Driven

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…She tried to breathe and coughed instead. Her fingers grew numb and even the sharp edge of metal on the railing didn’t hurt on her skin, though she smelled her own blood and felt its warmth on her fingers. She was eating herself from the inside out. Her blood and tissue was being desiccated to provide energy to her heart and lungs. She’d gone too far, overworked herself. The medtechs at the surghosp had warned her about this, but since she had never expected to utilize her enhanced functions more than briefly, she hadn’t imagined it happening to her. She hadn’t imagined how much it would hurt. Light, blinding, shone in her dilated eyes. She screamed, or tried to, but only a hiss of air escaped her cracked and parched lips. She felt the bite of concrete on her knees and understood she had fallen forward on the steps. Her hand groped for the railing and missed, swiping on open air. She teetered, her balance function failing. She felt the clean sweep of an updraft on her face and looked down, down through blackness, so far down, so black she couldn’t even glimpse the bottom. She was going to fall. Then strong arms swept her up. The light moved off her face and illuminated the stairwell. She caught a glimpse of dripping walls overgrown with slime and streaks of rust. Then she was lifted and carried up the stairs, through a door, into a hall as dank and nasty as the stairs, but lit by a series of dim emergency bulbs along the ceiling. “You’re all right now,” said a voice so deep it thudded in her chest and belly. “I’ve got you.”

ALSO BY MEGAN HART After Class All You Can Eat The Clear Cold Light Of Morning Convicted Dream Upon Waking An Exaltation Of Larks Friendly Fire From Distant Shores Lonesome Bride Love Match Love Me Two Times Monster In The Closet Nothing In Common Opening The Door Passion Model Playing The Game Pot Of Gold Right To Remain Riverboat Bride Sand Castle A Siege Of Herons Trial By Fire With Steps Like Knives

DRIVEN BY MEGAN HART

AMBER QUILL PRESS, LLC http://www.amberquill.com

DRIVEN AN AMBER QUILL PRESS BOOK This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. Amber Quill Press, LLC http://www.amberquill.com All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review. Copyright © 2004 by Megan Hart ISBN 1-59279-255-3 Cover Art © 2004 Trace Edward Zaber

Layout and Formatting provided by: ElementalAlchemy.com

PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Well, of course to Vin since he was the inspiration To Ray, Isaac and Philip K. who helped me discover other worlds And to DPF, who makes it possible

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CHAPTER 1

“Need a ride?” Linna Fortense’s stomach took the same low, rolling tumble it always did at the sound of that familiar deep voice. “Hi, Del.” Del had been leaning against the side of his battered hovertaxi. Now he stood upright and opened the back door for her. “C’mon. I’ll take you home.” She thought of the long hours she’d just finished working, and the three stingy clients who’d barely made it worthwhile. Then she thought of her empty credaccount and her emptier stomach. She looked longingly at Del’s taxi, but shook her head. “Thanks, Del, but you don’t have to. I can walk.” Linna forced a smile she definitely didn’t feel. Her feet, crammed into tottering high heels, hurt. Even taking the pedtread most of the way meant she’d have to be on them for another twenty minutes. Still, she didn’t have the credits to pay for Del’s services tonight. Not if she wanted to eat tomorrow. 1

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He flashed her a grin designed to melt even the most stoic of feminine hearts. “C’mon, pretty lady. No charge.” For one horrible moment, Linna thought she might weep at his kindness. “I can’t ask you to do that.” Del spread his arms and gave an exaggerated look around. Dawn was just beginning to rise over Newcity. Most of the casual Lovehut traffic had already gone home, while the hardcore patrons wouldn’t be done for hours. “You see anybody bugging me for service? Nah. I got to get home myself. I live over in Caldyx Heights. Might as well give you the ride you need.” She knew he didn’t mean that the way it sounded, but that idea was as tempting as the free ride. Linna took in Del’s broad, muscled chest and arms. Unlike her three clients, Del didn’t wear the artisilk jumpsuit or tunic shirt so fashionable right now. An old-fashioned, articotton tshirt, unnervingly white, clung to every curve and ripple of his upper body, while plain, dark, tight-fitting trousers hugged equally muscled legs. Add that killer grin to the firm body, and his offer was one any woman would jump at. The problem was, Del didn’t know she was a woman. Linna forced her gaze away from his chest to meet his eyes. His grin told her he’d noticed her staring. Years of self-control had taught her not to blush, but heat flooded her body anyway. “I meant let me take you back to your place.” “I know what you meant.” Del tilted his head toward the cab. “Get in, Linna.” She sighed. “You always have to have your own way, don’t you?” He spread his hands and shrugged. “So my Ima always told me.” “Thanks, Del.” Linna got in the back of the hovertaxi with a sigh of relief so loud it made Del laugh from the front seat. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Where to?” She was taking him up on his offer of a ride, but that didn’t mean 2

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she had to take advantage of his generosity. She named a kennel in the same district as Caldyx Heights. Besides, that kennel was as good as any. “Brenda Kitten’s, please.” His dark eyes crinkled at her in the rearview mirror. “Don’t you usually go to Frederico Fucktini’s?” “You’ve driven me way too many places, Del.” Linna laughed despite how weary she felt. She had gone to Freddy’s before, but his fees were higher than at Kitten’s, which was a low-service facility and charged accordingly. She caught him looking at her again, his dark eyes intense even in the reflection. Then the hovertaxi lifted off with a minimum of bucking and groaning, and Del eased into the light morning traffic. Linna looked out the windows at the pedtreads, where Newcitizens who worked the early shifts were already congregating. Their day began as hers was ending. She peered further out the window, up to the sky. She couldn’t actually see the sun, not with the electrical-chemical Dome protecting Newcity from damaging ultraviolet rays. Linna wondered sleepily what it looked like, what the sky and stars looked like. She’d never been out of Newcity, not even to an Offworld vacay. Not even when she was married…before… Linna awoke with a start when the hovertaxi slowed abruptly. She hadn’t meant to doze off. She scrubbed at her face furtively and cursed her lapse in self-control. Del must have seen her sleeping, but he said nothing, only slid the taxi into the open space in front of Brenda Kitten’s SexKennel. “Home, sweet home,” he said. Linna stifled a yawn with a wide grin out of force of habit, but her mind was whirling. She’d been exhausted, but that was no excuse. She’d fallen asleep in front of a witness. Del was a friend, at least as much of a friend as Linna could afford to have, but her mistake could prove just as fatal with him as a witness just as well as a stranger. 3

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“Thanks,” she said, her voice hoarse. “No problem.” Del got out of the cab at the same time she did, and held her door open while she climbed out. He shut it gently behind her, and with a firm hand on her upper arm, helped her over the curb and onto the sidewalk. Linna’s bare skin tingled from his touch. “Thanks, Del,” Linna said again. “I wish you’d let me pay you.” “How many customers did you have last night?” He cut right to the heart of the situation. She sighed. “Three.” “None of them upperrankers, I’m guessing.” He jerked his chin toward the kennel behind them. Its flashing neon sign showed a penis penetrating a vagina over and over. “Not if you’re recharging in Kitten’s. That place is a dump.” “Brenda Kitten is very nice.” And discreet, Linna thought. “If I thought you could afford to pay me with credits, I’d take them from you,” Del said. “Believe me, Linna. I’m not too proud to turn down money. I could use some.” The sound of his voice saying her name sent another chill skittering over her. Her nipples stiffened through the thin material of her artivinyl tube top, and her thighs twitched. She didn’t allow any of her customers to use her name, didn’t even give them it. To them, she was simply another Pleasurebot, a KMPN-2017-F. She didn’t need a name. “Not much call for a Kompanion these days,” she said. “Not with all the other models on the market.” His dark eyes looked at her steadily. “Anyone who’d choose one of those dumbass PSSY 100’s over you is an idiot.” Her smile was real this time. Del could always draw one out of her. “Thanks.” She looked over toward the kennel. In the light of day, it looked even less appealing, but her eyes were heavy and she really needed to get to a safe place where she could close them. “Well, I guess I’ll see 4

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you tonight?” He nodded, his face serious. He kept his dark hair cropped close to his skull, not enough for a woman to run her fingers through at all, but suddenly that’s exactly what Linna wanted to do. She wanted to lick his full mouth, nibble at the strong line of his jaw, taste and touch and explore his entire body. She’d spent the night advertising for sex and being fucked by strangers, but it had left her body unsatisfied. She wanted to bring a man to an erection while he moaned her name, not while he transferred credits to her account. Her emotions rocked her, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. This was no time to let her hormones overwhelm her. She was tired and drained, and her body was betraying her. “Good night, Del. And thanks again. You always come through for me.” They stared at each other a moment longer. She remembered the day she’d first met him. Two years before, a client had tried to pay her with a faulty credaccount number, then ran. Del had heard her shouting and chased the man down for her, then brought the thief back dangling from one huge fist. “I have a soft spot for ladies in distress,” he told her now. “Good night, Linna.” “Are you sure I can’t pay you?” He shrugged. “Nah. Go inside and recharge. You need it.” On impulse, she stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek. It was a mistake. He smelled too damn fine. Her lips lingered a moment too long before she pulled away and started toward the kennel door. Del reached out and snagged her upper arm easily. “Wait,” he said in the rumbling deep voice that threatened to send her flat on her back. “I changed my mind.” Her heart stuttered for a moment before the pacemaker forced it back into its rhythm. She turned, struggling not to betray her body’s excitement. “How much do I owe you?” 5

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Del shook his head. “I don’t want your credits, pretty lady.” Sex. Oh God-of-Choice, he was going to ask her for sex. Linna had a lot of enhancements, but an automatic climax button wasn’t one of them. However, at the thought of fucking Del, her pussy contracted in a spasm of pure lust. “Barter?” she asked, made stupid by the unaccustomed lust surging through her. In the two years she’d known him, it was a rare day when she didn’t see him. She’d spent more time with him, on and off, than she had with any one other person since before her accident. She knew Del’s favorite beer, the Donball teams he favored, which routes through the city he preferred. He’d never once, in all that time, ever suggested she pay him with her body. Now, his eyes traveled slowly over her mouth, down her neck, over her breasts, belly, then fixed for a moment between her thighs. His tongue swiped his lower lip in a movement so sensual it took her breath away for a moment. Her knees, despite their titaniumalloy ligaments, went weak. “Just a kiss,” Del said. Had she heard right? Linna shook her head slightly. Her hearing was enhanced, as was her vision. She couldn’t have misunderstood him. “A…kiss?” Del pulled her closer until her body molded into his like it had been manufactured to his specifications. “Sure. Is that all right?” He didn’t wait for an answer, only tilted his head and slid his lips along hers. His mouth was lush and warm, and the full lips soft. Her mouth opened, and he slid his tongue inside. Linna’s body grew warm as Del’s hands fitted themselves to her waist. She leaned into his embrace, lost herself in it, and let him take her away with his lips and tongue and fingers. Then all at once he had moved away, and Linna opened her eyes. She forced herself to breathe. Del’s eyes still smoldered with passion, 6

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but he stepped back toward the hovertaxi. “See you tonight,” he said, and got in the vehicle without even a backward glance. Linna looked around, but even though the sidewalk and nearby pedtreads had begun to fill with the early morning traffic, nobody had paid any attention to her exchange with Del. “To thine own business attend” was the Newcity motto, and most people strictly adhered to it. Not Del. Whenever she needed something, he was there. Her mouth still tingling from his kiss, Linna signed in at the desk and nodded to the clerk on duty. The brown-haired clerk, vacant-eyed from too many hallucinabars, barely acknowledged her. He was too busy watching the viddy news. “Mecho Humanity Underground.” He grunted. “They’re picketing the Ruling Council building.” Linna didn’t pause. Bots didn’t follow politics, and she already knew what the viddy story would tell. Howard Adar and the Ruling Council had been on the warpath against mechos for years, but since Howard’s only son Caldyx had been kidnapped and murdered by a rogue mecho R.I.O. officer eight months ago, the Council had begun to crack down even harder. Cosmetically enhanced men and women, those who’d chosen to have bigger breasts, thicker dicks, perfect vision, longer legs, or whatever, had no problems. Undergoing surgery to perfect and change one’s appearance and abilities had been popular for decades, and it was rare to find someone who hadn’t had at least one procedure done. But for someone who’d been ill or in an accident, and for those whose body organs and systems had been replaced, there was a different story. The term “mecho” had been legally defined as having more than fifty-eight percent of one’s body organs and systems replaced with artificial components. Being mecho meant you weren’t human, weren’t bot, but something in between. Mechos had been required to register their status for years, but in 7

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the past eight months, the Council had been passing laws left and right, most of them restricting mecho citizenship. Mechos were no longer allowed to hold military positions or places of office. They couldn’t occupy any domicile or marry anyone above a forty-thou ranking, no matter what his or her own ranking had been before they became mecho. The laws went on and on, and there was nothing any mecho could do about it. The Council had stopped short of declaring mechos noncitizens, but Linna didn’t doubt that was the next step. Many mechos were choosing to flee Newcity for Offworld, and Linna didn’t blame them. Although she ought to have been, Linna wasn’t bound by the rules regarding mechos. After her…accident…for lack of a better word, she’d found a way to register as a Pleasurebot—a KMPN 2017-F. Kompanions, androids equipped with artificial intelligence, decisionmaking capabilities and life, were marketed toward those who wanted more from their sexbot than blowjobs and intercourse, and it showed in their design. Smaller boobs, bigger brains. It worked for Linna, let her hire herself to clients who wanted conversation along with their orgasms, and though she’d never earn as many credits as one of the sexier Pleasurebot models, she made enough to live on. She stripped out of her disposable artivinyl skirt and shirt and threw them into the recycler. It cost less to order new than to clean the old, and fresh clothes always made her feel good. She tapped her personal ID code into the key panel at the delivery tube and held her breath, as always, before System accepted the code and delivered her choices. The ID code wasn’t hers. She’d bought the code from Slizzbeck, the pawnbroker, who had stolen it from a real KMPN model named Lena that had malfunctioned and gone into meltdown. It had taken Linna a full year to work off the debt, and not a day went by that she didn’t worry System would pick up the inaccuracy and refuse to service the code any longer. 8

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Linna nodded at the Pleasurebots already using the facilities, but didn’t speak. Pleasurebots had very little use for chit-chat amongst themselves. Most days, Linna welcomed the anonymity she found in the kennels, where the bots came to recharge and clean up. Tonight, the silence made her feel lonely. She took the soft artisilk jumpsuit from the delivery tube to the small bench next to the single shower stall at the end of the row. This was one reason why she liked Kitten’s kennel. Not only was it inexpensive, it had this small private shower—an anomaly in a place where Pleasurebots didn’t require privacy. She turned on the faucet and bent beneath the bench to lift out the small vials of soap Kitten provided. There was nothing luxurious about them, since they were manufactured to clean away grime and body fluids, not to pamper and soothe. They were better than nothing, and they were free, so Linna didn’t complain. The sound of a moan caught her attention as she stepped into the warm cascade of artiwater, and Linna turned. One of the Pleasurebots, a statuesque blonde PSSN-2003-F, had turned on the bidet. The spray of water was cleaning her thoroughly…and apparently getting her off, too. Pleasurebots couldn’t help it. They were designed for sex—to have sex, to give it, and most of all, to enjoy it. Unlike human women, a bot could orgasm multiple times from stimulation that would leave a regular woman cold. Their low pleasure threshold had been built into them to keep them doing what they were meant to do. After all, a creature whose sole purpose was fucking should know how to do it well. The Passion Model spread her legs wider, exposing her pink clit beneath the groomed pubic hair. Linna stepped back into the shower, not wanting to watch, but unable to stop. Her own nipples tightened at the sight of the bot, face and chest flushed with arousal, as she tilted her hips back and forth in the stream of water jetting up from the bidet. 9

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The Passion Model moaned again, her head lolling on her shoulders. Her thighs trembled as she jerked into a climax Linna could see even from across the room. A moment passed and another ripple of orgasm undulated through the bot’s toned, perfect body. She gasped and moaned. Her cries echoed in the tiled room. Then, as calmly as if she’d sneezed rather than experienced two explosive orgasms, the bot finished her ablutions and dried off, then picked up her clothes and left the cleansing station. None of the other bots even noticed the performance, as commonplace to them as passing someone on the street. Linna looked around the room and into the large communal shower across from her. Four LUV models, identical except for the color of their hair, were using the shower. Bathing for bots was nothing more than a maintenance function, not the pampering necessity it could be for humans, but they scrubbed themselves thoroughly anyway. One slipped a soapy hand between her legs, and just like that, as fast as that, she let out a low, shuddering cry. Her hand came up to rest on the tiled wall while the one between her legs slid in and out between her thighs in a slow rhythm that made Linna’s nipples tighten further to watch. She could imagine all too well what that pace, that slickness, that pressure, would feel like. Her clit throbbed in a pulse that took her by surprise and made her put out a hand to steady herself. It had been a long time since she’d had a real orgasm, though she faked them regularly to fool her patrons. Linna watched the bot, whose pace had quickened, hips pumping, fingers swirling on her love button. In the next minute, the chorus of cries and moans echoed throughout the shower as the other LUVs followed the first one’s lead. They all writhed, hands thrust between their legs, their bodies jerking with orgasms. The first LUV model finished with a whining cry and shuddered beneath the spray of water, then rinsed off and stepped out of the shower. For a bot, coming was as natural as breathing. For Linna, the task 10

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was a little more difficult. She turned herself firmly toward the back of the shower cubicle, not wanting to witness any more bots getting themselves off. Her body ached and tingled with arousal. She’d fucked three patrons the night before, all old men with imperfect bodies and little else on their minds but getting their rocks off. She’d writhed beneath them and screamed at the right times, but a convincing performance was still just an act. The memory of Del’s eyes, dark with passion, and the feeling of his tongue in her mouth made her breath catch in her throat. If a man like Del made love to her, Linna had no doubt he’d take his time to be certain she reached her climax. At the thought, her clit pulsed again. Her nipples throbbed. Linna slid her fingers down between her legs and found her folds, slick with wetness. Her clit was a hard, erect nodule, and as her fingers brushed it, she had to bite her lip to hold in the moan. It had been a long, long time since she’d taken her own pleasure like this. The circumstances of her life meant she had more than her share of sex, but how long had it been since she’d even wanted to come? How long since her body had yearned for release? How long since she’d learned to shut down those urges until the only orgasms she could have were faked? She closed her eyes and leaned into the warm artiwater pelting down around her. Once upon a time, in her life before, she’d had a real water shower. The water had coated her body in a way the artificially created liquid could never duplicate. She tilted her face up to the spray. Linna sighed, lost in the sensation of her fingers tweaking her clit. This wasn’t nearly enough. She wanted a man inside her, a thick, long cock to fill her. She wanted Del to be fucking her— She moaned aloud, not embarrassed, since nobot in the room would give her a second glance. She spread her legs to allow first one finger to slide inside her slick tunnel, then another. The heel of her hand pressed 11

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against her clit. A man like Del would know just how to touch a woman, she thought. He’d be able to lift her up, impale her on his cock while her legs wrapped around his waist. He’d lick and suck her nipples while he fucked her standing up, his hands under her ass and his firm, ridged stomach teasing her erect clit with every thrust. Linna’s orgasm burst through her with explosive force. Her knees weakened. Her vision blurred. For an awful, wonderful moment, she thought she might pass out from the sheer physical overload. She pushed her fingers deeper, and a smaller climax rippled through her. Linna shuddered then withdrew her hand. Eyes closed, she continued to lean against the cool tile wall until she could breathe again. Gloom closed her throat and stung her eyes. Would the only pleasure she ever had have to come from her own hand? She forced away the melancholy. She hadn’t chosen this life. It had been chosen for her by a man who didn’t know how to regulate his desires. She made her living fucking strangers. That was sex. She had to accept the fact she’d probably never make love to anyone again. Linna got out of the shower, dried off, and dressed in the jumpsuit. Weariness overcame her. Despite the many artificial organs and systems in her body, the metal and plastic that made her officially mecho and not human, she still had to sleep. She went down the hall and opened the door to an empty recharging booth and ducked inside. She aligned her body with the charger. She had no outlet for the threepronged plug that would normally be used to recharge a Pleasurebot’s batteries, but she did have a small hole for the refreshing tube. She’d had to pay extra for that adaptation, a debt she was still working off, but it was worth it to have the option of cleansing her body’s blood stream without having to use normal human facilities. She didn’t always use it, and it wasn’t a perfect system. She still had to make other arrangements for other functions, but it had helped her keep her secret. 12

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Eating and drinking could be passed off as social niceties, done for show, but going to the bathroom would be a dead giveaway that Linna wasn’t what she pretended to be. The tube stung going in, but she forced herself to relax against the pain. After a moment, Linna leaned back against the padded wall, hooked her arms into the padded cuffs, and closed her eyes at last. Nobody would bother her here for hours. She could sleep, and as she did, the last vision that filled her mind was Del’s face. *

*

*

The damn retscan was on the blink again. Delek muttered a heartfelt curse as he manually punched in the key code that allowed him to access his apartment. The door slid open with a cranky wheeze. Once inside, he looked around the stark interior and shook his head. “Rat hole.” There weren’t any rats in Newcity any more unless you counted the ones that walked on two legs. Rat hole was still a good description of his place. Dirty, smelly, in constant disrepair. A crack in the ceiling dripped coolant into the bucket he’d placed there three months ago. The paint on the walls peeled in half a dozen places, and holes in the plaster revealed the mess of tubes and wires that made up every fricking building in Newcity. “Viddy on,” he barked to the empty room. System’s soothing female voice replied, “Negative. Account usage has exceeded credit deposit. Please authorize additional credit amount.” “Fuck,” Delek sighed. “Command not recognized,” System replied, unflappable as always. “Non-citizen DLK 24196010-X. Authorize seven hours of viddy time.” “Viddy viewing authorized. Your account has been debited. Thank you.” “Yeah, fuck you,” muttered Delek. “And Adar’s Ruling Council.” 13

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The last he made certain to keep under his breath. He had enough problems without being arrested for treason. The battered viddy screen came on, set to some stupid entertainment program that showed a series of fashionably dressed Newcitizens competing for Offworld vacays by answering trivia questions. The ones who answered correctly got to go to the next round. The ones who didn’t had to suffer an electric shock. “Filter game shows,” he ordered. Another show came on, this one a political discussion. Delek recognized the face of Newcity’s leading news forecaster, Brent Auckland. He was interviewing Howard and Cyndira Adar, both of whom looked as serious as death, about the latest regulations concerning the city’s mecho population. “There’s life and there’s death,” Howard Adar said. His left eye twitched, the only remaining sign of a nearly-fatal gunshot wound he’d taken eight months ago. “Brent, I’ve made no secret of my own brush with death. I could’ve opted for the surgery that would’ve made me less than human, but frankly, I’d rather have been headed to the incinerator than living with a bundle of metal inside me.” Del made himself a sandwich while he watched the show from the kitchen. Auckland listened to the Adars’ account of what had happened in the Oldcity hangar with an expression of sincere sorrow on his face. Lying bastards. Their story was a bunch of harah—shit—and Del knew it because he’d been part of it. Their official story was that their son, Caldyx Declan Adar, had been injured in a hoverscooter accident Offworld on Calypig. He’d survived, but with injuries so severe he’d become a recluse. A mecho R.I.Op whose brain hard-drive had malfunctioned discovered the Adar secret, abducted and tried to blackmail Caldyx. The Adars’ brave, brave son had decided to reveal the truth himself rather than give in, and the mecho went insane. “What a crock of harah,” Del muttered. 14

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Declan Adar hadn’t been kidnapped and murdered by a Recreational Intercourse Operative gone haywire. He and the R.I.Op Gemma had fallen in love and escaped Newcity for parts unknown to Del. He’d driven them to the border in his very own taxi. Only quick thinking and natural reflexes had gotten him out of that one, and he hadn’t felt guilty at all when Vortran Slizzbeck’s flunky Ropert had taken the fall instead of Del. Ropert hadn’t been involved in the Adar case at all, but he’d done plenty of other evil stuff, and Del decided Ropert had deserved exactly what he got. It didn’t matter the man was a fellow Xanderran, he was also a traitor to their home world and a nasty bastard to boot. Delek had no sympathy for anyone who sold out to slime like Slizzbeck, who trafficked in stolen goods. On Xanderra, personal property was considered sacred, and thievery was punished with immediate death. Ropert knew that. He’d gotten what he deserved, even if it was for something he hadn’t done. “I just want to see this city clean again,” Howard continued, interrupting Del’s reverie. Cyndira—That smug bitch—held her husband’s hand and nodded. “When Newcity is clean, my job will be finished.” “And so will everything else,” Del said aloud. His sandwich tasted like it had been made with real sand. “You’re going to take away everything that made this a great place to live, you bastard.” He’d had seven great years here, in this vibrant, thriving Earth city. It was a lot different than his home world. Freer. Dirtier and uglier, too, but it had been the freedom he’d craved, and received, from Newcity. Now that freedom was being taken away. As a non-Earthen humanoid, he’d been denied citizenship. He couldn’t vote, not that Newcity elections were anything but a joke anyway. He couldn’t be ranked, which meant he couldn’t afford the luxuries and privileges even the lowest-ranking Newcitizens could. Del didn’t mind that. He wanted to work for what he got, and he did. Worked his ass off, ferrying people 15

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back and forth all over the city. No, what burned him up was that his place of birth, his nationality and ethnicity, kept his work from being compensated fairly. Del thought it was probably time to move on. Leave Newcity. Hell, leave Earth entirely, since the rest of the planet was in worse condition than Xanderra. He hadn’t been Offworld in seven years, but he was sure he could find a better place to live…a freer place to live than this. Only two things had held him back from leaving before this. One was the very real obstacle of money. He didn’t have enough for an Offworld visa. He could be kicked out of Newcity, but he couldn’t leave voluntarily unless he paid for the privilege. He could sneak out through a zip in the Dome and seek an illegal exit via the Oldcity transport systems, but that cost money, too, and Newcity credits weren’t any good there. He needed cash, or something to barter. Del looked around his bare apartment, which though far more technologically savvy than his home on Xanderra, was far less civilized. There was very little in the place that wasn’t connected or built in. He had a collection of viddy tapes, but they’d be worthless in Oldcity, where viddy screens were scarce. He’d need more than a few bits and pieces if he wanted to barter his way onto a berth. He could work for his passage…that wasn’t a problem. He just needed to get one. His second reason for staying was far more complex. Linna. He’d driven her home countless times, most times for free. She was more than beautiful. She was smart and funny. She always said, “Thank you.” She always remembered to ask him about his day. She brought him presents, nothing special, just little things here and there she knew he’d like. She was kind. He’d seen her stand aside to allow older Newcitizens take her place on the pedtread, even when he could tell she was exhausted and just wanted to get home. Linna had secrets she didn’t keep as hidden as she thought she did. Del didn’t know what circumstances had made her what she was, but 16

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he knew for sure what she wasn’t. She was, or had been, a fully human woman. She passed herself off as a Kompanion Model, and she did a great job. She had the intelligence and social savvy to be one. Del was willing to bet she’d fooled a lot of people over the years. He bet even the men and women she took as clients didn’t realize she was not a real Pleasurebot. But Del did. It was the way she smelled. The way she moved. The flicker in her eyes when she spoke to him. A good bot, and most of them were very good these days—the market demanded it—was nearly indistinguishable from a human. The main difference was that every smile, every laugh, even the occasional tear, was programmed. Not real. Pleasurebots didn’t have emotions. The only real thing about them were their orgasms. Linna was a real woman, even if parts of her were artificial. Del had seen her move out of the way of an oncoming hovertaxi with a driver high on hallucinabars. She was fast, definitely enhanced. But still human. The new laws penalized those who’d started life as human but now lived only through the benefit of a majority of artificial systems or organs. It was no wonder she’d been living as a full bot. Pleasurebots were regulated, but they did have rights. They could keep most of the credits they earned. They were guaranteed safe treatment at the hands of their clients. They were allowed to utilize the government-subsidized recharging stations with only a small co-pay. But what kind of life could it be? It was next to impossible for a bot to try and pass itself off as human. Del hadn’t heard of the penalty for a human passing herself off as a bot, but he didn’t think Howard Adar and the Ruling Council would treat such a deception lightly. Del didn’t know what had shadowed Linna’s eyes and made her live as something she wasn’t. He only knew she was the only woman he’d met in his entire life who made him feel like making love to her would be worth the heavy price. 17

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He’d kissed a lot of women in his search for one who was worth making love to. There’d been many females, at home, in his travels, and here, who had offered their bodies to him. Some of them had been very persistent. He’d refused them all, not willing to shackle himself for the rest of his life to any of them. Celibacy was a real bitch, especially in Newcity, where sex was the most popular pastime. It was hell to watch the couples fucking in the back of his cab, to smell their arousal while his own cock strained at the front of his pants without release. Sex was everywhere, used to sell products, reward good business, sold, bought, traded and given away. It was all over the viddy, too. Human pornography fascinated him. Orgies, threesomes, gang-bangs…the sheer variety amazed him. Del ordered the viddy to switch to the All-Sex Network. ASN was showing a popular sitcom called Easy Street. The plot revolved around the sexual adventures of the people who lived along one city street. Every week, guest actors joined the regular cast for a fifteen-minute orgy finale. The all-human cast had made the show a runaway hit for three seasons already. Del watched as one actress, Bahnzahna, gave oral sex to one wellhung actor while another actor fucked her from behind. That would never happen on Xanderra. He reminded himself that was one of the reasons why he’d left his home world. It didn’t help. Del ran a hand over his head, noting it was time to shave again. Heat flashed over him as Bahnzahna moaned and shuddered in orgasm. A real one, from a real woman, not faked or from a bot who had no choice but to come, no matter what. “Viddy off,” he barked at the screen. Just because he couldn’t make love to a woman didn’t mean he didn’t want to. Harah, didn’t mean he wasn’t almost desperate to. Times like these, when his cock stiffened and throbbed, he thought he might just go out and find some random partner, anyone would do, and release the pent-up lust of years and damn the consequences. 18

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But he knew he wouldn’t. A few minutes of pleasure wasn’t worth a lifetime commitment. Not unless it was with a woman like Linna, he thought, then shook his head. He’d broken down tonight. Asked her for a kiss. The taste of her had made him want to kneel in front of her, to worship at her feet. He had wanted to lose himself in her, give himself over to her. A frightening prospect, but one he knew he couldn’t fight. He was Xanderran. They mated for life. Fleeing home couldn’t change what he was.

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CHAPTER 2

When Linna opened her eyes, she had to blink several times before she realized there was nothing wrong with her vision. The inside of her recharging station was dark, as was the hallway beyond the booth’s glass door. Even as her pupils automatically dilated to adjust for night vision, Linna unhooked herself from the waste tube. Something was wrong. The recharging station was never dark, never without power. She pushed against the glass door, which, at first, wouldn’t budge. Don’t panic. Breathe, she told herself. There must be emergency procedures in place. She pushed again harder, and this time, the door clicked open. The hallway was empty. She crossed to the booth immediately in front of her and peered in. The Pleasurebot inside, a dark-haired GSHA-007-F, stared back at her, unblinking. Linna tugged open the booth door, not caring at the moment she was committing a serious breach of bot etiquette. She touched the Geisha Model on the arm. The bot didn’t move. Linna touched the bot’s cheek. Cool. Her internal 20

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circuits were powered down. This was not a good sign. Linna backed out of the booth and headed down the hallway. She pushed her way into the Kitten’s lobby, which was as dark and deserted as the hall had been. “Code Amber. Code Amber.” System’s voice repeated the phrase over and over from the speakers on the street outside. “All emergency personnel to your stations. Repeat, Code Amber. Nonessential Newcitizen personnel, please remain inside. You will be directed to a safe location. Code Amber. Emergency personnel, please report to your stations.” Linna paused, her heart thudding. What was going on? She mentally dialed her hearing level higher. Sounds flooded her. Screams. Explosions. No telling from how far away, only that they weren’t right outside. She went to Kitten’s front door and stepped onto the sidewalk outside. Complete, utter darkness assailed her senses. Even though she had night vision, the blackness was so complete it made her stumble back. She’d never seen Newcity without lights. “Code Amber-Orange,” System announced. “All nonessential Newcitizens, remain inside. You will be directed to a safe location. Violators will be terminated.” Terminated? Linna looked around the empty street. A chill sweat broke out on her body despite the ever-present Newcity humidity. She backed up and tried the door of Kitten’s, but it had locked behind her. “Emergency lockdown,” System informed her when she tried to punch in the keycode. “Code Amber-Orange. All nonessential…” Linna didn’t wait to hear more. She ran. She had no idea where she was going, only that she had to get off the street before a Security Operative found her. Terminated! She’d never been more grateful for the enhancements to her body. Her lungs expanded to take in extra air, while her body shifted its resources from the systems it wasn’t using to provide extra energy to 21

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the ones she was. Her leg muscles lengthened and contracted without effort. Her eyes lubricated themselves so she didn’t have to blink. She ran toward the pedtread, but turned in an instant when she saw it wasn’t running. She’d never seen it still. Don’t panic. Breathe. She calmed herself with concentrated effort, a trick she’d learned after waking up in the surghosp. With her mind clear, she could focus on running and finding a place to get inside. She tried a Lovehut. Locked. An apartment building, also locked. She stood in front of the viddy screen and tapped as many buttons as she could, but nobody answered her pleas to be let inside. At every door, System informed her, “Emergency lock-down. Code Amber-Orange.” “How am I supposed to get off the street if everything’s locked up?” Linna’s frustrated scream echoed off the walls. The earth suddenly shook beneath her feet. Only her enhanced balance kept her from falling over. It shook again. Pieces of the building next to her crumbled and fell, sprinkling bits of metal into her hair and on her shoulders. She stepped away and looked upward. It wasn’t the building. Don’t panic, she told herself, but terror assailed her anyway. There was a rip in the dome. The pieces of metal hadn’t fallen from the building. They’d fallen from the sky. “Code Orange. Code Orange,” System said. The soothing feminine voice echoed through the street, but did nothing to ease Linna’s fear. She began to walk fast, but did not break into a run. As she reached the cross street, an armored ground vehicle rolled around the corner. The light, blue-white and intense, burned her eyes and she threw up a hand to shield them. The ground shook again, this time from the rumbling metal treads of the ground car. Through the crack in her fingers, Linna glimpsed helmeted and armed SecOps hanging off the side of the car. “Halt!” The mouth guard gave the Op’s voice a metallic clang. “Halt for Citizen Inspection!” Linna didn’t hesitate. In order to stun her, they’d have to catch her. 22

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She turned and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. From behind her she heard the cock of weapons, the blast of gunfire. The heat of a bullet whizzed past her. She didn’t need to see it to duck away from it. Another bullet caught the sleeve of her jumpsuit. It tore the flimsy fabric, and she stumbled but kept her feet. God-of-choice, they’re using bullets! Her ears told her where to dodge, how to weave, and, for the second time that day, Linna blessed the enhancements she normally cursed. She turned the corner, ran down an alley, ducked between two buildings, and found a dead end. Without pause, she ran straight for the brick wall. She leaped and hit it with her feet, turned in the air and came down with a twist that turned her back toward the street again. She had never realized how good it felt to work her body this way to its maximum strength. The flare and blast of an explosion stopped her and knocked her backward. The entire street in front of her disintegrated into flames. A column of fire shot up from a chasm in the concrete. “Code Red. Code Red.” Linna rolled and got to her feet. A stinging in her hand made her look down to see a pattern of blisters already rising on her palm. She turned, searching for a way to run. The sound of sirens filled the air and drowned out even System’s persistent droning. A viddy screen flared to life in the window of the Lovehut next to her. Howard Adar spoke. “Earlier today, the Ruling Council learned of an attempt by members of the Mecho Humanity Underground to destroy the Newcity Dome.” The picture jumped and skipped. Adar’s face twisted. For a moment, his mouth moved but no voice came out. Then a garbled explanation followed. “…have made every effort to apprehend…terminated…no cause for alarm….” Linna stared at the flames, which had now spread toward the 23

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buildings on either side of the street. No cause for alarm? It sounded like more of Howard Adar’s bullshit to her. The viddy screen flickered and came on again. This time, the picture showed a less calm Adar, who was shouting at someone off camera. “Shut off the fucking camera! Now!” The camera swerved, as though it had been knocked over, and another man, dressed in an Engineer’s white lab coat, showed up on the screen. “Repairs to the Dome are only seventy-five percent viable, sir,” he was babbling. “We’ve got a major zip. The chemical field is failing in seventeen places— Oh, shit!” he cried when he saw the camera on him. He reached out for it and the screen went black again. “Code Red,” came System’s monotone. Linna didn’t have time to think about what Adar had said on the viddy. She had to concentrate on getting out of here before more stuff blew up or more SecOps came through. She ran again. The buildings here were in worse repair. The pedtreads were buckled and rusted. The doors were still locked. How could she be the only person on the streets? The answer came to her immediately. She was the only person in Newcity locked up inside a recharging booth when this trouble had begun. She was the only one who hadn’t heard or seen the viddy communications warning everyone to get inside. She couldn’t run forever. She was still human, even with her enhancements. She was getting tired. Another rumble told her another ground car was patrolling the streets. Breathing hard, Linna ducked into an alley. The smell of garbage made her wrinkle her nose. A battered sign caught her eye. Caldyx Heights. This was where Del lived. The sound of shouts and the armored ground car were drawing closer. She couldn’t run any more. Her heart was pounding fiercely and her overworked muscles were beginning to tremble. She looked for the 24

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door to the building. Once it had been made of plazglass, but now flat panels of metal covered the frame. Linna limped over to it and wracked her brain to remember if Del had told her which apartment he lived in. The SecOps were coming closer. The night was alive with sirens and explosions, farther off this time, thankfully. Linna began pushing buttons on the keycode. The viddy screen in front of her flickered, and a frightened face, not Del’s, peered out at her. “Can you let me in?” Linna cried, looking over her shoulder, expecting at any minute to be surrounded by SecOps, or worse, shot without warning. If the current situation meant the Ruling Council had allowed the use of bullet weapons, she had no doubt the SecOps wouldn’t hesitate to use them on her. The screen went black without a comment from the Newcitizen whose apartment she’d buzzed. Linna tried again. Del lived in this building. If he answered her buzz, he’d let her in. She knew it. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, a familiar pair of eyes and lips showed up on the screen. He was scowling. “What the hell— Linna?” “Del, you have to let me in!” Thank God-of-Choice, he didn’t bother to ask her why. He buzzed her in. The door opened and Linna stepped through just as a ground car rumbled past on the street outside. She ducked behind the still halfopen front door, hoping they wouldn’t notice, and breathed an immense sigh when they didn’t. The interior viddy screen showed Del again. “Come on up. Use the stairs. I don’t trust the lifter. I’m in MH-33.” “Thank you,” Linna said, suddenly overcome and close to tears. She fought to keep her voice steady. “Thank you, Del.” His gaze pierced her even through the fuzzy viddy picture. “My pleasure.” A shiver went through her as the screen went dark. Linna felt his mouth on hers again, the softness of his lips and the brush of his tongue 25

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on hers. Not now, she admonished. There’s no time for that. The heels of her now-useless shoes, the soles of which had worn through from all the running, clacked on the cracked tile floor of the empty lobby. A long time ago, this had been a nice building with a concierge desk and an artiwaterfall display, now dry. She passed the elevator—the lifter, Del had called it, and the quaint, foreign name for it made her smile. The door to the stairs was propped open with a chunk of brick that must have fallen off the building outside. The stairwell was pitch black, without even any emergency lighting. It smelled like something had died inside it and Linna paused before stepping in. What if something, or someone, had died in there? She tried to shake off the feeling, but could not force her feet to move from the dark lobby into the darker stairs beyond. Just go, she told herself. Del is waiting. Just run. But she couldn’t run, not any more. She could barely walk. She’d exhausted her reserves. Her body might be able to function more efficiently and more intensely than an unenhanced person, but it also needed appropriate fuel. She hadn’t eaten a full meal in three days. Under normal circumstances, she could survive that long without terrible effects because her systems could process what she did manage to eat more slowly and gain more nutrition from them. Her recent mad flight had used up everything she had. She swallowed hard. Del would have food. He’d have a place for her to sleep. It would mean revealing the truth to him that she was a mecho, not a Pleasurebot, but somehow, Linna couldn’t bring herself to be afraid of that. Not from Del. Her friend. The thought made her smile. A chill breeze from somewhere caressed her cheek and Linna blinked rapidly. Somehow, she’d already climbed several sets of stairs while she’d daydreamed about Del. The metal of the railing was pitted and rough beneath her hands. Some sections of it were missing altogether. This trip would be hazardous under well-lit conditions, but in the dark she was risking a 26

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broken neck. With a conscious effort, Linna forced her pupils to dilate wider. Her night vision enhanced eyes now were able to distinguish between the subtle shadings of black that determined the stairs and the open space beside them. How long had she been climbing? Forever. She laughed aloud and the sound echoed grotesquely. A monster’s laugh. The noise, though she knew she’d made it, frightened her. She hung for a moment on the railing while her body quaked and shuddered. Were there monsters in here? Her mind called up images of sharp teeth and claws, maniacal eyes and flashing blades. She shook her head again. Focus, Linna. Keep going. There’s nobody in here but you. She tried to breathe and coughed instead. Her fingers grew numb and even the sharp edge of metal on the railing didn’t hurt on her skin, though she smelled her own blood and felt its warmth on her fingers. She was eating herself from the inside out. Her blood and tissue was being desiccated to provide energy to her heart and lungs. She’d gone too far, overworked herself. The medtechs at the surghosp had warned her about this, but since she had never expected to utilize her enhanced functions more than briefly, she hadn’t imagined it happening to her. She hadn’t imagined how much it would hurt. Light, blinding, shone in her dilated eyes. She screamed, or tried to, but only a hiss of air escaped her cracked and parched lips. She felt the bite of concrete on her knees and understood she had fallen forward on the steps. Her hand groped for the railing and missed, swiping on open air. She teetered, her balance function failing. She felt the clean sweep of an updraft on her face and looked down, down through blackness, so far down, so black she couldn’t even glimpse the bottom. She was going to fall. Then strong arms swept her up. The light moved off her face and illuminated the stairwell. She caught a glimpse of dripping walls overgrown with slime and streaks of rust. Then she was lifted and 27

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carried up the stairs, through a door, into a hall as dank and nasty as the stairs, but lit by a series of dim emergency bulbs along the ceiling. “You’re all right now,” said a voice so deep it thudded in her chest and belly. “I’ve got you.” *

*

*

Del flung open his cupboards with a curse and ransacked the packages and cartons of dried food. Most of them spilled to the floor and he grabbed up three ancient cartons of artichicken broth. “Water, 100 degrees,” he said to the sink unit, which only burped at him. “Kafotza li. Bite me.” With the power out, nothing worked right. He manually lifted the faucet and filled the containers. Cold broth would have to do. Linna needed something in her…and fast. He’d stretched her out on the futon he used as a bed in the living room and covered her with some blankets, but her body still twitched and shivered. The battery-powered lantern on the table next to her head highlighted her eyes, pupils so wide and dark only the smallest rim of blue showed around the edges. Her lips were pulled back from her teeth, which clattered and chattered. Her skin had gone too pale. She was failing and he could guess why. Her shoes had holes worn in the bottom, and her feet were bleeding. She’d been running hard. He didn’t know what sorts of enhancements she had, but she’d overused them. He propped her up with one arm and held up the cup to her mouth. The liquid dribbled between her lips, but most of it made it down her throat. The effect was nearly instantaneous. The color began to seep back into her cheeks. Her eyes started to focus. He felt her body tense and react to the nourishment. She downed the first cup of broth in seconds. Her eyes fluttered, but she still wasn’t all the way back. Del held another cup to her mouth and she took that one, too. He could 28

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practically see her stomach digesting the calories and distributing them at super-efficient speed to the rest of her body. She was healing herself. After another five minutes, she sat up on her own. “Del!” “Hey, pretty lady.” He smoothed a strand of hair from her forehead and pushed her back gently onto the pillows. “Lay back. You’re not ready to go running again.” She didn’t fight him on it, just nodded gratefully and took the third carton. She sipped at it and even winced at the taste, which showed she had to be feeling better. “Thanks,” she said. “You were in pretty bad shape,” Del replied. “What happened?” The light from the lantern cast shadows on her face. She hesitated, then met his eyes without flinching. “I woke up in Kitten’s. I didn’t know what was going on. I came outside and heard System calling a Code Amber, but everything was locked up and I couldn’t get in anywhere. I ran…” She looked down at her legs, still covered by the blanket. “And then I found myself at your building. What’s going on, Del?” “Let me get you some more soup.” He prepared another three cups of powdered broth and added a handful of stale crackers, all he had left in the cupboard. He kept a careful eye on her from the kitchen to make sure she didn’t slip away from him again, but she seemed to be doing better. He brought her the food, easily carrying three cups in one of his hands, and set them down on the table. “Drink this.” She complied without protest at the taste, then ate the crackers like she hadn’t had food in weeks. Which seems likely, Del thought, watching her. The gaunt lines of her face were already smoothing. Amazing technology. “The way I figure it is this,” he told her. “Somebody, somewhere, screwed up with the Dome.” 29

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She gave a low chuckle that warmed his heart…and other places. “Everyone in Newcity knows that, Del. The Dome has never functioned properly.” “About three hours ago, System announced a Code Yellow.” Del thought for a moment. “I wasn’t surprised. Not with the way Adar’s been yammering about the Mecho Humanity Underground lately. I figured it was only a matter of time before he tried to pin something big on them.” Linna scooted up until she sat against the wall. “Was there a viddy announcement?” He nodded. “All programming was disrupted. Adar got on the viddy and announced they’d just taken the ringleaders into custody, and that there’d be an investigation into alleged terrorist activity aimed at disrupting the Dome.” Linna shook her head. “Howard Adar is full of shit.” The vehemence in her voice made him chuckle. “Don’t we all know it.” She sighed and handed him the last cup of broth only half-eaten. “Do you believe the MHU had anything to do with the Dome failure?” Del shook his head. “Nah. I don’t think anyone but the upperrankers would believe that. I think some tech somewhere messed up and Adar’s just using this as a good reason to crack down. I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps this city under Code Red for a week while he rounds up as many mechos as he can and makes them disappear.” Linna swallowed heavily and looked down at her hands, twisted on her lap. “And if he does that, it won’t be long before he goes after the Offworlders too, Del.” “I know that.” Linna looked at him, her face tense. “What should we do?” “I think we need to get out of Newcity, Linna.” She nodded. Her fingers twined with his. “If they check my registration, they’ll find out I’m not a Pleasurebot. I’m not a KMPN, 30

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Del. I’m a mecho.” He’d known already, but that she’d trusted him enough to tell him the truth meant a lot. “How long?” he asked her gently. Linna bit her lip. “Three years.” He waited for her to tell him more, but she remained silent for so long he thought she wasn’t going to say. Then she took a deep breath and squeezed his hand like she was drowning and he was the only one holding her up. “I used to be an upperranker. A ninety-thou actually. I lived in a house, not an apartment. I was married.” She waited, as though her admission would surprise him. Newcitizens were ranked on everything from ancestry, to marriage, to education, to personal achievements. The rankings went constantly up and down, and privileges were tied directly to rank. The system had been designed—or so he’d heard—to eliminate class distinctions. All it had done was make it impossible for anyone not born or married into the upper rankings to get there. Linna gave a half-smile. “My husband had a very bad temper and a penchant for affairs. I didn’t mind. It kept him out of my bed, and as long as he was fucking other women, he’d do what he liked to them and leave me alone. I didn’t have a bad life, Del. Money can buy a lot of happiness.” He thought of his life on Xanderra where he’d never lacked for anything financially. “Sometimes.” “Eventually, his human mistresses no longer put up with his tastes. He went through four VCTM units in as many months before he turned to me.” “He went through Victims? You mean he got tired of them?” Linna shook her head solemnly. “I mean he used them up. Wore them out. Shut them down. The last one fell to pieces, literally, in our dining room.” 31

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Del’s stomach twisted. “And then he turned to you?” Again, she nodded. “A man of his rank can consider himself above the law and be right, Del.” “Who was your husband?” “I was married for four years to Daniel Hackman.” Del gave a low whistle. “Adar’s left-hand man.” Linna nodded and took her hand from his. She drew up her knees and linked her fingers around them, then rested her cheek there. “The same.” “He hurt you.” He didn’t make it a question. Fury filled him, and he got up and began to pace. The thought of that smug-faced bastard putting his hands on Linna made Del want to pound something. Hard. Rip it apart. It made him want to kill Hackman. “He didn’t mean to, I’m sure.” Her voice was dry, sarcastic, and he searched her face to see if she was excusing the benizona, the son of a whore. “I was more expensive to replace than a VCTM. Unfortunately for him, and for me, I also wasn’t capable of simply allowing him to hurt me.” “You fought back.” She nodded. “As best I could. That only made him angry. He…he lost control. He cut me. He pushed me down some stairs. Other things, which, thank God-of-Choice, I don’t remember. I woke up in a hospital bed.” “He authorized the surgeries?” Del clenched his fists, still pacing. “Oh, I don’t think so. I’d been admitted as deceased. The medtech who took the admission was training an assistant and they decided to use me for the training. I came out of the surgery alive.” “And unauthorized.” “Yes.” “So they…what? Didn’t tell Hackman you weren’t dead?” She shook her head. “And risk losing rank? Or worse…being 32

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arrested? Even three years ago Adar was speaking out against mechos. What they did to me was illegal.” “And immoral.” Del snorted. “That would never have happened on Xanderra.” She met his gaze calmly and her chin lifted a little. “I’d rather be what I am than dead, Del.” That chastened him. He sat next to her again and, following an impulse he didn’t want to think too much about, took her hand. “Me, too.” That made her smile. Tension arced between them like an electrical spark. Her cheeks flushed and her tongue slid along her lower lip. He wanted to kiss her again and more than that. Her lips parted and her pupils dilated again, but this time in passion. His penis hardened and he let go of her hand to put some distance between them. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” he said. The lights flickered and came on. The viddy screen blared to life, still showing Adar, this time joined by the members of the Ruling Council. Del’s gaze zeroed in on Hackman, who sat in the back. He wanted to punch the viddy screen. “Code Red is still in effect,” Adar said to the camera. “We’ve apprehended those who were trying to destroy the Dome that protects us. And we’ll see to it they’re punished to the harshest degree.” The screen cut to a picture of a group of men and women being herded into ground cars by SecOps. One man appeared to resist and was taken down immediately by a stunner. “They were using bullets when I was out there,” Linna spoke up. He looked at her. “Adar’s pulling no punches.” She shrugged. “Do you expect any less?” “Code Red will remain in affect until we’ve rounded up all these criminals. Please pay attention to System announcements. You’ll be notified when the Code changes.” “Viddy off,” Del snapped and the screen went dark. “Well, I guess 33

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that’s it.” “I guess so.” Linna chewed gently on her lower lip. “At least the power’s back on.” Del looked around his apartment. “This rat hole looks better in the dark.” She laughed, a real laugh that sent warmth flooding through him. “Believe me, it’s better than Kitten’s.” He wanted to ask her how she’d managed to take on a Pleasurebot’s identity, but figured that would be a story for another time. “Let me see if I can order us something real to eat.” She put a hand on her stomach. “That would be terrific.” Code Red apparently meant no deliveries, as System informed him in a frustratingly calm voice that he was not authorized to access the supply depot at this time. “Power conservation in effect,” the voice announced on the heels of denying him his food order. “Cycling distribution will begin now.” “Cycling distribution? What does that mean?” Linna asked. The lights flickered and dimmed, then went out. “I think it means we’re stuck in the dark again.” Her next words made heat surge through him again. “At least we’re together.” “Yeah, at least there’s that.” She smiled and her eyes glowed in the light from the battery lantern, which he hadn’t shut off. “You’ve been a good friend, Del.” He shrugged, and then grinned back at her. “Guess I’m just a nice guy underneath this tough exterior.” “I happen to like that exterior.” All at once, Del wanted her so badly it hurt. Physically hurt. He bit back a groan and turned away from her. He found the crumbling plaster of his wall and used it for support. Every muscle in his body seemed locked in a spasm. “Del? Are you all right?” 34

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He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He kept his back toward her. He couldn’t risk seeing any invitation in Linna’s eyes, or he’d be lost in more ways than one. He heard the whisper of the blankets as she got up from the futon. He heard her feet pad across the floor. Then he felt her tentative touch on his shoulder. He groaned again, the pain of wanting her like a knife in his gut. He gritted his jaw and put both hands on the wall to keep from grabbing her with them. His fingers bent and scraped at the rotting plaster. He felt her breath on the bare skin of his back. Her presence made every nerve tingle. She put her other hand on his other shoulder. Her fingers were cool on his suddenly overheated skin. She pulled at him gently, urging him with soft pressure to turn to face her. “Del?” The sound of his name made him lose what small level of control he’d managed to save, and he turned to face her. Then she was in his arms, her mouth on his, and he was lifting her. Her legs went around his waist. He felt the heat of her center on his stomach through her thin jumpsuit. His hands cupped her firm ass and pulled her even closer. The kiss deepened as she rocked against him. She made a low noise of passion in her throat. The sound of it made his cock grow harder. Linna wrapped her arms around his neck. Her tongue slipped into his mouth. Her mouth left his and found his cheek, his jaw, the curve of his throat. She nipped, nibbled and licked until he thought he would come from that pleasure alone. His arms trembled, not from her weight, which was like nothing to him, but because of the intensity of his arousal. He walked with her to the futon and settled her on it, careful not to crush her with his weight. “It’s okay,” she whispered, urging him to lay on top of her with gentle pressure on his hips. “I’m strong.” He had never felt a woman’s body beneath him. He’d never let himself get this far before. She was soft where he was hard, curvy 35

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where he was rigid, smooth where he was rough. He buried his face in the curve of her shoulder and let the silk of her silver hair rub on his face, over his eyes and nose. Her arms stroked his back and held him close to her. Her hips lifted beneath him as her legs parted to press her quim to his cock’s thickness. She rubbed herself on him as she kissed and licked his throat. Her breath and the beat of her heart were was as rapid as his. He kissed her. She opened beneath him, open to his tongue and lips, to the nip of his teeth and the exploration of his hands. He cupped her breasts, her nipples like pebbles beneath his palms. She arched under his touch and reached up to pull open the front of her jumpsuit. She was bare beneath it. She put a hand to his cheek, brought his mouth to her nipple and gasped when he sucked gently. Linna wiggled out of her jumpsuit and lay naked beneath him. This was Linna. Linna who could set him on fire with her smile, the Linna who had brought him a cold drink on a hot day, just because she knew he needed one. This was Linna kissing him, Linna stroking him through his pants and tugging at the belt buckle. She loosed him from his pants and took him in her hand, and he nearly spent himself right there. He shuddered as her fingers danced along his shaft, then slid lower to cup his balls for one delicious moment until she returned to stroking him. She slid up, palmed the head of his erection and squeezed it gently. He pulsed in her hand and his hips rocked of their own will. He had raised himself on one arm to allow her that exploration. Now she took his other hand and put it between her legs to her slick heat. She circled his fingers on her clit, already erect. She shuddered the same as he did when he stroked her there. She tilted her hips to urge him to slide a finger inside her. Ah, she was so hot, so wet, so tight…He imagined sliding his cock inside her and groaned aloud. 36

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She murmured his name. He pushed his finger deeper inside her, then slid up again and returned to her clit. He hadn’t known a woman could be so hot down there, so wet, or that the center of her pleasure could grow so large. He stroked her, imagining what she would like based on what he knew would please him. She responded with a low cry and a roll of her hips. He took her clit between his thumb and forefinger and stroked her gently once, then twice, before sliding two fingers inside her again. The heel of his hand pushed against her clit while his fingers slid in and out, faster, just like wanted to fill her with his cock. His own breath came in shuddering gasps. Linna moved under him. Her hand clutched at him and drew him down to her mouth again. Her heat surrounded him. Her clit spasmed against his hand as her opening bore down on his fingers. “Del!” She cried his name this time instead of whispering it. Her pelvis rocked against him. She shuddered and went still. He felt delirious with arousal. His orgasm filled his cock, his balls, from his toes to his head, and only sheer strength of will kept him from spilling loose. “Make love to me,” Linna whispered. Her words forced their way into his subconscious. They brought him back to reality. He found the strength to move away from her. “Del?” Without a word, he went to the sink and ran cold water, then splashed his face and chest until he cooled down. He gripped the sink so hard his fingers hurt, but little by little, he regained control of his body. His balls ached, as did his penis, but he calmed his breathing and the pace of his heart. “Del, what’s wrong?” “I can’t make love to you.” He heard the rustle of her putting her jumpsuit back on. She got off the futon and came into the kitchen, though she kept her distance. 37

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“Is it because of what I told you?” The tremor in her voice made him clench his fists. “No, Linna.” “Then what?” He turned to face her. The lantern light shone around her like a halo and obscured her face. He found it easier to tell her that way, facing a shape outlined by light, rather than looking into her eyes. “I’m from Xanderra,” he said. “What you Earthers call Diesela.” “I know that, Del.” He took a deep breath and concentrated on further regulating his body’s response to her. “Do you know anything about my planet?” She shook her head. Strands of her silver hair became outlined with light. “Not much.” She gave a soft laugh. “I know you’re built the same as Earth men.” The thought of her hand on him made him surge again and he forced himself to calm. “Xanderrans are descendents of Earthen colonists. Our physiology is the same as yours, except for the differences in our evolution. We’re stronger, in general. Quicker to war, though I’d bet you guys have us pretty close to beat on that, but from culture not genetics. We have the same average lifespan. The same diseases and immunities. Our people can even procreate together.” “But?” She still spoke softly and he sensed her unease. She thought he didn’t want to be with her. “Culturally, our society is…not the same.” “I wouldn’t expect it to be, Del.” He took a deep breath. “Linna, we mate for life.” She seemed stunned by his answer. “You mean you don’t have dissolution or divorce?” “We don’t have marriage. Not the way you do. We don’t need it.” “I’m not asking you to marry me.” He could tell she’d tried to make her voice light, but it still held a tinge of hurt. “We don’t marry because a ceremony means nothing, words mean 38

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nothing, once a Xanderran man and woman have sex. We mate for life.” “I don’t understand.” “It means that if I made love to you, Linna, I’d be bound to you forever.”

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CHAPTER 3

Linna swallowed, then shook her head. “Wow.” Del shrugged and she realized her response had been less than accepting. She took a deep breath to compensate for the lightheadedness she still felt. He’d made her body sing, sent her into a climax so strong she thought she might faint from the pleasure of it, and he’d taken none of that for himself. She was having a little trouble focusing. She tried again. “I’m not sure what to say.” His smile was less bright than usual, but still knee-weakening. “I don’t expect you to.” “No, Del, I mean…is it a religious thing? A cultural thing?” “It’s a latent virus,” he told her flatly. “What you Earthers used to call an STD. It’s triggered by semen and vaginal fluid, and when it’s activated, it causes an almost immediate chemical change in the part of the brain that controls arousal and euphoria. Xanderrans make love, share fluids, and bam—they’re bound. We call it behsherit. It means 40

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you’ve found your soul mate.” Linna sat in stunned silence for a moment. She’d never heard Del speak so expansively. “Soul mate doesn’t sound too bad.” Del’s lip curled. “It has nothing to do with your emotions. It’s completely tied to a disease. Sex is as much mental as it is physical and the virus completely fucks up the mental part.” “Even so…” she faltered, uncertain what, exactly, she meant to say. “If you made love to me, you’d only be able to make love to me for the rest of our lives?” Del swiped a tongue across his lips. “Yes.” “And I –” “You’re not Xanderran,” he interrupted. “It wouldn’t affect you. You could fuck me once and go on your merry way. I’d never be able to have sex with anyone else again.” Linna sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. “But I don’t have the virus.” He scraped at his head with his palm and looked discomfited. “You don’t have to have it. I have it. It’s part of the Xanderran genetic makeup. It lies dormant until it’s triggered. Come triggers it. I come inside you and your fluid activates my virus. It would be same for you if you had the bug.” She’d never heard of such a thing before, but then, Linna wasn’t a tech. The universe was filled with weird diseases not found in her small world. She thought of something else. “What about partners who have sex and then decide they can’t stand each other?” “They either live the rest of their lives celibate, or…” Del shrugged again. “There are a lot of accidental deaths on Xanderra.” She winced again. “Murder?” He shot her an expression she couldn’t identify. “We’re a society that prides itself on strength and scars, Linna. Survival of the fittest.” “Kill or be killed?” She shuddered, looking at his tattooed arms and back in a different light. The faint scars on his body had never bothered 41

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her before. In fact, in a world of perfection, the reality of his skin and the uses he’d put it to had always stood out to her as very refreshing. “But killing your partner just because you made a bad mistake…” She thought of her ill-fated marriage, then nodded, a little more accepting. The night Dan had sent her down the stairs, she’d have killed him if she’d been able. To protect herself. Kill or be killed suddenly didn’t sound so bad. “Most couples don’t,” he said suddenly. “We’re not monsters, Linna.” She looked him up and down. “No, Del. I would never say that.” He hissed out a breath. “I left Xanderra because I didn’t want to be bound to anyone. I figured I’d have a better chance here on Earth. Better chance to resist temptation.” He gave a pointed glance at the futon where he’d almost lost control. “And I have…until you.” She couldn’t be sure if he were complimenting her or insulting her. Linna cleared her throat. “So you’ve never made love to a woman before?” His brows knitted. “Hell, no.” The thought warmed her unexpectedly. “I wouldn’t have known.” He watched her for a moment before smiling slightly. “You don’t need to know how to drive a hovertaxi to know what it feels like to ride in one.” She still wanted him. Maybe more than before when her body’s reactions had been overwhelming her. She looked over his muscled body and stared into the dark eyes that had given her so many warm glances. “How do you stand it? Being around it all the time, but never doing it?” He laughed and made a slow motion with his hand. “Got to be my own best friend, hey?” The thought made her stomach twist and turn at what that sight 42

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must be like. “And that’s okay? You can do that?” He nodded and ducked his head, actually looking a little embarrassed. “I guess I’d explode if I couldn’t.” Linna thought of how he’d asked for a kiss the day before. “But you kissed me.” “Self-torture. Kissing isn’t fucking.” She grinned. “And you kissed me again, here. And you touched me, too.” Del spread his hands and shrugged. “Hell, Linna. I am a man.” He put a hand to his crotch, which had begun to bulge again satisfactorily while they spoke. “The virus doesn’t spread through saliva?” she questioned. “We’re not bonded now.” “I’m the only one who’d be bonded, not you,” he corrected. “The virus isn’t carried in saliva. If I kiss you, it’s swapping spit. Not a problem. If I come in your mouth or go down on you…listen, Linna, believe me. Xanderrans have thought of every possible option. They just don’t work.” “I’m sorry.” She thought. “No, I’m not. If you want to know the truth, Del, I’m not sorry. I’ve fucked hundreds, maybe thousands of clients over the past few years, but I’d forgotten what it was like to want someone. Since I met you, I’ve started to remember. I’m not sorry about what we just did, but I am sorry you couldn’t enjoy it, too.” He gave a small, nearly imperceptible shudder and his breath caught. “Ah, harah. Don’t.” She didn’t mean to torture him, but emotions she usually had to keep firmly in check were burbling to the surface and she couldn’t push them down. She didn’t want to. “Del, I don’t have many friends.” She laughed ruefully. “Actually, I don’t have any friends. But I can’t count how many times you’ve come through for me—with a ride or with a smile when I’ve had an awful day. With a conversation that didn’t center on yourself. You always 43

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took the time to talk to me like you knew I was real person, not just a Kompanion.” “That’s because I knew you are a real person.” Her throat got tight and tears sparked her eyes. “But you never told anyone.” “I didn’t want to get you into trouble.” “You were being my friend,” she said and meant it. “If you hadn’t opened the door for me tonight, I have no doubts I’d be dead. Adar and the Council are crazy serious about what’s going on out there. They were using bullets, not stunners. I’d be dead.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t not open the door, especially when I knew it was you.” “See what I mean?” she said softly. “We’re friends, Del.” He took a deep breath and straightened his broad shoulders. “I can be your friend, Linna.” She stood, well aware of the way her breasts lifted. His eyes flickered there for a moment before he pulled his gaze back to her face. She took a step toward him. Del took a step back. It would have been funny, a giant of a man backing away from a much smaller woman like her, if she hadn’t known the reason for his reluctance. She put her hands to her breasts, the nipples still taut with arousal. His mouth thinned. In the bluish light from the battery lantern, his dark eyes glimmered. “Let me be your friend, Del.” He shook his head and took another step back. She could see his erection bulging through the fabric of his trousers and the sight gave her a small shudder. His cock must be huge, if it matched the rest of him. She slipped her hand inside her jumpsuit between her legs, still hot and wet from before. Her clit tingled under her fingers, but she didn’t rub herself. Not yet. “Linna—” 44

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“I don’t expect you to make love to me.” Her smile felt a little sad. She brightened it by force. “I know you don’t want to be bound to me. I wouldn’t ask that of you. But you can bring yourself pleasure and I can watch you do that, can’t I? I’ve been living as a Kompanion for the past three years. Believe me, I’ve seen it all.” His voice was hoarse. “You don’t have to.” She looked at the bed, the rumpled covers. “You made me come, right over there. I haven’t had an orgasm with a man in a very long time. I would gladly fuck you any way you wanted it just for that reason alone.” He made a low, strangled noise in the back of his throat. Sweat shone on his forehead and upper lip, and Linna was pretty sure it wasn’t just because with the power out, the apartment had quickly grown stifling. “It’s not a pity fuck either,” she continued, sensing his pride wouldn’t allow such an offer. “When you kissed me yesterday, I finally had to admit to myself something I’d been pretending not to feel.” “What’s that?” His raspy voice sent a thrill through her, straight to her clit. “I’ve wanted you for a long time.” He ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and blew out a gust of air from his full lips. “Damn.” “Is that a good damn or a bad damn?” He put both hands behind his head, fingers linked, elbows in the air, and held that pose for a moment before dropping his arms to his sides. Linna couldn’t help admiring the way the muscles bulged and worked in his arms and chest when he moved. He had a great body, perfect in its pure naturalness. Unenhanced. She was relieved when he smiled, the full force of the grin enough to again weaken her knees and send a burst of sensation straight between her legs. “Good.” Del’s gaze swept over her, centering on her face before 45

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dipping lower to her breasts, then between her legs. Shyness overtook her, foolishly, since she had made far bolder propositions to strangers. Linna forced it down and forced herself to look into his eyes. This was Del, her friend. “I want to watch you touch yourself,” she told him. He answered with a groan. He licked his mouth again. Linna stepped up toward him and lifted herself onto her toes to touch her lips to his. Del groaned again. He didn’t put his arms around her and she didn’t push him to. She just kissed him. She let her tongue feather along his mouth before she dipped it inside to taste his deliciousness. Linna put her hand on his chest and felt his heart beating hard. Like her own. His nipple pebbled beneath her palm and she caressed the taut flesh, then trailed her fingers down the ridge of his belly muscles. The line of crisp, curling hair trailing down into the waistband of his trousers tickled the back of her hand. “Linna—” His voice was harsh with need. It took every ounce of self-discipline she had to step away from him when all she wanted to do was jump up on him and slide her hot, slick emptiness onto the erection she spied between his legs. “I can see how badly you need this,” she told him, her own voice shaking with torturous pleasure. “I want you to touch yourself, Del.” His hands hesitated for a moment on the buckle of his pants, but it was undone in a flash. He hooked his thumbs into the sides of his waistband, just over the place where his hips jutted out, and slid the pants down over his butt and legs to the floor. She moaned when she saw what he had been hiding. His cock was thick and perfect, rising nearly to his naval. It didn’t look any different than any others she’d seen, other than it was perfectly lovely, without the bulge of imperfect lengthening operations or other cosmetic enhancements. His testicles hung beneath, covered in more of the curling dark hair. 46

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His fist gripped his penis and engulfed it. Del stood, legs slightly spread, head tilted back. In the light from the battery lantern, every ripple and muscle was outlined with lines of black. Shadows dipped and swirled around him, but thankfully didn’t detract from the sight. “I want to watch you stroke yourself,” she said in a low voice. “I want to see what you like. I want to watch you get off.” He licked his lips as he pumped his cock slowly, palming the head every few strokes. His hips lifted into each downward stroke, and Linna had to stop herself from reaching out to touch one of his strong thighs. Sweat gleamed on his bare chest. She wanted to lick it. She wanted to suck his neck, his nipples, drop to her knees and take him into her mouth. Instead, she sat on the bed, legs spread, and toyed with her buzzing clit. “I love to watch you, Del.” His eyes flew open and found hers. His gaze riveted to her fingers, gently tweaking her clit and sliding in her slick folds. He pumped his dick faster. Linna matched his pace with her own and was on the edge in moments. “How does it feel?” she asked him. Speaking had become difficult. The words came out in small gasps. But she had to know. “Good. Great.” He took a few steps closer to her. “You look so hot that way, Linna.” His compliment sent a surge of desire through her. “Like this?” She slid a finger inside herself and drew it out slowly while she pressed the heel of her hand to her erect clitoris. “It’s no substitute for what you’ve got in your hand.” He closed his eyes for a moment, as though struggling. “If things were different….” “Shhh.” She didn’t want to dwell on why they couldn’t be together. “Tell me what you’re feeling.” “I’m feeling hot.” He laughed, his hand moving more slowly up and down his length. He looked around the room. “Damn, it’s hot in here.” 47

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Linna giggled, the movement of her laughter making her fingers send a jolt of pleasure deep inside her. The bigger turn-on was the laughter itself. It had been a long time since she’d laughed, and even longer since she’d had a man to laugh with her. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and the power will cycle back on.” He snorted. “Not in this res-dist.” “Come over here and sit down,” she urged. “I don’t want you fainting on me. You’re way too big for me to pick up.” He hesitated and she moved over on the futon. “I promise I won’t touch you, Del.” He made a face. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?” She patted the mattress. “Come on.” He lay down beside her, his head pillowed on one arm. She got up and slid to her knees on the floor, and when he made a muffled protest, she hushed him again as she tugged his pants the rest of the way off. Now he was as naked as she was, completely bare to her. God-ofChoice, he had sexy feet. Long, slim toes, strong-boned ankles, and calves edged with muscle and covered in more dark hair. Her mouth went dry just looking at him. She put her hands on his ankles, and he jumped. She rubbed his shins and curled her fingers around his calves. “Is it triggered if I lick your skin?” “Ah, no.” He sighed. She looked up to see his hand still moving on his penis. Faster now, as though her words had spurred him on. She bent forward and slid her tongue up the side of his leg. He moaned. Linna nuzzled his calf, then nipped it with her teeth. She slid a hand down between her legs to tease her clit, already erect with arousal despite the two orgasms she had so recently. She worked her way up his leg to the powerfully muscled thigh. He was still stroking his penis firmly. She reached up to run a finger down 48

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the seam of his sac. “Linna!” His hoarse gasp made her smile. She didn’t reply, just stroked him again. She wanted to put her mouth there, to lick and taste him, but she contented herself with the safety of using her finger. She got up on the bed beside him, her hand still on his balls, and watched him pleasure himself. His cock had grown immense. Her vagina ached at its emptiness and she tried to satisfy it with her fingers. Her clit throbbed. “What are you thinking about?” she asked unexpectedly even to herself. “You,” came his reply. The strong fingers stroked down, then up. “Fucking you. Making you come again. I wonder how you’d taste.” At his words, the first slow roll of orgasm rippled through her. She shuddered. “I wonder the same thing about you.” His hand hesitated, and then moved again. She put her hand on his to judge his pace, the rhythm he liked. Their hands moved together. He lifted his to allow her to put hers directly on his skin, and then his fingers closed down over top again. He guided her, showing her what he liked without having to tell her. Linna put her cheek to his shoulder to watch their joined hands stroke him to completion. Her clit swelled and throbbed as she soared over the edge into ecstasy. “I’m coming,” she managed to say. “Now. Come with me, Del.” His hips lifted. Beneath her fingers, his cock spasmed. He gave a low, guttural cry, then moaned her name. His hand clamped down on hers and stopped stroking. His entire body tensed and jerked, then went still. The smell of him hung in the air between them. The musky scent of sex made her tremble in a brief aftershock of climax and made her sigh. After a moment, he pushed himself to a sitting position and reached for the drawer in the nightstand. He pulled out a washcloth and wiped 49

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his belly and chest, then tossed the cloth into a basket in the corner of the room. He didn’t look at her. Linna sat up too, unsure of what to think. “Del?” He rubbed at his face. “The bathroom’s through there, if you want to use it.” She put a hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t soften beneath her touch. She withdrew. “Thanks.” I’m not going to ask him what’s wrong, she thought stubbornly. She got up from the futon and went into the small bathroom he’d indicated. The fixtures were old and in poor repair, but there was a shower. She turned the faucet, but no matter what temperature she dialed, only cold artiwater came out. Power cycling again. It didn’t matter. Her internal temperature gauge could regulate her so she wouldn’t get cold. It was more important to feel clean. The shower served another important purpose for her now, too. The sound of the water would mean Del wouldn’t hear her crying. *

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*

She hadn’t said more than a couple words to him in the past few hours, but Del couldn’t blame her. She was used to being with real men, not some Offworld freak who couldn’t make love to her the right way. The slow, even pace of her breathing told him she slept. When the power hadn’t come back on, there had been little else to do. To conserve the battery’s power, he’d turned it off. In the dark, lying beside her was only slightly easier. The futon really wasn’t big enough for two. Not when one of them was a woman he couldn’t touch. He lay beside her, eyes open wide to the darkness, muscles stiff with tension. He’d jacked off thousands of times in his life. Xanderrans learned very early on about the necessity of self-gratification. He’d never had a woman’s hand on his dick while he did it. Even though everyone knew 50

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the technical ways around the virus, most people didn’t take advantage of them. There were too many who ended up behsherit sinah. Bonded but hating each other. He’d come so hard he’d thought his head was going to explode, and when it was over, what had he done? The wrong thing. He’d wanted to thank her, but didn’t want her to think he was using her like her clients did. He wanted to tell her how good her hand had felt on him, but he wasn’t a teener kid, even if it was his first hand job. Mostly, Del wanted to tell Linna how glad he was she’d found her way to his flat, how glad he was she’d found her way into his life, but the word love didn’t seem to want to come out of his mouth. Not without choking him first. He had no right to talk about love. Not to her. He had nothing to give her. No credits, no decent place to live, no future. He couldn’t even give her his body because doing that would mean a commitment he wasn’t sure he could make. He’d left his homeworld because the thought of being bound to one person for the rest of his life had left him in a cold sweat. The woman his parents had chosen for him—sweet, pliant Nia—would have driven him insane after more than a few years of her company. The perfect Xanderran woman. Quiet, compliant, sexually responsive…and boring. There wasn’t a thought in her head that hadn’t come from one of her girlfriends, her family, or from Del himself. His father had banned him from the house when he learned Del was refusing Nia. His mother had screamed and torn her clothes. He was a disappointment to them both. A disgrace to the Tennvic line. He’d never take his place as one of the Melekim Gadol. Most people mistakenly thought Xanderra still had a monarchy because the name of their ruling body translated as Great Kings. In reality, the government was a two-party democracy, one party being elected and the other inheriting the seats. Del had been born into the Melekim Gadol, but seven years ago, had decided he didn’t give a 51

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flying fuck about it. He didn’t want to take his father’s place if it meant shackling himself to Nia. His mother had pleaded with him to change his mind while his father only scowled. “Do you have another mate in mind?” his mother asked hopefully. “Perhaps Jeena or Tella?” They were just as bad as Nia. All lovely, all perfect. All boring. “You want to go rogue?” his father had spat when Del asked why he needed to choose someone at all. “You want to spend the rest of your life fucking your own fist instead of choosing a partner? You’ll never get be accepted as a melek that way.” “I don’t want to be,” Del had replied evenly. “Then what do you want?” He hadn’t had an answer then and he didn’t have one now. He knew what he didn’t want. He didn’t want to drive a hovertaxi in Newcity any longer. He needed, wanted, a woman who thought for herself. A woman with intelligence and beauty, as well as kindness and a sense of humor. Someone he could spend the rest of his life making love to, not resenting. Someone like Linna. But that was just stupid. A non-Xanderran woman might be flattered to learn her Xanderran lover could never be unfaithful to her, but when they realized that just because their man couldn’t physically fuck another woman didn’t mean their man wouldn’t want to, the relationships usually turned sour. Non-Xanderran women didn’t understand the complexity of being behsherit. Monogamy was sexy only when it sprang from desire, not lack of choice. Linna sighed beside him and turned. Her buttocks brushed his leg and Del’s body tensed. Even the most casual of touches made him hard for her. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to feel her body arch beneath him when she came. 52

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He settled for the torture of feeling her warm flesh next to his. The flat was still too hot for clothes, even if he’d have preferred that small barrier between them. Then again, he supposed his reaction had made a high enough wall. She’d offered to be his friend, but he hadn’t even treated her that well. Harah, he thought. It’s the sex. For Newcitizens, fucking was as simple as breathing. It wasn’t supposed to be so complicated. But for him, it was. He couldn’t do it the way they could. The way she could. “Attention all residents of Caldyx Heights, units A-1 through ZZ250. Prepare documentation for citizen census verification.” System’s smooth voice cut through the blackness. Linna came awake with a start beside him. “What did it say?” “Get ready for the census.” Del got up and turned on the battery lantern again. The light was weaker and he fiddled with the knobs until it shone a bit brighter before dimming again. The battery was dying. “You mean a physical census?” Linna asked. Her silver hair tumbled over her shoulders in a riot of sex-tangled curls he wanted to dig his fingers into. She stretched, and his eyes riveted to the way her full breasts lifted. He could remember all too well the feeling of their soft weight, the taste of her nipples.… “Del?” He shook himself mentally. “It didn’t say.” “Query,” Linna addressed System. “Census procedures?” “SecOps and R.I.Ops have been dispatched to attend each unit in this domicile. All residents must have proper identification, licensing or verification of residency permit.” Linna gave Del a worried glance. “Query. Physical inspection required?” “Affirmative. Physical inspections include, but are not restricted to, visual verification, cellular verification and serial number scanning.” “In other words,” Del said, “if your face matches your picture, they 53

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can still check your blood or the numbers tattooed on your circuit panel.” “I don’t have a circuit panel,” Linna replied. She bent and got her discarded jumpsuit. As she slipped it on, she addressed System again. “Query. Estimated time of arrival to this unit?” “Unit MH-33 will be entered in approximately one hour, thirty-five minutes. Power cycling remains in effect. Emergency lock-down remains in effect.” “We can’t go anywhere until they get here.” Del nodded as he put on his pants. “Yeah.” “And when they get here.…” She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “I’m a goner.” “Query,” Del said. “What are they trying to prove?” “Query not recognized.” Del cursed. He’d never gotten the hang of the stilted Newcity speak System responded to. “What…damn.” “Command not recognized.” “Let me try. Query. Expected outcome of census procedures?” “Discovery and arrest of non-registered mechos, rogue Pleasurebots and Offworld citizens with expired visas.” “That would be me.” Linna’s gaze held his. “You’re okay, right?” Del shook his head, thinking of the way Adar and the Ruling Council were likely to think. “Query. Penalty for harboring unregistered mecho?” “Further information required to process your request.” Even System followed the Newcity motto of “to thine own business attend.” If you asked the right questions in the right order, you might find out what you wanted. If not, you were shit out of luck. “What do you need to know?” he asked. “Status of offender.” “Offworld.” “Offworld citizen harboring an unregistered mecho penalty is 54

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immediate revocation of resident visa.” “Penalty for Offworld citizen with invalid visa?” Linna questioned. “Arrest and trial.” She was much better at working System than he was. “Probability of guilty ruling?” “Probability of Offworld citizen with invalid visa being found guilty, 98.99 percent.” “Sentence for that crime?” “Termination.” “Shitdamnpissfucktits.” The current trendy curse rolled off Linna’s tongue in a way that made Del smile despite the circumstances. “I’ve got to get out of here.” “Where are you going to go?” He reached out to snag her arm as she passed. “The doors to the outside are locked. The building is crawling with Ops. You’ll never make it.” “I can’t stay here and let them catch me!” she cried. “It’s bad enough what they’ll do to me, but I won’t let my mistake hurt you, Del! If they find me here with you, they’ll revoke your visa. You’ll be arrested, tried and terminated! I won’t have it! I won’t!” She flailed at him, but he caught her arm easily. She yanked it from his grip and flailed again with the force of her enhanced muscles behind it and knocked him back a couple steps. Instantly, she stopped. “Oh, Del, I’m sorry.” “S’okay.” He waited to see if she was going to punch him again. When he saw she wasn’t, he came closer. Took her hand. Pulled her toward him until her cheek rested on his bare chest. “It’ll be all right.” She let him hold her; something he was grateful for and hated at the same time. She clutched him almost desperately. Her shoulders heaved as she tried not to cry. “I shouldn’t have come here,” she whispered. “Shut it. If you hadn’t made it here, you’d have been dead already.” Her laugh was forlorn. “Now we’re both going to be dead. Adar 55

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isn’t kidding around about this social cleansing business.” His arms tightened around her. “He’s a bastard and a liar. His son didn’t get kidnapped by any rogue mecho. I saw his son with my own eyes and he loves the R.I.Op. They ran for it and got to Oldcity through a zip in the Dome. They escaped. We can, too.” She tilted her face to look at him. “What are you talking about?” Quickly, Del ran through the story of how he’d helped Adar’s son, his mecho lover, the other R.I.Op and the Keanican escape. When he was done, Linna looked stunned. “The Adar’s story was that Caldyx nearly died in that accident, but survived with injuries so severe he was crippled for life. They used that story over and over to prove that becoming mecho doesn’t need to be an option. They said the Recreational Intercourse Op who kidnapped him did it for the ransom and when she didn’t get it, she killed him before they terminated her.” “It’s a bunch of shit,” Del said. “I got them to the zip myself. Caldyx Adar was mecho, too, no matter what his father said.” She stepped out of his grasp. “They got out through a zip in the Dome? They went to Oldcity?” He nodded, missing the feel of her in his arms, but knowing it was better if she wasn’t in them. He only had so much self-control, and it had already been sorely tested. “But they weren’t locked in a flat with Ops coming after them in a Code Red situation.” He shook his head again. “Nope. They weren’t. But we can still get out. Get away. If we get to Oldcity somehow and hire a berth on one of the outgoing spacers….” Linna crossed her arms over her chest and fixed him with a steady glare. “And do you have a plan on how we’re supposed to accomplish this?” “Hell, no.” She laughed out loud. “But you mean to try.” 56

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He fixed his eyes on hers, serious. “Yeah. I mean to try.” “Why, Del?” Linna asked softly. “You could put me out in the hall right now and let them find me. They wouldn’t know you’d helped me. You’d be okay.” “No, Linna.” “You’d be okay,” she insisted. “For now, until the Council sets up some new rules designed to get us out of Newcity for good.” “But you’d have more time! You could find a way to get out—” “Linna.” He stopped her mid-sentence. “If I betrayed you, do you really think I’d be okay? Do you think I could live with myself?” She took a deep breath. He could read the query in her eyes, but like System, he was only prepared to answer the questions she asked, not the ones she didn’t. Linna nodded slowly, but didn’t press him. “We’re friends.” “Right.” He grinned. “Friends.” “Okay, then. What’s the plan?” He looked toward the door to the flat. “We run for it.”

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CHAPTER 4

Linna looked around the rooftop. “How’d you know about this?” Del shot her a grin. “I’ve done some maintenance on this building for extra credits toward my rent. Places like this are all falling down and need a lot of upkeep. Who better to do it than an Offworlder? Pay ’em less, and it doesn’t matter if they fall off and kill themselves.” Linna shivered as she looked over the edge to the street below. “You’d think it was an army down there.” Del snorted. “It is an army. Adar’s army. Whoever said Newcity is in peacetime never watched a SecOp take someone down.” “When not much is illegal,” Linna said, “there’s not much reason for people to buck the system.” “As long as we’re all marching in tune to Adar’s drum anyway.” Del tugged her back from the edge. “Careful. The wall’s crumbling there.” His concern warmed her heart, but she tried not to read too much into it. She looked around again. “Now we’re up here, where do you 58

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expect us to go?” He pointed to the building across the way. A large gap separated the buildings. Linna moved closer. “You want us to jump?” “That complex is probably being searched, too. Lots of non-res tenants in there. But the building next to it is an office complex. They’re probably not bothering with that one right away, not when they can get most of us in our holes.” “Del, that building is eight stories higher than the one next to it.” Linna craned her neck to peer up. “Do you expect us to fly?” His chuckle sent a spear of heat rippling through her. “Not exactly. Do you trust me?” His question caught her off guard and she replied without thinking. “With everything I have.” His mouth parted and his tongue swiped along his bottom lip before he replied. Her comment hung between them in the thick Newcity air. She couldn’t snatch it back, and she didn’t want to. Linna lifted her chin and stared into Del’s dark eyes, waiting for him to speak. When he did, she was disappointed, but not surprised he blew off her words. “Mind telling me what, exactly, you’ve got inside you?” His innocent question made heat surge through her again. “Not what I’d like to, that’s for sure.” She cursed her flippant tongue, which always got her into so much trouble. Del turned, seemingly unable to answer. Linna pretended she hadn’t put her foot straight into her mouth. “I don’t have automatic caloric regulation for one thing.” She tried to sound light. “I can still gain weight if I’m not careful.” He slanted a gaze toward her. “Uh-huh.” “I don’t have auto-antibodies either. Viruses and bacterial invasion can still lay me low.” He nodded and the awkward moment passed. “On Xanderra, operations like the ones you had aren’t available.” 59

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“Illegal?” “No. Just not available. We don’t have the tech knowledge. You get too sick to be healed, you die. You get hurt bad enough, you die.” She reached out to touch the faint line of scar on his broad shoulder. “That seems strange considering how much you guys like to fight.” “No honor in being fixed up with more than what your body has on its own.” Del shrugged. “It’s more honorable to die.” She tried not to be offended. “I told you before. I’m happy to be alive, even if they did have to fill me with nuts and bolts to keep me that way.” “I didn’t mean—” He shrugged and shut up. “Things are different here. Some better. Some worse. That’s all.” The sound of gunfire from the street below jerked her head around. “We’d better move.” “The reason I asked is because I know you’re fast.” He touched his cheek where, to her dismay, a bruise had purpled from her fist. “I know you’re strong. But do you have stamina?” “With the right fuel I do.” She patted her jumpsuit pocket containing five protein bars she’d discovered tucked away in the back of his cupboard. “This will keep me going for a while. But what about you? You don’t have any enhancements.” “I’ll be fine.” He eyed the distance between the buildings. “We can leap that, no problem. Let’s go.” Linna nodded and took a deep breath. It was one thing to know her body was capable of an exertion like that. Quite another to actually attempt it. “I won’t let you fall,” Del said as though he’d read her mind. “You never have,” Linna answered, well-aware of the context of her reply and not caring. She squeezed his hand and he let her. “Let’s go.” He went first, his large body tense with expectation before he put on a burst of speed and launched himself into the air. He came down on 60

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the roof of the other building, his knees buckling while he rolled himself into a ball and came up on his feet. He beckoned her. Linna took a few steps back. She wet her lips. Took a breath. Tried not to remember how high they were, and how hard the pavement would be when she fell. A memory stabbed her; the stairs in front of her, Daniel’s hands behind, pushing. Falling. Hitting the ground and the pain that filled her before she lost consciousness. “I won’t let you fall,” Del’s voice repeated in her head. She believed his intent, but couldn’t quite convince her body of its merit. Too many residual memories. Her organs and systems had mostly been replaced, but not her mind. He gestured again. Linna rubbed her hands together. Just do it, she thought. Just go. Her feet locked and refused to obey. The world swam in front of her. She swallowed against a sudden rise of nausea. Which are you more afraid of? she demanded silently. Falling to the street or falling into Howard Adar’s hands? One way or the other, you’re dead, sweetheart. Del had moved close to the edge of the roof, both hands outstretched. He didn’t call for her because they didn’t want to attract attention to themselves. He just held up his hands and waited for her to trust him enough to leap. A clatter from the doorway behind her made her stiffen. She tensed, waiting for the door to fly open and the SecOps to swarm out. They’d have stunners as well as guns, and she could imagine all too well the pain that would fill her if they shot her…. Linna ran. She jumped. She flew. Her feet peddled the air and her arms churned. Her eyes never left Del’s face as she grabbed for his hands. She hit him full force and knocked him to the rough surface of the roof. He winced and oofed as her weight landed on him. Yet he didn’t 61

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let her fall. “Good job,” he said after a moment, barely wheezing. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it would beat right out of her chest. “Nice catch.” His eyes went wary and he put a finger to her lips. “I think they’re out over there.” She heard voices and the clang of metal as the door on the other roof flew open. The Ops’ metallic voices rang through the air. Linna froze in Del’s arms. Could they see them? If they went to the edge of the wall, could they look across and see? Her heart pounded and she concentrated on slowing it. “The wall.” Del’s mouth shaped the words he didn’t voice. His eyes flickered over her shoulder, and Linna blinked in acknowledgement. The wall on this roof was higher around the edges. They were lying down. They might not be seen, especially if the Ops had no reason to look very hard. Her internal clock told her only moments passed, but it felt like hours as they waited to be discovered. Linna put her head down, tucked into the space between his neck and shoulder. Belly to belly, thigh to thigh. This was a position she’d relish under different circumstances, and Linna discovered something. She’d always mocked the viddy stories that showed romance blossoming between a hero and heroine thrown into extreme or dangerous situations. Now she understood it. The knowledge they not only could be caught at any moment, but that being caught would surely mean their deaths, only made her more aware of the way Del smelled. Of how his broad chest felt beneath hers and of how every limb aligned perfectly with hers. All she could think of was his mouth, his lips and tongue, of kissing him. If they were going to die, she wanted it to be with the memory of his taste on her tongue, not of regret. 62

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Linna kissed him. He responded instantly. Their tongues met, stroked, moved away in a connection that had her head awhirl. His cock hardened between them and pressed into her belly. Her clit tingled and she rocked her hips against his thigh. It was stupid to do this when at any moment they could find a bullet in their heads, but Linna didn’t stop. The kiss went on and on. Del became her world. There was no sound, no scent, no sensation not directly tied to him. He didn’t even groan about her weight, which, though her body was slim and fit, was still deceptively excessive because of her artificial internal components. Metal and plastic weighed more than flesh, her clients had often complained, but Del held her like she was made of air. When they stopped for a breath, he put a finger to her lips to hush her again. “Listen.” She’d been so attuned to him she hadn’t noticed the silence. “They’re gone?” “From there. But they’ll be checking this roof next, I’m pretty damn sure. We’ve got to move.” But he didn’t move. His penis remained stiff against the softness of her belly. Linna brushed her lips against his, but didn’t deepen the kiss. “Thanks for catching me.” “My pleasure.” She got to her feet, feeling suddenly giddy and silly. There was something deeper between them then friendship. She knew it. She saw it in his eyes and felt it in his kiss. They had no time to explore it now. Not with the SecOps on their trail. But later, she promised herself. Del got to his feet easily enough for having been knocked over and squashed by a woman who probably weighed as much as he did. He dusted himself off and looked at the next building. It was a lot closer, but higher. “I hope you can climb,” he said. “Me, too.” 63

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She knew their escape couldn’t be that easy. They might have kissed like people on the run always did in the viddy stories, but getting away without any trouble was entertainment, not real life. They’d just reached the doorway that led down to this building’s inside when the door clanged open. An armored SecOp burst through, stunner held high. Without hesitating, Del shot out an arm. It hit the Op in the throat and knocked him to the ground. Del dropped with his knee to the Op’s chest and kept him from getting up with one quick punch to the face. Seconds later, Del was on his feet again and grabbing her hand. “He won’t be alone. We have to get out of here.” She didn’t want to ask if he was dead. She didn’t want to know. She followed Del without a backward glance at the downed Op, and when they got to the wall of the higher building, she put her hands to the grooves made by the windowsill and hoisted herself up. She caught a glimpse of a startled face behind the plazglass, but she didn’t stop. The windows of this building were longer than normal, with the bottom of one just inches above the top of the next. The building itself was made from concrete carved to look like stone, and her feet and hands found plenty of places to hold onto. She’d have to remember to ask Del how he knew this building would be easy to climb. Later. Right now, all she could think about was hand, foot, hand, foot. Keep moving. Don’t look down. The next thing she knew, Del’s big hands had wrapped around her wrists, and he hauled her over the edge and up onto the roof. Linna had never been so high up before. She struggled for breath, more winded than she’d realized, and burrowed in her pocket for a protein bar. She needed the energy. “How do you do it?” she asked. “I’ve got help and I’m getting tired.” “You haven’t been eating right—” He shot her a grin. “—or sleeping right either.” 64

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She thought of how she’d dozed in his taxi and in his bed. “I haven’t slept like a normal person in a long time.” “Ah, what’s normal?” He rolled his head on his neck and stretched his shoulders before peering over the edge of the building. “The place over there is swarming with Ops. Won’t be long before they have ’em on every roof.” “Where do we go from here?” Linna looked around. This was the tallest building in this district. She could see some taller in the distance, but nothing close enough to jump or climb to. Del pointed up. “We go through.” Linna’s gaze followed his finger. “What?” “There’s a zip along here somewhere. I’ve seen stars.” “You’re not serious,” she said, but could see he was. “The Dome really is going to fall down, isn’t it?” “I think so. When that happens, even Adar and his butt monkeys had better get their sunscreen ready.” The Dome had been erected to prevent the sun’s harmful UV rays from beating down on Newcity. The electrical-chemical barrier, spread along a metal frame, had been the only part of the project which also included heating, cooling and ventilation systems, to work the way it was supposed to. There had been times in the early days when the Dome failed, and despite the many repairs, millions of dollars and constant reassurances from the Ruling Council, it was a well-known rumor that one day the whole system was going to crash. It seemed that day was closer than any of them had believed. “What about us?” Linna asked, certain Del would have an answer. He didn’t disappoint her. “We go through the zip. The Dome’s only eighteen inches thick. This close to the edge of the city, we’re right next to the Dome. We jump and hope we land on the roof of the Oldcity building on the other side.” “You’re awful,” she told him with a smile. She noticed an acrid tang to the air she didn’t recognize. Her eyes had begun to water. 65

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“Where do we go through?” He wiped at his eyes, which were also growing red. “Got to find the zip.” “I didn’t realize we were that close to the Dome.” He laughed. “Two weeks ago, I doubt we were.” She followed him to edge of the roof on the side far from the building they’d climbed from. Below, the street looked like a ribbon of gray and black with tiny figures moving back and forth. She could hear System’s soothing voice issuing the Code Red warning over and over. “You’ve done this before?” She tried hard not to sound nervous, but didn’t succeed. Del captured her gaze with his. “I’ve never gone through here myself, no. But I’ve helped some others come through from the other side.” “Oldcitizens?” She shook her head. “That was a stupid question. Of course, Oldcitizens.” “Actually, no.” He shrugged. “Offworlders who couldn’t get a visa.” “From Xanderra?” “No. Shaddran, I think. They were humanoid anyway. A family with a kid. They’d sent the kid through first. I heard him crying one day when I was doing some maintenance. I looked up and there was this kid, teetering on the edge of the building.” “You saved him?” She wasn’t surprised. Del didn’t boast, just told the story matter-of-factly. “I got up here as fast as I could, the way we just came, and got him. His parents had sent him through ahead, but they were having trouble. I helped them both through. Got them a place to stay. Jobs.” “You could’ve lost your visa for that.” “Couldn’t just let ’em risk their lives. They had a kid with them.” She marveled at his composure. “You’re no Newcitizen, that’s for sure. To thine own business attend means nothing to you.” 66

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He nodded. “That’s a damn stupid motto, if you ask me. In Xanderra, there’s no such thing as thine own business.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. “Let’s get through this zip.” “Can you see it?” She looked, but saw nothing but the hazy barrier of the Dome. Moving closer to the edge of the roof, her eyes burned and stung, and her nose did the same. “Yuck!” “It kinda sparkles.” Del pointed to a place in the air that seemed to ripple if she stared too long at it. “You need to hit it dead on, Linna. If you don’t….” She shuddered. “I know. My skin will peel off and my eyes liquefy and run down my face.” “So they say.” “Do you think it’s true?” “I don’t want to find out,” Del replied. “I do know you can get through this zip, though. Are you ready?” She nodded, readied her stance, and clenched her fists. “I think so. Yeah. Yes. I’m ready.” “You need to run and jump straight for the middle of it. You’ll fall through, but you need to get enough momentum to clear the downward edge. The building on the other side is the same height as this one. Can you land all right?” Linna took a deep breath and ran an internal diagnostic check. “I’m enhanced, Del, but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure about my landing gear.” He laughed as she’d meant him to. His teeth, straight and white, gleamed in the dim emergency lighting. “Want me to go first? You can land on me again.” “I’d like that, for more than one reason.” Flirting had become second nature to her, a necessary survival trait, but she didn’t have to force it this time. 67

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“I’ll go, then. You jump. I’ll catch you.” She shivered again, despite the hot, muggy air. “I trust you, Del. But.…” “It’s scary as hell.” “Yes.” He squeezed both her hands in his and drew her close. “I know.” He kissed her briefly, and when he pulled away, Linna forced herself not to search for signs of regret in his eyes. She took another deep breath, filling her lungs and creating a reserve of oxygen that would give her extra stamina. She let go of Del’s hands, rubbed hers together, worked the fingers and bent her arms and legs to limber them. “I’m ready.” “Straight for the center,” he reminded her. “I’ll be on the other side waiting.” From the street below the sirens cycled up. System’s voice kept calling Code Red, over and over. A new noise added to the cacophony, a low grinding sound Linna had never heard before. “Clear the streets,” she heard System commanding, which was stupid since the streets had been cleared already. “Emergency equipment is managing the situation.” “What the hell?” Del said. Above them, the Dome surface rippled. The building beneath their feet shook. The entire word filled with the sound of a rumbling, roaring hiss unlike any noise she’d ever heard. Linna looked over her shoulder, back across the building’s roof toward the center of Newcity. This high, they could see for miles. She blinked, knowing her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. The Dome appeared to be falling in. The haze above the city roiled and twisted, its normal gray color turning black. Sparks shot out of it and hit the buildings and streets. “Lightning!” Del cried. Linna had heard of it, but only seen it in viddy movies of Offworld 68

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cities that still had weather. In the next minute, a crash boomed throughout the city and made her stumble back into Del’s arms. Something fell out of the sky. Something large and glimmering with electricity. It crashed into the buildings beneath it, crushed them, breaking them into instant rubble. A column of fire shot upward, red and orange and surrounded by gouts of black smoke. Linna couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. She felt Del’s hands on her urging her back and her feet moved, but she couldn’t stop staring. The sirens from below grew louder. Something shot up from the ground, a cloud of white that covered and extinguished the fire and hovered along the Dome’s formerly invisible border. “They’re fixing it! C’mon, let’s go!” She had time to realize that he’d had to shout over the noise before he was pulling her again. He turned her body to face the still sparkling zip and readied himself. “I’ll go,” he shouted, face intense. “You come next. I’ll catch you!” She nodded, unable to speak. Her body had reacted on its own, her enhanced organs and systems responding to the surge of adrenalin and going into overdrive. Time seemed to slow. She watched Del put his head down, fists at his sides, and launch himself toward the zip. She watched him disappear. From behind her, she heard another crash, another hiss, but didn’t dare turn around to see what Armageddon looked like. Linna ran. She jumped. She flew. And then she went through. *

*

*

Del landed wrong on the crumbling rooftop, and agony speared his leg and ankle. He hit the concrete with a holler and rolled. Chips of concrete and glass ground into his skin, but he ignored them as best he could. He barely had time to lurch to his feet again, weight resting on his uninjured leg, before Linna hurtled through the zip. From this side of 69

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the Dome, all he could see was a wall of black. The zip looked like a shining silver line. Then she leaped through, arms pumping, her face locked in an expression of horrified determination. Her knees bent and she went down for a moment before gaining control and pushing up with her hands to stand. She took a stumbling step, but didn’t fall. “Sonofabitch!” she shouted, looking over her shoulder. “I made it!” “You made it,” Del said. Her face had lit up like a neon sign. She grinned and punched the air, then did a little dance. Incredibly, she did a back flip and landed on her feet, fists still punching upward. “Whoo! What a rush!” Del gritted his teeth against the pain in his ankle and admitted to himself he really needed to sit down. “I didn’t even need to catch you this time.” Linna turned to look at the Dome. The wall of black curved up and away from them toward its pinnacle, where an occasional wisp of white drifted upward into the night sky. Her head tilted back, following the repair chemical’s trail, and he knew the instant she saw them. The stars. A sight no Newcitizen ever witnessed unless they went Offworld. “God-of-choice,” she murmured. “They’re beautiful.” He saw tears slide down her cheeks, as silver as her hair in the bright moonlight. She was more beautiful than any star. He wanted to tell her that, but what came out instead was a groan. She focused on him. “Del? Are you all right?” He shook his head. For Xanderrans, there was no such thing as false bravado. When you were hurt, you said so. Pain made you stronger. “My ankle,” he told her. “I landed wrong.” “Let me see.” She knelt in front of him. He stared at the top of her head, and even his pain couldn’t keep him from imagining what she could do from that position. His groan this time wasn’t completely from pain. “You should sit down.” Linna looked around the roof. 70

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This building was in bad shape. Time and the elements had worn the concrete and metal and turned the rooftop into a hazard of pits and jutting spikes. He did need to sit, though, and so he did, wincing at the way the crumbles of concrete bit into his backside. Linna knelt next to him and pulled up his pants leg to get a better look at his ankle. “Your boots are in the way.” “Don’t,” he told her when she moved to unzip the artileather boot. “If it’s swelling, and I’m pretty sure it is, the boot will hold it down until we can get someplace and take care of it.” “Is it broken, do you think?” “Nah.” At least he hoped not. He’d had his share of broken bones. He didn’t look forward to trying to find some Oldcity doc to patch him up. “I think it’s just twisted.” Her face had creased in concern. “We need to get you someplace to look at it. Someplace down from here, too. Before sunrise.” She looked up at the sky, her eyes still soft with wonder. “Though I’d love to see the sun.” “You’d fry like an artiegg,” Del told her. “Even Oldcitizens don’t go out without protection.” She sighed. “I know. What’s the plan from here?” He pointed toward the open hole in the roof where the stairway had once been. “Down there, I guess. Find our way to the street. Find a hostel. Find a spacer willing to give us a berth on a ship. Get off this planet.” “You make it sound so easy.” Linna’s fingers on his calf were gentle as she pulled his pant leg down. “Can you walk?” He’d have to, even if it hurt like a benizona. Linna stood and reached for his hand. Damn, but she was strong. All that power packed into a tiny female frame. Del shook his head as she hauled him to his feet. “Lean on me,” she said. He hesitated for a moment, and she gave soft chuckle that made his 71

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stomach tighten. “Del, I’ve got titanium alloy bones in my legs and arms. My spine’s been enhanced with more of the same. I can hold you up, don’t worry.” He put his arm around her shoulders. Her head only came up to his shoulders, but she didn’t falter even when he put most of his weight on her. Together, they hobbled toward the hole where the stairs had been. Linna peered down into the darkness. “I wonder what’s down there.” “I hope a solid floor,” Del replied. “This building hasn’t seen residents in probably a hundred years. At least, not up on these upper levels.” Linna took a deep breath. “I guess we’ll find out. It’s going to be dark. Will you be all right? Xanderrans can’t see in the dark, can they?” “Nah.” “That’s okay,” she replied cheerfully. “I can.” He wasn’t surprised. “That’s pretty useful.” She twisted her head to grin up at him. “Until today, I never had to do it. When has Newcity ever been dark?” “True.” He pointed toward the hole. “Ready?” “I’ll go first this time,” she said and helped him to the edge. “I’ll let you know when to come down.” He spied the makeshift wooden ladder someone had propped up in place of the long-disintegrated stairs. “Be careful. That thing doesn’t look too safe.” She sat on the edge of the hole and put her feet on the top rung. “Here goes nothing.” She disappeared into the darkness and called up to him to come down. Del followed her, hopping one his good foot from rung to rung. The last one splintered beneath his weight, but he caught himself before he could fall. He smelled her, a scent he’d know anywhere, but could see nothing in the darkness. Then he felt her hand on his shoulder, and she took his 72

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arm to help him walk again. “This way,” she said. “Be careful. There are a lot of holes.” She navigated them through the unknown terrain, keeping up a commentary of what she saw the entire time. Even though his eyes adjusted to the darkness, without a glimmer of light, all he saw was black. “This must’ve been an apartment building,” she said. “Lots of doors. Careful, there’s a hole here. Duck your head…there’s some wires hanging down.” “I found the lift,” she said a moment later. Del felt the cold updraft. Linna shivered beside him. Neither of them was dressed for real climate. “The stairs must be close by,” he said. “I see the door. Do you need to rest?” “Nah. I’m okay.” She snugged her body closer to his. “Think you can do the stairs?” He gritted his teeth. “Sure.” With Linna so close, he had something else to think about besides the pain in his ankle. His groin had begun to ache in a familiar way. He was semi-hard already from the smell of her hair, and when the lush curve of her breast rubbed against his ribs, his cock ignored whatever else he was doing and demanded his attention. They made it down four flights of stairs before he admitted he needed to rest. They hadn’t spoken for a while, both needing to concentrate on their journey. Now, Linna led him to a spot in the corridor and helped him sit. He heard the rustle of a wrapper and smelled the protein bar she’d opened. “Here, have a bite of this.” “You need it more than I do,” he said. “Keep yourself fueled.” Linna made a soft, annoyed noise. “We both need to keep up our strength. I have no idea how many more stairs we have to go down, or when we’ll get to eat again. Don’t argue with me, Del.” 73

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He felt something brush his lips and he opened his mouth to take a bite of the protein bar. His lips closed around the food…and the tips of Linna’s fingers. He heard her quick intake of breath. He sucked the crumbs from her fingers before he chewed and swallowed. The taste of her flooded his tongue and sent his cock into full erection. “That’s good,” he said, and didn’t mean the chalky-tasting bar. “Have some more.” Her voice had gone low and husky. She brushed the edge of the bar against his mouth again. He opened for it, nibbled the crumbly bar, and licked her fingers. In the darkness, every sound and smell had become heightened. He heard her soft sigh of arousal and it sent a bolt of desire through him. He should stop. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to taste her, lick her, and kiss her. “There’s only one more bite,” Linna said. This time Del captured her wrist with his hand when she offered the food. He held her fingers to his mouth, bypassing the protein bar entirely, and feasted on her fingers. They were chocolaty from the food and salt-tangy with her essence. He suckled the tips of them all, then let them slide out of his mouth to lick and suck her forefinger. He took it deep in his mouth, his lips caressing the tender space between her fingers. She shuddered beside him. Her free hand pressed onto his shoulder. He let go of her finger and kissed her palm, traced the contours of her skin with his tongue, nibbled at the soft flesh of her inner wrist. His cock was on fire…hell, his entire body was on fire. Somehow the darkness made it easier to ignore the danger of what he was doing. He ought to stop, but ah, harah, he didn’t want to. He wanted to keep kissing her. He wanted to find her mouth and plunge his tongue into it, the same way he wanted to put it inside her pussy, to put his cock there and fill her. He wanted to feel her contract around him when she 74

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climaxed. Fuck control, he thought. Fuck the wanting and never having. Fuck his solitary pleasure. He wanted Linna, and he wanted her now. The pain in his ankle was nothing compared to the throb in his crotch. His cock strained against his pants. He was rock hard, hard as concrete, as steel, as titanium. With a sigh, Linna pulled her hand away from his mouth. He couldn’t see her face, so he couldn’t tell what she was thinking or feeling. The darkness gave him free rein and made it easy to ignore what he knew was right. Made it easy to pull her close to him, onto his lap, have her straddle him. His mouth found hers even without benefit of the light, and she was open for him. Ready. She moaned against his lips as his tongue swept inside and stroked hers. His hands fit just right around her waist. Del pulled Linna closer to him, the heat of her center tangible on his belly through her jumpsuit. Her firm, tight ass nestled against his straining erection, and he moved her gently until she settled on him with an agonizing, wonderful pressure. Damn, she felt good there. He ran his hands over the curve of her ass, then up her back to find the tangled ends of her hair. He buried his fingers in it, never breaking their kiss. Her breasts crushed against his chest. He wanted to feel them. He slid his hands from the glory of her hair to the treasure of her breasts. They fit perfectly in his palms, the nipples taut and stiff, and Linna made a low cry when he pinched those tight peaks lightly. He found the front closure of her jumpsuit and opened it, exposing her bare flesh to his mouth and tongue. She tasted like honey, like smoke, like salt and sweet all at once. His cock throbbed as she ground her ass against it, threw her head back at the touch of his lips on her bare skin. His mouth found the peak of one nipple. On instinct, he suckled the flesh as he’d suckled her fingers. 75

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He rolled her nipple gently on his tongue and imagined it as her clit. The thought made his dick leap against her and he groaned. Her back arched under his hands as he roamed them up and down, up to the soft fall of her hair and down to the wonder of her curves. He settled on her ass and snugged her even tighter as Linna rolled her groin against his belt buckle. She gave a low murmur, maybe his name, and the sound sent a tremor through his entire body. He’d never been this hard. He thought he might die from the pleasure of her body pressing back and forth against him, or at the very least, explode. He was going to come without even getting his dick out of his pants. Everything had become the woman in arms, that quivering, sighing, writhing female. He moved his mouth from one nipple to the other, back and forth, his saliva wetting her skin and bringing him the taste of her. With his hands on her hips, he rocked her against him. He slid her along the trapped bulge of his erection, stroking it with the pressure of her ass and thighs while he pressed his buckle against her clit. She nuzzled his temple, his face, then her breath puffed into his ear and she licked and nipped his neck. Linna buried her face into the curve of his neck. Her teeth clamped on him through the fabric of his shirt, hard enough to hurt, but Del didn’t care. He couldn’t care. He was so close to coming bright flashes of light pulsed behind his eyes like fireworks. She tensed in his arms and her thighs tightened on his waist. The heat between her legs burned against him. Linna gave a low cry, then another, louder. Her body shook. She bit down hard enough to make him cry out. His cock pulsed with need. She cried out his name and went stiff against him, her body shuddering and bucking as she climaxed. Del groaned against her breasts, unable to do more than that. He couldn’t speak. Could barely think beyond the demands of the flesh between his legs insisting on 76

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release. Linna shuddered again, less violently this time, and relaxed. She slid back a little, taking herself away from him. Without realizing quite how he’d done it, Del unbuckled his belt. His penis sprang free from its confines. The softness of her jumpsuit brushed against him, then the tickle of her pubic hair, and he realized he’d pulled her jumpsuit all the way open down the front. In another moment, he’d slid his hands beneath her ass and lifted her as he moved forward, ignoring the flare of pain in his injured ankle. Then she was on her back and he was on top of her. Just an inch more, change the angle, and he’d slide inside her. She was hot and wet. He could feel it. She’d be tight, she’d be so hot and wet, his cock would slide right in her all the way to his balls— “No!” His sex-fuzzed brain didn’t register her protest at first. He felt heat and slickness on the tip of his cock. He tilted his hips, ready to enter her. “Del, I said no!” In the next moment, more bright lights exploded in his vision, this time accompanied by the pain of Linna’s fist to his jaw. She threw him off her and he rolled to the side, head and ankle both exploding with agony. He let out a curse and got to his hands and knees. He shook his head to clear it. Shame flooded him. He sat up, pushed himself back into his pants, and buckled the belt. He was an idiot. Worse than that, he’d almost forced himself on Linna. Arousal turned to nausea, cramping his gut. Sweat broke out all over him, and chills made him clamp his teeth closed to prevent them from chattering. He heard the shuffle of her closing her jumpsuit and another wave of shame washed over him. His cheeks and ears burned with it. Miserably, he pushed himself back against the wall. Neither of them spoke for a long time. He heard her breathing, still as rapid as his. It gradually slowed. He could smell the tang of her 77

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arousal and, he imagined, the bitter scent of her disappointment in him. “I’m sorry,” he said at last, voice gruff, knowing he needed to say it, but not knowing how to be gracious about it. “I couldn’t let you do it,” Linna said. “Not when I know the consequences.” Of course she couldn’t. Linna was too good a person to want him to bind himself to her forever. She’d feel like she had to stay with him out of guilt. He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting him to make love to her. On Xanderra, the crime of rape was rarely committed, but when it was, the penalty was death. No trial. No jury. No chance of reprieve. Just execution. A man who bound a woman to him by force, or who forced a woman already behsherit was considered the worst sort of criminal. And he’d almost done it. He’d let his prick take control and let it rule him. He’d being thinking between his legs, not above his shoulders, and the consequences were disgusting to him. “I’m sorry,” he said again. Words couldn’t make up for what he’d almost done, but words were all he had to offer. “Oh, Del.” Linna’s voice trembled. “Don’t say—” “I think we ought to get moving again, don’t you?” He couldn’t bear her pity. Del pushed himself to his feet by using the wall as a support. His ankle still hurt, but it had begun to go numb. “We need to get out of this building.” “All right.” She paused as though she were going to say more, but sighed instead. Without another word, she slipped his arm around her shoulders and helped him move through the darkness again.

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CHAPTER 5

Linna didn’t like the way the hostel smelled. Or the way Oldcity smelled, for that matter. The entire place reeked of human body odor, cooking oils, garbage and things she couldn’t, and didn’t want, to identify. The smell had assaulted her as soon as they’d left the building they’d climbed down. She had thought she’d grow accustomed to it, but even now, hours later, the stench still clogged her nose and throat and left her stomach churning. Her stomach as upset for another reason, too. The silence between her and Del had been broken only with the briefest of conversations. She had followed his lead on the street when he led her unerringly to the first hostel they could find and didn’t even haggle with the owner. They’d bartered the three remaining protein bars for a night’s stay. Linna had quickly learned that items she took for granted in Newcity were considered rare luxuries here. The protein bars she’d have passed over for just about any other meal were looked at as delicacies by the delighted hostel owner, who offered them his “finest accommodations” 79

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in return. She looked around the small room with a restrained expression of disgust. She’d thought Newcity could get dirty, but nothing she’d seen there had anything on this place. Grime covered the walls and gathered in the corners. The single bed, a wooden platform with a lumpy mattress, had clean linens on it…but clean by Oldcity standards. They might have once been white, but had become a dirty beige, patched and threadbare. The room did have a connected bathroom, a luxury that did surprise her, and she was grateful for bringing the protein bars. God-of-Choice only knew what sort of place they’d have ended up in without them to barter. The toilet was only a bucket filled with disinfectant and a toilet seat on top of it, but the tub worked. The porcelain basin was only large enough for her to sit in, not lay down, but filled with hot artiwater it was still a delicious respite from everything else that was happening. If she hadn’t stopped him, she knew Del would have made love to her back there. Her cunt clenched at the memory of the orgasm she’d had rocking against his belly with his mouth on her breasts. Next thing she knew, she was flat on her back on the dirty corridor floor with Del pressing down on top of her and his cock nudging at her opening. She’d almost given in, too. More than given in. Welcomed him. Urged him on. She’d held herself back from hooking her ankles around his thighs and shoving him deep inside her only by using the same willpower and determination she’d needed after she’d wakened in the hospital, her body a ruin. So she’d socked him the jaw and pushed him off her, even while her arms wanted nothing more than to pull him closer to her. She couldn’t blame him for being angry. She was the worst sort of tease. She’d been on him like artibutter on a hot cob of articorn. It was no wonder he’d almost fucked her. She couldn’t let him, though. Not knowing he’d never be able to 80

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have sex with another woman for the rest of his life if he did. It wouldn’t be fair to bind him to her. They were friends, and she’d sensed they could be more, but they weren’t. Not yet. Still, she’d dealt with enough men to understand and interpret his silence and the stormy look in his eyes. She’d been hired by many clients who’d been rebuffed by their first choice of human conquest and then turned to a Pleasurebot instead. A guaranteed fuck. She didn’t usually mind. Men fueled by anger were usually quick in bed, and most of them didn’t take it beyond ugly words like whore and slut. Words that frankly, in a society where people fucked each other with little more introduction than a handshake, held little insult. She didn’t mind their words, or their groping hands, or their angry fucking as long as they had the credits to pay for it. Men who were out of control with lust were a little different. She didn’t usually get many of those clients, since they generally hired the more sexed-up Pleasurebots—the XTCs and PSSYs, or the CNTs. Men with raging erections didn’t usually seek out a Kompanion model. Men like Del, for instance. A slow shiver of lust rippled through her. She’d been the lucky one who’d set the match to the tinder, but that was all. She tried to force herself to believe it wasn’t anything more than the situation. It would be much easier to resist him if she knew his lust for her was fired by his dick and not actual feelings for her. If she thought Del felt anything more than friendship for her, she’d melt in his arms and jump his bones, no second thought necessary. She was pathetic. So long without love she was anxious to grab it wherever she could, even if it came from a man who wouldn’t have a choice but to stay with her the rest of her life. She didn’t want it that way, did she? She had more pride than that. She splashed at the artiwater and sighed. Didn’t she? *

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“What you got to trade?” The hostel owner’s grin showed crooked, rotting teeth. “Information cost you money, big guy.” Deliberately menacing, Del put both hands on the counter and moved his face close to the other man’s. “I only want to know where I can find a spacer to take me Offworld.” The hostel owner’s gaze flickered and he licked his lips nervously, but didn’t budge. “Information is expensive, big guy.” Del bit back a curse. He could reach across the counter and pound the guy, and with the way he felt, he wanted to do it. He held back. “How much?” The man gave him a sly grin. “How much you got?” Del stepped back so the man could see his worn and dirty clothes. “What you see is what I got, man.” The hostel owner looked him up and down, settling on the belt buckle. “How ’bout that?” “My belt?” Del looked down at the square piece of metal. He remembered Linna rocking against it to orgasm, and almost told the man he couldn’t have it. Practicality won out over sentimentality, and he slipped the artileather belt out of its loops. “Here.” The man took the belt and ran it through his fingers. “This nice work. This buckle. It’s real metal?” Del had no idea what the buckle was made of, but he had no problem letting the hostel owner believe it was metal. “Sure.” “I know of a spacer heading Offworld tonight. She give you a berth, if you willing to work for it.” “I can work.” The hostel owner gave him a sly grin. “And you lady? What about her?” “She’s not my lady. But yeah, I think she’ll agree.” “You Xanderran, right?” Del nodded. “Yeah.” The hostel owner’s grin widened. “And she not your lady? You 82

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must have a strong will, big guy. Lady like that in my bed, I’d ride her—” Del reached across the desk and grabbed the front of the man’s grubby shirt, hauled him over and shook him. “Shut up.” “All right, all right,” the hostel owner whined, cringing. “Sorry, man!” Del tossed him back, once again refraining from pounding the man’s face the way he wanted to. “Where?” The man smoothed his clothes and the few strands of hair that had come loose from his bald head. “I’ll have my boy take you tonight. Be ready.” Del didn’t bother to thank the idiot. He didn’t even bother to ask where the spacer was headed. Any place was better than this one and, no matter where they ended up, he’d find a way to get to where he wanted to be. The question was where did he want to go? For one moment, he let himself think it didn’t matter where he went, as long as it was with Linna. Only for a moment. That sort of thinking was dangerous. He’d set himself up for a world of disappointment that way. He could stand physical pain, but he preferred to avoid mental anguish. Linna was still in the bathroom when he got back to the room. He heard her splashing in the tub, and his groin tightened at the thought of joining her. “Stupid ass,” he cursed himself aloud. “Del? Is that you?” He heard more splashing and she appeared in the doorless entry to the bathroom. Her towel was so thin it clearly outlined her nipples and so short the bottom fluff of her pubic tuft peeked out at him. Del turned his back. “Yeah. I found a ship leaving tonight.” “Good. Where’s it going?” She laughed. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Any place is better than here.” The way her words echoed his earlier thoughts made him smile. 83

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“That’s what I figured.” She crossed in front of him and reached for the jumpsuit she’d flung over a chair. “Do I have time to wash this out?” Del had arranged to meet the hostel owner’s boy when night fell. “Yeah. And to take a nap, too. It might be good idea.” She yawned and covered her mouth. “I think you’re right. I’m running on empty.” “You go ahead.” He pointed at the bed. “You can take it first.” Linna looked at him with an inscrutable expression. “You’re tired, too. It’s big enough for both of us.” “Not when—” You’re naked, he was about to say, but changed his answer. “One of us has to keep watch.” Her brow furrowed and she looked around the small room. The quirk of her brow told him she wasn’t fooled. “From what?” “Oldcity is dangerous.” “We don’t have anything to steal, Del. And between the two of us, I’m pretty sure we can take anyone who tries.” He couldn’t deny she was right, but he still tried. “You sleep on the bed. I’ll take the floor.” Linna wrinkled her nose. “On that floor? I don’t think so. That’s an infection waiting to happen.” Del looked at the sagging, lumpy bed and imagined the torture of lying next to her again. “I’ll be okay.” She gave a loud, put-upon sigh. “Why do men always have to be so stubborn?” He didn’t like being lumped in with all the men she’d ever known. “Do you really want me to sleep next to you?” Linna put her hands on her hips and met his eyes squarely. “I understand your reluctance. But this bed is the only one we have. It’s only for a few hours. And, sad to say, it might be the most comfortable bed we have for who knows how long.” 84

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“Knowing what spacer berths are like, you’re probably right.” She nodded. “You need a good sleep as much as I do. Maybe more. You need to get off that ankle for a while. And besides, Del, it was your protein bars that got us this room. You’re the one who found us a way off this planet. If anyone deserves the bed, it’s you.” He looked at the floor, which was pretty disgusting. “But you’re not offering to sleep on the floor.” She grinned. “Hell, no.” He gnawed his lip for a moment, trying to think of a way to accept without sounding too eager. She didn’t give him the chance. She just took his hand and shook it up and down a few times before letting it drop. “We’re both adults, Del. And…I know there could be awkwardness about this. So, I promise I won’t touch you.” “Bed that small, you won’t be able to keep a promise like that.” She looked over her shoulder at it. “I won’t touch you with intent then. Is that better?” It was a damn long way from better, but he nodded anyway. His palm tingled from her touch. He looked at the bed, then back at her, clad only in the skimpy towel. “I guess I’ll promise the same thing.” Her gaze flickered for a moment and her smile thinned before brightening again. “Then we have a deal.” “Yeah. Which side do you want?” “I’ll take the right. Let me just rinse out this thing—” She indicated her soiled jumpsuit. “—and hang it up to dry. Want me to take care of that stuff?” He looked down at his own grubby shirt and pants. She wouldn’t want to lie next to a man who smelled of sweat and grime. “I’ll take care of it. I want to wash up anyway.” When she had finished in the bathroom, Del went in. He ran the water in the tub, glad it was hot, but thinking he’d be better off with 85

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cold. He got in, scrubbed his important parts and sat back. His legs were cramped, pushed up toward his chest, but the warm water felt so good he didn’t want to get out. And hell, who was he kidding? He was avoiding going back into the room with Linna. The deal they made…he shook his head. He must be out of his mind to agree to it. There was only one way he’d be able to make it bearable and even that wasn’t guaranteed. It was worth a shot if it kept him calm enough to keep control. His penis was already half-erect from just being around her, but now it lengthened in his palm. He stroked it lightly, aware of his lack of real privacy. The artiwater, hot but not wet, splashed as he moved, and he slowed his movements. Torture, but a sweet one. He thought of her nipples between his lips as he pumped his dick slowly, imagining Linna’s hand, her mouth, her pussy, in place of his palm. He bit back his guttural moan. Desire coiled in his belly and tightened his balls. He was going to come quickly. He only hoped it would be enough to slake the constant surges of lust he felt around her. His climax exploded out of him and he rode it, eyes closed, Linna’s face the only thing he could see. *

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The towel was useless and her jumpsuit wasn’t dry, so Linna slid beneath the worn sheets naked. Not a good way to start their deal, but there was no hope for it. Besides, Del had already seen her without her clothes on, and she’d be an idiot to think that a thin layer of material would actually matter. No, when it came right down to it, only their minds could control this attraction that insisted on flaring up between them. Linna had a lot of will power. Marriage to Daniel had meant there were many times she’d had to bite her tongue to keep the peace. Her 86

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life after becoming mecho had been a study in determination, first with the work needed to get used to her new body, and after, the patience needed to support herself with her new career. Linna had will power and determination in abundance, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think she’d be able to keep her part of the deal without a little preparation. Being close enough to smell him would drive her mad with wanting, unless she took the edge off first. Her pussy was already moist with desire from his presence, her clit a hard nodule she found easily with the tip of one forefinger. She rolled her finger lightly on the stiffened flesh, then dipped between her folds to pull up some slickness to hasten her arousal. She was close already just from the thought of Del’s mouth on her and the way he’d rocked her against his belt buckle in the dark, abandoned building. She had to smile at the realization she was going to come again, after so many months of frenzied copulation with no orgasms at all. How things changed. Linna lifted her hips slightly, mindful that at any moment Del could come out of the bathroom and find her diddling her twat like a horny schoolgirl. The thought made her finger move faster, harder, not necessarily because she was really afraid of him catching her, but because the thought of him watching her stroke herself to climax was incredibly arousing. Linna bit her lip to keep from groaning aloud. Her finger moved faster between her legs, while her other hand crept up to play with her nipples. They were hard, too, as hard as her clit. She remembered Del’s mouth on them and her clit leaped beneath her hand. Her pussy ached to be filled, and though they were a poor substitute for Del’s prick, she slid two fingers deep inside herself. She clenched her inner muscles, imagining doing the same to Del’s erection. Her clit buzzed and throbbed. Her pleasure grew and grew and she gasped, trying her best to be quiet, but not quite able to keep the final groan from stuttering out of her throat when she came. 87

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Heart pounding, she took a deep breath. Her clit pulsed in jerky spasms against her palm, and she held herself like that for a minute, wishing it could be Del’s hand and angry with herself because she did. Then the anger faded and passed as useless. There was no sense in beating herself up over things that couldn’t change. She’d accepted a long time ago that she was going to live her life alone. That shouldn’t have changed. Unfortunately, it had. *

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The hostel owner’s “boy” turned out to be an ancient, rusting servbot. The top half of its body was vaguely humanoid with a torso and three segmented arms, while the lower half was made up of two pieces of metal tread flexible enough to handle the rough Oldcity terrain. The bot clicked and whirred at them, its single ocular port glowing blue. Linna laughed and bent to touch the bot’s pocked metal head. “How cute.” The bot beeped at her. The hostel owner grinned. “He likes you. That’s good. He won’t take you to the wrong place.” Del lifted one brow and glared at the hostel owner. “Don’t even think about sending us off on some wild chase, man. I’ll come back here and—” The hostel owner raised his hands and backed away. “No, no. My boy will take you where you need to go. The hangar. Ask for Captain Lunavoss. Tell the captain that Mickgilroy sent you. You’ll get a berth.” Linna stood and looked from Del to the hostel owner. “And what do we have to pay for it?” Mickgilroy shrugged. “That be up to the captain to decide, right? Not me. I just run a hostel. I don’t got nothing to do with the spacers and their ships.” 88

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Del touched her arm and showed her the bot, which had already started off across the buckled pavement. “We’ll worry about paying when we get there.” She laughed. “Do we have another choice?” Millions of stars sprinkled the sky again, though the moon had yet to rise. Del craned his head to look up at the blackness for a moment before focusing his attention back on the treacherous road. Light from several fires along the street gave them flickering but ample light to see, but it also created shadows that made missing the many pits and holes easy. His ankle still twinged with every step, though his body healed fast and the pain was much less than it had been earlier. “How’s the ankle?” Linna asked, making him marvel again at how in tune with his thoughts she seemed to be. She took his arm as they crossed a pretty bad patch. “Need a hand?” He didn’t, not really, but having her hold his arm felt so good he didn’t want to tell her no. “How does that thing manage on this stuff?” Linna looked up to where the bot was waiting, impatiently beeping. “Those treads are metal. None of this can hurt him. I guess the worst that could happen is that he’d fall over and not be able to get back up, but I’m guessing he’s got some sort of servo arm or something that would help him get up.” “Amazing tech,” Del said. The bot ahead of them navigated a piece of pavement that had twisted and buckled into a small hill, overgrown with scorched and twisted plants that didn’t look healthy even in the dim firelight. “You don’t have anything like this on your home world?” “Nah. Xanderra is a jungle planet. There’s metal, but it’s mostly soft. Gold, silver. Pretty to look at, but not very useful. Anything other than that is imported. Very expensive and very small quantities.” Together they wove their way around a hole big enough to break a man’s leg. A child ran toward them from one of the fire rings. Del couldn’t tell if the kid was a boy or a girl, and the ragged clothes and 89

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long, unkempt hair didn’t give a clue. “Mister, Missus, you want candy? You want some?” The kid’s face was a mass of lumps and bumps. Sun damage. Despite the scars and scabs, the kid’s smile was bright and cheerful. It held out a handful of small, wrapped squares. Linna looked at Del. He could see the shock and concern in her eyes. Nobody in Newcity looked like that kid, but that was because the Dome protected them from the sun’s punishing rays. What the Dome didn’t take care of, science and cosmetic surgery did. Linna paused and knelt to reach the kid’s eye level. “Hi. What’s your name?” “Doola.” The kid smiled again, eyes shining. “You’re pretty.” Linna gave a short, self-conscious laugh. “Thanks. What kind of candy do you have?” “Artilemon. Me mama makes it herself,” the kid said proudly. “I help her.” “I don’t have any money,” Linna said with another look at Del. She patted her wrinkled jumpsuit pockets, then pulled something out. A square of fabric, artisilk by the look of it. “I have this, though.” The kid’s eyes lit up like stars. “Wow! Oh, so pretty!” It must be a girl, Del thought as he watched Linna tie the piece of fabric over the kid’s hair. Linna smoothed the kid’s hair away from her forehead and tucked the stray ends beneath the scarf. “It looks very nice on you,” she said. “Very pretty.” The kid danced with excitement. “Oh, thank you, missus!” She tried to hand Linna the candy, but Linna shook her head. “You keep that, honey. I…I don’t like candy.” The kid’s face fell and she reached up to tug off the scarf. Linna stopped her with a gentle hand. “You keep that scarf, too. It looks prettier on you.” She’s right, Del thought as he watched the kid crow with delight and touch the soft artisilk. Her face might be scarred and damaged, but 90

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the light in her eyes and smile were from pure, unabashed joy. Linna made a surprised noise as the kid launched herself into Linna’s arms in an impulsive hug. “Thank you, missus! Thank you!” The kid ran off toward the fire ring, calling out, “Look what I got! Look!” “Now we’re going to be surrounded by kids wanting stuff,” Del said as Linna straightened. Her eyes glistened with tears. “Oh, Del, how do they live this way? I never saw anything like it.” He put his arm around her and drew her close while she sighed. “Newcity isn’t the rest of the world, Linna. There’re worse places and better places. This happens to be one of the worse ones.” She pulled away and swiped at her face. “I know that. But…so close! Why does Newcity have all the privileges? Surely they could send help out here. Do something. That girl’s face—” Del stroked her shoulder. “There’s not enough room in Newcity for everyone. Not enough resources. And you know, the people out here don’t have it so bad. They get married, they have kids, and they live their lives. They love each other.” The word love hung between them for a minute before she spoke. “You’re right. But it’s still hard to believe once this was all one big city, everyone together. It’s hard to think I was a Newcitizen just because I was lucky enough to have ancestors who, a hundred years ago, happened to live in the section of the city that got put under the Dome.” “Hey, everything is about luck, pretty lady.” Del grinned. Linna smiled back and looked over to where the kid was still showing off her scarf to the group of people gathered around the fire ring. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” The bot ahead of them whistled impatiently, trying to get their attention. Del lifted his chin toward it. “We’d better get going or it’ll 91

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leave us behind.” They ran few steps to catch up with the bot, which took them down a dark side street. It whistled and burbled at them, chattering in its own language neither of them could understand. A spotlight extended from the front of the bot and lit their path, but Del still kept his eyes searching the alley’s sides. He didn’t like this route. “You got so tense,” Linna whispered, her hand on his forearm. “What’s wrong?” “I’m thinking we might get jumped,” Del replied, not wanting to scare her, but wanting to prepare her. “This is Oldcity, remember?” Linna cleared her throat, head swiveling to look around them. “We don’t have anything to steal.” “They don’t know that,” Del said with a quick glance down at her. “And besides, they’d probably be happy to take the jumpsuit. My clothes, too. And what they might want with you, I don’t want to even think about.” He felt her tense beside him. “Let ’em try. I’ll kick their asses from here to New Bermuda.” She sounded so serious he had to shake his head. “You are one nononsense woman.” Linna stepped over another piece of buckled pavement that could have tripped her up. “I won’t let anyone put their hands on me to hurt me, ever again, Del. If anyone tries, they’d better kill me first because, if they don’t, I double-damn guarantee I’ll rip them apart.” He didn’t doubt she could do it, too. Her fingers as she spoke had clenched down harder and tighter on his forearm. “Darlin’, you’re hurting me.” She loosened her grip and sounded chagrined. “Sorry!” He chuckled, still not letting up on his constant surveillance of the scene. “That’s all right. I can handle it.” She smoothed the place she’d just pinched. “I get a little agitated when I think about someone trying to hurt me.” 92

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“I don’t blame you.” Her husband had beat her up unmercifully and pushed her down the stairs after all. Hell, he’d murdered her. Del would be pretty pissed about that, too, if it had been him. “Just keep an eye out. No telling how much farther it is until we get to the hangar.” “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my,” Linna murmured as she moved closer to him. He didn’t understand the reference. “What?” She laughed. “It’s from an old viddy I saw once. It’s about this girl, Dorothy, and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman. They’re on a quest and they’re in the woods, and they’re afraid—” Before she could finish, the bot’s spotlight highlighted a trio of dark figures that slipped out of the shadows in front of them. They circled the bot and came between it and Linna and Del. Clothed entirely in black, with black hoods over their faces, the trio looked like shadows come to life. Del, his senses already heightened in anticipation, stopped dead. Linna froze beside him. She moved into a ready stance, close to him but no longer touching. He could sense her tension like a humming from her muscles, and recognized the same in his own body. Ready for a fight. It had been a long time since he’d faced an opponent. Living in Newcity he’d kept his head down, figuratively, not wanting to risk the status of his Offworld visa by getting into a fight with anyone. He’d spent some time at the workout clubs, sparring with human and hologram partners, but those fights were more like a series of choreographed moves, practice in a style of fighting, rather than the allout, balls-up battling he’d grown up with on Xanderra. He didn’t get the feeling these guys were interested in practicing their Quon Dai or their Krav Maga fighting. Knives glittered in all their hands. That would make things interesting. Not impossible. He’d fought bare handed against weapons plenty of times. His injured ankle and the woman at his side would make the fight challenging. Del loved a challenge. 93

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“We don’t have anything you want,” he told the trio. Even on Xanderra, it was thought best to disarm your assailant with words before fists. “Yeh, yew do,” spoke the tallest figure. “Dat lady.” “Fuck you,” Linna said, loud and clear. “Exactly,” said the next figure, and the trio laughed. Fury ignited in Del and coursed through his veins. He rolled his neck on his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. Ready. More than ready. Eager. “Find someone else to bother.” His mild tone of voice was completely at odds with the revved up way his heart had begun to pound. He grinned. From the corner of his eye, he saw Linna raise her fists. “You know what you’re doing?” he asked her from the corner of his mouth. “Hell, yeah.” She didn’t sound afraid. She sounded gleeful. “I’m going to pound some vagrant ass.” Del admired her attitude, but wasn’t quite sure about her aptitude. “You ever pounded someone’s ass before?” Linna tilted her head to catch his gaze. “Not exactly, no. But I’m willing to try.” The trio had drawn closer while they talked, but hadn’t yet attacked. Del didn’t know what they were waiting for. He cut his glance from side to side, searching for the possibility they had other friends lying in wait to pounce from behind. The servbot whistled, but waited for them. “Linna, I know you’re strong and fast, but if you don’t know—” “Shut up, Del.” Linna’s voice was calm. She raised her fists higher. “I meant it when I said I wouldn’t let anyone hurt me again.” “And the part about killing you? I don’t want that to happen.” “Don’t worry,” she said as the trio of shadows suddenly leaped forward. “It won’t.” She didn’t wait for them to come to her, and once again, Del 94

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admired her strength. She did the same leap, hands-over-feet, that she’d performed on the rooftop. It took her one revolution, landing on her feet again, to reach the first assailant, and her fist punched out and connected with the guy’s head. Del muttered a curse and waded in, holding back his punches until he could get close to the two other muggers. One, two, his fists shot out and connected with their black-clothed bodies. Their knives flashed. He ducked and wove. After a minute, he forgot to worry about whether or not Linna needed help, because it was clear as plazglass that whatever she didn’t have in training, she more than made up for in enthusiasm. She moved like a whirlwind, dropping low to kick and punch and leaping over her attackers’ heads in jumps Del could only marvel at. In less than a few minutes, the three who’d attacked them retreated with shouted threats and curses. Del’s arm stung from a knife slash—a lucky hit—and he pressed his fingers against the blood. The bot whistled at them again and shone its spotlight toward them. Linna laughed out loud, her hair tangled and her face smudged, but her smile brilliant. “Go on, get out of here!” she shouted as the would-be thieves ran away into the night. She turned to Del, her expression growing serious. “You’re hurt.” “Nah. It’s nothing.” He pressed harder to stop the flow of blood. “Just a scratch.” “Don’t be silly.” She came closer. In the light from the bot, the blood shone a garish red like paint. Linna hissed at the sight. “We should get that bandaged.” “Let’s get to the hanger first. I’ll be okay.” She clicked her tongue against her teeth. “You said it yourself. We don’t know how much further it will be. Just let me bind it up.” He agreed, not willing to argue about it. The cut stung like a benizona, anyway, but though it bled a lot it was shallow and not 95

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serious. He’d need to clean it soon. He didn’t doubt germs on the thug’s knife could cause quite an infection. Del watched Linna’s nimble fingers tear a strip from the sleeve of her jumpsuit. She tied up the wound on his forearm, then lifted it to her mouth and put a gentle kiss there. Their eyes met and locked. Her smile faltered and her tongue swiped across her lips. Her fingers tightened gently on his arm, then slid down to interlock with his. “All better?” she said in a husky tone he recognized all too well. Damn, he wanted to kiss her again. Del moved toward her, almost imperceptibly. Just as slightly, Linna moved back. Her fingers stroked his in a lingering caress before she pulled back. “Let’s go,” she said.

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CHAPTER 6

Linna had never been inside a spaceship hangar before. She stepped through the door after the servbot, Del close behind her. The hangar bustled with activity. Ships of all sizes and varieties lined the metal walls. Their crews came and went, shouting out orders, loading and unloading supplies. Boxes and cartons piled high in every free spot on the stained concrete floor. “Which one do you think we’re supposed to go to?” she asked Del. The servbot rolled without pause through the crowd, skirted a towering stack of crates, and beeped at them to follow. They did. Linna half-expected to feel the weight of many gazes upon her, but the spacers in the hanger seemed to have adopted the Newcity motto of being busy attending their own business. The ship the bot led them to was larger than most of the others and parked just outside the hangar’s open doorway. Lots of the other ships looked like accidents waiting to fall out of the sky, but this one was clean and shining, seemingly in good repair. Linna let out the breath 97

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she’d unconsciously been holding. “Doesn’t look too bad,” Del said from her side. “That’s a DPF1024. Nice cruiser. Looks like it’s been adapted for cargo more than a pleasure craft. And it’ll have deep space capability, which means it can take us almost anyplace in the universe.” “You know a lot about ships,” Linna said. Del laughed and shook his head. “Transportation is kind of a hobby of mine.” He was making a joke and Linna laughed, but it made her realize there was still a wealth she didn’t know about him. What had he been before becoming a hovertaxi driver? She watched him stride toward the ship, the limp from his injured ankle barely noticeable unless you knew to look for it. Watching him was no hardship on the eyes that was for sure. Looking at the way his taut, firm ass filled out the back of his trousers made her cheeks heat. The curves of his back and shoulders were clearly outlined in the thin material of his dirty white shirt, but she didn’t need to see beneath it to remember the way his skin rippled with muscle when he moved. She shook herself. Horny bitch. Enough. There was no use in torturing herself. He’d stepped up to one of the crew members, not a small man, but Del still towered over him. The crewman said something Linna didn’t catch. Del pointed at the ship. He smiled, and the expression took her breath away. Stop it! she chastised herself. This was useless. Getting herself all hot and bothered when there could be nothing to it, in the end, but hurt feelings. She was smarter than that. Tell that to my clit, she thought with a shake of her head. That part of her body seemed determined not to forget about they way Del tasted, the way he felt pressed against her, the scent of him. She might be able to tell her mind to think whatever she wanted to, but her body seemed set on telling her to fuck herself. Or fuck Del, which sounded much 98

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better. She gave herself a firm mental shake. They were going to get off this planet and head for God-of-Choice only knew where. From then on, it would be up to her to decide where she went and what she was going to do when she got there. She’d better start thinking more about that and less about Del’s ass and abs and thighs and…. “God-of-Choice!” she muttered as Del, still talking to the crew member, turned to point toward her. She strode toward them, telling herself to get control. She forced her tone light. “All set?” “You got to talk to the captain,” said the man in Universal. It took Linna’s ears a few seconds to adjust from Newcity English to the new language. Now she was closer, Linna could see he had a third eye in the middle of his forehead. It winked at her. She kept her face neutral, not having any idea about the man’s species and not sure if he was flirting or threatening. “Where is he?” Del asked, also in Universal. The man laughed. All three of his eyes rolled alarmingly. “Let me get the captain for you.” He turned and climbed the silver ladder into the belly of the ship. As his feet disappeared, Linna turned to Del. He scruffed the top of his head, where the hair had begun to grow again in dark spikes. It’ll be rough, like his cheeks where the beard stubble is showing, she thought, then gave another mental curse. She couldn’t stop looking at him like he was a meal and she was starving. Well, she was starving. Linna chuckled out loud. Del gave her an amused look. “What?” She pressed a hand to her rumbling belly. “I’m so hungry I could eat a bowl of Thandlussian jelly.” Del grimaced. “Ack.” A pair of boots, shiny and black, with the tallest, sharpest heels 99

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Linna had ever seen, appeared on the top rung of the ladder. The boots, that turned out to be thigh-high, were followed by a pair of long, slim legs, a trim but curvy waist, and a set of breasts a Passion Model Pleasurebot would envy. Topping off the package was a face with full, crimson lips, sparkling green eyes and features so perfectly aligned they looked like they could have come straight out of a catalog. The woman’s hair was ebony and swirling, thick and shining, all the way to the under curve of her perfectly shaped ass. Instant, hot jealousy flooded Linna, cranked up another notch when the woman’s green eyes latched onto the sight of Del. “Well, well, well,” she purred, her Universal thick with an accent Linna didn’t recognize. She moved toward them like a piece of well-oiled machinery. Her heels made sharp clicks on the concrete. Her hips swung from side to side as she undulated, and she tossed the mass of her hair over her shoulder with a smile that would’ve dropped any red-blooded man to his knees in a heartbeat. Linna didn’t look at Del. She didn’t want to see his face. Instead, she straightened her spine, ran a quick hand through her hair, and tried to pretend it didn’t matter if her face was smudged and her clothes a wreck. The woman didn’t even glance at Linna. Her gaze didn’t waver from Del as her eyes raked him from head to foot. She looked a few seconds longer at a place on his body much, much lower than his face before settling her gaze upward again. Her lush mouth curved into the most predatory smile Linna had ever seen, even considering the line of work she’d been in for the past three years. “So you want a berth on my ship?” The woman tilted her head and wet her lips with a long, pointed tongue. “Can you pay for it?” “We’re willing to work for our passage,” Del replied. The woman, who, Linna realized with dismay, must be Captain Lunavoss, lifted one arched black brow. “I have a full crew already. 100

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What can you offer me in return for your passage?” She flicked her gaze at Linna at last, and the look made Linna feel like she’d just been slapped. “I’m not sure I need another ship’s doxy.” Linna stopped herself from slugging the woman. Del crossed his thick arms over his chest. Linna didn’t imagine the gleam of interest in the captain’s eyes. “That’s not an option,” Del said. Captain Lunavoss shrugged delicately. “I could use a galley dross, I guess.” “You’ll take us both as galley drosses?” Del asked evenly. Linna didn’t trust herself to speak. The captain now focused her attention on Linna, swept her with the same green-eyed gaze, up and down. She didn’t seem quite as impressed with Linna as she’d been with Del. “I only need one.” “We both need passage. We both can work.” “Oh, I understand that,” said the captain. “But I’m sure I can find some other tasks for you to perform. Something well worth your passage on my ship, and I’ll let the cunna come, too. Just because I have a generous nature.” Linna tensed. “Maybe we can find another ship to take us, Del.” The captain’s emerald gaze flickered. “Go ahead and try.” Del looked around the hangar at the hodge-podge of ships inside. “We could do that.” The captain licked her lips and waited for Del to speak again. He looked at Linna. “But we might have to wait a while.” He didn’t have to tell her what that would mean—they’d already bartered everything they had just for one night’s stay and information on how to get Offworld. Linna looked again at Captain Lunavoss, still staring at Del with open assessment. Linna sighed mentally and gave herself a shake. She didn’t own Del. She couldn’t. But neither could the captain, she allowed herself to think with bitter glee. 101

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“No. I can wash dishes.” Linna stepped toward Lunavoss, who barely bothered to even glance her way. “We’ll work hard. We want to get Offworld today.” Lunavoss flicked her emerald gaze over at Linna. “You ever been on a ship like this before?” “No.” “Ever been Offworld at all?” Linna shook her head. “No.” Lunavoss let out a hearty laugh and threw back her head, hands on her hips. “Oh, dearie, are you in for a treat.” Linna squared her shoulders. “I’m ready to go. I don’t have much other choice.” Now the captain did swivel her head to rake her gaze over Linna, then stepped much closer to peer into her face. “On second thought, I probably could use another ship’s doxy. You don’t look too well-worn. You’ll do.” “No!” Del cried before Linna could reply. He stepped between Linna and the captain. “She’s not…she doesn’t have to do that.” The captain cocked one perfectly shaped brow. “Are you sure? A galley dross gets passage for a berth and food only. If she serves as a doxy, I’ll pay her a wage, too.” He shook his head. “No.” Linna took his arm. “Del, I don’t have any money—” She had meant to say she’d been serving as a doxy of sorts for years. A few more weeks on a ship’s cruiser couldn’t be that bad. At the sight of his face, his eyes burning, she stopped and looked at Lunavoss. “He’s right. Berth and food are fine.” “Whatever you like.” The captain stared at both of them with narrowed eyes, then shrugged. She gestured at two men standing by the ladder to the ship. “Reddic. Tevick. Come here. Show our new crew mates to their berths, all right?” She turned back to Del, a sultry smile playing on her lips. “We’ll 102

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leave in a few hours. Do you have any sort of mechanical skill at all, or are those luscious muscles just for show?” “I can repair engines on a craft like this.” Del jerked his head toward the ship. “Do maintenance. Stuff like that.” “Good.” The captain dismissed them both, but not before reaching out to stroke on long fingernail down Del’s arm. “I’ll see you on board.” Then she stalked away, hips swinging and ass shaking, turning every male head within view. Every one, but Del’s. He kept his face straight forward, full lips thinned in concentration, brow furrowed. Linna touched his arm, and he seemed to relax a bit and gave her a smile. “This is it,” he said. “Are you ready?” She wasn’t, but she didn’t want to tell him that. “As I’ll ever be.” “Linna…” She waited, but he didn’t speak. “Yes, Del?” He gave a shadowed gaze toward the two men waiting for them to follow. Linna’s gaze followed Del’s. Both men were tall, broad, muscled, with closely shaven heads. Dark eyes. Their arms were intricately and elaborately tattooed. Though neither of them carried themselves with Del’s strong self-confidence and neither one was as attractive, Linna immediately noticed the resemblance. “They’re Xanderran, aren’t they?” she asked quietly. Del nodded, his big hands curved into loose fists at his sides. “Yeah. And they’re bound to that bitch of a captain.” *

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Del didn’t say anything to his fellow Xanderrans, just followed them up the ladder into the bowels of Lunavoss’s craft. He didn’t have much to say. For one reason or another, they’d agreed to fuck that bitch, maybe even knowing she’d already bound others to her. He couldn’t deny the woman’s lush curves and sexy smile would be able to 103

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get a rise out of any man…but to be behsherit to her? The first man pointed to a small, arched doorway. “She’s in here. You’ll be in the crew berth.” “We won’t be together?” Linna sounded nervous, and Del put a comforting hand on her arm. “She yours?” The second man jerked his chin toward Linna, then showed a gap-toothed grin. “Cap’n’ll shit if she finds out you’re already hooked up.” Linna’s jaw tensed, but she flashed Del a look and didn’t lose her temper. “We’re not.” The first man nodded and pointed toward the narrow hall. “Then you’d better come with us. See what you’re gonna be doing. Cap’n wants to lift off in a few hours and she gets real pissy when she doesn’t get her own way.” That wasn’t hard to believe. “I’ll be along in a minute. This ship is set up like the MEH 3-27, right? Galley down this hall to the left, crew berth all the way back?” “Yeah. But don’t be late,” warned the first man. “Cap’n—” “Gets pissy. I heard you the first time,” Del said as evenly as he could. “I’ll be there. I just want to make sure my friend gets settled.” At that, the two crew members burst into rude guffaws. “Friend?” said the first one. His gaze raked over Linna in a way that made her step back. “Whatever, man. Just get your ass to the crew berth and get ready before Lunavoss gets back, or she’ll have your head. And I don’t mean the one on your shoulders.” They left him and Linna alone, and Del slid the metal panel door closed behind them. Linna’s eyes were wide and staring. She looked like she was struggling not to cry. Without thinking about it, Del took her in his arms. Her hair was soft on his face, her breasts full and warm on his chest. He tightened his embrace around her back and felt her shoulders heave as she tried not to sob. 104

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After a moment, she pulled away to look at him. “I’m sorry. All of this is catching up with me, I guess. I’ve never been Offworld before. Not even on vacay. I’m…I’m a little nervous.” “If you really want to, we’re out of here,” he told her. “But, Linna, I saw the other ships in the hangar. None of them were big enough to need extra crew members. We could wait until something new docks, but that could be a long time. We can find work…maybe…” She shook her head. “No. I’m just being stupid. And I didn’t like the way she looked at you.” Her cheeks pinked at what she’d said. Del grinned. “I didn’t much care for it myself.” “I don’t understand how she can be bound to both those men.” “She’s not bound to them,” Del corrected. “They’re behsherit to her. She fucked them both at some time or another, and so now they’re hooked to her like a dog on a chain. They can’t get it up for another woman. It doesn’t matter if she has two or two dozen of them. She can go and do what she wants, while they’re stuck with her forever, unless they never want to fuck again.” Linna seemed uncertain about what to say. “I can see that bothers you,” she offered after a moment. “To be…bound.” Del nodded abruptly and let her step out of his embrace. Awkwardness filled the space between them and he cleared his throat to cover up the silence. “I’d better go. You going to be okay?” She nodded, even though she bit her lip, and lifted her chin. “It might surprise you, Del, but I’ve been taking care of myself for a number of years.” He grinned at that. “I know.” Linna took his hand, squeezed it. “Whatever happens…” She trailed off, seeming uncertain. She took a deep breath. “I just want you to know I’m here for you. For whatever you might need.” Now something else grew between them, something hot and heavy and full of promise. She licked her lips and all at once Del was 105

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reminded of the taste of her. His penis stirred and he dropped her hand. “Same here,” he said, and knew his answer was way less than what he wanted to say, but stupidity locked up his tongue. “You’d better go.” He looked out into the narrow hall. “Yeah. You need me, you find me, okay?” She nodded firmly. “Yes. And if you need me…” Before spending the past two days with her he couldn’t have imagined a situation where a woman could help him, but after watching Linna kick some major ass, Del knew he could count on her for almost anything. Too much of everything actually. “Yeah.” Without another word, and without looking back, he left her there and went down the hall toward the crew berth. It was much the same as the other few ships he’d been on. Three rows of narrow bunks, three high, with little more than walking space between them. Rough blankets piled at the foot of the beds, and flat, stained pillows. The space stank of sweat and sour breath, and Del closed his eyes briefly at the stench. “You’ll bunk there,” said a different man than either of the two who’d led them aboard the ship. “You’ll have your time with her whenever she wants it. We usually split it up pretty evenly, unless she makes a special request.” The man continued, outlining other courses of duty, meal times, crew privileges, but Del stopped him. “What do you mean, time with her?” The man stopped and looked surprised. “There’s nine of us. We each gets a night with her. Unless she wants you more’n that, which might be possible, depending.” “Her? The captain?” “Yeah.” The man shook his head. “Ain’t they tole you about this ship, man?” Del’s stomach clenched. “You mean she’s hooked all of you to 106

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her?” “Sheol, yeah! What the hell did you think, man? Captain Lunavoss won’t take on any crew member she can’t get her pleasure from. I’d have thought she’d made that pretty clear.” Del shook his head. “I knew it was a possibility. I didn’t know it was a requirement.” The man grinned, showing crooked, stained teeth. “You the one who came on board with that doxy?” “She’s not a doxy.” “Whatever.” The man shrugged. “Cap’n wouldn’t take you on if you was behsherit to someone else. She’ll be likely to call for you tonight. I’d be ready, if I was you.” “And if refuse?” His answer seemed to strike man funny, because he burst into guffaws of laughter. “You can’t refuse the cap’n. That’s mutiny, man. That can get you thrown off this bucket of bolts faster’n warp speed.” Del toward the door, intent on finding Linna and getting off this ship right away. He would find work for both of them, or for only him if it was necessary to support her, but he wasn’t going to bind himself to that zona Lunavoss. Not for anything. Not even to get off this planet. Before he could leave the crew berth, the ship shuddered, and he felt the distinctive stomach-dropping thud of lift-off. The whir of the turbines buzzed in his ears. He stumbled and reached for the wall to hold himself upright. In another moment, the ship bucked through the upper atmosphere and the ride smoothed. The grav-boosters kicked in, making him feel momentarily too heavy before they adjusted to outer space. “Harah.” “You got a problem?” the crewman asked curiously. “It ain’t so bad, you know. Sharing her. She treats us right, keeps us in work, doesn’t make too many demands on us. One thing about Cap’n, I’ll give ’er this. She likes her bedroom antics, yeah, but she’s more than 107

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happy to leave a man alone between times. Hell, I’d be a ship monkey if I wasn’t here, but this way I get laid regular, at least.” Del wiped a hand across his head and closed his eyes again. “Doesn’t interest me, man. I just want passage on this ship. I don’t want to work on it the rest of my life.” The crewman shrugged. “Then I guess you shoulda found another ship. She’s gonna want you tonight. She usually wants the new ones right away.” Del turned to look at the man. “Any time she hasn’t wanted the new one right away?” “Not that I can think. Not unless he was sick or something.” Del wiped a hand over his head again, thinking. “How long until the first port?” “You mean you signed on without even knowing our route?” “We wanted to get Offworld as soon as we could. It doesn’t matter where.” The man snorted. “We’ve got a delivery of artisilk and computer chips for a merchant in Yarushalim. You hit the jackpot, man. You’re going home.”

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CHAPTER 7

Linna couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually washed a dish. Out of necessity, eating had been a something she did alone, and living in the SexKennels meant she hadn’t had the chance to accumulate many personal belongings. Even when she’d lived in her own house with Daniel, they’d had servbots to do all the cleaning. “You grab it like this,” said the woman in front of the sink as she held up a wad of soapy material. “Ain’t you never seen a sponge before?” “Of course I’ve seen a sponge,” Linna replied calmly. “I just never used one.” The frowzy blonde missing several teeth frowned and made a loud exclamation in a language Linna didn’t understand before switching to Universal. “What the hell?” Linna took the sponge. “It’s okay. I think I can figure it out.” The woman, who’d introduced herself as Garlinda, stepped aside in the narrow galley, but only barely. Her shoulder brushed Linna’s. 109

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Oddly, the woman leaned over and sniffed. “What?” asked Linna, frustrated. “You smell like metal. You a metal head?” Linna shook her head with a sigh. “My head’s made of bone and skin, just like yours.” “Not like mine,” Garlinda said with a cackle. She reached up to her temple and pressed. Her head opened up like a jewelry box, exposing the mass of tissue, blood, veins beneath. Her brain lay in her skull. It pulsed. Linna swallowed heavily. “That looks painful.” With a shrug, her companion reattached her head. “Naw. Just more convenient that way, for when I want to change brains.” Linna wasn’t sure she really wanted to know, but she couldn’t help asking. “Change brains?” “You Earthers,” said the woman with a sneer. “Only born with one brain. Awfully stupid, if you ask me. What happens if the one you got gets ruined? Or you use it too much and wear it out?” “I never heard of anyone wearing out their brain,” Linna said wryly. “But if something bad happens to your brain, and you have the right amount of money, you can get a new one. Sort of.” “That happen to you?” Garlinda sniffed again, wrinkling her nose. “Sort of.” Garlinda sniffed and pointed at the sink. “Well, metal head, those dishes don’t wash themself, and Cap’n Lunavoss gets a bit testy if everything on this ship don’t run to her specifications.” Linna thought of the tall, exotic-looking woman. “Lunavoss likes things her way, huh?” “Captain Lunavoss,” emphasized Garlinda. “Even her boys don’t get to call her just by her name. It’s Cap’n to them, and Cap’n to you.” Linna scrubbed furiously at the stack of metal dishes in the sink. “I’ll make sure to remember that.” “See that you do.” Garlinda grinned again. “Work’s hard on the 110

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Oss, but she pays fair, and she treats her crew fair, too. Even the doxies get treated right.” “I can’t imagine they have much work to do.” Linna stacked more dishes. “What with the captain’s harem and all.” Garlinda hissed between her missing teeth. “You moron. Not all the crew are Xanderran, you know. She’s got others who ain’t. She might be Saurani, but she’s still only one woman. So they’ve got to have some other place to spend their pennies, so they don’t get to fighting.” Linna had thought she’d heard every possible term for the sex act, but “spend their pennies” wasn’t one of them. She didn’t dare laugh at Garlinda, though, who was looking terribly serious. Instead, Linna concentrated on cleaning the entire sink of dishes while her companion stood back and watched. “I don’t know Saurani,” she said. Garlinda snorted and hooted, then slapped her knee. “Luckiest bitches in the Universe. Whether you figure that luck be good or bad is your choice, though.” Linna looked up from the pile of dishes. “What do you mean?” Garlinda shook her head. “They’re over-sexed. Can’t never get enough. Got to have it all the time, several times a day. Goes off like a rocket when the ship drops into orbit, whatever, she’s moaning and grinding. Takes up too much time, if you ask me. There’s plenty of other stuff I’d rather spend my time doing.” Linna thought briefly of the Pleasurebots, whose sole function was sex. “It does sound awfully inconvenient.” Garlinda grunted. “You ain’t seen him since you been on board, have you?” The woman was perceptive. Maybe it was the exchangeable brain. Linna shook her head. “No. He’s been busy.” Garlinda’s laugh sent a chill down Linna’s back. “Not as busy as he should be, I’ve heard.” Arms up to the elbows in suds, Linna turned. “What’s that supposed 111

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to mean?” “You didn’t think he’d be able to turn her down, did you? I mean, he ain’t bound to you, so he’s up for grabs. You don’t really think she took you both on just ’cuz she needed two pairs of hands, do you?” Linna focused on the task in front of her. “Del is free to do what he wants. I’m pretty sure he has his reasons for not wanting to…sleep with the captain.” Garlinda grunted again, then spat into the dishwater. “I told you, he don’t have much choice. She takes what she wants, that one. One way or another.” Linna’s hands shook and her throat closed. Tears, brief but scalding, burned her eyes and she blinked furiously to clear them. “So, he’s like the others now? Bound to her?” “Not yet,” the woman said. “Word is he aims to turn her down.” “He does?” She sounded too joyful. Linna quickly washed another dish. “I mean, I’m sure he does.” Garlinda handed Linna a clean towel to dry the dishes. “She only asks once.” “And if she’s refused?” “Then she takes.” That made Linna give an unamused chuckle. “It’s pretty hard to take sex from a man who’s not interested in giving it. What does she do? Tie them up?” “Sure, puts ’em in the brig. Gives ’em an aphrodisiac pill until their balls are blue from it. Then she gets on ’em and rides to her heart’s content.” Linna turned so fast she dropped the towel. “That’s rape!” “Never heard any man complain,” said Garlinda. She waggled her bushy eyebrows. “Besides, once they’re hooked up to her, they don’t got much to say about it.” “She’s walking a dangerous line.” Linna forced herself to breathe more calmly. “Del told me his people sometimes kill each other to get 112

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free from a bad match. What happens to her if she forces herself on a man who doesn’t want to be stuck with her?” “Well, it ain’t happened yet,” said Garlinda, clearly not interested. “And I doubt it ever will. She’s every man’s wet dream, metal head. She keeps ’em happy.” But not Del, Linna thought grimly, turning back to the sink of nowclean dishes. Lunavoss wouldn’t make Del happy. And she wouldn’t get him, either, not against his will. Not if Linna could help it. *

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Del had toyed with the idea of feigning illness when called to the captain’s quarters. On a ship this small, he wouldn’t have had to pretend too hard. His stomach still heaved every time they jumped in and out of boost, which was frequently since the Oss couldn’t maintain superspeed for long periods of time. He hated space travel. It was bred in Xanderrans to stay world-side. Kept them close to their mates and families. He wasn’t the only one to fight years of tradition and basic genetics, though. That much was evident by the number of Xanderrans on the Oss. Eight others, all behsherit to Lunavoss. It was enough to make him really sick. The captain had made it clear to him she expected him to have sex with her tonight. To spend his penny, as the other crewmen joked. Spend a penny. There was a phrase he hadn’t heard in a long time. Newcitizens were a lot more graphic about what they called sex. Fucking. Banging. Scrogging. Screwing. Horizontal Boogaloo. Knocking boots. Spending a penny sounded pretty innocent in comparison, but it wouldn’t be. Del didn’t want to do any of those with Captain Lunavoss, who had breasts a man could die for and an ass that just wouldn’t quit. He didn’t want to fuck her if it meant never being able to fuck another woman again. 113

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He hadn’t bothered to ask any of the other crew members how they could stand not only being bound to such an avaricious bitch, but how they stood sharing their behshera. On Xanderra, it didn’t matter how much one man might want another man’s woman. Once a pair was bonded, they could only get aroused and orgasm with each other. It didn’t matter what the mind told the body it wanted, the body just didn’t comply. The bitch of all of this was he knew that as soon as he walked into the captain’s quarters tonight, she’d turn on the charm and his dick would rise up like she had it on a leash. She was more than just attractive. The captain was sex on wheels. She knew how to use every inch of her smoking hot body to perfection. Del straightened his back. He didn’t have to be led by his prick. He’d managed not to make love to Linna, a woman he actually wouldn’t mind being with. “Fuck.” The Newcity word shot from his mouth and earned him a few raised eyebrows. He bent back to the power grid he’d been ordered to repair and clamped his lips shut. If he’d made love to Linna, there would be no question about him spending anything with Lunavoss, much less his penny. He’d be behsherit to Linna now. Able only to make love to her, genetically predetermined to protect her and their offspring at all costs. Sheol, he might even be in love with her. Del cursed again and wrenched the stray power grid wires back into place while he soldered them tight. He wanted Linna. Maybe even enough to spend the rest of his days with her, or at least as many as she’d be willing to grant him. He’d screwed up. But then Lunavoss wouldn’t have agreed to take them on board, and they’d probably still be stuck back in Oldcity. “Harah.” “You having a problem?” the small, thin man asked. Sarken, Del remembered. “Yeah.” 114

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Sarken craned his neck to look at the power grid. “You do good work. We’ll be glad to have you.” “I’m not staying.” Sarken chuckled. His head only came up to Del’s shoulder, but his arms were ropy with muscle. Del looked at the pattern of blue and black inked on Sarken’s forearms. Xanderran. “Let me give you some advice, man. Just do what she wants. It’s not so bad.” Del fixed the last wire and closed the power grid’s cover. “Sorry, man. Being behsherit to someone I don’t—” “Love?” Sarken laughed, showing teeth white against his dark skin. “What is love? Clean clothes, hot food, a bed of your own and spending your penny.” Del gave the other man an even stare. “Not for me.” Sarken shook his head. “Man, even at home most people worry less about love and more about getting along.” “Do you get along with Lunavoss?” Sarken shrugged and looked away, his eyes unreadable. “Sure. Like I said, man, it’s better to just go along. She’ll get what she wants from you, anyway, and once she does…nothing else seems as important.” “That’s the virus. It has nothing to do with your head.” Del stripped off his heavy work gloves and hung them up next to the power grid. “You’re letting your prick think for you, man.” “Like I have a choice,” hissed Sarken bitterly under his breath. The look he gave Del was fierce. Territorial. Challenging. Del’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t clench his fists. The smaller man was reacting, but Del didn’t have to respond. They weren’t on Xanderra now. “I loved a woman once,” Sarken continued. His eyes, a pale blue rare on Xanderra, flashed. “Her name was Kaveen. I wanted her so bad I thought my balls were going to fall off. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be behsherit. She was worried what would happen if we got tired of 115

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each other. So she wanted to wait a little longer and make sure we were right for each other.” Del thought of his own decision to leave Xanderra rather than take a behshera. “It happens.” Sarken bared his teeth. “She died, the zona. Left me alone on Xanderra with nothing but the house we would’ve lived in together and memories. I never even got to make love to her. She left me! So I went Offworld. Ran into some trouble on Sandit-7. Got hooked up with Cap’n. I’ve been with her ever since.” “You don’t love her.” Sarken’s grimace grew wider, fiercer. “Sheol, no, man. But now I’m bound to her, along with the other seven unlucky fucks who needed work and passage on her ship. Believe me when I tell you this, man. Give her what she wants. It’s not worth having her take it.” Sarken lifted up his sleeveless shirt and turned to show Del his bare back. The surface was marked and studded with scars and welts. Most of them Del recognized as battle scars. He had a lot of his own. Some of them, though, a series of three punctures in three lines, didn’t look like fight marks. “What did she do to you?” Sarken yanked down his shirt and looked around before answering. “Injections of liquefied colare root.” “Lovevine?” Del asked, giving the plant its common name. “That’s poison.” “Or an aphrodisiac, depending on the dose. She’s had a lot of time to experiment with it.” “Why?” Del asked. “Why not just find men who want her? She’s got the body for it.” Sarken shrugged. “She wants more than a man’s body. She wants his heart, mind and soul. She wants slaves.” Del put his hands on his hips. “I won’t be anybody’s slave.” Sarken laughed. “That’s what I said, too, man. But let me tell you, 116

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when your dick is hard as marble and your balls are fit to busting, and all you can think about is having a woman wrap her lips around your ramrod and suck you off…there ain’t much else you can think about. Lunavoss is a good lay.” “No lay can be that good.” Sarken face went unreadable again. “It’s better than nothing. At least she doesn’t expect us to love her. For the rest of my life, I don’t ever have to be in love again. That’s worth just about any price, man.” Sarken went back to his own repair tasks. Del thought about what the other man had said, but he couldn’t agree. *

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Linna had finished up cleaning the galley only to discover the next shift of meals needed to be prepared. The Oss had minimal replication facilities. Garlinda showed her how to operate the re-hydration unit, and where to find the bins of freeze-dried meal packs. The Oss had only a crew of twenty, including the non-essential operating crew of the doxy and the two galley drosses. The Oss was primarily a cargo hauler, though, which meant non-storage space was minimal. The dining room could only hold five people at a time. The crew ate in shifts. No sooner did one shift finish than it was time for the next to come in. Linna now knew why Lunavoss needed two drosses. Garlinda had left her to finish the next two shifts, then returned to take over so Linna could eat and sleep. The problem was, Linna couldn’t sleep. The bunk she’d been assigned to was squeezed in between crates and barrels of supplies, smack up against an exterior wall. The entire bed shook and vibrated constantly. Instead of soothing her off to sleep, it was keeping her awake. That and her thoughts about Del. She’d quickly discovered that time had little meaning onboard the Oss. Since she hadn’t seen a window since she’d been aboard, night and day didn’t exist, and the ship was never in darkness. Because the crew was so small, the duty shifts were 117

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long and unrelated to any clock Linna was familiar with. The Oss operated on spacetime, not hours, and Linna had no idea of how long she’d been aboard. It could have been a day. It could have been a week. Long enough to wish for a real shower instead of the light bath Garlinda had shown her to. The unit had cleaned everything, even Linna’s filthy jumpsuit, but left her unsatisfied. Now she tossed and turned on her vibrating bed, thinking of Del. What would the captain do to him when he refused to have sex with her? Maybe he wouldn’t refuse. Linna shook her head. No. He had to. But why? Just because he’d refused her didn’t mean he’d refuse everyone else. Lunavoss was beautiful. And sexy, Linna had to admit. She’d managed to seduce the other Xanderrans on board. Maybe she’d be able to do the same to Del. No matter how much she pretended that thought didn’t sicken her, it did. Linna sighed and turned on her side, eyes wide and staring into the steady blue light that filled her small compartment. She wanted Del for her own. Linna sat up. She had to tell him that. Before he gave himself to the captain, Linna needed to tell him what was in her heart. It might not make a difference…but then again, it might. *

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“Have a seat.” Lunavoss indicated a comfortable-looking chair next to her. Del shook his head, stance straight, hands clasped behind his back. “I’ll stand.” “Suit yourself.” Lunavoss sat back in her own chair, her long legs crossed at the knee. She wore the same thigh-high boots as she had before. The heels looked sharp enough to stab a man through the heart. Her ebony hair flowed over her shoulders, down her firm, full breasts, to her trim waist. Along with the boots, she wore a sheer body stocking that did nothing to hide her bare flesh beneath. 118

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She arched her back, giving him a better view of her breasts and the rosy, erect nipples beneath. “Your name is Delek?” “Yes.” “I like that name.” Del said nothing. Lunavoss shifted in her chair and spread her legs. The pink slit of her sex winked at him through the sheer material of her body stocking. Her clit was as erect as her nipples, pushing against the fabric. She ran a finger down her throat, over her breast to circle one puckered nipple, then down her belly and finally, rested it on that taut bud. “I think you know what I want,” she said. “There’s no use in playing games.” “No games,” Del agreed. He forced himself not to look at her tempting display, even though the scent of her was beginning to drive him a little crazy. “You’re Saurani, aren’t you?” She laughed, a tinkling, sparkling sound that made his cock twitch. “You’re very good, Delek. Not many people have guessed that.” “I’ve met Saurani men before.” “Really?” She raised one brow. “Sauran is a long way from Xanderra.” “So is Earth.” “So it is.” She spread her thighs a bit wider and stroked her finger in a circle on her erect clit. Her other hand toyed with her nipple. “But have you met a Saurani woman before?” “No.” “But you know of my people.” Del nodded, not sure he could answer without sounding hoarse. Her musky scent, the smell of sex, surrounded him. He forced himself to focus on her face, not her lush body or the things she was doing to herself. “Then you know we’re blessed with not just one pleasure point, like so many other humanoids. I have one here between my legs.” She let 119

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out a low moan. “And one on each of my breasts.” Another sigh. “And one in the back of my throat. Another deep inside my cunna. I’m absolutely made for balequili. For fucking, you call it.” She writhed a little more on her seat. Sweat broke out on Del’s forehead and ran in trickles down his back. Saurani men and women released pheromones that made them irresistible. Lunavoss stood. Her high-heeled boots made her tall enough to face him eye to eye. Her tongue swept across her red lips and her green eyes flashed. She didn’t touch him, but this close, the smell of her was enough to make his dick surge to life. She put a hand between his legs. Del’s hand came down on her wrist. For a moment, they strained against each other before she took away her hand. She smiled. “I’m sure the crew has already told you. I get what I want.” “Want something else.” “I don’t think so.” Her shrewd expression didn’t take away from her beauty, but it did help Del resist her a little more. “You’re on my ship by my good grace. You said you’d work for passage. I intend to collect the debt you owe me.” “I didn’t promise to work for you forever, and you know that’s what will happen if I give you balequili. If I fuck you.” Lunavoss pouted. “You’d still be free to leave the Oss once we dock on Xanderra. Or anyplace else you want.” Del barked out a laugh. “I’d still be bound to you.” Lunavoss shrugged and turned away from him. She paced toward the table next to her bed, where she picked up a carafe of blue liquid and poured herself a drink. “Only for sex.” “Some life I’d have,” Del said. Lunavoss tossed back a shot of the drink, then gave him another narrow-eyed glance. “Some life you have now. You’re well past the age when most of your kind have chosen their partners. You ran away 120

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from your homeworld. You make your living doing scut work. “Don’t think I don’t know what those tattoos of yours mean, Delek. You’re not common born. So what are you doing here, doing crew work on my ship in return for passage off a world you don’t belong in? If you haven’t found your partner by now, what makes you think you ever will?” Linna’s face flashed in his mind. Lunavoss laughed out loud, poured another shot and handed him the glass. “You’re thinking of that Earther cyborg, aren’t you? Don’t be an idiot, Delek. If you’d wanted her, you’d have had her already. Don’t fool yourself.” “She’s working for her passage, too,” he said as evenly as he could. He didn’t drink the shot. “And I’ll still work on your crew. But I don’t want to be bound to you.” “But you do want to taste my cunna, don’t you?” Lunavoss strode toward him, eyes gleaming. She took the glass from his hand and tossed back the shot, then licked her lips. “Your nuake is hard, isn’t it? You want to put it inside me, Delek. You want to feel my cunna wrap around your dick. You want to come inside me, over and over. Don’t you?” She took his hand and put it on her breast. The body stocking was so thin it was like touching her bare skin. She closed his fingers around her nipple and her body shuddered. “You want to make me reach nackrim, don’t you? You want to fuck my cunna until I come. I can see it in your eyes.” She took his other hand and thrust it between her legs. Her clit was like a pebble against his palm. She held his hand there, rocked her hips. Her clit spasmed and her green eyes went dark with her climax. “I need it,” Lunavoss said when her shudders had faded. Her pale skin had bloomed pink. “I want it. I want your hands on me, Delek. I want your thick cock inside me, fucking me. I want you to make me 121

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come from all of my pleasurepoints, every one of them.” “No.” She slapped him across the face. “No?” Del stepped back. “No.” Lunavoss frowned and narrowed her eyes. “I am captain of this vessel. You are crew. I can have you thrown in the brig for insubordination.” “Why Xanderran men?” Del challenged. “Why not Saurani men? Or other species? Why do you have to pick the one that can’t get away from you once they’ve given you what you want?” Now her expression became smug. “Xanderran men are eager to please their lovers. And they don’t stray. I can count on my Xanderran lovers to satisfy me, whenever I want, as many times as I need it. Saurani men get bored quickly. I’ve tried other species. They wear out too soon. I like to use Xanderrans.” “Use us,” Del said, his voice thick with disgust. “Like animals.” Lunavoss shrugged. “I take care of my men. They lack for nothing.” “Except choice.” “All of them came to me,” Lunavoss snapped. “I don’t seek them out. Just like you came to me.” “I’m telling you no.” Lunavoss shrugged. “All you’re doing is making this more of a challenge. I’ll get what I want, in the end.” “Not from me.” She smiled, revealing white, sharp teeth. “Don’t be so sure.” He didn’t see the hypogun in her hand until she hit him with it.

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CHAPTER 8

What the Oss lacked in size, it made up for in complexity. Linna had only been in the dining room, galley and in her compartment. She’d mistakenly thought the crew berth would be easy to find. So far, she’d found multiple storage bays, the doxy quarters and the engine room. The hallways were narrow and hung with wires and stacked with boxes. The rooms opened one into the next without order. She was lost. She didn’t want to think about what Lunavoss would do if she came upon Linna wandering the ship. She hadn’t been told to stay in her quarters, but she hadn’t been given free rein either. Somehow, Linna didn’t think the captain would appreciate Linna’s presence, especially if it meant coming between her and Del. Suddenly, the ship rocked. Linna stumbled against the corridor wall and banged her unenhanced elbow hard enough to bring tears of pain to her eyes. The ship rocked again and sent her reeling to the other side of the tight passage. The lights flickered and dimmed. The red emergency bulbs lit and the warning siren began to chime. 123

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“All crew to posts!” came the command over the intercom. “We’re under attack!” Under attack? Dread trickled through Linna’s veins. She’d heard about space pirates who preyed on the small, private cargo ships. The ship rocked, and she fell to her hands and knees. A stack of boxes shifted and fell, landing mere inches from her head. She needed to get out of this hallway and someplace more secure. As Linna got to her feet, the intercom continued to bark commands. “Cap’n to the bridge,” came a new one. Linna could hardly believe a ship the size of the Oss even had a bridge, but apparently it did, because in the next moment a door at the end of corridor flew open and Lunavoss burst out. The captain wore the same high boots and little else. Her face was set in a look of fierce determination. “Not this time, you bastards,” Lunavoss muttered as she slammed the door behind her. Instead of heading toward Linna, the captain went left, down another hall, and disappeared around the corner. Now Linna knew where the captain’s quarters were. She kept her feet the next time the ship rocked, even though her hip banged painfully against the wall. She tried the door Lunavoss had come out of. It wasn’t locked. Linna shook her head at the captain’s arrogance and pushed the door open. “Del?” The room inside had gone dim, lit by the red emergency lighting. Her pupils dilated, and she had no trouble spotting Del. He stood in the corner, back toward her, hands splayed on top of a table. His shoulders heaved. He wore only his black trousers and boots. His skin glistened in the red light. “Del?” He turned so fast he was almost a blur. The whites of his eyes gleamed, followed a second later by his teeth as he grinned. His chest 124

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muscles rippled and flexed. In two strides, he was in front of her. The kiss was fierce, passionate, bruising. She opened her mouth to speak and his tongue swept inside. He devoured her. Without pause, without warning, his hands cupped her buttocks and lifted her, settling her with her legs around his hips. The length of him, rock hard, rubbed her through his pants, and she gasped against his mouth. Del held her easily with one hand, like she weighed no more than air, while he jerked open the button at his waistband with the other. He tore at the stickseam, which separated with a loud rip. His cock sprang free, hot against her ass, and he lifted her up to slide it between them. She had only meant to come and talk to him, but words and reason fled under the onslaught of his tongue and hands. She wanted this. She wanted him. It was the wrong time, wrong place, but this was not the wrong man, and even though Linna knew she should stop him, she couldn’t do it. Her arms were wrapped around his neck. Their mouths locked, tongues stroking and dueling. Her entire body was on fire. Still holding her, Del walked her back toward the table he’d been standing at. It was just high enough that when he settled her onto it, her pussy aligned perfectly with his erection. Linna let her head fall back as she supported herself on her elbows. She was already so wet for him he slid inside her with no resistance. He filled her, as she’d known he would. Instantly, her vagina clenched around him as her clit buzzed. Del groaned, his hands on her hips to guide his thrusts. Linna hooked her ankles around his firm, muscled ass and urged him on. In, then out, right to the very core of her. She lifted her hips to meet his thrusts, wanting to take in every inch of him. His penis throbbed inside her and pressed against the rim of her womb. The pressure sent another delicious burst of sensation rolling through her. 125

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She moaned. Del slid a hand between them and rolled his thumb in circles over her erect clitoris. She exploded into an orgasm so intense it made her vision narrow for a moment into a tunnel of black tinged with red. “Del!” He answered with a moan of his own. He bent low over her and found her mouth again. They breathed together, one to one. He filled her completely, head to foot, and covered her. The pressure of his pubic bone against her clit made another orgasm flood her. Linna held him close to her as the pure pleasure flooded her entire body. Del shuddered and thrust into her one last time as he gasped and cried out. It had happened so fast, Linna almost couldn’t believe it had happened at all. Del pushed himself off of her. Linna recognized that the red gleam in his dark eyes was not a reflection of the emergency lighting at the same moment the door opened and Lunavoss stormed in. “What the fuck?” cried Lunavoss. She dug her long, crimson nails into Del’s shoulder and pulled him away from Linna. “Oh, you cunna!” Linna sat up and pulled her jumpsuit closed around her. She looked at Del, whose eyes were still glazed. His breathing was rapid. His erection hadn’t wilted, even though she felt the warmth of his semen trickling between her thighs. “What did you do to him?” she whispered. Lunavoss actually snarled, like a beast. “It’s what I didn’t do to him that should worry you, dearie. Seems like you beat me to it.” “Why is he like that?” Linna ignored Lunavoss’s snide remarks. She got up from the table, her legs still a little weak from their lovemaking. “Did you drug him?” “A little injection of lovevine never hurt anyone.” Lunavoss reached for Del’s penis. He moved away from her, his erection softening at her touch. “But there are some things even lovevine can’t change. Xanderran bonding is one of them. Too bad. I was really looking forward to bedding this one.” 126

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Nausea swirled in Linna’s gut. “He has no idea what’s going on, does he?” “He knows enough.” Lunavoss went to a hook on the wall, yanked off a robe of flowing material and drew it on. “He could still fuck like a pro, couldn’t he?” “But…he didn’t know it was me, did he?” Lunavoss shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know, and I don’t really care. He’s useless to me now, which is just as well I suppose, because we’ve been boarded by that bastard Erystus Sloane and his crew. They’re calling for forced barter. Since I’m not inclined to give up my shipment of Keanican liquor or Shaddran foliage, I guess I’ll have to offer them something a little less unique.” Linna put her hand on Del’s bare shoulder. The muscles jumped beneath her fingers. His skin was flushed, as though with fever. She bent and pulled up his pants and made sure they were fastened around his waist before she turned to face Lunavoss. “You’re a monster,” she said coldly. “Look at him.” “He’ll be all right. Oh, coming off the lovevine high is always a bit unpleasant, but he’ll survive it. A bit of puking and some hallucinations are nothing compared to the Xanderran adulthood rituals. At least I didn’t make him bleed.” “Does that make it any better?” Linna demanded. Lunavoss fixed her with a narrowed green glare. “What do you care, you stupid cunna? You got what you wanted from him. He’s bound to you now. You should thank me.” Linna kept her chin high and refused to let desperation control her. “I hope you rot, Lunavoss.” “Save it for your new owner, stupid cunna.” Linna didn’t like the sound of that. “Owner?” “Erystus does a good trade in Carnalla sluts. I’m sure he’ll find a good use for you. As for your lover, well, I’m sure he’ll find a nice place in the Carnalla lovevine fields. Ironic, don’t you think?” 127

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Linna didn’t think. She just swung. Her fist connected with Lunavoss’s cheek and sent the other woman reeling. Lunavoss came back, quick as light, and kicked toward Linna’s stomach. Linna blocked the blow. The fight was on. *

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*

He’d never felt a pain as great as this, not even in the yaladat, the Xanderran adulthood ritual. His head spun. His stomach lurched. He rolled instinctively to his side, vomited once, then again until his stomach ached with the effort and his throat burned from bile. First chills, then heat wracked him. He heard moans and understood they were his, but couldn’t stop. The world spun and twisted, and he twisted with it like a salla bug’s prey wrapped in silk and twisting in the wind. After a while, he heard her voice. Linna’s voice. The soft words and tone soothed, him, even though he wasn’t quite sure what she was saying. A cool hand stroked his brow. Cool, sweet liquid passed through his lips and stayed in his guts, and he had time to be grateful for that privilege before the world went dark again. Del opened his eyes to darkness, but this time it was lack of light, not fever and illness that kept him from seeing. “Linna?” He half-expected her not to answer, to discover she’d only been a dream, but she was there in an instant. Her hand crept to his forehead before she stroked his cheek. She smelled like paradise. “You’re awake.” “How long?” he asked, unable to voice the rest of his question. He didn’t need to. Linna knew what he meant to say as surely as if he’d spoken aloud. “A few days. They come once a day to bring food and medicine. They’ve come three times.” “They?” Her voice was light, but sounded forced. “We’ve been sold to space pirates, Del.” 128

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“Who?” “The Oss was boarded by a pirate named Erystus Sloane. Lunavoss gave him us instead of her cargo.” Del tensed at the captain’s name, expecting to feel something pull at him. The last thing he remembered was the floor coming up to meet him after she’d caught him by surprise with her hypogun. He assumed she’d drugged him with the lovevine and had her way with him, but as he sat up, all he felt was a blinding headache. More importantly, Linna’s scent still stirred him. “She gave me lovevine.” “That’s what she said.” She moved closer to him. The hairs on his arms lifted in response. The floor rocked beneath them and light flooded the room. It burned his eyes and he covered them, blinking, until they adjusted. They were in a small cargo hold outfitted with a bed, a table, a sanitary bucket and nothing else. Prison quarters. “You don’t remember anything?” Linna questioned. She poured liquid from a pitcher into a cup and handed it to him. He sniffed it. Soloil. Not the best thing for an aching head and queasy stomach, but it would quench his thirst. He took a swig and found it settled his stomach better than he’d thought it would. “She hit me with a hypogun. I went down. That’s all I can remember until I woke up here.” She nodded and looked up. Her hair fell in lank strands on her cheeks, paler than normal. She looked tired. She was beautiful. “Del, there’s something I need to tell you.” He sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and tried to steady himself. He needed food. Spying a plate of rolls next to the pitcher on the table, he grabbed one up and stuffed it in his mouth. The second it touched his tongue, his hunger roared to life, insatiable. He gobbled the rest of the stale bread before wondering guiltily if Linna needed some. He swigged some more soloil and wiped his mouth 129

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with the back of his hand. “I should’ve saved some for you. I’m sorry.” She smiled and shook her head as though amused. “I don’t know why Xanderrans have such a bad reputation.” Del thought about how his father had never hesitated to take a fist to him for being rude. His people were quick to anger, and just as swift to battle, but consideration and respect for those you loved was trained into you from childhood. Del stopped himself from taking another drink. Love. There it was again, that word in connection with thoughts of Linna. He looked at her. She was looking back. Her eyes were sad, even though her mouth smiled. “You’re a good man, Del.” She wasn’t talking about saving stale bread. Del swallowed, hard. Memories of her beneath him, overlaid in red, rose in his mind. But that wasn’t right. They’d been together darkness. Never red light. Unless…. “What happened?” he asked, then had to clear his throat and ask again to be sure she’d heard him. “The drug she gave you made you…she meant it to…” Linna paused, seemingly at a loss for words. Then she took a deep breath, faced him head on, and spoke without hesitation. “We made love, Del. All the way.” He was on his feet and pacing before she could speak again. Made love. Another flash of memory hit him. Linna’s face, twisted with passion. Him above her. The captain’s voice behind them. “We’re behsherit.” He didn’t make it a question. Of course they were. Now it seemed so obvious. He could feel it all through him. Feel her all through him. In his bones, his lungs, his heart, his blood. His brain. The remnants of the lovevine made him stumble against the wall, and he put his forehead on the cool metal. Trying to gather the strength to face her. He didn’t want to see the pity in her eyes. “Del, I’m sorry.” She sounded miserable. “I didn’t know she’d given you lovevine. I found you in her room. You came at me. 130

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You…you took me.” “Ah, harah.” He pounded the wall with his fist. “I raped you?” Self-loathing filled him and, for one moment, he thought he might puke again. Del pounded the wall again and again, wanting to pound himself instead. He closed his eyes, but opened them when an image of Linna rose beneath him, face not twisted with passion. With fear. “No! Oh, God-of-Choice, Del. No. You did not rape me.” He sensed her behind him. She didn’t touch him, for which he was grateful. He couldn’t stand her pity. “Do you really think I couldn’t have fought you off if I’d wanted to?” The gentle humor in her voice made him twist his head to catch a glimpse of her. She stepped into his view, her expression unreadable. She reached out for him, but stopped herself before she could touch his shoulder. She looked at her fingers, a hair away from his skin, then let them drop. “I might not be Xanderran, but I’m enhanced enough to have kicked you right on your lovely ass, Del. If I’d wanted to.” He turned to face her fully. “You didn’t want to.” “How could you think I would?” she asked him softly. “After everything we’ve been through? Your apartment? The hall in that abandoned building? If I had known you weren’t conscious of what you were doing, I’d have stopped you. I should’ve stopped you.” Her voice caught. Tears shimmered in her beautiful blue eyes. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t have made love to me willingly. But I wanted you Del. I can’t deny it. When you came at me like you did, and you kissed me…I wanted to believe it was really you, wanting me.” She took a deep breath. “She’d have taken you, if I hadn’t been there first.” “Linna—” He wanted to tell her he loved her, and that he’d loved her for months. Becoming behsherit had nothing to do with it. He’d 131

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fallen in love with her the first time he’d won a smile from her. He wanted to tell her that even if they had not made love, even if his freakish genetic makeup hadn’t somehow bound him to her through mutation, he’d still be hers. She owned him because he loved her. Del tried to think of something to say, some way to tell her how he felt, but the words tangled up on his tongue and wouldn’t be spoken. Behsherim could insult each other, hurt each other’s feelings, and make each other angry. But only someone who wasn’t bound in return could do what Linna did next. She opened her mouth and she destroyed him.

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CHAPTER 9

“It shouldn’t have happened,” Linna told him. “I know that. It was a big, huge mistake.” The big man swayed in front of her. Alarmed, Linna reached for him, afraid he was going to faint on her. His normally dusky skin looked chalky, waxy. His eyes fluttered. Brushing off her hands, he stalked away. She was amazed again at how gracefully he moved for such a large, muscular man. Without his boots on, he moved silently, too. The room wasn’t big enough for him to get completely out of her grasp, but she held back from reaching for him again. He went to the bed and sat down, face in his hands. He didn’t look good. Her throat closed. She’d known how he felt about being bonded, but seeing him react so strongly to the news still shot a bolt of pain straight through her. “Believe me, Del, if I’d known you were drugged, I’d never have done it.” 133

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He looked up at her eyes red-rimmed. “I know. I don’t blame you. You’re too good, Linna.” That wasn’t the answer she expected. “Del…” He cut her off. “Your heart’s too good. You’d never want to know that someone like me was stuck to you for the rest of your life. But I don’t want your pity. I want you to leave me when you have the chance. You don’t have to stay with me.” Pity? Linna put her hands on her hips. He wanted her to leave him. Was the thought of celibacy for the rest of his life so preferable to the thought of being with her? Her lip trembled, and she forced what she hoped was a stoic look to her face. “I don’t pity you.” His body gave a small shudder. To her alarm, she saw tears in his dark eyes. Pain twisted the features she’d come to love so well. “I’m sorry this happened, Linna.” Self-respect made her angry, a much better feeling than being heartbroken. How dare he be sorry? She’d saved him from that bitch Lunavoss! She’d beaten the crap out of the woman, too, before the crewmen had come in and stopped her. “Well, I’m not sorry!” she cried. “You could’ve been behsherit to Lunavoss! Would you have liked that better?” He shook his head, a picture of misery. He’d clasped his hands in his lap, the big, strong fingers interlocked so tightly his knuckles were white. Her heart was moved by the sight, but she didn’t pity him. “I’m not sorry we made love, Del!” She knelt in front of him, not daring to touch him, but close enough to do so if she wanted. “I know you don’t want to be bound to me—” He let out a low groan. “I do.” That stopped the tirade she’d been planning. “What?” He gave her a look of naked angst. “I do want to, Linna.” “You’re just saying that because you already are,” she whispered. “It’s the bonding.” He shook his head. “No. Behsherim can’t be turned on by anyone 134

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other than partners. They don’t have to love them. I told you that. The bonding only controls sex. It doesn’t control love.” “Love?” She couldn’t believe he’d said that word. Del nodded. “Yeah.” “Oh, Del.” For a long moment, Linna couldn’t think of what to say. She put her hand on his cheek, and he turned his face into her caress. His breath was warm on her fingers. The bristles of his growing beard scratched her palm. “I guess I lied. I’m sorry.” It broke her heart to see how he didn’t object to her words, only closed his eyes against them like he’d known they were the truth all along. “I’m sorry because that drug stole something from you that should’ve been wonderful. I’m sorry because you should’ve had a choice, not been forced to it by some bitch with an itch to scratch and no morals. I’m sorry because your first time should’ve been something you could never forget, not something you’re unable to remember.” She moved closer to him, into the space between his thighs, and rose onto her knees to bring her lips close to his. “Your first time should’ve been really special, Del.” It hurt her to see him so low. She put her hands on his broad, bare shoulders and waited until he looked at her. His gaze searched hers, and Linna was sure she didn’t imagine the hope in them. She felt the same expression in her own. She brushed his lips with hers in the barest touch. She gave him the choice to return the kiss because, without his choice, none of the rest of this mattered. He took the chance she gave him. He kissed her, mouth on mouth. His arms went around her and pulled her close to him. He whispered in her ear, “I love you, Linna.” She didn’t want to think about the effort speaking those words must have cost him, or how much truth in them came from his heart and how 135

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much came from the bonding. He’d said them, and he meant them. “I love you, too.” She kissed his temple, then his cheek, and at last found his lips again. Soft, full and warm on her own, they parted and allowed her tongue to slip between them. She moved closer into his embrace. The bulge of his erection pressed on her belly, and answering heat flared inside her, but Linna was determined to make this time different. Every other time they’d been together, lust had swept both of them away, made them lose their heads. She was determined that this time, for Del’s real first time, they’d take things nice and slow. His hands roamed her back, then slid down to cup her buttocks and pull her in tight against him. She loved the way his hands could completely cover her ass. Since waking from the accident that had turned her mecho, Linna had struggled with the age-old feminine issue of body consciousness. She was heavy, she was scarred, she had perfect internal organs, but still thought her breasts were the wrong size and her butt too big. Being with Del, it didn’t matter that her enhancements made her heavier than she looked, or that she was strong enough to kill a man with her bare fists—something that would have intimidated many men. Being with Del meant Linna felt…perfect. The kisses had grown harder, faster, more passionate, and he held her even tighter against his erection. Linna pushed back, gently, determined not to get swept away this time. His eyes were a little glazed with passion, but he was with her. Not like the last time, when she’d mistaken the fire in his gaze for lust instead of delusion. He looked her up and down, looked at her body with desire that was clearly echoed in the way his cock rose and his breath hitched in his throat. It had been a long, long time since a man had looked at her that way. At her, Linna, not as a conquest, not as a purchase. As a lover. It made her feel soft inside, and a little weepy. It also made her incredibly hot. Her nipples rose through the thin material of her 136

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jumpsuit, and she drew his hands up from her ass to cup her breasts. His thumbs rolled on the taut buds, and she breathed out a half-sigh, half-moan. She urged him to slide open the worn stickseam and burst out laughing when the much-belabored fabric finally gave in to all the abuse it had seen and shredded under his eager fingers. “Sorry.” He gave her that sexy grin she’d fallen in love with and didn’t look sorry at all. Del bent his head to flick his tongue against her nipples, one side, then the other. He took one in his mouth and suckled gently. Linna felt the sensation throughout her entire body, especially in her clit, which rubbed deliciously against the seam of her jumpsuit crotch. She moved her hips on the pressure, teasing herself as he teased her nipples. “I’ll buy you a new one,” Del said. His words made her flesh hum, and she wriggled. “Even though I like you better this way.” He kissed up her throat and found her mouth again. Together, they fell back onto the lumpy pallet with Linna on top. She shifted a little to scoot herself higher up his body. Crotch to crotch, they lay still for a moment, mouths still sealed together. His hands cupped her ass again, moving her back and forth against his cock. Her clit warmed quickly to the intermittent stimulation, but Linna held back from grinding herself directly down on top of him. This was for Del, not for her. He rolled over so they were laying side-by-side, face to face. His hand rested on the curve of her waist. They kissed some more. She lost herself in his mouth and lips and teeth and tongue, lost herself in kissing the way she hadn’t done for years and years. Foreplay was something her clients usually refused to pay for, and her relationship with Daniel had been dead for a long time before she was. She floated on the waves of pleasure sweeping over her. Del’s mouth found her eyes, her ears, throat, neck, shoulders. Down to her breasts and back again to her mouth. She did the same to him. They kissed like that was all they ever had to do for the rest of their lives. 137

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Languorous and slow, but urgent, too, as their bodies responded to each other. He moved his cock against her, the barrier of their clothes still between them, but not enough to keep her clit from singing at the contact. Her leg went over his hip while his slid between hers. They rocked together, still kissing. She thought she might come from this pleasure alone, from the heat of Del’s cock on her clit, from his bare chest on her skin, from his tongue thrusting inside her mouth like she wanted his cock to slide inside her pussy. Again, she had to remind herself that this was not for her. It was for him. She separated, breathless, and moved away enough to keep herself from going over the edge into orgasm. Linna ran her hands down his chest and found the twin dark circles of his nipples. She rolled them beneath her palms. Del sucked in a breath and bit his lower lip. “Damn.” She laughed. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” He nodded and moved to kiss her again, but Linna stopped him with a finger on his lips. “Wait.” He looked puzzled, but obeyed. She rolled him over onto his back, then straddled him. She bent low to whisper in his ear, “Let me do this for you.” She knew he’d kissed women before, and she knew Del wasn’t ignorant about sex in all its forms. He couldn’t have lived in Newcity very long without learning just about everything there was to know about sex. Still, seeing and doing were two very different things, and it was totally satisfying to hear his groan when she slid down his body, opened his pants and took him into her mouth. Linna loosened her throat muscles and drew him in deep, all the way to the base of his cock. Then she slid out, sucked gently on the head of his dick while stroking the rest of his length with her hand. Up and down, never letting any part of his cock go without her lips or her fingers caressing it, Linna made love to his cock. He grew and throbbed 138

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under her touch, and she smiled around his penis. She slipped her other hand around to stroke his balls. She cupped the weight of them, loving the velvety texture of his skin, the musky scent of his arousal, the smooth, hot fierceness of his stiff rod. Something seemed different, so different she had to pause in surprise to take a closer look. The skin of his sac was soft and wrinkled, and lightly furred with dark curling hair, just like every other man she’d ever been with. When she gently rolled him in her fingers, though, stroking another moan out of him, she realized what the difference was and couldn’t believe she’d never noticed before. “You have four balls!” Del’s laughter was genuine, though a little strained. “Yeah.” Linna giggled and bent her head to lick the soft skin of his testicles. She felt the press of four distinct balls beneath her tongue. Del lifted his hips under her kiss. “That explains all the fighting,” she murmured. “Helluva lot of testosterone in you guys.” He laughed again, though the chuckle hissed into another moan when she continued to lick and suck the soft skin between his legs. She flicked her tongue along the seam of his sac and he muttered a curse that sounded more like a prayer. Her hand moved back to his dick to stroke him up and down while she licked his balls. They swelled under her mouth. His dick grew impossibly harder. His muscular thighs, normally as hard as concrete, tensed as his arousal rose. Linna knew the signs. He was going to come. She eased off, teasing him, stroking more lightly and using only the tip of her tongue to taste him. Her own clit had swollen, demanding attention. She left Del’s cock to slide her jumpsuit all the way off and sat up for a moment to stretch and revel in complete nakedness. His eyes lit as he watched her. She pulled his pants down, over his ankles, then tossed them on the floor. Now he was naked, too, and 139

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Linna let her eyes devour him as she’d wanted to do for ages. “God-of-Choice, you’re perfect.” She murmured the words without thinking of how they might affect him. His dick twitched. She’d been with men of all shapes and sizes, and one thing Linna had learned was that the bigger the man, generally the small the equipment between his legs—unless he’d paid for the expensive operations to enhance his length and girth. Penis augmentation had never been quite as perfected as breast enlargement and other cosmetic surgeries. The penis’s function of erection and deflation meant anything added to it had the possibility of malfunction. She’d seen a lot of dicks, and could have picked out the ones that had been “fixed” with her eyes closed. Del’s penis, on the other hand, was both long and thick, but not grotesquely so. She’d already had it in her mouth and in her body, and knew he was big enough to fit her comfortably without hurting her. Unlike the men she’d met who had paid to fix their dicks, Del’s penis was the only part of him that had no scars. He sat up suddenly, hiding himself a little bit from her view. “It’s not that bad, is it?” She could tell he was trying to joke, but heard the insecurity in his voice. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen,” she told him honestly. “And I’ve seen a lot.” Another man might have been jealous by the reminder she had more experience than him, but Del only laughed, shook his head and pulled her in for another kiss. “Even with the extra balls?” She reached between his thighs to cup him. “I love those extra balls.” He laughed again, and she joined him. It wasn’t really that funny, but as they laughed some of the tension wound inside her since the first moment she’d awoken to find Newcity was dark dissipated. He pulled her closer and they hugged, both still laughing, and it felt good to be 140

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like this with him. Naked and laughing. Loving. The laughter became moans of pleasure again as he found her bare shoulder with his lips and pulled her onto his lap. His cock rose between them, its base snug in the slickness coating her clit. Her nipples brushed the smooth skin of his chest. Linna put her head on Del’s shoulder while he kissed her neck. They rocked together gently for a few moments. “Linna,” he said softly, “I want to taste you.” She pulled away to look at him, her clit already jumping at the thought of his mouth on it. “You’re sure?” He didn’t have to speak. His expression made her laugh again. “I guess you’re sure.” With the same liquid grace with which he did everything else, Del rolled her onto her back and slid down to kneel between her thighs. His grin made her pulse pound and the inner muscles of her thighs jump in expectation. Seeing and doing might be two different things, but she had no trouble believing Del would know exactly what to do. He settled himself on his belly, propped up on his elbows, and contemplated the spot between her legs for so long she began to feel self-conscious. “Now I know how you felt a few minutes ago.” “I’m just not sure where to start.” Linna hesitated before giving directions, not wanting to embarrass him, and was glad she’d stopped her answer when he spoke again. “It all looks so good,” Del said with another husky chuckle that made her pussy quiver. “I can’t decide if I want to dive right in or just nibble.” Linna relaxed onto the lumpy pallet and lifted her hips at Del’s urging. He slid his hands beneath her, fingers curled on her ass cheeks. She waited, tense, for the touch of his tongue on her, and was rewarded a second later by the tentative stroke of it right where she needed it most. Del might not have done this before, but he was a natural at it. He 141

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flicked her tight button, then licked it in a slow, steady circular pattern that had her on the edge in moments. Then he slid away from her clit to kiss and lick her opening. Up again, then down, until she was mindless from the pleasure of it. He slid a finger inside her and pumped it in and out to the rhythm he set with his tongue. He captured her clitoris with his lips and rolled it as he’d done her nipples. He put another finger inside her, a poor substitute for his cock, but delicious just the same. This was all about him, Linna thought, but all her best intentions fled when he slid a third finger inside her wet slit and rolled her clit in time to his thrusts. She was breaking, she was crashing, she was throbbing and pulsing and coming, oh, God-of-Choice, she was coming…. “Del!” she cried his name over and over again, swept up in the ecstasy pounding her into mindless oblivion. Linna’s entire body tensed like she’d been given an electric shock. Her toes curled, hips lifted, tits and pussy and ass contracted in spasms of pure, bright pleasure that went on and on until she thought she might die from the sheer delight of it. It took Linna a few minutes to notice her orgasm had passed and she could think again. Del still rested quietly between her legs, mouth pressed lightly to her vagina. “I felt you come.” He sounded amazed. She was boneless and couldn’t move. “Where did you learn to do that?” “From the porn network.” Del laughed and kissed her still tingling clit, then slid up her body to kiss her lips. “It was very…educational.” His weight on her was pleasant and erotic. His cock nudged her opening, but he didn’t thrust forward. He put his forehead to hers to stare into her eyes. If she lifted her hips at the right angle, if she parted her thighs just a bit wider, he’d slide right in. Again, this was all about choice. Del’s 142

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choice. She desperately wanted him inside her, but this was for him. Thank God-of-Choice I just had that orgasm. Otherwise, she’d have been flipping him over and riding him like the ancient cowboys used to ride their horses. “You’re smiling,” Del said. “I have a reason to, don’t I?” He nodded. His face was serious. His eyes asked her a silent question, and she answered him as best she could with her own. Time spun out between them, delicate as a nanospider’s thread. Desire and friendship wove a web between them, strengthened by the thread of love. With a slight adjustment of his hips, Del slid inside her. He rested there, filling her. He didn’t move. “Are you…” Linna reached up to hold his face between her hands. “Del, you’re trembling.” Heat bloomed under her fingers as he blushed. He tried to duck his head, but she forced him to look at her. She kept her gaze locked on his, giving him permission to do what she wanted him to do. “Make love to me, Del.” “Linna.” Her name came out as a moan tempered by a whisper, and she lifted herself to meet his first thrust. The movement brought her clit into direct contact with his pubic bone. He pulled out and the pressure lessened. In, delicious friction again. She’d thought she knew her body’s capacity for pleasure, but making love to Del surpassed anything she’d ever experienced. Even the times they’d been together before paled beside what they were doing now. It wasn’t just the desire coursing through her veins and sending her toward ecstasy again. It was more than their bodies joining like they’d been made for each other. This was all encompassing, an entire universe of sensation and emotion filling her. This was the look of love in Del’s eyes as he moved inside her. 143

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Her climax filled and overtook her, and he joined her in his. She had meant this to be a gift for him, but as he shuddered and moaned her name, then fell silent on top of her, Linna knew Del had given her a gift, too. The gift of himself. *

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“Isn’t this a pretty sight?” The male voice broke through the best sleep Del could remember ever having. He cracked open one eye, suddenly aware of the warmth of bare skin along his side. Also bare. He peeked down at himself and the arm curving over his waist. “You have the smile of a man well-satisfied.” The man who spoke smoothed his long blond hair back from his face as he moved closer to the pallet. His gaze flickered over Del and behind him to Linna. “And I can see why.” Del sat up to block Linna from this man’s view. She gave a sleepy mumble and shifted. The heat of her breasts against his lower back made him grin again, but he held it back. He wouldn’t give this jerk the satisfaction. “Wake her up.” Linna was already awake. She sat up and curled herself along Del’s back, her chin on his shoulder. “Who are you?” The man sniffed and looked insulted. “Who am I? Who do you think I am?” Del looked at the man’s frilly white shirt, billowing sleeves cuffed tightly at the wrists with multi-colored ribbons. Blue flockweed pants, belted with a crimson sash, tucked into knee-high, shiny black boots. They looked like real leather, too. “I’m guessing you’re the captain of this ship,” Del said. “Which would make you Erystus Sloane.” Sloane smiled and gave a small bow that sent his thick golden hair tumbling over his shoulders. He straightened and tossed it back, then 144

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smoothed some more stray hairs from his face. His blue eyes glittered as he put one hand on his hip and looked Del over once again. “Shaitza,” he swore. “That bitch didn’t tell me you were Xanderran.” Del shrugged. “I am.” “I can see that.” Sloane’s lip curled. He spoke to Linna. “But you’re not. You’re…something else. Something…different. Come here and let me see you.” Del tensed, but Linna put a soothing hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay,” she whispered as she obeyed the pirate captain. Del didn’t want any other man looking at his woman the way Sloane was, but he clenched his hands into fists at his sides without raising them. The bond between him and Linna heightened every sense between them. He could tell how she was feeling by the way she walked, talked…smelled. She wasn’t worried. Sloane reached out and touched one of her nipples, then rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. Linna didn’t move. Del breathed hard, wanting to rip the other man’s head off. “Nice.” Next, the man put his hands on her cheeks, tilted her head from side to side, smoothed the lobes of her ears, pulled open her lips and checked her teeth. Linna stood, completely relaxed, as though she’d done this a hundred times before. It didn’t make Del feel any better to realize she might have. “Very nice work.” Sloane pursed his lips. “Did they partition your brain?” Linna shook her head. “No.” The man grinned. “You were smart enough.” Linna shrugged, the casual movement making her bare breasts rise and fall. “I like to think so.” Sloane took his hand and, without any warning, slid it between her legs. Linna gasped and took a step back. Del was on his feet in a 145

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minute. The growl burst from his throat and filled his ears before he realized he was making the sound. Sloane’s throat was in his hands, the man’s back against the metal door, so fast he had no time to protest. “You keep your hands off her!” Sloane’s gaze didn’t waver. He smiled, then ran his tongue along his lips. He slouched in Del’s grasp and pressed his lower body against Del’s crotch. “Oooh,” the pirate breathed. “How powerful.” Disgusted with how he’d allowed the man to taunt him into anger, Del let go of him. “Keep your hands off her.” “Sorry, fellow. I have to check the merchandise before I pass it along. I have a reputation to uphold.” “Fuck your reputation,” Del gritted between clenched teeth. Sloane raised one shaped eyebrow. “No, I believe I’ll be fucking your lover.” With a roar that hurt his throat, Del leaped toward the pirate captain. Then the world went black again.

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CHAPTER 10

“You son of a bitch!” Linna knelt by Del, who’d shaken the floor when he fell flat on his face. She rolled him over and wiped the trickle of blood coming from above his eye. “What did you do to him?” She didn’t see any sort of stunner or hypogun, no weapons at all. Sloane lifted the hand that had probed so recently between her legs. The forefinger was much longer than the others and tapered to a point. The skin was blue, without a fingernail. “Power of The Force,” he intoned in a low voice, then broke into a fit of giggles. “Isn’t that one of your ancient Earth legends?” Linna didn’t answer, just kept trying to stop the blood from Del’s forehead. “He needs a bandage. And you’re an idiot.” “I can channel the willpower innate in most humanoid species. What many scholars call the consciousness,” said the pirate, giggles gone. “It won’t hurt him permanently.” “His head will scar,” she retorted angrily. Del’s blood had a slight purplish hue to it. She reached and grabbed the thin, worthless blanket 147

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from their pallet and pressed it to the wound. “What’s one more among so many?” She shot him a glare. “It’s one he didn’t need to get!” “Interesting.” Sloane dropped to a squat next to her and reached for her cheek. “You’re not Xanderran, but you act like you’re bonded to him just as much as he is to you.” Linna jerked away from his caress. She’d suffered it earlier because she knew he intended to sell her into prostitution, and she needed time to figure out how to avoid that fate. Causing trouble would be the fastest way to get into trouble. She’d learned a long time ago to close her mind away from her body anyway. “That bitch Lunavoss didn’t tell me that either.” Sloane sounded more intrigued than angry. He reached again, touched the length of her silver hair, very much like his own. “Still, you are damned gorgeous. Tits I could spend all day with, an ass I’d adore plundering…and a pussy so tight and sweet I bet you’d milk me dry.” The bleeding had stopped. Linna tore a strip from the flimsy blanket and tied it around Del’s forehead to keep pressure on the cut. Her fingers shook. Delayed reaction maybe. “No response to that?” She looked up and met his eyes. “I’d have thought my tits too big for your tastes, and my pussy too…female.” He laughed at her attempt at insult. His long-fingered hands stroked down Del’s naked chest, then his belly, and she reached out and knocked them away. Sloane gave her a thoughtful glance. “Oh, I have no interest in fucking Xanderrans. I have enough trouble with my lovers wanting more from me than I’m willing to give. I have no desire to actually bind someone to me for all eternity. By Ardet’s Trident, that would be a responsibility!” He looked over Del’s body again, so thoroughly she wanted to poke out the pirate’s eyes. “He is fine, though. I might be tempted to sample him, if he wasn’t bound. But he is, and you’re not, so you’re the only one who will be of use in 148

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the brothel.” Linna got to her feet when he did, so she could face him eye to eye. “I don’t want to work in your brothel.” “I don’t suppose you do, though I think you’d be awfully good at it.” Linna stared at Sloane. She really ought to loathe him. He was a criminal, he’d hurt Del, and he intended on selling them both into slavery for his own profit. He quirked his brow at her and slid his fingers through his long, shining hair. “Would you like to touch it?” “No!” “I want you to touch it. In fact,” Sloane said calmly, “I want you to do more than that. I want you to let it cover you. I want you to roll in it. I want you to let it caress every part of that luscious body.” Even several weeks ago, she’d have accepted his offer with dollar signs gleaming in her eyes, and gratitude he was at least pleasing to look at. Now, Linna shook her head. She used the rest of the blanket to cover Del. “You don’t interest me, Erystus.” The touch of his hand on her shoulder surprised her and straightened her back. “I think I do. At least a little bit.” Linna blinked as a rush of heat filled her. Her body felt suddenly languid. Liquid. Moisture pooled between her thighs and coated her clit, which rose and begged for attention. “Don’t,” she managed to say in a thick voice. “Shhh.” Erystus put his mouth to the nape of her neck. His kiss sent a shiver trickling through her and made her nipples perk to life, but she felt disconnected from her body’s responses. Linna sighed and relaxed against him. The soft material of his shirt and pants felt luxurious against her bare skin. His hands whispered up and down her sides, her waist, and slid up 149

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to cup her breasts. One dipped down to circle her erect clit, eliciting another sigh. Her body responded to his caresses, but she still felt…nothing. Erystus walked her to the edge of the pallet, turned her, pushed her to side on the edge of the lumpy mattress. Linna blinked again to clear her vision, but the haze in front of her eyes wouldn’t go away. She spread her thighs at his urging, and he knelt between them. His hair tickled her legs and thighs as it trailed over his shoulders and caressed her. Linna shivered at the sensation, which reminded her of the nanobots that had worked on her during her stay in the surghosp. His hot breath blew against her, and she felt the delicate stroke of his tongue on her sensitive flesh. The man between her legs made love to her with his tongue and lips and fingers with as more skill than any lover or client she’d ever had. Almost any lover. Del was better. Her body arched beneath Erystus. She shuddered. She felt him tonguing her clit, felt his finger sliding inside her, but her body didn’t tumble into the climax she knew was building. His strokes quickened. He licked and sucked her. But she didn’t come. Panting, face pinked from exertion, Erystus sat back on his heels. Linna lifted her head to peer down at him. He was shaking his head. “Is your cunt made of metal, too?” he snapped as he got to his feet. “Working on you is like working on a dead woman. I can feel you getting off, but you’re not reacting. I know women can fake climax when they don’t have it, but are you faking not having one when you are?” She struggled to sit and shook her head to clear it. “You were altering my consciousness, weren’t you?” The arrogant jerk grinned. “It’s what I do, sweetheart.” Linna put a hand between her legs. Her pussy was warm and slick. 150

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She felt her own touch, just like she’d felt the pirate’s tongue and lips and fingers, but the post-orgasm throbbing wasn’t there. Her clit still felt swollen, her vagina tender…but she didn’t feel like she’d climaxed. She gave him back a grin of her own. “I didn’t feel it.” Erystus sighed. “I could have you killed for this. You’re a worthless piece of trash to me, a bad deal. A spoiled bargain. You’re not any good to the brothel if you can’t have an orgasm with anyone other than that hulking brute over there, and believe me, I know you can have them. I heard you screaming all the way to the bridge.” Linna crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him defiantly. “If you’re going to kill me, do it. Don’t just brag about it.” He leaned so close to her she could see the glitters of violet in his blue eyes. “Do you want me to kill you?” Linna didn’t answer. Erystus sighed so deeply and took on a look so wounded, Linna had to bite back a laugh. In a gesture rapidly becoming familiar, he smoothed his golden mane away from his face, and huffed. “I have a reputation to keep up.” Linna suddenly understood something about Erystus. “You don’t want to kill me, do you?” He frowned. “No. I dearly want to fuck you until you scream my name and beg for more.” She felt guilty giggling when Del still snored on the floor, but she couldn’t help it. “Why?” “Because you’re beautiful.” He reached out to touch her cheek, and she didn’t pull away. “Because you have something in you that makes me feel soft inside.” It was an odd statement, especially coming from a man who’d just moments ago threatened to kill her. “You’re going to let us go, aren’t you?” He nodded. “It’s easier to do that than to try and get rid of your bodies.” “You don’t mean that.” 151

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His eyes flickered and she caught a glimpse of the harder man, the tyrant. “Don’t tempt me. I might still have your sweet taste on my tongue to distract me, but it won’t last forever. Neither will my sentimentality.” Linna bit her lip, stepped toward him, and kissed him thoroughly on the mouth. His hands came around to cup her ass and pull her closer to him. His erection ground against her belly. His tongue darted between her lips and then he pulled away. His eyes searched hers. “That felt a little more real.” “Thank you,” she told him. “Sure I can’t convince you to give me a ride?” Erystus laughed and shook his head as he stepped away from her. “Forget it. You might not be Xanderran, but you’re as bound to that man as if you were. Any woman who can resist me is worthless to any other man.” She didn’t tell him it was her enhancements that gave her the ability to close off parts of her mind. He’d asked if the medtechs had partitioned her brain like a hard drive, and they hadn’t. They had provided her with additional neural circuitry, though, parts she could control at will. “You made my body respond,” she told him, to soothe his ego. “Just not my mind.” “And not your heart,” he replied with a laugh. “Not that I have much use for that part of you anyway.” Linna looked down at Del, who had begun to stir. “No. Not my heart either.” Erystus sighed loudly and nudged Del with the toe of his extraordinary boot. “He’ll wake up soon. I’ll have some clothes brought for both of you. And I’ll be dropping you off in the next solar cycle.” She caught him before he could leave the cell. “Dropping us off? Where?” Erystus quirked his brow at her again. “Why, on Xanderra, of 152

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course.” The door slid shut behind him, and Linna let herself sink back down onto the bed. Of course. *

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Del watched Linna and that benizona Sloane put their heads together and giggle, but he didn’t let any reaction show on his face. He’d woken, wearing clothes he didn’t recognize, on the pallet. Linna had told him Sloane was going to let them both go instead of selling them into slavery. He hadn’t asked what magic she’d worked on the pirate to get him to agree, but watching them now, he could guess. “I promise,” he heard her tell the blond man. Eyes bright, she laughed and touched the pirate’s arm. It was a casual touch that told Del a lot about what had happened while he was knocked out. He gritted his teeth and looked away. “But I don’t think that’s likely,” Linna continued with a shake of her head. Sloane, with a glance at Del, captured her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand, and Del saw the pink flash of tongue. He looked away. “Don’t bother thanking me.” Sloane appeared in front of him. “I wasn’t planning on it,” Del replied as evenly as he could with a clenched jaw. The pirate, who stood tall enough to look him in the eye, captured Del’s chin with his hand. “Thank your woman.” Del knocked the pirate’s hand away and kept from following it with a punch to the jaw by self-discipline alone. Sloane laughed in Del’s face, then looked over at Linna with a softer expression. “She’s someone special,” the pirate said. He leaned so close Del could smell the bastard’s perfume. “And she tastes exquisite.” Del’s fist swung and met the pirate’s palm. For a moment, the two 153

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men stared each other down. Linna stepped between them. “Control yourselves,” she scolded. She turned to Sloane. “And you. Quit trying to cause trouble.” Sloane shrugged and gave an arrogant grin. “Trouble is my job, sweetheart.” To Del, he said, “Take good care of her.” “She’s pretty capable of taking care of herself,” Del said. Linna’s head twisted to stare at him when he said that, her expression unreadable. Then, eyes narrowed, she turned back to Sloane and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for this.” Sloane waved his hands. “Get on that transport before I change my mind.” Del looked to the hatch, which spiraled open at the pirate’s command. Through it, he could see the stark interior of a simple transport pod, designed to hold three people with room for a small load of cargo. He’d taken one very similar from Xanderra to the first ship he’d berthed on. That seemed like a long time ago. “Does this transport have your markings on it?” he asked. “Of course it does.” Sloane grinned again. “Go on. Ask me how I know you’ll get to the surface when you know as well as I do that the Melekim Gadol refuses to do business with known renegades. Go on. Ask me. I know you want to.” Del fixed the pirate with a level glare and didn’t say anything. Linna looked concerned. She peered past Del into the transport, then back at Sloane. “Reach the surface? You mean there’s a chance we won’t?” “Xanderra has restricted commerce routes,” Del explained, never taking his eyes off Sloane. “Unauthorized ships are shot down on sight.” “What?” The pirate laughed. “Ask me how I got authorization, Delek Tennvic. Go ahead.” Again, Del refused to ask. He could guess well enough what games 154

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the pirate had played to get permission to land this transport. Linna, on the other hand, had no clue about Del’s family connections. She turned to Del. “What’s going on, Del?” “Ask him who his father is.” “Del?” Del still refused to speak. Silently, he pushed past Linna and the pirate and got into the transport. Through the hatch, he heard her speaking to the pirate. Her voice, raised in anger, made it easy to hear every word. “You mean you got paid to drop us off?” she cried. “You didn’t do this out of the goodness of your heart, you son-of-a-bitch! It was just another deal to you!” Then Del heard the distinctive crack of a palm against a cheek, and Linna slid into the seat beside him. The hatch spiraled shut and the transport began to rev up for separation from the main ship. “What’s so funny?” she asked after a moment, as the transport pod slid into orbit around his home planet. Del shrugged. “Did you really think fucking him would get you anywhere? He’s a pirate. He’s only interested in profit.” “Fuck—” She twisted in her chair to stare at him. “Is that what you think?” He returned her glare with a neutral stare. “Is it?” Linna frowned and faced front again. Her hands came up to rest on the transport’s simple control panel. She tapped her fingers on the metal. “You mustn’t think very highly of me,” she said, “if you’d assume something like that.” “It’s what you do, isn’t it?” Del asked, knowing his words were cruel, but not able to stop them. She was his behshera. He ached with love for her. The thought of her with another man sent him surging into rage and despair. She was his behshera…but he wasn’t her behsherat. “There’s nothing stopping you from fucking anyone you please.” 155

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“Nothing stopping me!” She gasped. “You…oh, you bastard!” Then she got up from her chair and moved to the back of the transport. Away from him. Now that they were behsherit, his heightened awareness of her meant he could hear the change in her breathing that meant she was upset. He smelled the tang of salt and knew tears filled her eyes. Del kept his gaze focused on the transport controls, even though he didn’t need to actually do anything with them. The small pod rocked as they entered the atmosphere. The window in front of him showed the familiar terrain. “We’ll be landing in about ten minutes,” he said. He didn’t expect an answer, and he didn’t get one. Del looked down at the clothes Sloane had given him. They weren’t exactly up to his father’s standards, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He touched the shimmering red material of his pants. At least the color was right. Seven years before he’d sworn to never wear red again. He’d thought he’d never come back to Xanderra either. He’d believed he’d be living his life alone. “Transport XZ-7734, you are cleared to land.” The com-speaker crackled to life. The voice spoke in Xanderran. It had been a long time since Del had heard that language. “Please state your occupancy.” “Delek Tennvic and behshera Linna Fortense on board,” he replied in Xanderran, knowing Linna didn’t understand it. He had about five minutes to tell her who he was and about his family. He should prepare her for the pomp and circumstance he was sure waited for them on the ground. It wasn’t fair not to warn her about his place in this society, or not to give her some idea of how she’d be expected to act as his behshera. The transport rocked again, harder this time. A warning light began to blink. Del flipped a few switches, but the controls were still locked on remote auto-pilot, and he couldn’t do anything. 156

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“Harah!” he cried as the trajectory map showed their course. They weren’t going to land at the Yarushalim space dock, their original destination. Something had gone wrong, really wrong, with the nav systems. They were completely off course. “Tennvic to base control,” he barked, still flipping switches to no avail. “Release auto-pilot! Let us go, damn it! Let us go!” “No way,” came a familiar voice over the com-speaker. “You’re set to crash land in the jungle. Have a nice trip.” “Shitdamnpissfucktits!” Del shouted, stealing Linna’s favorite curse. He got to his feet and pounded at switches and buttons, but all he got was laughter from the com-speaker. “What’s going on?” Linna cried. “Buckle in,” Del told her grimly, as he struggled to override the transport’s controls. “But—” “Buckle in!” he screamed. “We’re going down!” Without another argument, Linna did as he said. Her face had gone white. The transport shook harder. The lights went out. The control panel blinked and buzzed. Del forgot about trying to stop their flight. He buckled himself into the seat harness and hooked his feet into the ankle straps. The small ship shuddered so hard he thought they’d be lucky to hit the ground at all. They might just fall apart in the air. “We’re falling,” Linna said as she looked out the transport’s front window. “It’s not the falling I’m worried about. It’s the landing.” Then they crashed through the first layer of Xanderran jungle and headed for the ground beneath.

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CHAPTER 11

Linna knew what death felt like. This wasn’t it. This was unrelenting pain. This was persistent, glaring light so bright it hurt her eyes. Was she back in the surghosp? She blinked, but still couldn’t see. Her eyes. She remembered she could control them. She forced her pupils to shrink closed. That helped a little with the bright light, but didn’t do anything for the pain. She couldn’t move. Panic flooded her. She was paralyzed. Even before, lying at the bottom of the stairs in puddle of her own blood while her husband stood over her with a butcher knife, she’d been able to move. Helpless! She was helpless! She did have a voice, and she used it to groan aloud. “Linna.” She recognized the voice. “Del?” “I’m going to unbuckle you from the chair in a minute. You have to make yourself ready. We’re upside down. You’re going to have to hold 158

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yourself up so you don’t fall.” Now she remembered the transport pod and the crash landing. The bright light dimmed and went out. The darkness wasn’t much better, but at least it didn’t hurt. Linna blinked. She saw the shape of Del’s head below her just before she felt his strong hands on her waist. She heard the clang of metal and felt herself sag. “Reach out straight ahead,” he told her. “Grab the bar that’s near your knees.” She found it. The metal was hot in her palms and she hissed. “Got it.” “I’m going to unbuckle you the rest of the way. Are you ready?” Now she understood why she couldn’t move. The harness had kept her in place. “I’m not paralyzed.” “I hope not.” The familiar dry humor of his voice gave her strength. Linna tightened her grip on the bar. The multitude of aches and pains were fading. Not disappearing, but she didn’t think she was quite so badly off as she’d first thought. “I’m ready.” His hands moved over her body, unhitching and unhooking the buckles and straps that had kept her bound to the chair. She felt herself begin to fall and held her arms stiff to prevent herself from dropping too fast. In the next moment, she was in Del’s arms, right side up. She touched her toes to the floor, then let her weight rest on her legs. He didn’t let her go right away, and she didn’t try to move out of his grasp. Linna put her head on Del’s chest, grateful for the warmth of his closeness. He sighed. His hands came up to hold the back of her head and he kissed her. “Are you all right?” She nodded, then realized he might not be able to see her in the dark even though she could see him. “Yes. You?” “Nothing that won’t heal.” 159

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Linna looked around. “What happened?” “We crashed.” “Del, I know that.” He gave her another long, slow squeeze. “We need to get out of here.” “How are we going to do that?” He turned toward the transport’s front window, now above them. “We have to crawl out through there.” “No problem. We’ve done harder than that. Remember?” “I remember.” She’d been hoping to hear more dry humor, but this time, his tone was grim. “You’re worried about something.” “We landed in the jungle. The trees are very thick here. There’s a lot of undergrowth. I don’t think we made it all the way to the ground.” “We’re in a tree?” The transport shook as she spoke. Linna clutched Del for balance as the pod shifted beneath their feet. Now she caught a glimpse of leaves and branches, dappled with silver light, through the window. “Move,” he told her quietly, and pushed her toward the window. She climbed fast, ignoring her bruises and the protests of her muscles. Del was right behind her. She stopped at the window. “It’s still sealed.” “Reach for the red handle up near the top,” he said. “Pull it.” She found it and gave it a yank. The window separated from the transport and fell away with a loud clatter. Hot, moist air flooded over her, making her instantly begin to sweat. “Go through.” She found handholds and lifted herself through the empty space. Then she couldn’t help the little scream that burst from her mouth at the sight in front of her. They’d landed in a tree, all right. A very, very tall tree. Considering the only trees she’d ever seen were the anemic and stunted shrubs in the Newcity gardens, this tree seemed like something 160

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out of a viddy story. Lush, verdant, luxurious. She’d never imagined a plant could be so amazingly green…or so big. Linna rested for a moment on the transport, then set her feet on the thick branch in front of her. Now she could see the pod had become wedged into a fork in the tree’s branches. The leaves and smaller sticks had been smashed all around it. It rocked a little under her as she moved to grab the tree’s massive center trunk, and she cried out, “Del, hurry!” His head appeared in the window and he pulled himself hand over hand to stand next to her. He looked down at the broken pod, then touched it with the toe of his boot. “This won’t last long here.” Standing on the tree branch felt as solid as standing on the ground, it was so broad and flat. Linna peered over the edge, but could see nothing but more leaves and branches. “How high up are we?” Del looked upward. “We can still see the sky. That means we’re close to the top.” “How tall are these trees?” He gave her a grin, teeth glowing in the light she realized came from the silver disk of a moon shining overhead. “You know the tallest building in Newcity?” “Yes.” “This tree is probably eight times higher than that.” “God-of-Choice.” He laughed. “We’ve got a long way to climb down. We’d better get started.” A wave of dizziness made her grab hold of the tree’s trunk for a minute. “I think I need to sit down.” He gave her a concerned look. “You all right?” She nodded, even though waves of hazy gray were covering her vision. “Yes. I just need to sit.” 161

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Her legs gave out beneath her and she sank onto the thick wood. Her cheek rested against the tree. It smelled…it smelled alive. Fresh. She took in deep gulps of it and it revived her. Beside her, Del grabbed hold of the tree trunk with both hands and set his foot against the transport’s side. He pushed. The transport rocked. He pushed again, straining. His cheek muscles flexed in concentration. His thighs bulged. Linna knew Del was strong, but this amazed her. He was actually pushing the ship. Del set his back to the tree trunk and put both feet on the ship. It rocked again, but remained wedged in the branches. “What are you doing?” He gave her a quick glance. “I’d rather have this fall the rest of the way now, with us up here, than come down on top of our heads. Besides, it’ll clear a path for us.” “But…what about what’s below us?” He pushed again, his entire body tense with the effort. “Nothing below us,” he said between panting breaths. “Nothing worth worrying about.” Since Linna figured Del knew his own homeworld better than she did, she didn’t bother asking him if he was sure. She just got up, pressed her back to the trunk, and put her feet next to his on the pod. He didn’t try to refuse her help, something many Newcitizen men would have done. Together, they pushed. The vehicle rocked more. They pushed harder. Something popped in her hip and she let out a cry, but kept pushing. In another moment, the ship let go with a groan of metal. It teetered briefly, then fell with a spectacular crashing that rocked the entire tree. It seemed to go on forever, the pounding and crashing, and when it finally stopped, Linna realized she’d been clutching the tree trunk so tightly her fingers ached. Her hip hurt, too, but she pressed it gently and didn’t think she’d caused any permanent damage. “Wow.” 162

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Del took a seat on the thick branch, his back against the trunk, and swiped at his forehead. “It’s a long way down. Two days from now, all that cleared space will be almost overgrown again. We’d better get started.” Sitting beside him, she looked down into the empty darkness below. Just beyond their branch, the moonlight could no longer reach. The branches of this tree were regularly spaced, but the distance between each one was greater than her height. Even if she hung from her hands, it didn’t seem likely her feet would reach. “I lived in the city my entire life,” she said self-consciously. “You’re going to have to lead me.” He rolled his head on his neck to look at her. “You can do this.” She leaned over to kiss him, but the flicker in his eyes stopped her. She pulled back, stung, but trying not to let him see. “I know I can. But you’re going to have to tell me what to do.” “I can’t tell you what to do.” Del stood, his long fingers splayed on the tree trunk. She noticed a bloody scratch on the back of his hand and wanted to kiss it, make it feel better, but she didn’t move toward him. Standing over her like that, Del seemed even larger than he normally did. She was discovering he could make her feel very small, and not just physically. She recalled his statement just before the ship crashed and anger flashed through her again. “I don’t own you,” Del continued. “You can do whatever you want.” Linna got up, careful to keep close to the tree trunk. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” “I don’t know anything.” Linna put her hands on her hips. “Don’t be an asshole, Del.” That got a reaction from him. Maybe not the one she wanted, but it was marginally better than not getting one at all. He sneered at her, then reached up and pulled on one of the thinner, springy branches sprouting off the bough above their heads. He yanked it hard, broke it free from 163

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its attachment, then tied it with swift, hand-over-hand movements to a similar branch growing from the limb on which they stood. He wrapped the vine around his waist and tied it tight. Then, before she could prepare herself, he pulled her against him, put one hand on the vine around his waist, and stepped off the branch. Linna couldn’t find the breath to scream as they dropped. The vine caught them at the last minute, and in another, she felt the next branch under her boots. Del didn’t let go of her. He calmly reached up, grabbed for another of the thin boughs, pulled it down and began to repeat the process. This time, when he tried to pull he toward him, Linna broke his grip. “No, thanks.” His jaw set, Del glared. “You said—” “I said you’d have to tell me what I needed to do. I didn’t tell you to do it for me.” His hands finished tying the two vines together. “Whatever.” She reached up, pulled down her own vine, and did the same thing he’d done. Without waiting for him, she took a deep breath and jumped. She’d estimated well. Her feet touched the branch just as the vine at her waist pulled her tight. Del landed next to her. Faster this time, he tore another of the vine-branches. Linna followed, matching his pace. Del’s fingers moved more quickly. So did hers. If he wants a challenge, the jerk, he’ll get one. She focused on jumping harder, moving faster, landing straighter. Even with her enhancements, matching him was a struggle. He was in his element, and she was way, way out of hers. Still, they’d both been through the same recent trauma. Linna didn’t like to admit Del’s exhaustion and wounds gave her an edge she was willing to use against him. Then she remembered his smug comments about her sleeping with Erystus to get her way, and her anger flared anew. 164

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For hours, they descended the tree, branch to branch. Most of the time they swung down on their makeshift ropes, but the closer they got to the ground, the narrower the distance between branches. Some they leaped, some they climbed. The path left behind by the transport’s fall had left enough clear space for them to move downward. Linna couldn’t imagine what they’d have done if they’d had to push their way through the dense foliage like what was still left on the rest of the tree. She was tired enough just doing what they were. She knew he was pushing himself the same as she was pushing herself, but if they kept on this way, they’d both get hurt. “I need to rest,” she said, the first words she’d spoken in hours. Del stopped. “All right.” His answer pissed her off. “You need to rest, too.” He shrugged in casual dismissal that made her even angrier. She put her hand on her hips, then forced herself to relax. It wouldn’t do any good to get into an argument. “I’m hungry. And thirsty.” She hadn’t meant to complain, just to state facts, but the way he shook his head made her grit her teeth. “Sorry,” Del said in a patronizing tone that set her blood aboil. “I didn’t pack us a picnic basket.” Something was eating him, and Linna guessed she knew what it was. He thought she’d slept with Erystus. He was only half-right, but the half he was right about was still not a good reason for him to be mad at her. She could just tell him the truth, that the pirate had tried to make love to her, and been unable to rouse a response. This somehow didn’t seem to be the time or the place. What really made her angry was that for a long time, she and Del had been friends. He knew what she did for a living. He’d even seen her with clients. Now, just because he’d made love to her, that easy friendship had changed. She sighed, no longer so angry. She guessed she couldn’t blame 165

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him. She couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like to know you were bound to someone like he was to her, especially when that level of commitment wasn’t reciprocated. Except that it was…he just didn’t realize it. And he wouldn’t realize it if she didn’t tell him. Linna looked over at the man she’d taken as her lover. The moonlight didn’t shine down this far, but the trees of Xanderra apparently compensated for that with a phosphorescent glow of their own. It outlined his silhouette in lines of bluish-silver, highlighting his profile. She stopped herself from reaching for him. “We’re closer to the ground than you think,” Del told her. His tone turned grudgingly admiring. “You did real good.” “Don’t sound so surprised,” Linna said. Del got up, pulled one of the smaller leaves, still the size of his torso, from the trunk, and handed it to her. “Hold both ends of this, tight, and jump.” “Are you crazy?” His eyes flickered. “Do you trust me?” The real question, Linna thought, is does he trust me? But she guessed she already knew the answer to that one. In reply, she took the huge leaf and grabbed each end. “Now, jump.” She’d followed him before, without thought, and he’d never led her astray. Linna looked into Del’s eyes, trying to show him all the love in her heart and knowing he was refusing to see it. Then, she looked over the edge, took a breath, and leaped. *

*

*

Using the buulla leaves as parachutes to drop the last distance to the ground had cut a lot off their descent time. Now, on the soft ground below the canopy created by the buulla trees, Del piled a stack of deadwood, brush and old leaves. As dawn came closer, the trees’ 166

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natural light dimmed, making it hard to find the reshephgat, the sparkstones. He found one anyway by searching for the distinctive color and foliage of the sparkfern, the only plant in the jungle that thrived on the minerals in the stone. He found two good-sized stones and struck them together in a motion he’d practiced so many times as a youth it had become second nature. The spark, blue-white like the buulla light, flew off the stone and started a blaze crackling in the brush pile. Linna scooted closer to the blaze and held out her hands. “It’s so hot here, I wouldn’t think I’d need this.” “The fire isn’t for warmth, it’s to keep the tannanim away.” “Animals?” There weren’t many real animals left on Earth. Del bet Linna had never seen a live beast in her life, much less one like a tannan. He put more brush on the fire. “Tannanim are like Earth lizards,” he told her. “Only bigger. Much bigger. More like…dragons.” “You’re joking.” Del put another load of twigs and brush on the fire, then swiped his sweating forehead. “I’m not. They breathe a flammable gas known to catch stuff on fire, they have scales, and the bastards can fly. The little ones can, anyway, before their bodies get too bulky for their wings. The only good thing about that is that if you meet a flying tannan, chances are its teeth are still too soft to tear you apart.” Linna moved closer to the fire. “Wow.” “Xanderra isn’t a civilized place, Linna.” She looked around at the jungle. “I can see that.” “We’re not a civilized people.” Her eyes flickered in the firelight. “I can see that, too.” He watched her gaze follow the dark lines of his tattoos. She got to her feet and traced one from his elbow to his wrist with the tip of her finger. Her touch made his chest feel tight, like his heart was suddenly 167

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too big. “What do these mean?” He looked down at the inkings, done so long ago they seemed to be part of another life. Or at least, they had, until the moment he’d smelled the Xanderran jungle again. He pointed to the interlocking, jagged edges that wound around his lower right arm. “Thorns.” Linna’s fingers drifted over the marks, which had been done with ink made from the plant they represented. “Why thorns?” “Because on Xanderra, there isn’t anything that’s beautiful that isn’t probably also deadly.” Linna nodded and touched the smoother, rolling circles inscribed below. “And these?” “Waves.” She looked around at the jungle pressing in on them. “You have oceans?” He let a smile twist his lips. “One mighty ocean as fierce and unpredictable as this jungle. We call it Yammeh al Maarxet. The Sea of Sleep.” “I thought you said it was fierce,” Linna replied. “That name makes it sound peaceful.” “In Xanderran, sleep and death are the same word.” “Ah.” She tilted her head to look up at him. “Then how do you know which is which?” “We know.” Her hand caressed the bulge of his muscle, then moved over to tighten on his other forearm where bands of alternating black and red striped his skin.”And what about this?” “My family unit.” She raised a brow at him. “You mean to have me believe you didn’t just spring forth fully grown from a sheep’s horn or something? Or from the mouth of a—what did you call it? Tannan.” 168

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She stood so close to him he could easily have rested his chin on top of her head and pulled her into his arms. He remembered all too well how she fit there. Del took in a deep breath to focus his mind, but all he got was a lungful of her scent. “I have a family.” Linna sighed and chewed at her lip. “Del, something is bothering you. Is it Erystus? Because—” He turned from her, not wanting to hear her explanation. “Forget about it.” He’d forgotten how strong she was. Her hand on his elbow easily made him turn. His feet rustled in the leaves and vines on the jungle floor. She squared off, hands on her hips and eyes fiercely alight. “Like it or not,” she said, “you have to talk to me about this.” That sent him back a step. “I don’t.” “You do, Del.” Linna moved up closer to him. “We’re more than just friends now. Like it or not.” That was the problem. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. “I like some parts of it just fine.” He watched her face carefully for signs he’d hurt her feelings, but Linna kept her expression carefully neutral. “It didn’t happen the way I’d have chosen either, but it happened. It’s done. We can’t go back, we can’t change it, and we have to just move on with our lives.” “Is that what you want to do? Move on with your life?” The shout was too loud, even for the immense jungle surrounding them. “Go on, then! Move on with your life, Linna. Consider this whole thing just another part of your adventure!” “Adventure?” she cried. “Do you really think that’s all this is to me? I didn’t have to get off that ship with you, Del! I didn’t have to catapult myself into this God-of-Choice-forsaken jungle with you! I sure as hell did not have to risk life and limb to stay by your side! When I said we needed to move on with our lives, you gigantic lummox, I meant together!” 169

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“You don’t have to.” “No shit,” Linna retorted. “Did it ever occur to you that I might want to?” Del scrubbed at his head, not liking the way his hair scruffed at his palm. “For now.” She gave a sigh of disgust so long it sounded like a serpent hissing. “Maybe we should just worry about right now and think about the rest later.” He gave in to her, just a little. “Fine.” She sighed again and tossed up her hands. “Are you all so stubborn?” “What do you care?” he shot back. “Planning on starting a harem of your own?” Her fist shot out so fast he barely had time to jerk his head out of the way. She barely clipped him on the jaw, but the blow was still strong enough to send him staggering. He whirled, hands up, and she came at him again. “I am going to kick your ass from here to the Sea of Sleep,” Linna announced grimly. “And then back again.” Del didn’t move, though his entire body had tensed into fight mode. The warrior in him was always ready, but in Newcity he had found it easier to push aside. Here, back home, the smell of Linna’s anger made his hands and feet itch to strike. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he told her through gritted teeth. Linna spat to the side and raised her fists at him again. “Too late.” “I mean I don’t want to fight you.” “Then what?” she challenged. “Isn’t this how it works on Xanderra? Mated couples—” “Behsherim.” “Behsherim. Don’t you battle it out to decide who’s the dominant one or something?” “Not between men and women, no. Women are subordinate.” 170

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“Ha!” Linna put her fists on her hips. “Not this one. And since you are mated to me, since you are my behsherim—” “Behsherat,” he corrected. “If you’re going to live here, you’d better start learning the language.” She stared at him silently for a moment. “Am I going to live here?” He thought of the familiar voice on the com speaker. A challenge had been thrown at his feet—one he hadn’t ever planned to face—but now that he had, Del couldn’t back away from it. “I plan to stay.” “Then I guess I’d better learn the language.” Now it was his turn to stare, long and hard. She didn’t flinch, though his glare had been known to make brave men falter. “We’ve been through a lot together,” she said at last. “But I meant it when I said I loved you. I thought you meant it, too. If you didn’t…” “I did mean it,” Del said when she didn’t say more. “Ah, shit, Lin. I’ve never been in a relationship before. I’m sorry.” “Well, I have,” she said. “And you should be sorry.” He grinned reluctantly. “You don’t give any slack, do you?” She didn’t smile back at him. Her face remained stoic, her body stiff. She bit at her lip and turned her face like she was struggling to keep herself from speaking. Shame filled him. He knew her story, her history, what her husband had done to her. It was no wonder she refused to let him bully her, which was, he admitted, what he was trying to do. Del crossed the space between them, only a few steps, although it seemed as long as a light year. He pulled her into his arms, not caring she was stiff and unyielding in his embrace. He held her and buried his face in her hair, and gave her the strength and warmth of his body because he didn’t know what else to do.

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CHAPTER 12

He held her, and Linna let him do it, even though she wasn’t quite willing to soften toward him yet. It felt good to be in his arms, her cheek against his broad chest. The shirt Erystus had given him was smooth, silky and sleeveless. Completely impractical for the jungle, but Linna liked the way it hugged every muscle and ripple. At last she slipped her arms around his waist and returned his hug. They stayed that way for a little while longer. They breathed in the same rhythm. Inhale, exhale. His heart beat its steady pattern beneath her cheek and she slipped a hand up to press her palm there. “Why don’t you have any tattoos on your chest and biceps?” she asked. Talking about his markings seemed to be neutral ground. He squeezed her tighter before stepping back to let her go. “I left before I needed to get them.” There was a whole lot more to Xanderra than she’d ever have thought. “Tell me about it?” She’d purposely phrased it as a request, not a demand, which 172

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seemed to freak him out a little less. Del smiled, ran a hand over his head in a gesture she’d come to know very well, and shrugged. She couldn’t read his expression, which, in the firelight, looked to be a mix of sheepishness and pride. “Xanderran society is set up differently than it is in Newcity. We have a Ruling Council, like you do, but it’s called the Melekim Gadol. The Great Kings.” “Only men.” He nodded. “Technically, yes, but since each man is also bound to his behshera, there are women who have a great deal of influence on it as well.” Linna sat next to the fire and curled her arms around her knees. Del’s way of speaking had changed since they’d landed here. His accent had thickened. His words had become…she didn’t think more elegant. Perhaps more eloquent. “And what does this Council…these melekim, do?” “They maintain cells, vexxa, in each region of Xanderra’s four main communities. All are located in an area that covers approximately one half of the planet. Xanderra’s twice the size of Earth.” She hadn’t realized it was so large. “And what about the other half?” He looked around. “Jungle. And ocean. Mostly uninhabitable, long term, though there are small, renegade communities who live in the jungle.” She held out her hand and he sat down beside her. “And what do these Melekim Gadol have to do with your ink?” Del put his hand to his chest “The markings on my arms and shoulders are signs of my life. My family, passing my adulthood test, the skills I gained and the battles I won or lost. If I’d found my behshera or a behsherat, her name or his would have also been inked.” “Where?” He pointed to a bare spot on the inside of his left wrist. “There.” 173

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She touched it and felt his pulse leaping under her fingers. “Will my name go there?” Del put his hand over hers, then kissed it. “Yes.” That made her smile. “Are you trying to avoid answering my question about the Melekim Gadol?” He laughed. “Maybe. It’s complicated.” “So I’m guessing.” Linna leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder. “I always knew there was more to you than you admitted.” “If I had stayed on Xanderra, I’d have taken my place in the Council. I would have received the inkings on my chest and back that showed my rank in the Melekim.” “Which would have been what?” she prodded gently, sensing he was unwilling to say. “If all went well, I’d have followed my father’s path and become the Amanrabah. The Great Father.” Linna sat straight up and looked at him. “You’d have been in charge of the entire Council?” He shrugged. “My father expected me to follow him. I didn’t want to. So I left.” “That must’ve disappointed your father,” Linna said. “I didn’t have a father. I was conceived in an artificial womb with donated ovum and sperm. My parents were Matti and Devola Fortense, both androgynes.” Del goggled at her and Linna laughed. “I think they were both genetically female, but had chosen to live without distinguishing gender characteristics. It was a big movement about thirty years ago. Equality for the sexes. I think my parents were surprised and disappointed when I turned out to be unabashedly feminine. So I know what it feels like to disappoint my parents, Del.” He squeezed her fingers. “My father wasn’t disappointed. He had my brother to count on instead of me.” “You have a brother.” She shook her head. “And he took your place? I’m sure that doesn’t mean your parents weren’t sad you left.” 174

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“You don’t understand Xanderran culture, Linna. When I didn’t take a behshera, when I decided not to follow my father’s path…they weren’t just angry with me. They were glad to see me go.” She wasn’t going to argue with him, especially since she really didn’t know anything about his world. “And your brother took what should have been your place. What’s going to happen now that you’re back?” Del looked around, out to the darkness past the firelight. “This is what happened.” “I don’t understand.” Del sighed. “My brother must have ascended to the Melekim. He’d have been notified we were coming in. He made the pod crash in the jungle.” “He was trying to kill you?” Linna had thought she’d heard it all, but this news shocked her. “Why?” “To keep his place. If I take back my place on the Council, he’ll be demoted, or lose it altogether. He’ll have to fight me for his place, at any rate, and he must’ve been afraid he’d lose. If I die in the jungle, he doesn’t have to worry about it.” “And if you don’t?” “Then he’ll have to face me on the challenge field. If I make it back to Yarushalim, I’ll have proven my worth to challenge him. He’ll have to do it.” “That’s insane!” Del laughed, and though she was glad to hear he was able to look at the situation with humor, Linna didn’t understand how he could. “Why do you think I left?” “And you have to do this?” Del shrugged again. “I don’t have to do anything. But I’m sure I will.” “You’ll fight your brother for a place on a Council you didn’t want to be on in the first place?” she cried, stunned. “You’ll take a chance on 175

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getting killed to take something away from someone who wants it more than you do?” Del laughed again, a low, sultry chuckle that sent a rush of heat through her even in her outrage at the situation. “Yeah.” “Why?” “Because I’m Xanderran,” Del said like that should explain it all. “And because that little bastard tried to kill me.” “It’s those four balls.” She shook her head in resignation. “This whole planet must be one huge cloud of testosterone.” Del laughed again, deeper this time, and her belly clenched at the sound. He tilted his head, dark eyes gleaming, and his slow, hot smile made her smile in return. “Do you have any more questions?” he asked her. “Or do you want to use your mouth for something other than talking?” She tried hard to remember that she’d been mad at him, but couldn’t seem to do it. “I think I could be persuaded. If you think it’s safe.” He glanced around the small clearing. “I’ll protect you.” Linna lifted an eyebrow at him. “Or maybe I’ll protect you.” “Either way is good with me, pretty lady,” said Del, sounding just the way he always had. Passion flared inside her as easily as the sparks had lit the fire burning next to them. His kiss was just as hot. She opened her mouth to him, and he took her onto his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist, while he thrust his tongue inside her lips. “Hmmm,” Linna murmured with a rocking motion of her hips against his very prominent erection. “What have we here? More native wildlife?” Del laughed and squeezed her ass to grind her harder against him. “You want to find out?” She slid a hand down between them to grab him through the loose trousers Erystus had given him. “I don’t know. Does it bite?” He growled and nipped at her throat. “No. But I do.” 176

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The ground was soft and fragrant under her when he lay her down on it. Linna forced herself not to think about the real wildlife that could be inhabiting the leaves and flowers crushed under them. Newcity was a pretty sterile place with no beasts or critters roaming the streets. She was pretty damn sure Xanderra wasn’t the same. When Del’s mouth found the tender spot at the base of her throat, all thoughts of bugs and other things vanished. All she wanted to think about, all she could think about, was his tongue tracing delicate patterns on her skin. This jumpsuit from Erystus, unlike her Newcity one, fastened with a complicated series of snaps instead of the stickseam. Del undid the first snap, then kissed the exposed spot. The next two came undone under his skilled fingers and he kissed those spots, too. Linna arched her back to press herself against him, but he teased her, undoing only one or two snaps at a time and licking and nibbling the exposed skin thoroughly before moving to the next. By the time he’d folded back her jumpsuit over her breasts, she was moaning. When he took one nipple into his mouth, she groaned. And when he cupped both her breasts in his huge hands and brought them together to flick his tongue rapidly back and forth over both her nipples, she cried his name. “I love the way you taste.” Del paused in his attention to her breasts and made time to kiss her mouth again. “All salty and sweaty and musky.” Linna’s eyes, already half-closed in glorious ecstasy, flew open. “Oh, God-of-Choice!” Del laughed, his body shaking against hers. “It’s true.” Linna took a deep breath. “Del, that’s not a compliment.” “It’s meant to be.” He bent and licked her from the tops of her breasts, up to her throat, and finished at her mouth. “You taste like I always imagined a woman would taste like.” “It hasn’t exactly been easy to take a shower the past few days,” she grumbled self-consciously. 177

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His next kiss chased away her insecurity. “I told you, I love it. You’re on Xanderra now, Linna. Not in Newcity. It’s okay to sweat here.” Now it was her turn to laugh. Linna reached down to cup his buttocks and push his erection against her center. “Maybe I should give you a taste, too.” Del moved his hips and sent sparks of pleasure radiating through her. “Maybe you should.” She exerted a little extra strength and rolled him over until she could straddle him. “Where should I start?” Del stretched out his hands behind his head. A carpet of darkcolored flowers crowned him. The scent wafting up from the crushed petals made Linna think of a viddy story she’d seen a long time ago, an oldworld tale of knights and dragons… “Dragons!” She sat up. “Del, didn’t you say—” “Shhh.” He grinned. “They’re not silent stalkers. We’d hear them if they were coming.” Linna looked around, nervous again. “What about other…things?” “I told you I’d protect you.” She crossed her arms stubbornly. “Del, I know you’re used to this jungle stuff, but I’m not.” He lifted his head to reach for her hips and moved her slowly against the bulge of his dick. “If you want to stop, we can.” Her clit gave a tiny jump when he pulled her against his hardness. She looked at the fire, still burning high and impossibly bright. She looked around the clearing, though this close to the light she was unable to dilate her pupils enough to see in the darkness. “We haven’t seen any animals so far,” she conceded. “Haven’t seen any, no.” The way he said it made her heart pound, and not with lust. She looked around again. “You’re not helping.” “Sorry.” 178

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He didn’t sound sorry, not one bit, and Linna pushed on his chest. “Do you want to fuck me or not?” Del sat up and kissed her mouth. “Actually, Linna, I do not want to fuck you.” “You don’t?” “No.” He kissed her slowly and thoroughly while she melted in his arms. “I want to make love to you. Right here, in the middle of the jungle, with who knows what watching us. I want to strip you out of that ugly jumpsuit, lay you down and spread open your thighs, and then I want to lick you until you come.” She shivered. He’d punctuated every sentence with a soft kiss. Now his tongue slid between her lips to stroke hers. His hands roamed along her back, down to her buttocks, then rested on her hips and continued to rock her center against him. “And when you’ve stopped pulsing under my tongue, I’m going to slide up inside you, and I’m going to fill you up, and I’m going to wait until you can’t stop yourself from lifting your hips to urge me on, and then I’m going to slide in and out of your slick, hot tunnel until you come again.” Her throat was dry, but she managed a husky whisper. “Sounds good to me.” He nipped her chin. “Open yourself up to me, Linna.” She did, spreading her thighs while he pushed his hand between their bodies and used his thumb to press on her clit. She hissed at the sensation. He stroked her lightly, then a little harder, before rolling her onto her back. He didn’t tease her with the snaps this time. He undid the rest of them with swift determination and stripped the material off her. Linna, pinned in the heat of his stare, couldn’t even move to help him undress. Her thighs fell open, her pussy exposed to him, and she tilted her hips a little, involuntarily, when he licked his lips. Del didn’t need her help with getting his clothes off. He stripped 179

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himself bare with the same grace he did everything, then settled back between her thighs, his hands resting on the soft skin of her upper thighs. He gave her no time to prepare, no time to anticipate. He licked her clit in one, smooth stroke that made her entire body shudder. He circled the erect button with his tongue, then slid deeper to kiss and lick her folds. His fingertip pressed gently onto her clitoris, but didn’t move. That pressure, coupled with his tongue stroking and licking her below, sent pulses of pleasure through her. Linna put a hand on his head. Every sensation had become heightened in her arousal. The stubble of his growing hair scratched her palm and sent shivers through her. Del put his hands on her hips to keep her still when she wriggled, and his laughter puffed against her flesh. Del unerringly found the right spots to lick and stroke, the right amount of pressure to use that sent her whirling into an oblivion of desire. He used hands and mouth, teeth, lips, tongue and fingers, the force of his breath as he inhaled and exhaled…all worked together to urge her higher and higher. She was flying. Weightless. The scent and sounds of the jungle surrounded her, but faded in and out, so she was aware of where she was, but unable to focus on anything but the way her body sang beneath Del’s skilled caresses. It’s because he loves me, she thought, caught up in pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. Her body reached for satisfaction, but was denied as Del moved away from her. A series of small climaxes rippled through her and left her mindless, grasping, surging toward that final release. She made a wordless protest when she lost the warmth of his mouth on her heated skin, but gave an even louder cry of appreciation when he moved back to kiss her again. Del slid a finger inside her, a preview of what he’d earlier promised. It wasn’t as good as his cock would be, but it was good 180

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enough to make another brief, intense burst of pleasure shoot through her. She came, and hard on the heels of that orgasm came another, fiercer than the one before it. The intensity of it left her gasping for breath. Her muscles tensed, arms and legs stiff as her climax rocketed through her. He licked again, softer. This time a slow, languorous climax rippled through her. Relaxed her. Her body went limp, sated, and she put her hand on his head to stop him from moving. “Del,” she murmured, not wanting or needing an answer. His name tasted good. He rested his head on her belly for a few moments while her breathing slowed. She became aware again of the night sounds, the hoots and cries that had sounded so foreign, but were already becoming familiar. The scent of the flowers filled her nose again and she became aware again of the crushed foliage on her bare skin. Del moved up, over her body and put his forehead to hers. Linna wiggled under his weight, urging him to settle more firmly between her legs. Del put his face into the crook of her shoulder, motionless for a moment, maybe waiting for her to urge him on, maybe just waiting. Linna didn’t know. She was content to let him take the lead, in this, at least. “Subordinate.” He laughed and she realized she’d spoken out loud. “That’s the way it usually works here.” Linna sighed and put her hands on his bare back. Her fingers traced light patterns on his skin. “We’ll see.” He laughed again, and though she’d thought herself completely satisfied, the motion of his body against her sent another surge of desire building. It only took a small shift of his hips for him to enter her. Del kept 181

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his face buried in her neck, his breath hot and making her hotter. True to his promise, he didn’t move. He stretched her deliciously, and at first Linna was content to lie beneath him, connected, hearing him breath and feeling his heart beat in time with hers. Moments passed, and tension built between her legs, in her clit and pussy. She clenched her inner muscles and was rewarded by his small groan at the pressure. Still, he didn’t move. His shoulders tensed under her palms, and when she slid her hands down his back to his ass, she found them tense, too. She cupped the firm flesh, then scratched it lightly. Another shudder fluttered through him. Was he smiling? It felt like he was, his lips curving against her neck. She squeezed his ass again, and still he remained motionless. Only his prick moved, throbbing inside her. She’d become so attuned to his every motion she felt even that. He was waiting for her to move. It could have become a challenge or a battle of wills, but Linna wasn’t interested in fighting with him. Giving in didn’t have to mean subordination, and right now, she didn’t care if it did. It felt too good for her not move her hips, not to rock them upward and accept Del into her body just that fraction deeper. He lifted himself onto his hands. His eyes met hers. He pulled out slowly, unbearably slowly, and left her empty. Back in again, just as slowly, until he’d seated himself inside her. Again he pulled out, slid in, each thrust filling her and making her lift her hips to meet it. His arms shook just a little. She smoothed her hands down his biceps and curled her fingers around his forearms. Again, she rolled her hips and he met her with another thrust. He moved a little faster now, his thrusts more shallow. Each downward thrust pressed his pubic bone against her clitoris, and when he pulled out, her aroused flesh quivered. 182

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She’d come hard already, and more than once. Even if she hadn’t been able to rise to climax again, she would have been swept away with Del’s lovemaking. As it was, she drifted in a haze of beautiful longing. It didn’t build like any orgasm she’d ever had before with shocks and spasms of intensity. This was like water filling a pitcher of pebbles. The pleasure trickled into her and found its way into every nook and corner, until she was suffused with it. Glowing with it. Her body became bright with bliss. Del’s face became her world. He blinked and the light flickered. He smiled and she felt her own lips curve with the grin. Everything in her was him until Linna was certain she could no longer tell where he left off and she began. His thrusts became jagged, fast then slow, which sent her oozing over the edge into a climax that seemed to go on and on. Only when he cried out her name and pushed inside her one last time did the pleasure subside, leaving her drained but giddy with happiness. “Go to sleep,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll watch over you.” And trusting him completely, Linna did. *

*

*

“Admit it,” Del grunted as he hacked at the undergrowth. “You thought we wouldn’t get out of here alive.” From behind him, Linna snorted. “We’re not out of here yet.” He paused to wipe the sweat streaming down his forehead and looked up to the sky. The sunlight was dim this far down, and dappled with shadow from the leaves of the tall buulla trees. He pointed up. “I can see the sun. The trees are getting thinner. We’re getting to the edge of somewhere.” She laughed. “Oh, that’s very reassuring.” He faced her and pulled her into his arms for a long, lingering kiss. “You won’t be able to talk to me like that when we’re in Yarushalim, woman.” 183

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“You’d better be kidding.” He thought about his mother and the women his parents had chosen for him, and knew he wasn’t really kidding. Xanderran women had opinions. They had voices. They just didn’t use them like Newcity women did. “You’re not kidding.” Linna frowned. “Del, I think you’d better just tell me what the hell I’m in for here.” Before he could say anything, a low chuffing noise rustled the brush ahead of them. “Shh.” Linna tensed beside him. “What is it?” He smelled tannan. And blood. Maybe the lizard had a fresh kill. If it did, it might be stuffed enough not to bother with them…unless the smell of blood brought its brothers to fight over the meal. He looked to the sky again. The slant of the sunlight told him night would be falling soon. They could go around, find another route, but they’d still be in the beast’s territory. “There’s no way to avoid it,” he said grimly and wished, not for the first time since crashing, they had a weapon. “Dragons?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. “Tannanim,” he corrected. “Linna, they’re just animals.” “With sharp teeth,” she replied. Her eyes were wide and her mouth quivered, but she straightened her back and clenched her hands. He put his hands on her shoulders and felt the muscles jumping and twitching under his palms. Del wanted to hold her and reassure her. Protect her. It’s what a Xanderran woman would have expected. Xanderran women, even though they were as fierce and capable of protecting themselves as Xanderran men, expected men to protect them. A Xanderran woman faced with a tannan on her own would fight it with her own teeth and nails if she had to…but if she faced one with a man at her side, she’d die in the great lizard’s teeth before she’d lift a finger to protect herself. Protection was a purely male occupation on Xanderra. 184

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Linna didn’t expect it. Del knew she could hold her own. He’d seen her fight. She was fast, strong, and capable. But he still wanted to protect her. “If it’s eaten its fill, it might not bother with us. We’re not their meal of choice anyway.” “But I’m guessing it would gladly eat us.” “If it’s hungry, yeah. We have to hope it’s not hungry.” When she looked at him that way, it wasn’t hard to remember she wasn’t from this planet. “And if it is?” “They’re big and they’re dumb. Like me.” A smile twitched her lips. “You’re not dumb, Del.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again. When she stepped back, her face was set with determination. “We fight it.” “It would be easier with weapons.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you think I’m dumb?” “No.” He looked into the dense growth in the direction of the chuffing noise. “Just trying to prepare you.” “Can we fight this thing with our bare hands? And expect to win? And keep all our limbs?” “Yes. Maybe. Probably.” She gave a disgusted sigh. “Let’s go then. If I’m going to get eaten, I’d like to get it over with.” Del pushed forward through the springy branches. The chuffing and slurping got louder, and the smell of blood stronger. One green leaf in front of him had been smeared with red and Del stopped, hand up to keep Linna quiet. She didn’t say anything, but she did move up to his side. The bonding had made him even more attuned to her than he had been before and he could hear her heart thudding. Her face was flushed, though her stance was still pretty relaxed. He stared at her in the dappled light, and she turned her head and met his gaze. “We’ll try to go around it,” he mouthed, and she nodded. 185

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Seven years was a long time to be away from home. A lot had come back to him. A lot hadn’t. It wasn’t that Newcity didn’t have crime, but in a society where drugs were cheap and legal, sex was the sanctioned recreation, and citizens were rewarded for positive behavior, there was usually very little violence. Usually, Del mentally amended with a glance at Linna. Her husband had been plenty fond of violence. He saw Linna’s eyes widen and knew she’d spotted the tannan. The great lizard hunched over the bloody, mangled corpse of its meal and tore at the flesh. Its wings swept in lazy circles as it gobbled and snarled. It was a young one, he saw, as its sweeping wings lifted it a little off the ground. The lizard’s scales glinted in the rapidly fading sunlight. This was one of the rare violet ones with scales so dark they looked nearly black. The wings shone a lighter shade, the leathery skin shot through with threads of blue and green against a framework of black bone. Those wings would grow a little larger, but not enough to carry the beast once it reached its full growth. “Does that mean its teeth are too soft to tear us to pieces?” Linna spoke softly from behind him. She pointed at the lizard, which had risen into the air again with a beat of its wings as it gobbled. “Probably.” Del scanned the creature once more, making sure it was still more occupied with its dinner than with them. He pointed further to the right, away from the tannan and its food, and started toward it. They’d only gone a few feet, just past the point where they could still see the lizard, when Linna tapped his shoulder again. “If its teeth are too soft to eat us, how did it kill what it’s eating?” Del stopped, senses instantly flaring. He lifted his nose and tried to scent the air. Instinct and training came back to him, but too little and too late. “How long do the young ones stay with their mothers?” Linna 186

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questioned. Del turned at the same instant the brush parted behind them, and the lizard that had made the kill emerged. “Harah!” Linna must have seen the look on his face or smelled the tannan’s breath. She ducked and the lizard’s jaws snapped closed in the space where her head had been. “Roll!” Del shouted. She did, curling her arms and legs to her body and making herself a tiny target. Del dropped to a crouch, doing the same. The beast’s normal prey was much bigger than human, but this was a mother protecting its child, not a hungry animal looking for food. The tannan swung its small head on the long, sinewy neck and roared. The stench of its breath—sulfur mixed with carrion—was enough to make them both choke. Linna gasped and covered her face with her hands. The tannan paused and turned its head from side to side, trying to pin them with its beady glare. Del caught Linna’s gaze, expecting to see her rigid with fear. Her body was tense, but her expression was determined, not terrified. She got to her feet at the same time Del did. “What do we do?” The lizard swung its head, focusing on her voice, and snapped its jaws. “Run.” They did. It wasn’t easy. Branches and leaves whipped their faces and arms, but Linna made no complaint. She edged out in front of him, elbows out, and mowed down the undergrowth a lot faster and better than he’d been doing. She has metal in her arms, he thought, too-aware of the lizard’s hot breath on the back of his neck, and he had time to think he loved her more than it seemed possible to love any other person just before the sparkstone jutting up from the ground caught his foot and sent him 187

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crashing to the ground. They’d been running so fast Linna actually went a few feet further before she noticed he’d gone down. By that time, he’d rolled again, dodging the tannan’s teeth as it bit the ground where he’d been the moment before. Time slowed for him. The world became the ground, the plants, and the great beast in front of him. He’d faced tannanim bigger than this, but all males, slow and lazy in comparison with this female who’d felt her offspring threatened. The last time he’d been in the jungle, sent to bring home a handful of scales to prove he’d reached adulthood, he’d had two weapons, armor and strength-inducing drugs to help him on his quest. Now he had nothing but his bare hands and desperation. And Linna. As he rolled and got to his feet just outside the hissing lizard’s reach, Linna leaped between them. She jumped high, higher than he could have, and whacked the tannan in the face with her hands. Del heard the crunch as her hand split the beast’s nose wide open. Black blood spurted out, hot on his face and arms, and the tannan screamed. Its head swung toward Linna, its jaws agape, and she thrust a sharp stick into its tongue. The animal fell back. Sparks gouted from its mouth. Linna cried out and fell back, slapping at her hair and clothes. Del shot upward and punched the lizard on the underside of its chin. His hand felt broken, but that had happened plenty of times before. His skin shredded on the lizard’s metal-sharp scales, and that pain was nothing new either. What sent him to the ground again was the tannan’s tail, which swept around its body and knocked his legs out from under him. Its teeth sunk into his shoulder. Del could no longer tell where he left off and the lizard began. Blood was everywhere, black and red. The lizard shook him like a child’s stuffed toy, and the world grayed around 188

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him. Del plunged his hand upward. Heat burst over his hand, stinging, and the beast roared and let him go. Through the red-tinged gray haze trying to cover his vision, Del saw the creature’s eye dangling from its socket. Maddened, the tannan shook its head. Blood and fluids sprayed out. Some got in Del’s eye and he cried out as it stung him to temporary blindness. “Get away from him, you bitch!” he heard Linna scream. The lizard shrieked, long and loud. He heard the crunch of underbrush as it backed away. He blinked, and blinked again, tears streaming furiously down his face as the poison burned his vision. Linna’s hands helped him to his feet and steadied him when the world tipped crazily. He heard the purr of ripping cloth, then felt its softness on his face as she wiped the lizard’s blood from his eyes. He opened them, and even the dim, green jungle light was too bright. “Are you all right?” she asked. “Sit down. It’s gone.” He nearly fell into a jumble of arms and legs, but Linna helped him sit. Her grip on him would probably leave bruises, but they’d be nothing compared to the scar he knew the lizard’s teeth would leave. She bound his shoulder quickly, and the scent of crushed vegetation told him she’d used a pad of leaves and petals to help stanch the wound. More tearing told him she’d used more of her jumpsuit. “Be careful or you’ll end up naked,” Del thought he said, but when Linna didn’t answer he knew he’d only thought, not spoken. He tried again and still nothing came out. Tannan venom didn’t kill. The lizards liked their meat fresh. The venom caused sleep and temporary paralysis. Del fought it, but his blinded eyes drooped. “Don’t you knock out on me again,” Linna said. Her slap rocked his head back on his shoulders and made agony flare in his entire body, but Del couldn’t fight the poison. He yawned. 189

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His head fell forward. “Del, stay awake!” He heard panic in her voice and wanted to reassure her. He wasn’t blacking out, not going to die…just needed to sleep. For a little while. Not a long time… “You bastard, stay awake!” Tears made her voice shake, and pain flared in him again when she cruelly punched his wound. Not even the pain could combat the drowsiness, though, and Del gave in to it. The last thing he heard was Linna shouting his name.

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CHAPTER 13

“Son of a bitch!” Linna spat the curse and put her hands on her hips. “That’s the second time you’ve pussed out on me, Del!” A great, shuddering snore shook his body and Linna bit back a sob. He was sleeping. Not dead. She lifted one swollen eyelid, but he didn’t even wince. The blood from his shoulder had stopped gushing, and though his eyes looked painfully red, she didn’t think he’d be permanently blind. Didn’t think, but didn’t know. “Shitdamnpissfucktits!” she shouted to the jungle and kicked at the ground. There was too damn much she didn’t know, including where to go from here. One thing was for sure. She wasn’t going to sit here and wait for that bitch dragon to come back and finish what she’d started. Linna shook her hand and flexed the fingers, thankful she’d remembered to use the hand in which all the bones and tendons had been replaced. If she’d tried to punch the lizard with her other hand, she’d be in as much 191

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of a mess as Del, with broken fingers and abraded skin. As it was, the animal’s scales, hard though they were, couldn’t compare with good old-fashioned titanium. Her skin had split in a couple of dozen places, but the blood loss was minimal and easily stopped. Her hand hurt, but it would heal. She wasn’t so sure about what to do with Del. The animal had bitten him all the way down to the bone. She’d wrapped the wound in strips of her jumpsuit and some absorbent leaves, but she was afraid it would get infected. “Damn it, Del,” she said softly and brushed his forehead with her fingers. “I don’t know what to do for you.” The chuffing, hissing noise from behind her left no room for wavering. That bitch, or another just like it, was coming back, and Linna didn’t intend to be here when it did. She breathed in, then out, to fill her blood stream with as much oxygen as she could. She focused on the muscles in her legs and lower back, tensing them, then bent and lifted Del over her shoulder. His head hung nearly to the ground, even with his body bent in half, and his legs did the same in the front. He probably weighed more than two hundred pounds. Linna grunted, but took a step. What good was any of this stuff inside her if she couldn’t use it to get herself, and the man she loved, out of this shit-hole jungle? She’d never been a quitter. She’d taken life by the throat and forced it back into herself after Daniel’s abuse had stolen it. She’d just fought a freaking dragon, for fuck’s sake. She could, and would, damn it, get herself and Del out of this. I’m a machine, she thought with every step. This doesn’t hurt. “I’m a machine.” she panted, voice hoarse. “This doesn’t hurt.” But oh, God-of-Choice, it did hurt. Hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, hurt like a motherfuck, hurt like holy fucking shit, and every step she took made her scream aloud. But she kept taking them. Step by step. Branches and twigs scraped and slapped her, tangled in her hair and 192

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forced her to leave some of it behind when she yanked past it. Her clothes tore even more. She locked her legs and arms, kept them stiff and unyielding. “I’m a fucking machine,” she grunted. “And this…does not…hurt!” Dark had fallen, though she could still see, and it took her several concentrated steps before she realized there was light up ahead. Not star or moonlight, but bright, unflickering light. Artificial light. Which meant there were people there. Linna stumbled in that moment, her concentration broken, and she and Del both went to the ground. The moist earth ground into her mouth, and she spat. Dirt, not covered by weeds and flowers. She looked up and saw the sky. Somehow, they’d done it. They’d gotten out of the jungle. She couldn’t move now, not even to get up. She’d spent her last reserve and could only lie in a tangle of limbs, staring up at the black sky and unable to even call out for help. Her breathing slowed and calmed while the sweat dried on her skin. She licked the salt from her lips and wished for a drink. Del groaned softly from beside her and she found the energy to turn toward him. His eyelids fluttered. A few more deep breaths and her body’s enhanced functions began to repair and replenish the resources she’d spent. She needed food and water, but she wasn’t as bad off as she’d been the night Del saved her. She’d survive this, too. “One big, freaking adventure,” she croaked, not sure where the laughter was coming from, but feeling it burble out of her chest just the same. She must have spoken louder than she’d thought because, in the next moment, the bright light no longer shone off in the distance, it shone in her eyes. She threw up a hand to shield them while they adjusted. Dark forms appeared in front of her eyes. Broad-shouldered. Tall. They were all men, and Linna found herself on her feet, crouched over 193

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Del. One of the shapes grunted what sounded like a question, but in a language she didn’t know. “I don’t speak Xanderran,” she said. “Who are you?” said the man in Universal and dropped the beam of light from her eyes. “She’s got the melek ,” said another in a voice hushed with awe. “Don’t call him that,” barked the third man. More slender than the others, his hair long and tied back from his forehead, he nonetheless had a look about him that was familiar. Something about the eyes and set of the mouth. “Don’t you touch him,” Linna warned as she stepped in front of the man. “I know you are.” “You do?” In the golden light from the lanterns, the man’s face quirked with arrogant amusement. “I highly doubt that, kallah.” Linna didn’t know what a kallah was, but the way he said it made her think it wasn’t an endearment. “You’re Del’s brother. You tried to kill us.” “Del?” The man laughed. “You mean Delek.” She had forgotten that was Del’s full name. “You tried to kill us.” His amused look turned sour. “That’s quite an accusation, kallah.” “Don’t call me that.” “Give me your name then.” “It’s Linna Fortense.” “Unique. You’re from…?” “I’m from Earth,” Linna said, surprised at the rush of pride that filled her at the words. “Newcity.” “Is there any other place to be from, if you’re from Earth?” Del’s brother grinned, and for a moment, looked a lot like Del. But he isn’t Del, she thought. This man had the mark of cruelty on his face, of greed and wanting. She recognized it from many of her clients. Del’s brother was the sort of man who wasn’t satisfied with 194

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what he had, no matter how much that was. “He got bitten by a tannan?” one of the other men asked. He bent over Del and felt his pulse, lifted his lids, tapped his wrists and throat. “Yes.” Linna ignored Del’s brother and bent back to Del. “Will he be all right?” Del’s brother didn’t like being ignored apparently. He shoved the man aside to kneel next to her. “The venom causes sleep and temporary paralysis. He’ll be fine when it wears off.” “Which will be when?” Del groaned as if on cue, and his eyes fluttered. The next instant, they flew open and he flew upward. His hands locked around his brother’s throat. The two of them went tumbling over and over on the ground, fists flying. Linna and the other men jumped out of the way. “Stop them!” Nobody did. For the first time, she truly understood what life on Xanderra was like. The warriors faced off, hands raised and faces set in grim determination. Del was tall and broad, heavily muscled. His tattoos covered his back and ran from his lower biceps to his wrists. His head, which she’d always seen closely shaved, now wore a fine cap of closely curling black hair. He had big features to match his large frame. Del exuded power and strength. His brother, on the other hand, stood several inches shorter. His dark hair fell to his shoulders in tight ringlets gleaming with oil and held back from his forehead by a circlet of braided ribbons. He was leaner than Del, muscled but not so broad, and his features reflected that. Thinner nose, thinner lips, narrower, deeper-set eyes. He looked like Del, but a more pinched version. Sly. They didn’t look like they’d be evenly matched, but watching them circle each other, Linna could see they were. Where Del was blunt and intense, his brother was sharp and swift. Each complemented the other. Del threw the first punch, which narrowly missed his brother’s face. 195

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His brother took the chance to lunge an uppercut to Del’s gut. Del grunted and took a step back, but didn’t hesitate to slam his fist back toward his opponent. The man standing next to her muttered something in Xanderran. Seeing her incomprehension, he switched to Universal. “Vardek won’t let him win,” he said casually. “He likes his life too much. He’s not going to let Delek come back and take it away.” “We didn’t come back to take anything away,” Linna said. The man looked at her. “We? You’re behsherit?” She nodded reluctantly, not really sure that was any of this stranger’s business. The man grinned and shook his head, looking back to the fighting pair. “That’s going to cause some problems. The Amanrabah is officially supposed to be bonded. Vardek hasn’t taken a behshera. If Delek’s behsherit, as the older sibling, he’s got a better claim to the seat.” “If Del wants it.” Linna turned her back on the fight between brothers, sickened by the noises of flesh hitting flesh. “He doesn’t have a choice really. If he’s back, and behsherit, there’s nothing to keep the Melekim from electing him in Vardek’s place. Delek’s got the line of ascension, not his brother.” “Can’t he just…decline?” The man jerked his chin toward the brawling duo. “Does it look like he wants to decline to you?” Linna turned just in time to see Del crunch his fist into Vardek’s face and bring it back covered in blood. Anger overtook her and she strode forward, ignoring the shouts from the men behind her. She forced her way between the men, not even flinching as Vardek’s fist, meant for Del’s head, flew toward her face. She reached up and caught it, held the fingers, and squeezed. Vardek’s eyes widened in surprise at her speed and strength, and his face contorted when she put a little extra pressure on his fingers. She bent his hand back at the wrist until he stepped back, and then she 196

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dropped it. She whirled on Del. “You’re acting like a pair of babies! Now stop it, both of you!” Del’s expression was unreadable. He wiped at his face, smearing blood on his cheek. “Linna, this is between me and my brother.” She crossed her arms and shook her head. “This is ridiculous. Get out of this freaking jungle before you go killing each other. Get to civilization. Have some food. Take a bath, for the love of God-ofChoice! You both stink. You’re filthy! And you’re punching each other for what? What do you hope to win?” Del dropped his hands and put them on his hips. “Damn it, Linna.” She faced Vardek. “And you! Don’t play the belabored innocent with me, you asshole. You sent us into the jungle on purpose. You tried to kill us, and while I’m not only severely offended on Del’s part for that little stunt, I can tell you this. I am extremely pissed about the fact you tried to kill me. So back off, baby brother, stop posturing like an animal and behave like a human being.” Vardek’s brows rose under the onslaught of her insults. He looked past her, toward his brother. “This is the woman you’ve chosen for your behshera?” “He didn’t choose me,” Linna snapped, fed up to her eyeballs with Xanderran men. “I took him.” Now Vardek seemed genuinely stunned. “Delek?” Del sounded amused. “She’s right.” Vardek looked down at the hand she’d bruised. “She took you?” Linna wasn’t in the mood to debate semantics or go over her romantic history with Del. Now she looked back and forth between the two of them. Only minutes before, they’d been intent on killing each other. Now they grinned identical foolish grins, and at her expense. “Four balls apiece!” she shouted in frustration. “God-of-Choice, no wonder this planet is so messed up!” “What’s she talking about?” Vardek asked Del. 197

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Del, blast him, shrugged and put his arm around her shoulders. “Sometimes it’s better not to ask.” Then just like that, they were friends again, united in their mutual patronization of her. Linna frowned and shrugged off Del’s arm. Vardek was looking at her in a way she didn’t like at all. “Come on,” Vardek said to both of them. “Let’s go home.” *

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It felt better to be home than he wanted to admit. Del sighed and leaned back in the steaming hot water of the bath. Real water, not the artificial stuff he’d had on Earth. Artiwater cleaned you, it was potable, but it wasn’t real. Steam rose up in wispy curls. The Esheetha servant who’d filled the tub had also added scented oil. The smell filled Del’s nostrils with a fragrance he hadn’t thought he’d ever smell again. Xanderran bloodflower. The name and the flower were both kind of ugly, but the scent…the scent was glorious. Del sank down lower into the water until it covered his head, then came up for air and scrubbed at the curls. “Ahat!” The servant appeared in the doorway to the bath. “Yes, xxitarren?” “Bring a razor and some shaving soap. I want to get rid of this mess. The servant nodded and moved away on silent feet. Del relaxed into the hot water more, letting his body float a little. Every part of him ached. Bruises of every shade covered him all over. The oil smelled good and also served as a balm. Unfortunately, as much as he might like to, he couldn’t stay in the tub all day. “That looks good.” He opened his eyes. “You look good.” Linna looked down at the gauzy strips of material covering her body. “Considering some of the outfits I wore back home, I never thought I’d say this. I feel naked.” 198

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“That’s what makes you look so good,” he replied with a grin. Linna didn’t return his smile. She touched the sheer fabric crisscrossed over her breasts and belly, then the triangle between her legs. “I think I’d rather have a jumpsuit.” “We can get you one, if that’s what you want.” Del sat up against the tub’s curved back. “Want to join me?” Linna leaned over to peer into the depths of the tub, and this time, he was relieved to see a smile touch her lips. “Very tempting. And the bath looks good, too.” Del touched the surface of the water. “Come in.” Linna reached up behind the fall of her hair and untied the knot holding her outfit together. It fell to pieces in her hands and she dropped them onto the tile floor. Then she slipped into the water in front of him and bobbed there. “Delicious,” she said with a long sigh. “God-of-Choice, hot, real water.” “All you want.” She cracked open one eye and gave an obvious look of appraisal to his naked torso. “Does that go for everything in this tub?” For an answer, he pulled her to him and kissed her. She settled onto his thighs, his rising cock pressing into her belly. Linna wiggled her taut ass against him and pressed her breasts to his chest. The oil allowed her to slide against him. “Slippery,” she murmured, her tongue stroking his lips. She nibbled his chin. “How nice.” She reached a hand between them to grasp his erection as she lifted herself. She nudged her entrance with the tip of him and Del leaned back, ready for the pleasure he knew she’d give him. Instead, Linna let out a startled squawk and turned, water splashing. “Your razor and shaving soap,” Ahat said with another bow. The items were laid out on a tray along with a clean towel and a bottle of scented cream. “Do you require assistance?” 199

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Normally, Del would have allowed the servant to do the shaving for him, but he’d spent the last seven years taking care of things like that for himself. “No. You’re dismissed. But I’d like you and Shney to bring us some food. Fruit, bread, some pastries. And wine.” “Very good, xxitarren.” Ahat bowed and left. “So much for privacy,” Linna said. Del understood how she felt. In Newcity, you were rarely alone, but you always had privacy. “To Thine Own Business Attend” was a powerful motto. “Things are a little different here.” “I believe you’ve told me that before.” “You don’t need to mind them. The servants. They’re…” Del struggled for a minute, trying to figure out how to explain it in terms she’d understand. “They’re not…of our rank.” “Xanderrans use a ranking system, too?” “Not like Newcity.” As far as Del understood, Newcity’s ranking was a complicated series of mathematical formulas that System kept track of. “They’re just servants. They’re Esheethim. Like your parents. Not one thing or the other.” Linna looked over her shoulder to where the servant had disappeared. “Androgynes? They’re androgynes?” “They’re not male, not female. Not a mixture of both. They’re something altogether different. On Xanderra, the Esheethim are servants.” “No wonder you looked at me so funny when I told you about my parents.” Linna sank into the water up to her neck. “They’re still people, whatever they are.” Ahat came back into the room, followed by Shney. Both carried trays filled with plates and baskets of food, as well as several bottles of wine. Ahat set up a folding table next to the tub, just high enough Del could reach up and grab whatever he wanted. “Will there be anything else?” “No, thanks, Ahat. You and Shney can go.” 200

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The servants left. Del scooped up some bean paste on a piece of flatbread, but Linna’s look stopped him from eating it. “What?” “Can’t you even remember their names?” “I called them both by name.” “You called the one who set up the table Ahat, but earlier you called the other one Ahat. This time, you called it Shney.” Del laughed, understanding her confusion. “Linna, Ahat, Shney, Shalosh, they’re all just names for whichever servant is first, second, third, whatever, on the waiting list. Whichever comes first to answer a summons is Ahat. They’re number names.” She blinked. “You don’t even give them names?” “They have names.” “Not individual names.” Del put down his food. “No.” Linna made a face. “So they’re not really people to you. They’re not even really servants. They’re slaves.” “Esheethim aren’t slaves. They get paid for their work.” “With money?” She had him there. “With food and board, medical care—” “They’re slaves!” Del gave her a hard stare. “They’re not slaves.” Linna narrowed her eyes. “Can they refuse to serve you?” “Of course they can.” “Without repercussions?” Del sighed. “Linna, they do their jobs and they get paid. They don’t do their jobs, they’re free to go back to the jungle where they came from. Nobody forces the Esheethim to work for the Xanderrans.” “But they’re not considered equal.” “No.” “And if one Esheethim—” “Esheetha,” he corrected. “If you only mean one, it’s Esheetha.” “If one of them wanted to live here, in the city, but not be a servant, 201

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what then? What if it wanted to be, oh, I don’t know. A teacher?” The thought was so outrageous it made him laugh. “That wouldn’t happen.” “Why not?” “Linna.” Del slid in the water and took her hands, pulled her close to him. “The Esheethim live the way they want to live. We’re not really sure why they like serving us. We think it’s some kind of religious thing for them, a period of youth trial, something like that. They have their reasons for doing what they do. None of them are mistreated. “They can go home any time they want, and they usually do. They don’t give us their names, so we call them by number. It’s the way they like it. Why are we even arguing about this?” After a minute she softened against him. “Your mother visited me this morning.” That couldn’t have been good. “She did?” Linna nodded, her cheek on his chest. The warm water covered them both and allowed her to float in his arms. “She came while you were gone. I woke up and there she was, and you weren’t.” “I had to go make arrangements to see my father.” She looked up at him accusingly. “You didn’t tell me that. All I knew was I woke up and the bed beside me was empty, and some woman was glaring at me like I’d just eaten her last hallucinabar.” Del snugged her closer. “What did she say to you?” Linna gave low, brief laugh. “What didn’t she say to me? I’m an opportunistic, control-freak trollop who snared her son directly out of the cradle by using the power of my pussy to sway him to the dark side. And a bunch of other stuff I didn’t really get about how you were going to take your brother’s seat and I needed to be prepared to step back from you like a proper Xanderran spouse. It was like something out of a very, very bad viddy story.” Del’s laugh was more genuine than Linna’s had been. “That sounds like my mother.” 202

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“It sounds like a cliché, Del.” “That, too.” He kissed her temple. “You don’t have to worry about her.” “No?” Linna leaned back to look up at him again. “She seemed pretty fierce to me. Am I going to have to fight her like you did your brother?” “Women don’t fight, even if they know how.” “Not with their fists apparently.” Linna tucked herself back against him. “They fight plenty with their words.” “I’m sorry.” She squeezed him. “Not your fault. Besides, I told her if she had any issues with me, it was better to get them off her chest now instead of letting them fester inside. So she ranted for another twenty minutes or so, and when she saw I didn’t have anything to say, she left.” “You are some woman.” She smiled against his skin. “And you’re some man.” She slipped her hand from behind his back to caress his penis, which had been resting semi-turgid. It lengthened promptly beneath her fingers, and she felt an answering pulse between her legs. She couldn’t get enough of him. “Del?” “Yeah?” His voice was husky. “You don’t expect me to turn into a simpering, quiet, little pinhead, do you?” “Sheol, no.” “Good.” She enfolded his cock in the circle of her grasp and slid up and down until his hips lifted. Then she closed her fingers around the head and squeezed gently. “Because you know that won’t ever happen.” Del put a finger under her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. “Linna, I don’t want you to change. I love you the way you are.” She still couldn’t get over hearing him say that. “That’s a good 203

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thing, Del. Because as much as I love you, I can’t be anyone’s servant, or anyone’s whipping post.” “I know that.” She stroked him more firmly, loving the way he bit his lower lip in response. She moved in to kiss him and took his lip between her teeth. She tugged gently enough to make him hiss, then let go and licked the small hurt. She tongued his lips softly until he opened them, then delved inside to taste him. She ran her hands over the tight curls on top of his head. “Weren’t you going to take care of this?” “Yeah. Someone interrupted me.” She kissed him again. “Want me to leave?” His hands cupped her ass and pulled her closer. “No.” She touched his chin, equally as scruffy as his head. “Want me to shave you?” “Now there’s something you don’t hear every day.” She laughed and rubbed the top of his head again. “You scared?” He rolled his eyes. “No.” “I pretended to be a Kompanion for a long time,” she reminded him. “I had to shave a lot of things.” That earned her a chuckle. He captured the hand rubbing his hair and brought it to his mouth for a kiss that made her wetter even than the bathtub. “Okay.” Linna pushed him back against the tub and straddled him while she hooked the tray with one finger and pulled it closer. Her pussy rubbed against his erection, but that was just part of the fun. She ground herself onto his thighs a little bit, just to see him squirm. “You have to stay still, Del.” That made him stop moving. “Are you sure you’ve done this before?” She leaned close to whisper in his ear. “Honey, I can shave you so smooth and so close, you’ll think you never had hair.” 204

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“That shouldn’t sound as kinky as it does.” She wriggled again, moving closer, and grabbed up the small jar of shaving soap. “Some razor.” It was really a dagger. The blade glinted lethally in the light shining in from the skylight. She tilted it and marveled at the sharpness of the edge. “Are you—” “Hush. I’m sure.” She took a palmful of the soap and smoothed it over his head, making sure to cover it completely. The soap smelled like the bath water, delicious and exotic, musky and sweet at the same time. The smell made her nipples perk up…and so did Del’s hands, which had crept up to massage them. “Don’t distract me,” she warned. “I like both your ears where they are.” He’d bent forward to slide his tongue along her neck while he tweaked her nipples. “I’m Xanderran, remember? Thrive on danger and all that shit? Go ahead and do it. I dare you.” His mouth moved lower to taste her nipples before he slid up along her body again and shot her that damned clit-tingler of a grin. “I won’t move my head again. I promise.” He hadn’t said anything about his hands, though. As she stretched upward to smooth the soap on his head, his fingers played along her spine. She wiggled. The dagger in her hand wavered, and Linna took a deep breath to keep from moving. She put the blade to his skin and scraped forward. True to his word, Del didn’t move his head. His hands slid lower to cup her buttocks. His fingers curved underneath to the supersensitive skin of her upper thighs. He brushed her lightly and the tickling sensation tightened her pussy. Linna flicked the soap off the dagger and put it back to his head. Another scrape, another stripe of clean skin, and Del brushed his fingers further in, along her soft outer folds. Linna had a lot of self205

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control. She wanted to rock back and forth along that touch, to feel him slide inside her, but she kept herself still. Scrape. Caress. By the time she was done with his head, Linna thought she might come just from the pressure of her clit against Del’s belly. If she moved, just a little…but she didn’t. This had become a game, a challenge, and she still hadn’t finished his beard. She cupped some water in her hand and poured it over his head to clean the last of the soap off it. Then she dipped some of the creamy lather from the cup and smoothed it onto his chin and cheeks. Scrape. Caress. Her thighs began to shake. Scrape. His hands drifted back up over her buttocks to play along her spine again. Linna pushed upward on her knees again to reach for more soap, and when she came back down, his cock nudged her opening, slick with arousal. There was a moment when she could have pulled away, but Linna gave in to temptation. She slid down onto his erection until he filled her. Both of them sighed. “Think you can keep your hands steady while you do this?” She rocked slightly to settle herself even further onto him and put the blade back to his cheek. “I guess we’ll find out.” “Who’s going to scream first?” Del asked, a twinkle in his eye. “Difference is, I doubt I’ll make you bleed.” She scraped a line of clean skin onto his cheek and shivered as he slipped a hand between them to press against her clitoris. “I’m not going to make you bleed. I won’t hurt you, Del.” She saw recognition light up his eyes. “Are you sure?” It seemed strange to have such a big, brawny man look so vulnerable. Linna’s heart went out to him, so uncertain about the way love worked. Lack of trust was an issue she knew well. “As sure as I can be,” she replied, not wanting to force false platitudes from her lips even for the sake of romance. He nodded, understanding. “Same here.” 206

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Letting the blade clatter to the tile floor, she leaned in to kiss him. “I have an idea. Let’s see how loud I can make you yell without a knife in my hand.” His answer was a thrust of his hips that made her moan out loud. Being filled by Del was delicious, glorious. It made her feel wild and calm at the same time. It made her feel…complete. “I love you, Del.” She whispered the words, aware of the power they gave him over her. “And I am behsherit to you because of that.” He settled his hands on her hips to guide their pace. “I used to think I’d never find my behshera. I didn’t think there’d ever be any other person I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. Until you.” He put a finger back on her clit again, to circle on it while he moved inside her. Their mouths locked, tongues darting and sliding. The water made her nearly weightless, so Del could move her with one hand. She locked her thighs on his hips to move on him, but he put pressure on her hip to stop her. “Let me do this for you.” She wasn’t going to argue with that, if it’s what he wanted. They hadn’t yet been together so often she couldn’t recall each and every time they’d made love. She was completely aware that for Del, each time was not just once more with her, but once more altogether. She was willing to give in to what he wanted, especially when she knew it would be good for her, too. “I love making love to you,” he whispered into her ear. The caress of his breath sent a shiver down her spine. “I love the way you shiver when I do this.” He pressed his thumb against her clit as he moved her downward on his cock. She shivered. He smiled and ducked his face into the crook of her shoulder. Her head dropped back as ecstasy filled her. Del’s mouth teased her nipples, back and forth. Threads of pleasure twisted between her legs and joined with the joy his mouth was giving her. Bliss suffused every limb. 207

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She reached the edge and crested there, riding the waves of desire. Del quickened the pace. He took his thumb away from her clit, but pushed her closer to him so she rubbed against his belly. Her orgasm ebbed, then surged through her again as the pace quickened. The final burst of it eluded her, just out of reach, and Linna could no longer think of anything but reaching that pinnacle. She could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing but Del. His hands on her back, his mouth on her nipples, his cock inside her, his muscled stomach against her clit. Everything was Del and the pleasure sweeping through her. The universe opened up in his eyes and sucked her in, the way a black hole swallowed an unwary starship. She lost herself in his gaze, filled with lust and love. Starfire swam in her veins. She came, gasping, and he came with her. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub. She came again with his final thrust and clutched him hard enough to leave marks on his shoulders. For about a minute, the only sound was the sloshing of the water in the tub and their heavy breathing. Then Del began to chuckle. His body moving against her sent aftershocks of pleasure through her, not quite another orgasm, but wonderful just the same. “Why are you laughing?” she asked him. Del looked into her eyes. “This is so much damned fun.” Then Linna began to laugh with him, and together they made the bathroom ring with the sound of their shared joy. *

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Bright light pierced his eyelids, and Del threw up a hand to cover them. Beside him on the bed, Linna groaned a protest. He cracked one eye open against the glare. “Good. You’re up.” It was his mother. Garzina Tennvic folded her hands inside the sleeves of her high-necked robe and peered down at the bed, her face 208

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twisted with disdain. She sniffed loudly. Del recognized the look…and the sniff. “Good morning, Ima.” He sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed. “Ahat, please close the blinds.” The servant hesitated before obeying, looking at Garzina with a wary expression on its face. Garzina shifted her gaze from the bed to the Esheetha and nodded her permission. Del sighed. She hadn’t changed. With the blind lowered, the bright morning sunlight wasn’t so harsh. Del scratched at his head, now smooth, and then ran a hand over his cheeks and chin. Not so smooth. He smiled, remembering just what, exactly, had interrupted his grooming. “I can’t believe you’re still abed this late in the day,” his mother said. She snapped her fingers at Ahat and Shney, who scurried forward bearing a pile of clothes Del didn’t even want to look at, much less put on. “Don’t you know you’ve got to address the Melekim today? Where’s your head?” “On my shoulders, same place it’s always been.” Another sniff, this one louder. “Very amusing.” Linna sat up next to him, blankets puddled around her waist. “Good morning.” Garzina ignored her. “Delek, get out of bed and let me help you dress. I’ve got your breakfast waiting, and I want to go over what you’ll say to the Melekim.” There’d been more than one reason for him leaving Xanderra seven years ago, and Del was quickly remembering more of them. “Thanks very much. You don’t need to bother. I’m sure you’re very busy, Ima. I’ll take care of things for myself.” She dismissed him as she always did, with a wave of her hand and a tutting noise. She swept to the dresser and began rummaging through the contents on top of it. Worthless junk, most of it, but it was his worthless junk. Del got out of bed, pulling loose a sheet to wrap around 209

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his waist. “Go on,” he said to his mother, who turned with a look of disbelief. “I can take care of all this myself.” She put her hands on her hips. “Next you’ll be telling me you can make your own decisions.” Del didn’t say anything, just stared his mother down. She pursed her lips and frowned, then looked over his shoulder to the bed. “I suppose she’s wooing you into acting this way?” Del crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t start.” Garzina gasped as though he’d slapped her. “Delek! I am your mother!” “And I’m an adult,” he told her. “Linna is my behshera. I know what I have to do today, Ima, and I’m grateful you want to help me. But I can do it myself.” She shook her finger at him, but didn’t seem able to find anything to say. With another glare at Linna, Garzina swept out of the room, leaving the two servants behind, still holding up his clothes. Del took the piles and dismissed the Esheethim then sat down next to Linna and waited for her to comment. “Wow,” was all she said after a minute. He rolled his eyes as he looked at her. “Now you know why I left.” “Are all Xanderran mothers like that?” “No. I just got lucky.” Linna laughed and put her arms around him. Her kiss made him feel a whole lot better. “Did she really expect you to let her help you get dressed?” Del nodded. “Sure.” Linna laughed louder, then dropped back onto the pillows. “Wild. How old are you, Del? If you don’t mind me asking.” “I’ve turned with the sun thirty-three times.” “How does that equate to Earth years?” He thought for a minute. “About the same, give or take a year or 210

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two.” “And if you’d stayed, would your mother still be expecting to dress you?” Linna stretched her arms behind her head, a position that tilted her breasts temptingly upward. “Unless I’d become behsherit, yes. And even then, I’m sure she’d have had a lot to say about what I wore, or ate, or where I decided to live.” Linna wrinkled her nose. “Not real big on fostering independence, is she?” “No.” Del spread out the pile of clothes he’d taken from the servants. “My mother doesn’t know how to deal with not being needed.” “Is she like that with your brother?” Del lifted the heavy shirt from the pile and held it up to his chest. “Yes, but he loves it. Let’s Ima and Aba do everything for him they can. At least, that’s the way it was when I left. I don’t have any reason to expect things have changed. He’s not behsherit, so I’m sure my mother is still picking out his clothes and holding his hand before big speeches in front of the Melekim Gadol.” He hadn’t meant to sound so bitter. He looked at Linna, still stretched out, and held up the shirt for her to see. “Think this is my color?” She laughed and touched the stiff shirt. “Um…Del, what is that thing?” He stood and held the shirt up so she could see the whole thing. “It’s part of the traditional garb. Shirt, tunic, trousers, headpiece. The works.” “It doesn’t look very comfortable.” “It’s not.” Del dropped the clothes and put his hands on his hips to stare down at the pile. “And I don’t want to wear it.” “So don’t.” Linna sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. “Del, do you want to address the Council? Do you want to talk to your father 211

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about taking your brother’s place?” That was the real question. Did he want to take his brother’s place? Putting his brother out would give him real pleasure, but it would be brief and the price high. He looked down to the heavy shirt in his hands. He hadn’t forgotten what it felt like to wear it. Del put the shirt on the bed and stared at it some more. “Del?” He looked up. “I don’t know, Linna. I didn’t think I’d ever come back here. I didn’t think I’d ever find my behshera.” She slipped her hand into his. “I know.” “But I am back here.” He looked at her. “And I did find you.” Linna nodded, then rested her head on his shoulder. He couldn’t see her face, but her shoulders heaved as she sighed. Her voice was pitched low. “I know, Del.” He put his finger under her chin to lift her face toward him. “You don’t like it here.” She made a show of looking around the room. “Here doesn’t seem so bad.” “On Xanderra.” She sighed again. “Del, I don’t know if I fit in here. I’m not sure what place I can really take in your life. All I’ve seen of your planet is the jungle—not too nice, by the way—and these two rooms. I barely got a glimpse of the rest of the house or anyplace else. The people I’ve met have been…different. I’ve been almost killed several times, and more if you count the way your mother looked at me.” “You want to see the city?” Del stroked her cheek and kissed her. “I can show it to you.” Her mouth parted beneath his. “Are you trying to distract me?” “A little.” Del deepened the kiss, then broke away. “Come on. You’ll never be able to decide if you like it here if you don’t even see it.” 212

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She tilted her head. “Is it important to you that I like it here?” “Of course it is,” Del replied with another kiss. “You’re my behshera.” Did he imagine a ghost of concern clouding her gorgeous blue eyes for a minute? It passed as soon as she smiled. She kissed him this time, hard enough to knock him down on the bed. “Show me everything this place has to offer.” Linna tugged away the sheet from his waist. “After you make love to me until I can’t stand it any more.” “I’ll see what I can do,” said Del, and did his best to give her what she’d asked for.

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CHAPTER 14

“God-of-Choice,” Linna murmured. “I’ve never seen anything like it! Not in real life anyway.” She looked around the cobblestone streets, low stone buildings and the plethora of greenery. Even this early in the morning, the sun was very bright. Hot enough to make her glad for the protection from the veiled hat Del had given her to wear. That, along with the high-necked robe and its full-length sleeves and ankle length, kept her completely covered from the sun. Seeing the sun itself had palled pretty quickly. Now she knew why the Newcity founding fathers had built the Dome. Sunlight was hard on the eyes, and even though Newcity’s faulty ventilation had made the air hot and muggy, it was nothing compared to the atmosphere on Xanderra. “I thought the jungle was bad,” she said aloud, waving her arms to get a breeze going. “At least there was shade.” Del, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his life. 214

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He’d stripped down to just a pair of loose-fitting trousers, dark blue instead of black, and embroidered with a pattern of green and red vines. Every muscle on his bare chest gleamed with the oil he’d applied before leaving the house, and the glint of a gold nipple ring kept catching her eye. Piercing had been in and out of fashion in Newcity for decades, and with plastic surgery that could easily heal even the most punctured bodies, lots of people tested out body jewelry. She’d noticed Del’s ears had been pierced, though in Newcity he’d gone without earrings. She’d never checked his nipples, and the sight of the gold hoop kept catching her unawares. It looked damn sexy, though. Linna waved her arms some more. Sexier than she’d have expected. “And there’s the museum,” Del was saying. “Sorry?” Her mind had been wandering, caught up in decadent fantasies involving Del’s nipples. Del pointed. “The museum. Over there, the marketplace.” Linna looked where his finger was pointing. “It looks like something out of an ancient Egyptian viddy story!” Del laughed. “I told you Xanderra was different.” “But you have technology.” Linna looked at the small hoverscooter whizzing by. “You have space travel. Advanced medicine. Stuff like that.” “Limited, compared to what you’re used to. But we’re not entirely primitive. We have lots of stuff imported for us. Xanderra’s a wealthy planet with large mines of precious gems and rare minerals valuable to other places.” “Who owns the mines?” He grinned. “Technically, all of us. Every citizen gets a share. Who controls them is another story.” “The Melekim Gadol.” It was a guess, but not a difficult one. Linna knew how governments worked. 215

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“You got it.” “Can we visit the marketplace?” “If you want.” Del pointed. “Sure you wouldn’t rather go to the Bays D’en? The House of Learning?” She wrinkled her nose. “Let me think about that for a minute. Um, no. Marketplace.” Del laughed. “All right. Come on. You got money to spend?” “You know I don’t,” Linna answered. “Unless they take Newcity credits.” “I doubt it.” Del nodded at several men, dressed the same as him, as they crossed the street. The men answered him with grins and what she assumed were traditional Xanderran greetings. They even spoke to her, though of course she didn’t understand what they were saying. “You won’t find that in Newcity,” she said under her breath as they passed. Del put his arm around her shoulder. “I told you, Linna. There’s no attending thine own business stuff here. Your business is everyone’s.” “I think your mother illustrated that to me quite perfectly,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just going to take some getting used to.” As they passed another group, this time made up of women dressed the same as her, Linna put a bright smile on her face and greeted them with the small bit of Xanderran she knew. “Shalem!” The women nodded at her, their eyes wide, but returned the greeting with soft voices. A few of them looked over their shoulders at Linna as they passed, and she heard whispering. Linna frowned. “Did I do something wrong?” “No.” Del squeezed her shoulder. “You’re a little more…exuberant than they’re probably used to.” “Exuberant?” Linna looked over her shoulder to the pack of women, now giggling together. “Never thought of myself as particularly exuberant before.” 216

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“Don’t worry about it.” Del paused. “And I’m sure they know who you are. It’s bound to cause talk.” She stopped him from walking with a hand on his elbow, and waited until he faced her before asking, “How do they know who I am?” He looked a little uncomfortable, bless his heart. “Well, they know who I am, and I’m sure the word’s got out that I’m behsherit. They’d assume you are my behshera.” “You weren’t kidding when you said everyone knows everyone’s business.” Linna looked again at the group of women who’d crossed the street, but still cast assessing looks their way. “That’s going to take some getting used to.” “Don’t worry about it.” She bit her lip. “I’m not worried.” But she was, a little. She knew what it was like to be married to a man in the public eye. Daniel had thrived on the exposure and attention being a Newcity Ruling Council member had provided. He’d loved nothing more than to attend the fanciest functions and keep the most illustrious friends. It had been more important to him she wear the right clothes, say the right words, have the right opinions, than it had been for him to know the woman she was. She’d hated it. “You all right?” Del lifted her chin with one finger until she looked into his eyes. Linna nodded and shrugged. “Being a political wife doesn’t change, no matter where you go.” She hadn’t meant to remind him she’d been married before. Del’s gaze flickered and his mouth thinned before he put a smile on it. “You’re not a political wife.” Linna became aware they were blocking traffic and causing curious glances. She pulled him toward a small alcove in the building next to them. With the illusion of privacy shielding her, she put her hands on 217

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her hips to face him. “Is that because you’re not political or because I’m not your wife?” Del tried to pull her into his arms, but stopped when she resisted. “I’m not political. And you’re my behshera. That’s more than a wife.” She nodded. “Right. Because there’s no dissolution or divorce on Xanderra.” He tilted his head to look at her, and this time, she let him pull her closer. “Does that bother you?” Linna sighed. “Del, I just don’t know. I’ve been in the public eye before. I didn’t really like it. I like my privacy. Here…” “Here, everyone lives in everyone else’s back pocket. It took me a long time to get used to life in Newcity, where a man can fall onto the street and nobody will stop to pick him up. On Xanderra, the worst thing you can do to someone is to ignore him. Turning your back is the biggest insult.” He paused. “When I left home, I turned my back on everyone here.” She slipped her hand into his. “It must’ve been difficult.” His face looked stony. “I had my reasons.” “I feel very out of place here.” “You’ll learn to fit in.” She thought of lowered heads and complacent attitudes. “I’m not so sure I want to fit in.” The conversation was rapidly heading toward disaster, and she didn’t want that. Before he could answer, Linna pointed toward the entrance to the marketplace. “I thought you were going to take me.” “Linna …” She stood on her toes to kiss him. “Later, Del. Let’s just have some fun.” “All right.” He looked like he was going to say more, but didn’t. “C’mon.” The marketplace entrance was tucked just inside an alley. Fluttering banners and flags beckoned her, and in another minute, the smell of 218

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something delicious added to the welcome. Linna breathed deeply. Spices. Food. Perfumes. It smelled better than any mall she’d ever been to, and way, way better than shopping via System. Her stomach rumbled. “Can we get something to eat?” “If you want.” Del’s laugh made her pause. “You say that like I’m going to regret asking.” When they ducked under the hanging banners and into the marketplace proper, Linna could only look around in gape-mouthed amazement. The enclosed courtyard, walls formed by the buildings surrounding it, was like something straight out of Arabian Nights. The 20th century movie version, not the more recent porno viddy series, she amended. Booths covered in hanging beads, multi-colored scarves, baskets and more made aisles and rows. The vendors called out to the passers-by in cajoling tones, mostly in Xanderran, but sometimes in Universal. “Fresh bloodflower root!” “Imported Shaddran silk for the lady?” “Body piercing and inking, right over here! Meet the artist!” Linna paused in front of that booth. “Del, wait.” He stopped. “You want to get yourself pierced?” That didn’t much appeal to her. “You told me if you’d taken a behshera before you left Xanderra, you’d have had her name tattooed on your wrist.” “That’s so, pretty lady,” said the booth’s owner in Universal. He eyed her quite boldly, and she waited for Del to get angry before she realized the artist wasn’t looking at her with lust. Not sexual lust anyway. He stared at the blank canvas of her skin as she pushed back her sleeve to expose her bare arm. “Shalem, Fiyero,” Del said. “Long time. This is Linna Fortense. My behshera.” “Seven full turns of the sun, at least.” Fiyero tilted his head. “You here for your final inkings?” 219

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Del looked at Linna. “Just the behsherit marks, for now.” Linna’s stomach leaped at the thought of what they were about to do. Somehow, the thought of permanently marking her body with Del’s name seemed more of a commitment. He’d had no choice to already make it. She wanted to show him she was ready, too. “And for the pretty lady?” She held out her wrist. “Me, too.” Del grinned. “You sure? Inking hurts like hell, Linna. And you won’t be able to get rid of it like you would back on Earth.” She linked her arm through his, put her pale wrist next to his dusky one. “I can’t get rid of you either. Might as well get the marks.” The artist chuckled. “Where’d you find this one, Delek?” “Earth,” Del said, a measure of pride tingeing his voice.” “Ah.” Fiyero nodded, like being from Earth meant something important. “And your Ima’s ready to spit nails, huh?” “He knows my mother,” Del explained. “Fiyero did my father’s inkings, too.” “I do all the Melekim.” Fiyero tapped the wooden counter top. “Did your brother’s last set.” Del snorted. “What did Var get? Bloodflower petals?” “He got a tannan on his back,” Fiyero said with a shake of his head. “Cocky son of a bitch.” “He’s entitled.” Linna listened to the interplay between the men, not really paying attention to what they were saying, but noting how similar in build and demeanor they both were. Fiyero, like Del, was broad and muscular, though he wore a full beard with his shaved head. His sleeveless tunic highlighted bulging arms covered in a swirling array of intricate designs she had to really concentrate on to figure out what they were. She saw vines, leaves, waves, even the hint of a face…. “Your woman is checking me out,” said Fiyero with a deep, rumbling laugh. 220

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Linna looked away from his arm, embarrassed to have been caught staring. “Your designs are beautiful.” “Fiyero is the best in Yarushalim.” Del reached out and grabbed the other man’s arm, turning it to show the inside of his wrist. “And see there? That’s his behsherat’s name.” She couldn’t read the Xanderran alphabet. “What’s her name?” “Ghislain,” said Fiyero with another flash of white, straight teeth. “He’s upstairs. Come on. I’ll introduce you.” She followed him back through the booth’s tented covering into a small room, then up a wide flight of stairs to an airy room with multiple skylights, through which the fierce Xanderran sun poured. Ceiling fans kept the air moving, so the room was bright but not stifling. A padded table sat in the room’s center, with a stool next to it and a set of shelves. Colored bottles, canisters and books lined the shelves. The rest of the room was clearly set up as a living space, with a small kitchen off to one side and a bed toward the back on a raised platform. Through a small doorway, she spied a bathtub. “Welcome to my palace.” Fiyero’s laughter rang throughout the small space. “Ghislain!” A figure, equally as brawny as Del and Fiyero, came out of the small closet in the kitchen. White powder dusted his nose and sprinkled his bare chest. He was wiping his hands on a cloth. “I thought I heard you come in,” he said. “I was just making some flatbread.” “This is Ghislain,” Fiyero said to Linna. The tall man came forward and reached for her hand, which he kissed as he looked at her, a twinkle in his eye. “Hello, pretty lady.” He turned to Del and clapped him on the shoulder. “And hello to you, handsome fella.” Ghislain was clearly flirting, which Linna didn’t understand. “I’m sorry,” she said, embarrassed to ask, but not willing to stay ignorant. “I thought Fiyero said you and he were behsherit?” 221

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“We are. Ten years now.” Fiyero crossed to the small kitchen area and pulled open a panel set into the wall to reveal a refrigerated cupboard. Linna looked at Del, trying to tell him with her eyes what she wanted to know. Del, God-of-Choice bless him, seemed to understand. “Don’t you remember what I told you before about those who are behsherit? Just because you can’t actually make love to another person doesn’t keep you from seeing another person as attractive and desirable.” Linna looked at Ghislain, who was still grinning. “But isn’t desire…I mean…” “He means that just because my dick doesn’t rise for someone else doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a beauty when I see it.” Ghislain’s eyes swept up and down Linna’s body. “You are a beauty. I can appreciate it. My mind remembers what it’s like to want it, even if my body won’t comply.” “Very complicated.” Linna eyed Ghislain back with the same intensity. “You’re quite a beauty yourself.” This sent the big man into gales of laughter. “Delek, you’ve got a good one here. Don’t you let her get away.” “I thought the whole point of bonding was that you couldn’t get away,” Linna said boldly. “Ah, who knows what the point of bonding is.” Fiyero brought a tray with cups and a pitcher on it from the kitchen. “Five thousand revs ago, when our ancestors came to this planet, monogamy must’ve been damned important. All those laws they followed, that fence around the book stuff, it had to spill over into their sex lives. Have a seat.” Linna sat down on the padded table and took a cup of liquid from Fiyero. She sipped. Some sort of sweet, cold juice. She drank it down, suddenly thirstier than she’d expected. “Linna doesn’t know anything about Xanderran history,” Del said and quaffed his own cup. He filled Linna’s, then his own, from the 222

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pitcher. She shook her head, thirst sated, but Del pressed the cup into her hands. “It will numb the pain from the inking.” Anything that numbed pain sounded good to her, so she drank. “You’ve been on this planet for only five thousand years?” “Give or take,” said Ghislain. “Actually, some schools of thought believe we came here a lot earlier than that, but our recorded history is about five thou revs. What we do know is that we share common ancestry with Earth. Xanderrans are descended from one of your Lost Tribes.” “She doesn’t know anything about that either,” Del said. His voice sounded slightly slurred. “Newcity didn’t have any religion left in it.” Fiyero pushed Del until he sat next to Linna on the table. “Sit before you fall, big man. You’ve got no tolerance for that stuff any more.” Linna’s thoughts were still sharp and clear, even if the edges of everything she saw had taken on a soft, fuzzy edge. “Del said you were descended from Earth colonists. I didn’t know Earth sent any so long ago?” “Sent? We don’t know about that.” Fiyero sat on his stool and hitched himself closer to her. “Your history tells of some ancient tribes, some who got lost. Nobody on Earth ever seemed to figure out where they got to, but there’s a story of one of your ancient prophets being taken to heaven on a great, fiery wheel. We went, too. First contact. We think it came from the Sivestrine Alliance, though they’ve consistently denied it. “Anyway, some of us ended up here, in the jungle, and hacked out a living in it. The native people, the Esheethim, called them the Allamane vi Xander. People of the Book. It was because of all the rules and laws they followed. The People of the Book adopted that name, called this planet Xanderra and themselves Xanderrans, and adapted to life here.” He’d taken her wrist in his massive hands while he spoke. Linna 223

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looked down, surprised to see the first black mark already on her white skin. It stung, but didn’t hurt. “But what does that have to do with the bonding? I thought it was a virus?” The question oozed from her mouth, every word dripping, liquid. She laughed and Fiyero laughed with her. She’d been drunk before. She’d been high before. She’d never been…melted…before. “The Esheethim aren’t monogamous,” Del explained. He had his eyes closed, wrist out, while Fiyero worked. “They live in extended family groups.” “This freaked out the Xanderrans, whose marriage laws were just as complicated and extensive as all the others. They figured out pretty quick it didn’t make much sense for them to hold onto the rules about what food they ate and what rituals to follow since the food here was different, and the solar and lunar cycles not the same either. They let go of most of what was in that book, but they wanted to hold on to something from home.” “But it wasn’t enough to just say monogamy was the way to go,” Ghislain put in. He handed Fiyero another set of needles. Long ones. Linna thought she ought to be nervous, watching him put the tip to her skin, but it didn’t hurt and she couldn’t be afraid. “They had this thing they did. A wall around the book. They extrapolated the laws to make it so nobody could accidentally break them. The book said you should only have one mate at a time? They made it so we can only have one lover. Ever.” “Took away the choice,” Del grumbled. “Decided for everyone.” “What I think, and what’s not in our history books, is that there were too many Xanderrans hooking up with the Esheethim. Orgies and casual sex were more popular than tying yourself down to one person.” Fiyero grunted as he bent over her wrist. Del laughed. “Like in Newcity. One great big fuckfest.” “And I don’t think the Esheethim liked it either. Being with the Xanderrans meant they had to choose a gender. So some bigwigs from 224

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the Esheethim got together with the bigwigs from the Xanderrans, and they figured the only way to keep us all in line was to fix us.” “Put a fucking wall around us,” Del said. Linna looked at him. He sounded so vehement. In her oozing, liquid state, she couldn’t find the energy to be alarmed. “That’s right, my friend.” Fiyero looked up from where he’d been bent over Del’s wrist. “A fucking wall. Or a no-fucking wall really.” “But how?” She found her voice to ask. She blinked, slowly, aware her wrist now danced with the lines and swirls of her inking. “What could they do?” “It’s genetic,” said Ghislain. She felt him stroke her hair back from her face and realized her head had nodded forward. “A virus, native to the jungle, usually only found in a now-extinct species of flying mammal. The virus altered their DNA, their chromosomes, something like that. It made a helluva lot of them sick, too.” “The plague,” put in Fiyero. “But the ones who didn’t die passed on that genetic trait to their offspring. It became the dominant trait. A survival trait. The first time you made love to someone and exchanged fluids, the virus entered your bloodstream, altered the chemical reactions in your brain and bam…monogamy.” “Wow.” It wasn’t the smartest thing she could have said, but the only word she could form. “Yeah, wow.” Ghislain laughed. “Like I said, you won’t read about that in the Xanderran history books. Nobody wants to admit this didn’t happen by accident. You’ve got to go into the jungle to hear those stories, straight from the Esheethim themselves, and even they don’t all believe it. What we do know is that we carry the virus and they’re immune to it.” “Crazy, half-ass theories,” Del said. He’d opened his eyes now. “Nobody knows for sure if they’re true.” “And most people don’t care,” said Fiyero. 225

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“If it’s a virus,” Linna said, “can’t there be a cure?” All three men swiveled their heads to stare at her. One by one, they began to laugh. Fiyero took her wrist and Del’s, put them side by side, and she could see how the lines that made up her name interwove with his to make one flowing design. “The only cure is death.” Fiyero passed his thumbs over their wrists. “And not many people choose that, huh?” She shook her head. “No. I guess not.” She looked at Del, whose eyes were blazing with a look she knew well. He ran his tongue over his lower lip, and just like that, she was on fire for him again. The inking on her wrist flared, stinging, but the pain was sweet like a love bite. “Uh-oh,” she heard Ghislain say, laughing. “Second stage setting in.” “First comes the happy, next comes the humpy.” Fiyero stood up and pulled Linna and Del’s arms until they stood up, too. He pointed toward a door she hadn’t seen before. “Go on through there, you two.” Del pulled her into his arms, then lifted her and strode toward the smaller room. He kicked the door shut behind them and fell with her onto the bed that took up nearly the entire space. She was too horny to be stunned. The robe she wore had no convenient stickseam. Del pushed the fabric up around her hips and groaned aloud at the sight of the sheer briefs she wore beneath. Though the panties covered her from hips to thighs, the material was completely transparent. She shifted, opening her thighs, and he groaned again. In the next second his mouth was on her, tongue stabbing her clit through the thin material. He licked her. The rasp of the cloth on her aroused bead sent her hips jumping upward. Her back arched. She yanked the robe up over her head and tossed it, not caring where it went, only wanting to be naked under him. “Take them off,” she urged, but Del only licked her again. He 226

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replaced his tongue with his finger, stroking her clit in a pace too slow for her taste. She wanted to get off now, to scream and writhe. She wanted to come, hard, but he kept teasing her. “Del, I want you to fuck me.” His head dropped onto her hip and he continued to press gently on her clitoris. Still the orgasm eluded her, danced just out of her reach, making her growl and moan and wiggle underneath him. “Make love,” Del said. Linna looked down at him, to see him looking up at her. “What?” He pushed himself upward until he hovered over her, his body weight pressing her down into the soft mattress. How had he gotten naked without her knowing? He kissed her. “Make love. Not fuck.” She smiled. “All right. I want you to make love to me, Del.” “I want to make love to you, Linna. I want to so much it hurts.” He licked his lips, and then his tongue flickered over hers, tickling. “We can’t have that,” she replied. “Maybe if you show me where it hurts, I can kiss it and make it better.” Del ducked his head and ran his tongue along her jaw before rolling onto his back beside her. He lifted up his elbow. “Hurts here.” She kissed it, taking the time to taste his skin. “Better?” He nodded and put a finger to his chest. “Here, too.” She bent over him and kissed the spot he’d indicated. It was temptingly close to his nipple, so she kissed that, too. It didn’t seem fair to ignore the other one, so Linna gave that one some attention as well. They both stood up satisfactorily, two hard buttons on his smooth, muscled chest. The ring beckoned and she licked him there, too. Then she nibbled. Del’s cock fit her hand just right. Linna stroked him as she sucked and licked his chest. When she let her hand slide down to tickle his balls, she looked up long enough to ask, “Any place else?” “I think you’re touching it right now,” Del whispered. “Kiss that?” She pretended to be surprised. “I don’t know if I 227

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should. It looks dangerous.” Del’s body wiggled with his silent laughter. Linna scooted further down the mattress to look more closely at his penis. She breathed on it first, still lightly stroking his balls. Del’s laugh became a groan. “I mean, you could probably kill someone with that thing,” she said. She licked away the small jewel of fluid glistening on the tip of his cock. “And you want me to put that in my mouth?” “Sheol, yeah,” Del said. “Please.” As if I wouldn’t do it, she thought with a grin. She took him into her mouth and as far down her throat as she could manage. With Del’s perfect proportions, it was no easy feat to make love to him this way, and Linna reveled in the taste of him as she moved up and down on his shaft. His hand nudged her hip and urged her to straddle his face. At last he tore away the thin panties she’d begun to hate. Completely bare, she let him pull her down toward his waiting mouth, and when his tongue licked her, she shuddered instantly. His cock twitched in her mouth as she sucked. She was going to come. She couldn’t hold back, not now, not with his dick in her mouth and the taste of him filling her, not with his tongue and fingers on her pussy. She was coming, and Del was coming, too, and they came together in a loud, messy tangle of limbs and mouths and sheets. Somehow, they’d managed not to fall off the bed. Linna blinked. Whatever she’d drunk was wearing off, taking with it the blurry haze, but leaving behind the heat of desire. Her body limp, she rolled onto her back and pillowed her head on Del’s thigh. “After sex like that, I have to wonder if I’ll ever be able to do it again,” she said. “I hope you will.” Del reached down to stroke her hair. “Maybe later today.” She rolled her eyes, pleased but pretending scorn. “You’re insatiable.” 228

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Del sat up and lifted her to him for a kiss. “Yeah.” “You’re not even apologetic,” Linna said. “Should I be?” He raised one eyebrow. “No.” She kissed him thoroughly, then snuggled into his arms with a sigh that became a yawn. “What was in that drink?” He didn’t have time to answer her. The door flew open and Linna looked straight into the mean end of a gun.

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CHAPTER 15

“You didn’t have to arrest us,” Del said to his father. “We’d have been here on time.” “Your mother seemed to think otherwise.” Noar Tennvic tapped the arm of his chair, face inscrutable as it always was when he thought he was right and Del was wrong. From beside Del, Linna made a loud noise. “Del’s mother needs to take a few steps back.” Noar’s eyes flickered, the only evidence of how Linna’s words affected him. “Nobody’s speaking to you.” Linna visibly tensed, and Del put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from saying more. “Aba, Linna is my behshera.” Noar snorted and flicked his fingers dismissively. “You ran away from home, from your duties and your family, because you didn’t want to make a behsherit with someone. Now you come home with this? She’s not even Xanderran.” Del kept a grip on his temper. “I didn’t intend to come home. We 230

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just ended up here.” “Delek, do you think that makes me happy to hear?” Noar shook his head. “The man who takes this seat of power from me must be a leader. He must know his own mind, know right from wrong, and be able to make real, solid decisions. He can’t be someone who just falls into things. Or who runs away.” His father’s assumptions weren’t fair, but then they’d never been. Del squared his shoulders and kept his voice calm, not willing to give the old man the benefit of knowing he was angry. “Vardek is the next Amanrabah. Not me.” Noar leaned forward in his chair. “It should be you. You’re the oldest and, despite your poor choice, you are behsherit. Vardek is not. Therefore, this means you’re eligible to take his place.” “If I want it,” Del said. Linna squeezed his hand. Del didn’t miss the way his father’s eyes flickered again, this time focusing briefly on their clasped hands before moving back to Del’s face. “Why wouldn’t you want it?” Noar asked. “What has this Offworld zona been filling your head with?” “Zona?” Linna spat the word. Now Noar turned his gaze to her. “That’s what I said.” “You don’t even know me,” Linna replied. Her fingers gripped Del’s hard enough to make him wince, something else his father didn’t miss. That his father didn’t know about Linna’s strength didn’t make Del feel any better about the look of faint contempt in his father’s eyes. “I don’t need to know you. You’re not one of us. My son calls you his behshera, but we know that can’t be right, don’t we? You don’t bond.” “That doesn’t mean I can’t love him.” Noar laughed. “Love? If you say so. But if you really loved my son, you wouldn’t try to drive a wedge between him and his family.” 231

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“I have nothing to do with any wedge between you and your son,” Linna said. “Whatever damage you did to your relationship with him happened long before I came along. It might be easy to point your finger at me for the blame since you don’t want to point it back at yourself. But it’s not true.” With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. The door slammed shut behind her. Del said nothing, just stared at his father. “She’s got quite a mouth on her,” Noar said. “She doesn’t seem to know her place very well.” “Her place is by my side,” Del replied. “I’m just not sure where my place is. I’ll see you later, Aba.” He didn’t wait for his father’s dismissal. He left the way Linna had, though once he passed through the heavy, carved door he didn’t see her. Del headed for the enclosed inner courtyard up ahead of him. He pushed through the curtain of beads and entered the shaded, fragrant space where he paced the groomed grass fast enough to make the flowers bob in the wind he created behind him. Seven years was a long time to hold onto old resentments. No matter what his father said, Del hadn’t run away because he was afraid of his responsibilities. He just hadn’t wanted them. He didn’t want his parents’ life, their dreams. He stopped pacing. He didn’t want any of it. The only thing he did want had stormed out of the room, and he hadn’t followed her. He turned, meaning to find Linna and tell her he wanted to get off this planet. Instead, he found his brother. Vardek nodded as Del stopped short of running him over. “Saw your pretty lady a couple minutes ago.” Vardek glanced over his shoulder. “You know, aysh, I understand why you made her your behshera. She could make a dead man’s prick get hard.” Vardek had called him aysh. Brother. Del frowned. It had been a long time since Vardek had called him that. 232

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“What do you want?” “Me?” Vardek lifted his hands in pretend innocence. “I’m here to call you out.” “Shit.” Del ran a hand over his head. “Talk in Xanderran to me,” Vardek said. “Not that Offworld babble.” “Harah,” Del said again. “That make it a little clearer for you?” “Your Offworld slut’s given you a dirty mouth. I like that about her. Maybe I’ll have to test out that mouth—” Vardek ducked Del’s punch and took two steps back. “On the war field, not in the garden, you idiot! No wonder the other melekim are worried you might take the seat.” It was enough to make Del realize he’d already made his decision. “Keep your seat and your nose up Aba’s ass. I didn’t want it seven revs ago, and I don’t want it now.” “I’ll keep my place in the Melekim. I’m not worried about that.” Vardek smirked. “You’ve gotten soft while you were gone, Delek. No, I’m calling you out for a sweeter prize.” “I don’t have anything you could want, aysh katan.” He’d deliberately called Vardek little brother. Not younger. Del looked frankly up and down Vardek’s slighter frame. He ran his hand over his head and jerked his chin toward his brother’s shoulder-length hair. “Not even a ribbon for your hair.” Vardek’s grin vanished. “You have something I want.” “Oh, yeah?” Del put his hands on his hips and waited. “Sure you do, aysh gadol.” Big Brother. “Her name is Linna.” *

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Linna watched Del as he lifted the lid of the trunk and began to sort through the items inside. “You don’t have to do this.” He barely spared her a glance. “Yes, I do.” Linna chewed her lip and leaned against the dresser next to him. 233

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“Because he challenged you?” He must have found what he was looking for because he lifted a shield and a long, wide bolt of material out of the trunk. The cloth was just the wrapping for something inside, and Linna couldn’t hold back a gasp when he pulled out the blade. It was as long as his forearm with a hilt and handle made from ebony wood inlaid with carving and gems. Del stood, hefting the weapon in one hand. She’d seen a lot of different smiles on his face in the time they’d known each other. Sexy. Mocking. Sarcastic. Wistful. She’d never seen an expression quite like this one. “You look like you’ve just found your best friend.” He tore his gaze away from the sword long enough to look at her. “In a way, I guess I did. This sword was the first I ever bought myself. It’s the one I took on my youth quest. I put it away when I left and I never thought I’d see it again. I’m surprised Vardek didn’t steal it. It’s probably too big for him.” “I always wished I had a sibling.” Linna watched Del polish the still-bright metal. His fingers caressed it as lovingly as if it were a woman…as if it were her. “Don’t you love your brother?” she asked. Del looked up, startled. “Of course I do.” “Then why are you going to fight him?” “He called me out. If I don’t take his challenge…” “What?” she asked. “What will happen if you don’t take his stupid challenge?” He lifted the sword in his hand. Hefted it. Turned the blade over and over so it caught the light and made the jewels sparkle. “I have to do this, that’s all.” Del looked over, and for one moment Linna was filled with a rush of emotion so strong it physically hurt. She winced and put a hand to her chest. Pre-occupied with his new toy, Del didn’t notice. “Del.” He made a sound of response but didn’t look up from his polishing 234

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of the blade. He ran his hands along the shining metal and the hilt, whirled it a few times as though testing its weight, and rubbed it again with the cloth. “Do you want to take your brother’s place in the Council?” Now he looked up. “No.” Linna made certain she had his attention before she spoke. “Then why are you doing this?” “Why are you trying to talk me out of it?” Linna reached to touch one of his scars. “Because I don’t want you to get any more of these.” “These are a part of me.” “I know that.” She let her hand run down his arm to the hand not holding the sword. “But surely you can understand that I don’t want you to get hurt.” He snorted. “I won’t get hurt. Not badly hurt anyway.” “Your brother is stronger than you think,” Linna told him. “And he wants this more than you do. Why not just let him have it?” Del’s brow furrowed. “This isn’t just about the Council seat.” “What’s it about?” He sighed. “It’s about you.” That made a surprised chuckle leap out of her. “Me? Why on earth should it be about me?” Del put the sword down carefully and took her in his arms. “Vardek challenged me for you.” Now real laughter burst from her throat. “Please. That is so ridiculous!” Del wasn’t laughing. “He thinks because you’re not behsherit to me, he can have you, too.” Linna made a noise of contempt. “I don’t want your brother. And even if you win this stupid challenge, nothing and nobody can make me want him. Del, you can’t believe I’d possibly want to be with your brother. Do you?” 235

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“If I don’t meet his challenge,” Del answered slowly, “then not only my honor will be shamed. Yours will, too. A woman’s status on Xanderra is linked to the status of her behsherat, or to her father if she doesn’t have one. If I don’t take the challenge, or if I lose it, you’ll be shamed.” It was positively medieval, but sweet all the same. “You’re doing this for me?” Linna turned her head to press her cheek against his bare chest. His warm skin soothed her. The beat of his heart thumped under her cheek. “That’s very romantic.” Del snorted again and put squeezed her. “That’s me, all right.” “But if you win, don’t you have to take the seat?” “Everyone will expect me to. Sheol, I’m sure everyone expected me to challenge Vardek for it, even though I’m the one who gave it up.” Linna let the scent of him fill her nostrils as she snuggled closer to him. “I don’t think anyone here would consider me the ideal political wife. I’ve been one before, you know. I didn’t really like it then either.” “Don’t worry about that.” His hand stroked down her back and found the curve of her ass. “I won’t change.” Linna wasn’t so sure she believed that. She looked over at the sword and the shield, weapons she’d never even seen outside of old viddy stories. Holding them, Del looked like an ancient gladiator. He looked like a warrior. “Your planet’s not too accepting of intermarriage, is it?” “Not really. No.” “And your mother hates me.” He chuckled. “My mother hates a lot of people. Don’t take it personally.” “She told me I was an uncivilized slut who used what I had between my legs to get you to obey me.” Linna rolled her eyes. “Your parents have a really high opinion of you, don’t they?” “I don’t know,” Del said, walking her back toward the bed. “What you have between your legs can pretty much get me to do anything.” 236

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She put a hand on his chest to stop him. “Except get you to ignore this challenge.” “Except that.” She sighed. “You’re sure you can beat him?” “Positive.” He bent to lick the line of her jaw. The caress sent a shiver through her. Her nipples rose against the thin fabric of her robe. Instant moisture pooled between her thighs. Del had a magic touch that could almost make her forget everything else. Almost. “And then what will happen?” She felt the press of his erection against her belly as he walked her a few more steps toward the bed. “Then I take the seat on the Melekim Gadol, and I buy you the most beautiful house in the city. Buy you whatever you want.” “What if what I want can’t be bought?” She’d meant the question to sound light, but the waver in her voice gave away her apprehension. As he’d always done since he’d met her, Del seemed to react to even her unspoken fears. He kissed her, then put her hand to his chest, over his heart. “Then I’ll find a way to get it, whatever it is.” She let her fingers splay out. His nipple tightened beneath her palm. She felt the subtle increase in the tempo of his heart, matched by the slightly faster rise and fall of his chest as his breathing quickened. She put her other hand on him, both laid out flat. Even with her fingers spread as far as they could, her hands didn’t come close to covering his entire chest. She slid them down to his trim waist and the band of his trousers. “Take these off.” Without a word, without hesitation, Del did as she said. Her clit pulsed at the sight of him, his perfect body and the hard cock rising just for her. Linna backed up and sat down on the bed, keeping her eyes on Del as he followed her. “I want to see you touch yourself. The way you did that first time 237

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we were together.” Feet planted shoulder-width apart, he put his hand on his dick, covering the smooth head and stroking downward to the dark hair around his balls. Linna put a finger to her clit, already hot and rigid with desire. She slipped it down into her folds and smiled as Del’s hand moved faster in response. She drew her slick finger over her pleasure bead and let the sparkles of ecstasy run through her as she rubbed it. “Tell me what you’re thinking about,” she told him. “You,” came his unhesitating answer. “Licking you. How you taste. How you feel wrapped around my cock.” His honest words sent sparks of desire coursing through her. Thighs spread wide, she lifted her hips upward to expose herself to him. “Come on then,” Linna said. “I’m waiting.” He moved toward her so fast it might have been frightening if she weren’t already so aroused. Faster than a breath, he was between her legs, his mouth unerringly finding her swollen clitoris and his hands under her ass to lift her to his tongue and lips. He suckled her fiercely, and she would have cried out in pain if the pleasure hadn’t been so deliriously exquisite. In the next breath he left her pussy and found her mouth; his cock slid inside her without resistance and she did cry out at the sheer, sudden thrill of being so filled. He bit at her shoulder, and she bit his as he thrust inside her. With a roll of her hips, she threw him over, still seated deep within her. Now she straddled him and threw back her head as she rode him. No words of tenderness this time, no soft caresses. This was wild passion at its best—pure, raw fucking, and her body convulsed as the first orgasm exploded inside her. Del grabbed her hips to guide his thrusts. Linna reached around behind her to find his balls, and she stroked them in time to his thrusts. The arch of her back pressed his dick against the spongy bundle of 238

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nerves just behind her pubic bone, sending another climax through her. She cried his name, and he answered with hers. Together, they rocketed toward their final release, completely in tune, in tandem, each a part of the other. She collapsed on top of him. She listened to the words of love he whispered in her ear and murmured the same to him. Then she felt him shift beneath her, saw him get up from the bed and stride, still naked, to the sword and shield he’d put down to make love to her. “I have to go, Linna.” “I know you do.” The door closed behind him with a gentle thud she couldn’t block out even though she’d pulled the covers up around her ears. *

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Sweat ran in his eye and blinded him, but Del didn’t need to see to know what his brother was going to try next. The ritual moves couldn’t be erased from his brain, no matter how long it had been since he’d last used them. Vardek was wrong about him being soft. Aysh katan had learned that the hard way. Del hadn’t gotten this far in the battle without wounds of his own, though. His right side stung painfully from a shallow cut, and he’d have more than one or two new scars for Linna to complain about. His brother was smaller, but he was fast and determined. “Give up yet?” he called to Vardek, who had paused to wipe his face free from the sweat and dust. “You called it. You can end it.” Vardek shook his head, teeth white in the mask of dirt. “No way, aysh gadol. Not until you’re crying.” Del spat to the side and risked a glance into the sidelines. His mother and father sat in their box with the other members of the Melekim Gadol around them. There was no sign of Linna anywhere. Vardek must have been watching for just that chance because he leaped forward and swung. Del’s blade came up just in time for him to 239

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keep his ear intact. The clang of metal against metal echoed throughout the war field. “Nice.” He gave the compliment easily enough. “You’ve been working.” “I’ve been challenged a few times while you were away.” Vardek grunted. “A lot of men seem to think just because I look easily beaten, I am easily beaten.” He thrust forward again. Del leaped back. A line of red opened up on his forearm. He muttered a curse. “Some didn’t think I deserved to take the place you left vacant, since I was the second son.” This time, Del leaped forward to slash at Vardek’s exposed side. His blade opened a slash that had already begun to clot closed. Vardek spat and switched his sword to the other hand, a trick Del knew well. He’d taught it to his younger brother. “Those same people think I should just—” Another slash from Vardek. “—give it up to you!” Del parried, then stopped, blade raised. “You should’ve just let me tell them I didn’t want it.” “You want it. You keep saying you don’t, but you do. What the hell else would you do here on Xanderra, if you’re not a melek?” The two men squared off, swords raised, but not clashing. Del spat again to clear the taste of dust and blood from his tongue. He had one stunningly clear memory, so vivid it made him stumble back with the force of it. Vardek wobbled to him on chubby legs, arms outstretched. Delek caught him up, swung him around, set him back down and tumbled beside him while the little boy laughed and kicked his legs in the air. Del blinked, the vision fading as he heard Linna’s voice echo in his head. “Don’t you love your brother?” “I do love him,” he said aloud, just as Vardek swung his sword at Del’s head. “Vardie, you son of a bitch, cut it out!” 240

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Vardek stopped so suddenly, his face pulled into a look of comic disbelief, that his sword scraped the dirt. He lifted it warily, but Del didn’t step forward to take the blow he could have. “You haven’t called me that in a long time,” Vardek said. “Call off the challenge. This is over.” Vardek shook his head, but seemed uncertain. “Are you willing to stand down? Admit defeat.” In answer, Del dropped his sword into the dirt. It pained him more to mistreat the weapon than it did to give up to his brother. He raised his hands so everyone watching could see. “Why are you doing this?” Vardek asked, his own blade still raised. “Because I love you,” Del replied. “You’re my aysh katan. And we shouldn’t be fighting like this. I don’t want your seat and I never did. I’ve never wanted anything you had.” “That’s a lie.” Vardek, who had seemed willing to end the challenge, now pointed his weapon at Del again. “You took something really precious from me, and I’ve never forgiven you for it.” Del heard the rising murmur as the crowd speculated about what was happening on the war field. He’d thrown down his blade, admitted defeat, but Vardek wasn’t calling off the challenge. Del was just as confused as they were. “What did I steal from you?” Vardek’s eyes were hard and flinty, nothing like the blue-eyed gaze of the little boy with chubby legs who had once followed Del around begging to be lifted up and swung. “Kella.” Del had a vague recollection of blond hair and green eyes, but beyond that, the name meant nothing to him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “No, you don’t.” Vardek sneered. “You wouldn’t, would you? She was one of the ones Ima and Aba put out for you, but she wasn’t good enough for you. It didn’t matter to you that she loved you. You didn’t 241

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care that she’d have given anything to become your behshera.” “Vardek, I barely even remember her!” Del was aware his brother’s blade was close enough to slash his throat, if Vardek chose to close the distance between them with a single step. “I loved her,” Vardek growled the words through clenched teeth. “And she died crying out your name!” Del jumped away from the sword as Vardek raised his arm. His years in Newcity, where you fought with your hands if you had to, kicked in. He took his brother down with a swift blow to the back, then a kick to the knees that sent Vardek reeling into the dirt. “I’m sorry,” he said to his brother, who rolled and got to his feet. “I didn’t know.” Vardek hadn’t let go of his sword. “But I did.” Del heard the crowd murmur again, louder this time, as he refused to pick up his weapon. He heard his father’s shout, but ignored it. This was between him and Vardek. “I’ve thrown down my blade and submitted to you. The challenge is finished.” “Not until I say it is.” Vardek swung his sword in a circle, passing it from hand to hand. Del shook his head. A long time ago, he’d have fought his brother until both of them were bloody, just because it would have been too shameful to step down. Now he knew better. “There’s no shame in saying you’re sorry or admitting you’re wrong. Defiance for the wrong reasons is more shameful than submission. I’m submitting to your challenge, aysh katan. Don’t take it further.” “I loved her.” Vardek’s face had become a mask of pain. “But even though you were never behsherit, you might as well have been. She never loved me. She loved you.” “I can’t change that.” Del spread out his hands. “Get on your knees.” Vardek lifted his blade. 242

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Del’s fists clenched. His eyes met his brother’s alight with fury and grief. He forced himself not to react with the same anger. “You don’t have to do this, Vardek.” “On your knees! You will be marked with the tav al parar for all to see and know your shame!” Del dropped to his knees in the dirt, arms outstretched. “There’s no shame in refusing to fight someone you love. Go ahead and mark me.” Vardek raised the sword high, and Del bent his head, preparing for the pain of the dual cuts to his shoulders that would mark him defeated in the challenge. “Don’t let your blade waver, aysh katan,” he said. “Don’t challenge my honor,” replied his brother. Del felt the soft touch of the sword on his shoulder blade as Vardek marked the spot he’d be cutting. Del relaxed his muscles, ready for the pain, open to it instead of tensing against it. The sword point moved away. Del let out his breath, waiting. “No!” He kept his eyes closed, head bent, and hands on his knees. The cry came again, closer this time, and he still didn’t feel the bite of his brother’s sword. Del opened his eyes. Linna had run onto the fight field. “Linna, no!” He sprang to his feet to stop her from running toward Vardek, who still had his sword ready to swing. “Stay back!” “I won’t let you do this!” she cried, throwing herself between the brothers. “You barbarian, you can’t kill him!” Then she launched herself toward Vardek, who took a step back in surprise, but kept his sword up in front of him. Her arms flailed at Vardek, who blocked her blows easily enough with his free arm. “Your behshera doesn’t know her place yet, aysh gadol.” Linna shouted, “Fuck you!” Vardek raised his eyebrows as the crowd’s murmur turned to an angry roar. “Maybe later, kallah.” 243

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Del grabbed at her arm. “Linna, stop.” “He was going to kill you with that thing.” She pointed accusingly. Del put his hands on her shoulders, aware of the way every eye in the seats was turned on them. He could see his mother’s frown all the way from here, and she leaned over to jabber in his father’s ear. He didn’t want to think about what garbage she was spewing. “Not kill him. Just give him the mark of defeat, the tav al parar. Mark him a loser.” Vardek kept his sword up. “Something he agreed to by submitting. Something you know nothing about.” Linna straightened her back. “You must be awfully insecure to insist on marking your brother.” Vardek’s expression twisted and he let his sword point drop. “Get off this field, you stupid cunt. Before I decide to mark you, too.” Linna’s cold voice belied the fury Del sensed inside her. “Go ahead and try, little man.” “Linna—” But Vardek had pushed her too far. She stepped up to him, her lovely features hard as stone, oblivious to the way the crowd jeered and mocked her. She didn’t care what they thought. She was fierce and proud, and more beautiful than any woman Del had ever known. She leaned in so close to Vardek’s face her breath made the fringes of his hair flutter. “Go ahead. Use your fists to make yourself feel better. I’m sure that’ll prove you’re a real man.” Vardek slapped her face. Linna rocked with the blow and caught his hand on the back swing. Del saw the way Vardek’s muscles bunched and tensed with the force of his blow, but Linna held him back from hitting her again. “In case you hadn’t noticed,” she said calmly, holding him still. “I don’t go for that sort of thing.” She threw his hand away from her so fiercely Vardek took two steps back. Now the crowd became a seething, riotous mass. Without hesitating, Vardek threw another punch while he brought 244

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his sword arm around. This time, Del’s hand stopped the blade from swinging. The force of his brother’s swing rocketed through his arm all the way to the shoulder, and Del felt something snap in his wrist. He bit back a shout of pain, but kept Vardek’s sword from meeting Linna’s body. Linna didn’t move. She and Vardek had locked eyes. “Put it down,” Del ordered. Vardek did. “You’ve broken the protocols of the war field, Linna Fortense. Do you know what this means?” “I’m sure you’ll tell me.” Del stepped between them. “It means you’ll be given the tal al harash, Linna. The mark of silence.” Now she looked at him. “Okay.” Del shook his head. “You don’t understand. The tal al harash is a punishment. It means nobody can talk to you. Nobody will see you.” She looked back at Vardek, who was grinning. “What…I’ll be invisible?” “You’ll be inked on your right cheek. That means you can’t be spoken to, you can’t buy goods, you can’t work.” Del turned her to look at him. “It means you’re dead to the community. Shunned.” Linna touched her cheek, already going purple from the blow. “I thought he was going to kill you.” “How sweet.” Vardek spat into the ground at their feet. “Tell me something, aysh. Does your woman fuck as poorly as she fights?” It took every bit of willpower that he had, but Del managed not to punch his brother in the jaw for his remark. Instead, he did something intended to hurt far worse. He turned his back on Vardek, dismissed him, made him insignificant by refusing to react. “You admitted defeat of the challenge,” Vardek called after him, but Del didn’t turn. He took Linna’s hand, and together they left the war field, prepared to face whatever punishment awaited them. 245

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CHAPTER 16

Linna had already paced the small cell too many times to count. She was surprised she hadn’t worn a groove in the floor. This time, she paused to look out the small, circular window. The view wasn’t much. The street bustled with Xanderrans and Esheethim going about their business, none of which involved her. Nobody even looked up to the window she was looking out, but she knew that, even if they had, their eyes would slide right past her as if she wasn’t there. She’d seen it already, just in the few days since the trial. Trial. Ha. It had been a joke. Del’s father had screamed so loudly his face had gone purple and he’d collapsed. The Melekim Gadol pronounced sentence on her without giving her any chance to defend herself. Not that she had any defense. She’d have done the same thing over again, a hundred times if she had to. It just rankled to have been judged for standing up for herself and the man she loved. Unfortunately, standing up for them meant she’d completely ruined 246

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Del’s life. Linna turned from the window with a sigh. She hadn’t seen him since they’d been separated coming off the war field, seven days ago. She’d suffered through another inking, this time for a small teardrop at the corner of her right eye, and without the benefit of the elixir that had made the last time so memorable. Now she waited for them to release her from this cell and send her out into the city again…to be ignored. She heard the soft whish of the door behind her, but she didn’t turn. The guards who brought and took away her food trays didn’t acknowledge her, and she’d learned it was useless to try and talk to them. The small mark on her face had made a big difference. “Linna.” “Del!” She turned and flew into his arms, not caring that she rocked him backward with her weight. “God-of-Choice, it’s good to see you!” She moved out of his embrace and searched his face. “You can see me, can’t you?” He nodded. “I can see you.” All at once, tears she hadn’t known were threatening spilled down her cheeks in a torrent. Until the moment she saw herself reflected in his gaze, she hadn’t known how afraid she was he would have become like all the others—blind to her because of the mark of silence. She looked over his shoulder, but he was alone. “They let you come to see me?” Again, he nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. She saw him look at the tattooed tear, and his hand came up to smooth it with one finger. She captured it with her own and held his palm against her cheek for a moment, grateful for the warmth of contact. “They didn’t make you get the mark?” she asked. She couldn’t interpret his expression. His face worked as he tried to speak, but seemed unable to put his thoughts into words. Finally, he sighed and ran his hand over his head in a familiar gesture. “I got another inking instead.” 247

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Confused by his expression, Linna stepped back. “You did?” Del wore a high-collared, sleeveless tunic of some silky material, hanging loose over trousers of the same. Now he pulled off the tunic and turned his back to her. His broad shoulders flexed and rippled. The new markings, gleaming with oil, covered him from shoulder to shoulder in an intricate pattern of curls and lines intermingled with sixpointed stars and small sunbursts. It was lovely, the most delicately done and fascinating tattoo she’d ever seen, but it left a bad taste in her mouth. “What is it?” He turned back to face her, and she saw that the tattoo wound over his left shoulder and ended just above his heart. “It’s the tal al naggid. The mark of leadership. It means I’m a melek.” Her breath hissed out of her like she’d been punched in the gut. “I don’t understand.” “My father died.” “Oh, Del, I’m so sorry.” Linna watched his eyes flicker at her words of sympathy, but his expression didn’t change much. Guilt slammed her. Did Del blame her? “The seven days of mourning are over. There was an empty seat in the Council. I took it.” Linna didn’t know what to say. “They made you take it?” His smile was hard and more than a little scary. “You know how much interest my people have in allowing choice. I was given a choice. Take the seat or take the tal al parar.” Her breath had hissed out before; now the bottom fell out of her stomach. “And you chose to become the Amanrabah.” “No. Vardek has that spot. He took my father’s place. I took his.” “So you’re working together? Side by side?” She began to pace the cell again, careful to keep to the wall so she didn’t have to come close to him. “Can you trust him?” “He’s my brother.” 248

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She shot him a hard look. “The same one who tried to crash-land you in the jungle. The one who challenged you to a fight and was going to cut you into ribbons to prove his superiority.” Del’s face was implacable. “It’s the way things are done here.” “Well, the way you do things here sucks,” Linna said. “Del, is this what you want?” His eyes flickered again, and again she couldn’t read what was in them. “I told you, they gave me a choice. I made it.” Linna touched the teardrop permanently marked on her face. “So what does this mean for us?” He broke his gaze from hers. “I was able to use my influence on the Melekim to arrange for your passage Offworld. I’m sending you on the next flight to Glaroit. It’s a planet similar in climate to Earth. They speak Universal. You’ll have no problem.” “Sending?” The word gasped out of her in a squeak she hated. “You’re sending me away?” His jaw clenched. He still wouldn’t meet her eyes. “You can’t stay here. You can’t work. You can’t do anything.” “And you can’t do anything about it either.” Linna crossed her arms. All at once she felt like icicles were stabbing her all over. He still refused to meet her gaze. “I can’t. It’s better this way.” “Del, if I go away…if you send me away, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life alone.” “I know that.” He made as though to run his hand over his head again, but arrested the movement. Everything about him got tense and still. Rigid. She saw the warrior in him again, and knew she had lost this battle. Just like in the trial, she was given no chance for defense, and just like there, she had none to give. She had lost him, and her heart broke inside her with a pain so fierce and sharp it made her gasp and put a hand to her chest. She fought the pain, tried to force it away. She couldn’t. It seated 249

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inside her like a serrated blade sawing her in two. “Del, look at me.” At first he wouldn’t, but then he did and she was almost sorry she’d asked. In his eyes was something she had never seen before in all the time she’d known him. Nothing. She broke the wall of ice surrounding her and stepped forward. She took his wrist and put it next to hers so the inkings aligned. She touched the pattern, each part a half until pressed together to be complete. “Apart, these are only part of the design.” She had to swallow heavily to force out the words. “Only together is the pattern whole. Just like you and me, Del. Apart, we’re only half of the design.” He pulled his arm away from her, gently but firmly, and it hurt more than if he’d yanked it away. “Don’t do this.” “Do what?” She couldn’t stop the cry tearing from her throat. “Telling you the truth of how I feel?” She held up her arm. “This means something to me, Del. It’s just as binding to me as any genetic mutation could be. Maybe more, since I chose you. Isn’t that what’s important to you? The choice?” “You had the choice,” Del said. What he didn’t say, but what hung in the air between them anyway, was, “I didn’t.” Linna’s body went stiff, her jaw set, her eyes narrowed. “No, you didn’t. Lunavoss and the lovevine chose for you. Maybe I chose for you…I don’t know. But I do know I love you, and I have probably since the first time you offered to drive me home. You can’t tell me there’s nothing between us except chance and a maliciously given aphrodisiac.” Through it all, he still said nothing, face stoic, arms at his sides. There was no hint in his face of the Del she’d known, the man who drove her home when her feet hurt too much to walk. The man whose grin could weaken her knees. The man who had trembled the first time they made love. 250

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Now all she saw was Delek Tennvic, the warrior. “You have some choices to make, Delek.” It was the first time she’d ever used his real, full name. “And the seat on the Melekim Gadol is only one of them.” “I don’t have any choices to make,” came his reply. His voice crushed her heart like a stone dropped on it. “Because you’ve already made them?” He didn’t answer her. Linna watched him, looking for any flicker of expression, of emotion. She lost herself in the depths of his dark eyes, but where once that would have made her feel safe and cocooned, now she only felt bereft. “When do I leave?” she asked. “Right now,” Del answered. “The sooner the better.” She nodded and pushed past him to stand at the door, her back to him. “Fine. Let’s go.” There was one last moment when she thought he’d reconsider. When at least he’d kiss her one last time. She turned, desperate to see his face one last time, but Del was looking past her as though she weren’t there. To him, she was already gone. *

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All Del really wanted was to have something cold to drink, something warm to eat, and a hot bath to soak in. Instead, he got a lecture about coming to the dinner table with the sweat and dust of his workout still covering him. “Del’s not interested, Ima.” Vardek tore a chunk off his loaf of bread and stuffed it in his mouth, then washed it down with a swig of wine. Garzina turned to scowl at Del. “Of course he is. Delek, why don’t you go get cleaned up and then you can join me and Vardek in the garden for dessert.” 251

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Del looked down at his plate, his appetite suddenly gone. “I’m fine.” “Delek,” his mother repeated while Vardek laughed. “I think you’d be more comfortable….” “No, Ima. I think you’d be more comfortable. That’s not the same thing, is it?” Del stabbed a forkful of meat and put it in his mouth, then pushed away from the table. He left the room to the sound of his mother’s sputtering and his brother’s laughing. It had been less than three weeks since he’d sent Linna away. It had been a lifetime. The door to his room opened and Vardek strode in, patting his stomach and holding out a cup of wine. “Here. I thought you might like this.” Del looked at the cup, but didn’t take it. “Like I’d drink anything you gave me.” “It’s not poisoned.” Vardek sounded offended. He took a drink. “See.” Del looked pointedly at the door. “Get out, Vardek. Go simper in the garden with Ima. I heard she’s got a behshera all lined up for you.” Vardek drained the cup and set it down on the table next to the door. “She does, and I’ve met her. Not interested. I like blondes.” “Then why not do us both a favor and go find one?” Del stripped out of his dirty shirt and tossed it into the basket, then did the same with his trousers. Wearing only a pair of tight-fitting briefs, he went to the bathroom and began to run the water in the tub. “Where’d you send her?” Del looked over his shoulder before shucking out of his briefs and stepping down into the tub. “Don’t you have something better to do?” “Better than looking at your ugly ass, yeah.” But Vardek didn’t leave, just leaned in the doorway and watched Del soap up and rinse off. “She’s not dead, is she?” Del looked at his brother, and tried very hard to remember that once 252

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he’d been a chubby little boy with a shining grin. “Of course she is. That’s what the Melekim decided, isn’t it?” Vardek cleared his throat, sounding so awkward Del looked up at him. “I just wanted you to know, Delek…I didn’t vote for that. I didn’t vote for them to kill her. I accepted their verdict of the mark of silence, but not of death.” “The vote was unanimous.” “It wasn’t. But with Aba dead so suddenly, the Council voted to overrule me for the sake of getting you on the Melekim. And I did vote for that.” Del looked again at his brother. “Aysh katan, why should I believe you?” Vardek shrugged. “Because I’m your brother.” Del snorted. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” “Listen, Delek…” Vardek stopped, then started again. “You know as well as I do that the mark of silence is as good as a death sentence. There’s no way a woman, especially an Offworld woman, could survive it.” “I know that.” Del sank further down into the water. “You think that lets you off the hook?” “I didn’t want to lose my place on the Council,” Vardek said seriously. “When I heard you were coming back and that you’d found a behshera, I knew they’d want to give the seat back to you. You’re the older son. I’m just second choice and always have been. I thought if I challenged you and you took the defeat, they’d forget about trying to make you take your place. But when Linna broke the protocols, there wasn’t anything I could do.” Del got out of the tub and slung a towel around his waist. He towered over his brother, but Vardek didn’t back down. He met Del face to face, no mockery and no sarcasm between them at this moment. “When I lost Kella, the only thing I had left was the Melekim Gadol. It was the only thing I knew how to do.” 253

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“You’re better at it than I am,” Del said. “You kiss ass better than I do.” Vardek grinned. “I’d be happy to help you learn.” Del shook his head slowly. “I took the seat because I knew I’d be able to get her out of here. I couldn’t watch her die if it went that far, and if I’d taken the mark of silence with her, I’d have been signing her death warrant as much as if I’d let the Council do it. So I got her on a flight out.” “You don’t have to tell me where.” Vardek shrugged. “I don’t expect this to mean much to you, coming from me, but…I’m sorry.” Del knew it took a lot for his brother to admit it, and it wasn’t nearly enough. But it was a start. Del grabbed his brother’s hand and pulled him close enough to clap him on the shoulder. “Me, too, aysh katan.” “If the Melekim discover you sent her away after she got the mark, they’re going to expect restitution from you, you know that. They’re going to want to give you the mark. Maybe send you away permanently.” “I know. And this time, you’ll vote against me, won’t you?” Vardek grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, then pulled him closer for a quick embrace. “I’ll do what I can to help you, brother.” *

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“There, now.” Linna tucked the blanket around the old woman’s legs more securely and wheeled the chair into a bright patch of sunlight. It was taking her some time to get used to the seasons here on Glaroit. She’d arrived at the end of summer, and in the three weeks since she’d stepped off the shuttle, the days had grown cooler and the nights longer. She loved it. The way the sun looked when it rose. The sight of clouds scudding across blue sky. The feeling of rain on her face. 254

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Every day was a treasure, and she tried hard to appreciate every one of them, but although she loved her new home and her job as caretaker for Pansy Sarillakote, there seemed to be a dull haze over all the things that should have brought her joy. “What a beautiful day,” said Pansy in her quavery, old woman’s voice. “Thank you, my dear. You can leave me here. You go take your walk.” “Are you sure?” Pansy nodded. “Of course I’m sure. You go.” Linna bent to gently squeeze the old lady’s shoulders, then set off down the curving garden path. The flowers were fading, but late summer blooms still nodded here and there. They smelled wonderful. She lifted her face to the sunshine and sighed. She’d found immediate work as a companion—a real one, this time, not a KMPN. She took Madame S. on walks, read to her, helped her dress and eat, and put her to bed at night. Linna was paid handsomely for these tasks, but she had nothing to buy with the money she was accumulating. She was provided clothes and a place to stay, but it wasn’t a home. Which was more than anything money could buy anyway. Linna enjoyed Madame’s company. She liked Glaroit, which was much like Earth must have been ages ago. She’d even made friends among the other caregivers who frequented the park. She was as happy here as she could have been anywhere without Del. The thought of him stopped her up short, breath caught in her throat. She swiped at tears and kept walking, determined to enjoy the sun while it lasted. She needed to cross a narrow street in order to get to the other side of the path leading in a circle around the garden back toward her charge. Traffic was light on the road, but she paused as she always did to look both ways. The small car rolled to a stop in front of her. The window rolled 255

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down. And he was there. “Need a ride?” he asked, the way he’d done so many times before, and Linna didn’t need to ask how he’d found her, or why he was there. Del got out of the car and stood there, uncertainly, arms half open as though he wanted to embrace her, but was afraid to approach her. Linna saw the lines of ink on the inside of his wrist, the lines that completed her design, and she saw something else. An inked teardrop on the corner of his right eye. She didn’t have to think twice. There’d be time later for story telling and apologies. Right now, all she needed was to feel Del’s arms around her and his mouth on hers. “I sure could use one, yes,” Linna said and put herself back where she belonged.

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MEGAN HART Megan Hart began her writing career in grammar school when she plagiarized a short story by Ray Bradbury. She soon realized that making up her own stories was better than copying other people’s, and she's been writing ever since. Megan began writing short fantasy, horror and science fiction before graduating to novel-length romances. She’s published in almost every genre of romantic fiction, including historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, futuristic, fantasy and perhaps most notably, erotic. She also writes non-erotic fantasy and science fiction, as well as continuing to occasionally dabble in horror. Megan’s goal is to continue writing spicy, thrilling love stories with a twist. Her dream is to have a movie made of every one of her novels, starring herself as the heroine and Keanu Reeves as the hero. Megan lives in the deep, dark woods with her husband and two monsters…er…children. Learn more about Megan by visiting her website: http://www.meganhart.com *

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