She wondered how Saber felt. He was sitting quietly behind her, waiting to serve her more food if she asked for it but Lissa was far too worried to be hungry. At least he was no longer wearing the touch-me-not manacles. Lissa had gotten the remote from Lady Sha’rak first thing that morning and removed them. So she wouldn’t have to “help” him through any more painful situations.
Thinking of that made her remember his low, hoarse cries as she had stroked him to completion the night before. Goddess, that had been so sexy! Not to mention the surge of power she’d felt from being in charge while he lay there helpless, letting her do anything she liked. Just the memory of his eyes as he came, the way his whole body had trembled beneath her touch, so big and muscular and naked, so completely under her control, made her feel hot and wet between her legs. Gods…she shifted uncomfortably. I really shouldn’t be feeling this way toward Saber. Shouldn’t be thinking of him like this…
“Well you don’t look very excited,” Lady Sha’rak interrupted her guilty thoughts with a frown.
“I…I suppose I’m just nervous,” Lissa said, truthfully enough. “As you’ve said, we don’t have Dream Gas where I come from. I’m not sure exactly…what sensation play is going to be like.”
“Is that all?” Lady Sha’rak made a shooing motion with one hand. “That’s nothing to be worried about, my dear! Listen, I promise I’ll speak to Lady Hake’bean and have her find you a particularly exciting document for your first play.”
“Will she be using the documents in her collection?” Lissa asked hopefully. “Do you think she might have one from the era I was interested in?”
“From the Hoard Wars? Oh yes, certainly,” Lady Sha’rak said dismissively. “Lady Hake’bean is always most generous with her documents. The entire collection should be on display tonight.”
Lissa risked exchanging a glance with Saber. If the stolen scrolls were at Lady Hake’bean’s, they ought to be able to find them.
And the sooner we find them, the sooner we can get back home. Get back to normal. Lissa knew she ought to be happy about the idea but somehow she wasn’t. She wondered how Saber felt. Would he be glad to leave this world behind and go back to his own life…or sorry to lose her?
“It all sounds so exciting,” she said, smiling brightly at the ambassador. “I guess I’d better go get ready.”
“Not so fast, my dear.” Lady Sha’rak reached across the table to put a hand on her arm. “I have a little surprise for you.” She snapped her fingers. “Llewelyn, bring it out.”
Lady Sha’rak’s body-slave came around the table at once and presented Lissa with a large black box.
“Oh my!” Lissa looked at it uncertainly but the ambassador was practically dancing with glee.
“Go on—open it!” she commanded.
Lissa flipped off the lid and found a gown that seemed to be entirely made of delicate lace. It was jade green—the exact shade of her eyes and the streaks in her hair, and it looked no more substantial than a cobweb.
“Oh my goodness,” Lissa breathed. “It…it’s beautiful. And so thin. And, er, see-through.”
“That’s what I was shopping for yesterday,” Lady Sha’rak explained. “It’s a sensation gown—made especially to give easy access during the party.”
Lissa began to get a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. What exactly were they going to be doing that night? “Um, easy access?” she asked, wishing her voice wouldn’t come out sounding so squeaky.
“Of course—for the sensor pads. They help with the Dream Gas conduction. Oh, and I got you some special panties to go with it—look under the gown and see.”
Feeling more nervous all the time, Lissa dug around under the silky pile of lace and pulled out a pair of jade green panties trimmed in black lace. As she had feared, they were split in the middle. But at least they have little strings there, she thought, looking more closely. So you can tie them closed.
“Those little laces are drawstrings,” Lady Sha’rak explained, watching as she examined the panties. “You pull them tight and tie them off at the sides, which forms a sort of diamond shaped window right in the middle to frame your slit.”
Lissa felt her stomach sink down to her shoes. “You…you mean the strings are to hold the panties open?” she asked faintly.
“Well of course! How else could you give access for the sensor pads? And speaking of that…” Lady Sha’rak leaned forward confidentially. “Now don’t take this the wrong way, my dear, but I couldn’t help noticing the other night that you’re not shaved."
“I’m not…oh!” Lissa crossed her legs involuntarily when she realized what the other woman was referring to. “It’s not…not required where I come from,” she said faintly.
“Well, it is here,” Lady Sha’rak said firmly. “You simply cannot go out without a clean shaven pussy. Don’t worry though, I’ll have Llewelyn bring an intimate area razor to your suite and teach your slave how to use it. He can have you smooth and sleek in an instant.”
“I’m sure he can,” Lissa whispered.
“Good, then let’s get ready. Lady Hake’bean doesn’t like to be kept waiting and she lives in a building all the way across town.”
“All right.” Numbly, Lissa handed the box containing the slinky lace dress and barely there panties to Saber and got to her feet. Goddess, she was really going to do this. She was going to shave her private areas and wear a completely indecent dress out in public in order to do the Goddess-knew-what with some kind of sensor pads applied to her most delicate parts and—
“Oh, and one more thing,” Lady Sha’rak said, breaking into her thoughts. “Don’t bother with wearing the elixirs on your nipples tonight—they interfere with the pads.”
“They do?” Lissa frowned. “But I thought you said I always had to wear them in order to have a way to punish my slave.”
“Yes, well, any slave who acts up tonight will get the rod—and in a very public way,” Lady Sha’rak said grimly. Then she smiled. “All right?”
“All right.” Lissa nodded doubtfully. Not for the first time she wished she could ask what her hostess was talking about. What exactly was “the rod” and how was it administered? She shot another uneasy look at Saber. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to find out the hard way tonight. They were going to have to be extra careful not to offend anyone at the sensation party.
Saber returned her look and gave her a brief nod. Clearly he was thinking the same thing she was.
“Well then.” Lady Sha’rak clapped her hands. “Let’s go get ready, shall we?”
* * * * *
“Lissa, are you all right in there?” Saber didn’t bother knocking. He put his head in the bathroom door and looked.
Lissa was standing in front of the viewer with the ultra-sharp intimate area razor in her hand and biting her lip. She was wearing a robe which was open to expose her pussy but when she saw Saber looking, she quickly closed it, a blush staining her cheeks.
“Oh, Saber! What are you doing?”
“Checking on you. From what Llewelyn showed me, it should only take a few minutes to use that thing.” He nodded at the razor in her hand. “But you’ve been in here over half an hour. Did you manage to, um…” He cleared his throat. “Get the job done?”
“No.” Lissa looked down at the razor, which was a thin, pink laser beam about an inch long, pulsing between two slender silver posts. It had a five inch silver handle that hummed faintly as she gripped it but Saber couldn’t help noticing she was keeping the laser end as far from herself as possible. “This thing just looks so …so lethal. Honestly, I’m afraid to get it near such a, um, delicate area,” she admitted in a low voice.
“Then let me.” Coming forward, he knelt at her feet and held out a hand for the razor. “Here.”
“Oh, I don’t know…”
“I saw all of you last night. I massaged you, remember?” Saber reminded her gently. “It won’t hurt to let me shave you now. Besides, I’m the one Llewelyn showed
how to use the razor because I’m supposed to do this. I’m your slave.”
“You’re not really, though.” Reluctantly, she handed him the razor. “Aren’t you getting tired of serving me like this all the time?”
“Never.” Slowly, so as not to startle her, he opened her robe again. Gods, she was a beautiful sight, her soft little mound so bare and exposed for him. He longed to spread her legs and part her pussy lips with his tongue, to lick her until she moaned his name and pulled his hair, begging for more. Somehow, he restrained himself. “I’d serve you forever if I could,” he murmured, looking up at her.
“Oh, Saber…” Lightly, she brushed her fingers through his hair. “It’s sweet of you to say but I know this isn’t natural for you—for either one of us, really. I mean, you’re not really submissive and I’m certainly not very dominant.”
“You were last night,” Saber said softly.
“I…I guess I was, wasn’t I?” Lissa’s cheeks got even redder. “I…I don’t know what came over me.”
“I don’t either, but I liked it—a lot.” Saber tested the razor on his arm, making sure it was the right intensity to cut hair but not skin and then looked up at her again. “Spread your legs, amalla,” he murmured.
Lissa bit her lip and complied, watching as he carefully applied the razor. “You liked it? Really?” she asked, as the soft mound of curls at the apex of her sex gradually disappeared, vaporized painlessly by the pink line of light.
“More than I thought I would.” Saber finished the delicate operation and looked up at her. “When we agreed to come here, I thought I would find it difficult—submitting, I mean. But all the things I’ve been doing—feeding you, caring for you, massaging you—are the same steps any Kindred warrior takes during his Claiming period when he’s trying to win a bride. So…” He shrugged. “It doesn’t feel unnatural or wrong.”
“Most warriors aren’t ordered to lie in the middle of the bed and let their prospective bride, um, touch them, though,” Lissa pointed out in a low voice.
“No.” Saber switched off the razor, closed her robe, and stood. “But I don’t think most of them would have a problem with it. I know who I am, Lissa.” He stroked her hot cheek lightly with his knuckles. “Submitting to you a little doesn’t make me less of a male. I’m happy to spend all day on my knees before you, as long as I get to spend time with you.”
“Saber, please…” For a moment she looked like she might cry. “Please don’t.”
He sighed. “All right, I’m sorry. I just want you to know I don’t mind serving you…Mistress.”
She sniffed and gave him a trembling smile. “Well, you’d better help your Mistress into her dress before Lady Sha’rak starts shouting at us for being late.”
“Of course. Because as we know, Lady Hake’bean does not like to be kept waiting.” Saber grinned and Lissa slapped playfully at his arm.
“No, she doesn’t. So hurry up, slave.”
Saber pretended to cower. “I will, Mistress. Please don’t use the rod on me. Whatever that is.”
Lissa looked troubled. “I don’t want to find out. I don’t think it’s anything pleasant.” She sighed. “I don’t even know what this whole sensation play thing is—I mean, what am I getting into?”
“Whatever it is, I’ll be right there by your side to help you through it.” Impulsively, Saber pulled her close and kissed her forehead, just as he used to when they were younger.
At first Lissa stiffened but then she melted against him, her arms going around his waist as she pressed her face to his chest. “Oh…” she sighed and Saber could feel the tension leaving her slender frame as she simply clung to him.
He buried his face in her hair, loving the brush of the silky strands against his skin and her delicious, delicate scent. Gods, she felt so right in his arms, like such a perfect fit. It was so easy to forget at times like these when they were laughing together and relying on each other that their relationship was forbidden.
It shouldn’t be, he thought with a surge of anger. The values of our people are old—outdated. Even the other Kindred think so. There is no blood relation between us. If Lissa and I had been born into any other branch of the Kindred, no one would have thought twice about us mating.
But they hadn’t been born to any other branch. In the eyes of their people, what they were doing was wrong—unnatural.
I don’t care if it’s wrong—it feels good. Feels right, Saber thought rebelliously.
He kissed Lissa’s forehead again and the words I love you trembled on his lips. But he couldn’t say them. Couldn’t let his true emotions be known when they would ultimately have to part.
This is all we have, Saber told himself. This time here together. And then she’ll be gone…forever.
His throat felt tight at the thought. Oh amalla, I would give anything to stay with you. To not be parted after this is over. I would give up my life—give up the future that has been so carefully planned for me. I would smash it all to pieces for the privilege of holding you every day like this. Of never letting you go.
But even if he was willing to give up his future, Saber knew it wasn’t fair to ask Lissa to give up hers. She was the high priestess of First World now—a position that didn’t allow the one who held it to have a mate. He couldn’t ask Lissa to abandon everything she’d worked for and come live with him in infamy and shame.
All he could do was hold her close and savor the time they had left.
Chapter Seventeen
L took her ship into stealth mode the moment the wormhole coughed her up on the far side of the small red planet called Mars. She was careful to keep wide of the Mother Ship as she approached Earth and felt a moment of gratitude for the rare alien tech that allowed her to breach the blue planet’s atmosphere without alerting either the humans or Kindred of her presence. It had cost her a ridiculous amount of credit but she considered it well worth the expense.
All but invisible both to the naked eye and any kind of radar, she set her small ship down neatly in the shadow of what her memory assured her was the Human/Kindred Relations building in downtown Tampa. Then she simply walked through the open doors and looked around.
It didn’t take long to find what she was looking for. On the front counter she spotted a clipboard that appeared to be a kind of roster—a list of names of Kindred and their brides who were visiting Earth. All L had to do was pick a bride to impersonate, kill the hapless girl, and accompany her Kindred warrior (or warriors) back to the Mother Ship. Quick, simple, and easy.
And oh look, here came the perfect target now.
“All I’m saying is let me do the talking.” The words were spoken by a voluptuous redhead L’s memory told her was named Kat. She was talking to a Kindred warrior with black hair and eyes and a scowl on his face. On her other side, another warrior walked, this one with lighter hair and eyes—obviously the two of them were brothers. Deep and Lock, supplied her memory.
Most of the time L found it very inconvenient to have memories of people and things she’d never actually seen stuck inside her head. It was painful to have thoughts of someone her memory told her was a friend and then realize that she’d never actually met them. Those are her memories, she would remind herself. Not mine. Never mine.
But for once, the intrusive memories actually come in handy. And L liked the idea of a target that was also a friend of her original. It would be so much more painful when she revealed the truth and they realized that dear sweet Kat was dead.
She waited until the trio had passed through the front doors of the HKR building and then followed as unobtrusively as possible.
This was going to be fun.
Chapter Eighteen
A piercing, musical shriek and a rush of pale blue-white light met them at the high, double doors of Lady Hake’bean’s residence.
Lissa winced away but Lady Sha’rak gave her a little nudge in the small of her back.
“Go on, my dear. The music and light work with the gas to heig
hten sensations.”
“Of course.” Lissa stepped over the threshold, bringing Saber with her since she was holding his leash. She still hated the fact that he had to wear such a degrading thing. But, as he pointed out, it was better than one of the awful pain collars Lady Pope’nose favored for her slaves.
The leash didn’t seem to bother Saber in the least. He came when she tugged at it and the minute they stepped inside, he bent to kiss her foot. Then he followed her quietly, keeping his eyes down and generally doing his best to look like the most docile and trustworthy of slaves.
It troubled Lissa to see him looking so subjugated until she happened to catch his eye. He winked at her and one corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile. We’re in this together, his expression seemed to say. We’re just playing parts—it’s all right.
Feeling better, Lissa winked back and then looked around. It was a very crowded party and they seemed to be in some kind of receiving line. At the front on a raised platform, a slave in shiny golden trousers was calling out the names of each attending lady as she and her slave or slaves drew near. There appeared to be something else going on as well but they were at the very back of the line and Lissa couldn’t quite make it out so she examined the rest of the scenery instead.
After her eyes got used to the brilliant light, Lissa realized that Lady Hake’bean’s home was huge. Lady Sha’rak had explained on the way over that she owned the top two floors of a very distinguished building. Apparently she’d had the layers between the floors knocked out to make cathedral-high ceilings and windows that looked to be thirty feet tall from sash to crown. Long swatches of silky material in all colors of the rainbow trailed from the massively high ceiling, dividing up the vast front room into different areas. It was like an elaborate maze and Lissa kept seeing people slip mysteriously in and out of the silken panels.