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  Dressed like the courtesan she said she wasn’t but not having any other nightgowns with her, she walked into Kadenz’s room.

  “Should I have knocked?”

  He was pulling his shirt off over his head.

  “No, Alice. Just slide into bed and I will join you shortly.”

  She draped her robe around the bedpost and slipped under the blankets, turning on her side and facing the door. After a few minutes, she felt the other side of the bed dip, and he sighed, “I can’t sleep on this side.”

  She turned to him. “You always sleep on that side.”

  “Not with a woman in the bed. You have to come over here.”

  Alice sighed and got out of bed, turning off the lights as she used the bedframe to lead her around until she was at the other side. “You are going to have to move over.”

  She heard him shift, and when she was positive that he was on the other side of the bed, she lifted the sheets and slid between them.

  “What are you wearing?”

  “A silk sleeping gown. All of my practical stuff is still on the shuttle.”

  “It looks wonderful on you. Your skin glows against it.”

  Well, that confirmed that he could see in the dark. “Thank you. It was part of my uniform.”

  She settled on her side, facing the wall. With a bit of adjusting, she pulled the mass of her hair over her shoulder.

  In the middle of the night, she shivered with cold. Kadenz’s arms came around her and pulled her back against a very bare body.

  His warmth wrapped around her and his scent comforted her as she sank back into his embrace. She could feel the tears leaving her eyes as she got the first genuine comfort since Hecor had died and kept her breathing even while she cried. It was an odd skill but one that she had mastered.

  Kadenz’s arms held her tighter, and she felt him press a kiss to her neck but neither of them spoke as sleep claimed them again.

  Chapter Six

  Prying herself out of his embrace had been the hardest thing she had done in years. The urge to turn in his arms and change the embrace from expedient to erotic had left her shaking as she snuck back to her room to get dressed again.

  Breakfast was cured meat and pancakes in a huge stack. Alice had a pot of hot tea waiting when Kadenz took his seat at the table. “What time did you get up?”

  She shrugged. “It was still dark, but I could feel the dawn coming.”

  She flicked the braid over her shoulder and set everything out for him, including honey.

  “Why did you leave so early?” He started to pile the food on his plate.

  “Well, I had to make breakfast so that you can get something inside you before you go out and work in the fields.”

  “What is on your agenda today?”

  “The windows. The rooms are all cleaned and aired out, so now, I just have light sweeping and dusting and the meals. So, I will tackle the windows and see if that overrun herb garden has anything good in it.”

  “You seem very comfortable roughing it.”

  “My grandmother lived in a situation more primitive than this. It wasn’t by choice; it was simply the way things were. She raised children in that situation, so for me to be able to manage this with power makes things much easier.”

  “I am more amazed with every passing moment.”

  She shrugged. “Knowing how to start from scratch makes living in the more modern accommodations heartily appreciated. While I can maintain this interior now, it would get irritating if I had to do it for too long. I have become accustomed to a mentally active life and switching to one that was strictly physical would bore me.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  She ate her own share of breakfast and sat with her hands around a cup of tea. It seemed that he was not going to mention her crying fit, so neither was she.

  When he got up, he stopped next to her and kissed her cheek. “Call me if you need anything. I am always in earshot.”

  “Thank you, Kadenz. Have a productive day.” She smiled at him, and the moment he was out the door, she whirled into action, setting up a sandwich lunch and clearing up after breakfast.

  Hot, soapy water was the first scrub and a vinegar rinse was the second. She managed to get through the upper-floor interior by lunchtime and headed downstairs with her bucket when Kadenz came back in the door.

  She flexed her hands and decided to give the main floor a rest for the afternoon. Her skin was used to intense creams and regular moisturizers. Currently, her hands were red and chafed.

  Alice went to the bottle of cooking oil and rubbed it into her skin while Kadenz had his lunch.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  She shrugged. “I have been inhaling soap for four hours. My appetite isn’t what it should be, but I bet I could belch bubbles.”

  He chuckled but watched her motions. “What are you doing?”

  “Well, since I can’t go to the market and my suit is no longer suitable, I have no gloves, I need to moisturize.” She grimaced and continued to rub her chapped skin.

  “You have to stop what you are doing if it is causing you harm.”

  “No, I just have to pace myself until I wash my suit. Once I am sealed back in mourning, it will be fine.”

  He scowled. “You are putting the suit back on?”

  “Of course. Now that I have repaired it, I can just clean it, and then, it will be suitable once again.”

  “I would prefer that you didn’t put it on again.” He got to his feet and came over to her, taking her hands and rubbing the oil in.

  She licked her lips as his thumbs circled on her palms. “You are rather bossy today.”

  “I am your employer, so I am ordering you to take it easy and stick to making meals. If you want to do something, come out and keep me company in the fields. I could use the distraction.”

  She grimaced. “Fine, but only for today. I have the main floor to do.”

  “You are not going to put your mourning clothing back on.”

  “I am.”

  Kadenz growled, put his hands on her hips and seated her on the counter. His kiss was intense and weakened her knees.

  She held her hands away from him to stop from leaving oily marks, but he had no such compulsion and he pulled her against him, her sex pressing against his with a jolt.

  His kiss grew wilder, and he began to bite at her lips. Kadenz kissed his way down her neck, grazing her with his teeth as well as kissing his way into the deep vee of her dress.

  He had to be using his shifting talents to hold his hips against her, rhythmically surging into her sex with only fabric separating them.

  He pulled her neckline open and exposed her breasts, sucking hard while he rocked against her.

  Alice felt her climax building, and when the tension inside her snapped, she screamed, bringing Kadenz up to take her shrieks into his mouth as his due.

  Dazed and limp, she sat slumped over as he righted her clothing. She got her breath back and looked at him with a flat glare. “That was not on the menu.”

  He grinned. “It was on my request list. Would you like help?”

  She estimated her ability to walk normally without help. “Yes, please. I am not a fan of wobbling through a field.”

  He eased her from the counter. “If we clean this up, will you join me right away?”

  “I will set dinner to braise. I did the prep this morning.”

  Alice went to the cooler and removed the pot full of roast and veg, sealed under metal and foil. The entire seasoned mass went in at the final temperature for doneness and she was ready to join him.

  She looked down, and there were, indeed, faint oily marks on her gown. Sighing, she resigned herself to washing it later that evening.

  Kadenz was waiting for her with a pack over one shoulder, and he offered her his arm as they walked into the endless vines until they reached the spot he had stopped at.

  In the distance, she could see jets of steam as the machine
s that did the weeding were at work, like vineyard Roombas.

  “What possessed you to buy a vineyard?”

  “I like wine with dinner.” He smiled. “It really was as simple as that.”

  He reached into the pack and brought out a three-legged folding stool for her as well as a parasol.

  She took a seat and opened the parasol with an amused twist to her lips. “You keep the parasol around for this sort of emergency?”

  “Oh, precisely. It is a special-occasion parasol.”

  Alice watched his progress as he tested the grapes with small sensors. The smile on his face was encouraging.

  “How long have you been on your so-called retirement?”

  “Full on, about two weeks. Before that, intermittently for four months. That is when I bought this vineyard and I paid for it to be kept up until I could come here full time. This holiday has been just what I needed. The grapes don’t manipulate; they simply grow, swell and then rot in a prescribed amount of time. We are ready for the next stage. I have my men waiting for the signal, and I believe I will be calling them tomorrow.”

  “That soon?”

  “They are ready now. The juice is sweet and it will make an excellent wine.”

  She watched him measure and moved the lightweight chair around with her as he continued to work and fuss. It was interesting to see how he occupied his free time. He certainly had a passion for it.

  The thought of passion pinked her cheeks. She bit her lip and tried not to think about it, but she remembered the feel of him pressed against her and the tug of his lips on her nipple, sharp and determined.

  Blinking, she focused on the world around her again, the brown soil, the bright sunlight and the occasional drone of insects in the distance.

  It was so close to Earth that tears welled in her eyes again, and she sat silently with the tears falling.

  Homesickness was the first thing that she and the ambassador had had in common. They had compared homes and bonded over their feeling of being loose in the universe.

  Kadenz’s nostrils flared and he looked at her. “You are crying again.”

  He had obviously noticed it last night.

  “This reminds me of home. I miss home.”

  “That is understandable. Would you make Dyango your home?”

  “If it was possible. I don’t want the title, I don’t want the house or the money, I just want my own funds back and the freedom to come and go as I please.”

  “What would you do here if you were to start your own home?”

  “I could teach etiquette and dance lessons as well as self-defence. I could explain how to camp out with minimal tools, or I could open a small café. I am relatively good at cooking.”

  “All things that would be qualified as physical jobs.”

  She shrugged. “I have a substantial amount saved up, so it would only be a job to keep me busy and keep me stimulated.”

  He suddenly went serious, and he knelt in front of her. “Be my mate, Alice.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Why?”

  “You are the most practical woman I have ever met, and I wish to be able to defend you against all comers, legal and hunters.”

  She pressed her hand to his cheek. “You wish to be my mate so you can defend me?”

  “It is the last on my list, but I wanted to use an argument you would agree to.” He grinned and turned his head to kiss her palm.

  Alice thought of a thousand reasons why she should say no, even more reasons why she should say yes, and finally, she leaned forward to kiss him. Her body made up her mind completely, and she leaned forward until she toppled out of the chair and knocked Kadenz to his back in the field.

  He gripped her hair and held her lips from his. “Is that a yes?”

  “I wanted to use an agreement that you would agree to.” She grinned.

  He groaned and rolled her to her back.

  Kadenz buried his face between neck and shoulder, inhaling deeply. He moved down her body, scenting every inch of her torso on the way down. When he parted her thighs and continued his olfactory investigation, she pushed up on her elbows and watched.

  His body shuddered deeply as he memorized her. She tapped the top of his head with two fingers.

  He raised his head with a dazed expression in his eyes. “Yes?”

  “I heard a vehicle, so this is not the best way to make a first impression.”

  He was on his feet in an instant and pulling her up and behind him.

  Sighing, she dusted her dress off and peeked around him as the stranger approached. Make that strangers.

  “Trenix, why have you come down here?”

  The man bowed shortly, “Alpha, there is a gathering of hunters converging on this site. Your father sent warning an hour ago. Is that the Companion?”

  Alice noted that Kadenz nearly bristled with indignation. “Duchess Kalian, Trenix. You will address her with respect.”

  Trenix blinked in surprise. “But, Alpha, she is a registered Companion.”

  “Not any longer. She is the official Duchess Kalian, Alice Pinkerton Horilian.” He paused, “And my future mate.”

  The men facing them stirred uneasily.

  “Does your father know of this?” Trenix narrowed his eyes but spoke with polite deference.

  “He sent her to me, so there must have been a reason. He could have just assigned her to a protected detail in the detainment centre. That was not his order.”

  She put her hand on Kadenz’s shoulder, and a few of the men growled.

  “I don’t want to be trouble. If this is something they think you shouldn’t be doing, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.”

  Trenix smiled grimly. “Listen to the whore.”

  Kadenz disappeared from under her hand, and she heard the tearing of fabric. Trenix was dropped to the ground and held in the jaws of a snarling black wolf almost large enough to ride.

  That settled the matter of whether he was canine or feline. He was deadly.

  The men with Trenix stood back respectfully.

  Alice winced and stepped toward the beast who had just been engaging in foreplay with her. “Kadenz, I am sure that Trenix didn’t mean to give you an order. Did you?”

  She looked at the pale man in the grip of the beast.

  He looked at her with wild eyes. “No, mistress. Alpha, I did not mean to command you.”

  Kadenz growled and leaned into his prey.

  “Oh, it was the whore thing that was mentioned that set him off. I am not that sort of Companion. Sex was never part of my contracts.”

  Trenix. “I beg your forgiveness, mistress.”

  “Granted. Kadenz, he has apologised. Stop chewing on him.”

  The beast gave her a look through dark hazel eyes, and he sighed as he released his target.

  Trenix waited until Kadenz had backed away before he got to his knees, touching his throat gingerly. “I offer my formal apologies for my comment. It was rude and beneath my position, as well as insulting to the woman my Alpha has chosen.”

  Alice was dealing with being sniffed from head to toe by the wolf; he growled and pushed his head against her. She scratched behind his ears, and he closed his eyes.

  A moment later, she had her hands buried in Kadenz’s hair and he was on his knees in front of her, naked.

  Trenix remained on his knees. “Alpha, I would recommend that you remove to your home. There is no way to protect the lady here. There are too many areas of access.”

  Kadenz got to his feet and kissed Alice softly before saying, “Fine. We will gather our things. Be ready to go in five minutes.”

  She took his hint and headed for the house, blinking rapidly at the thought of being tied to a man who didn’t have any hesitation about strutting around in the nude. There was nothing to object at from an aesthetic point, but it did fly in the face of convention.

  Alice got her bag packed in a matter of minutes and met Trenix outside the door. “I am ready.”

  Trenix lean
ed toward her. “Thank you for the intervention.”

  “You are welcome.” She muttered it softly. “The confusion as to the nature of my occupation occurs frequently. It was not the first time, nor do I think it will be the last.”

  Kadenz came to join them, and he closed the door. “We will have to return in a day or so. I put the dinner in the cooler.”

  She gasped. “I completely forgot about that.”

  He grinned. “If we can’t return, I will send someone from the house.”

  She clutched her bag and followed Trenix to the transport with Kadenz behind her. Alice looked around and noted that Oefric surrounded her and they had their eyes focused on the surrounding fields.

  She was under a furry sort of house arrest.

  Chapter Seven

  Alice enjoyed the spacious expanse of the room she was shown to, right until she opened the wardrobe and saw that it was already occupied.

  “So, you are the trollop that has been rolling around in the dirt with my son?”

  Alice sighed and turned to view the woman approaching her with a militant gaze.

  “Madame Roarcroft, I presume?”

  “Indeed. We dress for dinner here, so you can find yourself something more suitable or I can provide it for you.”

  Alice inclined her head. “I am sure I can find something fitting my station.”

  “Good, you have two hours. You may want to bathe.”

  Madame Roarcroft left the room, and Alice exhaled. This was going to be so much fun she could just puke.

  When Kadenz arrived to escort her to dinner, he came to a halt inside the door to his chambers. “You look amazing.”

  She flexed her knees slightly as befitted her clothing. A layer of gauzy skirts allowed a peekaboo flash of her calves, she wore thick jewelled cuffs on ankles and wrists, and her jewelled belt and bra completed her clothing. Alice had twisted her hair up into a high arch and coils of hair cascaded down her back from clips of elaborately tooled metal.

  Her makeup wasn’t thick, but it was dramatic.

  She stepped forward with a slow glide on bare feet.