Chapter 29
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
Lesephous’ party was in full swing by the time we made our way through the labyrinthine hallways, led by Aristedes.
We were guided through a lush garden, lit with just the barest hint of the suns dipping below the horizon.
Wild greens and deep pinks surrounded us, dotted with vibrant oranges and bright whites that made my throat ache.
I stared resolutely at Aristedes’ back rather than taking in the garden, ignoring the brush of Asher’s bare thumb against the exposed skin of my shoulder.
Because if I was to acknowledge his touch I didn’t know if I would lash out and beat my fists against his chest until bones broke and I crushed his heart…
or if I would bury my face in his neck and sob until I was merely a husk of myself.
I hated that I wasn’t sure which would win out.
But I tried not to think of it as Aristedes threw open two gilded doors at the opposite end and music blasted across our faces, mingled with conversation and the unmistakable sounds of sex. Maker. This made the Daskquah look like a monastery.
Asher stiffened at my side, but when I looked at him from the corner of my eye, his expression was impassive as those silver eyes flicked from one sight to the other. But his hand flexed on my shoulder, drawing me ever so slightly closer.
Around the edges of the room, tall tables lit with hovering halo orbs were scattered around the mingling, opulently dressed guests.
In comparison to others in attendance, Asher looked absolutely ominous and I appeared paltry beside the yeskas trailing behind their owners for the night.
Some were dressed in opaque swaths of fabric attached to a silver or gold collar around their throat that led to a gilded leash in their owner’s hand, while others were naked, their bodies adorned with glittering paint and stones.
A depression around the center of the room drew my eye, lined with a ring of plush couches complete with overstuffed pillows and throws.
A myriad of guests lounged there, some with one or two yeskas and others alone.
Some ate from the hands of their companions for the night, while others appeared content to feast upon those they’d paid to have their pleasure with.
But most were focused upon the circular stage in the dead center.
Gauzy curtains hung from the ceiling and I could see the appeal—Lunastra had a similar room where they could be drawn around the action so those watching felt more like voyeurs happening upon a moment they weren’t supposed to see.
But tonight, the curtains were gathered together and tied off with a golden cord, framing the three beings writhing within.
A male lay on his back, deep purple skin glinting in the halo orbs bobbing across the stalactite ceilings.
He threw his head back and white curls spilled across the shining floor behind him.
A female sat astride him, facing toward the majority of their audience, though one could have witnessed it from any angle.
But she bounced on his lap, the opalescent skin of her cheeks flushed with heat.
Another male with bronze hair knelt in front of the stage, his head between their thighs, and from the keening sounds both made it was clear he was using his mouth to heighten both their pleasure.
The female threaded her fingers through the second male’s waves, writhing atop the first, who reached out with wide hands to grip her hips.
Of course, I had seen something similar during my time at the Daskquah.
I’d had nights where I’d danced in the silks above such performances.
But there was a rawness here I hadn’t witnessed before.
I couldn’t help but watch raptly while she chased her pleasure, as if she was carving out this moment for herself—not for those who paid to watch.
“Captain Ruciyah, I see your pet has fine tastes,” Lesephous boomed from far too close on my other side.
Asher dragged me back against his chest, hands gripping my hips in a way I couldn’t help but liken to the ones on stage.
Shame curled across my cheeks at my heaving chest and the sheen of sweat dewing across the back of my neck.
The Louxurian male’s eyes were greedy as they roved from my face to my breasts to the creases of my hips.
I realized all too late this was how I should have felt when Asher had taken the same perusal.
With him though there had only been a strange sort of calm warring with a tightening deep in my belly.
But now I wanted to cross my arms over my chest, to curl into a ball until I was so small no one could see me and then strike so they never saw me coming.
“That she does, Lesephous. It’s a pleasure to see you again.
” Asher pushed me behind him in the pretense of greeting the male in a similar fashion as they had on the ship.
I couldn’t help but notice that when they straightened from the greeting, Asher stood almost directly in front of me, as if he was shielding me from view.
Was this the sort of male who would allow countless lives to be forfeit for the sake of unimaginable wealth?
It was a question I couldn’t help but continue to ask myself.
Every time I thought I knew Asher—understood him even—something else changed.
I saw glimpses of both male and monster, savior and murderer, and I could not tell which one was the mask.
Even now, as he laughed with Lesephous, asking after a Senator Torion, there was a cold edge to his voice making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Ly’anen,” he murmured. A knuckle touched beneath my chin and I realized I’d been staring at the floor between us, loosely pinching the hem of his cloak. “A drink while I catch up with an old friend?”
This was the signal we’d agreed on for me to wander the party and see what information I could gather.
It was a weak point with those in the upper class of our galaxy: they tended to have loose lips around those they believed less than them.
Lunastra used it to her advantage. Not outright, not enough to cause distrust, but enough to get what she wanted.
A secret muttered at the perfect time to one you would not remember by morning was sharper than any knife.
So, with a dip of my chin and a stroke of his thumb against my cheek, I wandered my way toward the long table on the opposite end of the room.
It was laden with crystal goblets and carafes full of what I could only imagine were the finest liquors credits could buy.
Those I passed paid me no mind, unless it was to eye the slit in my dress or the curve of my neck, but they didn’t look at my face—they didn’t see me.
And with each step I heard murmurs of business deals and betrayals, of mistresses and scandals that would ruin the livelihood of so many.
“About twenty or so hired arms made planetfall this afternoon,” one male said, the ring of skin on the top of his head gleaming as he threw back a small vial of liquid.
I slowed on the pretense of watching the performance again in the center of the room.
The bronze-haired male was now on all fours, face screwed up with a mix of pleasure and pain as the other male pushed into him from behind.
Even from here the slapping of skin on skin rang out, the grunts of their breaths loud enough it was as if I was beside them.
The female knelt beside them, her hand disappearing beneath the first male, who let out a loud keen.
“Dunbar will report within the next hour if they are successful,” the male behind me continued.
“And you’re confident it’s here, Xarium?” his companion asked with a disbelieving chuckle.
A huff and a slurp. “Confident enough to have three bidders on the table. Two of whom are Federation officials with deeper pockets than you could dream.”
Could it be the stone or merely another priceless artifact harvested for the gain of powerful beings who used that power for greed?
They didn’t speak of whatever their quarry was and internally I frowned at their self-awareness.
After another few quips, mostly from his companion about his overconfidence, they moved to one of the many food tables and out of earshot.
I lingered for a little while longer, watching the play of light across the white-haired male’s amethyst chest. His shoulders were wide, muscles sculpted as if from stone, arms flexing with each powerful thrust. As I watched, his gaze rose from the male’s back in front of him, through the crowd, to meet mine.
Molten silver, almost hauntingly so, such a contrast with his purple skin as to be breathtaking.
A grin pulled the corner of his mouth as he gave his next thrust, brows immediately furrowing, hips starting to stutter.
But his eyes never left mine as his pace quickened, as the male before him cried out, spilling his release across the gilded stage.
Before he could find his own completion, I turned away, ignoring the ache between my thighs and the heat creeping up my throat.
It was clear Lesephous had hired the kind of pleasure yeskas most would never be able to afford to gaze on.
I stopped a few more times to listen while others chatted, lingering to look out the window onto the sea, or at one of the sculptures carved into the crystal walls.
But the conversations were of no consequence, mostly boasting about credits or sex or both.
There were rumors about a planet the Federation was keeping under wraps, something about genetically modified soldiers.
Another male claimed to have a harem of over three hundred Venyan males—something seemingly impossible unless half those males were withered and gray, given how small Venya was.