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  He chuckled, and her body shook. He carefully rolled so that he didn’t dislodge her. When the pleasure and pressure eased, she realized what she was doing and quickly released him, slapping her free hand over the wound.

  Still, with him deep inside her, she found herself whispering, “Master Karus, please forgive me for the attack on your person.”

  He laughed. “I have taken a lot more damage for a lot less pleasure.”

  She blushed. “I haven’t bitten anyone before. Not during sex. Did you...” She had no idea even how to finish that sentence.

  “Ejaculate? No. It isn’t necessary. I received your enjoyment, and that was more than enough. I feel practically dizzy.” He ran his hand down her back. “So, how do you feel after your first interaction of this nature with me?”

  She consciously gripped him with her inner muscles. “As far as I can tell, it is still going on.”

  He laughed again. “Very astute. I could withdraw if you like, or we could see if you like another position.”

  The temptation was to go again, but common sense said, “Let’s leave something for tomorrow or the middle of the night or after dinner. You have no idea when I will strike again.”

  He slowly eased out of her, and whatever had been sucking on her clit detached. She exhaled in relief and a bit of loss. While he had been inside her, she had felt very warm.

  She curled up against him and kept the pressure on his arm. He cuddled her against him, and she relaxed, inhaling the scent of their bodies exerting themselves together.

  She finally wiggled a few inches away. “I think I need another shower.”

  “We both do, but I think you are more in need of a hot bath.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? I haven’t had enough water for that for a while.”

  He laughed. “You will have aches and pains, and the bath and a nice massage will help you out.”

  “Can I at least run one of those medical regenerators over your arm.”

  He grinned and sat up. “No. I wish to wear the mark. It will make the Steelix gossip.”

  She sat up, and she felt the sticky slick traces between her thighs.

  “How long will it take the tub to fill?”

  He helped her to her feet. “I triggered the fill when I carried you to the bed. It should be ready and waiting by now.”

  She sighed, “You go ahead, it is going to take my legs a while to get together. I will get there in my own time.”

  Karus stood, shook out his wings, and picked her up with an arm around her waist. “You can do the walk to recover your dignity later. First, we need to relax those muscles after you have spent the last little while tensing them up.”

  The bathing room was occupied by a semi-full tub. It was obviously set to avoid overflow due to displacement.

  He set her down at one end of the tub while he eased into the other side. His wings took up a lot of room, and it took him a while to get settled, but when he raised a hand to her and beckoned her over, she floated to him, and he tucked her against him. She was able to relax totally, and he washed her carefully with attention to detail.

  He soaped and rinsed her arms, one by one. When he was stroking his hand through her fingers, she asked, “So, now that I have plied you with sex, is there a chance of me getting some help with my current field of study?”

  Karus laughed, making the water splash. “I don’t know about that. You would have to be very convincing and have very clear ideas of what information I could contribute.”

  She leaned against him, and he began to wash her breasts and belly, slow strokes of his hands were smoothing and relaxing her.

  “Hmm. How much convincing will you need? Is there a sliding scale for sexual favours?”

  He chuckled. “Go back to the negotiation lessons you had to take and figure out which one of us has a greater need and then use that as your bargaining chip.”

  “Wait, so if I am horny, that will work on you?”

  He laughed. “It could. It depends on how committed you are to relief.”

  She sighed. “This is complicated; maybe I should just study.”

  “Well, you are welcome to use the holographic projector to further your studies since you are going to be taking responsibility for the final handoff negotiations for the first five hundred of the contract Earthers.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, yes. We have to divert slightly to meet with Jorbinako. I thought that you could meet with him while I make arrangements for all of the incidentals on your list... that you have to write up and provide.”

  She paused and then relaxed against him. “So, after this bath, I have to get to work.”

  “No, after your bath and a massage, you will get back to work. I will help where I can.” He chuckled. “For a price.”

  She mock gasped. “Are you really expecting sex for help with my homework?”

  He leaned down and licked her shoulder. “Yes.”

  She tilted her head as he licked his way to her jaw. She turned to him and smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

  He laughed, and there was a splash. His wings could lift a surprising amount of water.

  Three hours later, she was lying exhausted and sated next to him, and she glared at him. “I had better get an A.”

  He grinned and curled his body behind hers. “I am sure that you will do fine.”

  She chuckled and thanked the cellular stimulator for allowing their repeated events. She was sore now, but by the morning and another treatment, she would be in shape to start figuring out water and waste reclamation and dispersal. She did love having a project to work on, and if she was putting humans into a new environment, she wanted it to be as self-sustaining as it could get. Having a self-sustaining system had kept her alive; it might help them if there were ever a break in supply runs. She was going to do what she could for Gwella.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cassandra waited and nibbled at her fingernail while Danoi went over her test. The computer did the absolutes, and he had some discretion as to the final assessment.

  He looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “Did Master Karus help you with this?”

  She snorted. “No, he was more of a hindrance. He has been insisting on pop-quizzes, and they are distracting as hell.”

  Karus chuckled and kept his head down while he worked.

  Danoi looked at her, and he nodded. “You have a solid plan, eighty percent on the computer assessment, but the remaining fifteen percent are in a solid science vein. I would say you get ninety-five percent for a reasonable colony plan.”

  She exhaled and then sucked in air. “Oh, thank goodness. I was getting sore from studying.”

  Karus snorted. She grinned. The last two days had been fun and frolicks, but he was a little too interested in her studies. It was very distracting. The dexterity in his wingtips never failed to catch her off guard.

  She went to the bed and collapsed. “So, Danoi. What next?”

  “We are stopping at Kredel Station, so you might want to pick up some of the items that can’t be manufactured. You have two days to figure out which ones they are.”

  She looked up and narrowed her eyes. “Butthead.”

  Danoi grinned. “Have fun studying.”

  He waved good night and removed the dinner cart, his shoulders shaking as he left.

  She rolled to her feet and walked over to Karus, leaning her hip against his desk. “You are a bad influence on him. He was so nice before you perverted him.”

  Karus snagged her around the waist and pulled her into his lap. He gave her a quick kiss. “It is you. You are twisting everyone around you into strange behaviours.”

  She laughed and grabbed him by his pointy ears. They rarely poked out of his hair, but today was one of those times. She thumbed the tips and felt the reaction in his body. “I am making the best of a strange situation. So far, it seems to be working.”

  He sighed. “Would you like help with the list?”

  She wrinkled he
r nose. “Not just yet. I want to figure this stuff out for myself, and then, I will ask for help.”

  He nodded. “Good. Now, I have to draw up a treatise for access to our space.”

  She blinked and laughed. “Right. You go to work; I will make my list.”

  She got up and out of his lap, heading across the room to pick up her tablet and get to work in the entertainment area. She began with the list of items that were available for shipment from Steelix, and then, she checked quantities and manufacturing times before she was able to take them off her list. The rest of the items and the missing quantities were compiled into a very substantial requisition that itself was divided into seven different subsets and merchants who specialized in those items. After that, she cross-listed all the other merchants who could supply what she needed.

  Karus tapped his fingers on the desk. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

  She snorted. “In a minute. I am almost done.”

  “What?”

  She saved the lists, and she looked over at him with a bleary smile. “I think I am done. It’s a lot of crossing lists, but I think it is possible, and the missing supplies are available at Kredel.”

  She put her tablet down and got to her feet, stretching and twisting. She smiled brightly. “Pretty sure that I am done.”

  He chuckled. “I will check it tomorrow and offer my expert advice.”

  She walked over to the bed and removed her dress, draping it over the stand where Danoi would grab it and whisk it away for cleaning before she got up. She pulled her sheet back and crawled into bed.

  Karus wandered over to his side of the bed, and he stripped while she watched.

  When he was in bed, she squirmed over, and he opened his arms for her to settle against him. He whispered a command, and the lights dimmed.

  “You are really enjoying this.” He murmured it against her ear as he spooned her.

  She smiled into the darkness. “I am. It is fun to plan for folks who haven’t found a contract holder as generous as I have.”

  “Technically, the contracts were all arranged for this purpose.”

  “I know, but being able to work toward something that you can one day call your own is important. Setting them up with the tools they need to succeed is the least I can do.”

  “With my money.”

  She cackled. “Yeah. That part is fun, too.”

  He squeezed her and pressed a kiss to her temple. It was his shorthand for shut up and go to sleep. She did.

  Cassandra was excited as she watched Kredel approach. She was on a light shuttle with ten members of Karus’s crew and household.

  With her escort, she was going to meet with a merchant and negotiate for some plexi panels for the greenhouses. It was a simple task and one that she was looking forward to.

  Karus smiled as they landed. “You will have two guards with you. They will contact me if there is an issue.”

  “What kind of issue?”

  “You are the bondservant to a Hmrain. You are a very exotic creature. That makes you valuable.”

  She nodded. “I know. You have been drumming that into my head since this was agreed on.”

  He smiled. “If you do a good job, I will give you a cookie.”

  She grinned. “Done.”

  They landed, and they separated to go to the different vendors. The Grand Bazaar of Kredel was just a few minutes from the spaceport.

  Cassandra was in a formal dress with a hooded vest that matched Karus’s. Her guards were wearing the grey and black of their master.

  Her assignment was easy. She could look around the bazaar after she made her contract. She had Karus’s authorization letter in her sleeve, and her hands were locked onto her forearms.

  Trade Master Taednar was polite and cheerful and completely unprepared for Cassandra’s chipper and implacable negotiation. Her guards stood next to her as she outlined the necessity of him trading with her. He needed the space in the warehouse, a costly shipment of exotic goods was landing, and if he wanted to take part in it, he had to make room in his groaning storage facility.

  The panels she needed would free up a lot of room and were easy to transport.

  After half an hour of tea and negotiations, Cassandra and her guards were free to go poking their noses in the smaller kiosks and look at the variety of goods that were on offer.

  “Good afternoon, Mistress.” The voice was suave and had a rich tone.

  She turned her head to look, and the world exploded in a cloud of smoke.

  She heard shouting and screaming, but the ground rushed up toward her, and things went black.

  * * * *

  Karus felt the short burst of panic in Cassandra. He got up, left the merchant’s table, and went to the place where the guards lay unconscious and twitching with the locals trying to revive them.

  He looked at one of the merchants. “Who?”

  “Ambassador Veetor. He took your mistress and climbed onto a ship.”

  Karus registered the lie. He breathed in and out and searched for Cassandra. Her mind was a bright point of light. She was not difficult to find.

  He stretched out his wings and launched skyward. The embassy was his goal, its spires jutting toward the heavens like an insult.

  He landed outside the embassy and looked at the guards. The men inclined their heads. “Master Karus, what brings you to the embassy today?”

  “The ambassador has obtained something that belongs to me. Stand aside.”

  They tried to fight him, but he went through the guards as if they were standing still, and the others that came. No one would stop him from reclaiming Cassandra.

  The ambassador’s quarters were right where he had found Lidarian-Ek. He stepped in and looked around. He paused. Cassandra had been artfully arranged on the bed in a pale blue gown. It appeared to be the same gown that his previous companion had favoured over his livery.

  The ambassador turned. “Master Karus, you got here quickly. The bribes were designed to confuse matters.”

  “Cassandra has bonded to me in a way none of my other companions have.”

  “Her body is acceptable, but Lidarian-Ek was far more beautiful.”

  Karus knew madness when he saw it. “Lidarian-Ek was treacherous. She begged her way into my bed, and when it wasn’t what she thought, she headed for yours.”

  “She loved me!”

  “Yes. I know.” Karus walked toward Veetor. “Why did you take Cassandra?”

  “She begged me to save her from you. Her talents with her mouth are quite substantial.”

  Karus paused and laughed. “In the ten minutes that you rendered her unconscious? You barely had time to cut away her clothing and stuff her into that dress before I got here. Besides, Cassandra prefers to use her hands. She likes the eye contact.”

  Veetor’s handsome features contorted. “She’s a whore, and she is mine now!”

  Karus moved with the speed that few knew he possessed. He struck Veetor mid-chest, crushed his heart, and sent him flying through the window.

  He hadn’t even struck the glass when Karus turned to pick up Cassandra. She was limp, but there was a steady pulse. Karus sighed in relief and walked to the balcony doors, opening them before stepping out and flying upward to stand on one of the domes projecting the spires. He gripped it with one hand while activating his com. “Suvan, I need a medical recovery in the bazaar for Uran and Welnith. They have been dosed with Carrugar’s fog.”

  “Yes, Master. Where are you?”

  “On the way back to the shuttle with Mistress Cassandra. I will be there in five minutes. As soon as we have all of our men back, we will take off. I will make my apologies to the prefect of Kredel.”

  “Yes, Master. Recall is going through now.”

  Karus held Cassandra close and launched skyward as he contacted the prefect of Kredel and informed him that Veetor was now decorating the pavement. Yuuban was going to need a new ambassador. Karus would deal with that back at the ship.


  He could hear the astonished folk in the bazaar pointing at him as he flew toward the spaceport with his companion in his arms. If she were injured in any way, he would raze Kredel to the spinning rock it used to be. He built it; he could destroy it.

  Once the personnel was together, they took off and returned to his vessel. Cassandra needed a check in the medical bay, and then, he would be able to plan his next step.

  Two hours later, Cassandra turned to him and sleepily smiled. “I made my deal. Where is my cookie?”

  Tears pressed the back of his eyes, and he chuckled. “Is that a euphemism?”

  She smacked his arm, much to the horror of the med staff. “Not funny. Where did that ass-ugly dress go?”

  “I cut it off you.”

  “Good. It was fucking ugly.”

  He grinned. “I thought so, too.” She was better. She swore when she was tired. This wasn’t new.

  She held his hand, and he kissed the back of her wrist. “So. Where is my goddamned cookie?”

  “You have to finish your dinner first.”

  She grinned. “I really am fine, you know. Just tired.”

  “Well, then. I shall take you to get some rest.”

  With a nod of permission from the physicians, he took her back to their quarters, where she belonged.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cassandra was stunned. One year after the first colonists had been settled on Gwella, a celebration was being held. Survivor’s Day.

  Cassandra was wearing her deep hood and walking with Master Karus through the cenotaphs of the lost. “Karus, why is my name here?”

  He rubbed her arm. “Because they are missing you.”

  “Who is they?” She had an excited but sinking feeling in her belly.

  “Your parents. They are here.” He watched her warily.

  She turned to him in shock. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I just did. They were colonists, and I saw their files back on the education station.”