Rio

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Rio ISBN # 1-4199-0566-X ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Rio Copyright© 2006 Allyson James Edited by Heather Osborn. Cover art by Syneca Electronic book Publication: March 2006

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 443103502. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Warning: The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers. Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (Erotic), and X (X-treme). S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination. E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature. X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

TALES OF THE SHAREEM: RIO Allyson James

Allyson James

Chapter One Rescue

He was an unlikely rescuer, more than six and a half feet tall, black hair to his waist, black leather covering a huge, muscled body, and eyes so blue Nella swore they were trying to suck her into him. He stood between her and the hovering ball of the assassin bot, close enough to her hiding place that she could smell leather and his sharp, male scent. His black hair hung in a shining mass to his taut, leather-clad backside, and for some strange reason, Nella wanted to wrap herself around his massive thighs and hang on. The man didn’t know that Nella hunkered behind a dry-rotted crate inches away from him. His attention was fixed on the foot and a half round sphere of the assassin bot, which had attacked him when he’d walked innocently into the alley. It wouldn’t try to kill him—Nella knew it was programmed to kill only her—but it would hurt him if he got in its way. The bot hummed like an angry mosquito and smacked itself against the tall man’s chest. A normal man would have been flattened by its powerful strike, but her rescuer only eyed the shining sphere in irritation. “Get out of my way, you gods-fucked machine.” The words translated harshly in the implant in Nella’s brain, but the voice that spoke them was smooth as satin, warm and rich. His voice made her want to stop and listen, as scared as she was. The bot started to back away, then made a sudden dart around the man toward Nella’s hiding place. The man swung his huge fist, and the bot spun crazily into a wall with a loud boing. The bot bounced back, wobbling a little. Time to run, Nella thought. But she crouched in place, torn between hiding and fleeing. If her rescuer realized the bot was after her, would he step aside and let it have her? Assassin bots were programmed by people who didn’t want murder traced to their doorsteps. After the bot shot its killing dart into Nella’s body, it would disintegrate, leaving no evidence of where it came from and who sent it. Linginian knew how to cover his tracks. The bot wouldn’t hurt the man unless he tried too hard to get in its way. Nella knew she endangered him, but then, she might be able to get away while he kept the

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bot busy. If she leapt onto a transport ship and got out of here, she’d be safe. The bot could not travel through space to find her. That wouldn’t stop Linginian from trying again, of course. The bot struck the black-leather-clad man again. Growling, he caught the sphere in his hands, but the bot crackled with electricity, covering the man’s fingers and wrists in a wavering blue field. “Fuck!” he cried and let go. The bot’s hum increased. Bots had no feelings, not even a computer brain like androids. They sought and destroyed, that was all. But Nella swore this bot was annoyed. It wanted to teach the man a lesson before it got down to the business of killing Nella. The man glared at it, then a gleam entered his eye, and he tapped his chest with his fist. “All right, you hunk of junk, come get me.” He sounded irritated, but at the same time, elated, like he was having fun. A man who had fun fighting an assassin bot? He led the bot backward, step by step. It followed him, and he laughed, one of the finest sounds Nella had ever heard in her life. A girl could fall in love with that laugh. But any moment now, he’d fall over Nella’s hiding place, and the bot would get them both. She held her breath. At the last minute, the man stepped through a narrow doorway into an empty warehouse. The bot skittered into the shadowed opening, then it stopped, as though confused. The man ducked out and slapped his hand against the wall. A huge metal door slammed down, carrying the startled bot with it. The heavy slab of metal smashed the bot into the floor. Plastic and metal and gold bits flew every which way, clattering against the rusting walls. Then with hiss and a pop, the pieces disintegrated. The man chuckled. “There. See how you like it.” But the bot was programmed to kill, no matter what. At the last moment, one of its darts released, lightning fast, straight at Nella, programmed to seek and find her DNA signature. She felt the sting in her bare leg. The poison was fast-acting, and her vision instantly blurred. Through a fog, she saw the big man standing over her, concern in the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. He had the dart clenched in his fist, which he’d pulled out of her almost the instant it went in. She heard him say, “Are you all—?” and then, there was nothing.

***** 5

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“Rio?” Dr. Laas came out of her laboratory and stared at the unconscious young woman in his arms. “Who is that? What happened?” “No idea.” Rio carried the girl past the professor and into the softly lit room. “Some floating ball was chasing me, and it shot her. I snatched the dart out, but it might be too late. I can’t wake her up.” Dr. Laas was one of the original inventors of Shareem, men created in the laboratories of DNAmo to be tall, tight-assed and long-cocked, and know every way to bring a woman to ecstasy and keep her there. For days. Dr. Laas, a genius at twenty, had been in the thick of the experiments. She and her fellow scientists had mined genes from the very best stock of many worlds, combining them to create Shareem. Angelica Laas had been beautiful at twenty, and at fifty, she was still voluptuous and pretty. Because Shareem aged slowly, Rio didn’t look all that much different from the day he’d left DNAmo with her, twenty years ago. When DNAmo shut down, and the paranoid government of Bor Narga outlawed Shareem, any related research and the scientists who’d made them, Dr. Laas had gone underground—literally. She now existed in a compound built under the warehouse district of Pas City, hidden and secret. Only a privileged few knew how to enter it. The Shareem themselves had been allowed to live—a close vote in the Senate when many people had clamored to terminate them. Shareem could live, the Senate decided, as long as they didn’t leave the planet, procreate and spread their outlawed genes, or have anything to do with the sex-loving scientists who’d created them in the first place. They would be regulated and controlled by the Ministry of Non-Human Life Forms, and kept under strict surveillance and control. Rio had long ago broken rule three and was about to break rule one. Rule two he’d kept only because he was forced once every six months to take inoculations against sexual diseases and impregnating women. He could be a sexual machine, but never a father. Shareem had been cleaned of all diseases when they’d been made, but the Ministry trusted nothing. Rio and every other Shareem were subjected to a series of painful inoculations every six months. The penalty for not reporting in and taking them— termination. Rio had been on his way today to break rule one, to board a transport to Station 657. His friend Rees, another Shareem, had set it up for him, using his connections to get him a berth. Rees’ new lifemate, Talan—sweet, beautiful lady—had paid for it as a gift. Rio had a contact on Station 657, another Shareem who would help him find a world where people couldn’t care less whether a man was a Shareem or a human or a six-armed Venusian. Somewhere a Shareem could lay back and enjoy life, maybe even have a family.

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Rio had started to want that bad, especially now that he’d seen Rees—Rees, for the gods’ sakes—fall in love and cleave himself to one woman. Rees, an experimental Shareem who’d been put through hell at DNAmo, was now relaxed and at peace with himself. Talan, the pretty woman for whom he’d fallen, had brought him that peace. Plenty of ladies wanted Rio—he was a level three Shareem after all, which meant bondage, domination and dangerous games, in which Rio was always master. His motto was, have whip, will use it, anytime, just ask me, sweetheart. Women grew instantly wet simply looking at Rio. They begged for him to do whatever he wanted—tie them up, spank them, fuck them, force them to pleasure him. Not that Rio didn’t enjoy being a Dom, because he did. It was what he was. But maybe out there in the stars, he could find something more. Rio quickly laid the young woman on the table Dr. Laas indicated. “Who is she?” Dr. Laas asked again. “Hell if I know. She was hiding in an alley.” They looked the young woman over. She had a flowerlike face surrounded by flame-red hair. The hair was tangled and dirty, but when she cleaned up, Rio thought, it would flow like living fire. She wore only a tight, translucent tunic, torn and dirty, that covered her from neck to thigh, the garb of a servant. Her bare legs were sweetly rounded, the shoes on her feet, too big. The tunic shaped itself to a lush body—full breasts, round hips, a belly she probably thought was too ample. A sweet, lickable woman who’d look good naked, kneeling, her hands bound behind her. Right now, her face was pasty white, her breath shallow and her limbs ice-cold. Dr. Laas, ever practical, asked, “What was she shot with?” Rio took the dart from his bag. He’d wrapped it in cloth to keep safe from the point. “Careful.” Dr. Laas took it to the computers across the room, where she had a terminal built into a round table. Rio didn’t know one end of a computer from the other, but he knew Dr. Laas was a genius with them. She touched them and purred to them, and they did anything she wanted. When she unwrapped the dart, her eyes widened in alarm. She eyed the finepointed needle a moment, then scraped it against a plastic slide. She dropped the slide into a slot on the table, then picked up her light wand and touched a few pads. “Mmm. Not good.” Rio took the girl’s hand in his. Her fingers were cold but her palms were slick with sweat. “What?”

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The computer voice that Dr. Laas called Baine answered the question. “An alkaloid poison. Old-fashioned, but effective. It kills by asphyxia.” “That’s why she can’t breathe,” Rio said. Dr. Laas nodded. She touched more light pads, muttered to herself and finally stood up. “Be right back.” She stepped to the lift tube at the end of the room and disappeared into it. Rio looked down at the young woman. “Hang on.” He circled his thumb over the backs of her fingers. “I don’t want you dying because of me.” He flicked his gaze along her fine-curved body, which lay limp and unresponsive. “You’re way too cute to die.” Shareem, the theory went, were programmed to not have strong emotions—hate, rage, fear, desperation, joy, love. That’s bullshit. Rio desperately wanted this woman to live. He didn’t know why he cared so much. He didn’t know her—she’d never even said a word to him. But he felt a pull to her, an invisible bond that went beyond compassion. He wanted her to open her eyes and look at him, to smile at him, to live and walk and talk. He wanted to have sex with her. He wanted to know everything about her. Why he wanted this so bad, he had no freaking clue. The lift whirred open. Dr. Laas scuttled across the floor, the slit in her coverall showing a shapely leg from ankle to hip. She had a syringe in one hand. She tapped it, then plunged it into the curve of the girl’s arm. “That should do it.” The girl gave a few ragged gasps, then suddenly her body relaxed. She drew a long, deep breath and went limp into a natural-looking sleep. Rio also drew a breath, relieved, surprised to find himself shaking all over. She would live. He kissed her warming fingers and laid her hand at her side.

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Chapter Two

In the Lair of Dr. Laas Nella opened her eyes and realized she was naked. It was a relief to be out of the dirty, sour-smelling tunic she’d stolen, but a bit unnerving to wonder who’d taken it off. A kind stranger? A doctor in a hospital? Or Linginian? Nella assessed her surroundings. She lay in a small room with no windows, lit with soft, artificial light. The bed was the only piece of furniture in the sparse room, and to her right, an open door led to what looked like a bathroom. The recirculated air carried a faint scent, a warm, spicy smell. A sheet covered her naked body, and there was no sign of her clothes. It did not look like a hospital room, which would have rows of blinking computers to monitor the patient. At least, they did on Ariel. She had no idea what hospital rooms looked like on Bor Narga. If she were a captive, her captors were being gentle with her. Or perhaps hoping she’d relax and trust them. Had Linginian succeeded in capturing her again, after all? Had she been taken back to his luxury liner, or even to his huge house on the southern continent of Ariel? After she’d escaped him and his pretense that the two of them had run off together, he’d done his best to kill her. If Nella were dead, she could not tell one and all that he’d kidnapped her and tried to form the Bond by artificial means. But, if Linginian had her, why would he put her in this pleasant room with scented air and a soft bed? She had no idea. Her brain was filled with confused images, and her bladder was full, making the bathroom inviting. Nella hopped off the bed and stretched. She felt well and rested, better than she had in days. This could not be Linginian’s work—he had denied her all comforts when she refused him, hoping to break her. But Nella was made of sterner stuff than that. She relieved herself in the bathroom, then looked at the shower that lined the wall. It was a water shower, with five jets positioned over a long bench. A person could lie there, naked, and let water fall all over them. The sensuality of it made her skin tingle. Most people these days used sterilizers to get clean. This shower was for someone who liked the feeling of hot water trickling against naked skin. The bench was wide enough that two people could lie down very close together. Or on top of one another. 9

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She dragged in a breath. It was a wicked idea, one she was surprised she’d thought of, but for some reason, she liked it. Nella couldn’t resist—she was unwashed, her hair in nasty tangles. She studied the controls at the end of the shower and adjusted for water temperature and pressure. The showers jetted to life. She walked under them, pulling her hair back to scrape the wonderful water through it. She glanced at the bench. She could just soap herself down and turn off the water, but—why not? If her captors wanted her to enjoy her shower, then she would. Even if they killed her later, she’d be clean and comfortable. She was tired of being otherwise. Nella lay down on the bench, face up, closing her eyes. The shower poured down on her like a warm waterfall, like being caught in a summer rain as a child. Except now she did what she’d always wanted to do, spread her naked arms and legs and let the water flow over her. The shower beat softly on her skin, tingling on her breasts. Her nipples rose in response to the gentle massage. She spread her legs a little more, wanting the same massage between them. It felt good. She had never been with a man—she would not until she found her Bond-mate— but she’d touched herself experimentally. This felt much better. The water tapped her clit and flowed down the folds of her quim. She wondered if a man’s tongue would feel like that. She groaned a little, thinking of it. She suddenly remembered the tall man fighting the assassin bot in the alley, and her heartbeat sped. That hadn’t been a dream. He’d been real, and he’d smashed the bot. She couldn’t remember anything after that. Had he carried her here? And why? To let her lie under the water and wish his tongue lapped her? Because he would be the exact man she’d want. He’d look at her with those strange blue eyes, laugh that silken laugh and run his tongue through her folds until she screamed with joy. Nella raised her hips, wanting the water. She wondered if the shower had been programmed to rain on her in just that place with just enough pressure to make her wild. It worked. She cried out in pleasure, then bit her lip as the sound echoed through the bathroom. She wriggled her hips, feeling the soft joy of the water sliding through her pussy. If the dark-haired man were with her now, he’d lie beside her, his hair slick with water, droplets on his lashes and cheekbones. He’d lie on his side and trail his hand through the petals of her quim, teasing where the water did. She had no idea who the man was. He could be an enemy—but then why had he stopped the assassin bot? Or he could want Nella for his own purposes, and need her alive. 10

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Whatever he wanted, she was having the most erotic fantasy about him. She imagined him moving his finger around her clit, stroking and touching, tracing the path of the hair around her quim. He’d tease the button of her nub, moving its hood back and forth, back and forth. The water pattered exactly where she imagined his fingers. Faster and faster it moved, as though adjusting itself to her rising excitement. She cupped her own hand over her groin as she lifted her hips high, and came. Cream poured over her fingers, mixing with the water. She pressed herself hard, closing her eyes to the warm feeling, wishing it was his large hand stroking her. Nella lay quietly for a while, letting the water cradle her as she slid her hand from her quim and relaxed from her climax. If the man were beside her, he’d give her a warm smile, nuzzle her cheek and kiss her lips. Who was he, and was this his house? She shivered. What kind of man had a shower this sensual, and engendered such vivid fantasies? She wished she knew whether he were enemy or friend. Even if he had nothing to do with Linginian, she had better play along that she was nobody, until she knew whether she could trust him. She blew out her breath, hating all this intrigue. She got up from the bench and turned off the water. No towels. Naked, she stood beneath the drying unit on the other wall, letting wafts of air gently dry her skin and keep her warm at the same time. All right, now she was clean, dry and rested, but she still had no clothes. She walked back into the bedroom. Her bedroom at home had cabinets built into the walls, hidden so that the wall looked like a smooth surface. She skimmed her fingers over the panels as she walked by them. Ah, a catch. She pressed it. She smiled as the wall rolled back, melding perfectly into the panel next to it. Inside, she found drawers and hooks for clothes, but all were empty. She searched the room for other cabinets, but found none. She had the bed, this empty closet and the fabulous bathroom. Nella rested her hips on the bed and looked at the door opposite the one that led to the bathroom. It would be locked, if she were a captive. She walked to the door. A slight depression indented the wall next to it, deep enough for a finger. She touched it, and the door slid open. Nella stepped back in surprise. Beyond lay a softly lit hall, the air scented like it was in the bedroom. Two more doors opened off this hall, and at the end was a lift. So, not a captive—at least, she hadn’t been confined to this room. Before she explored, though, she needed clothes. Nella stepped into the hall, the soft floor covering tickling her bare toes. It felt pleasant. No—more than pleasant, sensual.

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That was it, this entire place had been made with sensuality in mind. On Ariel, Nella’s palace provided almost every comfort, but this house, wherever it was, promised pure, tempting sensuality at every turn. She could not open the other doors, so they were no help. She retreated into the bedroom, snatching the sheet from the bed. Tucking it securely around her plump body and carrying the end over her arm, she walked down the hall toward the lift. To her surprise, it politely opened its doors for her. Inside, soft, cool air ruffled her hair, and the scent changed, taking on the subtle hint of flowers. She was searching for finger controls when a male voice said impatiently, “Well? Where do you want to go?” She jumped, then realized the voice came from a speaker, and it was electronic, not human. Nella had been given an implant when she turned fourteen that allowed her brain to master languages when she needed to. When she’d arrived on Bor Narga, it had activated to speed-teach her that language, though she still had an accent. “Up?” she suggested. “Could you be more specific?” She thought. “Where is the man who brought me here? Is he still here?” “Ah, you mean Rio. Are you sure? I can take you to the kitchen on level five and get you a nice bowl of soup.” “No, I want to talk to him.” The computer sighed. “Well, there’s no accounting for taste.” The doors slid closed. The lift hesitated a moment, then began a smooth, swift journey upward. However many levels Nella ascended, she didn’t know. She suspected seven or eight, but the lift had no indicator. The lift slowed again and the doors opened, spilling her into a wide room, softly lit and painted a quiet peach color. A faint, harp-like music wafted through the air at the very the edge of her hearing. A door at the end of the room opened onto a room more brightly lit. She heard voices coming from it, and she slowed her steps, halting just where the shadow of her room met the light of the next. She peered inside, then her eyes widened and her breathing stopped. The walls of the room were covered with mirrors. Standing before them, reflected back a hundred times, was Nella’s rescuer, tall and black-haired, his face hard and handsome. He’d removed his leather tunic and stood clad in only leather leggings that hugged powerful thighs and a tight backside. His chest and shoulders bulged with muscle, and he had a slim black chain fitted around the massive biceps on his right arm.

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He was not alone. In the center stood a bed—or at least a cushioned platform strewn with pillows. A woman had positioned herself on this, naked, on hands and knees, so that her backside hung over the edge. She’d twisted her red hair into a knot, leaving her neck free for the collar she wore. A silver chain hung from the collar and swung between her bare breasts. Behind her stood another man, as tall and muscled as Nella’s rescuer. He had blond hair pulled back from his face and caught in a tail, bound once at his nape, and again halfway down his back. He, like the woman, was naked. His backside was tight under a tapered waist, his hips firm, his arms corded with muscle. His cock, mirrored a dozen times, stood stiff and erect from round, heavy balls. He held a short whip in his left hand, and he also wore a slim black chain on his right arm. “Rees,” the woman groaned. “Please.” “I told you not to beg, Talan,” the man with the whip said softly. He flicked the lash lightly over her back, and she flinched. “I’m sorry.” “Open your legs.” The woman obeyed, showing her folds wet and ready. Nella held her breath. The man stepped forward, positioned himself against her quim, and in one stroke, slid his massive cock inside her. The young woman screamed, then her face relaxed into an expression of pure ecstasy. She moaned, rocking her hips to take his cock farther and farther. She looked up at Nella’s black-haired rescuer, who stood in front of the platform, watching them. “Rio,” she whispered. The black-haired man skimmed his fingers across her face. She closed her lips around his forefinger, sucking. He let her, watching her intently. His eyes were so blue that Nella could see them all the way across the room. The scent of the lovemaking reached her, along with something else that made her senses tingle. Somehow, she could almost feel what the woman felt—well, not exactly— but she could vividly imagine the blond man slamming into her, and feel the rush of joy, the release. Nella moved her hand to her breast. The nipple pushed hard at the sheet, pebbling beneath her fingers. She pinched it, enjoying the tingle and the small pain. Her skin grew hot and flushed. She had the burning desire to rip off her sheet, run into the room, kneel in front of her black-haired man and beg him to touch her too. She’d never, ever had such feelings before. No man had made her desire him, no man had made her want to be bare in front of him.

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The woman gasped and groaned. The man behind her slid in and out, in and out, his cock glistening with her wetness. He tapped her with the whip, and she cried out, jerking her hips. “That’s it, Talan,” the man whispered, his voice ragged. “Squeeze me.” Nella’s own hips jerked, and she snaked her hand down to her thighs. The sheet blocked her, but she pressed between her legs, the heel of her hand massaging her mound. “Yes,” she said under her breath. “Like that.” She was so focused on the heat of her body and her aching pussy, that she did not notice that the black-haired man had gone. That is, not until he slid his hands around her waist from behind and eased her against his bare, hard chest. “Like it?” he murmured. His black hair hung past his face in a long wave, and his eyes were completely blue—the irises widening until the white nearly disappeared. His skin was hot, hotter than a human’s should be. The black chain on his arm stood out on his brown skin. “Who are you?” she asked, staring up at him. “I’m Rio,” he said. “Who are you?” His voice, soft and seductive, with a hint of hidden wickedness, willed her to tell him. With difficulty, she clamped her lips shut. She could not reveal her true name, yet, not until she was certain who he was and who he worked for. “I’m…” She stopped, her mouth trying to form the right name anyway. Her brain felt thick, as though a fog wove perfumed tendrils through it. “I’m—yours,” she said. His eyes flared, the blue widening still further. “That’s dangerous, beautiful. Very dangerous.” She didn’t care. She suddenly wanted every inch of danger he could give her. Rio slid his hands upward to lift the weight of her breasts. Inside the bright room, the woman called Talan moaned her pleasure. The blond man pumped harder, his body tightly controlled, the whip brushing her back. “Please,” Talan groaned. “Please, now.” Nella’s mouth moved with hers. “Please.” She did not know what she begged for. Her thoughts seemed not her own, as though someone else suggested she feel what Talan felt, want what Talan wanted. Was the man, Rio, doing this? Was he a telepath? But she’d met telepaths before, and this was not quite the same. Hot need spiked through her. Rio lowered his head and traced her shoulder to her neck with one stroke of his tongue. “You feel it,” he murmured. She could only make a strangled noise. 14

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“You feel her wanting him. I can feel you feeling it.” He chuckled. “You can feel me feeling you feel it.” His leggings stretched over his cock, huge and stiff, the incredible length of it pressing her backside. “You want me there,” he said. “Yes.” “You don’t know why, and you are not ready to take me. I’d hurt you if I took you now.” Nella dragged in a breath. His tongue moved to her ear, tracing the shell of it. His breath burned. “It would hurt,” he murmured. “And you’d love it. I’m Shareem. I could make you love it.” “Yes,” she gasped. “But I won’t.” He teased the nubs of her breast with slow fingertips. “I’ll never hurt you. I’ll give you only the good kind of hurt.” “The good kind?” she asked, confused. “Watch them.” The woman, Talan, was going crazy under the man’s pounding. She writhed and cried, and once more started to beg. “Please, Rees, now!” “I told you not to beg me,” the blond man said. His voice was tightly controlled, but contained an edge of wildness. “I told you I’d punish you.” “I’m sorry.” “Too late, sweetheart.” He whipped her. Slap after slap landed on her thighs and her buttocks. Nella flinched, as though she could feel every sting. But it was not pain, it was… “Release,” Rio whispered in her ear. “Beautiful release.” In the mirrored room, Talan screamed. She came, her body jerking and arching. Behind her, Rees let her, rubbing her now with the whip instead of slapping her. He ground into her, pumping hard, his face set. Then he cried her name, his head falling back, his voice deep and broken. He wrenched his cock out of her, still erect and incredibly big. Talan whimpered. He scooped her up and laid her down on her back. Then he covered her with his big body and entered her again. Their hips met and met again, both shuddering with need and release. Rio reached past Nella and touched a control on the wall. The door went dark, silently blocking out the couple in the mirrored room.

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Chapter Three

Damsel in Distress The woman sagged back against Rio, as though released by strings, her pheromones swamping him. Mmm, yes. She’d cleaned up well, like Rio had known she would. Her hair, gloriously red, was slicked back from a round face and lay warm against his chest. Brown-gold eyes with flecks of gold, framed with thick, red-brown lashes, turned up to him in trepidation. She held the sheet with pretty, plump arms, trying to hide her body, but in truth, the sheet only emphasized her curves. When Dr. Laas had undressed her in the bedroom, Rio had raked his gaze over every inch of her flesh, unable to stop himself. He’d wanted to devour her. Dr. Laas, with her knowing smile, had advised Rio that he should let the young woman rest first. Her lips were lush, full, the lower lip a bit plumper than the upper. Parted now, they gave him a glimpse of her tongue touching her lower teeth. He wanted to dip his tongue behind her lip and taste the ripeness of her. She was breathing hard from witnessing the very erotic scene between Rees and Talan. Those two could set fire to a fire retardant. Rio’s own need threatened to burn him from the inside out. Any other day, he’d have asked Rees to let Talan take his cock in her mouth and give him release, but he hadn’t wanted that today. He’d seen his red-haired woman in the shadows, felt her curiosity and wonder. He’d wanted to hold her while she caught the swamping wave of Shareem pheromones, so he’d slipped out of the room through another door and come up behind her while her attention had been fixed on Rees and Talan. Now she looked up at him, startled, trying to control her longing and not understanding any of it. “What are you?” she breathed. She had a delicious accent, the r slightly rolled, the vowels elongated. “A Shareem,” he said. “What is a Shareem?” “Me. I am. And Rees, in there.” He gestured at the door. She followed his gaze, even though the door was closed, and her pheromones increased, tickling his skin. “You liked watching him fuck her,” he said softly.

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She flushed, which made her cheeks an enticing pink. “I don’t—I don’t know anything about it.” Something warm flowed through him, and he smiled. An innocent. Talan had been an innocent before Rees had given her lessons. Talan had fallen in love with her teacher, and Rees with his so eager pupil. Maybe, just maybe… Rio had already missed the transport Rees had set up for him by rescuing this woman. Maybe he could enjoy himself with her while waiting for the next one. Maybe he could taste the lady and lap her up. Why did he keep thinking of her in terms of something to eat? Mmm, there was another good idea. His Shareem hormones kicked in, in a big way. For weeks he’d thought about nothing but meeting the transport and getting off-planet. Since his return from Canyon Roble, where his Shareem friends Maia and Rylan had set up housekeeping, he and Rees and Talan had discussed nothing else. One pretty woman in distress, and he’d thrown it all away. Well, shit, was he supposed to leave her to die? The floating machine must have been sent by patrollers to stop him leaving the planet. She’d gotten hurt, and it was all his fault. The only reason the patrollers hadn’t followed up and arrested him was because he’d gone to ground in Dr. Laas’ hidden lair. But then… Incongruities broke through the thoughts in his boiling, horny brain. “Wait a minute, what were you doing in that alley?” Her eyes widened, the gold sparking, and her gaze flicked away from his. She was trying to think of a good lie. He could taste it in the shift of her body scent. He leaned to her. He smelled her breath, sweet-spice, sensed her heartbeat quickening. “I thought the attack was for me,” he said. “But now I’m thinking it was for you.” “For me?” she asked, as though surprised. “What I can’t figure out is why. Besides being sexy as hell, you don’t look like you could hurt anyone.” “Sexy?” She stared. He smiled, feral and hard. “Sexy. You know the meaning of the word? You’re not from Bor Narga. Do you understand me?” “Yes, I have had a language implant.” “You can afford a language implant, but not decent clothes?” “No,” she stammered. “My money, it was stolen.”

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“Uh huh.” He smoothed her hair from her face, drawing his fingers through the curls. “I don’t believe you.” Panic, now. His nostrils flared, taking in her scent. “Don’t be afraid,” he gentled his voice. “You can trust me.” His Shareem voice had been created to calm women. A woman had to be calm to take a Shareem, especially one like Rio. Calm and happy. The pulse in her throat slowed somewhat, but she watched him warily, as though suspecting he was doing something to her emotions. To prove he could, he stepped away, letting her go. Man, that was hard. Opening his arms and letting her scramble away from him took discipline. He wanted to grab her again, haul her to him and hang on. Want her, his senses screamed. Want her bad. She stepped on the trailing sheet, and it came loose and nearly fell. She clamped it to her chest in time, but the flash of lovely pink flesh sent Rio’s temperature soaring. One shapely hip curved from behind the sheet, beckoning him. He folded his arms, fists balled, his cock so tight it hurt. Erotic thought after erotic thought poured through his brain, starting with him going to her and yanking the sheet all the way off. What joy it would be to put his mouth all over her. She’d be kneeling in a submissive posture, head bent, glorious eyes downcast. He’d see the gleam of her gaze as she watched him sideways, her hands decorously behind her back, only her eyes showing her defiance. His cock rose even harder, pressing the stifling leather. “So, did you like Dr. Laas’ shower?” Another blush, this one spilling down her neck to her collarbone. “Yes.” “Thought you might.” The blush increased. Rio wished he could have watched her lying under the jets, while water spilled over her lush body. Dr. Laas had programmed all her showers to seek and find erogenous pressure points. From the lady’s embarrassment, she’d obviously experienced a few of those pressure points. She tried to change the subject. “Who is Dr. Laas?” “This is her house. She—likes her work.” “Was that her?” She glanced at the closed door. “That was Talan d’Urvey and her lifemate, Rees. Friends of mine.” Her eyes flickered. “They must be very good friends.” “You could say that. If I’d known you were up, I would have asked you to join us.” She gaped. “Join?” “Why not?” He lowered his voice. “We might have watched them with me inside you. Or let them watch you kneel to me and take my cock in your mouth.” 18

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Her face went even redder. “I do not—I do not understand such things.” “No, but you enjoyed watching from the shadows. Maybe you like that better?” “I like nothing,” her mouth said. Her screaming pheromones told him otherwise. “I need to leave here. Unless I am a prisoner.” “Why should you be a prisoner?” He reached out to the burning red of her hair. “You can be one if you want to be. I could wrap you in chains and promise to let you go after I’ve pleasured you countless times. And the more you begged me to release you, the longer I’d keep you bound.” Her eyes were wide, caught between panic and desire. Her breath smelled good, spicy and salty. She probably tasted just as good. He leaned down and gently brushed his tongue across her lower lip. She gasped and jerked back, and he sensed her body sending her conflicting messages. Be afraid of this man, it screamed. And, go to this man. You want him inside you, you want him to chain you, you want him to do what the other one did to the woman called Talan. She wanted it, and didn’t want to want it. “Rio,” Dr. Laas’ wry voice came from across the room. “The poor woman just got over alkaloid poisoning. She won’t be ready for you for a long time.” The young woman tried to turn away so she would not expose her backside to Dr. Laas, but the movement only exposed her to Rio. He saw round, pretty hips, the cleft of her buttocks and sweet hollows at the small of her back, before she grabbed the loosened folds and hid herself again. Rio made a noise of satisfaction. He’d seen enough. “Alkaloid poisoning?” the young woman asked hurriedly. Dr. Laas nodded. She’d exchanged her coveralls for a form-hugging dress of gold silk, and woven thin gold chains through her hair. “You’d been shot with a poison dart. Rio carried you here. The antidote was simple to concoct, but if more than a drop of the poison had gotten inside you, I couldn’t have saved you. Rio grabbed that dart out of you just in time.” The young woman turned back to Rio, her eyes enormous. “Thank you. Both of you. You didn’t have to help me.” Dr. Laas smiled. “It was a pleasure. Rio was right to bring you here.” “You are a medical healer?” the woman asked. Rio found it interesting that the implant did not translate doctor quite right. “I am a research professor. I made the Shareem.” “Like I said,” Rio put in. “She enjoys her work.” “You made them?” “I and a few fellow scientists came up with the design for Shareem. Rio and Rees were some of our very best.”

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The woman’s startled gaze flicked back to Rio. “Are they androids, then? Not real men?” “Oh, I’m real, darlin’,” Rio said softly. “Very, very real. I think you saw how real.” She drew a breath, raising the sheet in an intoxicating way. “I think I do not understand.” Dr. Laas shrugged. “The Shareem might have been a mistake. Maybe we got carried away playing gods.” Her smile turned sly. “But oh, what workmanship.” “Thank you,” Rio said dryly. “Now,” Dr. Laas continued, “what can we do for you, my dear? Rio feels bad that you got hurt from someone chasing him, so what can we do to make it up to you?” The woman glanced quickly at Rio. Ever-so slightly, he shook his head. Let Dr. Laas think what Rio had thought for now. She took Rio’s cue. “I could do with some clothes.” “Baine is searching for some,” Dr. Laas answered. “Talan and Rees have gone downstairs to wait for you.” Rio chuckled. “Can they still walk?” “They’re a bit shaky.” “We’d better go down there, then,” he said, “before they get tired of waiting and start again.” Dr. Laas and Rio shared a laugh, but the young woman looked more baffled than before. Rio gestured to the lift. “After you.” The woman scowled at him. She knew damn well he wanted to get behind her in case the sheet fell again. Hell, he was so horny, he might grab it off her and look his fill. Watching Talan get fucked had made him hard, and watching this woman watch them had only made it worse. His skin was burning and he needed release. Shareem needed release, or else their chemistry churned them up inside, overloading their bodies, and they could die. The woman he wanted release with scurried to the lift in front of him, the sheet swaying against her luxurious body. Rio wanted her with something primal and possessive. Maybe saving her had stirred up the primitive protectiveness within him. His entire body cried out, Mine. He loved Talan in a friendly way, and never said no when she and Rees invited him to make it a threesome. He joined in pleasuring Talan because he liked her, and also because it pleasured him. Rees and Talan loved each other madly—Rio was just the toy. He didn’t mind being the toy. He liked being taken out and played with. But his feelings for this woman, whoever the hell she was, were completely different. Mine. To have and to hold.

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The words of the ancient wedding ceremony weren’t far off the mark. He wanted to hold her in his arms, to have her in every way, and—because he was a level three Shareem—to train her to the whip to obey his every command. He saw Dr. Laas eying the sheet speculatively, and he frowned at her. Dr. Laas enjoyed women almost as much as she did men—anything in the pursuit of sensual pleasure. Dr. Laas raised her brows in surprise, then she smiled, understanding. Not this time. The woman was Rio’s. Not for sharing, and not for just once. He again felt the tenuous bond he’d sensed when he’d looked down at her on Dr. Laas’ exam table. Mine. Every one of his sex-mad friends had better get used to that.

***** Downstairs in another lounge, they found the blond Shareem male and his wife, Talan. The two were clothed now, he in a body-hugging tunic, she in long, flowing robes of some sumptuous material. She’d re-dressed her hair in a braided coil, a strand of glittering stones circling it. Everything about her outfit cried expensive. The robes told Nella that Talan d’Urvey was one of the highborn women of this planet. Bor Nargan women of the upper classes sometimes visited fashionable Ariel, and some of the highest born got invited to the palace to meet the royal family. Bor Nargan women wore robes of varying shades and lovely geometric designs. The designs all meant something, whether the woman followed a certain religious order, whether she was married or a celibate, or whether she occupied a certain political niche—sometimes a combination of these. Nella’s protocol officers had always sorted it out and told her what she needed to know. She had no idea what the designs on this woman’s robes meant. Also, she couldn’t see them well, because the woman sat on the lap of her Shareem, shamelessly kissing him. Rio loudly cleared his throat, then chuckled as the two sprang apart. Talan blushed, her face scarlet, but the man, Rees, only looked annoyed that they’d been interrupted. Rees stood up, gently setting Talan on her feet. The man was huge. He matched Rio in height, and while Rio was slightly larger in bulk, Rees’ chest was plenty broad, his shoulders stretching the tunic tight. The chain on his biceps was a black streak on his bronze-colored skin. Rees had blue eyes in common with Rio, enough alike in shape and color that they could have been brothers.

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Nella wondered why, with all her studies on otherworld cultures and her knowledge of Bor Narga, she’d never run across any mention of Shareem. “Are Shareem slaves?” she asked, shocked. Slavery had been outlawed for millennia on Ariel, but she knew that some planetary systems still practiced it. “No,” Talan said quickly. “Well,” Rio drawled. “We can be if you want.” Nella had the sudden flash of Rio, in his leather leggings, kneeling with thighs spread, his hands behind him, his brawny wrists encircled by wide cuffs with a chain between them. Rio’s gaze locked to hers, his eyes nearly filling with blue, as though he knew what was in her head. Then she noticed Rees. He’d stilled, his irises also widening. His large hand moved to cup Talan’s waist and pull her toward him. The tunic did not hide the fact that his cock was stiffening and lengthening. “Better stop with whatever you are imagining,” Dr. Laas said to Nella, amusement in her voice. “You have two Shareem males erect and randy right in front of you, and you’re only wearing a sheet. Who knows what the consequences will be?” Nella swallowed. “Can they read my mind?” “No,” Rees said, his voice rumbling and low. “Your pheromones.” “They pour over us like water, sweetheart,” Rio said. “When your body is craving us, we get all hot and bothered. We can’t help it.” He moved to her. “Later, I’ll make you tell me what you were thinking about.” Bad idea, Nella thought. A very, very bad idea. Talan seemed the only one able to take the situation in stride. She broke away from Rees and came to Nella. “You poor dear. I imagine you are quite confused. Come and sit.” She glared at Rio. “Couldn’t you find her any clothes?” Rio did not look abashed. “I like her the way she is.” Talan gave him an exasperated look and led Nella to a low sofa. When they sat, the sofa moved beneath them, adjusting to fit their bodies. “Baine is working on clothes,” Dr. Laas said. “Nothing I have will fit her, and she is taller than you, Talan.” “Baine,” Talan said to the air. “Do you have clothes for our guest, yet?” The soft male voice that had spoken to her in the elevator floated out to them. “I am attempting to locate a shop that will accept computer-to-computer interaction without a human interface. Alas, so many stores these days have gone over to the fad of human-to-human service, as though computers are not as good as, nay, better than, humans. “Based on conversations between you five and a rough interpretation of events, coupled with extrapolations from news services, I concluded that it is not desirable for anyone to know the

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whereabouts of this young woman at present, and so I must purchase clothes for her and have them delivered with no human realizing the event has taken place.” “In other words,” Dr. Laas broke in, “no.” “Precisely.” “Who is Baine?” Nella asked. “My computer,” Dr. Laas said. “A man I had an affair with programmed the voice in before he left. I told him to go, you see, and this was his revenge. Baine sounds just like him.” “Do not insult me,” Baine answered. “I am a thousand times superior to your flyby-night lover. He is now in jail on Station 1217, by the way, for indecent exposure.” “Really?” Dr. Laas brightened. “How delightful.” Rio crouched beside Nella’s left knee, leather stretching over his thighs. He rested his hand on her leg. “You don’t need to be afraid of us.” His hand was large and warm. A need to relax flowed through her, a need to trust, to put her fate in his so-strong hands. “Yes, she does,” Rees said softly. “Pay no attention to the man with the large hard-on. You’ve been afraid for a while, haven’t you?” Rio stroked her thigh, massaging with expert fingers. “Your muscles tell me that, and so does your breathing. It’s been a long time since you could relax.” On her other side, Talan took her hand. “Tell us your name,” she said, her voice as gentle as Rio’s touch. “We’ll help you, I promise.” Nella swallowed. As much as she wanted to trust these people, as much as she was grateful to Rio and Dr. Laas for saving her life, knowing who she truly was would be dangerous—not only for her, but for them. Rio could fight one assassin bot, but not a horde of them. “Lita,” she said, lighting on the name of one of her mother’s childhood friends, who had passed away a few years ago. Lita had always been a sunny person. “You can call me Lita.” Rio’s fingers moved, stroking her thigh, skin-on-skin. “A beautiful name.” Baine snorted. “Are you all stupid? She’s only been on every news digital for the past five years, or do you pay no attention to the off-world channels? She’s been the most popular woman on Ariel since she came of age, and there’s now a big hullabaloo because she seems to be missing.” Nella froze. Rio’s fingers stilled. Rees, Talan and Dr. Laas stared at her. Talan understood first. She gaped. “I thought she looked like her, but I never dreamed—” “Enlighten me,” Rio said, his voice quiet. Baine scoffed. “Humans and Shareem are so obtuse. She is none other than Princess Nella Ellerina Natalia Vascian of Ariel. She and her family are figurehead rulers of the planet, meant

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to inspire and unify their people. The princess is unilaterally adored. She apparently ran off with her supposed lover, a man called Linginian, but he has been unable to produce her, which has many worried about her whereabouts and safety.” Baine fell silent while the other four stared at Nella. “By the gods,” Dr. Laas breathed. Rees and Talan said nothing. Rio continued to stroke her thigh while he looked at her with eyes dark blue and unreadable. “Damn,” he said softly. “Did you hear that? My girl’s a princess.”

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Chapter Four First Lesson

The princess tried to run. Rio rose sinuously to his feet and gathered her back against him. She struggled, her nearly bare backside rubbing his cock. “Stay with me,” he said, sending out endorphins to calm her. “I told you, we won’t hurt you.” “That was before you knew who I was.” “Doesn’t matter. You’re with me, now.” She stopped struggling, but her heart beat rapidly. Rio drew his hands across her belly, sensing the terror that rushed through her like cold water. “People would pay you much money for knowledge of my whereabouts,” she said. “That changes things.” Her accent was sweet. He liked it so much. “We don’t care. Talan is filthy rich already, Dr. Laas likes hiding out with her computers, and Rees and I are Shareem. As long as we come five times a day so we don’t expire, we’re happy. All the money in the universe can’t change that—and hell, who’d want it to?” “We’ll not betray you,” Talan put in. “You can trust Dr. Laas and Rees and Rio.” Rio leaned down and kissed the corner of her eye, finding her lashes wet with tears. He was getting hot, wanting to lick her and kiss her until she calmed down. And then until she wound up again. He hadn’t been joking when he’d said he had to come five times a day. “I thought I could trust before,” Nella was saying. Her eyes were fixed, as though she looked at something Rio couldn’t see. “People I thought were my friends betrayed me as though it were nothing.” “Shh,” Rio soothed. He closed his eyes, willing her body to relax. “That’s all over. You can trust me.” “I can’t.” Her voice was ragged, as though she tried to catch her breath. “You can. I will teach you to trust again, Nella. I’m an expert at it.” She shook her head, but his touch and his Shareem voice was working. She sank into him, her body responding. He slid one hand up to cup her breast through the sheet. Her nipple was hard and tight, reaching into his palm. “Feel better?” he murmured. Her eyes drifted closed. “It is dangerous for you.” “We are dangerous, Nella. Anyone who messes with you has to mess with us first.” 25

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She leaned against him, her body warming, reacting to his. “Ah,” Baine interrupted. “Success. I have procured a set of nondescript clothing for the princess. They are down in the lab.” “Save them for later,” Rio said. He lifted the unresisting Nella into his arms and walked to the lift. The others let him go without a word.

***** Nella felt slightly better by the time Rio carried her into her room again. The sparse, pale room was somehow comforting, somehow safe. Even the spicy scent of the air encouraged her to relax. She knew the feeling was false. Decorators on Ariel used chemicals in the air and even in paint on the walls to calm a room’s inhabitants. Some restaurants did that so the diners could leave the stress of the day behind and better enjoy their food. “I have to leave,” she told Rio. His lips curved to a smile that nearly knocked her over. “Not in that sheet.” “In the clothes that Baine—that the computer found.” “Later. Maybe.” She folded her arms, hugging the sheet close. “I am a prisoner here, then?” “No.” His eyes darkened, and he closed the space between them. “Unless you want to be. I’ll bet Baine could fix us a holo-room where I could chain you to the wall, and we could play some fine games.” She stared at him, unable to imagine what kind of games he was talking about. He was so close to her that she could not tell where his body heat left off and hers began. When he slid his strong hand over her backside she wanted to jump away, but at the same time, she craved his touch. “I have to go,” she repeated, but her voice had weakened. “Where to?” Rio asked. He caressed the hollow of her hip with his warm palm. “Out to be chased by assassin bots again?” She fell silent. She had nowhere to go, and she knew it. Ariel had no embassy on Bor Narga, the two planets being ten stations remote from each other. She hadn’t even been able to send a message to the consul on the next station in line, 657, because Linginian had paid men to make sure she could not get near a call terminal. “You see?” Rio said, as though he could read her thoughts. “This compound is hidden. No one knows about it but Shareem. It’s a good place to hide. Consider us friends.” She wanted to sink into his warmth and lay her head on his shoulder. She found her body doing just that, even though she told it not to.

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“My friends betrayed me,” she said. “They sold me out to a man who wanted to make me his slave.” “They don’t sound like very good friends, then,” he said in a reasonable tone. “And you are?” “I’m the best friend you’ll ever have, sweetheart.” His voice slid over her like a warm blanket, and his body urged her body to relent, to melt, to submit. The last thought caught her by surprise. Never in her life had she thought of submitting to anyone. She looked up at him. His blue eyes were watchful, his smile just this side of dangerous. “Are you an empath?” she asked. “Are you putting thoughts in my head?” “No. I’m Shareem.” “You keep saying that. What does that mean, exactly?” He traced the hollow in the small of her back. “It means I can make you feel better. It means I know how to pleasure you in the exact way you need, even when you don’t know yourself. It means I can teach you to want pleasure, and crave it, and be fully satisfied by it. It means I can teach you to trust, deeply, without fear.” “Trust?” She shook her head. “I will trust no one ever again. Only myself.” “And me.” His voice was soft in her ear. “You will trust me.” “I am grateful to you for helping me when you didn’t have to. But the cautious— no, the very frightened part of me—reminds me that you did not know who I was at the time.” Something flickered in his eyes, not anger, but something darker. “So, you think I’ll take you out and leave you for the assassin bots, now that I know you’re a princess? No way. I’ll take care of you, but you have to trust me. You have to give yourself to me.” “I have to submit to you?” He grinned, the darkness gone. “Exactly. Took the words right out of my mouth.” “Rio.” She stepped away from him, facing him on shaky legs. “You want me to submit to you?” “It’s what you need right now, to put yourself in someone else’s hands. Admit it.” Perhaps he was right. Perhaps it would be soothing to hand over her troubles to someone else, even for a little while. “What exactly do you mean when you say submit?” she asked. “Oh, I mean a good many things.” He sounded as casual as if they were discussing what they had for breakfast. “You’ll kneel to me when I say, you’ll let me bind your hands, you’ll obey my every command. I’ll train you to the whip, and you’ll respond to me, whenever and wherever I want.”

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She drew a sharp breath, her lungs suddenly needing air. “You think I will do that?” “I know you will.” His voice was so deep and sensual that she felt her knees bending already. “You will want to.” Her words came out a croak. “I think we do not have such things on Ariel.” “I bet you do, love, you just don’t know about them.” She thought suddenly of the whispers of her ladies-in-waiting about the men of the court, how they’d break off and blush when she entered the room, and how, annoyingly, they’d never tell her what they were talking about. She imagined Rio in her court hall, in the glass and crystal palace that nearly sang with light, the floors spiral mosaics like colors of the gods. Rio would stride into the elegant hall in his leather tunic and tight leggings, and all the ladies would faint. Nella alone would stand before him, while sharp light fell on his black hair and golden skin and blue, blue eyes. He’d gesture with his strap of leather for her to kneel, his face hard, and she would lift her chin and defy him. Her vision suddenly changed to her dropping to her knees in front of him. He’d lay the leather strap on her shoulder while opening his leggings, letting his cock fall from its confinement. He’d be huge—she already knew he was, his cock full and firm and reaching toward her. She saw herself leaning forward, closing her mouth around him, licking and suckling and feeling so very happy. With effort, she shoved the vision aside. “Never.” She drew herself up. “I am a princess of Ariel. I would never—” “Yes, you would. You will. But I’m glad to hear you get mad at me. That means whoever is chasing you, whoever is trying to make you his slave didn’t break you. You’re whole and strong.” “Then why do you want to break me?” “I don’t.” He stepped closer to her. “I want you to submit to me.” “What is the difference?” “Oh, there is a big difference,” he said softly. “Submission is complete trust. It’s giving yourself and your pleasure to the hands of your lover. You’ll free yourself, and give yourself entirely to me.” “If it is so freeing, why do you not submit yourself?” He laughed, a sound filled with true mirth that made her want to smile along. “Tell you what, beautiful. You submit wholly and completely to me—let me train you to be my sub—then I’ll submit to you.” She gave him a suspicious look. “I do not believe you will do it.”

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“I never go back on my word, sweetheart. We’ll get Rees to help out if you don’t believe me. He’d be happy to chain me up, although not for the same reasons. He thinks I’m a pain in the ass.” Nella started to smile. Maybe, but… She remembered when he’d faced the assassin bot, snarling curses at it and daring it to come after him. She’d wanted to wrap herself around him and not let go. She felt the same way now. She wanted to hold onto him and let his strength leach into her. He wanted to make her his submissive. And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, here and now. As princess, she always had to be strong, always had to smile no matter how she felt, keep going in the face of exhaustion and hold her head up to inspire people to hold up theirs. She had to be strong now, to stay alive and get back to her planet. She’d been running for weeks since she’d escaped Linginian, fleeing wherever she could with no money or resources or any way to contact those who might be trying to find her. How heavenly to lay aside her panic and fear, to totally give herself to whatever he wanted, which would free her in ways she couldn’t fathom. All she had to do was agree, trust, submit… “You have the most beautiful smile,” he said. His eyes had gone deeply blue, his irises spreading to blot out the white. “You are putting thoughts in my head again.” “No, darlin’. You’re putting them there all by yourself.” “You are making me want to obey you.” “Maybe giving you a little nudge.” She wet her lips, which were so dry for some reason. “What—what exactly would you want me to do?” He came closer, and she could smell the leather of his clothes, the musk of his body, feel the heat of his fingers before he even touched her. “Anything I can think of to make you do.” His temperature seemed higher than that of a normal human. Humans were actually a little cooler on Bor Narga, she’d learned—an adaptation against living in an extreme desert climate—but Shareem skin was hot. Especially Rio’s, especially now. “And if I refuse to obey? You—punish me?” “Maybe. I’m not like some Doms, who reach for the whip every time their ladies disobey.” He leaned to her, his voice velvet smooth, his breath hot spice. “Punishment is so much sweeter when it’s begged for.” Nella tried to draw a normal breath and couldn’t. She hadn’t felt normal since she woke up here. “I would never ask to be punished.”

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“Beg, I said. And you will.” He touched the swirl of hair above her ear. “You will, sweet darling. I guarantee it.” She saw herself again on her knees, her hands behind her back while he stood over her, leather stretching hard against his bulging cock. Please, Rio, she’d babble. Please punish me. I need you to. “How about it, darlin’?” he asked, breaking her vision. He nuzzled her temple, his breath scorching. “Are you going to tell me to make you obey?” Confusion washed through her. Perhaps her translation chip didn’t work correctly. “You wish me to command you to begin commanding me?” “That’s right. You got it.” His answer didn’t help. “I thought you would simply start.” He chuckled, a rumbling sound. “The thing is, love, being Shareem, I have rules to follow. It’s in my programming.” He slid his arm around her again, tracing a circle at the base of her spine. “I can do this, but only if you ask me to. So how about it, babe? Let me teach you to trust me?” Her heart hammered. Never in her life had she been this close to a man, especially not this kind of man. Whenever a young man had been allowed to escort her to an event, he’d been handpicked by her castellan. They’d been nervous, or overly proud, and usually the sons of other rulers. Most of them, unfortunately, never had much in the way of chins. And now Rio. He was definitely different from what she was used to. He was powerfully built, from his strong shoulders to his hard, tapered waist, to thighs that threatened to split the leather any moment. He was almost animal-like in his ability to read her moods, to tell whether she was aroused or not, and to arouse her just by looking at her. His touch on her skin made her want to scream that she’d submit to him, and please, please be gentle. But not too gentle. He smelled of masculinity, and his body held warmth that flowed so easily over hers. She wanted to press her nakedness against him, to feel the cool leather that covered his skin, to peep upward and see his eyes, so dark and blue, watching her. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of, deep in the night when no one saw her, and like no one she’d ever met in her life. But he had this one vulnerability. She could send him away with one word, and he’d have to obey. For this moment, she had the power, not him. When she decided, when she told him yes, she would relinquish the power to him, but for now, she held it. “Why?” she asked, her voice low. “Why should you stop because I say no?” “Because I am Shareem.” He gave her the maddening explanation. “We are dangerous, made for sexual satisfaction and nothing else. So the researchers put in an 30

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off-switch. We start only at the lady’s pleasure.” He slanted her a wicked smile. “No matter how horny we are.” “An off switch?” His fingers drifted slowly up her spine. “Some Shareem were programmed without one, to make them more dangerous. That was one of the reasons DMAmo’s work was outlawed.” She shivered. What would it be like to be with one of the Shareem who seduced without asking first? “I am not likely to meet any of those, am I?” “You already met one,” Rio said. “Rees.” She jumped. “Rees doesn’t have—an off switch?” “No. He knows it, and that’s why he’s always so damn polite. He keeps hard control of himself all the time. The only woman who ever made him lose it is Talan. But he loves her so much that he keeps hold of himself.” “What would make you keep hold of yourself?” His voice went soft. “I don’t know. Why don’t we find out?” He moved his fingertips to her earlobe, playing gently. “Tell me, love. You want to switch me off, or switch me on?” She closed her eyes. She thought a long moment, weighing what she needed to do against what she wanted to do. She could barely breathe, but she somehow knew that if she said yes, she’d have all the oxygen she could want. She opened her eyes, drew a ragged breath, and said, “On.”

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Chapter Five

The Sweetness of Trust Oh gods. Oh yes. Oh perfect. Rio’s hormones were raging, but he told himself to take it easy. She was innocent. She’d never met anything like a Shareem, and she had no sexual experience. He had to go slow. Rio had never gone slow in his life. The women who wanted Rio knew what they were getting themselves into. No woman picked a level three Shareem without already knowing about sex—most of them were bored with sex, and wanted something more. They wanted a sexual ride that put them over the top, that would make their bodies hum and dance. They wanted Rio to whip them, to command them, to make them do things they’d never dreamed of doing. The women who wanted Rio wanted it rough, and they could take it. He remembered one highborn woman who’d come to him every day for twenty days, in secret. She asked him to whip her, and nothing else. She never climaxed, she only took it with head bowed and tiny tears coming from the corners of her eyes, but she always left with a relieved smile. One day, she said she’d had enough, thanked him graciously for helping her, and departed. He’d never seen her again. What this girl really needed was a level one Shareem. Sex with level ones was no less intense, but level ones were all about sensuality. They could make a woman come just by touching her hand. Rio went straight to bondage and didn’t look back. He didn’t know much about being level one. He knew obedience and fucking, not massaging and caressing. But that gave him an idea. He smiled to himself. He said he’d teach her to trust him, and he would, in a big way. She’d have to trust everything he did, and he’d make sure she didn’t regret it. He backed away from her, far enough that he could look at her without touching. Deprivation was as arousing for him as it would be for her. “Take off the sheet,” he said. She jumped, fingers tightening on the cloth. “What?” “Take off the sheet and let me see you.” For a moment, he thought she’d disobey. He hoped so. He wanted her obedient to him, but on the other hand, he wanted her to defy him so he could punish her. Either way was good with him. She looked him up and down, her eyes hot. She must be imagining one hell of a fantasy from the pheromones pouring off her. 32

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She hesitated one more moment, then slowly let the safe folds of the sheet slither to the ground. A lush, beautiful, naked woman came into view. “Oh, darlin’,” he breathed. The mounds of her breasts were full and firm, perfect for his hands. He’d felt them while she watched Rees and Talan enjoy each other, heavy and smooth, the nipples hard little buds. Her nipples were even harder now, the tips dark brown. He imagined them under his tongue, rough and tight. Her waist was rounded and plump, and her hips were round, leading to strong thighs and calves. The swirl of hair between her legs was red, bright red. “I like it,” he said. She blushed. “What?” “Your pussy.” Her color increased. “Oh.” “Do you like it?” He reached into the inner pocket of his tunic and withdrew the thin leather strap that he always kept on hand. She bit her lip, her gaze going to the strap. “I never thought about it.” “Touch it,” he said. “What?” “Touch your pussy.” He unfolded the strap, then refolded it once, halving its length. Rees had whips made of woven cloth—effective, and they would never leave a mark. Rio preferred leather, though he used woven ones on more timid ladies, or ones who had to visit Shareem in complete secrecy. Slowly Nella’s gaze met Rio’s, and equally as slowly, her fingers moved down her body to rest on the swirl of hair at her quim. “Get to know it.” Rio strolled closer, holding his whip in both hands. She glanced at it. “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “Not now. Do you believe me?” “Yes.” “You don’t. I’m scaring you. But you shouldn’t be scared, Nella.” He stopped behind her, leaned over and spoke into her ear. “Never be afraid of me, love. Stroke your pussy a little.” The muscles of her right arm moved as she complied. A little whimper escaped her throat. “Do you ever touch yourself?” he asked. “I have. Once or twice. It wasn’t…”

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“It’s never as much fun as when someone else does it for you. Believe me, I know.” “Do you?” she asked. “Touch yourself?” “I have to, sometimes, for release. I’ll let you watch if you’re nice.” He moved in front of her, walking a close circle around her. “Touch your clit. Rock your finger back and forth on it, that’s the way.” She made another small noise, her eyes taking on a slightly desperate look. “Keep doing that,” he said. He moved behind her again, stopping this time. He lifted the whip and drew the fold under her hair. She gasped, and her hand lifted away. “I didn’t tell you to stop,” he said, lowering his voice to a growl. Quickly, she put her hand to her quim again. He traced her shoulder blades, then drew the whip down her spine, letting the cool leather slide between her buttocks. She gasped again, but this time did not stop her playing. The whip circled each cheek of her ass, then he took it down the back of her right leg to her heel. He played there a moment, then moved to her left heel and up the back of that leg. He drew the whip the length of her left arm, from the cup of her shoulder down the line of her triceps, circling her elbow, and moving softly to her fingers. He let the whip play in her hand that hung at her side, nudging the leather through her fingers as though daring her to catch it. He traced her right arm, following her forearm around to the hand that stroked her pussy. He rested the leather on her fingers, and stepped against her, her naked back to his front, moving the whip with her strokes, as though guiding her. “Keep playing,” he whispered. She nodded, closing her eyes. Her body warmed, need filling her from her toes to the roots of her hair. He felt her blood pounding faster through her body, her skin dampening with perspiration. He inhaled a long breath of her. She’d obviously used one of Dr. Laas’ sensualsmelling soaps when she showered, but layered over that was her own scent and the musk of a woman aroused. He dipped the whip between her legs, rubbing her opening. She made a little noise in her throat, her brow furrowing as though troubled. “That’s it, love. Feel it. Feel what you can do.” He played for a few moments, then moved away from her, taking the whip with him. Her eyes flew open, and she cried out in disappointment. “Don’t stop,” he commanded. Obediently, she rubbed faster.

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He circled her, moving like a predator. He traced the whip over her body in the front, drawing it across her collarbone and around each of her breasts, playing a little with each nipple. “Rio,” she whispered. “Yes, love?” “Will you touch me?” “I am touching you,” he said. She took a breath. “I mean with your hands.” He shook his head. “Not this time.” “Please?” “No, darlin’.” She whimpered. His own blood stirred, his cock so hard he was sure it could hold up the building. It killed him not to touch her, but she had to learn to trust. If he touched her now, he’d lay her down and fuck her, then pull her to her knees and whip her for making him lose control. Better to just not touch her. The whip moved from side to side across her belly, and he smiled playfully as he poked her navel. She made a sound that was half a laugh, until he scowled at her, and the smile left her face. He played the whip across her right hip, circling the hipbone, and down her thigh and leg to tickle her toes. He skimmed across her left foot, then brought the leather up her leg and back to her clit. “Almost there, sweetheart.” She rubbed faster, the desperation in her eyes deepening. He carefully slid his whip between her legs and gently parted her folds. “Oh gods,” she moaned. He moved the folded tip back and forth, dipping it a tiny way inside, gently fucking her with it. Her head dropped back, fire-red hair spilling all the way down her back to brush her ass. She raised up on her tiptoes, a look of beatific release coming over her face. Quickly, Rio took away the whip, the folded tip wet with her cream. She cried out in protest and stilled her hand. “Don’t stop,” he said harshly. She began rubbing herself again, her release lost, her mouth drooping in disappointment. He moved behind her, watching her rock back and forth on her feet as she sought the fleeting moment she’d nearly achieved.

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When he judged the time to be exactly right, he stepped back and slapped the leather hard—crack!—across her ass. She screamed. He slapped her twice more, and then she came. She cried meaningless sounds and sank to her knees, tears flowing from her closed eyes. He knelt behind her, enclosing her body between his legs, his arms going around her. He pressed his hand over hers at her pussy, stroking and rubbing, showing her how to draw the climax out as far as it could go. “That’s it, baby. Feel every second of it.” She moaned and writhed, her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes closed. Her face was wet with tears, and he kissed them away. They rode it together, Nella sliding against his cock until he thought he’d die. Over and over they rocked, while her cream covered his hand. After a long time, she drew a deep, shuddering breath, and her cries died away. Rio kept on stroking her, knowing she’d love the warm, tight feeling against her swollen pussy, even as her climax ebbed. She was wet and open, and his fingers slid easily inside her. “Nella,” he said into her ear. “You are so damn beautiful.” She opened her eyes, tears pouring from them. She wept on—not, he realized, in joy, but in grief. “What did he do to me?” she asked. “Who, sweetheart?” “He tried to steal the Bond, and it hurt so much. He tried to take it away from me. He tried to take me away from me.” Rio stroked her belly, drawing her back against him, willing his Shareem touch to soothe her. He did not really understand what she was talking about, but anger shot through him for whoever he was who’d hurt her. If Rio ever came across the bastard, he’d make him pay. Shareem had been programmed not to be violent, but Rio decided to make an exception. “Nella, sweetheart,” he said, “you’re with me, now, and you’re safe. That’s all that matters.” She started to quiet, but tears still leaked from her eyes. He drew his hand from the hot pocket of her cunt and put one finger in his mouth. “Mmm. I thought you’d taste fine. This is what you are, Nella. Salty and spicy and sharp.” She looked up at him, brown-gold eyes wet. He sensed the strong emotions that washed through her, emotions she must have been bottling for a good while.

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And damned if he didn’t want to help her. He wasn’t supposed to want that. He gave physical pleasure and took pleasure, and walked away. It’s what he was for. The black chain hugging his biceps reminded him what he was every day. Screw that. “Taste.” He slid his middle finger, slick with her cream, to her mouth and gently parted her lips. She stared at him in confusion, her emotions in turmoil. Then her tongue moved, and she lightly licked the tip of his finger. “Suck it off,” he commanded. She closed her eyes, closed her lips over his finger, and timidly sucked. “That’s you, Nella. It’s how you taste. It’s what you are. It’s what I taste when I taste you.” Her tongue moved a little more firmly, licking up the unfamiliar-tasting juices from his finger. Then something in her relaxed—he felt her muscles slack—and she began to suckle in earnest. She sucked his finger like she needed it, like he was feeding her life-giving nectar. She suckled for a long time, while he held her, softly kissing her hair. When she finally opened her eyes again, the fever and fear had gone. She released his finger and leaned against him. He felt her calm, sensed the loosening of muscles beneath her skin and the tension in her easing. “Thank you,” she said quietly. He sent her a smile. “We’re a long way from done, sweetheart. But you need to sleep now. Store up your energy for later.” He unfolded himself from the floor, though the sensual carpet seemed to beg him to stay, and lifted her naked body in his arms. He carried her to the bed and laid her down. His body screamed at him to take her now. It would be so easy, she was so relaxed. He could strip off, part her legs and have her before she felt any fear or pain. And then it would be over, and fear and pain would be gone. Not yet, his mind answered. It would be good now, but so much better when she’s begging. Of course, if he didn’t release soon, Rio would be the one begging. And crawling and needing. She lay there, her expression calm. Not trusting, not yet, but something near it. For now, she was simply exhausted. Rio fetched the sheet from the floor, shook it out, and draped it over her. She closed her eyes, her breathing quiet. Rio leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Sleep tight,” he said. “Dream of me.”

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She murmured something that he didn’t catch. He touched a panel above the bed that dimmed the lights, and lightly kissed her lips. She’d had a hell of a day. It was hard to leave her, but he made himself do it. The one taste of her cream only made him crave more. He craved it with a madness about to choke him. “Good night, princess,” he said at the door, then forced his feet to move out of the room. Baine’s voice greeted him in the lift. “A cold shower, I think?” “Shut up and take me up a level,” Rio growled. When he hit his own bathroom, the shower was already pulsing full strength, the frigid air coming off it palpable. Rio threw off his tunic and leggings and loincloth. In the mirror that covered one wall of the bathroom, he saw his cock, erect and swollen, and the flush on his skin that meant he was dangerously hot. His eyes were solidly blue, his long black hair mussed from his antics with Nella. He plunged under the shower jets without thought. Steam rolled from his overly hot skin as the cold water enveloped him. He lay down on the bench—all Dr. Laas’ showers had benches—as the water pulsed over him. He closed his hand on his needy cock, stroking firmly upward, his thumb expertly applying the right amount of pressure. He thought of Nella and the taste of her and the smell of her cream, the weight of her breasts against his hand and the curve of her beautiful body. His hand moved faster, stroking hard from balls to tip, pinching the underside of his cock. Gods, she was beautiful. And all his. In the past, he would have shared her with Rees, or she might have fallen for Rees first. But Rees only had eyes for Talan now, and so this morsel was his. Rio would help her and he’d fuck her, and he’d make her his sub. He pictured his collar around her neck, the chain hanging between her pretty breasts, her gaze eagerly following him to see how next she could please him. She’d want to please him, and he’d teach her how to feel true pleasure herself. It would be fun. He thought of the satisfying noise his whip had made when slapped across her rear. He liked that noise—snap!—followed by her moan of pleasure. There was nothing like it in the universe. He slid his left hand between his legs, squeezing the skin behind his scrotum, then he lifted his hips and eased his middle finger between his buttocks. He found his anal star and pushed the tip of his finger inside. The pressure of his finger in his ass, the squeeze of his hand around his cock, and the thought of the beautiful sound his whip made on Nella’s backside brought his climax. Finally. 38

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He groaned Nella’s name as his cum shot upward to be swallowed by the unrelenting waterfall of the shower. He stroked and stroked, worming his finger into his asshole and pretending she was wriggling a plug in there for him. He’d teach her that too. “I’ll teach you everything, sweetheart.” And then he’d help her get off-planet where she needed to go, and walk away—and that would be that. Some voice deep inside him, in a place he hadn’t gone in a long, long time, began to laugh. Sure cock-brain. You’ll just walk away. “I will,” Rio said out loud. You should have walked away the minute you laid eyes on her. Too late now, asshole. “Oh, shut up,” Rio growled, then he reached up and slapped the control to turn off the water.

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Chapter Six

Alternate Plans “You missed your transport,” Rees said. “No shit.” Rees and Rio sat in a bar called Judith’s, while Judith, a red-haired, fiery lady, dispensed drinks to her usual customers. They’d taken a table in the far corner, one without air slits or windows or intercoms, where they knew they wouldn’t be overheard. Judith kept the corner spyfree just for them. She was a good friend, someone to trust. Trust. Rio’s thoughts went back to Nella standing stark naked and scared shitless before him while he told her what he wanted her to do. She could trust him—she just didn’t know it yet. “Why?” Rees prompted. “Why does everyone keep asking me that? The girl was attacked and dying. I couldn’t leave her in the street.” Rees’ expression did not change. “What I meant is you could have taken her to Dr. Laas, handed her over, and still caught the transport. They might have waited five minutes.” Rio took a swig of his ale, liking the warm, spicy bite of it. Judith could brew like no one else. “If I’d left, I wouldn’t know if she lived or died.” “Mmm,” Rees said, and drank his ale. Rio eyed his friend suspiciously. Rees was always hard to read, the damned Shareem experiment who’d learned how to keep his emotions deep inside where no one could see them. The only one who could draw him out was Talan. Even to Rio, his best friend for half a lifetime, Rees never opened up. “What’s ‘mmm’ supposed to mean?” Rio asked. Rees regarded him quietly. “Just that you missed your chance to leave this rock to look after a girl you didn’t know and who you couldn’t heal. Dr. Laas is the doctor, not you.” Rio shrugged. “I figured I missed the transport, so why bother running my ass to the dock to find it empty? The patrollers would wonder what the hell I was doing, and I didn’t want to sit in a detention cell all night. Dr. Laas’ beds are much more comfortable. I’ll pay Talan back.”

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Talan had paid the transport captain a small fortune to get Rio off-planet, no questions asked. Of course, the captain had taken off with the money when Rio hadn’t shown up. “No you won’t,” Rees said. “She won’t let you. We’ll find you another transport.” “Fine.” They drank in silence a few minutes. Rio would pay back Talan all the money she’d spent trying to help him. He’d find work like a real person once he got to Station 657, earn money and send it back. On Bor Narga, Shareem weren’t allowed to hold jobs, although some “worked” in bars or in resorts for the rich, though they were paid under the table and held no official positions. “She’s gorgeous, by the way,” Rees said casually. “Who? Nella? Well, yeah, I have eyes. And a cock.” “You were in there a long time with her.” Rio clicked his empty glass to the table. “Hey, do I ask you for a blow-by-blow of what you do when you’re with a woman?” “Sometimes.” Rio relaxed into a grin. “All right, sometimes. But this is different.” “I thought it was.” Rio eyed him narrowly. “What exactly are you trying to say? She’s a beautiful woman. She’s lost and alone and in danger. I couldn’t fantasize anything better than this.” “I was just remembering Serena.” Rio stopped. Serena d’Atore had been Rio’s lady ten years ago. She’s been lovely and sexy and more than a sexual partner. She’d been a friend, a good friend—at least, Rio had thought so. Rio, stupidly, had fallen in love with her. There was a reason the researchers at DNAmo had tried to program emotions out of Shareem. Emotions were damn inconvenient, getting in the way of everyday life and pursuit of a good fuck. “Serena was a mistake—one I’m not making again,” Rio said in a hard voice. He thought that would be the end of it, but Rees only looked at him thoughtfully and drank his ale.

***** Nella, awake, showered, and dressed in the clean short-sleeved tunic she’d found waiting in her bedroom, ascended through the house to a soft-colored dining room where Talan and Dr. Laas were taking a meal. Baine had directed her here, sounding disdainful that she’d succumbed, if only temporarily, to Rio’s charms.

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When she entered the dining room, Talan looked around from an earnest conversation with Dr. Laas and smiled. Talan was a beautiful woman, Nella decided, with her red hair, bright blue eyes and curving figure. She also had a look of serenity about her, as though she’d struggled with inner turmoil for a long time then finally found peace. She was in love, Nella realized. She was in love with that huge, gorgeous man called Rees. The one without an off-switch. Rio had shaken loose some part of Nella that had been long hidden, tight down where no one could find it, not even herself. Her dreams had been both troubling and soothing—soothing because she’d relived Rio’s Shareem touch and the way he’d held her when she’d wept, troubling because she’d responded so readily to him. She remembered his whisper, dream of me, before he’d gone. She’d obeyed him with an ease that startled her. “Good morning,” Talan said, rising from her chair. She came to Nella, took her uncertain hands and led her to a place at the table. “Is it morning?” Nella asked as she sat down. The chair adjusted itself to be at its most comfortable. The walls were a soft, comforting yellow, and lighting glowed from recesses in the ceiling, soothing to the eyes. The air was scented with something hard to identify, a flowery smell that was subtle but filled Nella with ease. One wall contained a living mural, depicting a mountain meadow, bright sunlight, waving grasses and black volcanic slopes. It looked real enough that Nella felt she could step into the picture and be there. Air wafted from the mural, carrying with it the sweet scent of summer grass. It also looked so like home that tears welled in her eyes. In fact, it was home—it depicted a remote area in the Baldane province on Ariel, with its emerald green meadows growing over old lava fields. “Oh dear,” Dr. Laas said. “Baine thought you’d like to see your own planet. But perhaps it is too distressing?” “No, it’s…” Nella strove to keep her emotions in check. She’d been trained all her life to appear calm, no matter what the situation. “I’d like to see what it’s like outside. I’m a bit disoriented.” “Of course. Baine, show the street.” The beautiful meadow shifted and the dusty streets of Bor Narga’s Pas City came into view. They looked down on it, although she knew that Dr. Laas’ compound was deep underground. They were in a warehouse area. Once white stone walls were scraped raw where sandstorms battered them, the streets littered with pebbles and dust. Women and men in sand-colored coveralls maneuvered floating pallets through the narrow alleys, while multi-armed robots floated behind them.

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Both women and men had their heads wrapped in sun-protective cloths and wore dark goggles, a necessity for those who worked outdoors for long periods of time. Those merely strolling from one place to another went bareheaded, but all wore breath masks on their belts. The sky above the tall warehouses was deep, brilliant blue. There was a beauty of a sort in it, the harsh glare of the sun on the sand-washed stone, the easy and athletic way the women and men handled their loads, talking and laughing with the gestures of people not too worried about anything. It was an alien place, but not frightening. A tray of food materialized in front of Nella, the steaming greens and golden fruits of Ariel. She stared at it, nearly crying again. She’d been living on dried meat and anything she could get her hands on. “Where did you get this?” she asked. “I have many talents and many connections,” Dr. Laas said complacently. Nella had not been hungry since the transport on which she’d stowed away had slid into its berth in Bor Narga, but suddenly her stomach rumbled. She lifted the twotined fork and tucked in, eating heartily until every bit was gone. By the time she set down her fork and dabbed her lips with a napkin, her stomach was sated. “That was—like heaven.” “You’re welcome,” Dr. Laas said, pleased. “I am happy to see you’ve recovered from your ordeal—poisoning, dehydration, malnutrition, infection—you name it, you had it.” “Infection?” “A low-grade fever. I took care of it when I administered your antidote. I thought I might as well cure you all the way.” “You are kind.” “Maybe. Or bored. I used to wake up with my mind spinning with what experiments I’d do that day. Today I looked forward to ordering exotic fruits without getting caught.” “Rio said you were outlawed,” Nella began, curious about her. “Why?” Dr. Laas heaved a long sigh. “I was a genius at genetic research. Still am. I was the mastermind behind creating the Shareem. Think of it, a race of men genetically enhanced for the greatest sexual pleasure of women. Who would not want that?” Both Talan and Nella nodded in fervent agreement. “But DNAmo went crazy with my ideas,” Dr. Laas said. “They created the Shareem all right, then treated them like lab animals. Did experiments on them, put them through tests to see how they’d react. It was hard to watch.” Nella licked her fork, savoring the last of the juices. “You could not stop it?” “Sadly, no. I was young and brilliant but not very smart, if you know what I mean. I was thrilled that DNAmo wanted to use my designs, but I had no idea what I was

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doing when I signed away everything to them. I only saw that they’d give me a fortune and make me famous. But really, I lost everything.” “That is terrible.” Dr. Laas nodded. “Basically DNAmo stole all my research and set me up to take the fall when the stiff-necked government decided that DNAmo had to go. My ideas, thus, my fault. I was in it up to my neck. I was only twenty years old when I started, a prodigy with no clue about the realities of life.” “Did they arrest you?” Nella asked. Talan also listened, interested. “No, because fortunately, the Shareem themselves were rather fond of me. And everyone at DNAmo was outlawed—the Shareem, the researchers, even the people who leased the buildings to them. Most of the research scientists fled the planet, but I had nowhere to go, and as I said, I was rather foolish about real life. But Dr. Ralston, he hid me and several Shareem, and then we found this place. It was an ancient catacomb from centuries ago, when the war nearly wiped out everyone on Bor Narga. They survived by living in places like this, deep underground. Of course, I fixed it up a little.” She looked fondly at the walls, which segued to a soothing shade of mint green. “How long did DNAmo make Shareem?” Nella asked. “Fifteen years.” Nella gave her a puzzled look. Talan also looked perplexed; she must not have known this either. “But Rees was a man when he left, not a fifteen-year-old boy. They all were.” Dr. Laas nodded. “Accelerated growth. They went through the phases of childhood and adolescence in half the time as a normal human. And then their metabolism was slowed radically, so they age only about a month for every Bor Nargan year. It seemed like a good idea at the time—men forever young and virile. But the researchers didn’t think what that would be like for the Shareem.” Nella felt it at the same time Talan spoke. “Lonely.” “Yes,” Dr. Laas agreed. “On the other hand, they were manipulated to be robust and healthy and free of disease, not to mention incredible at sex. I remember one woman proudly telling me she’d successfully removed their capacity to find love and true happiness, as though this was something to boast about.” “They were wrong,” Talan said softly. “Of course. The Shareem felt everything, experienced every emotion, even when they were being used like lab robots. They were just wise enough to hide it, to sit tight, and then when DNAmo went down, they all escaped into the blue. I looked for them, and so did Dr. Ralston, but except for the few that hid with him, they’d disappeared. They’d learned, if nothing else, to be cunning and self-reliant.” “What happened to them?” Nella asked. “They stayed hidden until the government lifted the death sentence on them, then suddenly, they reappeared, some of them on my doorstep, grinning and ready to live. 44

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But they are still second-class citizens, having to update their ident cards and get inoculations with the Ministry of Non-Human Life Forms every six months.” “Why do the Shareem not leave Bor Narga?” Nella asked, distressed and puzzled. “They would never be treated so on Ariel, simply because they began life as genetic experiments. That isn’t their fault.” Dr. Laas snorted. “The silly ministry thinks the Shareem will die off eventually, end of problem. So they aren’t allowed to breed, or go off-planet, where they might breed. The women of the government are so afraid of reverting to the submissive mode they had centuries ago that sexual pleasure is all but banned on Bor Narga. And if the ministry could find a way to make sure no woman had sexual pleasure at all, they’d do it.” “I am surprised they do not fight back, then,” Nella said. “The Shareem, I mean. That they do not protest, or band together. They are very strong.” “Yes, well, the thing is, they are Shareem,” Dr. Laas answered, as though that explained everything. “There are not that many of them, maybe fifty in all, and some of them have managed to leave Bor Narga. And we programmed them not to be dangerous.” Talan looked amazed. “What are you talking about? I think they are exceedingly dangerous.” Dr. Laas gave her a knowing smile, and Talan blushed. “They are not dangerous collectively,” Dr. Laas said. “They love women and sex and are not violent or driven by hate or rage. They win their battles, but they do it their own way.” Nella thought of Rio’s blue eyes, and his wicked smile that told her she’d end up doing everything he wanted, in time. She shivered. “They have power.” “Of course they do. That is why the Ministry of Non-Human Life Forms keeps such a strict eye on them.” “Rio is trying to leave the planet,” Talan said quietly. Dr. Laas shot her a quick look. “It’s all right,” Nella said. “I would never dream of stopping him.” She thought a moment. “Is that why he thought the assassin bot was after him?” “Probably,” Dr. Laas said. “He did not tell me the whole story of how he found you.” “I was being hunted.” Nella swallowed as she remembered the terror of running through the streets, pursued by the relentless silver ball. And then Rio had been there, tall and strong, swearing at the assassin bot and destroying it. Maybe Shareem weren’t collectively dangerous, like a wolf pack. They were more like lone predators, like the wildcats on Ariel who hunted alone. The cats never attacked human settlements, but you would not want to come upon one alone in the woods.

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Rio had destroyed that bot with an ease that startled her. Then he’d turned to her, knowing exactly where she was hiding, his Shareem eyes honing in on her. She could hide from the assassin bot, but she could not hide from him. Nella related the tale briefly, then finished, “Rio smashed the bot to bits, but the hypo still hit me. That’s all I know.” “He brought you straight to me. That was smart. A hospital could not have helped you in time, and someone would have recognized you.” Nella realized something. “He missed his way to get off-world by helping me, didn’t he?” “Yes,” Talan said. “Oh.” “It was his choice,” Talan said gently. “I wish I was in a position to help him,” Nella said. “Six months ago, I would have been.” “I’d love to hear your story, my dear,” Dr. Lass began, but Talan interrupted her. “They’re coming back.” Nella glanced at the mural wall. On the street, Rees and Rio walked side by side, Rees in a tunic and leggings with a sun-blocking cloak wrapped around his upper body. Rio strode beside him in leather tunic and leggings, his black hair shining in the sun. Rees wore his hair tamed in a queue, folded over on itself. Rio’s hair was caught once at the nape of his neck but hung free and wild down his back. Rees said something, and Rio tilted his head back and roared with laughter. Nella could not hear the sound of the laugh, but his merriment and smile pierced her all the way through the walls of the compound. Talan heaved a little sigh. Nella glanced at her. The lovely woman was staring hard at Rees, drawn to him as though an invisible thread connected the two of them. She loves him desperately, Nella realized. And she is loved in return. Her parents had such a love, sharing a true Bond. They snuggled when they thought no one saw, smiling into each other’s faces. Nella liked finding them like that, stealing kisses, the love pouring from them to surround her. Nella had never felt the Bond, not yet. As she watched Rio now, she wondered what it would be like to share it with someone like him, to be able to reach out her hand to someone so strong, and have him there to take it. Rees and Rio disappeared from view as they neared the compound. Talan turned from the screen with regret, then blushed when she saw both Nella and Dr. Laas watching her. “I can’t help it,” she said with a little smile. “He’s a beautiful man.” “I know,” Dr. Laas said. “But it’s fun to tease you.” “They’ve entered,” Baine said above them. “I’m sending them down now.” 46

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Nella knew when Rees and Rio neared the dining room. Even through the walls, she could feel their presence, the strength and sexuality that radiated from them and filled the space around them. When the door opened, she turned in her chair to watch the two men enter the room, hard masculinity in a chamber designed for feminine comfort. Rees had discarded his cloak, and his tunic bared the huge muscles of his arms and the black chain around his biceps. Rees put his arms around Talan from behind, tilted her head back and kissed her. Nella looked away, but Dr. Laas watched them with an indulgent smile. The woman was glad, Nella realized, that one of her Shareem had found happiness. Thinking of Dr. Laas as a benevolent mother stretched the imagination, but she did seem to have genuine concern and affection for her creations. Nella sensed Rio behind her. His body warmth covered her, his presence suddenly blocking all other thoughts from her mind. She must be weak from whatever medicines Dr. Laas gave her, because she couldn’t fight him—and she didn’t really want to. He placed his hands on her shoulders, a non-sexual move, but she felt herself responding at once to the incredible warmth that bled through her tunic. “We were about to hear Nella’s story,” Dr. Laas said. Rio’s hands moved on her shoulders, kneading a little, as though reminding her what she’d trusted him with the previous evening. “Tell us,” he said in his rich, Shareem voice. “I was kidnapped.” The words poured from her mouth before she could stop them, but she felt a sudden relief, as though telling the truth gave her release. Baine’s voice cut in overhead. “The story on Ariel is that the princess disappeared, probably for a liaison with her intended.” “But that’s not the truth, is it?” Rio asked softly. Nella shook her head. “A man named Linginian wanted to be my Bond-mate, so he kidnapped me.” She drew a breath, not wanting to remember the somewhat handsome but arrogant Linginian, how he’d bribed trusted staff in the palace to give her a sleep drug and spirit her away. “What is a Bond-mate?” Rio asked. “You mentioned it yesterday, said someone tried to steal the Bond.” “When a woman of Ariel wishes to marry, she finds the man with whom she feels the Bond,” Nella said. “It is difficult to explain to a non-Arielian. We know the Bond when we feel it—it is a biochemical reaction, I suppose.” “Similar to the way a Shareem can make a woman do what he wants,” Dr. Laas put in. “Oh, we would never coerce,” Rio said, his voice innocent. “Would we, Rees?” “Never,” Rees answered, straight-faced.

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“Linginian came up with drugs that he thought could artificially induce the Bond. I would claim that he and I were Bond-mates, and he could marry me and gain much money and power.” “But it didn’t work,” Rio stated. “No. It almost killed me. Linginian threatened the lives of my family to force me to tell everyone that the Bond had formed anyway. I refused, and he had me beaten and confined.” Rio’s hands tightened on her shoulders. “Bastard.” The quiet word spoke volumes. If Rio ever found Linginian, Linginian would be in trouble. Nella liked the idea. Dr. Laas gave her a look of concern. “Did he rape you, Nella?” Nella shook her head. “Not in the sexual sense. But trying to force the Bond is a worse violation than rape. He tried to change my entire self, my emotions, my thoughts, my bodily reactions. It was like he tried to reshape me from the inside out.” Rio leaned down and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “That’s why you said he tried to take you away from you.” “Yes.” She felt lassitude seeping through her agitation, his Shareem touch calming her. “But you got away from him,” Talan said, her eyes anxious. “I managed to sneak onto a transport leaving his estate, which took me to Station 573. But of course, once he realized I’d gotten onto it, he contacted men on the station to snatch me again. He has money and friends everywhere. I managed to escape onto another transport to Station 289. Again, he had friends looking for me when I arrived, and I couldn’t even get to a call console. I simply kept running, stowing away on transport after transport. I became rather good at it.” She laughed a little. “And eventually you got to Bor Narga,” Dr. Laas said. “Yes. Sometime along the way, Linginian changed from telling his friends to capture me, to instructing them to kill me. If I reach home and tell my story, you see, he is finished.” “So he lined up assassin bots to go after you,” Rio said. She looked up at him. “And you got in one’s way.” “I’m damn glad I did.” He smiled a little, a hint of wickedness in his eyes. “I never would have gotten to see your ultra-gorgeous body, otherwise.” Nella flushed. No one else in the room seemed to think his speech was outrageous. They were used to Shareem—they were used to Rio. Talan reached over and touched her hand. “We’ll help you get back home.” “You are kind.” “We know what it’s like to be hunted,” Dr. Laas said. “Except Talan,” Rio put in. “She’s a rich girl. She gets everything she wants.”

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Talan stuck her tongue out at him, but she blushed. “I can relay a message as far as Station 657,” Baine broke in above them. “The consul there can relay it across stations all the way to Ariel. The message will be untraceable, which means your friends will not be able to contact you here, but then, neither will your enemies.” “Or mine,” Dr. Laas put in. Nella hesitated. “I would hate to jeopardize your safety.” “You will not,” Baine said, sounding offended. “No one will ever trace a transmission to this compound. I am the most sophisticated computer ever made.” “With an ego to match,” Rees observed quietly. “That is rich, coming from a Shareem.” “Prepare the message, Baine,” Dr. Laas admonished. “What do you want to say, Nella?” “Just that I am safe and that Linginian should be arrested and questioned, and that he tried to use drugs to induce the Bond.” She shuddered. “It was the most horrifying thing he could have done.” “Will the people on Ariel believe the message is from Nella?” Talan asked. “They won’t think it a trick, or a hoax?” “They will have visual, voice print, and DNA match,” Baine said, somewhat huffily. “I will direct the rescue effort to Station 657. We will get Nella there, and all will be well. No one will need to come near the compound, or even to Bor Narga. I fancy that Princess Nella would be happy to leave ‘this rock’ as Rio so poetically calls it.” “Yes, indeed,” Nella said fervently. “Not that I do not appreciate what you all have done…” She broke off as Rio laughed. “You’re not offending me wanting to get out of this place.” He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. Warm sensation trickled down her spine. “Of course, that means we won’t have much time to get to know each other. We’d better do it fast.” “I’ll find you passage on another transport,” Rees announced. “Rio will go with you.” “No.” Nella pushed back her chair and stood up. The others looked at her in surprise. “Tired of me already, beautiful?” Rio asked. His blue eyes were watchful behind the teasing twinkle. “I do not want the assassin bots after you. Put me on a transport—I will do the rest.” This noble speech did not go over well. Rio snorted, Rees look skeptical, Talan distressed.

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“Still don’t trust us, do you?” Rio said. He moved to stand behind her and began teasing the fine hairs on the nape of her neck. She felt her agitation slow, her body responding whether she liked it or not. “I do,” she said quickly. “But—” “No buts,” Rees broke in. “Rio brought you here, we’re in it now. Rio can protect you until you find your own people.” “Think of it,” Rio said in his deep voice. “You and me on a transport, in a private cabin, a tiny space, for hours and hours. Hmm, wonder what we’ll think of to do?” Nella tried to step away from him, but she could not move from his touch for anything. She felt his increasing body heat as he put his arms around her waist, leaned down and rested his cheek against hers. “Let’s just say we’re suckers for a damsel in distress,” he said. “It is dangerous to get involved with me,” she tried. “If I am tracked here, then Dr. Laas will be exposed. I do not want that to happen.” She stared in surprise at the smiles that surrounded her. “You won’t be tracked here,” Dr. Laas said. “I’m an expert at hiding.” “But they are experts at tracking,” Nella argued. “Yes, those assassin bots.” Dr. Laas made a dismissive gesture. “They’re programmed to track you and only you, correct? They ignore everyone else but their target?” “Unless someone gets in their way,” Nella said, glancing sideways at Rio. “We could disguise her,” Rio said. “Hmm, we could dress her as my sub, collar around her neck, a sarong that doesn’t cover too much. Dye her hair, maybe, though that would be a shame. It’s nice the way it is.” He ran his fingers lightly over the knot of hair gathered at her neck, his Shareem touch scalding hot with his growing arousal. Dr. Laas chuckled. “Nice try, Rio. The bots look for a genetic match, not a visual, so there’s no mistake. You could dress her up and dye her hair and give her drops to change her eye color, but they’d still find her.” Nella nodded. “So there is no escaping them.” “Ah, but you’re assuming you were rescued by everyday, ordinary Bor Nargans,” Dr. Laas said. “Instead, you were rescued by a genius of genetic research. My work was lauded throughout seven systems. If the bots can track you through your genetic signature, we’ll just change your genetic signature.” Nella stared at her. “That isn’t possible.” “Yes, it is.” “I thought genetic manipulation could only happen while a person was still developing—before they’re born.”

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“Oh, yes. Usually. You can opt out inherited diseases and genetic disorders and manipulate hair color and whether you’ll have your great-grandfather’s nose. It’s easier, of course, when the person is developing. But I can still do it. I have the blood samples I took when I analyzed the poison you’d been given. I’ll think about it and do a little creative genetic sculpting to fool the bots.” The woman smiled, her gaze far away as she imagined the fun she could have in her lab. “How much will you change?” Nella asked in alarm. “Oh, not too much. Enough so that your signature won’t match the bots’ programming. Outwardly, you’ll never know the difference. Unless, of course, you’d like me to make some modifications.” She ran a eye up and down Nella, like a dress designer trying to decide where to put more pleats or frills. Rio’s arms tightened around Nella. “Don’t change a thing. She’s perfect the way she is.” Nella blushed. “Not really.” “You don’t believe me?” Rio said, his voice taking on a dangerous note. “You’re very flattering,” she said quickly. His playfulness vanished. “Flattering? You mean I’m lying?” “I did not say that. I—” He confused her. All her life she’d been taught to be banally polite, to have the correct remark for the correct person at the correct time. Everything she said to Rio seemed to provoke a reaction opposite of what she expected. But then, Rio was nothing like any male—any human being—she’d ever met before. He did nothing expected. Maybe that was part of his attraction—his unpredictability. This flashed through her head just before he spun her around, bent and quickly lifted her over his shoulder. She hung upside down, too startled to do anything but stare at his leather-clad buttocks. “You’re still having a problem with trust,” he said, very softly. “One I’m going to have to cure.” Planting his hand on her backside, he hauled her out of the room, completely ignoring her squeak of protest.

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Chapter Seven

Further Lessons in Trust Rio took her to the room with the mirrors, the one in which she’d first seen Talan and Rees and Rio together. The mirrors covered all four walls, and the reflections curved off in all directions, out of sight to infinity. Rio set her on her feet with a thump, and the door closed quietly behind them. “Baine,” he said to the air. “Take a hike.” “Dr. Laas does not like to leave any of her rooms unmonitored,” Baine replied in a stuffy voice. “Too bad. If you don’t turn off the monitors, I’ll pull the wiring, and she’ll have to do all kinds of repairs. Better you just go.” Baine heaved a sigh, which sounded more like static than anything else. “Very well.” Something clicked, then the faint hum of whatever monitors were built into the ceiling went off. “Rio,” Nella said. “Were the monitors on yesterday, in my room?” “Yes.” He smiled, a slow, wicked smile. “Baine stores all the images. I had fun replaying them last night when I went to bed.” She stared in horror. “You watched what we did?” “Why not?” Rio slid his tunic over his head and tossed it to the floor. His torso was bare underneath, and the mirrors reflected his hard and beautiful body thousands of times. “It wasn’t as good as being there, but you were so, so beautiful.” Nella gulped, remembering how she’d willingly rubbed herself while he traced her entire body with his whip. “Could anyone else replay them?” “If they bothered to. Rees and Talan are so wrapped up in each other that they’re probably not interested.” “What about Dr. Laas?” “Don’t think so. If you’d been there by yourself, maybe, but she doesn’t watch or have sex with Shareem. Some of her own genetic material went into creating the first ones, and she says that would just be weird. She has her own lover—Dr. Ralston. He was another DNAmo scientist, almost as smart as her. I think they fuck and talk about genetics at the same time.” She smiled at the wry note in his voice, while she involuntarily let her gaze run up and down his body. His black chain circled the tanned skin of his right biceps, the

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muscle curving around his arm to firm triceps. His forearms were strong, wrists large, hands broad and sinewy. Nella had never seen a man this perfect, this sexual, in her life. While Rio’s face did not have the model-like beauty men of Ariel seemed to want, it was square and strong, his jaw firm and hard. His eyes, the blue irises already widening, were almond-shaped and framed with thick, black lashes. His mouth was wide and sensual, and right now that mouth curved in a smile that made her want to run for cover. But there was nowhere to run, only Rio and this mirrored room and the bed. “I think it’s time to continue your training,” he said, “in trust.” Her mouth went dry at the same time her quim grew wet. “I do trust you,” she babbled. “If you were working with Linginian, you would have already turned me over to him.” Rio shook his head. “No, love, I don’t think you know the first thing about trust.” “But I am grateful to you and Dr. Laas for trying to help me.” He cupped her chin in one hand, brushing her lips with his thumb. “Sweetheart, you have so much to learn. Are you willing?” He was doing it again, sending his Shareem pheromones over her, lacing them with endorphins to quiet her. She didn’t understand how he did it, but she knew one thing— it worked. She felt her limbs go slack, her eyes heavy, even as she warmed in anticipation. What would he make her do this time? “That’s better,” Rio said in a near whisper. “No matter what I ask of you, it will free you, Nella. Do you understand?” “Not really.” “It doesn’t matter.” He glanced back at the darkened door. “Rees. Come in.” The floor-to-ceiling door slid softly back on itself, and Rees came through, leading Talan by the hand. Talan was blushing, but her eyelids drooped, and Nella sensed the same calm from her that she felt herself. Rees, still dressed in his tunic, handed Rio a leather whip as he walked by. The door closed quietly behind him. Rio folded the whip in his hand, as he had the strap the night before. Nella remembered the sudden, sharp sting of the strap on her backside. Rather than hurting, the strange pain had released her, spilling out all her emotions and worries in one, ecstatic climax. Still, she eyed the whip nervously, and Talan and Rees more nervously still. What on earth did he expect her to do? “Strip,” he said, as though reading her mind. “What?”

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“Take the clothes from your body,” he repeated, each word succinct. “Now?” Nella gulped, glancing at Rees and Talan. “But—” Rio snapped the whip in the air. “Now.” “I cannot. Not in front of—” Rio snapped the whip again, his eyes glittering. “You can trust all of us in this room. We will never hurt you or betray you. I will show you that being naked does not mean being vulnerable. Do you understand?” She shook her head. “No.” “You will, once you obey. Strip, Nella.” Rees said, “I would obey him.” His quiet voice for some reason chilled her more than Rio’s whip. And yet, she sensed that neither of them would hurt her. Talan trusted them. The lovely woman nodded when Nella looked at her. “It’s all right,” she said softly. Slowly Nella unlaced her tunic, hands shaking. Three pairs of eyes riveted to her, two sets Shareem-blue and aroused. Nella was used to attention, having had reporter bots follow her around most of her life, but this was different. Reporters and fans on Ariel watched the princess, their symbol of elegance and stability. The princess could be anyone—these days, it happened to be Nella. Here, in this room, far from Ariel, Rio and Talan and Rees watched her, Nella the person. She at last got the tunic unlaced and pulled it off over her head. Underneath, she wore a thin garment against her skin, a layer to keep her cool in Bor Narga’s merciless heat. In the mirrors, she saw that her hardening nipples were raised points against the fabric. She left the garment in place for now and began loosening the ties of the leggings. Rio watched her intently, his dark gaze following her every move. Slowly Nella pulled down the leggings and stepped out of them. Underneath these was another thin garment, white and translucent, like the top. The red hair at her quim could easily be seen through it. “Keep going,” Rio said when she hesitated. Quickly, Nella skimmed the undertunic over her head and stepped out of the silky trousers as they watched. There. She was naked. Cool air touched her skin, seeming to linger on her nipples and trickle its way into her quim. She saw Rees tighten his hold on Talan, one thumb stroking her side, up and down, up and down. Rio did not move, but the blue in his eyes widened even more. Nella instinctively folded her arms over her chest, hiding her breasts. Rio growled and snapped the whip.

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“Stand there and let us look at you.” Slowly, she lowered her arms. Rio focused his gaze on her breasts, tracing the curve of each, lingering on the darkened tips. Rees moved his hands to cup his wife’s breasts, and Talan leaned back against him, a dreamy look on her face. “Put your hands behind your back,” Rio said to Nella. Nella hesitated. Such a posture would lift her chest and thrust her hips forward. Rio leaned down and put his lips close to her ear. “Do it.” Trust me. He did not say the words, but she heard them in her head, echoes from the night before. Slowly she folded her arms behind her back. “Thank you.” He stepped behind her, and she felt a metal cuff enclose her right wrist. Before she could jump away, another enclosed her left wrist. Manacles? Where had he gotten manacles? Wherever he’d stashed them, they were clasped to her now. Cool metal hugged her wrists, the bands about three inches wide. A narrow metal chain stretched between them, holding her hands in place. “You belong to me, now,” Rio said. “Me and me alone.” She looked up at him, curls of red hair falling in her eyes. “Why?” “Why? Because I said so.” “I mean, why do you want me to belong to you?” He brought up the whip and touched her cheek with it. “Because you’re beautiful. Because I want you. Because you need me.” She did not understand, but she did not argue. Why Rio had discarded a chance to get away from the planet that restricted him in order to help her, she did not know. She was happy he had, because truth to tell, she’d never felt more safe in her life than standing bound, naked, in front of Rio and his friends. She understood now that much of this feeling of safety was the pheromones he cast over her, and the way he could make her own endorphins relax her. She glanced at Talan, who’d relaxed in her husband’s arms, her eyes closed. Rees was working his spell on her, shutting out all things but the pleasure of being with him. The difference was, Talan and Rees had become lifemates. In the end, Nella would go home alone, and Rio would pursue his dream of fleeing Bor Narga forever. She suddenly hated the thought of never seeing him again. Rio put the whip under her chin and turned her face up to his. “Are you a virgin, Nella?” “Yes.” That at least she did know.

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“I will do many things to you,” he said in his low voice. “I will do many things with you. But you can remain a virgin, if you want.” Why did that news distress her? She should be happy that she’d return home untouched, able to go to her Bond-mate when she found him. He smiled a little. “Technically, at least. Do you believe me?” “I think so.” His eyes narrowed. “I said, do you believe me?” She gasped, “Yes.” “No, you don’t. I see it in your eyes. I’ll just have to prove I’m a man of my word.” He caressed her lips with the whip. “I won’t take your virginity, unless you ask me to. Do you understand?” “Yes.” “Good.” He moved away, taking the whip with him. The absence of his touch, even of the leather on her skin, made her feel suddenly empty. “I cannot ask you that,” she blurted. He stopped. “What?” “I cannot ask you to—to couple with me. The man I first couple with will be my Bond-mate.” “I know that,” he said his voice calm. “That is why I will not fuck you fully. So when your husband crawls into bed with you, you’ll still be a virgin.” “It’s the other way around, actually.” Rio gave her an odd look. “I think your translation implant is malfunctioning. That didn’t make sense.” “Yes, it did. On Ariel, a woman is not a virgin when she marries, and a man does not expect a virgin wife. Once I find the man who is my Bond-mate, I ask him to couple with me. If he accepts, then we marry. After we couple for the first time, of course.” “What happens if the man couples with you then runs for it?” She regarded him in some surprise. “No man would. He would be shamed and humiliated, and he’d never Bond with anyone again. He either refuses, breaking the Bond, or he marries her.” Rio stared at her. “What happens when he just wants sex? He has to get married? You must have a planet full of horny men.” She wanted to laugh. “Some women never find their Bond-mates, and take lovers instead. And there are widows, whose Bonds are broken, who do not demand marriage in return for coupling. But most men want to marry and Bond. Marriages on Ariel are very loving.” “Sounds like paradise.” She felt tears rise in her eyes. “It is to me.”

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“Probably would have no place for Shareem, then. I live to pleasure women, but they always marry someone else.” Nella thought he had a note of bitterness in his voice, but she could not be sure. “I am certain women would vie to marry you, or to take you as a lover. You would have hundreds of proposals the moment you made planetfall.” Rio lifted his brows in disbelief, then started to laugh. “I have you naked and chained before me, and you are going on about marriage customs. I don’t think this has ever happened to me before.” “It’s a first,” Rees murmured. His kissed Talan’s hair, his hands moving beneath her robes. “Great,” Rio said, “Now you’ve got Rees making fun of me. I’ll have to do something about that.” Nella swallowed, her trepidation returning. “Punishment?” “Yes,” Rees said in a dark voice. He bit Talan’s cheek. “Punish her.” Rio glanced at him. “My friend Rees is a barbarian. He enjoys punishment. Giving it and watching it.” The other Shareem’s eyes were fully blue, his skin flushed. Nella sensed his mounting lust even six feet away from him. Rees had no off-switch, Rio had said, and there was no telling what he’d do. And yet, Nella knew that Rees had no longing for her. He wanted the woman in his arms, Talan, wanted her stripped and bound and begging for him. And the way Talan was rubbing herself against Rees’ body, she wanted it too. Rio snapped his whip again, and Nella jerked her attention back to him. “Do you want me to punish you, Nella?” “Not really.” “And yet, you don’t trust me, you don’t believe me.” He lightly traced her cheek. “What am I going to do with you?” “I do not know.” “What do you want me to do?” “I do not know,” she said, her voice growing desperate. He stepped close to her, the vibrant scent of leather and musk filling her. “You do know, Nella. Look deep inside you. You know what you want, and you must tell me.” The damp hollow of his throat was at her eye level. She tilted her head to look up into his strong, very masculine face. “I truly—” She broke off as he seized her chin in his hand, his fingers biting. “The truth is exactly what I want from you. You have desires. You tell me what is inside of you, or I will have no mercy.” She tried to look inside herself, like he told her, but her mind was too panicked. All that had happened, and then coming upon Rio—it was too much for her.

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“What do you mean, no mercy?” she asked nervously. He kept hold of her face, his grip firm so she could not look away. “I want to give you what you want. You have to tell me, so I can give it to you. If you do not, we will do what I want. I am a level three Shareem, Nella. What I want can be—complicated.” By complicated she knew he meant dangerous and exciting and exhilarating and frightening. But he was giving her a chance to bypass the greatest part of the danger, to choose what she wanted. She drew a sharp breath, closed her eyes, and tried to focus. What did she want? To be home, to be safe, to be with the people she loved. To have her life back. Dimly she felt Rio’s fingers soften on her face. She wanted to tell him what it meant to her that he’d saved her, that he’d brought her to this underground place with these alien people who were kind to her. She’d said thank you and I’m grateful, but the words seemed inadequate and thin. She wanted to tell him what it meant that he’d given up what he wanted most of all—his freedom—to help her. “I want…” she began. “Yes?” he asked, his voice very quiet. “What do you want, Nella?” “I want you.” He went silent, and she opened her eyes. He was watching her intently, his gaze unreadable. “You want me to what?” he asked. He did not understand. She wanted him, all of him, his touch and his whip and his Shareem-blue eyes. But he was used to women begging for sexual favors. He wanted her to tell him what to do, and he would not believe her if she said she wanted nothing. Because she would, in fact, be lying. She wanted him to touch her all over, to make love to her, to make her come like he had last night. She wanted the sting of leather on her backside, followed by his hand to soothe the sting. A saying she’d learned when very young came back to her—if you want to receive something, give something first. Nella carefully sank to her knees. The last inch or so was more of a fall, and her knees hit the floor, but Dr. Laas’ programmed carpeting absorbed the shock and cushioned her. Rio watched her, eyes intense. “Is this what you want?” “Yes.” The bulge in his leather pants hung in front of her. Sweet gods, he must be huge. She leaned forward and kissed it, tasting warm leather. The leggings were off before she figured out how he’d ripped himself out of them. He wore a loincloth beneath, a piece of cloth held with a thin strip of leather slung low

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on his hips, baring almost all of himself. If she’d seen him like this in the alley, she’d have fainted from lack of oxygen. Rio untied one side of the loincloth and drew it off. Oh, gods. He was bigger than she could have imagined. His cock stood at full erection, a standard foot long and as thick as her fist. The tip stretched toward her, the small slit in it beckoning her tongue. Coarse black hair adorned the cock’s base and curled around his scrotum. “Teach me,” she whispered. The cock moved slightly at her words, his heartbeat echoing there. “Lick it,” he said, sounding strangely gentle. “Get it wet.” She drew her tongue over the head and around the flange, not sure what to do. Her tongue found a soft place beneath the tip, and she worked it at little, rubbing back and forth. His fingers bit down on her shoulders. “Like that.” She no longer thought about Rees and Talan watching. She only thought of the taste of Rio, dark and spicy and exciting, and the feel of him under her tongue. Soft like the richest velvet, he was, and yet strong and hard. She sank back on her heels, lowering her head to lick the underside of the cock, wetting it all the way to the base. “Gods,” he murmured. She licked down to the curls at his scrotum, then circled her tongue over each of his very tight balls. “Enough,” he said. He backed a little, sliding away from her tongue. “Take me in your mouth.” She reached out with her tongue again and touched underneath his flange, knowing he’d jump at the sensation. Satisfied, she drew his cock between her lips and moved her whole mouth over it. She had no idea what to do next, so she simply got used to the feeling of it in her mouth and her lips stretching around him. She imagined that her teeth would hurt him, so she softened her lips, trying to keep from scraping him. “Suck,” he said. She did, a long gulp, and almost choked. “Gently,” he said, sounding amused. He put his hand on her hair. “Use your tongue.” She gentled the movement, and began to suckle. He did not need to tell her she was doing it right. She could tell by the way he stood, legs rigid, one hand loosening her hair, the other clenched around his whip. “Harder.” 59

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She concentrated on keeping the same movement, but pulling a little harder. He rewarded her with a groan. She had thought it would only be exciting when he touched her. But touching him with her lips and tongue was one of the most exciting things she’d ever done. She wanted to rub her face on his cock, kiss him all the way down to his balls, lick there and even farther back, toward his ass. She had no idea if he’d like that, but she wanted to try it. She felt the leather of his whip slide around her back. He did not strike her, he eased it around her shoulders and held her with it. She loved it. He rocked slightly on his heels, driving the long cock into her mouth, fucking her with it. Nella took it out of her mouth and did what she pictured, kissing her way down the bottom of the cock to his scrotum. He parted his legs, and she nuzzled his balls, smiling at the way his hair tickled her skin. She slid her tongue behind his balls to the hot indent there and played, growing bolder by the minute. “Fuck,” he said. She wanted to lick his ass. She wanted, for some reason, to dip her tongue between his cheeks and taste his anal star. She wasn’t quite certain how to do this and keep her balance and continue to pleasure him, but it was what she wanted. When he asked her again, she would know what to tell him. Just to experiment, she flicked her tongue upward and eased it between his buttocks. “Oh gods,” he said, far above her. “I’m going to come.” He pulled her out from between his legs and positioned her in front of his cock. She knew what he wanted before he said it. She opened her mouth and took him inside.

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Chapter Eight

A Little Help from Friends This is what paradise is like, Rio thought as Nella sucked him eagerly into her mouth again. Her tongue stroked and licked and drove him insane. The pheromones pouring from her were making him crazy, too. His blood was flaming, his body temperature way up. Rees and Talan weren’t helping. Rees was naked now. He’d plunked himself on an armless chair that was perfect for sex—all the furniture in Dr. Laas’ house was designed for sex—and dragged Talan on top of him. Her skirts were above her hips, and Rees rocked her on him, fucking her, totally oblivious to Rio and Nella. Rees’ Shareem pheromones added to the wild mix of Rio’s own, and Nella’s and Talan’s. Too much damn sex in this room, and they’d barely started. When Nella’s tongue flicked between his buttocks, Rio had thought he’d die. Sweet innocent, going on instinct alone—and liking it, he could tell by the smile on her face. The manacles kept her wrists pinned behind her. Her thrust-forward breasts moved in time with her sucking. Now he was over the top. He groaned hard as the seed poured out of him and into her mouth. She jumped, startled at the new taste, but, wonderful lady, she kept her mouth around him and didn’t back away. His hips jerked, and he pulled her closer with the strap of leather. His level three senses wanted to turn her over and swat her bottom, to hear the strap on her flesh and hear her sounds of pleasure. Something in the back of his mind told him he could not go all-out level three on her, not for a while. She was innocent and uncertain, and this fairly tame pleasuring was all she’d ever done in her life. He spilled the last of his seed into her mouth. She closed her eyes, swallowed him, then smiled. He dragged her to her feet and held her close. The chain clinked behind her. He tumbled her hair under his hands and kissed her face. “Mine,” he said. “You’re all mine, Nella.” She nodded once as he feathered kisses across her cheeks. “It’s what I wanted,” she whispered. “What I truly wanted.”

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She sounded proud that she’d figured it out. Gently he released the chain that bound her hands together, but he did not remove the cuffs. He lifted her into his arms, and without bothering to dress or let her dress, he carried her out of the room. The rest of this was going to be done in private. One thing to be said for Baine was that he couldn’t care less whether the people in his elevator were clothed or unclothed, so Rio was spared the computer’s snide comments. Baine did know about sex, though. As Rio carried Nella out of the lift, Baine muttered, “Computer interface is so much easier.” “What did he say?” Nella asked as Rio set her gently on her bed. “Bad machine-language joke. Ignore him.” Nella looked up at him, her eyes heavy from the Shareem chemicals she’d absorbed. She was open enough and receptive enough in body and mind for him to go ahead and fuck her, but Rio held himself back. His friends would laugh at him, especially Bradon, another level three who did whatever he pleased and charmed his ladies into submission. Rio loved sex, but Bradon loved nothing but sex. Rio held back, because right at this moment, Nella trusted him. He’d commanded her trust, and he’d showered her with pheromones to make it easier for her to trust, but however it had happened, it had. If he took advantage of her now, the lesson would be wasted, and she’d never trust him again. She was not a woman of Bor Narga, with an underlying knowledge that she was in charge, no matter what. Nella was from Ariel, a planet he didn’t know—and who knew how the women of that planet thought? Rio knew one thing—if the ladies of Ariel were as gorgeous as Nella, he wanted to go there. “Open your legs, darling,” he said. Obediently, and with a smile, Nella did. A beautiful pussy, covered with red hair and damp with cream, lay ready for him. Rio leaned over her, breathing in the heady scent of a woman wanting him. He raised her arms above her head. “What are you going to do?” she asked. “You pleasured me,” he said. “Now, I’m going to pleasure you.” “Oh.” She sounded happy. She was far gone under his Shareem spell, and would probably do anything—absolutely anything—he told her to. Damn, it sucks to be a gentleman. He started at her neck. He licked his way over the hollow of her throat, then down between her breasts. Her body heat was way up, her skin nearly burning his tongue.

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He tasted her breasts, playing with the softness of them. He traced one areole with the tip of his tongue, tasting warm, salty, dark flavor. He flicked his tongue down her abdomen to her navel, poking it and making her laugh. Then down to the slight swell beneath her navel. He teased himself, and her, by licking just above where the hair began to grow in a swirl. Her skin was soft there, a place seldom touched. She smelled good, the juices of her pussy warming her thighs and sending her woman-scent over him. He teased the tiny hairs until she lifted her hips, her body wanting him inside. He pressed a long kiss just above her mons, where her quim curved between her legs. She arched to him, letting out a frustrated squeak. He laughed against her skin, knowing his hot breath would frustrate her more. “Be patient, love.” He picked up his whip from where he’d tossed it on the bed, and lightly wriggled it over her pussy even as he kissed it. “Rio,” she moaned. “Glad you haven’t forgotten my name, sweetheart.” “Why would I?” He chuckled. She was too precious. At long last, he let her have what she wanted. He bent to her pussy and licked from her clit all the way down across her hot, wet opening, to the beginning of her ass. She groaned and jumped, just like he knew she would. He chuckled again. He licked her all over, letting his tongue play with her clit, dip into her cunt and taste her cream, and flicker on her ass. She wriggled and squealed, far gone in pleasure. Going with his instincts, Rio climbed up on the bed and positioned himself on hands and knees in the sixty-nine position. He lowered his cock to brush her lips at the same time he bent his head and licked her pussy. He felt her take him into her mouth. The fact that she took him upside down spread new excitement through him. Her tongue laved him from base to tip, driving his temperature higher and his heartbeat to lightning speed. He licked her and tasted her and suckled her clit. He put his tongue to the walls of her cunt, pressing a little, encouraging the cream to flow. She squealed and giggled at the same time she toyed with his cock, then all of a sudden, she sucked it hard into her mouth. Rio stifled a groan, loving the taste of her flowing into him. He matched her pleasuring—every suck she gave him, he gave her, so it was like she pleasured herself. She brought down her hands and rested them against his buttocks, squeezing and pressing them, the metal cuffs cool on his burning skin.

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He would teach her soon how to slip her lubed finger into his ass while they sucked each other. But for now this pleasuring was just fine with him. He thrust his tongue inside her, licking all around her opening from the inside, and suddenly, she came. Her cream poured over him and into his mouth, and she lost hold of his cock as she screamed. He kept on suckling, drinking her, loving her taste. And then her mouth found his cock again, and she sucked so hard, he thought he’d pass out. Love, he groaned inside, and then he came.

***** Nella lay back, spent. Rio climbed down from her and brought them both towels from the bathroom. He wiped his face and then hers, smiling all the while, his eyes so blue they held a light of their own. “That was sweet, baby,” he said. She felt drained, and at the same time, completely loose and pliant. She’d never felt anything like his mouth on her quim, and she’d never tasted anything like the wild, hot spice of his come. She liked it, and she wouldn’t mind having more. He approached the bed, dabbed the remaining cream from her legs, and the last traces of himself from her lips. “That’s what you wanted?” he asked. “Yes.” She wanted more, actually. She wanted him to lie on her and hold her and touch her. She wanted him to make love to her fully, wanted the huge, hard cock inside her, all the way. She would ask him. She would tell him what she really wanted. Before she could speak, he unlocked the manacles from around her wrists and took them away. Acute disappointment bit her. “Why did you do that?” “You’ve had enough for today, love.” “No I haven’t.” He smiled, but his eyes were cooling, receding to the normal blue. “I’m a level three Shareem, honey. You don’t know what you’re asking.” “Will you tell me?” “Don’t sound so eager.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “If I took you now, I’d hurt you. Some ladies like that, but you’re not ready for it.” “I am ready.” She caught his hand, half sitting up. “I am ready, Rio, I feel it.” “No, you’re not. I’m not going to hurt you now and undo everything I’ve done. Besides, I thought we’d have to get engaged if I did.”

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Some of her happiness began to fade. “True, if I go back to Ariel.” “Which is what you need to do. I’d love to keep you here as my sub—damn, you don’t know how much I’d love that. But you need to get back to princessing.” “Yes.” Her worries came drifting to her once more. She tried to cling to the sanctuary Rio had given her, but knew it would disappear before long. She touched his arm, her fingers landing just below the chain on his biceps. “Thank you.” He dangled the manacles from one hand, shouldered the whip with the other, and gave her a hot, bad-boy smile. “You’re welcome. Anytime.” Keeping the smile in place, he turned and sauntered away from her, still stark naked, pausing a split second for the door to open for him. Nella thought she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life than the tanned, tight form of Rio’s ass.

***** Rees and Talan, Baine told Rio as he pulled on his black leather tunic and leggings in the now-deserted mirrored room, had retired to their chamber. Rio had little doubt about what they were doing. Dr. Laas, Baine went on, was in her lab, deep in research, and did not want to be disturbed. Dr. Ralston, he said dryly, was on her monitor right now, and the two were confabbing. That was fine with Rio. He didn’t want to see anyone; he wanted to get himself as far away from Nella as he could before he threw his control to the wind and fucked her. Going slow was a concept Rio didn’t understand. When a lady gave Rio the nod to proceed, Rio didn’t stop. That was why ladies sought him out, because they knew he wouldn’t stop, and they didn’t want him to. Rio had seven different kinds of whips and floggers, a dozen different manacles, and several styles of collars. Each manacle and collar and whip did essentially the same thing, of course, but the slight variety that could be exciting. A collar on Nella would look just perfect. A supple leather one, unadorned, with a slim silver chain hanging between her breasts. He wished he had the money to buy her a gold collar studded with diamonds that would be fit for a princess. She would be his princess, his to command, his to pleasure. She could wear a thin black leather number, one that just covered her breasts and her sweet ass. Better still, she could be naked, only allowed to don clothes when he said. He was hard again. Rio tightened the clasps of his leggings, telling his cock to behave itself. “How the hell do level ones do it?” he muttered. The idea he’d had before drifted into his head again. He left the mirrored room, his cock still inflated and his imagination still spinning, found a console in a blue and yellow sitting room, and made a call.

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***** “This is a first,” Aiden, a level one Shareem, said as he slid into the seat next to Rio in Judith’s bar half an hour later. Judith brought him an ale, her gaze raking Aiden’s body. Her pheromones danced in the air, but she wasn’t directing them at Rio. Her eyes today were only for Aiden. Even Rio had to admit that Aiden was something to look at, even if he was a measly level one. Blond and blue-eyed, Aiden had been face-sculpted at DNAmo, an experiment that hadn’t been extended to all Shareem. While Rio and Rees looked like naturally gorgeous men who worked out and took care of their bodies, Aiden had been bred to out-handsome every man on the street. His brow, nose, chin and cheekbones were sculpted in perfect proportions. His jaw was square, his eyes a perfect almond shape, his hair golden and thick and swept back from his forehead. He dressed in a white sleeveless tunic, the kind Rees liked to wear, which showed off his well-muscled body. Judith’s smile as she approached said she appreciated every molecule of him. “On the house,” she said, setting a self-cooling glass of ale in front of Aiden. Aiden smiled back, a delight to see—if you were a woman. “Hey,” Rio said, pretending to be hurt. “You made me hand over my credit slip.” Judith flashed him a smirk. “I’ve given you so many free drinks, Rio, I’m surprised I’m still in business.” “Because we’re friends,” Rio said. “Bite me.” Judith grinned at Rio, then sent Aiden a sultry look. “That invitation is open to you too.” Aiden chuckled, his Shareem voice low and sexy. “Tell you what. I’ll buy Rio’s and my next round.” Judith rubbed his brawny shoulder before turning around to sway away. “See, Rio,” she said. “That’s what it’s like to be sweet.” “Sweet,” Rio muttered. “What I’ve always dreamed of being, sweet.” Aiden laughed and raised his glass. “To friends,” he said. “Friends.” Rio lifted his glass in return and took a swig. “What did you mean this was a first?” “A level three asking a level one for advice? What happened? Did your whip malfunction?” “Stop it, I’m laughing so hard.” Rio set down his ale glass, licking the spicy ale from his lips in appreciation. “Here’s the thing. I’m sexy as hell, I have women crawling at my feet, begging me to whip them. I can make them orgasm just by looking at them and telling them they want to. What I don’t know how to do is—touch them.” “What are you talking about? You touch them all the time.”

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Rio shook his head. “No, I fuck them. I tease them. I spank them. I don’t touch them.” Aiden gave him a nod. “I think I see what you mean. Who’s the woman?” “A gorgeous, redheaded virgin.” He broke off. “I don’t know why, but she’s made me more turned on than I’ve ever been in my life.” No, he did know why. She was beautiful and sweet and lickable and he wanted to fuck her and fuck her until he couldn’t take any more. “Uh-oh,” Aiden said. “What uh-oh? And wipe that grin off your face.” “Sounds serious.” “It doesn’t matter what it sounds like. I’m Shareem. She’s not. She’s new to this, and I’m too level three for her. She needs level one, and I can’t be that.” Aiden drew a thoughtful finger around the rim of his glass. “So do you want me to take over?” A dart of jealousy pulsed through Rio before he could stop it. But the thought of Aiden going to Nella and pleasuring her slowly made his veins burn. “No,” he said, more emphatically than he meant to. Aiden could have said something snide, but he didn’t. He simply took a drink of ale, his perfect throat moving in a swallow. “What I want is for you to show me how to be level one,” Rio said. Aiden looked surprised. “I don’t know if I can. We’re bred to our levels—we can’t change.” “I know that. But you can at least teach me how to touch her like a level one might. Maybe I could hold back my level three tendencies, and leave her when they flare up.” Aiden studied his ale glass, his dark lashes shielding his eyes. “You must really care about this lady.” “She’s been through a lot. She needs soothing.” Aiden’s gaze flicked to him. Aiden was usually a wisecracking pain in the ass, but today he seemed calm and thoughtful. “I can show you how to massage her. You’re Shareem, your fingers would be as soothing as mine.” The bar had emptied, the last customer swaying away. The door clanked loudly as Judith let it down. It was the hottest part of the day, when people drifted home and businesses closed to wait out temperatures that could soar to a hundred and thirty degrees. “You want us to leave?” Aiden called. “Are you kidding? Stay as long as you like.” Judith liked Shareem. She was the only bartender in Pas City who did. Most women on Bor Narga shunned the forbidden Shareem, at least in public. Judith, on the other hand, liked Shareem, liked sex with Shareem, and didn’t much care who knew it. She 67

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and Dr. Laas and Talan were the only women he knew who treated Shareem like human beings. Judith began her leisurely task of cleaning off tables, not in any hurry. “There’s really not much to it,” Aiden began. “Start with her facedown, naked, on a bed wide enough for you to sit or kneel next to her. Have her place her arms to her sides, her legs a little apart. Then you simply start to massage her. Make sure you use plenty of oil so your hands glide and don’t burn her skin.” “Start where?” Rio asked. He pictured Nella lying spread-eagled on the bed, facedown, her sweet ass beckoning him. He’d start between her thighs, thumbs kneading her flesh, before he moved them farther apart and lowered his tongue to stroke between her cheeks. “Her feet.” “What?” Rio jerked himself from his cock-lifting fantasy. “Her feet?” “It relaxes her, makes her pliable. Women love having their feet rubbed.” “Most women beg me to rub somewhere else than their feet.” “They like their toes nibbled,” Aiden said. “And suckled.” “Rub feet, suckle toes. Got it.” “Do it slow, the strokes steady. Then move up her legs. Use her muscles as a guide. Not hard strokes, you want to soothe, not press.” “How long before I can massage her pussy?” Aiden chuckled. “Gods, level threes are impatient. The trick is to go slow. By the time you’ve reached her ass, she’s sighing with pleasure, but you don’t stop there. You do her entire back and arms while she’s longing for you to get to her pussy. Make her wait.” “Now that I can get into. Holding back, making her beg.” He saw Nella again, squirming on the sheets, her red hair tangled on the pillow, her hips lifting toward him. “Please, Rio,” she’d say. “Not yet, baby,” he’d respond. “I want you good and wet before I get there.” She’d whimper with disappointment, then he’d lift his strap and smack her sweet little backside. No, wait. Not that, not yet. He made the image dissolve. “Massage. Slow. I’m not sure my genes will let me.” “Like this.” Aiden moved his ale glass and pressed his hand to the table, thumb and last two fingers on the surface, the other two fingers held loosely. “Glide across her skin, pressing a little. Long strokes, following the curve of her leg.” He moved his hand across the table, slowly and sensually, his own eyes becoming bluer, as though he pictured a beautiful woman under his hand.

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Rio copied his movements, trying to shape his hand the same way, trying press a little, but not too much. It felt awkward. “I gotta say, massaging this table does nothing for me.” “Don’t worry, it’s a lot better on flesh. Here, roll up your sleeve.” Rio pushed his leather sleeve above his elbow and laid his arm on the table, wondering what Aiden would do. Aiden placed his hand on Rio’s, then slid massaging fingers from Rio’s wrist all the way up the underside of his arm, gliding and soothing. He was a master, Rio had to give him that. His touch was exactly right, perfect, sensual, not too hard. “Like that,” Aiden said. He stroked again. “It loosens her muscles, makes her relaxed and very happy. Here, try it on me.” Aiden rested his bare, brawny arm on the table, tanned skin contrasting the scarred white tabletop. Rio put tentative fingers on the other Shareem’s skin. Aiden’s arm felt nothing like a woman’s, too hard and too broad, the golden hair that curled around it too wiry. Rio moved his hand from Aiden’s wrist to his elbow, trying to copy what he’d felt. Aiden shook his head. “Too hard.” He put his hand over Rio’s, guiding his fingers to the right form, pulling him back when Rio tried to indent his skin. “About half the pressure you’re using. Let her own muscles guide you, and whether the woman is small or large, and how much she indicates she can take.” Aiden guided Rio’s hand a time or two more, then let go. Rio, more sure what Aiden wanted, slid his fingers up the other man’s arm, feeling the sinews relax beneath Aiden’s bronzed skin. “That’s it,” Aiden said, his voice low. “Use her body to tell you how much pressure you need.” “Hum,” Rio said. He kept massaging, feeling the shape of Aiden’s arm beneath his fingers, learning to sense where Aiden relaxed under his touch. His Shareem warmth helped, and so did Aiden’s, a sensation that was as soothing to the massager as to the massaged. It was mesmerizing, really. Rio added his middle finger to the stroke, like he might do to Nella’s pussy, and Aiden responded with a soft noise. “You got it,” he said, his Shareem voice rich. Rio lifted his hand away and picked up his ale, pleased with the lesson. “Thanks. That will come in handy.” He heard a soft noise close by and turned his head. Judith was standing numbly in front of the next table, a tray in her hands, staring at them, lips parted. “What’s wrong with you?” Rio asked. Aiden grinned at her and gave her a slow wink.

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Judith blinked, unfroze, and moved woodenly back to the bar. “Nothing,” she said. “Nothing at all.” Rio turned back to Aiden. “All right, so now I know how to massage. What else?” “Have her turn over onto her back, and then do the same thing again. By this time, she’ll be completely happy and ready for anything you want. Another good thing is to hold her head in your lap and massage her face. That you have to do very gently.” Rio set down his glass. “Show me.” Aiden lifted his hands to his own face. “Use your thumbs and fingertips. Do the cheekbones, the temples—pulse points—and jawline. Gently. Here.” He touched Rio’s face, his Shareem skin warm. Rio flinched. “Relax and close your eyes.” Aiden’s fingertips were blunt but featherlight on Rio’s skin. Rio, wanting the lesson, let his eyes drift closed. Aiden traced Rio’s cheekbones with his thumbs, pressing a little, making Rio relax in spite of himself. He felt Aiden’s Shareem touch begin to flow over him, making him compliant, much as his own touch might work on a woman. “You can do this when you’re face-to-face, like we are now,” Aiden said, rubbing little circles over Rio’s temples, “when things start getting more intimate. Move at random, don’t massage in any particular order. You want her to wonder what you’ll do next.” “Mmm,” Rio said, getting into it. Maybe he could teach Nella how to massage him. Mutual massaging could be fun. Aiden moved his thumbs and fingertips down Rio’s cheeks, gently pinching his jawbone, then his chin. He moved to Rio’s lips, pressing lightly all the way across, his touch soothing. “You’ll want her lips relaxed and yielding,” Aiden said, his warm breath touching Rio’s mouth. “She’ll have no worry, at this point, only pleasure. She’ll want you, but she’ll wait for you to do what you like.” Rio felt his shoulders sag, Aiden’s technique and Shareem touch lacing his mind with relaxation. He never thought he’d feel comfortable having another male touch him, but Aiden knew what he was doing. Aiden slid one finger across Rio’s softened lips, parting them. The next thing Rio felt was something softer than fingers, something smooth and cushioning that continued the massage across his mouth. His own lips responded before the connection reached his brain. He returned the gentle pressure, completing the kiss, then his eyes popped open to see Aiden’s beautiful face hanging an inch from his own. Rio scooted back from the table. “Did you just kiss me?” Aiden picked up his ale, smiling, his Shareem eyes filled with blue. “Yes. What’s your problem?” 70

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“My problem is you just kissed me.” Rio swiped his arm over his mouth. Aiden sat there looking amused. “I was demonstrating what you should do.” “Warn me next time.” “Get over it, Rio. I didn’t hurt you.” “You could have.” He touched his lips gingerly, as though making sure they were all right, while Aiden laughed at him. “It looked fine from where I’m standing.” Judith was leaning on the bar, a forgotten rag dripping in her hand. Her rushing pheromones touched Rio all the way across the room. He studied her, his mind calming. “You know, that turned her on,” he said to Aiden. Aiden nodded. “I’ve had more than one woman tell me she fantasizes about watching two Shareem make out in front of her.” “Really?” Rio’s heartbeat slowed, his Shareem genes fighting the abrupt emotion of alarm. “I’ve never heard that. Of course, the women I’m with don’t have much time to talk.” “That’s part of being level one. Sharing fantasies.” Rio took a thoughtful sip of ale. “That’s really a woman’s fantasy?” “Yep.” “Have you ever fulfilled it?” “No. Not yet.” “It’s forbidden, anyway,” Rio said automatically. He turned his ale glass around. It was nearly empty, but Judith seemed incapable of movement, so he didn’t signal for a refill. “We were programmed to want women only.” Aiden gave him a wry look. “Forbidden. Right. How many other things that are forbidden do you do anyway?” Rio conceded this. “You have a point.” “It’s not you I’d fulfill the fantasy with, so don’t worry.” Now that his initial shock was over, Rio started to get curious. “Who then? What Shareem do you think is beautiful enough to go to bed with?” “He’s not beautiful,” Aiden said. “But he’s fucking sexy. And I’m not going to tell you who.” “Is it Rees?” Rio asked. He knew that Bor Nargan human men sometimes took other men as lovers, and with women so uptight about sex, who could blame them? But he’d never heard of a Bor Nargan man being with a Shareem, or a Shareem on a Shareem. It was forbidden, and truth to tell, Rio had never really thought about it. He’d done plenty of two Shareem men on one woman, a few times even three on one, but he and the other Shareem had been busy pleasuring the woman, not each 71

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other. Once a woman had asked Rio and Rees to let her lick both their cocks at once. She wanted them to stand facing each other, tips touching, while she licked her way from one end to the other. They’d done it, but Rio had been too far gone in pleasure to notice Rees’ hands on his shoulders and the tip of Rees’ long cock rubbing against his. He’d not had any desire to take Rees aside and kiss him, or anything. Aiden shook his head. “Not Rees. Don’t try to pry it out of me, because the last thing I want is him jumping on a hover train out of Pas City never to be seen again.” Rio held up his hand. “All right. I’ll let it go. I was going to ask you to come over and help me learn level one on my lady, but if you’d rather hump a Shareem…” He shrugged. “I’d be happy to,” Aiden said. “You’ll probably get it wrong anyway.” He turned to where Judith was still staring at them with a dazed expression. “Judith, any chance of another ale?” “Sure,” Judith said. She automatically filled two more self-cooled containers and brought them over, her gaze riveted to Aiden. “On the house,” she said. “For both of you.”

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Chapter Nine The Story of Rio

When Nella went back down to the main sitting room, after showering and resting, she saw a tall man breezing through it. So intent was he on making the lift that he nearly ran into her. At the last moment, he stopped, then he beamed a dazzling smile on her. He was definitely older than Rees and Rio, and he was no Shareem, but he was handsome of face and had a well-built, muscular body. His hair was iron gray, thick, and pulled back into a long tail, similar to the way the Shareem wore theirs. Also, unlike Shareem, his eyes were brown, but just as wide and warm, and well, sexy. Whenever Shareem got around to aging, they might look much like him. “Hello,” he said. “I’m Dr. Ralston. You must be the specimen—I mean Nella.” Nella didn’t quite know how to respond to this, so she settled for politeness. “How do you do?” “Excellently well. This problem has challenged me in ways I haven’t been challenged in a long time. Frankly, I was getting bored figuring out how to make caveroot bats better at fertilizing underground vegetables.” Nella had to smile. “Do you work for your planet’s agriculture ministry?” “Good gods, no. I and my work were outlawed when DNAmo closed. Foolish, you know, because everyone needs a good geneticist. But no, I work in secret, and furnish people with research and ideas. Other people get the credit, unfortunately, but I don’t really mind. It’s the work I love.” He brightened. “And I get to work with Dr. Laas, who is a true genius. I am good— I am one of the best geneticists ever born—but no one can touch Dr. Laas. I keep trying to get her to run off with me, but she enjoys being buried down here, working on her machines, arguing with Baine. And, truth to tell, she’d never leave her Shareem. She likes looking out for them.” He ended this speech only because he ran out of breath. Before Nella could respond, he turned away and moved toward the lift. “Come down to the lab with me. What she’s doing now is absolutely marvelous. I’ve never seen anything like it.” The lift doors opened. Nella hesitated, but Dr. Ralston seized her by the arm and dragged her into the lift. “I’ve got to show you,” he said. “You’ll love it.” Nella opened her mouth to point out that she likely would have no understanding of what Dr. Laas was doing, but Dr. Ralston started up a monologue on why cave-root bats were difficult little buggers to grow from a genetic vat, and did not stop talking all the way down to the lab. Even Baine could not interrupt him.

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The lift spilled them out in the lowest level of the compound. The lab was little more than a large, comfortable room with an arrangement of sofas, chairs and occasional tables positioned before a moving mural of a tropical beach. At the opposite end of the room a bank of computers with blank faces lined the walls, flanked by a console table over which Dr. Laas bent. Dr. Ralston joined her, sliding his arm around her and kissing the top of her head. Dr. Laas returned the kiss absently, then they both bent over the console, heads and elbows touching, completely forgetting about Nella. Nella smiled to herself and wandered back across the room, drawn by the tropical mural. The mural not only looked like a beach, it smelled like one, and a soft breeze wafted from it. She wondered where Rio was, and if he had finished teaching her to trust. She hoped not. Perhaps she should pretend that she still did not trust him, to see what he would do. She shivered, imagining his eyes going still, and the dangerous tone entering his voice when he told her to strip and be punished. Having him in her mouth had been a heady experience. She remembered the exact shape and taste of his cock against her tongue, and the smooth flavor of his seed. She had happily lapped it up, liking it and wanting more. Baine’s voice sounded softly near her head, and she jumped, blushing at her own thoughts. “Would you like refreshment?” Baine asked. “I can offer you seven kinds of wine or five varieties of sparkling wine, or would you simply prefer a ginger mint?” Nella exhaled, trying to push aside the vision of Rio straddling her on the bed while she sucked his cock and he licked her pussy. “Just water, if you have it.” “Oh.” Baine sounded disappointed. “Sparkling or still? Flavored with lemon, lime, strawberry, goolberry, diamondberry or mango?” Nella tried not to laugh. “Still water, no flavor.” Baine sighed. “Very well.” A small panel slid back in the wall near the mural, revealing a crystal glass of pure water. “Thank you,” she told the panel. “You’re welcome,” Baine said. When Nella turned around, glass in hand, Rees was standing near the sofa. She jumped and nearly spilled the water. She’d never heard him enter, never even heard the lift doors. The breeze from the mural stirred his hair, which he’d pulled back into a tail. He wore a sleeveless white tunic that strained over chest muscles and ended at mid-thigh, and nothing else but his Shareem chain. He was barefoot. She craned to look behind him, but no one had entered the room with him, not Rio, not Talan. 74

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“Nella,” he said. He glanced at Dr. Laas and Dr. Ralston, still bent over the console, lost in their own world. “May I speak to you?” “Of course,” she said politely. Rees motioned her to a chair, then sat on the edge of a sofa facing her, resting his forearms on his knees. Nella sank into the chair he indicated and took a sip of the water. It was clean and clear and very good. “Where is Rio?” she asked. “And Talan?” “Rio went out. He didn’t say where. Talan is asleep. She needed to rest.” Nella stopped herself from saying, I wager she did. Then she blushed, remembering how she’d obediently stripped while Rees had watched her and touched his wife. Rees looked at her, eyes calm. “Nothing about sex embarrasses Shareem, Nella. We see no shame in it.” Nella was pleased to hear it, but she was still embarrassed at the way she’d so eagerly fallen at Rio’s feet. Rees went on, “That is why Rio had you obey him in front of Talan and me. To rid you of fear.” “Is that why?” she asked. “It had nothing to do with getting excited himself?” Rees grinned suddenly, warm and sensual. “Well, maybe that too. And it didn’t hurt me and Talan.” “No, you seemed agreeable.” The smile crinkled the corners of his eyes, making him devastatingly handsome, then he grew serious again. “I want to talk to you about Rio.” The chair was trying its best to caress Nella’s shape. She squirmed against it, not really approving of the furniture trying to turn her on. It got the idea after a few shoves, gave her butt one more stroke, and settled down. “What about Rio?” Nella asked. “He’s Shareem. Level three. Do you understand what that means?” She nodded. “He likes bondage. He likes to be master.” She thought of the way he’d enclosed her hands in the metal cuffs, how she’d easily submitted to him, how much she’d wanted to submit to him. “Being level three means that women desire him,” Rees said. “Almost every woman he looks at wants him—a lot. It’s in his nature to oblige them. He can’t help it.” She turned the glass in her hands. “You are saying I should not develop feelings for him, no matter what he’s done for me. Because his Shareem genetics make me want him, and he looks at me the same as he would any other woman.” “No,” Rees said slowly. “Because he’s looking at you in a way different from the way he looks at other woman. Shareem were manipulated to remove all strong

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emotion, including, and especially, love. It’s a crock, because the removal of emotion didn’t work. We pretend it did, and our bodies try to adjust to it, but it’s not gone.” His Shareem eyes were cool and neutral. If she’d not seen the way he looked at Talan, she would believe him to be untroubled by any emotion. She set the glass of water aside. “Then I do not really understand what you want to explain.” “About ten years ago, Rio fell in love. He says he didn’t, but I know he did. The lady was an upper-class woman named Serena, and she liked Shareem. Rio was special to her. She had a wild streak, and they did a lot together, tried all kinds of things. He never said anything, but I know he assumed they’d always be together. She had him live with her in her house, something no highborn woman would dream of doing, but she didn’t care. He thought this state of things would go on.” “But it did not,” Nella finished. “Obviously.” “No, it didn’t. She didn’t even tell him goodbye. One day, he went to her house and couldn’t get in.” His look turned grim. “She’d changed the palm lock to shut him out, and her servants wouldn’t open the door. He found out later, by watching a digital feed, that she’d gotten married and left Bor Narga with her new husband.” “Oh.” Nella was indignant. “That was low.” Rees nodded. “I thought so too. Rio never said anything about it. Later, he got a voice message from her, which he let me hear. In it, she said that she’d decided to marry so she could settle down and have children and carry on her family name, etcetera, etcetera. She’d picked out a husband who came from a good family and had some money to combine with her own riches. They’d chosen to live in a house off Bor Narga to raise their family. She had decided the best way to let Rio go was a clean break. It had been fun, and she knew he’d understand.” Nella stared, openmouthed. “Poor Rio. How cruel.” “Rio shrugged it off. Shareem don’t love, he said, and she was just another woman. He said that there were plenty more where she came from, and he didn’t mention her again for ten years.” “But he did love her,” Nella said, compassion in her heart. “That must have hurt him terribly.” “Shareem don’t hurt.” “Oh yes, they do. How can you say otherwise, when you love Talan so much?” His severe look relaxed, and he smiled. “Does it show?” “Every time you look at her. And in her whenever she looks at you.” Her observation gave her a lonely feeling. “I was lucky,” Rees said. “When Talan first met me, she saw a man, not a Shareem. It took her a long time to convince me of that, but I finally let her.” He watched Nella closely. “What did you see when you first saw Rio?”

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Nella thought back to the alley, tasting again the panic as she crouched behind the abandoned crates, knowing the bot would find her no matter what. She remembered when Rio had come striding through, getting between her and the bot. “Tall,” she said. Rees gave a short laugh. “True. What else?” “Strong,” Nella mused. “I was terrified, and I felt like he could protect me, even when I didn’t know him. And then he fought off the assassin bot.” She smiled at the memory. “He outsmarted it and crushed it to bits. I’d like to think he did it for me, but I realize he didn’t know I was there.” “He might have known. Shareem can see much without seeming to.” “I didn’t know he was Shareem at the time. I’d never heard of Shareem.” “You must have been sheltered on Ariel. I thought everyone knew about Shareem. DNAmo even exported a few off-planet for huge amounts of money before they were shut down.” “Exported a few,” she repeated the phrase, marveling that he could say it in such a calm tone. “You mean slaves.” “Shareem aren’t slaves. DNAmo didn’t force them to go and even gave the Shareem a percentage of the money.” “It’s still human trafficking,” Nella said. On Ariel, it would never be tolerated. “But Shareem aren’t human.” A glint of humor entered Rees’ eyes. “When I say that to Talan, she gets put out with me. Sometimes I say it just to rile her up, because she’s pretty when she’s riled.” “I am certain she’d be happy to hear that,” Nella said, pleased that the muscular and unpredictable Rees enjoyed gently teasing his wife. “When DNAmo was forced to leave, did they start production again on another planet?” “If they did, I never heard of it. They might have changed their name, but they probably never made more Shareem. They lost a lot of money and most of their research notes. The best scientists, like Dr. Laas and Dr. Ralston, stayed here. DNAmo screwed them over almost as much as they did the Shareem.” “What happened to all the Shareem?” Nella asked. “When you were suddenly free, what did you do?” “We weren’t all that free,” Rees said. “The government of Bor Narga talked about terminating the experiments, permanently, when they walked into DNAmo. The Shareem heard about it pretty quick and got their asses out of there. I actually escaped before DNAmo was shut down, but not long before. I helped Shareem go to ground— we were created to be imaginative and resourceful, so we put that to use hiding instead of thinking up sexual games. Well, we still thought up sexual games, but first we hid and survived.” “You helped Rio.”

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“I knew how to live in the city without anyone noticing me, and I kind of showed him around. He figured out who I was, the experimental Shareem on the loose, but he never told anyone. He’s a pain in the backside, but he’s a good friend.” “You are telling me all this, because you are afraid I can hurt him,” Nella said. “I think you are wrong. Maybe, because I’m not Bor Nargan, I intrigue him a little, but he knows I’ll go back to Ariel and we’ll be finished.” Tears filled her eyes as she spoke. She brushed them away, thinking she must simply be tired and worried. She wanted to go back to Ariel with all her heart—why could she not be happy with that? She could offer Rio sanctuary on Ariel, where he could live equal to any other being, but she would not obligate him to go on seeing her. She imagined that when he found himself free of Bor Narga’s restrictions, he’d live life to the fullest, and that life would likely not include her. Rees watched her closely. Nella wiped away her tears with her thumb and gave him a feeble smile. “I am overly tired. It has been an ordeal.” “It has.” Rees’ eyes gave away nothing, but Nella sensed that he saw much. “I’m working on getting you a transport back to Ariel. You won’t travel in style, but you’ll get there.” “I am grateful. I keep bleating that, I know, but you’ve done so much for me. I can’t ever express what it means to me.” Rees shrugged, rose, and helped her to her feet. “Give us a tour of your palace, or something, when you’re back to being a princess again. That’s what friends are for.” He led her out of the room, telling her he’d take her to the kitchens while Drs. Laas and Ralston were busy making love to their computer data. As she followed him, Nella felt a warm swelling in her heart. She had friends. They were odd and unexpected, but for the first time in a long time, she relaxed a little. She was not alone.

***** Rio wasn’t alone either, but not in the way he wanted to be. He came out of a shop where he was buying presents for Nella when six patrollers surrounded him. Patrollers were always women, tall and blank-faced, with hair scraped back, wearing nondescript gray coveralls. They carried stun rods and various equipment on a belt, all designed to intimidate. “Ident card,” the leader said to him. The women were tall, but Rio topped the tallest by a good half foot. She did not like that, and narrowed her already flinty eyes. “My hands are full,” Rio said.

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The leader glared at three of her subordinates. They quickly took away Rio’s packages, and he grinned and let them. He withdrew his ident strip from his pocket. “I’m Rio. We’ve met.” The leader impatiently held out a small computer. Rio pushed the ident strip into its slot. “And don’t tell me my inoculations aren’t up to date, because I’m good for another five months.” The patrol captain studied the data and looked sour, because she knew she couldn’t call him on it. Rio had made damn sure he couldn’t be arrested on some stupid technicality that would endanger his plan to leave Bor Narga. “You haven’t been home in a while,” the leader observed, giving him back the strip. “I have a lady. She’s keeping me busy.” The patroller gave him a look of disgust. “Her name?” “None of your business.” “Where are you staying?”‘ Rio grinned, though his heart beat a little faster. “None of your business.” “You’d better tell me, Rio.” “I can’t divulge that.” He folded his arms, not taking back the packages the other women held gingerly. He knew good and well she could not force him to reveal the name of his lady. The women who hired Shareem were often highborn and very touchy about other people knowing what they were up to. An embarrassed upper-class lady was powerful enough to make a patroller’s life hell. The captain switched tactics. “I heard that you had a transport lined up to take you off-world.” Rio gave her a bored look. “If that were true, would I be standing here talking to you?” “I heard,” she went on, her lips tight, “that you missed it because you were skulking around the back streets.” “You hear a lot of crazy things if you listen. I heard that a gardener in the middle of the dry sea swears he can grow seashells. Says they push up out of the dirt if you give them enough water.” The patrol captain scowled. “I heard you’ve arranged another transport.” “That’s news to me.” If Rees had found him one, he hadn’t mentioned it yet. “You haven’t been home, you’ve been arranging transports, you’ve been wandering the back streets, and now you’ve been purchasing supplies. That’s what’s in the packages, isn’t it? Supplies for traveling off-world?” Rio shrugged. “See for yourself.” The captain gave her patrollers a curt nod. They broke the seals of the packages and rolled back the sun-shielding plastic.

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“Oh,” one said. She was holding a collar of supple leather with finely-tooled designs on it. It was clearly woman-sized. The patroller next to her unwrapped a silver chain, and the third held up a leather garment that was very small. The first two looked repulsed, but the third patroller touched the soft black leather as though fascinated. Rio winked at her, and she blushed. “They’re for my lady.” Rio retrieved the packages and sealed them up again. “Like I said.” “That’s disgusting,” the patrol captain sneered. “And degrading. And horrible.” The patroller who’d handed him back the leather dress looked thoughtful, like she wanted to find out whether such things were disgusting and degrading and horrible, and thought maybe they weren’t. Rio gave her a knowing grin. He’d send one of his Shareem friends to find her and show her a few things. Maybe Braden, who had a good sense of humor and liked to teach. “We’re watching you, Shareem,” the patrol captain said. Rio tucked the packages under his arm. “Of course you are. You’re always watching me, sweetheart.” He let his pheromones touch every one of them, smiling as their eyes and lips softened, reacting to him without knowing it. “Now watch this ass as I walk away.” He turned and sauntered down the street, making sure his butt was in full view the entire time. He heard silence behind him, but he knew they were staring at him and feeling stirrings of lust. He’d be more amused by the encounter if it didn’t worry him so much. The patroller knew about the transport and how he’d missed it, and possibly Rees’ involvement. They probably did not know about Nella, or they would have said something like “So, who’s the redhead?” They’d do what they said, watch his every move, and they were likely following him now. He sure as hell couldn’t lead them straight back to Dr. Laas’ compound and Nella, so he turned his steps to his own small apartment in d’Enela Street. Despite its fancy name, the street was short, with sand-scoured shops and narrow apartment blocks. Children ran unhindered in the dust, playing a ball game that Rio had never learned, which apparently involved some kicking and much arguing. A woman sat on a bench outside a fruit shop, dozing in the sun, the storm doors open and her wares brightening the dim interior with yellow, orange and red. “Rio,” she bellowed delightedly when he stopped in front of her. Her artificial teeth, bright silver, flashed in a grin. “About time you got back. Where you been?” “Kamile.” Rio bent down and kissed the woman’s timeworn cheek. “I found me a delicious lady.” “You’ve always found you a lady. Who is it this time?”

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“No one you know.” He plopped down on the bench just to annoy any following patrollers. “I really like her. If I weren’t Shareem, I’d say she’s the one.” Kamile’s dark eyes widened with interest. “Ooh, I’ve never hear you say that before.” She glanced at him narrowly. “It’s not that Serena woman again, is it? I told you she was trouble, and I was glad when she ran off. She wasn’t good for you.” “Serena was a long time ago,” Rio said. “I’m over it.” “Good. Who’s this woman, then?” “She’s beautiful. Never seen anything like her.” “Going to ask her to be your lifemate, are you?” Rio studied the dusty street and the rather battered walls and storm doors, and the patroller several shops down who was bad at being covert. No one took much trouble with the outsides of their houses, because the sand storms would ruin everything, so why bother? Richer neighborhoods had shields over the streets to minimize the damage, but d’Enela Street wasn’t so lucky. “I want to meet her,” Kamile said, with force. “Maybe some day.” Rio knew that day would never come, but he was good at pretending. “Can I use your console, Kamile? I’ve got the credit.” “What’s wrong with your own console?” “It’s acting funny,” Rio lied. “Can’t see for static. Have to get it fixed.” “Go ahead then. Have a peach, on me.” She chuckled, silver teeth winking. “Thanks.” He set down his packages, asking her to look after them, and ducked into the dim interior. The shop smelled like bright fruit—Kamile stocked all kinds, from prosaic apples to zoolberries, which were only grown in one tiny area of Bor Narga. She also stocked illegal fruit like the inigo, which simulated after-sex euphoria. Where she got them all, Rio didn’t know, but people came here from all parts of the planet to buy Kamile’s fruit. She made enough money that she could have opened a store in a wealthier part of the city, but she did not want to. Her customers wouldn’t come, she said, if she made the shop respectable. Being disreputable was part of its charm. Kamile’s console stood in a niche in the back. Like the console at Judith’s it was a public terminal, and Rio shoved his credit slip into the slender slot in the front. The machine sucked in his slip, and a gentle voice told him to place his call. Rio proceeded to call every person he knew in Pas City and some out in the desert communities of Ril and Strama. He chatted to them briefly about anything that came into his head. He knew that the patrollers would monitor these calls and check out each person in case they were his contact for a transport. He called women and men and other Shareem, everyone but Rees and Dr. Laas. That should keep things busy for a while.

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In the middle of the flurry of communications, he called Aiden. “I might be late,” he said to Aiden’s beautiful image. “Give her a message.” Aiden looked curious, but only said, “All right.” They talked briefly, then Rio finished the rest of his calls and retrieved his credit slip, quite a bit depleted. “Thanks, Kamile.” He picked up his packages, kissed her cheek again, and strolled back toward his own apartment. “Sandstorm’s coming,” Kamile said. “Better seal yourself in.” “You heard a report?” Baine hadn’t mentioning anything when Rio had left the compound. Baine loved weather reports, the more dire the better. “I feel it in my bones.” Kamile heaved herself up, tottered inside and proceeded to close all her storm doors. “Just what I need,” Rio said, then he reached his apartment block, walked into his flat and sealed all his windows. Kamile’s bones were never wrong.

***** While Nella wandered about the house, examining Dr. Laas’ strange, sensuous rooms and wishing Rio were here to explore them with her, Baine announced two things. The first was, “Another Shareem has arrived. He says Rio sent him to see you. I put him in the mural dining room.” “Another Shareem?” “Yes. A level one called Aiden. Do not worry, Dr. Laas cleared him for the compound a long time ago and he’s been sworn to secrecy concerning your identity. He is trustworthy, even if he is an acquaintance of Rio’s.” “Rio is not with him?” “No, your highness,” Baine answered. “I would have said so.” Worried, Nella hurried to the nearest lift. “Take me to the mural dining room.” “As you wish.” As Baine opened the doors on the appropriate level, he made another announcement, this one piped through all the halls and rooms. “Sandstorm,” he said.

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Chapter Ten

Riding Out the Storm Nella heard and felt nothing to indicate that a sandstorm raged in the city above them, but Baine assured her it did. “A Code 9,” he said. “Not the worst I’ve ever seen, but fairly bad. Most are Code 6—very few reach Code 7 and up. This is unusual.” Nella walked through the softly lit halls lined with pictures of tranquil landscapes on her way to the dining room. Dr. Laas’ compound, so far underground, would know nothing of the storms. She wondered how Dr. Laas’ power was supplied, and if the sandstorm would affect it. She had the feeling that Dr. Laas and Baine had figured all this out long ago. The compound was too orderly and too well hidden for them to have been anything but careful. She entered the dining room and stopped. The mural on the wall showed a pleasant garden of trellises and climbing roses, with a fountain in its center. The picture was so sharp, the sound of the fountain so entrancing, and the slightly damp scent of roses so real that Nella thought she could walk right through the wall and find herself in the garden itself. But however lovely the mural, it was not what had made her pull up. A Shareem rose from a chair when she entered, one so incredibly handsome that she could only stare in shock. His hair was blond, like Rees’, but a lighter shade, pulled back into a tail that hung all the way to his hips. He wore a sleeveless tunic and sandals, again like Rees, though he was a few inches shorter than Rees. His brawny arms sported Shareem muscle and a black chain, and his shoulders and chest were plenty broad. His face was chiseled perfection. An artist sculpting the ultimate in male beauty could use this man as a model, but the result would never match his natural handsomeness. The Shareem smiled at her, making him even more seductively beautiful. “I was face sculpted,” he explained, smiling at her scrutiny. “The epitome of genetic art.” He extended his hand. “Rio sent me. I’m Aiden.” Nella politely put her hand in his, then backed away when she felt Shareem pheromones flood her. She had the sudden urge to tear off her clothes and beg this man to touch her all over, but she was very aware that he’d put the urge into her head. With Rio, she felt more like she begged him because she wanted to. Perhaps that meant Rio was a more practiced Shareem.

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But maybe— She felt it, tenuous and weblike, the pull to Rio. No. Something joyful inside her responded, Why not? “Where is Rio? Is he here?” She somehow knew he wasn’t. The entire complex felt different when Rio was in it. “He said he had some errands and that he’d meet me here.” “Oh.” She chewed her lip and pressed the brief sensation away. If she was mistaken, she would not be able to bear it. “Perhaps the sandstorm has slowed him down. It must make walking difficult.” Aiden gave her an odd look. “Slowed him down? Have you ever seen a Bor Nargan sandstorm?” “No.” Aiden glanced up. “Baine, show what’s outside, will you?” Baine emitted a computer cough. “Why? The garden is much more pleasant.” “I know, but Nella needs to see.” Baine sighed. “To each his own.” The computer faded out the garden scene, leaving a yellow-brown blank wall. Nella realized after a moment, that she was not looking at a wall but a view of the street outside, the same scene Baine had showed her earlier. Only now the street was completely obliterated by sand. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Aiden said. “No one travels in a sandstorm. We stay inside and seal the doors. I was lucky that I got here before it hit.” If she looked closely, Nella could just see the corners of buildings fading in and out under the blanket of scouring sand. She also noticed that, unlike with the garden or other scenes, Baine had not added sound, scent or feeling to this image. “How can anyone even breathe out there?” she asked. Aiden came up behind her, his warmth touching her like a blanket. “No one can. That is why we carry breath masks. No one told you when you arrived?” Nella shook her head. “I saw that everyone carried one, but I did not know why. Was Rio caught in it, do you think?” “No. Rio’s smart enough to stay out of a sandstorm. Wherever he was, he ducked inside and is sitting tight, waiting for it to subside.” “I hope so.” “I know so. Shareem have lived through Bor Nargan sandstorms for decades, and none of us have been lost in them.” She relaxed a little. “That’s good.”

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“Put back the garden, Baine,” Aiden said. “We’ve had enough of this depressing view.” “I thought you’d never ask,” Baine said. Instantly, the mural transformed to the garden scene. Nella drew a breath of relief, inhaling the scent of sweet roses and the green odor of earth. Aiden put his hands on Nella’s shoulders, warmth radiating from his palms. She sensed his pheromones spilling over her again. “I’m Rio’s,” she said quickly. “I know. He told me to give you a message.” She turned, unnerved when he didn’t back away. His chest and shoulders were every bit as broad as Rio’s, his blue eyes just as unnerving. “What message?” Aiden smiled. “Two words. Trust me.” Nella thought of Rio’s “lessons” in trust, and wondered what he meant to do now. A little shiver began at the bottom of her spine. “I also brought something for you.” Aiden turned away, lifted a metal box from the floor and set in on the flat surface of the table. He opened it to reveal a cloth-lined interior in which rested two rows of varicolored bottles. Nella moved to the table, curious in spite of herself. “What are they?” “Scented oils. We’ll go through them, and you’ll choose the one you like. Or more than one, whatever you want.” She looked them over, intrigued. While she sometimes wore light perfume on Ariel, she’d never allowed herself anything as exotic as scented oil. Oil was meant to glide over the skin under trained fingers… She had the sudden vision of this man oiling her from head to foot while Rio watched nearby, whip in hand, a wicked look in his dark blue eyes. She swallowed hard. “Rio wanted me to have this?” Aiden’s perfect eyes crinkled with his smile. “Don’t be afraid, Nella. It’s just oil.” Nella calmed herself and sat down at the table. He plucked the first bottle from the slot, worked out its airtight seal and handed it to her. “What’s this one?” she asked, taking it. “Rose and tulawood. I think you’ll like it.” Its scent, not too strong, hinted of the roses in the garden behind her, laced with the smoky smell of wood. As Nella slowly inhaled, a feeling of wellbeing and peace stole over her. Mystified, she resealed the bottle, set it aside, and reached for the next one. The next oil gave off the sharp smell of crushed herbs laced with lavender. Nella felt suddenly energetic, as though she wanted to throw Aiden to the floor so she could jump on top of him.

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Letting out a shaky breath, she quickly sealed it. “They are stirring up my pheromones, aren’t they?” “Yes.” He lifted the herb one she’d set down and looked at it reverently. “I make up the formulas and have them created to order.” “By Dr. Laas?” Nella asked, realizing. “Who else? There’s nothing that woman doesn’t know about sensuality and biochemistry.” “She is an unusual woman,” Nella said. He winked. “We like her. Try this one.” The third oil smelled of warm spice, amber and patchouli, a dark scent that reminded her of Rio. At the thought of Rio, her cream suddenly began to flow thick and hot. Dreamily, she put her fingers between her legs and pressed. “You like that one,” Aiden said softly. Nella wriggled against her fingers, and then, incredibly, she came. It was not the over-the-top, screaming sensation she had with Rio, but a wicked, warm feeling. She moaned as it flooded her. “I’d say you definitely like that one.” Aiden took the bottle from her and resealed it. She saw that his eyes had gone fully blue, and his body heat had risen. Once the bottle was corked, the scent eased away and Nella blushed. Aiden grinned at her. “Never be embarrassed in front of Shareem, sweetheart. That’s what we’re for, you know, to teach that sexuality is a wonderful thing.” “Rees said something like that.” “And he’s right. Men and women were meant to have sex with each other. It’s part of creation—or at least it was until we made creation all about genetic manipulation. Kind of ironic, isn’t it, that Shareem, the ultimate genetic experiments, only want to show that creation the old-fashioned way is a good thing?” Nella listened to him in a kind of daze, not quite recovered from the last bottle of scent. “I never thought of it that way.” “Joining is a glorious thing. Satisfying your partner is most glorious of all. And Shareem live to satisfy. We’re not happy—I mean, really not happy—if we don’t give pleasure.” “I didn’t know that.” “It’s programmed into us. We can’t go against our instincts.” “We have something similar on Ariel,” Nella said, finding herself relaxed. “It’s called the Bond.” He looked interested. “The Bond?” “It’s like falling in love, only more so. It’s more than sex—it’s a complete joining of man and woman.” Nella laced her fingers to illustrate. “No one is certain if it’s a 86

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chemical thing, or psychic, or who knows? Maybe even magic. We only know that when we feel it, we act on it. Most people find a Bond-mate only once in their lives. Some give up and marry non-Bond-mates, but it can be bad if either partner finds their true Bond-mate. So most people wait for it.” “Have you found your Bond-mate?” Aiden asked, watching her. She hesitated before she shook her head. “Not yet.” “And what happens when you find him?” Aiden asked. “I ask him to mate with me, and then we marry. If he wishes to acknowledge the Bond, that is.” Aiden toyed with the stopper on the next bottle. “Is it always man-woman? Could your Bond-mate be another woman?” “Oh, yes. We have male-male and female-female couples on Ariel, although it is not as common. And interspecies too. Ariel has twelve different sentient beings, and the Bond does not seem to confine itself to one. Scientists think that the Bond evolved early in our ancestry to encourage genetic diversity.” Aiden grinned. “Ever notice how scientists like to make sex so cold and clinical?” “Except Dr. Laas,” Nella said. “Except Dr. Laas and her sidekick, Dr. Ralston.” They shared a smile, like they were old friends. Nella dimly understood that he was using his Shareem abilities to remove her inhibitions. Baine had told her he was in on the secret—Aiden was trying to make her as comfortable with him as she was with Rees, or even Rio. Trust me, was Rio’s message. “Did Rio tell you to make me open up to you?” she asked. Aiden snorted and shook his head. “No. He only told me to come here and let you pick out the oil you want. What he actually said was, Just give her the oil and don’t touch her until I get there.” Nella wanted to laugh. That sounded like Rio all right. “Was there a danger that you’d touch me?” His smile vanished, and suddenly Nella realized how very alone she was with this man. Baine hovered in the background as always, but she wondered how much he’d interfere if Aiden tried to seduce her. “Let me put it this way,” Aiden said, leaning toward her. “If I didn’t know you were Rio’s, I’d have had you on the table by now, with my hands all over you, spreading oil on your pretty body. And soon after that, I’d have your pussy lubed and I’d slide right into you.” Sexuality oozed from him, filling the room. Nella had no doubt her own pheromones filled it as well, feeding his hunger.

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Then he straightened, and the temperature dropped a degree or two. “But I know you are Rio’s. Question is, do you want to be?” Aiden’s eyes were shrewd. He knew Rio far better than she did, and he seemed to know exactly what the situation was here. “I like Rio,” she said. “It is only temporary. He knows that.” “Not very romantic of you.” “I mean he wouldn’t want it to be more than temporary. Why would he? I’ll go home and—” she lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. “That will be that.” “You make it sound easy.” “Is it not? Every Shareem I’ve met so far has told me they are all about pleasure. Well, sometimes the pleasure has to end.” He feigned shock. “Gods, no.” “I mean, we do not have a choice. We have to face things that have nothing to do with pleasure. We don’t want to, but we find we have no choice.” She faltered. She longed to go home, but her homecoming would not be easy. She would have to make sure that Linginian was properly dealt with, she’d have to face her family and tell them what had happened to her. After the initial rejoicing, there would be pain. She chose not to discuss the faint tendrils of what might be the Bond between her and Rio. She might be mistaken, and if she was, better to cut the feeling and go on, no matter how much it hurt at first. Aiden watched her closely, but asked no questions. “Well then, I guess we better enjoy all the pleasure we can right now.” He lifted the next bottle out of the box. “I think you’ll like this one. Smells like jasmine, but with a little kick to it.”

***** The entrance to Dr. Laas’ compound—her lair, some of the Shareem liked to call it—was hidden in an abandoned warehouse on Dekato Street. To the casual observer, cutting through the warehouse looked like a quick way across the district, and many people used it as such. Sand-scoured alleys crisscrossed this neighborhood, filled with disreputable traders who cut and run at the first hint of sandstorm or patrollers. This soon after a storm, the streets were deserted, which suited Rio. He strolled through the doors in the warehouse, which had long since rusted open, layers of sand coating a plasti-concrete floor. The entrance to the underground complex was a door standing right in the middle of the warehouse, hidden by holo-illusions. When you approached, Baine decided whether you were admissible. If he thought so, the door would open, you’d walk

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through, and immediately step into a grav-controlled drop tube, which floated you down to the next level. If Baine decided the visitor should not be allowed, he would generate another holoillusion, in which the person would grow disoriented and walk around the door without knowing it or noticing its presence. The security was simple and effective. If Baine, who constantly scanned the area, saw anyone following or spying on the visitor, he refused to open the door, and the visitor wandered around the warehouse, forgetting why he’d come, until he walked away. The warehouse was dry and empty when Rio entered it. Knowing the patrollers had also gone to ground during the storm, he headed determinedly for the door. Baine quietly slid it open. Rio stepped into the drop tube, his stomach turning over as the grav unit lowered him a level. He hated drop tubes. Once his feet touched solid floor, he let out a breath of relief and waited for the next door to open. This one led into a well-decorated hall with the lift at the end. “Where to, Shareem?” Baine asked. “Wherever Nella is.” “Dining room,” Baine answered laconically, and the lift dropped, zooming Rio down fifteen levels. “Thanks for the ride,” Rio growled. He waited for his stomach to calm, then he exited the lift and walked down the hall to the dining room. On the threshold, he stopped, his Shareem senses on instant alert. Aiden lounged in a soft dining chair, his eyes intensely blue. Bottles of his scented oil were scattered across the table next to the empty case. Nella had a bottle to her nose and a dreamy look on her face. She leaned back, relaxed and loose, her hair trickling over one shoulder to pool in her lap. The scents of Aiden’s sensual oils—spice, exotic fruits and flowers—were overlaid with the sharp tang of sex. The scents and the pheromones, both Aiden’s and Nella’s, aroused him, sending his Shareem temperature skyward. “Damn, what did I miss?” he demanded. Nella leapt to her feet, a smile of joy on her face. “Rio!” She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck. “You’re safe,” she breathed. “I was worried.” Rio held her, inhaling her scent, which was way more heady than any of Aiden’s oils. “I’m here, baby.” Nella let go of him and stepped back, a look of embarrassment on her face. “Because of the sandstorm. I was afraid you’d be caught in it.” A warmth began in his heart and started to swell through his body. No woman had ever looked at him with such concern and relief in her eyes.

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He was Rio, level three Shareem, made for sex and the ultimate sensual experience. Women were supposed to beg him to dominate them—they didn’t worry about him. That might imply she cared. “I got myself inside,” he said. “Caught up on reading while I rode it out.” “Bondage Today?” Aiden murmured. Rio ignored him. He broke the contact with Nella and laid the packages on the table. “I brought you some presents.” Nella came forward. “For me?” Rio opened the first one and held up the collar. “For you.” She stared at it. The collar was a supple black leather with finely tooled designs of flowers and leaves. Since so few flowers and leaves grew naturally in the deserts of Bor Narga, artists loved to put them everywhere, even on collars made for subs. Nella took the collar in her hands and examined it in wonder. “You bought this at a shop?” “A shop with a back room, where they make special things for me.” She ran her fingertips over the soft leather. “It’s beautiful.” “Yeah, they’re artists.” Rio gently took the collar from her and slid it around her neck. His temperature rose as he fastened it. “You look gorgeous in it.” The black leather offset her red hair and pale skin, making her more lovely and desirable than ever. He noticed Aiden’s appreciative look. Even if Aiden was fantasizing about another male Shareem, he certainly hadn’t lost his interest in females. “It goes with this.” Rio opened the larger package and drew out the skimpy black leather dress. Nella’s eyes got big. She took the leather cloth in her hands and again studied it as though she’d never seen anything like it before. It had not been difficult to tell the artist what size to make the dress, because Rio’s hands knew the exact size and shape of Nella’s body. It was part of his Shareem-ness, he figured, though no one had ever confirmed this, that his body retained an imprint of every detail of the lady he made love to. “You want me to wear this?” she asked, nibbling her lower lip. “Trust me,” Rio said in a quiet voice. “Put it on.” She glanced at Aiden in some trepidation. “Go ahead,” Aiden said. “I don’t mind.” Rio watched her, folding his arms tight over his chest. “You can go to your room if you really want to.” Aiden said nothing. Nella looked at the leather, looked at Aiden, and then at Rio again.

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The pulse in her throat beat quickly, as she tried to decide what to do. She knew Rio would be disappointed if she retreated to her room to change in private. Perhaps he’d even punish her. Rio grew aroused watching her debate with herself. If she stayed, Aiden would watch. Aiden did not offer to leave the room, because he was Shareem. He wanted to see nakedness. Nakedness to Nella meant vulnerability and sex and surrender. Slowly, almost as if she didn’t realize what she did, Nella loosened her baggy tunic and pulled it off over her head. She unfastened the leggings and took those off as well, then discarded the undergarments. Aiden stirred, aroused. Yes, he definitely still liked females. Nella took up the leather dress and looked at Rio. “Will you help me put it on?” Obligingly, Rio wrapped the leather around her torso and fastened it in the back. It was short, baring her thighs and hugging her breasts, pushing them high. The garment had no sleeves or collar—it was just a simple width of leather covering her torso. “You look beautiful,” he said. The dress hugged her, showing her hips and breasts to perfection. It was a hell of a lot better than the secondhand gray-white thing Baine had found for her. “One last thing,” Rio said. He took out the chain he’d bought and linked the slender, silver length to the ring in the front of her collar. The chain dangled between her breasts. “Perfect,” Aiden said. His beautiful, sculpted face wore a look of intense satisfaction. Level ones could get off just looking at a woman. So could level threes, but it was more fun to play with them. “Did she pick out her oil?” Rio asked. Aiden nodded and lifted a bottle. “She likes this one best.” “It reminds me of you,” Nella said. Rio’s heart beat faster. “Good.” Aiden got to his feet. Rio sensed Aiden’s pheromones shooting all over the place, readying him for what was to come. “Shall we start?” he asked. “Sure thing.” Rio lifted the chain and tugged Nella to him.

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Chapter Eleven Slow Love

Nella’s heart raced, and cream began to trickle between her sweat-dampened thighs. Rio held the chain securely, his eyes hot and blue. “What are you going to do?” she asked, more curious than worried. “Aiden is going to teach me how to love you slowly. Do you want to learn with me?” “I’m always willing to learn,” she said. Rio growled and tugged her to him. She landed against his leather-clad body, and he kissed her, lips hard on hers. “You wanted to keep it to level one,” Aiden said, his Shareem voice growing even more deep and soothing. Nella began to relax, her mind slightly fuzzy as Rio’s touch and the voices of two Shareem males softened her resistance. Resisting was the farthest thing from her mind. Never in her life would she have the opportunity to be in close proximity with two men like this, one with whom she was falling in love. “What do you want me to do?” she whispered against Rio’s lips. “Obey me.” “Yes.” No resistance there. “While you are in this house, you will wear the dress and collar and come to me whenever I wish.” “All right.” He slid his large, hot hand to her back. “Anything you wish me to do to you, you ask me, right when you think of it.” “Yes.” “We will go to your bedroom now, and Aiden will show me how to touch you. And anything Aiden and I wish to do, you will ask us to do.” “Of course.” She felt loose and pliable and happy. She rested her hands on Rio’s biceps, her fingers pressing the leather. “I will.” Rio chuckled. “Level threes like to be talked back to now and again.” She looked up at him, liking the hard lines of his face, preferring his rough, raw sexuality to Aiden’s absolute beauty. “Why?” “So we have an excuse to punish you. That’s part of the fun.”

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“All right,” she said dreamily. “Tell me when you want me to disobey, and I will.” Aiden laughed softly. “I think we’ve overdone it.” “No.” Rio cupped Nella’s backside and scooped her to him. “I think she’s just right.” “Shall we go, then?” Aiden asked. Rio shot him an amused glance. “You talk so hoity-toity, Aiden. Shall we go. We shall get our asses down to Nella’s bedroom, yes.” Nella smiled. No other man in her life had made her laugh like Rio did.

***** Baine was silent as they rode the lift to the level where Nella’s chamber lay. The hall was calm and quiet, the air soothingly scented, the walls a pleasing shade of yellow. Her bedroom, while plain, had been given lights of warm plum and cool blue, which blended to just the right shade. Nella wasn’t certain who tidied the rooms, or whether Baine controlled a supply of cleaning robots, but her bed was an unwrinkled slab, and the blankets she’d scattered about while sleeping had been folded and set aside. She took in the state of the room distractedly, not particularly caring. She was aware only of Rio leading her by her chain, and Aiden behind her, his body heat like a thermal blanket. Rio’s hold on her chain was more than a physical link between them. She seemed to feel his energy coming up the length of silver to her throat, as though the chain was a conductor of the Bond. She liked the feeling. I belong to him, and him to me. Rio led her to the bed. Aiden set down the bottle of oil he’d brought with him and stripped off his tunic, while Rio told her to lie facedown on her bed. Nella obeyed, settling the chain to one side of her, liking the cool feeling against her arm. From her vantage point, she saw Rio slowly remove his clothes, sliding the leather from his body until he stood in only a loincloth. He snaked his hand through her loose hair, turned her head and leaned down to kiss her. The kiss was possessive and hot, as though she needed reminding that she was his. Somewhere above her Aiden said clinically, “We’ll need to put her hair up, out of the way.” As Rio stepped away from the bed, presumably to look for a hair clip, Aiden gathered her hair in his broad hands and began to braid it. It was a most sensual feeling, having this man comb his fingers through her hair, then gently plait it into a tail. She closed her eyes, enjoying it.

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She knew Rio’s touch without opening her eyes. It was different somehow, his fingers rough, his touch firmer and more aggressive. He wound the braid Aiden had made into a coil on the back of her head and pinned it in place. Aiden’s fingers had soothed her, almost making her drowsy. Rio’s touch woke her up and aroused her. “That’s why level threes think they’re better than the average Shareem,” Aiden said, as though he’d read her reaction. “That’s why we are better than the average Shareem,” Rio said. “But I’m always willing to try something new.” “This will be new,” Aiden assured him. Nella felt fingers on the fastening of her leather dress—Aiden’s, she could tell now. He undid the catches and let the dress fall, baring her back and backside. She felt Rio’s touch on her ass, thumb sliding between the cheeks. “Not yet,” Aiden said. Rio’s touch withdrew. “Oh, right. Feet first.” He sounded disbelieving. She wondered what on earth feet first meant, but was too drowsy to ask. She heard the clink of the stopper in the bottle of oil, then smelled the patchouli and spice scent she’d picked out. She closed her eyes, drowsing in the sensuality of the smell and of lying naked and facedown in front of two beautiful men. The blatant sexual response she’d had to the oil in the dining room was muted now the oil wasn’t right under her nose, but when Aiden first rubbed a bit on the sole of her left foot, she squirmed with the beginnings of wanting. Aiden’s fingers tickled a little, making her want to giggle, but Rio’s touch did not. Rio smoothed the oil over the bottom of her foot with a firm hand, soothing, but strong enough to make her want his hands all over her. “Heels,” Aiden said, cupping her left one in his warm palm. “Get to know her whole foot.” Rio’s hand slid over her right heel, rubbing the rough skin acquired by running through Bor Nargan streets in broken shoes. She remembered how her blisters had ached as she tried to find help without attracting attention. Since she’d come to Dr. Laas’ compound, the blisters had begun to ease, and now under Aiden’s and Rio’s soothing massage, the hurt went away completely. “You have cute feet,” Rio said. Aiden lifted her foot, cradling it against his bare abdomen as he expertly rubbed from heel to the ball of her foot and around to the top and her toes. Rio copied the movement. “And adorable toes.” She felt the sharp scrape of his teeth on them as he nibbled. She laughed, turning her cheek to the pillow and looking down the length of the bed at him. He winked at her.

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“Slowly.” Aiden sounded amused. He massaged her foot a little longer, then replenished the oil and slid his large hand up her shin. Rio did likewise, his massage deeper and firmer than Aiden’s featherlight touch. “Really feel her,” Aiden said, his voice softening. He lifted her leg higher, pressing it against his warm torso, cupping her knee. She felt the muscles of his abdomen with her toes, and wriggled them against it. Rio set her right foot against his chest, spreading her legs a little, skimming his hand up her shin. “I like the view,” he said. “Oh, yes,” Aiden agreed. “There’s nothing like anticipation.” Nothing at all like it. Air touched her pussy, their movements making her quim rub a little on the mattress beneath her. Umm. “Thighs next?” Rio asked. “No. Hands.” “You have a weird way of having sex.” Aiden’s talented fingers pressed all around her knee and across the back of it, loosening muscles. “Slow build. Slow burn until she is dying for you, and you for her.” “I’m level three. We build fast. I’m already dying for her.” “I swear you’re a walking hard-on, Rio.” “I see you have one too,” Rio said to Aiden. “A beautiful woman under my hands, scented pheromone oil and a turned-on Shareem next to me, how could I not have a hard-on?” Nella waited for Rio to make a quip back, but after a thoughtful silence, he merely said, “Hmm.” Aiden laughed like Rio had made a joke. She felt his chest rumble beneath the sole of her foot. Much to her regret, Aiden gave her leg one last caress and lowered her foot. Rio followed suit, but drew his nails gently down her calf, scratching lightly. The sensation excited her. He was telling her he could be gentle, but with a promise he might be rough later. They started on her hands, Aiden on her left and Rio on her right, doing much the same as they’d done to her feet. Aiden massaged her palm slowly; Rio circled it with a strong touch, then licked each of her fingers from base to tip. Nella closed her eyes as they worked their way up her arms to her shoulders. Aiden’s touch was completely different from Rio’s, so distinct that when their four hands moved at random down her bare back, she was able to tell which was which. The massage both relaxed her and excited her. Her breasts were tight, nipples pressed into the sheet beneath her. Her quim was wet, and she knew the sheet would be damp with her cream when she finally turned over.

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They drew their hands down her spine, oiling her all over, dipping to her sides, massaging the small of her back, nearly, but not quite, touching her buttocks. She kept her eyes closed and reveled in her other senses—the scent of the oil and Rio’s and Aiden’s skin, hot with wanting. The whisper of their hands against her, the quiet sound of their breathing, the occasional noise in Rio’s throat as his wanting grew. Best of all, the feel of four hands stroking, swirling, kneading her flesh. She wanted one more sensation—taste. She wanted her tongue against Rio’s skin, tasting the salt of his sweat. Even more, she wanted the spice of his mouth, the dark flavor of his cock and the smooth, mellow taste of his cum. “Make her wait,” Aiden murmured. They stroked her thighs, switching sides so that Rio was now on her left. And then at last, Aiden let them move to her buttocks. Aiden drizzled oil over her right butt cheek, then slowly smoothed it over her, kneading a little harder than he had on her back and legs. Rio slid the oil over her left buttock, then gave it a slap, not hard, but she moved in delight. She moved in delight again when Aiden’s fingers dipped between her legs. She moved her thighs apart without realizing she did it, wanting them to touch her. Their fingers moved, slow and sweet, in the crease between her thighs and her quim. “She’s so wet,” Aiden murmured. “So this is slow burn,” Rio said. “I think I like it.” Rio’s fingers slid along her opening, scooping up her cream. She turned her head to watch him lift his fingers to his mouth and lick them clean. Aiden continued to stroke, tracing her quim, his body temperature rising. “Rio, how far do you want me to go?” “A little farther.” Rio laid his hand on Nella’s backside but didn’t caress it. “Help me prepare her.” “All right.” Nella lay in silence, too far dazed by their combined Shareem presence to ask prepare me for what? “Nella,” Rio said softly. “Do you want me inside you?” “Yes!” The word jerked from her, and at the same time, her hips lifted of their own accord. “But you can’t, can you? It’s the custom on your world that you can’t. Isn’t that what you told me?” “Yes,” Nella said mournfully. If she was wrong about the Bond, and she let Rio take her, things could go badly for her. “There’s another way you can have me, one that will leave you still intact.” Hope leapt within her. “How?”

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Rio slipped his fingers between her buttocks and touched her anal star with his forefinger. “In here.” “Damn,” Aiden murmured, voice dark. “Do you want that, Nella?” “Yes.” She wanted it with all her might, though she did not really know what it would be like. She remembered the feel of his tongue there, and knew that his cock would be much better. Somewhere under her Shareem-induced lassitude, she felt a touch of fear. Rio’s tongue was one thing—his cock was enormous. “If she’s never done it, it won’t be easy for her,” Aiden said. “That’s why I want you to help me. Make me go slow.” “All right.” Rio leaned down and kissed Nella’s temple. “I’ll make it not hurt, sweetheart. I’ll make it good. Do you believe me?” She hesitated before she said, “Yes.” Rio didn’t miss the hesitation. “Hmm. I think you’ve just earned a spanking. But I’ll punish you later. Right now, it’s all about pleasure.” “Yes,” Nella said. “Is it what you truly want?” Rio said, his breath warm in her ear. “Make sure.” She remembered her first sexual encounter with him, here in this room, when he’d told her that Shareem had to be asked to do the lady’s pleasure, that they could be switched on or off. “On,” she said, giving him the answer she’d given him then. He smiled into her skin. “Thank you, love. You won’t regret it.” “No,” she breathed. “I need Aiden to help make it good. Is that all right?” She glanced once at Aiden. “Yes,” she said. The atmosphere in the room changed as soon as she made her decision. She could almost feel the anticipation like an electric current. Rio told her to stay where she was, facedown on the bed. He took off his loincloth and set it aside, now naked and beautiful. Her excitement flowed faster, and she thought she’d come the moment he touched her. Aiden divested himself of his loincloth, as well. Naked, he poured oil onto his hands and rubbed them together, slathering the oil over his fingers. Instead of rubbing it on her back or buttocks, as she’d expected. He came to the head of the bed and sat cross-legged on it, his back to the wall, his fully erect cock pointing straight at her.

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“Get up on your hands and knees,” Rio said. His voice was no longer soothing and calm, like Aiden’s. He’d returned to his level three nature, his obey me-and-you-won’t-regret-it voice. Shakily, she got to her hands and knees. Rio rested his hands on her backside, cupping and parting her cheeks, massaging them a little. His voice might be commanding, but his hands were as gentle at that moment as Aiden’s. Aiden lightly pressed down on her back, coaxing her until her breasts rested on the mattress, her rear in the air. He trickled his oiled fingers over her shoulders and neck, wordlessly urging her to calm, to relax. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, but Aiden’s touch on her neck and Rio’s on her backside made her body unclench a little at a time. “Breathe in,” Aiden said, his voice a near whisper. “Take a nice long breath, then exhale slowly.” Nella obeyed. She took a deep breath, letting the spice of the oil and Aiden fill her. The breath warmed her inside, and she relaxed even more as she breathed out. Rio climbed onto the bed in one movement, his dark brown legs encompassing Nella’s white ones. He licked the base of her spine, using the action to glide his warm breath over her. “Breathe in,” Aiden said again, his fingers light on her. As Nella took another slow inhale, Rio pressed his fingers around the rim of her anal hole, stroking and massaging, his fingers drenched in oil. He seemed in no hurry. He massaged and kneaded, his movements soothing, and she felt her body grow warmer and more open. Her eyelids drooped, his touch and Aiden’s making her drowsy. “Look at Aiden,” Rio said, his voice low. Nella raised her eyes. Aiden had shifted so he straddled the bed, his legs to either side. The only thing she could see before her gaze was his elongated, erect cock and the blond hairs clinging to his balls. “That’s what’s back here, going in you,” Rio continued. “You’ll feel my cock, and it looks just like that. Only much bigger.” Aiden rumbled with laughter. “In your dreams.” Nella did not laugh. She kept her eyes fastened on Aiden’s dark shaft, stiff and ready. The tip was engorged, clear moisture welling from the tiny slit in the middle. She felt her anal hole squeeze once and open, without her consciously doing it. “That’s good,” Rio said, approval in his voice. For some reason, she wanted his approval. She wanted to please him, then wanted to squirm and be displeasing so he’d spank her. Where the thoughts came from, she had no idea, but they flooded her mind. She wanted him to manacle her hands, like he had in front of Rees and Talan, and tell her

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she needed to be punished. She wanted to feel the sting of his strap on her backside and hear the slap. She’d never known these thoughts were possible. Rio had taught them to her. He’d taught her to be playful and not ashamed of wanting what she did, opening up whole new vistas of pleasuring and receiving pleasure. Months ago, she’d never have dreamed of relaxing, naked, in front of one man while another prepared to fuck her in the ass. And she’d never have said the words fuck and ass even to herself, in any language. Rio leaned over, his body warmth all over her. Nella’s cunt was full of cream, the moisture hot on her legs. “What do you want, Nella?” Rio asked. He lifted the slender chain, still affixed to her collar, and wrapped it loosely around his hand. “Tell me.” “I want—” She inhaled, barely having any breath for speaking. Rio dragged the cool chain across her back. “What do you want?” His voice was a little harder. “I want to lick Aiden.” Aiden, without speaking, inched closer, putting his cock right under her mouth. He smelled different from Rio, a crisper, cleaner scent, where Rio smelled musky and warm. “Anything else?” Rio asked. Nella licked her lips. It was still difficult to say out loud what he wanted her to say. “Do you want the lash?” he asked. “Yes. Please.” A moment later, she felt the sting of leather across her buttocks. She flinched, but released a moan of pleasure. It felt so good. “Thank you.” “What else?” Rio set the whip aside, his voice low again. “What do you want, baby?” “I want you.” She swallowed. “I want you to fuck me.” “Mmm, interesting. You want me to fuck you where?” “My ass.” She took another deep breath and said it in a rush. “Iwantyoutofuckmeintheass.” “Oh darlin, I thought you’d never ask.” She supposed he’d climb down, get his leather strap and spank her with it first. Instead, he gently spread her backside and pressed his cock between the cheeks, just bumping her hole. “I won’t let it hurt,” he said.

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She believed him. If he told her the sky had turned bright silver and it was raining orchids, she’d believe him right now. He rested his hands on the small of her back, rubbing it a little. Aiden stroked her hair, his thumbs on her temples. She reached out with her tongue and took a long lick of his cock. At the same time, Rio pushed his tip into her open and relaxed hole. She froze. This felt different from his finger pressing and massaging. His cock was large, opening her up, stretching her as she’d never been stretched before. Elation struck her. Rio was inside her. Not far, but he was in her, filling her, making her more complete than she’d ever been in her life. She wriggled and squealed. Rio shushed her. He’d slathered his cock with oil, and her hole, too, and he slid in another inch without much effort. She smiled, deliriously happy. Aiden’s touch on her changed, becoming more erotic, less calming. She licked his large cock, and then she sucked his tip into her mouth. Aiden made a noise of pleasure and lifted his hips, encouraging her to take more. At the same time, Rio pushed himself in a little farther. Oh gods, yes. I have entered heaven. The fullness of Rio inside her was pure happiness. The taste of Aiden made her happy, too, though she knew she didn’t love Aiden. She liked him and was grateful to him for helping her take Rio, but she did not love him. This had been Rio’s reason for bringing Aiden, so he could ready her to accept this incredible, incredible sensation. They’d done it for her, to give her pleasure. Well, not entirely for her. Rio groaned, and she imagined his cock, stiff and hard, half buried in her ass, the shaft ending in black hair against Rio’s swarthy skin. The thought excited her. She wished the room had a mirror, so she could watch him fucking her. She wanted the feeling to go on forever. The pleasure was incredible. Would it feel this way when Rio took her fully, vaginally, when she made him hers and hers alone? If it was even better than this, she wanted it with all her might. Aiden leaned forward. His skin was hot, his Shareem blood pounding. They needed release, Rio had said, so they would not die. Aiden was close to release, his cock moving slightly with the hard beating of his heart. She licked his tip then suckled it, hard. Rio suddenly moved his hands around her hips until he touched her clit. Nella jerked, the muscles of her ass contracting. Rio groaned out loud as she pulled him deeper inside her. “Suck,” Aiden murmured, voice hoarse. “Suck me, please.”

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Nella sucked. She could not stop herself. She slid her mouth all over his cock, imagining it was Rio’s, wishing she could both suck his cock and have it pleasure her at the same time. “Gods.” Aiden held his shaft hard at the base, stroking a little with his fingers and thumb. “Rio, you have me so turned on.” He stroked a little longer, Nella licking him, then he came. His semen flowed over Nella’s lips, some of it missing her mouth. He moaned, hips working as he came and came. Nella rocked with her own climax, licking Aiden’s cock and squeezing Rio’s, loving the feel of Rio’s fingers on her clit, his cock so long and hard in her ass. Her throat was raw, and she didn’t know why, until she realized that the sounds she heard in the room were her own screams. “You’re so tight,” Rio said, his deep voice mingling with her cries and Aiden’s hoarse breathing. “Baby, sweet love, you’re so tight for me. Fuck, yes.” She felt him come inside her, hot seed filling her and grating against her skin. Aiden leaned back against the wall, spent, while Nella sobbed and curled her hands in her continued climax. Rio fell down on top of her, enclosing her with his body, holding her against his damp chest. “Nella,” he said, kissing her hair. “You did fine, sweet darling. I—” He broke off, but Nella did not notice. She was exhausted and happy from her climax and the chemicals that poured through her body, courtesy of Aiden and Rio. She lowered herself to the bed, and Rio followed her down, still holding her, his cock sliding gently from her ass.

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Chapter Twelve New Destination

A long time later, they were still lying on the bed, Rio on top of Nella, Aiden relaxing against the wall, idly moving his bare foot up and down one of Nella’s exposed legs. She drifted in and out of sleep, tired, happy and serene. I want this man in my life. The words slid through her head, and she wasn’t terribly surprised to find them there. She did not want him simply because he’d given her this pleasure. He’d taught her that giving herself to another person did not make her weak. He’d taught her that trust, if anything, made her stronger. I want you in my life, Rio. She knew what that meant and what she had to do. She had to hand him her greatest vulnerability, take her courage into her hands and try. She had no idea if he wanted Nella in his life, but she was not going to take the risk of losing him forever because she was afraid to try. She smiled a little, liking his heavy weight on her. He was being gentle, because though he drowsed, he took care to support himself and not crush her. He was kind, this man who liked to flick his whip and promise to spank a lady good and hard if she did not obey. He had taught her to trust him. Now, Rio was going to have to learn to trust her. “Mmm,” Rio said. He lazily licked her ear. “You’ve been bad, Nella.” She heard him as though through a haze. Her head rested on Aiden’s muscled thigh, and she smelled his sex and sweat as well as Rio’s. “Has she?” Aiden answered. “No,” Nella murmured. Rio chuckled. “Don’t argue, love. You made me come way too fast.” Aiden’s foot caressed her leg, the touch of his toes sensual. “Are you going to punish her?” “Do you think I should?” Rio said, his breath tickling her. Nella did not answer, content the way everything was. She pressed a kiss to Aiden’s thigh, then turned her head and met Rio’s lips. The kiss was sweet, slow and profound. Rio tasted her whole mouth, his tongue hard and insistent. She felt Aiden stroke her hair, and realized he stroked Rio’s at the same time.

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Rio broke the kiss, and rose to his knees. Nella’s stomach fluttered, somewhere down under her haze of feeling. Aiden watched them both, his beautiful eyes heavy, cheekbones flushed. Rio looked at Nella, his dark hair hanging down like a curtain. “When I asked if you trusted me before, you weren’t sure, were you?” She thought a moment. “No.” “I like that you don’t lie,” he said softly. “I might go easier on you. But I will have to spank you.” “Yes,” Aiden smiled. His cock was already elongating. “Punish her.” “See? Aiden’s ready for it.” Nella groaned. She felt good and sated, and a little excited, but oh, so tired. Rio patted her rump. “Come on, baby. Hands and knees.” “I can’t.” “Yes, you can. Aiden.” Aiden slid his strong hands under her arms, pulling her up. She felt Rio’s cool leather strap on her back, and the dark bite of cream on her legs. “Let’s see,” Rio said, “for not trusting me, I think ten swats will do it.” He leaned down, covering Nella’s body with his warm one. “What do you think, Nella? Ten?” “Yes.” “Yes, what?” She swiveled her gaze to him, so close, his dark face nearly against her own, his skin warm with spice and the smell of her own cream. “Yes, Rio?” A smile flickered on his mouth. “How about yes, sire.” Nella started to giggle. At his stern look, she tried to stop, but could not. “Sire?” “What is so funny? You’re a princess, you should be used to the word.” She giggled some more—it felt so good to laugh. “No one says sire anymore.” His lips twitched as though he were teasing her, but his eyes were dark blue and steady. “How about my lord and master.” Nella’s giggles increased. Above her Aiden said, “She is so cute.” “Cute or not, she’s just earned more punishment,” Rio growled. “I think I’ll have Aiden lick you while I give you your spanking.” “Aiden would be happy to,” he said. Rio didn’t wait for Nella’s consent. He rose on the bed, lifting her with him, then Aiden swung around and lay down, head toward the foot of the bed, and crossed his feet comfortably on the wall. Rio lowered Nella to straddle Aiden’s torso, her knees spread on either side of his head. Aiden flickered his tongue over her clit, stirring excitement.

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Too much excitement. When Rio’s lash came down across her buttocks, she screamed. “Twenty of them,” he said. “Count them, sweetheart. That was one.” “One,” Nella said weakly. Slap. “Two,” he growled. “Two.” “Three…” He went on, the slaps on her backside regulated and slow, the time between strokes exact. Aiden’s tongue underneath her stroked and teased, flickering over her clit in hot, wet madness. She squirmed and squealed, loving the heat of Aiden’s breath and the grating of his tongue juxtaposed with the stinging lashes of the strap. She lost count of the strokes, her mind whirling in dark frenzy. The next lash was harder. “Eleven,” Rio snarled. “Eleven,” she gasped. “Twelve…” It went on. Nella’s buttocks stung and hurt, her clit was full and wet, and Aiden’s tongue scooped through her quim. By the time Rio said, “Nineteen,” she was coming and screaming, and she ejaculated into Aiden’s welcoming mouth. “Nineteen,” she moaned, then “Twenty,” with Rio. He tossed aside the whip, put his hands on her smarting buttocks and parted them. She felt his tip press her anal star again, and held her breath. When he pushed himself inside, she cried “Yes!” joyously. He started thrusting, his cock long and hard and oh, so big. She heard herself shouting things like, Oh gods, Rio, please, faster, harder, please! Aiden kept up the miracle of his tongue. She leaned down and licked Aiden’s hard, long cock, from base to tip, earning a muffled groan. She licked and teased him, much as he licked her, all the while feeling the joy of Rio in her ass. Rio pumped and pumped her, his hands on her buttocks, faint grunts issuing from his throat. “Fuck you,” he said, his voice soft, then he shouted it, “Fuck you!” and came. He kept riding her, shooting every bit of come into her, and Aiden licked and licked and licked. Just as her climax peaked, just as she thought she’d die of pleasure, Rio pulled out, clasped Nella around the waist and held on tight, burying his face in her back, breathing hard. Beneath Nella’s fingers, Aiden released his seed, his hips grinding on the bed.

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Aiden got himself out from under them, and Rio and Nella collapsed, Rio still holding her. She smiled as blessed lassitude rolled over her, along with the nearscalding heat of Rio’s body. Aiden lay down on her other side, cocooning her between two warm males. Aiden kissed her cheek, then rested his arm around Rio’s back. Before she could put a name to the heady sensations drifting through her, she crashed into a deep, hard slumber, and dreamed nothing.

***** Rio went to sleep after the other two, and woke up before they did. Nella lay under him like she belonged to him, her eyes closed, a peaceful look on her face. Aiden slept on his back, not snoring at all, his cock half inflated, one leg hanging off the bed. Rio pressed a light kiss to Nella’s hair. This is what it feels like, he realized. It was what Rees and Talan had, a contentedness, but an arousing knowledge that they could blaze hot in two seconds flat if they really wanted to. Damn, her ass had been tight around his cock, and she’d wriggled and squirmed and squealed until he’d not been able to control his coming. Rio always controlled his coming. Not this time, and not with her. He needed to talk to her about this Bond thing, too. She’d told him and the others about it yesterday, and before Aiden had drifted to sleep, he mentioned that he and Nella had talked about it a little. Rio wondered if women of Ariel could have the Bond with men not of Ariel. Rio had been feeling something between them, like a thread connecting them, since he’d carried her in to Dr. Laas’ lab and laid her on the table. Maybe the connection was this Bond, and not his wishful thinking or horniness. Wishful thinking was most likely. Rio had never had anything or anyone of his own, and Nella—was different. You just want her, his cynicism sneered. Talan loves Rees and now you want someone to love you. Would you shut up? Life was hard enough without him talking back to himself. No, he couldn’t have everything he wanted. No one could. Probably women of Ariel could only form the Bond with another Arielian. Why should she form it with a Shareem of Bor Narga who just wanted to get laid? The best thing he could do was savor Nella right now, soak up everything he could while he had the chance.

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He gently moved a lock of hair from Nella’s temple and kissed her. She stirred in her sleep, but did not awaken. He’d tired her out, poor darling, but damn, it had been fun. When she rested and healed, he wanted to do it again. A low voice overhead broke in softly, returning Rio to reality, a place he did not want to go. “I so hate to interrupt,” Baine said, in a tone that indicated he was going to interrupt whether Rio liked it or not. “What is it?” Rio asked irritably. “Fucking machine.” “Rees and Talan have returned from their outing. They believe they have a transport arranged—all you have to do is get to it. And also, I’ve spied some of those assassin bots hovering nearby. Not honing in on any one thing, but searching. They’re getting closer by the minute, unfortunately. Perhaps now would be a good time to formulate a plan of action?”

***** The three of them washed off in Nella’s shower before they joined the others. Aiden and Rio soaped down Nella, having so much fun that Baine had to call them again and remind them of the problem. Laughing, Rio turned off the water, then he and Nella had stood under the drying heat, him holding and kissing her. Aiden watched them appreciatively, and Rio noticed the man’s eyes lingering not only on Nella’s curves, but also on Rio’s butt. Whatever. They found everyone in Dr. Laas’ laboratory, Rees and Talan unusually serious, Dr. Laas smug, and the smiling Dr. Ralston looking like a complete idiot as always. Hard to believe he was one of the most brilliant men in the galaxy. “I’ve got a transport,” Rees said without preliminary when they entered. “A trustworthy one, but we’ve got to get to it.” “Get to it where?” Rio asked. Aiden sat down on a sofa, clasping his hands and looking utterly relaxed. The man was a walking wall of calm. If Aiden got into a Dom-sub relationship with another Shareem, Rio was sure Aiden would be the Dom, even if he was level one. Aiden never lost his control. “Across the desert,” Rees said. “The transport will be leaving from Canyon Roble in three days. We get there, Nella and you get on it and you take her to Station 657, where she can get in touch with her people.” Nella looked up at Rio. “Then where will you go?” Rio draped his arm around her, like all this was casual and not going to change his life. “Anywhere. Once I get off Bor Narga, I’m free. Patrollers’ jurisdiction doesn’t reach Station 657. So there, I’m free to go where I want and do what I want. Gotta love it.”

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“What do you want?” Nella asked him. There was a spark in her eyes that he couldn’t decipher. “What do you want, Rio?” “To do what I damn well please.” It wasn’t an answer, and she wasn’t satisfied with it. But what did it matter? A couple days and she’d be gone. His heart burned, slow and hard, the pull to Nella getting stronger. I was never going to let this happen again. Never, ever. Damn. “So we pack it up and go to Canyon Roble,” he said. “Rylan lives out there. It will be good to see him again.” “Rylan?” Nella asked. “Is he another Shareem?” “A level two. Fun and games. But the man is wrapped up in his lady, Maia. Can’t blame him, she’s beautiful.” He ran his hand up Nella’s half-bare spine as he spoke, feeling the soft black leather of her dress, then her silky smooth skin, then the firmer leather of the collar. Given the choice after the shower, she’d picked up the leather dress and collar and asked him to help her put them on again. Aiden had fastened the collar around her neck while Rio lingered over the clasps of the dress. The fact that she wanted to wear his gifts made him hotter still. I am so screwed, he thought. This lady has screwed me over, and I let her do it. He pulled his mind back to their present problems. “So what do we do about the assassin bots out there?” Dr. Laas came forward, Dr. Ralston following her like a lovesick puppy. Dr. Laas held a hypo, needle pointing upward. “I think I have this right. This should alter her DNA so the bots can’t trace her.” “You think you have it right?” Rio demanded. “Nothing is ever one hundred percent,” Dr. Laas said patiently. “I’m ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine, nine, nine percent sure it’s right.” “Let her try,” Nella said. She gave a shaky laugh. “Growing a third arm is better than being traced by Linginian’s assassin bots. I know several lovely people on Ariel with three arms.” “It is absolutely brilliant,” Dr. Ralston prattled. “I watched her put it together. Unbelievable.” Dr. Laas gave him a tight smile. “If everyone at DNAmo had been like you, I would still have a career. All right, Nella, this won’t hurt a bit.” Dr. Laas stuck the hypo into Nella’s arm. A hiss, and the plunger was empty. Nella waited, staring at her arm as though fearing it would sprout another one, but nothing happened. Then she looked up at Rio. He stared. “Damn.” He touched her face. “Her eyes changed color.”

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Where Nella’s eyes had been brown-green before, they were now perfectly emerald. Beautiful. Startled, Nella ducked away from Rio’s touch and padded quickly to a mirror. “How did you—?” Dr. Laas looked smug. “Easy if you know how. I simply altered the code for eye color.” “And that changes her DNA enough to fool the assassin bots?” Rio asked. He folded his arms, leather stretching, his body already feeling empty without her next to him. “Yes,” Dr. Laas said. “I also did something else.” “What?” Nella asked. “Oh, nothing to be afraid of. Your family has a genetic tendency toward Protkins disease, an arthritic condition. I took that away.” Nella looked impressed. “It’s very rare in our family—most of us don’t have it. How did you find it?” “I looked. You will not pass it to your children, should you ever have any.” Baine interjected, “Dr. Laas is proud of her abilities.” “She ought to be,” Nella said. “So the assassin bots won’t find me?” “No. They look for an exact match. I did it subtly but enough so that even if the bots have been adjusted for a close match, they still won’t find you.” “She’s a genius,” Dr. Ralston breathed. “I’ve always said that,” Rio told him, trying to sound offhand. “No, what you say is, why do you always have your nose in that boring computer? But thank you. I won the Fleming Award for my genetic engineering research and pioneering.” She looked sad. “Before I was outlawed, that is.” “Why not leave the planet then?” Nella asked. “Come with us. You can work on Ariel.” Dr. Laas sighed. “My dear, my entire life and all my research is saturated in this compound. It would take a lifetime to dig it all out and upload it somewhere else. No, I’ll stay. I’ve made myself quite comfortable.” She looked over at Dr. Ralston, and her face softened. “Besides, I’ve made friends.” Dr. Ralston tried to look modest. “So,” Rio said, interrupting the doctors’ mutual admiration. “We go, then.” Talan looked worried. “But are we sure it will work? The assassin bots will leave her alone?” Nella turned from the mirror. With the collar and her flame-colored hair and her black dress and her new green eyes, she looked hot and sexy and good enough to eat. “I hate to say this,” Nella said, answering Talan. “But there’s really only one way to find out.” 108

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***** Rees and Talan would accompany Rio and Nella, so Rees could connect with the transport pilot and ensure all went well. They also had to make plans for the fact that any patroller who saw Rio hightailing it out of Pas City might follow him to see what he was up to. Aiden came up with the solution. “No problem. I’ll get Ky and we’ll make some trouble. Attract the patrollers’ attention while you slip away.” His blue eyes glinted with humor and anticipation. “Hey,” Rio said. “Don’t get yourself terminated or anything.” “Not that much trouble. Just enough to irritate them. Ky will do it. He’s bored.” Ky was Aiden’s roommate, a level three Shareem with sun-streaked dark brown hair. He’d not been face-sculpted like Aiden, and some might even call him homely, but he had a powerful body that made women wilt whenever he walked by them. Ky was a true Dom, loving nothing better than to attach nipple rings to a lady and make her his willing slave. Women would do anything for him. As they were prepared to leave the compound, Rio took Aiden aside. “Thanks for your help with Nella.” Aiden raised his perfect brows. “I bet that was hard for you to say.” “Maybe. Don’t rub it in.” “She’s a beautiful woman, Rio. You get her to trust you all the way, and you’ll make a fine pair.” “Yeah, that would be special, wouldn’t it?” He tried to sound offhand, but Aiden’s eyes sharpened. “Don’t give up on it, Rio. You get off-planet, where you’re not regulated to death, and it will be different.” “Maybe, but I’ll still be Shareem, won’t I?” Aiden gave him look. “And this is a bad thing?” “I’ll always be driven by my cock. Great for a woman wanting sex, but what about for a woman wanting more than that?” “Don’t sell yourself short. I’ve seen how she looks at you.” “Women always look at me like that,” Rio said. “Hell, I saw you looking at me like that.” “I was looking at your ass. She’s looking at the whole you, inside and out.” Rio kept his emotions in check, having been down the road of hope before. “My friend, Nella’s a princess. When she gets home she’ll marry some prince, and Rio the sex toy will be put away. Maybe we aren’t slaves legally, but that’s what we are. Born and bred. That’s why we wear these damn chains.” “Rees found Talan,” Aiden pointed out.

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“Rees was fucking lucky. And Rylan found Maia, but she was already Shareem, and they were making it back in DNAmo. The rest of us…” He made a vague gesture, then dropped the subject. He was tired of getting maudlin about being lonely. “Yeah, the rest of us have to make do with sex,” Aiden said, his eyes glinting with amusement. Rio took a step closer to him, his Shareem genes quickly relieving his morose mood. “Just between you and me, since I’ll never see you again—what Shareem are you fantasizing about? Is it Ky?” “Of course it’s Ky,” Aiden answered. “Who else?” Rio thought about the gruff, good-natured Ky, the drinks they’d shared at Judith’s bar, the jokes, and the ladies they’d pleasured together. “Sorry, I just don’t see him that way.” “You’re blind then. He’s damn sexy, and he doesn’t even know it.” Aiden paused, a strange light in his eyes. “If you tell him, Rio, I’ll break all your fingers.” “I’m leaving, remember? So he doesn’t know what you’re thinking?” “No. I don’t want him to know.” “Huh.” Rio tried to wrap his mind around this new idea. He could understand why women would think Ky sexy, but Rio’s own cock had never leapt at the sight of him. “You want to be his Dom?” He couldn’t imagine calm, collected Aiden being anything but dominating, even if he wasn’t level three. “Hell, no. Are you kidding? I’d give anything to be his sub.” Rio folded his arms, amazed he could talk about this so comfortably. “You don’t seem the sub type.” “I would be with Ky. It would be refreshing not to have to think, just to obey him. To have the manacles on me while he told me to get ready for his cock.” Rio held up his hand. “Stop. Don’t tell me any more. Just say goodbye to him for me, will you? I’ve got to go.” Aiden grinned, as though he’d deliberately been trying to bother Rio and was happy he’d succeeded. “Good luck, Rio.” Aiden shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. Rio clasped his hand hard, grateful. Whatever weirdness Aiden had in his head, the man had been a good friend. He left him and joined the others, who waited for him near the lift.

***** Nella had donned the sun-blocking, ankle-length robes Talan had bought for her, but underneath, she still wore the leather dress and collar. She wanted to feel like she belonged to Rio, if only for the short time they had left together. Her throat went dry as they exited the compound into what seemed to be a deserted warehouse. The heat of Bor Narga hit her again as they emerged through the 110

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hidden door, even through the protective robes. She had forgotten, in Dr. Laas’ climatecontrolled, every-need-met compound, how harsh the weather of Bor Narga could be. The first thing she saw as they emerged from the warehouse was a shining silver globe of an assassin bot. She shrank back against Rio, and he put his arm around her. “Dr. Laas is a genius,” he said, his Shareem voice reassuring. “It will be all right.” Talan flashed Nella a nervous glance, obviously not as sanguine about Dr. Laas’ talent as Rio. Rees led them out, his hand in Talan’s, strolling as though they were taking a shortcut from one busy street to the next. The assassin bot floated silently along the street, which was busy and colorful today. Vendors lined the alley that had been deserted yesterday after the sandstorm, setting up wares for a weekly market. The assassin bot floated behind the booths, moving discreetly, searching. Nella’s limbs tingled, urging her to run. Rio seemed to sense her panic, because he leaned down to her. “If we run, it will chase us to see why. If we walk, it will just look at us and move on.” “How do you know so much about assassin bots?” Nella asked him. “Dr. Laas told me. She knows about a lot of things. Let’s walk.” They moved toward the line of vendors’ booths, temporary structures that could be pulled up quickly in case of a sandstorm or patrollers with mean looks in their eyes. Nella was soon assaulted by smells of spices, fruits, flowers, machine oil, warming plastic and metal robotic parts slowly baking under the sun. Over all this was the smell of humanity that all the technology, genetic engineering and chemical products could never quite erase. The assassin bot noted their approach and slid gently over to them. The people on the street seemed to ignore the bot—either they assumed it was a holo camera for a news feed or they did not see it hovering just above the normal line of sight. Nella was very aware of it, and strained her muscles to simply not look. Her hand in Rio’s grew slick with sweat. The bot moved a little lower, as though assessing each of them. It passed over Rees, then Talan, then Rio and finally Nella. Was it her imagination, or did the bot hesitate as though thinking it had found a match? Had they been programmed this time with visual recognition, even though the hood of the sun robe partially blocked her face? Rio’s hand tightened on hers, and she felt his pulse through his fingers, already higher than a normal human’s. She willed herself to calm, wondering whether the bot could detect fear. The bot swung lower, as if debating. Then suddenly, it popped up again and drifted away, losing interest. 111

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Nella let out her breath, her limbs shaking. Rio shot her a smile, squeezing her hand reassuringly, letting his Shareem chemicals relax her. Rees, without changing expression, led them at a leisurely pace through the market. Nella still wanted to run, but she forced herself to walk behind him and Talan, stifling her impatience when one or both of them would stop and pretend to look at wares. Rees bought Talan a colorful scarf, and Rio stopped to purchase a pretty braid of leather, which was meant to tie back hair. He winked at Nella and slipped it into his pocket, daring her to guess what he’d use it for. At last, at last, they left the bazaar and stepped aboard a slow-moving hover transport that took them to the nearest city-to-city shuttle station. Talan purchased four tickets on a craft that would take them to the other side of the sand sea, and rather haughtily requested a private waiting room, as befitted her rank. The station master, a woman, gave the Shareem a startled glance, then a slightly disdainful expression crossed her features as she looked at Talan and Nella—highborn women obviously no better than they ought to be. But she directed them to the cooled, tiled, pleasantly decorated waiting room for upper-class women, and left them alone. They were the only four in the room. Nella sat down, heaving a relieved sigh, and loosened her robes. “One hurdle navigated,” Rio said. “Now let’s hope Aiden and Ky distract the patrollers before they decide to investigate which Shareem have been reported taking a trip to the other side of the planet.” “You’ve visited Rylan before,” Rees pointed out. “Yes. But not after I’d been fingered by patrollers as possibly trying to leave Bor Narga. And I don’t like the way the station master looked at me. They might have put out a watch for me.” Nella glanced at him. “I’ll not let them take you.” “You might not have a choice, darling.” Nella reached for his hand, and he sat down next to her, his leather-clad thigh touching her robes. “I’ll not let them take you,” she repeated. Then she smiled. “Trust me.”

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Chapter Thirteen The Cavern Pool

The way Aiden and Ky had decided to distract the patrollers, even though Rio didn’t hear about it until a long time later, was a thing of beauty. The two Shareem, level one and level three, respectively, specialized in the two-onone scenario. They had had built up a devoted following of ladies, highborn and low, who would do anything for them. These ladies, apparently, were happy to assist them in their scheme. What Aiden decided to do was put on a collar and have Ky pretend to sell him at an impromptu auction in the middle of the street near Judith’s bar. The ladies who liked these two men turned up in droves, eager to bid on Aiden. Judith watched from the doorway of her bar, amused. The commotion of the women and the titillating sight of the Shareem, one standing on a box wearing nothing but a collar and a loincloth, the other in leather, holding Aiden’s chain, was nothing less than sensational. When the patrollers came to arrest the Shareem, the women began to riot. Passersby on the street joined in, enjoying the opportunity to throw things and taunt patrollers, no matter what the cause. The result was that every patroller in the city was called to haul in the Shareem for creating a disturbance and breaking the rules about being discreet. A transport carrying two Shareem across the sand sea was never noticed. Aiden and Ky did get themselves arrested, but a dozen wealthy women happily paid their fines and pulled in favors within the Ministry of Non-Human Life Forms to have them released. Aiden and Ky spent a long time repaying this debt to their female friends, and enjoyed every minute of it.

***** On the other side of the sand sea, Rio led Nella from the transport with his arm around her. As though they were doing nothing more than visiting friends, they took a small hovercraft from the tiny shuttle dock to the house that Rylan had built for his lifemate, Maia. The landscape of Canyon Roble was different from the area around the flat capital city they’d left behind. Jagged mountains, red with iron ore, rose in blunt cliffs from the desert floor, and a river, swift and shallow, poured down the mountains to form canyons and arroyos. Pungent, twisting pines and bright wildflowers clung to the canyon walls. 113

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To Nella, used to the lush meadows and forests of Ariel, the red canyons, dark green trees, soft blue sky and crimson and violet flowers were a palette of stark beauty. Rylan and Maia’s home incorporated some of that beauty. It was built into a crevice in a canyon, shadowed by trees and giving a view of the burbling river and the town in the valley. Floor-to-ceiling windows, made of glass that would protect from the sun, lined every front room, rendering the landscape part of the decor. Rylan had decorated it simply, with low couches, few tables, mat floors and one or two pieces of artwork that complemented the natural picture outside the windows. After Dr. Laas’ overly sensual compound, Nella found Rylan’s home refreshing and calm. Rylan had a Shareem body and wheat-brown hair, and like Aiden, he’d been facesculpted. He was not an exact copy of Aiden, however, his face being slightly heavier and more square. Also, Rylan’s own personality had been stamped onto his features. Rylan was level two, games and wicked fun, which could mean anything from tickling to spanking to bondage. Nella read more than that in him, though. She saw a man who’d been through grief, but had finally found happiness with his lifemate, Maia. Maia, the only female Shareem ever created, was a beautiful, lush woman with black hair and round blue eyes. She’d been an experiment, a prototype, lost for years after DNAmo’s closure, before Rylan—who was obviously insanely in love with her— found her. Maia greeted Talan and Nella with a slight awkwardness, although Talan tried to put her at her ease. Maia seemed perfectly comfortable with Rees and Rio, whom she hugged tightly and exchanged banter with, but seemed at a loss with the women. She told them, later, when Rio, Rylan and Rees had gone to see about final arrangements for the transport, that she’d never had a woman friend before. She took Talan and Nella to Rylan’s workshop on the second floor, which also had floor-to-ceiling windows, to show them the singing spheres Rylan crafted from raw mountain crystals. “Most women do not like to be around me,” she said shyly, touching one of the ruby-colored crystals that sat on Rylan’s work table. “They are jealous because you are so beautiful,” Talan said with conviction. Maia shook her head. “It is because I am Shareem. I can’t help releasing my pheromones, you see. Men react to it, and their women don’t like it. I don’t much like it myself.” “Well, I know you love Rylan,” Talan said. “And he loves you. So everything is all right.” Maia did not look convinced, but she seemed a little more cheerful as she showed them the singing spheres. “Rylan makes them,” she said proudly. “I help, but he is the true artist.”

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The spheres ranged in size from a few inches in diameter to as large as a foot across, and were mainly ruby-colored or clear glass. The crystals, when harvested, Maia explained, were either blood red or opaque white, with a few rare rainbow-colored ones. The one rainbow sphere in the workshop, unfinished, danced with light, the colors meshing and changing seemingly on their own. Maia brushed her hand over one of the finished spheres. Immediately, a shimmering musical note wafted from it, growing louder as the tone built, then softer as it dispersed in the room. “How beautiful,” Nella breathed. “Would you like to have it?” “Oh.” Nella studied the sphere cradled in a wrought silver stand. “It must be very valuable. You and Rylan will want to sell it.” Maia shook her head. “We can make more. Please, take it.” She flushed. “I’ve never had a friend before.” Nella realized she could not hurt the young woman by refusing. “Thank you. It is a wonderful gift. I might have to leave it here, and send for it later.” “That’s all right. We’ll keep it for you.” Maia smiled, happy. Nella sensed some of the woman’s pheromones in the air, probably because she was pleased, but they carried no sexual overtones. Rio was nothing but sexual overtones. Nella remembered again the fullness inside her when Rio had slid into her ass, making love to her the only way he could. He could have hurt her, or rushed her, but he hadn’t. He’d taught her that being with a level three was not necessarily about receiving pain. It was about accepting pleasure, and about him teaching her to surrender to it. She felt profound gratitude to him for that. Maia took them all over the house, which Rylan had built with her in mind, putting in everything he knew she’d love. She even showed them their bedroom at the very top of the house, with a windowed wall and a large, low bed that took up most of the room. Shareem lovers, Nella thought. They must need special cooling units to keep the air from overheating. A few toys were strewn casually about the bedroom, a pair of manacles with a chain between them hanging from a bedpost, a long, polished dildo in a velvet-lined case on the table next the bed, and a stand full of whips in a corner. Talan blushed when she saw everything, but Maia behaved as though they were nothing out of the ordinary. Maia wore only a thin sarong that bared most of her body, but she seemed comfortable with her nudity, just as the three Shareem males were comfortable with theirs.

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Last, Maia took them all the way to the bottom of the house, underground, where a natural cavern was etched into the rock. A pool, fed by a trickle of a stream, shimmered under soft, computer-powered lanterns. “Come and swim,” Maia said. “You must be hot and dusty from the journey.” She stripped off her sarong, tossed it to a latticed bench near the pool, and deftly dove into the water. Nella was hot, and quite tired after the trip. She removed the robes Talan had lent her and laid them carefully across the bench. She took off the collar and the leather dress and folded them just as carefully, then slid into the water. Maia surfaced and stood with the water lapping her breasts. “Are you using Rio?” she asked Nella. Nella started. “Using him?” Maia nodded as though she’d said nothing strange. “Yes, to pleasure you.” Talan had taken off her clothes and now joined them, although she hid her body from them until she was fully in the water. This amused Nella, as she remembered that she’d first seen Talan stark naked on her hands and knees while Rees took her from behind. “No,” Nella said. “Not using him. I—he—he’s teaching me. That’s the only way I know how to explain it.” “You do not have to be embarrassed, Nella,” Maia said. “Women use Shareem all the time. It is what they were made for.” “Yes, but—” Nella could not explain, and she noticed that Talan watched her closely. “I am not with him because he is Shareem. I am with him because he is Rio.” Talan relaxed, as though Nella had said the right thing. “You like him, then?” Maia said. “Yes, very much.” “Do you love him?” Talan asked. The question left Nella speechless. Love him? You do, came a voice inside her. You feel the Bond. You’ve denied it and tried to make it go away, but it’s there. “It should not be difficult to answer,” Talan said, sternness in her blue eyes. “Yes, it is.” “I’m fond of Rio,” Talan went on. “He helped me and Rees, Rees especially, when we needed it.” “I’m fond of him too,” Maia said. “He made me laugh when we grew up together, and he helped Rylan save my life.” “He is good at helping, then?” Nella sank to her neck in the cool, soothing water, while the other two faced her like interrogators. “Very good at it,” Maia said. “He deserves someone to help him.” 116

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“And you think I can?” Nella felt her panic rise. “Very well, I do care for him, but he is Shareem. That means he views me as simply another woman who wants him.” Tears stung her eyes. “I am hardly unique to him, am I?” Maia glanced at Talan. “Perhaps we are being unfair. We want him to be happy because we know he was hurt.” Nella nodded. “Rees told me the story of Serena. Do not worry, I would never do that to him.” “Yes, but I’ve seen how he looks at you,” Talan said. “He will not be happy when you go back to Ariel.” Nella bit her lip, but it was no use. The tears left her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. “Rio will not be the only one who hurts when it is over.” She put her hand to her face and let herself cry. She wanted to go home, but the thought of leaving Rio forever, of never seeing him again, was more than she could stand. She heard a rush of water, and then Talan and Maia were next to her. “Oh, you poor thing,” Talan said, stroking her hair. Maia enveloped Nella in her plump arms. It felt good to let it out, all her anger at Linginian for tearing her from her home and terrorizing her, her fear that she’d never see her family again, her amazement on meeting Rio, her gratitude at Rio and his friends for helping her, the burning lust Rio had awoken and her growing love for him. Too many emotions, far too fast. Shareem were not supposed to have strong emotion, and for the first time, Nella wondered if that would not be a more comfortable way to exist. “Oh, I have to like this,” Rio’s voice rang from the edge of the pool. The three women turned to see him standing in the shadows, arms folded over his leather-clad chest, staring appreciatively at them. “Three lovely ladies in a pool,” he said, his Shareem voice low, “and all their clothes outside it.” Talan’s eyes widened, and she sank until only her head showed. “Where are Rees and Rylan?” “Upstairs, waiting while I look for you.” He smiled, wicked and slow. “Their loss.” He undressed casually, taking his time. He did not stop when he was down to just his loincloth—he unfastened it and let it fall. He was already hard, his cock standing in a ninety-degree angle from his strong legs. “Want to play, ladies?” he asked. “Not without Rees,” Talan said quickly. “If I stay without Rylan,” Maia said, still with an arm around Nella, “he’ll punish me. Rylan’s very jealous.”

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Nella sensed the woman’s increasing pheromones as she thought about what Rylan might do. Her blue irises widened, just like Rio’s did, as she grew more aroused. “Perhaps we should go see what Rylan and Rees are up to,” Talan suggested. She glanced meaningfully at Maia, her intention plain. “Yes,” Maia answered, her voice a purr. “I would like to see Rylan.” She began to swim for the edge, in a hurry to go, but probably not for the reason Talan had in mind. Maia’s thoughts seemed to have switched in sharp focus to Rylan and only Rylan, and whatever game he might want to play. Maia pulled herself out of the pool, naked in front of Rio. She snatched up her sarong and absently pulled it around herself as she headed for the lift. Talan behaved slightly more self-consciously, and Rio grinned at her as she walked by, holding her robes over her dripping body. When Talan disappeared into the lift tube, Rio raised his arms above his head and executed a perfect dive into the deep part of the pool. Nella watched the surface of the water, trying to peer into the shadowy depths to see him swimming, but nothing moved. The water was still, and silent. Suddenly, a very strong hand closed around her ankle and pulled her under. Water closed over her head, cool and soothing, then Rio lifted her in his arms. She surfaced, spluttering. “You might have warned me.” “Why? It wouldn’t have been as much fun.” His hair, sleek and black, swept back from his wet face, emphasizing his high cheekbones and deep eyes. He grinned at her. “You should see Maia and Rylan when they come down here together. I swear the water starts to boil.” “You’ve been with them,” Nella said. “Yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t have seen the water boil.” “I mean sexually. As a threesome.” He lost his perpetual smile. “Yes.” “And with Rees and Talan.” “They’re good friends.” “You must have been with many people.” “I have.” Rio slid his arms around her hips, resting his large hands on her backside. “I’m with you, now.” “But it will not always be so. I will return to Ariel, and this will be over.” Something flickered in his eyes. “Let’s don’t talk about it. We enjoy the hell out of what we have now, worry about later, later.” She rested her palm on his cheek, fingers touching the wet hair at his temple. “Rio, I want—” The tears that had gone away returned now. He frowned when he saw them. “Stop. I want us to have fun, really go for it, no regrets, all right?” 118

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He did not understand. She lifted her head. “Yes, all right.” “You know, we could fetch Rylan and Rees and their two ladies and all go up to that big bed of theirs. You’d get a level two Shareem and a level three, and a lady Shareem, and—whatever Rees is. We can have all kinds of sex and any kind of sex, or you can just watch. I bet no other woman you know will ever have this kind of opportunity.” “All of us?” Nella asked, astonishment stopping her tears. “Together?” He laughed. “Sure, why not?” She laced her hands behind his neck. “Right now, I just want you.” He kissed her, a sweet, warm kiss that had a promise of sin behind it. His body against hers, his smell, his pheromones, spun their magic over her again. He flicked his tongue deep into her mouth, then out and across her lips. “Good, ‘cause I just want you,” he murmured. “You were the one who suggested—” “I was lying. I want you alone, Nella. No sharing.” “When does the transport leave?” “Tomorrow. The pilot is in a hurry. We have to get there at first light.” She pulled him close. “So soon?” “It’s what you want. You’ll be able to get home.” “I know. I want to go back to Ariel and my family and no desert or sandstorms or computers with names.” He rumbled with laughter. “Yeah, Baine can be a real pain in the ass.” “But on Ariel, there is no Talan and Rees, and no singing spheres.” She touched his face. “And no Rio.” His eyes went dark again. “Like I said, sweetheart, we just have to make the best use of what time we’ve got.” He forced a grin. “Hey, remember when I promised you that if you subbed to me, I’d sub to you?” “I think so.” Her mind had been fogged that evening with his Shareem chemicals and her excitement of what he was about to do. “How about I do that now?” he offered. Her pulse speeded. “I wouldn’t know what to do.” “Oh, I think you will. Come here.” He took her hand and led her to the shallow water at the end of the pool. He reached to the bench and rummaged in his leather tunic. “I brought something for you.” “What?”

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Rio pulled out a pair of manacles, man-sized manacles with cuffs that would reach from a man’s wrist to mid-forearm. A thick chain dangled between them. “Here, darlin’.” He dropped the manacles into her wet hands, then stood up, the water only reaching his thighs, his wet backside exposed. His hair lay in a long tail, dripping a trickle of water between his buttocks. He clasped his hands behind his back, his muscular arms playing. “Put them on me.” Nella’s heart banged and pounded in her chest. Could she do this, bind him and play with him as he’d played with her? Really go for it, no regrets, he’d said. Gently she encased Rio’s sinewy wrists in the manacles, clicking them closed. They were held by a simple catch, but the black chain between the manacles was fairly short, giving Rio only a little movement. He turned around and looked at her, and she nearly slid bonelessly under the water. He stood before her, fully erect, her beautiful Shareem, waiting for her in chains. “What do you want me to do, Nella?” he asked.

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Chapter Fourteen Bond-mate

Nella knew right then that Rio could be bound and chained, but he was still in charge. She could barely breathe from excitement, her thighs already wet with wanting, and he’d only slanted her a smile. “There’s a whip coiled in the other pocket,” he said, his voice as dark as the shadows in the cavern. “If you want to use it.” Nella shook her head. She’d only drop the thing in the water, and he’d laugh at her. “Then what do you want?” he asked. Her mouth was so dry, she couldn’t speak. She put her hands on his shoulders, pushing him toward deeper water, positioning him so that he stood a little lower in the pool than she did. She drew him to her for a kiss, stroking his shoulder blades, letting her nails sink into his skin. He kissed her hard, his mouth strong, tongue moving firmly inside her. Nella knew exactly what she wanted of him, but asking it was very, very hard. She broke the kiss, her lips still against his. “Make love to me, Rio.” No, that wasn’t enough. “Fuck me.” “In the ass?” “No.” He shot her an odd look. “I thought ladies in your culture only asked that of men they want to marry.” “They do.” He stopped, waiting a few heartbeats. “We’re not on Ariel.” “No. But I am of Ariel, and must answer for the consequences of what I do.” Rio went silent, the only sound in the cavern the soft trickle of water feeding the pool. “Let me get this straight, Nella.” His voice was very quiet. “Are you asking me to marry you?” “Yes.” He tried to move his hands to touch her, but the chain brought him up short. “Fuck.” “You can say no.” She kneaded his shoulders, somehow afraid to stop touching him. “You can take me in the ass instead, and we can have as much pleasure as we can right now, like you said, before we have to part.”

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“Darlin’, I’m Shareem.” His eyes were dark, pupils wide. “Everyone keeps reminding me of that. Including you.” She held his face and looked into his eyes. “I do not care.” “You want to be scandalous, like Talan?” “I do not want to be like Talan. I want you to come home with me and be with me.” “A princess and a Shareem? No one will go for that.” She shook her head impatiently. “You understand nothing. On Ariel, you will not be different and shunned, because we do that to no one. There are twelve sentient species on Ariel, many of whom are far from human-shaped, but they put up with us all the same. I am free to choose my husband from any species I like. Many women marry across species.” Rio kept his voice light, but he was frowning hard. “Their children must look weird.” “The mother and father decide which species the child will be, and reproduce in vitro. Most people have some of each.” “But aren’t you supposed to marry a prince or a king, or something?” “I marry whom I please.” She started to glare at him. “It is my choice alone, not my family’s, not the people’s. They trust me to make the best choice possible. That is what Linginian did not understand.” Again Rio tried to move his hands. “A Shareem isn’t the best choice possible.” “Yes, you are. Rio, you are kind and compassionate and you really care. You taught me how to trust you, when I didn’t want to trust anyone—when I couldn’t trust anyone. You taught me more about myself than anyone in my life has done. I’d love you for that, if for nothing else.” “Hold it. Love?” She nodded. “I love you, Rio.” His chest rose with a long breath. “Fuck,” he said again. “You can refuse,” Nella said, tears stinging her eyes. “You do not have to see me ever again, if you decide not to make love to me. I promise.” He went silent, every trace of humor gone from his eyes. She could not read his face, it was so hard and forbidding, very unlike the smiling, wicked visage he usually wore. “Nella,” he said after a time. His voice was harsh, his level three voice, the one that told her he would have no mercy with her. “Get out of the water.” He was the one in chains, but she moved to obey him without question. He climbed out behind her, graceful for someone with his hands bound behind his back, and knelt on the matting that covered the ground near the bench.

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He spread his thighs. The posture, coupled with his hands behind him, thrust his cock stiffly outward. “Come here,” he said. “And let me make love to you.” “In the ass?” she asked, her voice faint. “Your choice, Nella,” he said. “Whatever choice you make is the one I’ll follow. You show me what it is you truly want.”

***** Rio held his breath while Nella stood by the pool, stark naked, her finger to her lips. Was he crazy, or what? This sweet, redheaded woman, her breasts full and round, her nipples like dark berries, had just asked him the ultimate question. Will you marry me? He should grab her with both hands and run off with her to this Ariel place and snatch some happily ever after, which would involve fucking her every chance he got. But he knew, deep in his heart, that he didn’t get a happily ever after. It was rare for a Shareem, Rylan and Rees notwithstanding. Rees was different, even from the Shareem, and Rylan had cheated. He’d been in love with Maia since they were both ten years old, and he hadn’t let anyone else have a chance with her. Rio was a badass bad boy that no sane mother would let marry her daughter. Nella might think she wanted to marry him, but what if she was just under his Shareem spell? They’d go back to Ariel, and then some wimpy prince would convince her to dump her Shareem pretty-boy and have a real marriage. Screw him. Or Nella might, right here, right now, decide to take back her hasty offer. She’d play with him a little and walk away, or just walk away, period. He’d have to wait down here, his hands bound, until someone came looking for him, probably Rylan, who’d laugh his ass off. While his thoughts whirled, Nella approached him slowly. She had the lushest legs, all plump and ready for nibbling, her calves round and lickable. All wet, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen, hands-down. Her red hair, dark with water, was sleek against her head, emphasizing the shape of her face and neck. Water dripped between her breasts and shimmered on her belly. The twist of lovely red hair between her legs was damp and beaded with moisture, and not all of it was water. Rio wanted to taste her there, shove his tongue into her curls and lick up her fine cream. Maybe she’d walk over here and plant her feet on either side of his knees, spreading herself so that he could easily get to her. She stopped right in front of him, but her legs remained closed, her pussy out of reach.

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“Rio.” She touched his face, fingers scraping over his unshaven jaw. “I’ve already made my choice.” He swallowed, but he kept his gaze averted from hers, so she wouldn’t see the pleading look that was probably in them. I’m a level three Shareem, a Dom. I make women do things they’d never dream of doing. I make them beg for things they never knew they wanted. I spank them when they’re bad and pleasure them when they’re good. I whip them ‘til they come, then I kiss away the hurt. What I don’t do is say, “Please, sweetheart, tell me you really do love me and aren’t just a tease.” Sheesh, how pathetic can I get? Nella put her hands on his shoulders and lowered herself to straddle him, her knees outside his. She grasped his cock in one hand, fingers sliding all over it like he’d taught her. He bit back a groan. He was so hard and turned on that he could come right now, and she’d only stroked him once. “Stop,” he said. She misunderstood him. “I do not wish to stop. I wish to start.” “Then start, sweetheart. Do what you gotta.” Slowly she raised up, her breasts brushing his chest. Damn that he’d volunteered to manacle himself. He couldn’t hold her or guide her or caress her, he could only crave, which made everything that much more erotic. Nella slid her hand to her clit, fingers between herself and him. He felt her guide the tip of his cock right to the folds of her cunt. “Sweet darling,” he said, his Shareem hormones swamping him, pheromones pouring over her and making her smile. She wriggled a little, opening herself wider, and finally, his tip slid inside her. Oh, gods. She was hot and tight and so fucking wet. A little more, let me have a little more. Please! Nella moved down on him, easing onto him a tiny bit at a time, her eyes widening with each inch. “You are so tight,” he moaned. “Baby, I love you.” She wriggled some more, steadying herself on his shoulders, her gaze serious and intent. Her breasts pressed into his chest, and he wanted so bad to hold her. He wanted to stroke her back, grab the nape of her neck and crush her lips to his. Damn chain. He tugged at his bonds, but Rylan had probably had the manacles specially made to resist Shareem strength. Nella lowered herself even farther, until at last, his balls were resting right against her.

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Her head dropped back, allowing him to skim his tongue up her throat, tasting sweat and water and her. She groaned, closing her eyes, the unfamiliar tightness and his Shareem magic making her mindless. He knew it didn’t hurt, even if it was her first time, because he was making it not hurt her. His biochemistry kicked in and sent soothing chemicals over her and in her, relaxing her, turning her mind from pain. He could give her that gift, if nothing else. She started to rock, moving her hips in a rhythm that the body knew instinctively. Rio moved his own hips, a combination of instinct and experience, impaling her even deeper. He almost passed out right there from her walls pressing him so tight. He felt her contracting and squeezing, her climax nearly on her. If his hands were free, he could stroke her clit and make the coming more intense. Of course… “Nella,” he commanded, “put your hand on your pussy.” She opened her eyes, her gaze languid and uncomprehending. “Put your hand where we’re joined. Feel it.” He wondered if she could understand him, then she slowly moved her hand between the press of their bodies and found the place where his thick stem pushed into her. She touched his balls, nearly sending off a rocket of come right there. Then she found her clit. He knew that from the way she gasped, her emerald eyes flying open. Her eyes were so beautiful. They’d been gorgeous before, but now they were intense and green with flecks of the original gold-brown in them. Nella rubbed her hand over her clit, and down to the hollow where he shoved into her. Her nails scratched his cock, and slid over her cunt, dripping with cum. “That’s it, baby,” he rasped. “Now, fuck me.” Their hips moved together, she wriggled up and down on his cock, her fingers moving and scraping and rubbing. She made soft little noises, and she smelled so damn good, all sex and cum and sweat and her own pretty scent. His head fell back, his wet hair brushing his ass, the water-soaked tail sliding between his buttocks. A trickle of water slid into his asshole, which was open and relaxed. He imagined her tongue wiping away the drip of water, and then dipping in farther, wet and hot. He closed his eyes, thrusting up into her. Sensation after sensation poured over him, intense—like nothing had ever been before. And this was straight fucking, for the gods’ sake. Heightened, yes, by being wet and his hands bound behind his back, but they were not doing anything unusual. He did not have her bent over that so-convenient bench by the edge of the pool while he fucked her with a dildo in her cunt and his cock in her ass. Or the other way around. He didn’t have her with her hips up, her feet on his shoulders while he ordered her to insert the wand into herself and then lick it clean.

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No, this was straightforward, woman on man, up and down, loving each other, in and out, hot, wet, frenzied, incredibly turned-on sex. “Rio,” she gasped out. “No, not yet.” “I need to come. I want to come.” She pressed her fingers harder. He slammed his body to hers, trapping her fingers. “No.” “Please, Rio.” “Not yet, darlin’. I’m going to fuck you until you’re mine.” She was screaming. She’d worked through his calming touch on her mind and entered the frenzy. “Gods, I love it. I love your huge, hard, delicious cock fucking me.” She was on the edge of release, not quite there, the wildness still building. He tilted his head back again and thrust and thrust, at the same time jerking and pulling at his bonds. Her naughty fingers found his balls, worming through the tight space between their joined bodies, and squeezed. “Fuck,” he said hoarsely, and then he came. His seed shot high into her, and she screamed her own release, tears pouring from her eyes. She writhed on him, and his cum flowed like it would never stop. He gave one hard jerk on his manacles, and the chain snapped, breaking from both manacles at the same time. He heard the tiny clink of the chain on the matting behind him. He brought his arms around Nella and held her hard, pushing her down on his cock as it pulsed and danced with his coming. She held him, kissing him roughly, too frenzied to really focus on their lips meeting. He scraped her hair back from her face and bit and kissed her neck, sucking her sweet, salty skin into his mouth. He eased himself backward, still inside her, spreading his legs as he moved his weight to his back and butt. He still fucked her, his cock hard and desperate, despite his release. His body heat was way above normal, his Shareem skin scalding. He’d never felt this out of control before. He remembered months ago, when icy-calm Rees had finally lost his control with Talan, how the man’s blood had nearly burned inside him, how his black chain had steamed against his roasting skin. Now he knew what that felt like, a woman so intense that even the Shareem safety valve of release wasn’t working. He needed more. “Nella,” he whispered. His voice was so broken he barely recognized it. “Mmm?” she said against his chest. Her nipples were tight nubs, hard against him, her sweet cunt still encasing his rock-hard penis.

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“I need you to do something for me.” She raised up on her elbows, spent, her face relaxed and dreamy. “Anything you want.” Much against his will, he lifted her off him, his needy cock practically whimpering when it came out of her nice, warm nest. She watched in surprise as he found the chain that had held the manacles. He bent the links so they’d fit back into the holes and bound himself again, this time with his hands in front. He walked over to his clothes, his cock still out like a flagpole, and retrieved his coiled strap. He laid the strap in her hands. “Whip me,” he said. She stared up at him, startled. “Why?” “I need you to.” “Rio, I can’t hurt you.” “It won’t hurt me, sweet darling. It will help me. I need more release, and I need it now.” He walked away from her, over to the wall, looking until he found a suitable jutting rock of the right height. He lifted his arms and dangled the chain over the rock. Nella rose to her feet and came to him, holding the whip gingerly. “How can this help you?” “Trust me, baby. Whip your Shareem.” He heard her intake of breath, saw her nipples tighten as the suggestion made her more excited than she wanted to admit. She hefted the strap, squeezed her eyes shut, and struck. The whip landed across the backs of his knees with a heavy sting. “Ouch!” he shouted. She opened her eyes with a gasp. “I knew I’d hurt you.” “Just aim for my ass, sweetheart, and it will be fine.” “Do you expect me to do this when we’re married?” His heart leapt. She was still talking about marriage, bless her cute little butt. “It will be our secret. Now, go for it. Hurry, before I burn up.” Nella bit her lip and drew back the strap, this time keeping her eyes open. It struck his buttocks with a resounding crack. “Ahhh,” he said. “That’s it.” She slapped him a couple of times, the lash stinging good, but she still looked worried. “You’re doing fine, baby. More, please. A little harder.”

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He couldn’t find the words to explain that the pain and the excitement mingled until it became one intense experience of pleasure so great that the only way out was release. All he could say was, “Harder, baby.” She complied. He felt the sweet sting on his ass, over and over. His anal star opened and relaxed with his pleasure. A few of her slaps slid right between his cheeks, bumping the hole and making him groan. Sensations swirled around him, clenching his lungs and heart and cock and ass, as the stinging slaps went on and on. Something broke in him, like he was a string stretched tighter and tighter until, snap, it was over. He ripped the chain from the rock wall, and sent both himself and Nella tumbling down to the matting, the whip flying from her hand. He could barely see, blind with his release, but he could smell her and feel her and taste her and hear her. He came, pumping his seed all over her belly and between her breasts, the hot cum mixing with water and sweat and sealing them together. His mouth found hers, tongue stabbing into her, while he felt her gather him into her arms. Love you, love you, love you. He heard the words from his own throat, echoing around the room. He came and came, wetting her all over, while she watched, her eyes wide, her hand going to her pussy, needing her own release. Grinning, and still hot, he hauled her to her feet and dragged her with him to the pool. He jumped in with her, the cool water biting into the welts on his ass, soothing them. Nella clung to him, her supple body against his, legs wrapping around him. She needed to come, bad, oh yes she did, and he was going to take her there so many times. He held onto her and kissed her wet cheek. He’d made his decision. “All right, love, I’ll come with you to Ariel,” he said. “And we’ll see what happens.”

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Chapter Fifteen Choices

After Rio made his declaration, his tenderness vanished. He kissed Nella hard on the mouth, his tongue assaulting her, as though he was going to make her pay for making him fall in love and agree to marry her. Nella didn’t care how rough he got because she knew, deep in her heart, that he would never hurt her. He’d earned her trust, and he had it. She could tell that he wouldn’t hurt her, because as large as he was, as strong as he was, she could see him clench his muscles when he held her or stroked her or even fucked her, holding himself back so he wouldn’t harm her. He called himself a badass, but he wasn’t cruel. He was dangerous, true, but only because a lady couldn’t get enough of him and would do anything to keep having him. What he did to Nella exhausted and elated her, excited and frightened her. In the water, he pressed his thumbs to her opening, massaging and working until she released. While she wilted in his arms, he carried her out of the pool, sat down on the bench, turned her over his knee, and slapped her butt with the whip. He threw her into the pool again right after that, so the cool water could soothe the tingling pain. Then he pulled her out and did it all over again. He made her lie facedown on the bench while he spread her buttocks and laved and licked her anal star, then fucked it with his tongue. Once she was squealing and rubbing herself on the bench, he turned her over and thrust himself into her quim until they both found release. They cleaned off from that with another swim, then he lay facedown on the bench, while he had her put her tongue in his hole. They traded roles with the manacles, sometimes him, sometimes her. Nella wasn’t certain she could think of things exciting enough when she took control, but he seemed to find what she came up with amusing and fun. She told him to kneel and stroke himself until he came while she watched, she had him lick her pussy while his hands were bound behind his back, she let him teach her how to bump the whip between his legs to stimulate ass and cock at the same time. Now that her pussy was not out-of-bounds, he had fun telling her to put her own fingers inside, or to take his. Once, he washed off the handle of his whip, lubed it with oil that they found a supply of in a cupboard near the lift, and gently eased it into her pussy.

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His eyes went instantly blue when he did this, sweat pooling on his burning skin. “Fuck yourself with it,” he said. “Enjoy it, my bad sweetheart.” She never in her life would have thought of such a thing. But while he watched, kneeling next to her, his cock huge and erect, she pushed the slick handle into herself, squeezing her thighs around it, loving the feeling of something so stiff and unyielding inside her. It didn’t take her much time to come, clamping her hands and thighs around the whip handle. He gently eased it out of her, then took her, hard, his face tight with need. When they were completely exhausted, Rio held her in the shallow water of the pool, sitting on a bench that had been carved into the rock. She lay against his chest, listening to the slow beat of his heart. “I like being your Dom,” he said softly. “I like it too.” He chuckled. The water seemed to be the exact temperature to calm and soothe them. “Are there Doms and subs on Ariel?” She blinked up at him. “I really have no idea. I do not think we have done a survey.” “A survey?” He started to laugh, then realized she was perfectly serious. “So you might have Doms and subs?” Nella shrugged. “What people do for sex in private is no one’s business but theirs. As long as it is consensual and no one is forced or anything like that, people can have whatever kind of sex they want.” Rio considered this. “I think I’m going to like Ariel. You mean you and I can have as much sex as we please anytime, anywhere?” “Yes. As long as we don’t disturb anyone.” “Well then, I think we’d better get some soundproof rooms in your palace.” Nella looked thoughtful. “I believe I can arrange that.” He kissed her. “You’re priceless, my princess. Absolutely priceless.” Nella wasn’t certain whether that was good or bad, but she enjoyed the kiss and the caresses that followed.

***** They were tired and sore when they finally cleaned themselves for the last time, dressed, and went up to have a meal with the other four. Nella winced when she sat down on the soft dining chair, and Talan and Maia exchanged knowing smiles. They’d been through plenty with their own Shareem. That night, she and Rio slept together—true sleep—for the first time.

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Nella relaxed against Rio’s huge body, liking the soft snores that rumbled his frame. She thought she could do this for the rest of her life, sleep in a wide bed snuggled against Rio. He was so strong and sexy and protective. One thing she hadn’t understood about a level three Shareem was that while they persuaded a lady to absolute submission, they also protected her from harm and from all others. She was his, and she always would be. She thought of walking into her parents’ elegant drawing room and presenting Rio. “I’m home and safe, and here is the Shareem who got me here. I have experienced the Bond with him, and will marry him.” They’d fall out of their antique designer chairs. But no matter. When they came to know Rio, they’d like him. No one could help but like Rio. Well, maybe it would not be that easy. But Nella was willing to try. Rio stirred and made a little noise in his sleep. Nella snuggled down beside him, and he draped his strong arm over her. He drew her back into the curve of his naked body, then settled down again. She was protected and safe and in love. Right now, there was no tomorrow… No tomorrow was a romantic thought, but morning came all the same, the blazing sun rising quickly into the sky, painting the canyons dramatic blue and purple. Rio was cheerful as they ate breakfast—fruits from Maia’s sun-protected garden and yeasty bread baked in the town. Primitive fare, but tasty and somehow comforting. “The sooner we get there, the better,” Rees said. “I will go with you and Nella, but no one else. We’ll draw less attention that way.” Rio nodded. “It’s about time I got off this rock.” He flicked his gaze around the table. “I’ll miss you all, but you can come visit me in my palace.” His grin of bravado faltered for a moment, and he stood up. “Hell, let’s go before I get maudlin.” Nella hugged Talan and Maia and thanked them for all their help. Without them, she’d have been afraid and alone—now she had friends. Rio hugged them as well, long and hard. Nella realized he loved them, perhaps not in the marriage sort of way, but they were his friends, true friends. She thanked Rylan also, regretting that she hadn’t had much chance to get to know him. “When you come back,” he said, a glint in his blue eyes, “we’ll show you some real games.” Nella nodded, but hesitantly. Rylan laughed and winked at her, and she went to find Rio and Rees, who were talking quietly together near the front door. “You’re sure you want to do this?” Rees was saying. “I know you want out of here, but you’ll be leaving behind everything you’ve known your whole life.” “Everything I’ve known has been crap,” Rio answered. “You should know— DNAmo was much worse to you than they ever were to me.” “I held my own,” Rees said. 131

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“Yeah, I heard about some of the things you did to them. I’m surprised any of those researchers could still walk when you were done.” Rees chuckled. “It wasn’t pretty.” He sobered. “You’ve been a damn good friend to me, Rio, especially when I needed it.” He glanced at Talan across the room. “I know, I’m a sweetheart.” Rio saw Nella approaching, and held out his hand for her. “When we settle down in our palace, we’ll get you and Talan there. Right, darlin’?” “Of course,” Nella agreed. “You and Talan are welcome anytime. I will even send a personal transport for you.” Rees nodded, but he looked skeptical, likely wondering if Nella would go through with marrying Rio and staying with him. She didn’t blame him. Rio had been treated poorly before—why should Nella be any different? “I will,” she repeated. “I promise.” Rees simply nodded again. “We’d better go. I don’t want the pilot getting antsy and taking off without you.”

***** The transport area for Canyon Roble was small, holding only two ships at a time, with a wide, flat area carved out of the desert to the east of it, in case they needed to house a third ship. A third ship sat on the flat lot now, an old model powerful enough to run from planet to nearest space station, but no farther without a rest and refueling. These XR class small freighters were far from the elegant private liners Nella took when transporting between stations, but at the moment the tiny ship looked better than the most fabulous yacht. Nella was going home. Or at least to Station 657 where Ariel had a consulate. They would arrange passage on a liner to take her to the Station 348, which was nearest Ariel. Interspace liners and freighters traveled from station to station—space stations alone having the technology to hurtle ships hundreds of light-years. Breaking free from a planet’s gravitational pull demanded so much energy that a ship was already spent once it reached an area where it could jump to light speed. Space stations had been set up outside each inhabited planet’s gravity well, so the interstellar ships could simply start there. Space stations had light speed “gates” which propelled the ship to the next station, and passengers then used sublight shuttles to move from stations to planets. Nella had traveled all over the galaxy already, although this was her first visit to Bor Narga, a long way from Ariel. She was happy to be on her way home. Rio strolled along beside her, Rees bringing up the rear. They walked casually like people out for a stroll. For appearance’s sake, they’d shopped a little in the market, in

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the middle of the village square, then wandered through the lanes that would take them toward the transports. Rees had said the three of them alone would attract less attention, but two big Shareem, even swathed in robes, could not help but attract attention. Nella, too, was covered by robes, a hood drawn up over her beacon-red hair. The townspeople no doubt speculated about her, wondering what kind of woman would walk around openly with Shareem. Nella did not care, as long as no one stopped them getting aboard the transport. As they made their way through a crowded, narrow artery of a street, crammed between canyon walls, someone stepped in front of Nella and yanked the hood from her head. It was Linginian. Nella stared at him in shock, and he stared back in almost as much shock. Dimly she remembered that her eyes had changed color. He looked the same as always, black hair close-cropped, dark eyes narrow in a pale, narrow face. “I found you,” he announced. Rio stepped between him and Nella. At the same time, the street suddenly emptied of townspeople and filled again with patrollers in desert-colored coveralls, joining Linginian’s men, who were in gray. “Shareem,” said the tall leader of the patrollers. “Tell me, what is your interest in the transport ships?” Rio said nothing. He rested a hand on Nella’s shoulder, and she felt his calming Shareem touch slide through her panic. The patrol captain’s eyes narrowed. “Answer me, Shareem. Or I have permission to terminate you right here.” Nella found her voice. “You would kill him for walking through a street?” “I would kill him for breaking the rules and trying to leave the planet. He’s Shareem. He’s only allowed to live if he proves he’s not a threat.” Nella bristled. She knew this was no time to talk about Bor Nargan politics, but the woman’s treatment of Rio annoyed her. “He is no threat to you. Or to anyone.” “Hey, don’t ruin my reputation for being dangerous, baby,” Rio said, voice tight. “This man should be arrested, in any case,” Linginian said, “for kidnapping.” “He did not kidnap me,” Nella said. “That was you.” “We were Bonded. I was only taking what was rightfully mine.” “The Bond never manifested, no matter how much you tried,” Nella snapped. “My Bond-mate is standing next to me.” She put her hand on Rio’s, where it lay on her shoulder, feeling the shimmer of what was between them. “Yeah, so back off,” Rio growled. “There’s nothing in the rules about a Shareem taking a stroll through the market with his Bond-mate.” “You are forbidden to marry,” the patroller said automatically.

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“And aren’t you just grateful about that?” Rio asked. Nella wondered why he was acting so nonchalant and badass, then she realized that Rees had disappeared. He’d slid away as soon as the street filled with patrollers. Rio was buying time for Rees to do whatever he would do. Rio looked Linginian over from head to toe. The Shareem easily towered over every person in the crowd, including the tall patrollers and Linginian’s men. “He thought he was good enough to be your Bond-mate?” He poked Linginian in the chest. “He feels wimpy to me.” Linginian’s men instantly trained weapons on Rio. The patrol captain glared at them, outraged. “No firearms allowed in public places on Bor Narga.” The stone-faced guards did nothing, but Linginian made a placating gesture. “Let’s follow the lady’s rules. No one looks like much of a threat here.” Rio’s lips twitched, listening to Linginian insult Bor Nargan’s patrollers, who all carried stun rods and did not look one bit happy. Linginian’s men at least put away their weapons. “You should arrest him for being stupid,” Rio commented. “Now, can we be on our way? Our friends are expecting us home for lunch.” “Nella is coming with me,” Linginian said coolly. Rio changed from quiet annoyance to animalistic strength in an instant. He had Linginian’s throat in his hand before the patrollers or Linginian’s men could react. “She’s not going anywhere with the man who tried to force her and then kill her.” Whatever the patrol captain felt about open weapons, she hated aggressive Shareem even more. She raised her stun rod. “Get away from him.” The rod came down. Rio spun Linginian in his grip, letting Linginian catch the stun rod full against his back. The smaller man screamed, his body jerking with the electric shock. His men drew weapons again. Rio tossed Linginian at the lead patroller, grabbed Nella’s hand, dove through an opening in the startled patrollers and ran. His hand was like a band around Nella’s, his strength pulling her faster than she’d have been able to run herself. She heard pursuit behind them, patrollers shouting, Linginian’s men pounding along the street. Rio dragged Nella around a corner, through the crowded market, and out through another street, this one quiet and deserted. It fed into the open area where the third ship waited. Rees waited as well. The ship’s engines had started, filling the air with a roaring sound and the smell of burning fuel. “I got him to wait, but he’s in a big hurry,” Rees said as they neared him. “He didn’t like the patrollers suddenly appearing.”

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“He didn’t like it?” Rio said. “How does he think I feel?” He softened his grip on Nella’s hand but did not let go. They followed Rees quickly toward the transport. Three light bolts and two metal bullets flew past them, striking the dirt around them and sending up little rivulets of dust. “Fuck,” Rio snarled and ran faster. Shots came again, this time striking the ship. Behind her, Rees grunted, and Nella turned in time to see him clasp his shoulder, red leaking between his fingers. “Rees!” “Go on!” Rees shouted. Rio dragged her onward, his face set. He ran behind the ship just as a barrage of shot pelted it. Because of the ship’s spaceworthy hull, the bullets did nothing more than flake off bits of paint. Then the boom of a pulse cannon sounded, and the ship shuddered and shook. A hiss of air exploded from a plate that spiraled out and landed with a metallic clang. The pilot, a lanky man who was not Bor Nargan, appeared in the hatch, swearing and looking around wildly. He spotted Linginian’s men, all ten of them, winding up the cannon for another shot. “Shit,” the pilot said. “Are you the cargo?” “That’s us,” Rio said. “I suggest we go, fast.” “Only one of you, now. That shot blew out the oxygen system. We’ll have to use enviro-suits and there’s only one spare.” “Then we have to go get Rees and get back to Rylan’s,” Nella panted, her legs shaking. “No,” Rio said. “You get on the transport and go.” She shook her head. “Not without you.” “You have to. I can deal with the patrollers. You need to be safe.” She clung to his robes, feeling his firm body beneath them. “But they’ll arrest you. You’ll never get off Bor Narga.” “There isn’t time to argue,” he said, his face harsh. “Go. I’ll be fine.” Rio scooped her against him and kissed her, hard. She let her lips cling to his, wanting him, hungry for him, the Bond screaming to not let him go. She knew he felt it too, because pain flared in his eyes. He set her on her feet and swatted her backside. “Get on that transport, princess.” The Bond cried out, pulling her. “Rio.” “You have to do this, Nella. It’s your only chance to be safe.” She knew he was right. If she went back to Rylan’s, Linginian would find them. She could tell the Bor Nargan patrollers who she was, but she had no proof of her identity, and they’d likely argue that she would be better off with Linginian than a Shareem, in any case. 135

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But leaving Rio behind scared her. Not only was she leaving a part of herself, Rio might not escape the wrath of the patrollers. It would take time for her to get back to Ariel and arrange help for him. And by that time… “I love you,” she said. “I love you too, sweetheart. Now go.” He held her gaze with his hot, intense eyes. “Trust me.” Nella smiled weakly, touched her fingers to his lips, then spun around and ran for the hatch of the transport. It snapped shut as soon as she was inside, closing off the heat, Bor Narga, Rio’s face—and the tears in his Shareem-blue eyes.

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Chapter Sixteen The Gallery of Light

“Don’t move, Shareem,” the patrol captain said. Rio ignored her. He watched the small ship climb up and up through Bor Narga’s perfect, blue, cloudless sky. The Bond between himself and Nella pulled at him, hurting like nothing else ever had. The captain and her patrollers surrounded Rio. At the edge of the field, the outraged Linginian watched as his men were arrested for carrying weapons in a public place. Not only that, but for shooting at people—even Shareem—and a transport ship. Bor Nargans took their weapons laws very seriously. “Go on, arrest me,” Rio said, looking at the patrol captain’s flat, angry face. “I really don’t care.”

***** The patrollers did arrest Rio, and he spent the night in a tiny cell with a surprisingly comfortable bed, fresh paint on the walls, cool, well-circulated air and a computer slot that provided exactly one meal. Rio sat on the bed, leaning his back against the wall and did not eat. He wasn’t hungry, and he’d not lied to the patroller. He truly did not care. He stayed in the cell only one night and was released the next day, while reporter bots circled the small trial house. It seemed that the patrollers could not produce one shred of evidence that Rio had been planning to take the transport off-world. He had been escorting Nella to the transport, that was all, and Nella, as a non-Shareem, could come and go as she pleased. The judge, a thin woman with a long nose, had found out all about Linginian, including the bulletin from Ariel that he was wanted for kidnapping Princess Nella. Alarmed, she made recommendations for him to be expedited to Ariel for them to deal with. Plus she charged him an enormous fine for instructing his men to fire weapons in the quiet town of Canyon Roble. Rio wasn’t sure how Rees and Talan had covered things to make it look like Rio wasn’t going anywhere, but they had. He walked back with them from the trial house to Rylan’s, knowing he should be grateful, but feeling only numb. In Rylan’s living room, he stood staring out the huge glass windows, wondering whether Nella and the transport had made it to Station 657, and wondering if she’d send word to him when she did.

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Rees, Rylan and Maia left him alone. Rio know that pain radiated from him, and being Shareem, they would be sensitive to his emotion, feeling it too. Not that he minded. He really wanted to be alone. Talan, however, did not let anything stop her. She entered the sitting room behind him, the soft scent of her perfume and her light step alerting him to her presence. “If you came to feel sorry for me, don’t bother,” he said, keeping his voice as calm as he could. That’s all he needed, to turn into a whining fool. “I do feel sorry for you.” Talan came around him, blocking his view of the canyon, her blue eyes filled with sorrow. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him, hard. Level threes don’t hug, he wanted to say. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder. There was nothing sexual about this caress, it was friendship alone. “You love her,” Talan said. “Yeah. Damn it all.” Talan released him, keeping her hands on his shoulders. “She loves you. She’ll come back for you.” “Maybe.” “Or you can go to Ariel. I’m perfectly happy to pay for another transport for you. Rees can arrange it.” Rio gently removed her hands from his shoulders. “Not for a while, he can’t. The patrollers will be watching me extra close, because they know I was up to something. They’ll watch you and Rees too. I don’t need him getting terminated for helping me.” “Rees knows how to work it so he won’t get caught—” “No.” Rio gave her an emphatic look. “We need to lay low for a while. I need to think about things.” Talan nodded, though he knew she had not dropped the idea. “You’ll see her again, Rio,” Talan said. “Sure thing.” He tried to sound like he believed it. “You will.” She patted his arm, then turned to leave the room. “Trust me.”

***** Days lengthened to weeks, and Nella made no contact with Bor Narga. Rio knew she had returned to Ariel, because days after her departure, a news digital showed her, garbed in a filmy golden gown that clung to her curves, waving from a balcony with two older people who must be her parents. A tinny voice from the digital feed said, After three harrowing months, Princess Nella of Ariel has at last returned safely to her family in her home city of Adrina. She had apparently

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been kidnapped and held hostage by a man called Lord Linginian, who has been arrested and transported to an incarceration satellite to await trial. Princess Nella escaped, unharmed, and using only the resources of her courage and intelligence, fled assassin bots to arrive safely on her home planet, to the relief and joy of her family. Rio recorded the digital feed and played it over and over again, muting the inane voice and watching Nella. In the picture, she emerged onto a balcony between her parents, her beautiful face serene, her eyes emerald green and tearing with emotion. She lifted her plump hand and waved at the people gathered to cheer her, looking so damn beautiful that his Shareem cock hardened. From watching a recording of her light-years away, for the gods’ sakes. At least Rio did not have to worry for her safety. She was home in her big palace with her family and all her guards. She’d be going to parties, the news people said, held in her honor. They speculated that there’d be plenty of men at those parties, and wedding bells might ring soon for the heroic and beautiful Princess Nella. “Meanwhile,” Rio said, waving his hand to dissolve the holo-picture, “her Shareem former lover gets drunk and sappy thinking about what might have been.” Rio had come home to d’Enela Street and Kamile’s shop and his own small flat cluttered with bondage paraphernalia. Not that he felt much like using any of it. But Shareem had to have sex, or at least release, or they burned up from the inside out. Six weeks after Nella’s departure, Rio showered himself, then stood naked in front of a slim mirror in his front room. He was still tall, still muscular, and still hung like the Bor Nargan god of love and sex. Only bigger. “I’m Rio,” he told himself. “There are dozens of women out there who’d give anything to suck this cock. Three of them at a time, even.” His cock was supposed to leap at the thought of three beautiful women on their knees licking him—maybe two in front and one behind. But not until one of them smiled at him with Nella’s smile and looked at him with Nella’s enhanced green eyes did it start to lift. “Damn,” he said, and deflated again. “I need to finish this,” he told his reflection. “No more nights with just me and a butt plug. It’s just sad.” His reflection nodded back at him. “And what’s even sadder,” he observed, “is me standing here, naked, talking to a mirror.” He turned away, dressed in his usual leather, tucked what he needed into his pockets, hung his breather on his belt and went to Judith’s. Aiden and Ky were there. Rio sat down with them, glad he could at least spend the evening with friends. Of course, Aiden knew Nella, and the man kept shooting Rio sympathetic glances, which didn’t help.

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Aiden and Ky were still full of themselves over how they’d diverted the patrollers’ attention so Rio could get to Canyon Roble without fuss. Rio didn’t blame them for the patrollers catching up to him—that had been Linginian’s fault. The three Shareem talked and drank for a time. Ky got up and approached the bar for more ale, his tight leather-clad ass attracting the attention of every woman in the room. “You tell him yet?” Rio asked Aiden. Aiden’s face remained neutral, but Rio detected a flicker of unhappiness. “No. And you’re not going to.” Rio lifted his hands. “Hey, I can keep a secret.” “I don’t want him to be uncomfortable around me. If I can’t have anything more, then I at least want things to stay as they are.” “I’m not uncomfortable talking to you, and I know about your longings,” Rio said. “But I’m not lusting after you.” “You have a point.” Aiden turned his ale glass absently. “On the other hand, Ky and I were thinking about giving Judith a birthday present. A double-Shareem present.” “Is it her birthday?” “I don’t know. Who cares? Why don’t you join us? She’d love it—she really likes you.” “Three on Judith?” Rio waited. Nope, the cock didn’t move. Crap. “Every time I do anything with Judith, she yells at me for weeks about how sore she is.” Aiden grinned, his perfect face sliding into it usual, handsome lines. “Notice she never complains during the activities that make her sore?” Rio chuckled. “Yeah, I noticed that.” “What’s so funny?” Ky thunked three glasses on the table with his brawny hands as he sat down. “Us on Judith,” Aiden said. Ky flashed a smile, showing white teeth in his swarthy face. Rio supposed Ky was sexy, not that he’d ever thought about it. Ky had an unpredictable quality—a lady never knew whether he was going to caress her or go for his whip. “I’ve been hankering for a good ménage,” Ky said. “You with us, Rio?” “Sure.” Rio drank the ale, letting the strong alcohol tingle his tongue. He was certain his cock would start working better once he got into a Shareem-filled room with the willing Judith spread and wet before them. It had better start working, anyway. He’d die if the other two thought he couldn’t get it up because he was whining about a woman. See what happens when you’re not careful? his inner voice told him. A love bond. Right. She just wanted to get into your pants, cock-brain. 140

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Oh, shut up. He had felt what she termed the Bond with her. When he’d entered her fully for the first time, it had wrapped itself around him, binding him to her as sure as any manacles or chains. He thought he could still feel it now, and if anything, since she’d been gone, it had increased. “Rio.” He looked up to see Rees standing in front of him. Rees’ face was calm, but his eyes glittered with suppressed emotion. “Follow me and don’t say anything,” Rees said. Rio got to his feet in one swift move, sliding his ale glass back to the table. Aiden seemed to know what was up, because he said, “Take care of yourself, Rio.” Ky nodded at him, his eyes steady. Rees led Rio to the alcove that housed Judith’s call console and the bathrooms. As they passed Judith, Rees snaked his hand around Judith’s wrist and pulled her along with them. Anyone in the bar would think that the two Shareem and Judith were going in the back for a little fun. Down a dusty, narrow hall was Judith’s back door, and she unlocked it for them. She suddenly flung her arms around Rio’s neck and kissed him on the mouth. “I’ll miss you, Rio.” She hugged him again, hard, then waited until the two had slipped into the alley before locking the door behind him. Rio’s heart beat fast, but he did not say a word. He and Rees moved quickly and quietly through alleys shadowed by the setting sun, but not so dark they couldn’t see where they were going. They went all the way to the docklands in silence, then Rees motioned Rio into a rundown landing bay. A small ship stood in the center of it, its body dwarfed by engines huge enough to boost it out of the planet’s gravity. Rees clapped him on the shoulders. “You packed?” Rio took a small bag from his leather tunic that held all the money he had, his whip, and his manacles. “All the essentials.” “Good. The contact’s waiting on Station 657. Now get the hell out of here.” Rio tucked the bag away and clasped Rees’ hand. “You’re a good friend, Rees.” “I know.” “Tell Talan goodbye for me. Give her a great, big—” “Kiss?” Rees’ eyes sparked. “Smack on the ass. In a loving way.” He squeezed Rees’ hand again, wondering if this would be the last time he saw the big hunk of genetic experiment. “Go on, get out of here,” Rees said.

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Rio glanced at the ship, the thing that would lift him off Bor Narga forever. “Hey, what if it turns out I’m afraid to fly?” “Tough shit.” Rees shoved him gently. “Shareem can’t feel fear. Good thing, right?” “Yeah, just great.” As he eyed the transport in trepidation, the door opened and he saw something that wiped out all his worries. A woman stood in the doorway, cloaked and hooded in the Bor Nargan style, but Rio knew every inch of the form underneath and his Shareem hormones sat up and started raging. “Damn,” he whispered. Rees clasped his shoulder. “She contacted Talan a few nights ago, and they arranged this between them. She’s got Ariel ready to welcome you with open arms— which took some doing, she said. They don’t let just anyone in.” Rio stared at the transport and Nella, and back to his friend, who had a grin on his hard Shareem face. “You arranged all this without letting me in on it?” Rees’ grin grew into a wide smile. “We wanted to surprise you.” “You asshole.” “Yep.” Rees planted his fist gently on Rio’s back. “Now get out of here before some patroller figures it out and shoots you.” “Right.” Rio started walking forward, drawn to Nella like he was tethered to her, but after two steps turned back. “Thank you.” Rees shrugged. “The ladies did it. I’m just the messenger.” “Sure. Kiss Talan for me.” He grinned and winked. “I’ll take care of Nella.” Rees laughed. Suddenly light of heart, Rio pivoted and ran toward the transport. He was going to miss Rees, but his pull to Nella couldn’t be denied. Maybe Nella could bully the government into letting Rees and Talan—heck, all his Shareem friends—move to Ariel. First things first. As Rio crossed the landing bay, no patrollers sprang out of nowhere to arrest him, terminate him or hang up his body as an example to other Shareem. There was just Nella, waiting for him in the doorway. He caught her in his arms and pushed her inside, closing his eyes as he pulled her body against his, her scent filling him. Her hood fell back, revealing her brilliant red hair, which glistened in the strong sunlight of Bor Narga before the door shut on them both. Rio held her close, his heart thumping with joy and excitement and relief. She was crying, tears streaking silently down her beautiful face from her bright green eyes. He wiped away the moisture with his thumb. “Hey, baby,” he said, his lips grazing hers. She tasted so damn good. “Miss me?”

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They couldn’t kiss as much as Rio wanted, because the captain, a small, rather wizened man, instructed them to sit down in the tiny cabin and ready themselves for takeoff. Nella showed Rio how to secure himself to a chair with protective webbing, her hands and loose hair brushing his body as she clasped the straps around him. Nothing wrong with his cock now. It was hard and stiff, rising firmly against the leather. But he couldn’t do anything about it right this minute. The ship shuddered suddenly, like it was having an orgasm, then Rio felt the press of the floor into his feet as the ship lifted swiftly from the transport bay. “Are you all right?” Nella asked him from her seat. Her accent was as sexy as ever, her Bor Nargan not quite right, but oh-so charming. “Sure, I’m fine.” Rio gripped the arms of the chair, hoping his terror didn’t show on his face, and she laughed at him. The planet dropped away alarmingly in the view screen, giving him vertigo. The jagged edges of Bor Narga, where he’d lived all his life, smoothed out, becoming less threatening and harsh. He could see the grayish blob that was Pas City, and then the cut of canyons far across the desert in which lay Rylan’s home. Black started to swallow the blue of the desert sky, and stars pricked through. They were leaving the atmosphere, leaving Bor Narga’s pull. “Free,” Rio murmured. The word tasted strange. Free to follow his dreams and the nebulous pull of a Bond that led to the woman beside him. “What?” Nella asked him over the roar of engines, smiling her beautiful smile. “Nothing,” Rio answered. “Just talking to myself.”

***** It was another beautiful day in Adrina, on Ariel. The Gallery of Light, an ancient hall at the back of the palace, swirled with color, sun shining through windows of blue, yellow, green and crimson glass. Two days after her return to Ariel with Rio, Nella entered the room, happy to steal a few minutes away from reporters, and gazed out at the vast, blooming gardens behind the palace. As soon as they’d touched down in Ariel, the palace medics had descended on Rio and hauled him off to check him over for off-planet diseases or other oddities that might affect the population. Every person who wanted citizenship on Ariel had to go through the process, but Nella, aware of what people had done to Rio at DNAmo, worried. Would he grow angry and want to leave Ariel, to go anywhere they wouldn’t poke needles into him? Now that he was free of Bor Narga, maybe he’d want to explore the vast universe and all its wonders. Women of every planet would welcome him with open arms.

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If he wanted to go, she thought, forcing herself to be brave, she’d let him. He’d taught her about trust and friendship and even love, and in return, she would give him the gift of freedom, whether or not he wanted to share it with her. When she discussed their future, she’d be cool and neutral, not clinging and emotional. They’d been some time apart, and his feelings for her might have changed. She would not obligate him to her—she would even release him from the Bond if he wished. He could do as he pleased, go where he liked. It was the least she could do. “Hey, I like this room,” a deep voice sounded behind her. “Nice and big.” Nella whirled. Rio stood in the middle of the floor in his shining black leather, the sun through the glass bathing him in rainbow colors. His black hair was scraped back from his face, and he wore a smile as warm as sin, his Shareem-blue eyes glinting. Nella felt the Bond, sure and strong, stretching between her and him, all the way across the room. She dashed across the marble tiles and hurled her arms around his neck. Cool and neutral? a voice inside her snickered. He caught her in his strong arms, and spun around with her, the blue of his irises widening. “Are you all right?” she babbled. “I didn’t want them to pester you, but the medics have rules, and I worried…” “Shh.” He slid his hands over her form-hugging gold tunic and leggings and unerringly found the fastenings. “I’m used to being poked and prodded.” Her tunic loosened and began to slide down her body. “I did it for you, sweetheart. After all, you’re the princess, and I’m the Shareem. You tell me what you want—anything you want—and I’ll do it.” His eyes held a wicked gleam. “I want you to stay with me.” She kissed him. “And marry me.” He pretended to gave her a casual look, but he was shaking. “I already said yes to that. What else do you want?” “I want you to teach me, and fuck me, and kiss me, and train me to be yours.” He laughed. “One thing at a time, beautiful.” He covered her mouth with a brutal kiss while his hands pulled her garment swiftly from her. He caught her breasts in his hands, while she clutched him, returning his frenzied kisses with her own. Her leggings came off, and he shoved his own down with one hand, exposing his huge, randy cock. They went down onto the cold marble, he raising her hips high, positioning himself with speed and ease. “Get ready, sweetheart,” he said, then he entered her. Huge and full, he went inside her, and it was a sweet, sweet stretching. With one hand he stroked her pussy, already full of cream, until she bucked and squeezed around him, kneading his cock and gripping it tight. He pumped into her, both of them too needy to take it slow. Slow would be later, when he’d braid her hair out of the way, then manacle her hands and feed her his cock. 144

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She’d gladly bend over the bed for him while he took his strap to her ass, then he’d massage her until she was loose enough to take his cock there. But for now, it was hard, fast sex, both of them wanting and needing so bad. Too fast, way too fast, Nella came, screaming, her nails finding purchase in his flesh. Not many seconds later, he groaned his own coming, and his seed shot hot inside her. “I love you, Rio,” she whispered hoarsely. “Love you too, baby,” he said, his voice as broken as hers. “I’ve known that a long time.” He grinned. “You know what I didn’t know? I really hate space travel.” She laughed, naked under him, the marble floor cooling her hot skin. He was truly hers, growling and snarky and laughing and hers. “So when do we get married?” Rio asked, nuzzling her cheek. “This Bond thing is telling me to hurry up.” “Right away. Tomorrow, if you want.” “Good. We’ll do it fast, then break it to your mother and father that you Bonded with a Shareem.” “They will already know,” Nella said, laughing. “Everything that happens in the Gallery of Light is broadcast throughout the palace. It will probably be all over the news feeds by morning.” “Shit,” Rio said, then he grinned. “Good thing I’ve got a great ass.” “It’s beautiful.” “Glad you like it. Now, is there somewhere a little more private we can go to fuck some more?” “My bedroom.” He rose, sinuous as a cat, and unembarrassed, pulled up his leggings and helped her to her feet. “Sounds good to me, princess,” he said. “Let’s go.”

***** Much later, when the palace was bathed in darkness, Rio and Nella lay naked on her bed and gazed up through the transparent ceiling to the night sky. Stars pricked the blackness, thick like a swirl of jewels. “It’s beautiful,” he murmured. “I love it.” “You made me free, Nella,” he said. “Thank you.” “It won’t be easy,” she began. He touched her lips. “Like anything in my life up to now has been easy. We’re together, and we’re staying that way.” “That is one command I do not mind obeying.”

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He raised up on his elbow, his wicked eyes darkening. “Oh? What were you planning to disobey?” Nella felt a warm flutter in her abdomen. The sex they’d had since they’d come upstairs had been frantic, but it had been straightforward, no level three Shareem games. “I do not know yet,” she said. He smiled, slow and hot. “I left most of my accoutrements behind, but I’ve seen things in these quarters that I can use—like that table in the outer room with the balls and the rings.” “You are supposed to knock as many balls of your color through the rings as you can.” “Hmm, I can think of lots of ways that game could be played. I’m hoping we can get plenty of lube from somewhere too.” “I bought some oils when I got home,” Nella said. “Nothing like Aiden’s, though.” Rio slid his hand across her breasts. “Good enough. And as always, I have manacles, and of course, my whip. Maybe we can pretend that I am a wicked space pirate and you are my princess captive.” She smiled up at his hard, handsome face, her heart beating faster. “I thought level two was games and play.” “Well, I can borrow ideas. I think I’ll make my captive do all kinds of things, including climax when I say, but only when I say. And if she’s bad, and disobeys…” “What?” Nella asked, her excitement escalating. “What happens?” He rolled over her, pinning her strong body with his. “She bares her pretty ass and gets spanked. And maybe fucked—if I want to. But you’d always obey me, wouldn’t you?” He was smiling, his eyes as hot and blue as ever. She might love him, she might be Bonded with him, she might make him a man of Ariel, but he was still Rio. “Well,” she said, putting a finger to her lips. “Maybe.” He growled. “Let’s find out, sweetheart.” He leaned over the side of the bed, rummaging in his clothes, and pulled out his thin manacles. She shivered as the cool metal touched her wrists, the catches clicking closed. He touched his folded leather strap to her lips. “Do you want this, Nella?” His breath was hot, smelling of spice, his eyes filling with dark blue. “You have to tell me. It’s your choice. On, or off?” Nella gazed up at him, her heart ready to burst with happiness and excitement. He was hers, and he wanted her, and he was about to make her completely and wonderfully his. “On,” she said, then squealed in delight as he hauled her to him and began to kiss her.

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About the Author Allyson James is yet one more name for a woman who has racked up four pseudonyms in the first two years of her career. She often cannot remember what her real name is and has to be tapped on the shoulder when spoken to. Allyson began writing at age eight (a five-page story that actually contained goal, motivation, and conflict). She learned the trick of standing her math book up on her desk so she could write stories behind it. She wrote love stories before she knew what romances were, dreaming of the day when her books would appear at libraries and bookstores. At age thirty, she decided to stop dreaming and do it for real. She published the first short story she ever submitted in a national print magazine, which gave her the false illusion that getting published was easy. After a long struggle and inevitable rejections, she at last sold a romance novel, then, to her surprise, sold several mystery novels, more romances, and then Romantica™ to Ellora’s Cave. She has been nominated for two Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice awards and has had starred reviews in Booklist and Top Pick reviews in Romantic Times. Allyson met her soulmate in fencing class (the kind with swords, not posts-andrails). She looked down the length of his long, throbbing rapier and fell madly in love. Allyson welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310-3502.

Also by Allyson James Christmas Cowboy Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis I anthology Tales of the Shareem: Maia and Rylan Tales of the Shareem: Rees

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