her supplies and stripped off the gloves of her suit. Shrugging at the necessity of it, she opened her suit and pulled her left arm out just in time for Kadenz to come in.

  “What happened?” He was at her side in moment, his nostrils flaring just as the man in the market had.

  “Apparently, there is a price on my head. If I die, the title reverts, as does the estate entailed to me. This is the result of an ill-advised attempt to defend myself.” She scowled and began to clean the wound. Her drive got a lot of dust in it, so the cleansing was painful.

  “Let me do that.”

  “Why are you here? I thought I had a few hours until you came back inside.” She winced as he took over wiping at the five-inch gash with the cleanser from the kit.

  “I smelled blood.” He gave her a look through dark lashes. His eyes were a green-brown with golden flecks, his lashes thick and sooty. He looked vaguely hungry at the mention of blood.

  “Sorry about that. I didn’t have time to stop for medical attention.”

  He sighed and held the tissue closed while using the sealing spray with short bursts, working his way down the injury. “What happened precisely?”

  “I was loading up the skimmer with my purchases and an Oefric male came up behind me, sniffing me and telling me I didn’t have a mate. I told him I was a widow and that seemed to cinch it for him. He pulled a knife and a set of restraints. I waited until he got close and took his knee out. He cut me on the way down, and I kicked him to stun him before I took off.”

  “You kicked an Oefric and ran away?”

  She winced as the sealing continued with small increments.

  “No, I kicked an Oefric and used the skimmer to jet away. If he followed on foot, I might have lost him.”

  Kadenz nodded. “Might have but probably didn’t. Well, I am very glad that I came in here. At least I won’t be caught by surprise.”

  He finished his work and examined her wound closely. “He was stabbing at you when this was done.”

  She twisted her lips. “I am aware of that. It wouldn’t have bled so much if he hadn’t.”

  He sighed. “He’s on the property.”

  “What?” Alice looked toward the door.

  “His scent is coming in through the window.” Kadenz pulled his work shirt off over his head.

  Alice swallowed nervously. “He’s here?”

  “Someone followed you, because I am not expecting any guests that smell like metal.”

  In front of her eyes, Kadenz shifted into something that was half man in tight pants and half beast, claws and fangs extended.

  She couldn’t figure out if it was more canine or feline. She didn’t have a chance to guess. A snarl from outside had him running to meet the sound.

  Alice got to her feet and rushed to the doorway. Two man-beasts were wrestling on the ground and blood was flowing out of one of them. It took a bit of squinting to figure out who was who, but the dark blood on the buttocks of one of the creatures told her which one was Kadenz. She was thankful for the fork at that moment. The small mark meant that when the large furry creature came toward her, she didn’t scream and run.

  Alice moved past Kadenz and tried to approach the hunter on the ground, but her host held her back. He shifted back to his normal shape. “You don’t want to get near the body. I made a bit of a mess.”

  She looked and saw the still form that had reverted to the shape of the man in the market. His pale blue eyes were wide open and staring at her.

  Alice turned away and cleared her throat. “Do you have any wounds that need tending? Turnabout is fair play.”

  “A few scratches that need cleaning if you wouldn’t mind. Oh, and a puncture wound on my ass.”

  She cleared her throat and let him turn her back toward the house. “Oh, that. Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I deserved it. If it makes you feel better, you can patch it up.”

  She laughed. “Fine. Come in and sit down.”

  “No, first, I will shower so that you won’t have extra work. You might want to change as well. Your breast is showing, and while it is a lovely sight, I feel that I am impinging on your privacy.”

  Alice yelped and pulled her suit up. It had indeed slipped down to mid-torso on the left side.

  “I don’t have another mourning suit.” She muttered it as she headed up to her room.

  Several suits and costumes were lifted and set aside as inappropriate for her work. She settled on a relatively simple dress with her Terran undergarments comfortingly in place. The dress was relatively simple by Kalian standards. The edges were covered with three inches of thick embroidery. She fastened the sleeves back with a sash cross-tied behind her back.

  She stepped out of her room and Kadenz came out of the first room with only a towel to conceal his hips and the only point of him she was still unclear on.

  He blinked. “That is quite the gown.”

  “It is the least formal
thing I was allowed to bring. Hecor was a stickler for formality at all times.” She shrugged and reached into the deep vee of the dress. “Here is your credit chit. I bought enough to last us just over a week. If we need more, I can go again.”

  Kadenz shook his head. “I have called the peacekeepers to come and retrieve the body. You are not to mention your earlier interaction with him.”

  She scowled. “There were witnesses.”

  He reached behind her and pulled the jewelled pins that kept her hair in place. The red strands tumbled down over her shoulders and over her breasts.

  She sighed and reached up to loosen the locks into even waves. “Better?”

  His eyes glowed so hot that they should have lit her on fire and the towel was considering a move to horizontal. His voice was low and guttural when he whispered, “Much better.”

  To say she ran to the kitchen would have been inaccurate, but she did move as fast as grace and dignity would allow her. The sooner he was patched up, the sooner all his muscles and the furring of hair on his chest would stop teasing her with the trail of hair that led to the insistent erection.

  It was time for first aid and, hopefully, trousers would follow.

  Chapter Four

  He was right; his body was merely marred with light scratches. It was her puncture on his ass that had reopened.

  There was no option. “Take off the towel. It keeps slipping and I can’t see what I am doing.”

  It was whisked off before she finished her sentence. She swallowed the sudden rush of moisture to her mouth but could do nothing about the heat between her thighs. He might have been a little too lean but his muscle was all perfectly toned and flexing as she touched the curve of his ass.

  His erection began to weep as she worked, and the musky scent was both heady and distracting. She had really jabbed him good. “Sorry about that. I hadn’t realized that I went that deep.”

  “It is fine. Just hurry up.”

  “I am going as fast as I can. I am not really a fan of this particular situation, Kadenz.”