She bit her lip thoughtfully, “Yes, mine as well. I supposed you couldn’t feel that happen because your captivation magic is entirely passive in nature. So?”

  At her last questioning word I realized I hadn’t answered her question, “I’d love to join your workouts and get to know you better, and while my tennis might be rusty my speed will likely compensate well enough.”

  The friendship of course would be temporary, and I’d try to keep that firmly in mind. She was going on a vacation and leaving her title behind, pretending to be a simple beautiful woman if a rich one, but at the end of the month she’d be the Prelate Apparent and Duchess Fiona again. It was a vacation from reality and would be a friendship based and possible only in that fantasy world. She might remain fond of me, but our friendship will have run its course upon our return. It’s not like I could still come by for movie nights and booty calls, after all.

  I wasn’t being negative, or a pessimist, that was just realistic.

  I shook my head at that last thought of booty calls, which was a bit presumptuous, and despite our insane level of chemistry I still wasn’t sure if was the best idea ever to sleep with her. My cock was talking fast though, clearly trying to change my mind.

  She grinned, “I’ll try to go easy on you.”

  I laughed, “Oh, I’ll work hard for it.”

  It was only after her eyes started to dance that I realized the subtle alternate meanings of those flirty sentences. I hadn’t even consciously meant to flirt back, but she was clearly delighted by my apparent boldness, when in truth I’d just been being clueless. Well, sometimes a man just had to take the win, even if it wasn’t entirely earned. It also relaxed me a bit, she didn’t want deference from me, she got enough of it from everyone else in the temple.

  It’d also brought the sexual tension up another notch, and her gorgeously expressive light green eyes captivated me enough that I forgot there were twenty-one others in the room with us for a whole three seconds.

  She said, “When the test is done, I’ll have Millie sort you out. Clothes, armor, and suitably concealable weapons. As the companion of a spoiled rich woman, you’re going to have to look the part.”

  I nodded, “I expected that, Fi.”

  I had my nicest clothes in the duffel which I’d planned to put on at the hotel I never got to, but I hadn’t expected them to do for more than our first meeting, before she dressed me like a rich fop. It was a deep cover protection detail mission, so of course I had to look and act the part of her rich spoiled man friend. Honestly, I hated the idea, but again, saying no and turning down the assignment wasn’t something I could afford to do, no matter how tempting it was to walk away.

  Still, meeting Fiona had me doubting that, maybe a month with her was worth the danger to my career. My cock seemed to think so, anyway.

  Her eyes flashed at my nickname presumption, but then her lips twitched, “Fi works, if you wish it. It might even improve my cover, since no one would dare call me that.”

  Millie pressed her lips together in disapproval, but she kept her silence.

  Fiona asked, “Can you dance?”

  I nodded, “I did mention being raised by a gaggle of females, didn’t I?”

  Fiona laughed, “So you did, Damien. Are you hungry, any food requirements?”

  I shook my head, “I have no allergies or moral objections to any foods. I can wait for the dinner hour, but I wouldn’t object to joining you in an afternoon snack.”

  Fiona turned to one of the guards, “See to it.”

  The guard stiffened, then walked outside.

  Millie tutted.

  Fiona sighed, “It’s been a challenge. They don’t seem to realize I’m merely choosing the correct tool for the job, one that the temple guard is not trained or suited for. You’re trained for undercover work, infiltration, and spy craft, and your magic makes you uniquely qualified to protect me from the current looming threat out in public. Moreover, it was my father’s decision, yet they insist on this hostile formality with me,” she turned to Millie, “If they’re going to act like little boys that are butt hurt then I’m going to treat them that way.”

  Millie said evenly, “Yes, your grace.”

  Fiona rolled her eyes, and then made an obvious effort to control herself.

  I wasn’t getting the impression she was spoiled. I was getting the impression she was truly hurt by the way they were treating her with distant formality and games. The temple guard had been around her all her life, and she’d probably grown fond of them over the years and their cool formality probably felt like a slap in the face. They were just on the edge of the line, so they couldn’t be accused of being disobedient or disrespectful.

  She was right too, they were acting like butthurt assholes, like she’d rejected them, instead of looking at it logically.

  She smiled at me, “So, any questions or objections to the itinerary.”

  I hadn’t been expecting that question, it’d been my hope to get to know her better before that was addressed, like in five to ten days.

  I said honestly, “My only concern is with the final destination, if you’re outed while there it could be devastating to your reputation, even if we do suppress the evidence. The others on the list seem to be safe enough, and while the travel itinerary is tight, the station visits are open enough to compensate for travel delays. That all looks good.”

  She said, “Good. We can speak of that one concern later.”

  I got the impression it wasn’t an argument she wanted to have in front of the guards right now.

  The guard she’d sent out came back in a moment later, and it was a few minutes after that when a servant arrived with a silver serving cart. It was covered in petite fours and an iced bottle of white wine. I also didn’t fail to notice her hum a few notes under her breath, and they were different from the notes she’d been using to counter my power every few minutes. I suspected she was testing for poison.

  The food was delicious, and while I preferred scotch or specifically bourbon, I could take or leave wine and it was at least good.

  The awkwardly heated sexual tension and chemical attraction between us continued to strengthen for the hour, but it became obvious to me that her head wasn’t at all affected by it, not directly at least. She didn’t become fixated on me, not in an empty-headed Stepford way at any rate, and her power also seemed to counter my ability on the female guards.

  In hindsight the signs had already been there. None of them had been intimidated with my presence in the least, from what I’d noticed anyway.

  So, it was a complete success. So much so that my little head started to win the argument, the opportunity to become friends and lovers with a woman that wouldn’t turn into a braindead stalker was an opportunity I’d never had before. The only negative of course, was she was the next in line for freaking Prelate.

  Fiona smiled, “Perfect, I suspected it would go well but one can never be sure with magic until it’s practically tested. Millie will take care of you and show you to your room where you can wash up, I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

  “Looking forward to it, Fi.”

  She bit her lip, “Me too. I… apologize, for how awkwardly we got started and how you were treated. It shouldn’t have happened.”

  With that little surprise, being apologized to by a duchess, she swept from the room and the guards took off as well.

  Millie got up, and I stood as well.

  “Follow me, Agent Bane.”

  I nodded in understanding that our relationship would be formal, and then waved for her to lead the way.

  She took me to the armory first, where I was given a full bodysuit that was concealable armor, which was made from a carbon nano-weave and was mixed with other advanced materials science. It was only two millimeters thick and as light as silk. I’d heard of it before, but it cost as much as my ship’s engines so hadn’t considered ever owning one. It would stop blunt or blade, lasers would be ineffective as well unless I was hit in the head of course. Enough laser hits would eventually degrade the armor, but only if I was stupid enough to stand there and let them shoot me. It’d afford me more than enough time to find cover, it would also let me bodily protect the duchess from a laser attack if necessary, without sacrificing my life.

  It was tougher than my old outer armor, and it was designed to be completely concealable. The only downside was there was no silver in it. My old armor had silver, to a purpose, it was my last defense if a vampire actually got its hands on me. My whole torso could explode in cleansing fire even if my arm was pinned down. Of course, compromises had to be made for the mission parameters, I’d just have to make sure that didn’t happen, which was easier said than done.

  Older vampires were far harder to dispatch than the baby ones, and they were much better fighters.

  The inside layer was as soft as silk, and it was meant to be worn under pants and a high buttoned collar shirt. I was also given several concealable throwing daggers and a mini-laser that would easily be palmed in my hand, but was only good for about twenty shots a charge. It was a self-defense weapon for someone that didn’t expect to be in a protracted firefight, like for a civilian who was at risk of being mugged.

  Still, it was better than nothing. I’d conceal it in my left sleave, while my rope dart was in my right sleeve. That was the one weapon I wouldn’t give up, but thanks to it being a concealed weapon I wouldn’t have to.

  The next stop was the tailor, who already had a list of clothing designs provided by the duchess. All he needed to do was take my measurements, and then plug those into the fabrication equipment. It didn’t take long at all for him to fabricate the first shirt and pants, which he gave to me on the spot.

  He said, “This will do well for your dinner tonight. The rest will be aboard ship and in your room before flight time.”

  I replied, “Thanks.”

  The last stop was for a quick trim, my hair looked well enough, but apparently wasn’t quite perfect enough to look rich or vain enough. Thankfully they didn’t press a new hairstyle on me, just… perfected the one that was only two weeks old.

  Millie took me to my guest quarters at that point, and I got to work on a bath and shave, as well as trimming my nails. I had to admit, I looked pretty damned good in the black silk shirt and fine dark gray cotton pants. There were black boots as well in my size, that I pulled on.

  The sleeves were just loose enough around the forearms to accommodate my rope dart wrist sheath and the laser on the left one. I put a throwing dagger in each boot, as well as in ankle sheaths. My sword and full-sized laser pistol would have to stay in the room, but if we ran into a big enough fight then we could always do a fighting retreat to the rest of our weapons. That wasn’t a perfect plan, but my options were limited in an undercover operation, and there was no point in whining about it, not even in my head.

  I suspected Fiona would be formidable as well, and no wall flower that would just watch me deal with trouble. She had earth magic, and her lithe body was clearly athletic and quite in shape. I’d figure out her exact capabilities on the first five-day trip in subspace.

  Regardless, I was hungry, and honestly looking forward to seeing Fiona again, when the young acolyte showed up to guide me to dinner.

  Chapter Four

  The destination was a bit of a surprise, when I was led to the duchess’s private quarters instead of a dining hall, clearly marked on my augmented reality with warnings about not entering without permission.

  The acolyte opened the door and waved me inside, she clearly wasn’t joining me, so I nodded my thanks and moved into what appeared to be a sitting room. The outer room of her suite was richly appointed but not in a pretentious or stuffy way. The white couch and loveseat had a rounded coffee table. No one was in the room, so I cleared my throat.

  A gorgeous golden blonde with sea blue eyes appeared in a lovely pink dinner dress that was half translucent, and she looked no older than eighteen like Fiona, but the resemblance was so obvious I dismissed the age part as unimportant.

  “My lady,” I said, and bowed deeply. It was her rank, as the wife of the Prelate, if I didn’t miss my guess that is, and this was Fiona’s mother and a full-blooded earth nymph fairy.

  She smiled warmly, “Fiona will be ready in a moment. I’m afraid I delayed her with my constant chatter. Call me Deidra, please.”

  She had the same warm and exuberant voice as her daughter.

  “Damien, a pleasure to meet you, Deidra.”

  She stepped closer and held out a hand, “May I?”

  I wasn’t sure what she was asking, but I wasn’t going to say no to the prelate’s wife, so I held out my hand. She took it, and I felt that same vibration in my bones, not quite as sensually captivating as Fiona’s magic, but it was enough so that I felt extremely uncomfortable about the sudden sexual tension toward the prelate’s wife.

  A little like saying the corona of the sun isn’t quite as hot as the center of it. It took all my effort not to stare at her cleavage which was suddenly rising quite a bit more sharply, and there were little beads of sweat. I wasn’t the only one to have been affected by that exchange of magic.

  She let go and blushed, “Sorry, but I thought she was exaggerating. I suspect your magic is even more of a call to Fiona.”

  I nodded, “By small degrees, yes.”

  She winked, “I will leave you two to get acquainted. You may already suspect there is more to this vacation than the veneer of a spoiled girl, because you too are supernatural. What you probably don’t realize is the temple guard have no clue, and in fact were carefully guided into believing that’s all it is. To be clear, the semi-public fights with her father, and his final annoyed acquiescence, were staged.

  “They know my daughter is half nymph, a fairy with earth magic, but they don’t really understand the full implications of that fact, nor could they possibly understand if they did. My point is, anything discussed between you two tonight in that vein needs to never leave your lips, not even in the presence of acolytes or temple guards.”

  I smiled, “I swear to be the soul of discretion.”

  Deidra looked satisfied, “Excellent. It is your background, magic, and your ability to keep secrets that is partially the reason you were chosen for this task, the threat of more assassins and their type was actually a secondary consideration. Be kind to my daughter and you will forever have earned my favor, Damien. More than you suspect is riding on this… on her exploration of self over the next month. She was also right about one other thing, you are quite a delightful eyeful.”

  With that disturbingly flirty if flattering observation, she winked and practically danced out of the door.

  I shook my head, and considered sitting down, but before I did Fiona appeared in a dark red cocktail dress. It didn’t so much reveal her figure as completely accentuate it. I loved her sexy lithe petiteness, her curves more than womanly enough, and her breasts were pushed together and up in the dress’s support, maximizing her cleavage of which only a small part was revealed.

  Her hair was pinned up, fully revealing the beauty of her oval face, long slender neck, and her petite ears. Her full lips were naturally rosy and glistening with lip gloss, and her warm light green eyes sparkled in delight as she took me in in return.

  “You are magnificent, Fiona,” I said in honest admiration, the moment my eyes returned to hers.

  She smiled as she stepped forward and gently took my arm with her hand, moving in so close that she accidentally, or perhaps on purpose, brushed her breasts against said arm as she turned to escort me deeper into her quarters.

  “You clean up better than I expected, and my expectations had been high. Not Fi?”

  I grinned down at her, “Fi, unless I’m delivering compliments. Needs the full name for full impact.”

  She giggled, her eyes warm and just as admiring. Her hand on me and her body rubbing against mine with every step had a powerful influence on our level of sexual tension, and our chemical attraction was just as high as ever.

  She led me through the living room, and then through a dining room, into a kitchen. The kitchen lighting was low, and there was a candle on the small nook three chair kitchen table which had a white tablecloth and settings for two.

  The food was already on the table and still steaming, a Cornish game hen, corn pudding, and mashed potatoes. There was also a string bean casserole. Most surprising was I could see the pots and pans in the sink, Fiona had made it all herself. Well, maybe with her mother’s help but the point was still valid, that a duchess and lady had cooked for me. It was honestly boggling.

  “My mother didn’t scar you for life, I hope?”

  I laughed, “No, she was kind and welcoming. She even promised I’d be on her good side and she’d owe me if I was kind and discrete about the vacation, and more specifically what you may share with me about it on this night. The threat of the reverse was totally unspoken.”

  She giggled, “I see. Good. She can be fiercely overprotective at times, but it seems you made a good impression on her.”

  She looked almost reluctant as she let go of my arm and waved at the seat, while she circled the table, poured two glasses of wine, then sat down. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, she truly was exquisite, with an inner glow and alluring warmth that was reflected in her speaking voice and her bright green eyes.

  It was also obvious she was seducing me, hard. The way she was dressed, cooking for me, and hanging on me? What I wasn’t sure of yet was why. Though to be honest, my cock didn’t care, but my higher mind had questions.

  She bit her lip, “Might as well dive in. You know nymphs have a reputation for being… well nymphomaniacs.”

  I nodded.

  She tilted her head, “We are, but most humans would see that as a character defect, or a mental problem. Nymphomania in a human female is a mental imbalance. For us however, it’s quite natural, and required for a healthy state of mind.”

  “I can see that. I suspected it even, when I saw the last destination, that this is about you finding, defining, and gaining control of your sexual appetites.”