Little curls of pleasure at his touch coursed through her, and she shuddered lightly. Then Calla realized with sudden horror that she was still naked to the waist, completely exposed to both men. She started struggling upright but the man–Seth–was still fully imbedded in her and far to heavy to shift.
“Did you check on the woman’s identity?” Seth asked, comfortable in front of his subordinate despite his partial nudity.
Calla moaned, a combination of pleasure and embarrassment, as his fondling continued.
“Yes, sir,” the young man said. “She’s a slave here. Apparently no one remembered to tell her not to clean today.”
“Thank you,” Seth said. “You’re dismissed.”
The door closed and they were alone again. Calla wished she could sink into the mattress and disappear forever, she was so embarrassed. Instead she said firmly, “Please let me up now.”
“Of course,” he said, sounding far more relaxed than when he’d caught her entering the room. His hand moved from her clit, and he pulled out of her. “I’d like to take a closer look at you. I haven’t had a f**k like that in years.”
Calla fought to keep in a hysterical giggle. She hadn’t had a f**k like that in years, either, but she was horrified with her situation. Not least of her worries was whether Jenner would find out. The mistress had strong feelings about how unmarried women should behave, and those feelings didn’t leave any room for encounters like this one. Not even for slaves.
More than one woman had been sold to a brothel after being caught in bed with a guest–and not a Guild-owned pleasure house, either. The last girl had been sold to a pimp who worked out of a seedy bar near the space port. The poor thing had been dead within a week. Jenner couldn’t find out about this no matter what it took, Calla thought with conviction. She had to get out of here and pretend nothing had happened. She needed to keep the commander quiet about the encounter, too.
Sitting up, Calla reluctantly faced the man whose seed was still warm in her body. He sat next to her on the bed, trousers open and pulled slightly down. Her eyes strayed down to his still-stiff cock, then quickly flew up to his face. His skin was slightly dark-toned, and his shoulder-length hair was almost black. His eyes were black as well, and they stared at her intently. He reached one finger out and gently pulled up her chin.
“You’re a cute one, Calla,” he said. “I may have to keep you for a while.”
There was no way Jenner would go for that, Calla realized, clamping down firmly on another hysterical giggle that threatened to escape. Oh no, not a good idea at all …
“I need to go, I have work to do,” she said. He frowned at her. Unable to help herself, Calla’s gaze was drawn to his mouth. His lips were full and soft looking, a little grin playing at the corners. What she really wanted, Calla realized, was to lean over and bite the lower one … Another bad idea. Things were definitely out of hand.
“When can you come back?” he asked bluntly. “I’m not done with you.”
“I can’t come back,” Calla said. No matter how much pleasure this man had given her, she couldn’t afford to anger Jenner. His hand grasped her chin hard now, forcing her to meet his eyes. He had lost his open, pleasant smile. She had to think of a way to get rid of him and keep him quiet, too.
“Why not? I’m prepared to compensate you.”
“I’m married,” she said, thinking quickly. “His name is Jess, and if he finds out what happened here it would kill him. I didn’t mean to have sex with you, it was an accident.” It was a stroke of genius, Calla thought. Or at least it would be if the Saurellian was willing to respect a slave’s wedding vow. Jess was like a brother, they’d been raised together in the same crèche. He would lie to protect her without question. Since slave marriages weren’t recorded, the Saurellian would never know the difference. Seth’s hand tightened on her chin, and a dark look swept across his face, scaring her with its intensity. He was angry, she realized. His eyes flashed.
“I see,” he said tightly, then abruptly let her go and stood up and paced across the room. His intense gaze followed her, and a muscle worked tightly in his jaw. “Get out.”
Calla quickly stood up, not about to argue. It seemed like she might yet escape this horrible situation–she certainly wasn’t going to give him time to change his mind. Moving quickly, she paused to pick up her basket and gather the fallen linens. Seth watched for a few seconds while she collected her things. Then he repeated his terse order.
“I said get out.”
Dropping the linens, Calla did as she was told.
* * * * *
It took every ounce of Seth’s strength to let Calla leave. He couldn’t believe she was married. The mere thought of another man touching her made him want to smash his fist through the wall. He’d kill him, Seth thought. He’d kill him, and take Calla.
Then he caught himself, disgusted by his own thoughts. It wasn’t as if she was his life mate, he reminded himself. She was just a slave on a third-rate, back-world mining station. He could have any woman on the station he wanted. What use did he have for one little slave? If anything, he should feel sorry for the poor bastard she was married to. After all, he’d just f**ked her silly and she hadn’t exactly protested. In fact, she screamed her pleasure when she came. Who knew how many times she’d done the same thing with other guests? Seth could probably have her again if he really wanted, but he didn’t get involved with married women, even if they were only slaves. He liked his relationships open and simple, preferring to pay good money to get good service.
Seth prowled around his room another hour, then decided he needed to get out. He’d hoped to catch up on his reports to the Saurellian High Council. He was concerned about rumors that some mining camp factions calling themselves “pilgrims” were hoarding weapons. With a snort of disgust, Seth realized he wasn’t going to be able to focus after his romp with the cleaning slave. Instead he’d go and check the patrols, and maybe even head over to the House of Lilies. He’d find a woman there who’d make Calla look like the little nothing she was. It was definitely time to seek out the services of a professional.
Chapter 2
When Calla collapsed, exhausted, onto her pallet in the kitchen that night, she couldn’t fall asleep. Just thinking about Seth’s hands on her hips, holding her while he pounded into her from behind, sent little shudders of pleasure through her. She was still sore from that morning, yet she ached from wanting more.