“Sera, talk to me, damn it!”

  “You said you couldn’t hear me unless I let you in!” At least her anger at Ash helped her to get past the nausea.

  “Not usually. But I can break through the link if I need to. In an emergency.”

  “I can’t do this right now, Ash. Don’t push me. I’ve had quite enough for one day and we need to hold my cover.”

  But before he could say anything else, Kira cleared her throat as she spoke to Brandt, looking Ash up and down as she did. Her lip curled as she took Sera in.

  “I’m here with Perry.” She jerked her head toward the watery version of Ash who stood next to her, eying Sera like he was a hungry animal. “We’ve been at Ceres and are on our way back home. What are you two doing here?”

  “We’re here to see the lights. We knew it would be something Sela enjoyed.”

  “Sela? I suppose that’s the name of your little plaything? Or, is she Brandt’s? Ash, really, you need to get over it already and re-marry.”

  Sera felt better when she dug her nails into Ash’s hand and he winced. Brandt took a step back to Sera’s side, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

  “Her name is Sela Carter. Sela, this is my sister, Kira Walker.”

  Kira stepped back, her hand over her chest. “Brandt! How dare you? It’s bad enough you’ve had her in my presence and she’s looking at me. I’d certainly never lower myself to speak to her.”

  Sera took a deep breath and yanked her hand free of Ash before turning and heading away. They both called to her through the link but she ignored it.

  Less than two minutes later, with the guest house in sight, Ash caught up with her, grabbing her around the waist and turning her in one easy movement. She had to fight her natural urge to defend and repel. She’d pushed it far enough by walking away but there was no way she could have continued to stand there facing that horrid woman.

  “Don’t fight me, Freka.” He didn’t bother with the link, he spoke aloud, his voice frustrated and rough against her ear as she pushed against his chest.

  “Let me go. I want to rest. I’ve had quite enough this evening.”

  “I know you have. Let’s go inside. You can’t roam freely here. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  His arm around her waist, he allowed her to turn and then propelled them to the guesthouse and through the door.

  “Where’s Brandt?” She tossed her bag and wrap on a nearby chair and kicked her shoes off. She wanted to throw them at his head but refrained.

  “I know that look on your face, Sera. You’re furious. I didn’t plan to have her come here. Why are you angry with me?”

  “You, you…there aren’t even words!”

  Sera stomped out of the room, wanting to throw something but knowing they were at least monitored on some level.

  “Brandt is having a late drink with his sister.” Ash followed her into the bedroom before she could close the door on him.

  “How nice for him. I assume her venom only kills those foreign to her instead of family.”

  Ash’s lips trembled a bit and he shook his head. “I’d love for you to rub my neck. It’s very sore.” He unbuttoned his shirt and her traitorous hormones shot to attention at the sight of his naked upper body when he took it off. He did have the good sense not to hand it to her though.

  “Hmpf.” Ignoring him, she glided into the bathroom and removed her gown before turning on the water for a nice long soak. She may not be able to yell at him but all women, even concubines, were allowed fits of temper and she was going to have one.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  She’d just stepped into the large soaking tub when Ash strode in, naked, erect and bearing glasses of wine. She slid under the water so her nipples wouldn’t show.

  “I take it you’re upset with the presence of my ex-wife. You have nothing to be jealous over.” He placed a goblet of wine at her hand and stepped into the water, hissing a moment. “You like the water too damned hot.”

  “You’re a baby. Feel free to get out and you won’t have to deal with the water temperature.”

  “You know you’re going to pay for this, don’t you? I’m going to enjoy it too.”

  He sat, back to her and leaned into her body. Without thinking, her hands went to his neck and shoulders. She kneaded the knotted muscles there until he groaned softly.

  “Your ex-wife is a beast, Ash.”

  “A spoiled, horrible woman. Yes.” He sighed. “And nothing like you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry she acted that way, but that’s who she is.”

  “I can’t believe you married her. You walked away from me for that!”

  “You walked away. We’ve been through this. Sera, I had no choice. I did what I had to do and I hated it but I had people depending on me. I don’t now, not in the same way. I did my duty and I won’t put anyone before you, not ever again.”

  Despite knowing he spoke the truth, her feelings were still bruised. Her rational self understood his actions before but the hurt made it hard to let go of the fear. She decided to be irrational for the time being until she could process everything better.

  She leaned in and bit his earlobe hard enough to make him sit up with a yelp. Water splashed everywhere. He turned, eyes flashing and she knew she was in for it. He stood, water sluicing down ridge after ridge of well defined muscle and hauled her up.

  One handed, he pulled her hair from the neat nest on top of her head and stepped out of the water, carrying her like a sack of goods.

  “I’m very tired, Ash.” She kept her voice bored even as she was slightly upside down as he carried her.

  “I don’t care, Sela.”

  The nerve of that man! And Brandt? Where the hell was he? There, apologizing to her for his sister’s horrid behavior? No, having a drink with the poisonous creature. Probably apologizing to her for Sera!

  Ash tossed her on the bed but she scrambled up. He anticipated her direction and met her.

  “I’m wet. The bed will be ruined. Let me get dry.”

  “No.”

  “No? I’m a concubine, Ash Walker, not a slave.”

  “You’re mine, Freka. That’s what you are. You’re angry with me and we’re going to work this out with some flesh and some sweat. When you’ve come a few times, your opinion will soften.” His grin was arrogant, self-assured.

  “You’re a pig. An ass. A man. That’s what you are. A man.”

  “I am. I’m your man. Now get on that bed before I make you.”

  Her head swiveled a bit at his audacity. “You think you’re going to master me after your bitch of an ex-wife treats me like scum on a public street and your friend goes off to drink with her? Oh how they must laugh. Poor Brandt and Ash, stuck with the low class whore.”

  His eyes narrowed and in two steps he’d closed the distance. She found herself on her back as he loomed over her on all fours.

  “I’m going to be there in a very short time, Sera. And then we’ll talk about your low opinion of me.” Brandt’s voice whispered over the link.

  “He’s with her so you and I could talk alone.”

  “There is no alone! I’m being watched every minute of the day by the Nondalese. You and your friend bust into my head at will. I have no defenses against you and you’re using that against me! I can’t take it. I gave you everything and then you left me with nothing. I can’t do that again. I don’t have anything left.” She put an arm over her face.

  “Freka, I love you.” He kissed her wrist where it covered her eyes. He said it out loud and the words, familiar and beautiful cracked her façade until she had nothing to fend him off with. The tears flowed and he gently moved her arm, kissing her cheeks and eyelids.

  “You can’t love me, Ash. You aren’t meant for me,” she mumbled through her tears. The inability to react completely honestly only frustrated her more.

  “Don’t tell me what I can’t do. No one but me is meant for you. And Brandt I suppose.”

  Sera opened her eyes, met his and fell in. Deep. Still, that woman galled her. “She’s very skinny. And her nose is reconstructed. She looks like a bird. How could you fuck a woman who looks like she’d break, Ash?”

  He grinned. “Not everyone is high capacity, Freka. Although I have to admit I like when you’re jealous and petty. It’s attractive, I don’t know why.”

  She laughed. “Such a way with words when you think you might be climbing between my thighs.”

  He pressed up, his cock sliding between now slick and ready labia. “Looks like I’m already there.”

  She watched his face change, watched as he went from her lover concerned for her emotions to the man who needed to top her. A shiver rolled through her at the transformation.

  “Sera, I never dominated her. No one has worn a collar for me since you. No one has been worth it to me.”

  His lips met hers and there was no gentleness, only possession and heat. She managed to gasp, “Please, Ash, please fuck me,” between kisses.

  “Roll over,” he ordered and sat up so she could obey him. He moved off the bed and she heard him rifle through a bag and come back.

  Cool, soft fabric covered her eyes. One of her scarves that masqueraded as a blouse. Darkness settled in as the bed moved and he straddled her back, tying her wrists together and then securing them over her head, most likely to the posts on the bed.

  Electric jolts of red lit the back of her eyelids when his fingernails scored down her back from shoulders to the curves of her ass.

  She gasped and arched into his touch. He scooted down her body and his nails followed down the back of her thighs down to her ankles.

  He picked one foot up and his teeth found her instep, so sensitive the sensation shot straight up her legs to her pussy.

  In the dark behind the blindfold, her hands held captive, she waited to feel what he’d do next. A warm, wet swirl of his tongue at the back of each knee. The edge of his teeth nipped the backs of her thighs, the meat of her ass cheeks. The tip of his tongue trailed up her spine.

  Each touch sent her deeper into herself, each sound of appreciation he made, made her pride swell. She was his, on display for his eyes, for his pleasure. A beautiful vision made for him.

  “Lift your ass for me. I want you on your knees so I can touch every bit of your pussy while my cock is buried deep inside you.”

  Levering one and then the other knee up to keep balance, she kept her ass up and her head down, her hands still stretched before her.

  “Your pussy is so wet, your honey is on your thighs. You don’t know what it does to me to see the effect I have on you.” As he spoke, he drew his fingertips through the furls of her sex, drawing the slickness up and over her clit, making her gasp.

  “Tell me, do you want me to eat your pussy? Or fuck it?”

  She moaned at the words as heat flushed through her system, setting her skin aflame with desire for him.

  He moved back, the warmth of his body fading as he did. She whimpered in response. She didn’t know which she wanted. She wanted to come, yes. But his body was a feast for the senses, no matter what he did to her, he’d please her. It was hard to think with her clit throbbing in time with her nipples and pounding heart.

  “Whatever you want. Ash, take from me in whatever way you want.”

  Ash groaned. She got to him. Always had. She’d just given herself to him with a few words and it wrecked him. His control weakened as he watched her ass sway. The lines from his nails rode down her perfect back, already beginning to fade.

  He moved back to her, widening her thighs and the sound of her sigh slithered through him. He didn’t deserve her but it wouldn’t stop him from taking her anyway. He needed Sera. The emptiness he’d felt had settled into him and had felt normal. It wasn’t until he’d seen her again that the desolation of his life had become so achingly apparent.

  He’d had her. A beautiful, lush life with a woman who completed him. And then she’d gone and he’d lived half a life with Kira. She’d left and he’d had nothing but the military and a series of impersonal brief sexual interludes. Sex without connection. He hadn’t been celibate but it wasn’t the same. It hadn’t filled the empty spaces.

  His heart swelled with what she was to him.

  Guiding his cock, he teased her entrance with it, rolling the head through the inferno-hot wetness of her cunt. She strained against the scarves holding her wrists and he cursed himself for not bringing any gear with him. When they got back he’d spend weeks playing with different things, remembering her body and learning her anew. For now, he’d make do with scarves, his hands and cock.

  “Please.”

  Her voice had gone into a slur as subspace settled in. His beautiful Sera, so quickly into subspace when they played.

  In one thrust he filled her until his balls slapped against the wet flesh of her pussy. Her inner walls fluttered around him, clutching and rippling as she made room for him.

  He dragged out and pressed in deep. Over and over. Her hands were restrained so he brought his own to her clit, playing with it and bringing her off quickly to take the edge off her desperation.

  She writhed against him, pressing herself back into his thrusts to take more of his cock into her body. Her pussy slid around his cock, gripping him, luring him closer and closer to climax even as he worked to stave it off, not wanting the time spend inside her to end.

  “You feel so good, Freka. Your pussy is hot and juicy for me. Tonight at the dinner I wanted to grab you and slide you down over my cock and have you ride me. Brandt watched you. I knew his cock was hard. He’d have come to stand next to me so you could lean over and suck his cock.”

  A guttural moan broke from her as a pulse of her wetness nearly scalded him. The room was heavy with the scent of sex.

  “Would you like that? To have everyone know what you do to Brandt and me?” he teased and she squirmed.

  “Not a single woman in this ‘verse equals your beauty. Not in this system. Not any woman I’ve ever known. Give me another orgasm.”

  At one time, all those years ago, he’d been able to command her orgasms, control when she came with a word. He’d been so in tune with her and her with him. He wanted that again.

  “I don’t know,” she began but he felt the tell-tale tightening of her pussy around him and her sentence ended on a soft cry as she came when he flicked his thumb over her clit.

  “You’re mine.” It was true. She was written into him.

  She was silent for long moments until she burst out with a cry, “Yes. Damn you, Ash, I am.”

  The admission broke his control and he came hard, his teeth clenched around a hiss as he unloaded deep inside her.

  That moment was total perfection.

  “Well now. Someone is going to have to bring me to speed. I think I’ve missed a few things in my absence.”

  Ash looked over his shoulder at Brandt, leaning in the doorway and smiling at the scene before him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Brandt turned back to his sister and brother-in-law after Ash left to deal with Sera. He’d wanted to go as well. It’d been difficult to watch her run, knowing she was hurt. But he’d understood it was time for Ash and Sera to work out their issues over Kira once and for all.

  “Really, Brandt, one would think you would have better taste.” Kira wrinkled her nose. “Is this the reason I’ve received several messages from our mother in the last day?”

  Brandt loved Kira, but he really wondered how they could come from the same family. “My taste is excellent, Kira and I’ll warn you now to keep your opinion to yourself on this matter. Instead of discussing this and knowing we won’t agree, do you have time for a drink? We’ve not seen each other in some time.”

  Kira looked as if she wanted to argue but held her tongue. She wasn’t totally stupid. Perry continued to look down the avenue where Sera had departed and Brandt barely repressed the urge to pop the other man in the nose for disrespecting Sera and Kira that way.

  “Of course. A visit would be pleasant,” she said somewhat sincerely.

  They walked to a nearby cantina and sat, ordering drinks. He listened absently as Kira babbled on about their trip and all the new baubles she’d acquired. He’d winced when he heard Sera’s comments through the link and sent back his own.

  Sometime during his sister’s interminable blathering, Brandt had heard Sera’s comments about him joking to Kira about her. He’d blanched at her estimation of him but it was her pain that made him so antsy. He knew she’d been made that way by what she’d suffered but he needed to comment back her way.

  He itched to go back to the guest house and touch her, to show her with hands and mouth, with heart and head just what she meant to him.

  “You aren’t paying any attention to me, Brandt.”

  He forced himself to focus on Kira and sent her a smile. “Of course I am. But there are only so many stories about new gowns any man can take. How long are you here in Nondal?”

  His brother-in-law finally spoke. “Another few days. We have a friend coming in. We haven’t seen Giles for some time.” While his slight resemblance to Ash was discomfiting, the other man was nothing like Ash in personality. He was perfect for Kira really, weak, shifty, greedy.

  And then he realized what his brother-in-law had said and stilled mentally. A connection to their chief suspect made Perry a suspect as well. Certainly, a connection to a Family like the Walkers and to the Pelas too would serve the Imperialists quite well.

  “Oh really? I suppose we’ll most likely bump into each other at the parties, then.” He’d make a point of it.

  “I suppose you’ll be bringing her with you? I do know how you men love to parade around your pets at these parties. Nondal gets worse and worse every time we come, I must say. Not that I’ll be at that party tomorrow. I’ll be safely off with the respectable women while the whores fetch things for you all. Giles has so many women now I don’t know how he can afford it. His poor wife doesn’t even bother with him. Why must you share a concubine, Brandt? There are plenty of women out there for you and Ash. You can each afford more than one of your own if you wanted. I suppose Ash has never really gotten over my leaving.” She sipped whatever frothy concoction women like her drank and happily lived in her own world.