Chapter Six #2
Leo sank onto the sand beside her. A robe.
Why the devil was she wearing a robe? The other guests wore as little as possible.
In the fantasy rooms, they stripped to skin.
At night, during the parties and gatherings, they wore tight garments, tiny dresses to display their assets. Why would Betrys wear a robe?
The hair along his spine lifted.
Had she come to the resort to recruit another sucker?
His brothers and cousins, his friends…
He cried out a silent protest at the idea. No, damn if he’d let anyone of his kind walk into Betrys’s snare. He’d stay close to make sure she didn’t sign up someone of his acquaintance.
Betrys stuffed her cloth back into her robe and resumed her stroking.
“I don’t want to do this,” she whispered. “It’s wrong, but Iseult wants more men like Leo. I can’t let her know Leo is alive and I’ve seen him.” She sniffed, pulled out her cloth again while every one of Leo’s muscles tensed.
What the devil did she mean? Three times.
He’d fulfilled the terms of the contract.
Fuck, there was no way in hell he’d let that monster bed him again.
Weakness still struck him, and it galled when he couldn’t keep up with his twin brothers.
He refused to let his brothers or friends walk into the same trap.
“I don’t want to do this, but I have to.”
She remained quiet until Leo nudged her hand in silent demand and, after a shaky laugh, she resumed petting him.
“One solar week. How the goddess does Iseult expect me to manage this? Tell me that, kitty-cat. Iseult expects me to fall into line with her wishes…”
What wishes? Damn it to hell. Iseult could go fuck herself, because she wasn’t getting her hairy hands or feet on him again. Not for a million shillars. Not while he had breath to object. Not ever.
Betrys sighed and climbed to her feet. Leo rose too and ambled after her. If a week was all he had, he needed to act fast. He’d follow her to her bungalow, then go see Saber. They could have everything set up for tomorrow night.
Hopefully he wouldn’t have performance problems—he never did in his dreams—but even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. He could still fuck her with dildos, make her desperate, give her a taste of vulnerability and a sense of the hopelessness he’d felt.
Saber would ask questions. He’d try to dodge the answers, but if he couldn’t, he’d ad lib.
“You want to what?” Saber asked, his cool green gaze assessing and prodding.
“I intend to capture Betrys Torin in bungalow seven,” Leo said.
“Why?”
“Because she interests me.”
Saber leaned back in his chair, frowned. “You’ve been vocal in your dislike of our capture scheme. What’s changed?”
“She attracted my attention. I intend to explore the possibilities, and I want privacy to do that.”
“The capture camp is full for the next few days.”
“Fuck.” Leo’s mind worked with computer precision, groping for alternatives. He had to do something now because a week wasn’t long, and two solar days had already passed.
“I might have an alternative,” Saber said after a short silence.
“But first you need to tell me why this one. She’s not beautiful, more dignified.
I noticed her because of her robe,” Saber added.
“She sticks out like a weed in a flower garden. And she doesn’t socialize or take part in any of the resort activities.
Her behavior is odd.” Saber maintained an even stare—waiting for his response—and Leo found himself wanting to squirm, to rush in to fill the empty pause.
He controlled the impulse with difficulty.
“I met her on Dalcon,” Leo said. “In the city.”
“How?”
“I can’t say.”
Saber scowled. “Can’t or won’t?”
“Won’t.”
Saber scrutinized him then leaned forward to pick up his genic mini-tab. He tapped on several keys. “We don’t have any detailed information about her on file. Just the basic stuff. None of the other men have expressed an interest in her because she is so odd.”
Which worked to his advantage.
“Does she have something to do with your injuries?”
Careful, Leo warned himself. His brother was no dummy. “She hired the droid to pilot me back to Tiraq and got me to the spaceport.”
“I see. So I’m mistaken about the whiff of lies in the air?” Saber’s gaze drilled into him, but this was too important to muck up. Leo remained still and met Saber’s gaze with unconcern.
After a long pause, Saber filled the silence. “You want to keep this woman as your mate?”
“I don’t know yet.” Leo surreptitiously rubbed his scar.
For the last couple of days it had felt tight and tender to the touch.
Only shifting and lounging around in feline form alleviated the ache.
“I feel a stirring of interest. That’s all.
If I find we don’t suit, I’ll release her to return to her life on Dalcon. ”
Saber snorted, the abrupt sound tinged with humor. “A frisson of interest is where it started with me. With Felix too.”
Leo kept his face impassive. He wouldn’t be keeping Betrys Torin.
On that count he was firm, but he would give her a taste of the same vulnerability and fear he’d suffered.
He wouldn’t hurt her, but she’d come to understand how it felt to be trapped and used.
Spanking her in his dreams was one thing.
Not much pleasure there, but in real life…
Yes. He’d tie her up and fuck her. He might spank her. While he’d return her hale and hearty, he could make her feel a little of what he experienced at Iseult’s hands.
“All right,” Saber agreed. “The deserted village I told you about. You can go there. It’s habitable.” He hesitated, traces of a smile lurking in his features. “There’s more to the story than Eva and I told you. It’s nothing bad. More startling.”
“The disappearing shuttle?” Leo asked. Felix, Eva and Saber had told them about the shuttle they’d flown and how once they’d disembarked the vehicle had faded in front of them.
“That and more,” Saber said. “You’ll see. I’ll help you capture Betrys and drop you off at the village. I’ll give you three nights to decide if she’s the one you want before I return for you both. How does that sound?”
Leo found himself smiling, a foreign sensation during the last few months. “That sounds perfect. Thanks, Saber.”
Three nights to give Betrys Torin a taste of the mental agony he’d endured.
Let the games begin.
Betrys lay on the sleep-bed, willed herself to relax, but kept her eyes stubbornly open. Resist. Resist. Resist.
Though physically and mentally exhausted, she couldn’t fight her mind’s desire for sleep.
The moment she toppled into slumber, the dreamscape summoned—a shiny enticement to cavort with Leo.
With scarce thought, she found her body soaring along a swirly purple and blue path, a flickering jade-green light signaling her direction and final destination.
An instant later, she stood in front of Leo, her dreamscape the same luxurious room as before, full of color.
“Hi,” she whispered as she approached him at the window.
He didn’t welcome her, yet he didn’t shy from her touch either.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her face against his back and drew in his scent.
Masculine. Clean with a hint of herbs and spices.
Just being with him calmed her angst, made thoughts of Iseult and the horrors of her days retreat.
During her past visits, he’d acted standoffish and fought their mental pull as much as she, but today he tugged her against his side and wrapped an arm around her naked shoulders.
They stood in silence and stared out the window at the pristine white sandy beach and the rush of the jade-green waves.
The sound of the water was soothing, and it sloughed away more of her anxious and fearful edges.
Leo drew her like a magnetic force.
Betrys didn’t know if this was usual because, despite her research, she’d discovered no one with the ability to instruct her on the intricacies of the dreamscape. She’d never entered this world before she’d met Leo and had only instincts to guide her nightly journeys.
Without speaking, he turned her away from the stunning view and led her to the bed.
Always the bed was covered with color, sometimes so intense the shades hurt her head.
She’d tried to mute the vibrancy with splashes of white, but Leo always scowled at the white and overwrote her choice.
She was sure this wasn’t normal and wished her grandmother was still alive to ask.
The dreamscape power came from her, she always went to Leo, and as such, she should control the settings.
With a gentle push, he guided her onto the sleep-bed and followed her down, trapping her with his muscular bulk. Helpless to resist, she wrapped her arms around him, drawing him close. Their mouths met, and everything righted in her world.
Sensations pelted her—the softness of his lips, the faintly abrasive stroke of his tongue, the rough calluses on his palms as his hands skimmed her curves. She melted—melted—under his ministrations, her quim blooming while her nipples hardened to tight points.
She ran a hand over his skull, which was a mass of short black waves now that his hair had grown.
Her fingers trailed lower to the muscles of his back and settled on his butt.
Their mouths dueled, teased, and clung in urgency.
Her softness to his hardness. He lifted his head, and at his gentle nudge, she parted her legs.
“I’m gonna fuck you now. Slowly. Thoroughly, until you beg.
” He rose over her, his expression solemn as he guided his cock into place.
With his gaze on hers, he slid home in a single stroke, and she felt the rawness of his emotions.
His green eyes blazed with heat, and she relished his possession with every particle of her soul.
“Please. Please, Leo.” Oh she wanted that, him, his total focus.