“I’m not going to your ship, Star,” he said in that deep voice she adored.
“What?” Sitting up, she gaped at him. “You promised!”
His mouth was taut with determination, his sapphire gaze intent. “Terminate me here.”
“What? Are you insane?”
“It’s best this way, and you know it.”
After leaping from the bed, she began to pace. “I thought all-you-can-take sex was supposed to prevent madness. Isn’t that right? Did I not f**k you enough?” She threw up her hands and then pointed a finger at him. “Just so you know, sometimes I was really sore, but did you hear me complain? No! I put out all week. You shouldn’t be crazy.”
Roark came to her and pulled her into his embrace. “I love it when you start with the humor. Especially when you do it because the situation is too uncomfortable, or you’re facing questions you don’t want to answer. It’s one of your little quirks.”
She buried her face in his chest, her own so tight she found it hard to breathe. “Don’t ask me to do this, Roark. Not after this last week.”
He tilted her chin up to look at him. “Did it mean something to you, Star?” His gaze searched her face. “Do I mean something to you?”
“Well, you’re pretty to look at. And you’re built in all the right places, and that thing you do with your tongue is awe—”
Roark lowered his head and took her mouth, one hand cupping her breast while the other moved away from her advancing spines. His touch was like fire, it always had been. Everything inside her came alive when he held her.
“Yes,” she whispered when he broke the kiss. “It meant something.”
“Then do this for me.” He cupped her cheek. “If it has to happen, I would rather it be you.”
She shook her head. “You haven’t done anything wrong. No one got hurt, you passed through the cycle. Perhaps I can argue on your behalf.”
“I fled my pre-assigned,” he pointed out gently. “If I get away with it, others will try. It’s a good system, Star. It’s protected a large number of individuals. As the former Jacian Ambassador to the Interstellar Council, I know how important it is that the Jacian people retain their reputation.”
“Yes, I know all that!” she snapped, pushing away and running her hands through her tangled hair. “But how would you feel if I asked you to kill me?”
Turning to confront him, she was startled to see her blade in his hand. Roark held it out to her, his bearing as proud and noble as always.
“No.” Star shook her head, her eyes wide with horror.
“Your appointment is at risk.”
Her hands clenched into fists. “I hate you.”
He flinched, but kept his hand outstretched.
As she stalked toward him, her eyes narrowed and she swiped away the tears coursing down her cheeks. She drew her arm back when she reached him, and punched him in the shoulder. He took the blow easily. “You teased me for a week.” Punch
“You requested me to come here.” Punch “You f**ked me to exhaustion.” Punch “And now, after I like you, you want me to kill you? Go f**k yourself!”
Roark caught her next blow as it came toward him, and held her hand. “I didn’t request you, Star. I hoped you would be the one to come after me, but I didn’t ensure it. With the sentence for rogues being death, I thought I had a pretty good chance of the Justices sending you, but I didn’t ask for you. There was no way I could have without revealing my plan to run.”
Crying silently, she stared up at him. “Your government requested me in particular. They insisted on it.”
His frown and pursed lips told her that he was as clueless as she was. He released her fist and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “I think you better find out what Yamada wants.”
Nodding, Star moved to the comm link on the nightstand and linked to Two-Thousand.
“Patch me through to the clerk.” It took only a moment for the clerk’s disapproving features to fill the screen.
“You should at least attempt to make yourself presentable before reporting in, Judge Star.”
“You seemed like you were in a hurry,” she pointed out, smoothing her hair with trembling hands.
“Your input was desired, but the Chief Justices moved forward without it when you could not be reached. Now they wish to know if you’ve terminated the Jacian ambassador yet.”
Star lifted her chin. “Not yet.”
“Excellent, they will be relieved.”
She froze, and felt the answering tension in Roark. “What?”
“The Jacians have requested a reduced sentence based on the ambassador’s prominence and the fact that he did not injure anyone during his heat. The Interstellar Council has agreed that terminating a political figure with the popularity of Ambassador Teron would incite trouble they don’t want. The Jacians pointed out that they agreed to the pre-assigns in a show of goodwill, and they are not obligated to follow the dictate.”
“Can they do that?” she asked.
“Certainly. They would lose membership in the Council if they resisted the pre-assigns, but it seems they are willing to do this. In light of these machinations, the Chief Justices have ordered the ambassador to five years guarded incarceration.”
“No.” Star shook her head adamantly, her stomach knotted. “I’d rather kill him than send him to a penal colony.”
“I haven’t finished,” the clerk said in a chastising tone. “The ambassador is to be placed on house arrest, and since you obviously deal well with him…” He paused. “You did partner him through his heat, did you not?”
“Yes.”
Roark’s arms came around her waist in a gentle embrace that offered needed comfort. He looked over her shoulder at the comm link.
The clerk smiled. “Greetings, Ambassador.”
“Greetings.”
“So, Judge Star,” the clerk continued. “You are assigned to five years house arrest guard duty in addition to your regular bench assignments.”
Star’s eyes widened. As her knees went weak with relief, she was grateful for Roark’s steady embrace. “Five years.”
“That’s a lot of judicial credits, right?” Roark asked.
“Yes, it is, Ambassador. Upon your return, Judge Star, you are to meet with the Chief Justices to discuss your advancement. Congratulations. We’ll have a drink when you get back.” He smiled again. “See you then. Out.”
The screen went blank.
“Oh, man…” she breathed, turning in Roark’s embrace. “Oh wow.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you’re still a selfish bastard.”
He laughed that warm laugh that made her shiver, and kissed her nose. “I know. I’ll make it up to you, Chief Justice Star.”
“Damn, that sounds good, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.” He released a deep breath and his mouth curved in a wry smile. “I guess I wasn’t as good at hiding my attraction to you as I thought.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious someone knew you had the hots for me.” Star brushed the silky skeins of Roark’s hair over his broad shoulders. “And they set us up.”
“My personal assistant, I bet. I’ll have to reward him when I see him next.”
“What’s my reward for seeing you through your sex-a-thon? That was insane, you know.” She shook her head. “Insane.”
“For the next five years I’ll be your sex slave. You can do whatever you want with me. If you can handle being with me that long.”
“Slave. Yeah, right.” She snorted. “You’re too arrogant for that. And too used to getting your own way. You argue about what vid shows to watch!”
“But you like me,” he pointed out softly, pulling her closer. “And maybe, if I’m really good and really lucky, I can make you more than like me.”
Star stared up into those beautiful blue eyes, and smiled. “Wanna start being really good right now?”
Stepping backward, she tugged him toward the bed. Her spines flared outward, and his gaze heated at the sight.
His smile was wicked. “Looks like I just got lucky.”