Praise for the writing of Morgan Hawke

 Interstellar Service and Discipline: Victorious Star

 This story knocked me off my feet … I can honestly say it is the best thing I have read all year, and Morgan Hawke has becomeafavourite of mine after reading just one book. I can’trecommendVictoriousStar highly enough, go and buy it now.

 --JaynieRitchie,RomanceJunkies

 VictoriousStarisa fabulous novel, jam-packed with action, adventure, and sex … I recommend this book without reservation.

 -- BarbChan,JustErotic Romance Reviews

 I've never read such an intense book! From start to finish, this book had me glued to my PDA … I highly recommend this book. It's definitely going on my "keeper" shelf.

 -- Amy L.Turpin,TheRomance Studio

 VictoriousStarisa fantastic read. It keeps readers glued to the pages and interested it what will happen next. Morgan Hawke created an alluring tale that is well written and exciting.

 -- ClaudiaMaldonado,TheRoad to Romance

 [Hawke] manages to combine a very good, complexly plotted science fiction story, with a scorching erotic bisexual BDSM ménage. It’s a fairly long story (300+ pages), but it was so riveting that I finished it in one day – it was that hard to put down. I have to consider this one of my Recommended Reads for this month.

 --Jean.FallenAngel Reviews

 Interstellar Service and Discipline: VictoriousStarisnow available fromLooseId.

  

  

  

 INTERSTELLAR SERVICE AND DISCIPLINE:

 FALLEN STAR

 Morgan Hawke

  

 www.loose-id.com

 Warning

 This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

 * * * * *

 This book is rated:



 For substantial explicit sexual content, graphic language, violence and situations that some readers may find objectionable (multiple partners, ménage, bondage, domination/submission, other.)

  

 DISCLAIMER: Many of the acts described in our BDSM/fetish titles can be dangerous. Loose Id publishes these stories for members of the community in which these acts are known and practiced safely. If you have an interest in the pleasures and pains you find described herein, we urge you to seek out advice and guidance from knowledgeable persons. Please do not try any new sexual practice, whether it be fire, rope, or whip play, without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Neither Loose Id nor its authors will be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from use of the information contained in any of its titles.

  

 Interstellar Service and Discipline: Fallen Star

 Morgan Hawke

  

 This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

 Published by

 Loose Id LLC

 1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-29

 Carson CityNV89701-1215

 www.loose-id.com

  

 Copyright © May 2005 by Morgan Hawke

  

 All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

  

 ISBN 1-59632-119-9

 Available in Adobe PDF, HTML,MobiPocket , and MS Reader

 Printed in theUnited States of America



 Editor: ErinMullarkey

 Cover Artist: Angela Knight

  

 Dedication

 For AK -- who saw a hero where I saw a villain, and demanded that he be given his due.

 AndJaynie -- for her spectacular and thorough advice.

 AK’sSPs -- I count myself lucky to know and have the support of such fine ladies.

  

  

 Chapter One

 Dyson’s Ring outpost station

 Under-City -- in a back alley ...

 Evening cycle

 Fallon stared up at the deeply shadowed, towering steel walls of the alley’s dead end and ground her teeth. The door that was supposed to be at the end of this alley was nowhere to be found. “Damn it all, this isn’t where I’m supposed to be!”

 Most of the lights in the station’s industrial deeps had gone out, or been shot out, so it was hard to see as a rule, even with her night-sight eye augmentations. The worst part was that everything down in this steel maze of pipes and installations looked pretty damned uniform, right down to the corrosion stains. There was no telling how far off course she actually was.

 She needed directions, and fast.

 In three steps she reached the steel wall of the alley and a long pipe with a faded and peeling telecommunications logo. She lifted her knee and selected a slender tap from the array of small, delicate tools tucked into the battered leather of her tall boots. A swift punch with another one of her tools broke the pipe’s casing, and then it was just a matter of uncoiling her hotwire, jacking the tap into the communications wires, and shoving her wire into the data port at the base of her skull.

 Her internal communications program spat code into the wire.

 She looked down at the grimy steel floor, sweeping a gloved hand down her black skin suit. She cringed in disgust. The suit was smeared with filth and the seams were torn in a number of places. All the pipes she had crawled through and the roofs she had nearly fallen from to avoid her pursuer had really taken a toll on the once-sleek leather. It was going to cost a fortune to replace the damned thing, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She needed it for work.

 “Station Master, spit it out and make it quick.” The voice was electronic and annoyed.

 She grinned. “Hey, Peter, this is the Fallen Star.”

 “Izzie! Where in fury have you been, wench?”

 She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I miss you, too, but right now, I’m in a jam. I need directions and quick.”

 “Stand by for subliminal download.”

 “Standing by.” A trickle of white noise was introduced over the line. Fallon nodded. “Receiving download; thanks, Peter.”

 “Hey, no problem. You still playing pixie for the bad guys?”

 Fallon sighed. “Got to make a living somehow.” She stomped her feet to break the mud off her tall boots. They were crusted with muck to the knees. She didn’t even want to think about what was snarled in her cropped shoulder-length black hair.Bloody Fate, I need a bath ...

 “You could always come down to Neverland and play pixie for me ...?” The pout carried crystal clear over the connection.

 Fallon shrugged. “I love you, Peter, but I can’t live hardwired to a couch like you do. I’ve got a fully functional body. I’d like to use it.”

 “Fine, be that way, but you could visit. In fact youshould visit. You’re way overdue for a bug hunt. God only knows what’s been dropped into your head between pirate ships.”

 Fallon winced. He had a point. She probably needed a thorough cleaning. “That’s not a bad idea. Are any of the other lostlings down there?”

 There was a heavy electronic sigh. “They’re all outside. Come down and play with me, Izzie.”

 “Tell you what, as soon as I lose the guy currently on my tail, I’ll drop by for a long visit.”

 “Who’s tailing you?” The electronic voice was threaded with anger. “I told you not to play with the bad guys!”

 “It’s not the boss.” Fallon sighed. “It’s some white-haired foreign guy in pointy black armor.”

 “Fangs, pointy ears, weird eyes, and perverted as all get-out?”

 Fallon frowned. That was exactly what was tailing her. “Yeah ...”

 “Come home now!”

 Fallon’s frown deepened. “Now?”

 “Now, Izzie. I’m serious. The Imperium pays those guys to take criminals, and the Fallen Star is high on the criminal collection list!”

 Fallon winced. “Yeah, well, being agood professional thief has its disadvantages ...”

 “Izzie, if they get you, you are not coming back!”

 Fallon snorted. “Relax, Peter, there isn’t any place I can’t break out of --”

 “Izzie! I’m not playing here! If they get you, you won’t come back, because you won’twant to come back; you’ll want to stay with them!”

 Fallon rolled her eyes. “Peter, you know nothing can hold me.”

 “Izzie, I mean it. Get down here! Don’t make me use the codes toget you down here.”

 She gasped. He was actually threatening her with the command codes? “Peter!”

 “Come home now, Izzie!”

 “Okay, okay, Peter, I’ll come home, but I don’t want him following me down, so let me lose him first.”

 “Don’t bother. Let him follow; I’ll take care of him. Follow the map, and get your little ass down here right now.”

 She sighed.Damned nanny. You’d think she was still a skinny ten-year-old with scraped knees running through drainpipes from the bigger kids. “Okay, Peter. I’m on my way.”

 “Good. Go!” The line died.

 Fallon rolled up her wire and tucked the tap back into her boot while scanning the information she’d just downloaded. She wasn’t anywhere near where she was supposed to be. She groaned.Piss ... She hadn’t thought she had drifted that far off course. She was going to have to backtrack.

 A low, masculine chuckle echoed in the alley. “Dead-end, thief.”

 Her heart slammed in her throat.Blood and Fate, not again? She turned sharply to look behind her. Her pursuer was little more than a silhouette of broad-shouldered moving blackness, yet he filled the alley with his intimidating presence.

 Damn it!She’d known he was close, but she hadn’t thought he was that close! How, by burning fury, was he finding her so fast?The stupid, stubborn brute ... She turned her back on him and set her gloved hands on the steel wall, but it was too slippery with night condensation to climb.Shit, shit, shit!

 “You are out of options, thief.” His chuckle echoed at her back. “Yield, and save yourself some grief.”

 She backed up against the steel wall and dropped into a fighter’s crouch with her fists raised. “I’m not down yet!”

 “But you will be.” He stepped across a small beam of light that cut through the misty darkness to caress his sculpted, overlapping black body armor. It shimmered with oily iridescence, as though made of midnight rainbows. Silver gleamed in the frost white of his hair. Shadows deepened the pale and brutally handsome lines of his high cheekbones and strong jaw. Pairs of silver rings glittered in the lobes of his pointed ears, accentuating the decorative cuts along the lower arches. The long tail of his severe braid fell well past his broad shoulders and swung at his narrow waist as he approached. “You will go down, and you will yield.”

 Fallon felt her pulse beat in her throat. He was fully armored, and all she had was a thin layer of battered leather. Fate and damnation, she didn’t want to fight him again, but she didn’t have a whole lot of choice. “You haven’t caught me yet.”

 “Oh, no?” His white brows rose over bright, amused sapphire-blue eyes. Feline green-gold reflected in their depths. His full lips curved into a cruel smile. “Have it your way.” The points of his canines gleamed. “But there’s only one way out ...” He opened his arms, his hands pointedly empty of the weapons she knew he carried, daring her to get past him.

 She took the dare in a flurry of fists and feet.

 The exchange of fists, kicks, and curses was vicious and short. He trapped her arm and grappled her into a chokehold with both of her wrists wedged up to the center of her back, wrapped in one large paw.

 She was just too damned tired.

 “This hunt is over, thief.” His breath was harsh and hot against her ear. “You lose.”

 Fallon sucked a breath past the armored arm jammed across her windpipe.Bloody Fate, he has a tight grip. Smart move on his part; she was very limber. If he gave her the smallest increment, she would wiggle free. She arched her spine, coming up on her toes to relieve the ache. Not that it did much good. He was more than a head and a half taller, and his shoulders were twice hers in width.He didn’t look nearly this big when he introduced himself in the bar. But then, he hadn’t been wearing pointy black armor, either.

 She sucked air past his chokehold. “Sobehk, you are cutting off the circulation in my arms.”

 “Oh, really?” Sobehk’s chuckle made the hair on her arms rise. “That’s too bad, Fallon. Or should I say, Isabeau Torne Fallon?”

 Fallon froze. He knew her whole name? Where, by fury, had he heard that? Not even her boss knew more than her handle!

 “Do you yield?” His voice was a sinister purr in her ear. “Or do I need to break something?”

 Damn it, she couldn’t afford the time off to heal a broken arm. “All right, fine, I yield. So now what?”

 “Now, you go down.” His foot hooked hers and she fell to her knees. He dropped down on one knee with her, keeping her wrists jammed tight up against her spine, with his arm snug around her throat. “And you stay down.”

 Fallon hissed to keep from yelping and arched back sharply. The uneven pavement dug into her knees, and both shoulders were painfully close to dislocation. “Take it easy on the arms, you big brute. I’m not a marine cyborg!” She was robotically augmented for agility, not power.

 “No, but you are one slippery thief.” His hand tightened on her wrists. “I’m not taking any chances with losing you again.”

 She bit back an escaping whimper. “Yeah, I’m a thief. What did you expect? This is a smuggling outpost -- everybody’s a thief.” She wriggled her fingers, but all she could feel was his damned body armor. It had to be some kind of titanium alloy; he moved like it didn’t weigh more than paper, but there wasn’t a drop of give to it. She hadn’t been able to land a single effective blow. Her foot was still bruised from that last kick she’d aimed at his kidneys.This really sucks ...

 Damn it! She didn’t have time for this shit. She set her teeth. “Look, whatever you intend to do to me -- beat me, fuck me, or whatever ... Can you hurry up and get it over with? I have shit to get done.”

 His arm tightened on her throat. “What? Do you have a quota or something, thief?”

 She turned her head slightly and sucked in a small breath past his chokehold. “Or something ...” Blood and Fate, yeah, she had a quota; everyone on this blasted outpost had some kind of quota to fill. She was lucky that she was damned good at filling hers, because this stupid game of hide-and-seek had taken far too much of her productive time. “Just do it, all right?”

 “I’ll get to it when I’m damned good and ready.” Sobehk’s voice rumbled in a deep growl. “If you wanted a quick end to this, you should have yielded two days ago when I caught you the first time.”

 Fallon snorted. “You could have given up two days ago when I got away the first time.”

 “Too bad for you.” Sobehk actually chuckled. “Once I start a hunt, I finish it.” His long teeth caught the lobe of her ear in a tender bite. “You shouldn’t have picked me for a target.”

 Fallon tilted her head away from his mouth. “You shouldn’t have pissed me off!”

 He nipped at her exposed throat. “What? Don’t you like sex?” He made a sound that might have been a growl, but it sounded a lot closer to an actual feline purr.

 Fallon shivered in spite of herself. “Sure, I like sex -- with guys that aren’t assholes!” She tried to twist, even a little, but his grip on her arms was far too tight. “Look, grabbing people and kissing them within seconds of stating your name is not the way to pick up women.”

 “Is that so?” He purred right into the curve of her ear. “Then why did you kiss me back?”

 Fallon felt her face heat. Shehad kissed him back; Sobehk was a damned good kisser. “So I kissed you, big fat hairy deal. That didn’t mean I wanted to have sex in the middle of a crowded bar.”

 “Are you sure?” His deep chuckle curled straight down into her gut. “I didn’t hear any complaints until after I had your bare tit in one hand and you were ready to cum on my other.”

 “Of course not!” Fallon scowled as her cheeks flushed with more heat. “I was flat down on the table with your tongue shoved down my throat. I had to bite you to get your mouth off mine so I couldtell you to stop.”

 “I thought you were just being affectionate.” His voice practically purred ... then the sound drifted into a growl. “Until you took off on me.”

 Fallon pitched her voice as sweet as sugar. “And I thought you were just being a perverted asshole, which iswhy I took off on you.”

 Sobehk stiffened and his voice rumbled deep in his chest. “Is that why you took my turbo glider?”

 “Well, yeah.” She winced under the increased pressure. If he gripped her any tighter, he was going to break her arm. “You pissed me off!”

 Sobehk relaxed slightly and barked out a laugh. “You were pissed because I almost made you cum right there in front of everybody.”

 Fallon ground her teeth. She remembered only too well exactly how close -- and how fast -- he had brought her to the trembling edge of orgasm. He was damned attractive, in a big, scary kind of way, and he was really good with his hands and his mouth. She had spent over an hour with her fingers in her wet flesh, trying to ease the burning hunger he had stirred in her before she had fled. The smug bastard ... “And you’re pissed now because it took you three days to catch me.”

 “Fuck, yeah, I’m pissed! Because of you, I’m way behind schedule. But I’ve got you now, and you’re gonna pay for holding me up -- with your ass.” The brute was grinning; she could tell by his voice.

 She scowled. “What, doyou have a quota to fill?”

 “Not anymore.” Sobehk’s voice purred with innuendo. “Your nipples are hard. I think you like being caught.”

 Her nippleswere hard, and it pissed her off even more. “I think you like being a bastard.”

 “Oh, I do. I love being a bastard to slippery little thieves who really need to have their asses smacked for taking things that don’t belong to them.”

 “I don’t know why you bothered chasing me; you got your glider back the next day!” Damn it, she couldn’t reach anything with her fingers ...

 “I’m bothering because I’ve been rock hard since that night in the bar -- and I fully intend to do something about it.” He dropped his arm, releasing her throat, and slammed a hand between her shoulder blades, shoving her face down onto the pavement. “And your tight little ass is gonna feel really sweet around my dick as I empty my balls in it.”

 Fallon had to turn her head or breathe concrete.What? Does he plan to ass-fuck me? Bloody Fate, I hope not! When he’d had her lying flat down on the bar’s table she had felt one monster of an erection pressing against her stomach. She honestly didn’t think she could fit something that big up her butt. “Hey, I have a perfectly good pussy!”

 “Don’t worry, I’ll get that, too.” His grip shifted on her wrists as he reached for something she couldn’t see. “Hold still.”

 “What are you doing?” Metal closed around her wrists. He was cuffing her? A shimmer went through her internal technology.Force-cuffs? Where by burning fury did he get a set of those? They were tightly regulated by the Imperium; not even the local cops had them. She ground her teeth. The cuffs were tuned to her augmentations. As long as those things were on her wrists, her arms were his to command.

 She licked her dry lips. But her feet were still free, and her tools were in her boots. If she could get to her tools, she could tap into her own augmentations and release herself. It would be difficult as bleeding fury with her hands pinned behind her, but she’d done it once before; she could do it again. Her gaze flicked to the male practically on top of her.Gimme one deep breath of space and I’m gone, you big bastard. “Look, if you’re taking me to enforcement for the theft of your glider, I’ll be out in a matter of minutes. I’m on the payroll.”

 “I figured as much; you have some expensive body augmentation.” His hands shifted on her arms. “Keep your wrists together.”

 She wriggled, but her wrists remained pinned together at her back, imprisoned by his order and her own augmentations.Bloody Fate, I hate these things ... At least her arms weren’t being jerked out of their sockets.

 “Much better.” He grabbed her by the short hair at the back of her neck and sat back, pulling her upright with him.

 Fallon winced as she came up on her knees. “Must you rip my hair out by the roots?”

 He pulled her head back and glared down at her. “If I were you, I’d be more worried about my ass than my hair, thief. Do you have any idea who you robbed?”

 Fallon leveled a glare the big brute. “Yeah, a big-mouthed, white-haired pervert with pointy ears and pointy teeth that likes to have sex with total strangers in public places. ”Wearing decorative and obviously expensive black body armor and carrying regulation force-cuffs ...She eyed him with suspicion. “Are you some kind of Imperial agent?”

 “I’m not an Imperial anything.” Sobehk’s eyes narrowed. “I’m aMahf’dhyt, you idiot.”

 She blinked. Was that supposed to mean something? She arched a brow at him. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

 “As a matter of fact ... Yes.” He bared his teeth in a triumphant smile, and the heart of his blue eyes reflected feline green-gold. “I’m a Skeldhi enforcer, also known as a hunter, and you’ve just joined the ranks of Skeldhirehkyt .”

 He was acop? Her neck hairs rose in alarm. “I ... what?”

 He looked back at her and his smile broadened to show his pointed teeth. “Your people call us slave-hunters.”

 Fallon couldn’t draw breath.He’s a slave-hunter? But they were just an urban legend. A race that changed people into willing sex-slaves was just too fantastic to believe. They couldn’t be reallyreal . Could they?

 But then, Peter had just said, these guys were paid by the Imperium to take people -- and the people they took didn’twant to come back.

  

 Chapter Two

 Fallon winced as Sobehk’s hand tightened in her hair. Caught, cuffed, and kneeling on the filthy deck plates in a disused alley in the bowels of the station -- the whole situation sucked. Calling for help was a total waste of breath. Anyone that came would be more likely to slit both their throats just to steal her boots and his pretty armor.

 “Considering that you’re a criminal, I guarantee you’re better off serving one of us than ending up in a penitentiary mining pit somewhere on the wrong side of space.” Sobehk pulled a long, viciously back-curved dagger from his tall over-the-knee boot.

 Fallon saw the blade and didn’t think; she simply twisted as hard and as fast as her panicked body would move. Her hair came out in his hand, and she didn’t care. She threw herself forward, tucking her head to roll over her shoulder and right out of his reach. The idiot only had the one hand on her. Fuck the cuffs on her wrists; her feet were perfectly functional. In one smooth motion, she was up on her feet and running for the open end of the alley.

 “Oh, no, you fucking don’t!” His heavy boots pounded the pavement behind her. “Not this time!” He was gaining on her.

 She sucked air and pushed her legs as fast as they would move, but running with her arms pinned at her back was not going to get her far. She had to get the damn cuffs off, and fast. She spotted the yawning mouth of an open pipe right at the edge of the alley and dove in, headfirst.

 She landed hard on her shoulder and grunted with the jarring impact. She rolled up onto her knees. The interior of the pipe was utter blackness. She closed her eyes and opened them to trigger her night vision augmentation. The pipe’s interior bloomed in a haze of green. It was filthy and just big enough to clear her head as long as she stayed on her knees.

 She grimaced and started forward on her knees. She was already grimy; what was a little more dirt? But if the pipe narrowed too much, she’d be in big trouble fast without the use of her hands to get her through.

 “How far do you think you’re going to get with force-cuffs on, you little idiot?” Sobehk’s voice echoed from the end of the pipe. Scrapes and thumps announced his entry into the pipe. “Damned feral human ...”

 Fallon sucked in a sharp breath. He’d never followed her into a pipe before; why was he doing it now? She shoved deeper, her knees bruising on the trash clogging the bottom of the pipe. She had to find a place to get the damned cuffs off right now.

 She turned at the first cross juncture and shoved forward, hoping like bloody fury that whatever used to be in this pipe wasn’t corrosive; she couldn’t afford a skin graft. She turned a few more corners and found herself staring at a sharp upward bend in the pipe. It might as well have been a dead end. Without her hands, she’d never be able to get up into it.

 She was out of options.

 Fallon looked back at the open pipe. She could hear the stubborn brute still cursing up a storm only two turns back.

 “Don’t you dare fall down a hole and get yourself killed! I want to kick your skinny ass first!” Crashes and hollow bangs accompanied his passage as his armor struck against the pipe’s narrow confines.

 If she was lucky, he’d take a wrong turn and get himself, and that armor of his, stuck in a pipe. But her luck had sucked all damned day.

 She looked around for someplace to sit. The pipe-bend was just big enough for maybe three people to fit, and the opening over her head looked like an easy climb, if she had her hands. But if he found her in this corner before she got the cuffs off, she might as well be in a steel cage.

 The cuffs had to come off right now.

 She moved to the curving wall right under the pipe’s mouth and dropped down on her knees. Using the wall for leverage, she twisted. She had to get at the outside of her boot with her fingers, and they were at her back. Her legs shivered as she held them impossibly tight against her body while her fingers scrabbled along the outside of her boot. Her fingers found the correct pocket on her right calf and the tiny stylus-prod that she needed. She twisted around sharply to get the prod balanced on her thigh. Carefully, she bent down to get it in her mouth without knocking it off and into the filth on the bottom of the pipe. She sat back up with a sigh of relief, the stylus safe in the grip of her strong teeth.

 She turned her head and angled the point very carefully past the rip in her shoulder seam and over the right place. She didn’t want to lose her grip on the small instrument. She closed her eyes and focused her attention. She had to stab the correct nerve bundle to short-circuit the signal in her arm’s augmentation, releasing the cuff on her wrist. It was deep in the ball joint of her shoulder, and it was not going to be easy to find. It was also going to hurt like screaming fury while she did it.

 She jabbed the stylus in and pushed it deep into her shoulder. Agony screamed up and down her arm as blood slithered past the puncture. A moan slipped past her lips. Gripping the tool tightly in her teeth, she began to dig. Small whimpers escaped her throat. She felt a tiny buzz of current against her lips and her arm dropped. Her right arm was free!

 With a gasp of pain and relief Fallon released the stylus, leaving it in her shoulder. She twisted sharply, flapping her dead arm. The nasty thing flew off her wrist. The metal cuff hit the metal pipe with a loud bang.

 She flinched.Of all the stupid things to do! If Sobehk was anywhere nearby, that sound just gave away her location. She leaned over and pulled the stylus from her arm with her teeth. She had to get that other cuff off. A small charge ran up her dead arm and her augmentation came back online. She lifted her arm and wiggled her fingers, allowing herself a fleeting smile. Her arm was weak, but she could use it.Thank the Maker for nano-technology -- self-healing robotics.

 She grabbed the stylus with her free hand and stabbed it into her other shoulder. Pain seared through her. She moaned before she could stop herself.

 “What the fuck are you doing?”

 Fallon looked over and stared straight into Sobehk’s ice blue eyes. Her blood froze.Caught ...

 His face fell slack with astonishment. “How in bloody Chaos did you get that cuff off?”

 “Shit!” She grabbed the instrument with her free hand and ripped it from her shoulder while scrambling to her feet. Clamping the stylus in her teeth, she jumped up to grab the lip of the pipe above her with her one good arm.

 He came lunging into the bend. “Not this time, you little beast!” He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back down.

 She dropped, hitting the bottom of pipe facedown on her elbow with a hollow bang. She gasped with the vicious ache and the instrument fell from her teeth. She reached for the fallen stylus and his fingers closed tight on her shoulders. Searing pain ripped though her. She screamed and writhed in agony under him.

 Sobehk pulled his hands from her shoulders. “Blood? You’re bleeding? What in Chaos did you do to yourself?” He set his palm between her shoulders to hold her down and ripped open the shoulder seam of her suit. “Fuck, that’s a lot of blood. Were youtrying to kill yourself, you stupid little feral?”

 Fallon twisted under him and slammed the heel of her hand into his jaw.

 He grunted and fell back onto his knees.

 Lightning-quick, she was back on her feet and jumping for the pipe.

 “Oh, no, you don’t!” He lunged up and hauled her back down.

 She screamed obscenities and lashed out with her foot.

 He grabbed her foot and pulled, dropping her hard onto her back and then following her down. “Stubborn little pain in my ass ...!” He straddled her, pinning her struggling body with his weight. “Hold still. I need to stop the bleeding.” He grabbed the shoulders of her suit and ripped it further open.

 She bucked and howled under him, insane with pain and fear.

 “Hold still!” He had to use both hands to keep her down. “Stop fighting me, you idiot! You’re bleeding out!”

 Fallon couldn’t see anything beyond his bulk holding her down. She twisted and fought with everything in her, desperate for escape.

 “Damn it, you are not bleeding to death on me!” He pressed one hand on her chest, raised his fist. “Stop right now or I’ll knock you cold!”

 Terrified beyond reason and in too much pain to care, she shrieked and clawed for his eyes.

 His fist came down hard.

 And the world went very far away.

 * * * * *

 Fallon awoke lying on her stomach, bent over something relatively soft, with her arms pulled over her head. There was an ache in her jaw that simply would not go away and a bruise over her heart, too, but other than that, she felt pretty okay. She shifted to sit up and discovered that she couldn’t. In fact, she couldn’t move at all.Huh?

 She opened her eyes and brilliance speared her. She winced and closed them to switch over from her night vision. She opened her eyes again and discovered that she was looking at a familiar cross alley.

 She couldn’t move because she was tied across the forward saddle of a two-man turbo-glider parked on its cycle tires. Both cuffs were on her wrists and bound together with fine cable lashed to a ring by the footboard. There was not one bit of give anywhere. Her ankles felt like they were similarly tied on the far side, but with her legs spread wide.

 She was positioned as though waiting to be mounted.

 What in fury ...?Memory slammed through her. The force-cuffs, the pipe, Sobehk’s punch ...

 She was strapped across Sobehk’s glider.

 Fallon dropped her head.Damn it, damn it, damn it ... She was well and truly caught, only this time she was also set for travel. The question was, where did he plan to take her?

 Fallon shifted on the glider’s saddle and felt a soft breeze on her naked back. Her suit had been split all the way down the back and spread open. She could feel the edges digging into the outside of her thighs, leaving her butt completely exposed all the way down and around almost to her navel.

 The hair rose at the back of her neck. She really was waiting to be mounted.

 “Awake?” His voice came from somewhere behind her.

 That brutish bastard ...!Fallon twisted her wrists and glared at the cable that bound her. She utterly loathed being helpless.

 “I stopped the bleeding and bandaged both your shoulders from whatever it was you jammed into yourself.” Pavement crunched under his boots as he paced somewhere behind her. She felt the breeze of him moving between her spread thighs. “What in Chaos were you trying to accomplish?”

 She blinked. He bandaged her? Why by fury would he do that?

 “Answer me, you feral idiot!”

 The sound of a sharp smack arrived only a bare moment before a scalding burn erupted across her ass. Fallon flinched in surprise.He hit me? She ground her teeth. What was a smack on the ass, when he’d punched her before? “Fuck you.”

 “That’s better.” Sobehk snorted. “Now, spit it out -- what the fuck did you think you were doing?”

 “I was trying to get the cuffs off.”

 “Is that so? It looked a lot more like a suicide attempt to me.”

 Fallon stared at the cuffs on both wrists. “It worked. I got one off.” Not that it did any good. It was back on.

 “It could have killed you! The way you were bleeding back there, I was convinced you’d nicked an artery with that stunt.”

 “So? What do you care?”

 “Great Mother, you are so damned thick-headed! Do youwant to die?”

 Fallon dropped her head and scowled.

 “Answer me, damn you!”

 A sharp crack echoed in the alley.

 Fallon’s left butt-cheek erupted with stinging heat. She sucked in a sharp breath and flinched. “No, I don’t want to die, you bastard!”

 “Good! Because if youever do something that stupid again, I’m going to make your ass regret it for a week straight!”

 Fallon hunched her shoulders. He was shouting. “If you hadn’t put the cuffs on me, I wouldn’t have had to do it!”

 “You would have preferred death to me?”

 Fallon nibbled on her bottom lip. “I knew what I was doing ...”

 “Right. Which is why you were bleeding all over the place.” His warm palms cupped the curves of her bare ass, rubbing the sting from his strike.

 She cringed and shivered slightly, feeling utterly exposed and completely helpless under his hands. “So, now what?”

 “I’m waiting for my thank-you, for saving your life.”

 Her mouth popped open. A thank-you, when he caused it in the first place? Bloody Fate, the ego!

 His fingers dug into her ass-cheeks in clear warning.

 She closed her eyes tight. “Okay, all right ... Thank you.”

 “Good. Don’t do it again.” His fingers released her ass, and he stroked her backside in a gentle caress. “I want you in one piece.”

 She suddenly focused on his palm moving across her skin. Seditious warmth coiled in low, moist places. An image of what she must look like seared across her inner eye. Her body bent over the glider with her suit sliced open and peeled back, the rolled edges framing her butt with her muscular legs splayed wide. There was nothing to block his view of her most intimate flesh.

 Her nipples rose to tight points against the leather of the saddle.

 A second image entered her thoughts -- his brutally handsome body as it had looked in the bar, all raw muscle and arrogance. She could practically feel him towering behind her, staring at her, focused on her naked and exposed backside. Anything he wanted, he could take, and there was no way she could stop him.

 Another memory, this one of her short skirt up around her hips as she lay back on the top of the bar table with him above her. The full, heavy, hot length of his cock had pressed against the juncture of her spread thighs. Only his slick leather pants and the thin silk of her panties had come between them as she moaned under his mouth. His fingers under the silk working her trembling wet flesh toward the flashpoint of climax ...

 For a brief instant, she acknowledged that some dark and twisted part of her wanted him to take her. Take her hard, and relieve the ache that had started three days ago and never really left.

 Fallon shook the images from her mind and sucked in a breath in an attempt to control her runaway libido. “Fine, whatever. Are you going to beat me now or what?”

 “Beat you?” Sobehk laughed, and it was not a pretty sound. He set his elbow beside her on the saddle of the glider and leaned over her to peer down at her. “I’m going to do something far worse.” Dark innuendo purred in his husky voice.

 Hard muscle pressed against her bare back. He wasn’t wearing his armor. He didn’t seem to be wearing his pants, either. She could feel the hot length of his cock pressed against her exposed butt. Her body jolted with interested heat.Blood and Fate, what is wrong with me?

 “Worse?” She turned her head and looked up, utterly terrified, painfully excited, and seriously pissed off, all at the same time. “Like ... what?” What could be worse than a beating?

 His blue eyes burned with heat and his smile was pure masculine hunger. “I’m going to get you good and hot, and then ...” His thumb stroked the seam that divided her cheeks. “I’m gonna split your ass with my dick. And make damn sure you like it.” His palm closed on her ass and squeezed.

 Fallon’s breath left in a rush.Okay, that’s worse. In spite of the skittering of fear that danced up her spine, a flash of heat speared through her and her body clenched wetly. “I really don’t see how I’m going to like having your cock crammed in my ass.”

 “Oh, you will.” He smiled, baring long teeth. “I’m very good.” He swept a hand down her bare back and turned to watch the progress of his fingers. His finger slid deep into the seam of her butt, then circled the tight rose of her anus. “And then I’ll spend the next whole cycle jammed up your ass or down your throat.”

 A whole cycle of thirty days...?Fallon clenched her hands into fists and shook with a rage that boiled from out of nowhere. “You can’t justkeep me, you bastard! That’s kidnapping!”

 “It’s not kidnapping --” Sobehk’s voice held both humor and a hard edge. “-- if the person in question is legal property.”

 Fallon felt every thought in her head grind to a complete halt. “What?”

  

 Chapter Three

 “Property ...?” Fallon shook her head, trembling in the tight bindings that held her over the saddle of the glider. That didn’t make sense. Ice water rushed through her veins, dowsing the heat of her temper. She couldn’t be indentured; her debts weren’t that high. “But how ...?”

 “I’m a SkeldhiMahf’dhyt , an enforcer, remember?” Leaning over her, his broad chest against her sweating back and his elbows pressing into the saddle on either side of her body, Sobehk held her gaze steadily. “This station is one of the places your Imperium gave us free rein to pick up strays. I filed an inquiry of intent on you three days ago. No one challenged the claim. You, my ferocious little feral, were an unwanted stray open for collection.” He tossed a derisive glance around the rusting steel alley. “Considering the conditions of this vermin-run station and your likelihood of ending up in a mining pit, you could definitely use the rescue.”

 Fallon couldn’t process what he was saying. It sounded too much like fantasy to be believable. “All this for taking your glider?”

 “Actually, no.” Sobehk chuckled. “I originally planned to spank a harsh lesson into your ass and then fuck you senseless. But when you slipped out of my hands the third time in a row, I realized that you’d make a damned fineupuaht rehkyt. ” He pushed up from her back to stand behind her.

 Fallon snorted. He was staring at her ass again. “I got away from you a lot more than three times.”

 “And every escape made me determined to catch your sweet ass that much more.” His hands dropped heavily onto her hips. “After the last stunt you pulled to get the cuff off, I’m betting you go Prime.” He cupped her ass in both hands and squeezed.

 Prime?What the fuck was he babbling about now? Fallon writhed under his hands and clenched her teeth, fighting the overwhelming desire to press down and rub her aching clit against the saddle.

 His finger slid down the seam of her ass, over the tight rose of her anus, and then brushed against the plump outer lips of her cunt.

 Her entire body went rigid with eager hunger. She bit her lips to keep from moaning. “Mother of Fate ...”

 “Feeling sensitive?” His fingers swept down the inside of her spread thighs.

 She shivered and fought to think straight. “Sobehk, I have no interest in being anyone’s slave!”

 “You’ll change your mind.” He slid two fingers into her cunt.

 She gasped and pulled against the cables that held her. A chill sweat broke out all over her body, making the seat she was strapped across slick under her belly.

 “Oh, yeah, you’re nice and wet.” He pulled his fingers back out and chuckled. “I think you’re just about ready for your fuck.”

 She bit back a moan. She was dying for a fuck, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

 He swept his other hand down her damp spine. “Ah, you’ve begun to sweat. Looks like the first dose has finally taken effect. About time, too; I’m hard enough to pierce metal.”

 “Dose?” Fallon stilled. Had the bastard drugged her? “Dose of what?”

 “You’ve been injected with the first of four courses to genetically alter you into a Skeldhi-human hybrid, also known as arehkyt . The lust you’re feeling is part of the process. You’ll get the second course as soon as I get you back.”

 Fallon’s mouth fell open. “You’realtering me?”

 “That’s right.”

 “You fucking bastard!”

 “It’s your own damned fault. I was planning to wait, but because of that stunt in the tunnel, there’s a real possibility of you being in danger of infection.Rehkyt are designed to be resistant to most diseases and recover very quickly from physical damage. Once I get my load of cum in you, my DNA will boost your immune system.”

 “You can’t!” Fallon twisted on the saddle, but there was no possible escape. “You can’t alter me!”

 “Really? Who’s gonna stop me?” He pressed an oily, slick finger against the tight rose of her anus. “Push out.”

 Her mind focused on the immediate threat of his finger. “What are you doing?”

 “I’m greasing your ass for my dick. Push out, or this is going to hurt a lot more than it needs to.”

 She cringed. She couldn’t stop him; he was really going to fuck her up the ass. She pushed out. His finger slid past the ring of her anus. The invasion felt impossibly large ... and darkly exciting. A small whimper of mortification escaped her.

 “Mmm, you’re awfully tight.” He pushed deep. “No getting around it, it’s gonna hurt when I shove my dick in this tight hole.” He pulled back, then pushed deep again, wriggling his finger around the interior of her ass. “I’m guessing that this’ll be your first ass-reaming. Am I right?”

 Fallon pulled on the cables that bound her as heat curled in her bowels and pulsed in her clit. There was nothing she could do to escape. She was his to take any way he chose. “I fucking hate you!”

 “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ Not that it will stop you from cumming.” He swept his thumb against her clit.

 Ferocious heat gripped her core in a tight fist of need. The breath exploded from her lungs.

 His chuckle made her skin crawl. “Oh, yeah, you’re just about there.” He knelt, rocking the gilder. A warm puff of air caressed her most private flesh.

 She pulled away instinctively, but she was too securely tied.What now? Something warm and wet stroked the intimate folds of her core. She choked.

 “Mmm, nice flavor.” His hands dug into her butt, parting the cheeks to give him better access to her vulnerable flesh. He pressed his entire heated mouth to her and sucked noisily.

 Vicious delight speared straight through her. She exhaled with a helpless moan, and her hands opened wide in shock.

 He licked and lapped, stroking and nibbling the tender flesh with slow, drugging skill and obvious delight.

 Ferocious tremors of raw pleasure scorched her with each touch of his tongue, drawing her into a tight knot of mindless lust. He was really, really good. Despite the fact that she couldn’t stand him, the bastard’s talented mouth was driving her to the explosion point fast. He was going to make her cum, and cum screaming.

 And there wasn’t a damned thing she could do about it.

 Fire burned up her spine and seared the back of her skull, then centered in her jaw. Pressure built. Suddenly her mouth filled. She spat, and blood spattered on the pavement. A small white something lay in the pool. It looked like a tooth. She shouted in surprise.

 Sobehk’s mouth stopped. He rose up from behind her and leaned over her back. “What?” He looked down at the blood on the pavement and chuckled. “Hot damn, you’re losing your teeth.”

 What?Fear raised every hair on her body. “My teeth?” Abruptly, pain slammed through her skull, and her mouth filled. She was forced to spit again. Another tooth hit the pavement and gleamed in its small pool of blood. “Blood and Hell!” Her voice was tight with shock.

 “Relax.” Sobehk swept a hand down her hip. “It’s just your fangs.”

 She sucked in a sharp breath. “Fangs?”

 “Just keep spitting; if we’re real lucky, you’ll get uppersand lowers.”

 “Lucky?” He was out of his mind! “I’m losing my teeth!”

 “You’re not losing them; you’re getting new ones. It’s part of the change.” He stroked her back. “You’ll be fine.”

 Fallon shook her head in frustration and fear. “Sobehk! What the fuck have you done to me?”

 “Will you relax?” Sobehk straightened and dropped back down to his knees behind her. “This is nothing. Wait ’til you see what happens once you have an ass full of cum.” His mouth covered her slick, intimate flesh, and his tongue began its torturous licking.

 She shuddered under the insistent onslaught of burning delight. Another wave of heat, lust, and painful pleasure ripped through her. She screamed. Another tooth hit the pavement in a spatter of blood. “Oh, Maker,” she moaned.

 “Did you just lose another one?”

 She shuddered. “Yes.”

 “Good, one more to go.”

 “You asshole!”

 “Be nice!” His hand cracked hard on her sweat-slick ass.

 The strike blazed across her butt-cheek. She yelped and choked on a mouthful of blood. One more tooth hit the pavement. “Fuck ...”

 “That makes four, right?”

 She closed her eyes and moaned. “Yes.”

 “Good, then you should be done.” His hands explored her butt with possessive delight. “I knew you’d get fangs -- you were too aggressive not to -- but all four? Oh, yeah, you’re gonna go Prime on me; I can feel it.”

 Fallon panted on the glider’s saddle. She had no clue what he was talking about and she didn’t care. She stared at the four teeth on the pavement and knew for a fact that she didn’t want to play this game anymore. “Sobehk, let me go.”

 “What?” He laughed. “It’s far too late for that.” He leaned forward and attacked her vulnerable flesh with renewed dedication.

 She writhed on the glider’s saddle, unable to escape his mouth, unable to escape the coiling tension in her belly, unable to do anything more than submit to his erotic assault on her vulnerable flesh. Small, needy sounds escaped her lips.

 “Damn, kitten, you are putting out a lot of cream.” He lapped in earnest, wriggling his tongue into her core. He pressed two fingers deep into her and curled, brushing her inner flesh with delicacy and skill.

 Her body gripped his fingers ravenously. Ruthless carnal greed became paramount, and desperation for release stole every thought in her head. Helpless, needy sounds tumbled from her lips.

 “You’re good and hot now.” He chuckled, a warm vibration that sent gentle shockwaves through her as his tongue danced against her flesh. Deep within her, his fingers flicked.

 A sharp bolt of erotic delight jolted her. Her body bucked hard enough to rock the glider. Climax rose and coiled unbearably tight. Her breath caught as she teetered on the edge.

 His lips closed on her clit, and he attacked the tiny, swollen nub with his tongue.

 She exploded, release slamming through her in a furious torrent of molten ecstasy. Her gasping cries echoed in the alley.

 Sobehk released her clit with a satisfied sigh. “That’s my kitten. Now you’re ready to fuck.” He pulled his fingers from her hungry core and grabbed either edge of the glider’s saddle. The glider rocked as he stepped up on the running board and stood between her thighs.

 Fallon panted for breath. She could barely think past the shudders wracking her body.Bloody Fate ... She didn’t think she’d ever cum that hard in her life.

 He leaned over her back. “I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to stretching your ass.”

 She sucked in a sharp breath as fear washed the heat from her body. Temper followed with blinding speed. “Why don’t you shove it up your own ass?”

 “Oh, you’re just begging for a beating, aren’t you? Don’t worry; I’ll get to that, too.” His body came down on top of hers, hot, heavy, and brutally exciting. His rigid cock pressed against the seam of her cheeks.

 Everything in her focused on the hard cock branding her ass. In spite of the climax that had just torn the shouts from her throat, her body still hungered, and it hungered for a cock to fill it. Her cheeks heated as she realized that if she hadn’t been tied, she would have spread her thighs for him, eagerly. Her body wanted to be fucked that badly.

 He gripped her hip. The broad, slick head of his cock pressed tight against the small opening of her anus. “Push out, and push out hard, because whether or not you want it, I’m coming up your ass, right now.” Her anus began to spread under the insistent pressure.

 She tossed her head and writhed, but his cock continued to press. The pain was sharp and immediate. She arched and twisted, but the cables had no give. “Damn you! It hurts!”

 “Of course it hurts!” His long nails dug into her hip. “I said, push out!” He slapped her ass hard.

 She gasped under the burn of his strike and reflexively pushed out. The head of his cock slipped past the ring of her anus. She couldn’t stop the small cry of surprise or the undignified moan that followed. Once he got past the tight muscle of her opening, it wasn’t as bad as she had expected.

 “Fuck yeah, the sounds of first ... penetration.” His cock pressed onward, stretching her with his hard length. He sighed with pleasure. “Not so bad once it’s in there, is it?”

 Fallon gritted her teeth.Bastard . It would have been a whole lot easier to keep her over-excited libido at bay if it continued to hurt. As it was, the decadent feeling of his penetration was making her hotter -- not colder.

 “Keep pushing; you have a lot more cock to fit in there.”

 She gasped for breath and groaned as she pushed out. His hard shaft slowly forged deeper, stretching her impossibly wide.

 He drew in a deep breath. “Almost ... there.”

 Something blunt and rigid made contact with the outer lips to her cunt. She stilled in surprise. It didn’t have the crisp hardness of plastic or glass, but rather the satiny give of leather, or flesh, and it was warm. The blunt broadness nudged between her slick folds, nosing into her hungry core. It felt like another cock.

 “Oh, yeah,” he said in a soft growl. “You are soaking wet. My second cock is gonna slide right in.”

 Her head came up.Second cock? She had known that some races were ... built that way, but she’d had no idea that Sobehk was.



  

 “Oh, so you didn’t know?” He chuckled, and it vibrated through the cock jammed up her ass. “Surprise.” His hands closed on her waist. He pulled, driving both cocks all the way in. His hips slammed against her ass.

 Fire scorched the abused ring of her anus even as her hungry core was finally filled. She howled and twisted, impaled on both cocks.

 Sobehk groaned in obvious pleasure. “Fuck, your cunt is almost as tight as your ass!”

 He rolled his hips, digging his cock deeper into her ass while rubbing against something brutally exciting deep in her core.

 She gasped as raw erotic pleasure mixed with the hot pressure of over-fullness. Her toes curled and shivers erupted all over her body. Her hips twisted under him in pure reflex.

 “That’s it,” he crooned. “Feel those hard cocks stretching you open.” He twisted his hips counter to her movements, working his cocks deep in her ass and cunt.

 “Sadistic bastard!” Her voice was embarrassingly close to a whimper, but her body had a mind of its own and she continued to move under him.

 “Nice of you to notice, but you are still gonna cum screaming on both my dicks.”

 “I don’t ...” She sucked in a breath, fighting to think through the sensual overload. “I don’t cum that easily ...” She groaned. “Not with a cock up my ass!”

 “Is that so?” He pulled back slowly, sliding his cock a few increments from her butt. His other cockhead slid almost to the point of exiting.

 She hissed in shock. His withdrawal wasn’t painful at all; in fact, it felt distinctly pleasurable, but not in any recognizable way she’d ever felt pleasure before.

 “Felt good, didn’t it?”

 Fallon dropped her head, annoyed that he’d figured that out so fast, but what really frightened her was her body’s greedy hunger.

 “More?”

 She desperately did not want to give him the satisfaction, but her body had other ideas. She stiffened and her butt rose, just a tiny bit, in eager invitation.

 “Oh, yeah, you want more.” His long nails dug into her hips. He thrust.

 She choked as he filled her. Her ass burned even as her core clamped down in greedy delight. “Fuck! That hurts!”

 “It hurts now, because you’re new to it.” He leaned over her, and his voice dropped into a low growl. “Next time you’ll beg for it.”

 A snarl erupted from her throat. It sounded utterly animalistic, like that of a hunting feline, and completely inhuman. She gasped, shocked. “Was that me?”

 He choked out a laugh. “Yes, yes it was.” He stroked her back with his warm hands. “It sounds like you’re going to need that second dose soon.” He pulled back, delivering more of that illicit pleasure. “No more mercy; you need an ass full of cum.”

 She stilled under him. “What?” He couldn’t mean what she thought he meant ...

 He snorted. “Just relax and enjoy the ride. The faster I go, the quicker I get off, and the faster I can get you out of here.” He pulled back and slammed back in with vicious speed.

 She shouted with the hot brutal impact in her ass even as he struck something within her core that jolted her hard with erotic delight.

 He grunted and pulled back only to shove right back in.

 She shuddered, jolted across the saddle by the impact of his hips against her ass. And yet heat coiled and tightened within her. A whimper escaped her lips.

 He slammed in again. Then again, and again, increasingly harder in his thrusts ... He grunted as he fucked her hard enough to rock the glider under them.

 Powerful and cruel pleasure washed through her and coiled tight into a ferocious and rising wave. Her fingers splayed out as she twisted under him, overwhelmed. She couldn’t stop her gasping cries of bright agony and dark delight.

 He ground into her, hot, hard, and deliciously deep. “You’re just about there.”

 He was right; she was going to cum, and cum horrifically hard. That last one was nothing compared to what was coiling in her belly. She could feel the scream building within her. Alarmed by the strength of her rising climax, she struggled against it, burning with lust but more terrified of the fall.

 “You stubborn little feral ...” Sobehk growled over her. “Quit fighting it!”

 Her body rocked and shuddered under his thrusts, burning and trembling with the need for release, but fear held her back.

 Sobehk dropped on top of her and slid his hand around her hip and under. “Damn you, you are going to cum.” His finger found her swollen clit and flicked. And thrust.

 Liquid heat and fire erupted in a ferocious boil. Climax dug its claws deep into her, screaming for escape. She balanced on the edge. A howl of denial was ripped from her throat. “No!”

 “Yes!” He ground his cocks into her as his fingers worked her clit. “Cum, damn you!”

 “No!” Fallon cried out, frantic with both need and fear, and still she held back from the edge.

 He growled. “No more stubbornness.” His open mouth pressed hot and wet on the long muscle of the throat.

 She felt the points of his long teeth. A shiver of alarm raced up her spine. “Don’t ...!”

 He bit down.

 Four small but fierce lines of bright hot pain tore her throat. She moaned.

 His tongue swept across the small tears and he rose over her. “Now you’ll cum.”

 A wave of overwhelming sensation slammed through her. Hot lust, intense pleasure, and aching fullness mixed into a violent wave.

 “Oh, yeah, you’re feeling it now.” He thrust, and thrust ...

 She bucked, frenzied by the intensity of the sensations wracking her. It was too much. She screamed. Her body clenched tight with imminent release. Her breath stopped in her throat.

 “That’s it, kitten ...” Sobehk groaned and thrust hard. “Cum, cum on my cocks and squeeze me dry!”

 Release exploded within her. She fell shrieking and writhing into a maelstrom of orgasmic pleasure that washed her sanity from her mind. From far away she heard his triumphant howl and felt his final thrust. She shook under the final burning waves of orgasm as his cum filled her.

  

  

 Chapter Four

  

 Fallon was barely conscious as Sobehk unfastened the cables that held her down across the glider’s saddle. She felt the cool edge of steel slide up the back of her legs. Two quick jerks tore the mangled remains of her leather suit from her body. He tossed it on the pavement. His fingers jerked at the buckles of her boots.

 She tried to raise her head. “Not my boots.” Those boots had been specially tailored for her. Most of her inter-neural infiltration tools were secreted in the leather and the lining. More than half of those tiny instruments accessed specially tailored breaking codes that she had programmed herself. Her entire profession was in her boots.

 “The boots definitely have to go. Chaos only knows what kind of thieves’ tools you have in them.” He tugged the first off and threw it.

 “No ...” She struggled, but simply couldn’t get up the will to do more than shake her head. Her body shuddered and a wave of heat flushed her from head to toe. She groaned.

 He tugged off her other boot and stroked her bare calf. “Shit. The fever has started. I have got to get you back.” He pulled her up into his arms and threw his leg over the glider’s saddle. Holding her crosswise in his arms, he frowned down at her and swept a hand across her brow. “Your eyes are starting to show signs of going.”

 She ignored his words; she was too busy staring at the sleek, silky black shirt stretched across his broad chest. He was also wearing a heavy leather coat that draped the sides of the glider.He’s dressed? When did he get dressed?

 He hauled her leg over his until she straddled him, facing his chest. She was just too damned tired to even attempt to move. His leather pants felt soft under her spread thighs.

 Heat struck the back of her skull. It washed down her body, triggering a thorough soaking sweat. She barely noticed as he tugged her arms under his coat then around his waist. She was too busy trying to breathe past the wave of heat that flooded her limbs.

 “Keep your wrists together around my waist.”

 A sizzling shimmer went through her arm augmentations, and her wrists locked together behind his back. Suddenly the heat passed and she could think again.

 He tipped her head back. “Open your mouth.”

 “Huh?” She moaned softly. “Now what?”

 “I said: open.” His thumbs dug into her jaw and her mouth popped open. He tilted her head back and peered into her mouth. “Oh, yeah, you got a nice set in there.”

 She shook her head and he released her. “Set of what?”

 He smiled, and it wasn’t pretty. “Fangs, kitten. You have a very pretty set of uppers and lowers.”

 Fangs ?She explored her new teeth with her tongue. She pricked herself and flinched. They were sharp.Fangs, great ... Her head fell against his heart, and she closed her eyes. She was so tired. His warm scent washed over her. He smelled of clean sweat, male skin, and sex. He smelled ... good. She pressed her nose against him to smell him some more.

 “It’s time to go.” He closed his coat around them both and buckled the glider’s safety belts around them. “We’re late.” He pulled on the helmet and started the glider’s air turbines, the vibration humming deep in her bones. He leaned forward and grabbed the glider’s handlebars. “We’vebeen late.” The glider lifted straight up on a wave of anti-grav.

 “Huh?” She lifted her head. “Late for what?” The glider tipped up and lunged hard for the sky. She was slammed into his chest and the wind ripped her words away.

 The howling turbo-glider and its two passengers lunged up from the manufacturing levels of the station’s under-city. Sleek, narrow, and built for power, the glider knifed into the flight stream arching over the corporate towers of the upper-city. Traffic lights gleamed on the aggressively edged side fins. Buoyant on a wave of anti-grav and propelled by the glider’s churning air turbines, the glider dodged nighttime flight-traffic at killing speed.

 Fallon gripped Sobehk around the waist, her thighs straddling his, her bare feet hooked around his calves as they bucked over the conflicting air currents. Not that she could have let go if she tried with the force-cuffs locking her wrists around him. She clenched her hands into tight fists against his warm back and pressed her face into his chest. He had her under his coat, but he hadn’t given her a helmet. The icy wind of the upper-city made her eyes water. It was a lot warmer in the deeps.

 The glider suddenly dropped in speed and dipped.

 Fallon jerked awake.Huh? She couldn’t believe she’d actually fallen asleep. Where were they? She turned to look. The colors were all smeary and too bright. She squinted into the wind to focus. They were circling the brightly lit open ring of a small, cone-shaped spaceport reserved for privately owned ships. She stared, wide-eyed. Blood and Fate, what did he want all the way out here?

 Her eyes went out of focus. She squinted harder. They were very far away from the heart of the under-city where he’d finally caught her. Once she got away it was going to be one serious pain in the ass of a long trek back. Not to mention that she was stark naked. Getting something to wear up on the topside was going to be a problem all by itself.

 The glider dove into the spaceport ring and slipped easily past slow-moving hover-barges towing freight and passengers as it skimmed deep into the lower levels.

 Fallon bit her lip. She hadn’t thought he would actually enter the spaceport. This was not looking good at all.

 The glider took a sharp turn and dropped, landing on its cycle tires with a small bounce.

 She yelped in surprise. “Don’t get us killed!”

 “Shut up and let me drive!”

 They raced along the main passage that ran along the level’s outer edge, then took a sudden sharp turn into a small wedge-shaped berth. The dock lights illuminated the long, sleek, aggressive lines of a highly reflective black craft designed for space travel as well as atmospheric flight. It was only a little bigger than a frigate-class pleasure yacht, and it was armed with ports for energy pulse cannons and ballistics.

 The howling roar of the ship’s engines filled the berth. The deck vibrated under the glider’s tires. At the berth’s narrowest point was the door to the launch pit at the spaceport’s heart. The door was closed, but the pit was already primed for lift. The massive superconductors deep in the very bottom were actively generating a massive wave of anti-grav. She could feel the shimmer of weightlessness under the glider.

 Fallon stared at the craft and her heart thumped in her chest. She shouted over the noise. “Sobehk, that ship is about to launch!”

 Sobehk shouted back. “That’s right.” He checked his speed, slowing as he approached the ship. “I told you, I’m behind schedule!” He turned the glider to the ship’s rear where a narrow gangway led up into the yawning mouth of the ship’s cargo hold.

 Fallon stared at the ship’s open cargo door, and her blood turned to ice water. “But what about me?”

 The glider roared up the ramp and into the ship. “What about you?”

 Two tall, slender men in sculpted black armor came running up. Light gleamed on their silver hair and their weapons. Both of them wore swords, and small blades were tucked all over their suits.

 Sobehk unbuckled the safety belts and opened his coat, revealing Fallon locked around his waist.

 One of them frowned. “Is that your catch?”

 Sobehk pulled off his helmet and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yep.”

 The other scowled. “I hope she’s worth it; we’re late.”

 “It took a three-day hunt to catch her.” Sobehk smiled. “I got the first dose in her, and she already has a full set of teeth.”

 The first grinned at the second. “Sounds like definite Prime potential to me.”

 “Let me go!” Fallon jerked at her arms, pulling on Sobehk’s waist in panic. “I need to get off!” Her body buzzed with tension as her muscles fought with her internal tech.

 Sobehk snorted and smiled down at her. “You are not going anywhere.”

 Temper flared hot and she snarled at him, baring her teeth.

 He grabbed the hair at the back of her neck and jerked her head back. His lips curled back, showing his far longer teeth. A growl rumbled in his chest. “Don’t you dare bite me!”

 She trembled in his grip, aware on a visceral level that her throat was vulnerable to his teeth. Her gaze darted to the exit. Peter had said they took people -- she hadn’t thought he meant they took themoff-station.

 The ramp slid up, and the door irised shut and sealed.

 Her breath stilled in her lungs. Her vision blurred completely. She could feel tears tracking down her cheeks.This was not happening!

 She heard him speak as though from a great distance. “Hey, can you see?”

 Fallon frowned. “What?” He seemed so far away it took her a moment to realize what he’d asked. She blinked, but he was one big, watery blur. “No.”You big, stupid brute ... “I can’t see.”I’m too busy crying.

 “About time.”

 “Huh?” That didn’t make any sense. In fact, nothing was making any sense at all.

 “Blood tears,” someone said right at her shoulder.

 She felt heat begin to creep up her limbs. “What?” A humming filled her ears. The heat in her body pulled at her and made it difficult to think.

 “Her eyes are going; she’s late for her second dose.” Sobehk sounded far away. “Let go, kitten.”

 Her arms dropped from around his waist. She was supposed to be doing something ... going somewhere.

 “She’s going under.”

 “I see it.” She felt Sobehk turn her and lay her across his lap. “Give me the syringe.”

 Sleep crashed over her.

 Something punched into her heart, from very far away.

 * * * * *

 Fallon awoke disoriented and bent over on her stomach with her wrists pinned behind her back. It took her a moment to realize that she was being carried, draped over a warm broad shoulder, with her head down a muscular, naked back. Her gaze was irresistibly drawn down a long white braid swinging above a flexing muscular ass in skintight pants. It was a really nice ass, too ...

 Then her body started protesting, loudly. She groaned as every bruise, ache and strain from the last three days suddenly howled for attention. She shifted uncomfortably. For some strange reason there seemed to be a hard knot at the base of her breastbone that was particularly annoying.

 “Finally awake?” The deep voice was more than familiar.

 Fallon closed her eyes. Shewould be ogling Sobehk’s backside.Terrific ...

 “Before you get any thoughts about trying to leave the ship, we left the station about an hour ago and are currently in jump space.”

 Oh, shit!For a full breath, panic surged through her. The panic was abruptly squashed by practicality. She had known that her career would probably end in being caught by somebody. She just hadn’t thought she’d get caught by someone she’d kissed.Pain in my ass ... She flinched. Her ass was still sore from her reaming.

 She seriously thought about wriggling out of his hold just on principle, but there wasn’t anyplace to go, not on a ship this small.And I’m just too damned tired ... Her stomach gurgled, and she winced. ...And hungry. She honestly hoped he planned to feed her sometime soon. She lifted her head and found that she was being hauled through a semi-dark, narrow, arched passageway walled in unrelieved black. “Where are you taking me?”

 “The facility. You’re incredibly filthy.”

 She snorted. “I should be; I’ve been sleeping in the under-city sewers for the past few days.”

 “Oh, so that’s where that charming aroma came from?” He sounded revoltingly amused.

 Fallon curled her lip. So she smelled like a cesspit; nice of him to point that out. “I did it to avoid a big white-haired brute that wouldn’t get off my ass.” She felt a smile bloom with sudden memory. “When I dove into that last sewage pipe, the look of total disgust on your face was absolutely precious. You really hate getting your pretty armor all dirty, don’t you?”

 “Youare in enough trouble already. Are you sure you want to add to it?”

 “I figure I’m about as deep as I can get already, so why hold back?” Fallon’s belly gurgled again. She shifted. Her stomach was not at all happy being draped over his hard shoulder. “Are we there yet?”

 “As a matter of fact ...” He stepped through a narrow oval door, knelt, and tilted her back, depositing her onto her feet. “Yes.”

 Fallon teetered unsteadily on her bare feet. They were in a compact, black-walled bathing facility with an enclosed water stall that would fit two, but no more. The commode and the sink were both lidded and designed for gravity and zero-g.

 Sobehk set towels on the counter, then turned and reached for her.

 She back-pedaled into the wall where the door used to be.

 He snorted. “Relax; I’m just checking your bandages.” He peeled back the derma-strips with gentle fingers.

 She looked up at him in alarm and felt her heart beat in her mouth for no good reason at all. “What for?”

 “I want to make sure you didn’t do any permanent damage.”

 “My arms work just fine, thank you.” She suddenly focused on his handsome face and then his full mouth. A kiss would only be a small stretch away ... She licked her lips. Her heart thumped harder.What am I thinking? She jerked away and almost fell against the smooth wall. Her knees didn’t want to work properly.

 He raised a brow at her. “Having problems standing?”

 “No ...” She was having problems being in the same room with him. She had to keep away from him; he ... he smelled too good. What was wrong with her today? She’d been doing weird things, thinking weird things, and now she was feeling weird things.

 “Good. Turn around, put your hands on the wall, and keep them there.”

 Fallon turned and set both palms on the wall. “Now what?”

 “Hold still.” His fingertips slid down her back. “I want to see if you took any other damage I didn’t see.”

 She arched away from his light touch, but he persisted. It didn’t feel bad; in fact, it felt kind of ... nice. The hair rose all down her spine. Why was he being so ... caring? Why couldn’t he just stay a big loud-mouthed bastard? She could handle being yelled at. This ... gentleness was scrambling everything in her head. Bloody Fate, she had almost kissed him!

 “Chaos, you’re filthy.”

 The breath exploded from Fallon’s lungs. “If you hadn’t chased me --”

 “Youstole my glider!”

 “There was no reason to go after me once you got it back!”

 He snarled, the primitive and completely inhuman sound of an angry predator. “We’ve been over all this! You lost, remember? That’s why you are currently up against the wall.”

 Fallon couldn’t stop her instinctive flinch. “Fine.” She scowled at the gleaming black wall. “So now what are you going to do?”

 “Do? The same thing anyone does with a dirty stray -- give it a bath.” She could hear the insufferable grin in his voice.

 “A dirtystray? ” Fallon turned to glare at him over her shoulder. “What do you think I am, some kind of pet?”

 Sobehk barked out a laugh. “Yes, actually.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the oval door to the water stall. “Go on and get in.” He reached for the fastenings to his pants.

 She fled.

  

  

 Chapter Five

  

 TheVortex --Skeldhi brigantine class transport

 Jump Space

 Fallon stepped into the water stall and looked around with interest.Well now, this is rich territory ...

 The stall was completely enclosed in sheets of semi-transparent, silvery-smoked material that looked like glass, with one whole wall that was mirrored. Lights and small-handled spray heads were mounted on each of the five walls; a dark, smoked-chrome rail went all the way around the interior.

 Fallon grimaced at her reflection. The brute was right; she was absolutely filthy. Her shoulder-length black hair was dull and matted with Fate only knew what, and her pale skin was barely visible though all the dirt. Her face had oily black smears across her forehead and one cheek, making her eyes look huge and really blue-green. She frowned at her face. Her eyes seemed bigger, somehow, and she didn’t remember having that much blue or green in them.

 Warmth trickled down between her thighs and her ass. It was cum, from when he’d fucked her. She turned her back on the mirror in complete disgust. She had no idea how he had even touched her.

 Sobehk stepped into the shower with his back turned, utterly and magnificently nude, giving her a mouthwatering view of his entire backside from shoulder to heel. His long, frost-white hair fell in loose waves past his bone-pale shoulders to brush against his slender hips in an extravagant mane of white silk. He dropped a small collection of nubby white cloths on the shower’s smooth dark floor and reached up to collect one of the chrome spray heads. The muscles in his back moved and flexed in an arresting display. He pulled the long hose from the wall and fiddled with something. Water sprayed from the nozzle in his hand.

 Other than his brows and mane, he appeared completely smooth and hairless.

 Unlike her.

 Fallon dropped her arms and felt like crossing her legs to hide her rude feminine curls.

 Sobehk turned to face her and raised his brow in amusement. His blue eyes looked enormous and brilliant against all that pale skin. “Ready for your bath, kitten?”

 Fallon’s eyes automatically dropped below his waist and her breath stopped in her chest. The broad expanse of his muscular chest tapered down into narrow hips that framed a pair of rigid erections in a nest of snowy curls, one cock right on top of the other. The upper cock was clearly larger, but the lower cock was not what anyone would call small. His plump pair of balls hung ripe and a little overlarge between his muscular thighs.

 She couldn’t catch her breath. She’d known he had a pair; she’d felt them slamming into her, over and over ...Bloody Fate, he’d had that top one up her ass?A shiver shook her even as a spat of moist heat flooded her core.

 Sobehk’s chuckle echoed loudly in the small glass chamber. “Like what you see?”

 Fallon looked up at Sobehk’s grinning face in complete shock. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

 “You really had no idea until I fucked you?”

 Completely speechless, Fallon shook her head.

 Sobehk shook his head, his mouth open wide in amusement. His long teeth gleamed. “Chaos, you should see your face.”

 Fallon jerked as though struck. He was laughing at her, the bastard...

 He waved his hand. “Come over here and hold onto the rail. It’s going to take a lot of hard scrubbing to get all that filth off of you.”

 “I can bathe myself, thank you.”

 Sobehk snorted. “Bathing yourself is not the point of this little exercise.” He pointed at the rail by his side. “Do it.”

 Fallon jerked her gaze away from his ... extremities and walked over to where he stood, tall, pale and intimidating. He seemed to fill the whole shower with his big masculine presence. She ducked her head, chafing that she felt so small, helpless, feminine, and dirty standing under him. She turned away from him and wrapped her hands around the chrome rail that was just a bit higher than her waist. A shimmer went through her augmentation and her hands locked around the bar. She flinched. “So whatis the point of all this?”

 “The point is ...” He leaned over her. “That you are mine to do with asI please, and at this moment, it pleases me to bathe you.”

 She was bitterly aware that the cuffs on her wrists gave him control of her body. And she was trapped on a small ship in deep space. He had all the advantages. For now.

 Deliciously hot water sluiced over her from neck to toes. She moaned before she could stop herself. Black grime pooled at her feet and ran down the center drain. She hated being filthy.

 “Tilt your head back and close your eyes.” He sprayed her head down, soaking her hair. “Hasn’t anyone ever bathed you before?”

 Fallon shook the water from her cheeks. “No.”

 “No one?” Sobehk frowned as he attached the nozzle to the side wall, letting the water spray down over her back, rather than directly in her face. “Not even your parents or a lover?”

 Fallon stared at her hands. “I didn’t exactly have parents.” Her parents were a vague memory of people who shouted -- and left. Her childhood had consisted of a windowless steel institution, with hours spent strapped to a couch, downloading crap she would never use. They called it education.

 “You must have had at least one lover bathe you?” He pulled the soap dispenser from the wall and reached down to snag a cloth from the floor.

 “No.” Lovers were few and infrequent. Encounters were hurried and rarely happened in private quarters. They were only interested in scratching their itch and getting on with other things. A moist towelette did for bathing after. In a world of thieves, you couldn’t trust anyone enough to actually fall asleep with them. She shrugged. “I didn’t have ... lovers like that.”

 “Considering the human vermin living on that station, I’m not particularly surprised.” His expression was wry as he squirted creamy soap on the cloth. He set the soap back on the wall and faced her. “I’m going to make sure you get plenty of handling.” He dropped the cloth on her back and started scrubbing her back and shoulders with brutal efficiency.

 “Handling?” Fallon gripped the rail tightly as her body rocked under the pressure of his strong hands. He wasn’t playing; he was scrubbing the burning fury out of her skin with vigorous attention to detail. Thick rich lather formed and spilled down her body in his wake.

 “Being touched, being held ...” He leaned over her back and whispered, “Being cared for.” He knelt at her side and scrubbed at her flanks.

 She ducked, her cheeks warming, and braced her feet to keep from getting knocked over by his sudden scouring assault on her legs. “What if I don’t want to be ... cared for?”

 “I’m afraid you really don’t have much choice in the matter.” His cloth slid up between her legs and focused on her sore privates.

 She turned away and hissed. The cloth was warm and his hands were gentle, but it was painfully humiliating to have someone’s hands on her, especially there.

 “You’ll just have to get used to the fact that ...” He dropped the cloth and slid his soapy fingers over and into her tender flesh. “You don’t get to make those decisions anymore.”

 She cringed. “Blood and hell, you are a bastard!”

 He chuckled. “Yep.” His shoved a soap-slick finger deep into her ass.

 She froze, stunned by the sudden invasion.He did not ...! A snarl escaped her lips. Before she knew it, her foot had snapped out in a kick aimed at his kneeling side.

 He twisted out of range and his hand whipped out. He smacked her wet thigh with a sharp crack. “Stop that!”

 She yelped and pulled her leg back. The strike stung, a lot. She’d known it was a stupid move; her hands were locked on the bar, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

 “Behave yourself!” He stood up and reached for her shoulder.

 Lightning blazed up the back of her skull and rage erupted in a hot red rush. She turned and snapped at him with her sharp teeth. “Don’t touch me!”

 He jerked his hand back. “What?”

 Her eyes narrowed, and a growl rumbled in her chest. Her lips curled back from her teeth. If he tried to touch her again, she would make him bleed.

 His eyes narrowed. “Oh, no, you don’t.” His hand snapped out, and his fingers knotted in her hair at the back of her neck, yanking her head back. He stared hard into her eyes as his lips curled back, baring his fangs only centimeters from her throat. “Get it through your thick skull -- I caught you; I took you.” His hand closed on her throat. “Your life is mine!”

 She snarled and tried to jerk her head away. “Fuck you!”

 His fist tightened in her hair. His other hand caught her chin, tilting her head back further and forcing her to arch back. He focused his cold, angry gaze on hers. “Back down, kitten.” A deep growl erupted from his chest. “You’re already beaten. Don’t make me prove it.”

 She focused on his mouth. His teeth looked really big, really sharp, and way too close. If he decided to rip her throat out, she was not in any position to stop him. Her growl died. She closed her mouth and swallowed, knowing he would feel it with his palm. Her gaze slid away from his, and she trembled in his grasp.

 “Good.” He tugged at her hair. “Now, apologize.”

 She sucked in a breath. “What?” Her gaze darted to his.

 His eyes were ice cold and his jaw was tight. “You heard me.”

 She cringed. He was seriously pissed. “I’m ... I’m sorry.”

 “Good girl.” He pushed her back upright and released her hair. He cupped her shoulders and stroked her arms. “Now, keep that feral temper of yours in check.”

 Fallon hunched under his hands, but the urge to bite him had completely fled. She had no idea where that urge had come from in the first place.

 Sobehk released her arms and stepped away to retrieve a fresh cloth from the floor. “You’ve got good reflexes; I barely caught that kick. You’re going to make a damned fineupuaht rehkyt .” He watched her as he coated the cloth with soap. “But the faster you learn to submit, the easier everything will go for you.”

 Submit?Her hands clenched on the bar and she shivered. “I don’t take orders very well.”

 He snorted. “That is the understatement of the year.” He knelt at her side and grabbed her ankle, turning her as far to the side as her hands on the bar would allow. “You’d better get used to taking orders.” He looked up at her with narrowed eyes. “Or you will get beaten, a lot.” His cloth swept across her belly and he began his merciless scrubbing across her hips then up toward her breasts.

 Fallon rocked under his strong strokes. She’d been beaten before. It hadn’t done any good then, she doubted it would do any good now. She suddenly tripped over the end of his earlier statement. “Wait a minute ... you thought I’d make a what?”

 “Took you long enough to catch that.” He focused his scrubbing on her breasts. “Anupuaht rehkyt is a bodyguard.Upuaht translates into Imperial basic as ‘canine guard.’Rehkyt means pet.”

 “What is with you and all the ‘canine’ and ‘pet’ stuff?” She bit her lip as the cloth rasped against her nipples, bringing them to abrupt and insistent life. “I’m not an animal!”

 “Oh, but you are.” Sobehk stood and lifted her chin to stare into her eyes. “Close your eyes.” He ruthlessly scrubbed her face. “Rehkytare what we Skeldhi call our human pets.” He rinsed the soap from her cheeks carefully. “There, much better.”

 “A humanpet? ” Fallon had to blot her eyes against her shoulder as she couldn’t release her hands from the rail. “What? Are you going to put a collar and leash on me?” The idea was so silly a smile lifted her lips.

 Sobehk scrubbed down her arms, pinking her skin in his wake. “Yes.”

 “Huh?” Fallon stared at him. “Are you serious?”

 “Very.” He tossed the cloth on the floor and reached for the soap dispenser. “Lift your chin and close your eyes; I’m going to wash your hair.”

 Fallon lifted her chin and closed her eyes tight. “A collar for people?”

 His fingers dove into her matted hair and massaged her scalp. “The collar is for temperamentalpets .” Thick lather dripped onto her shoulders. “Rehkytare designed to be sexually aggressive. Their appetites -- or their tempers -- occasionally get out of hand. The control collar, theshen , is jacked directly into your nervous system at the cerebral cortex. It does pretty much what force-cuffs do, only more so.” He doused her hair with water to rinse off the soap.

 She shook her head to clear her eyes. “You’re putting acontrol collar on me?”

 “Yep.” Sobehk spread soap on his palms and trapped her gaze with his. “You’ll be collared as soon as we are done here. As soon as I get to a proper enclave, I’m getting you a nice steel chain with a tag with your name and mine.”

 “A chain ...twocollars?”

 He stepped behind her and his broad palms swept down, spreading soap along her waist and over her hips. “The control collar is for behavior, it doesn’t come off. The chain is for the leash, and the tag marks you publicly as mine -- my pet, and my property.”

 Leashes? Tags?He really was treating her like apet! Her mind reeled under the shock of what he was saying. Her knees jelled and threatened to give out. She stayed upright by will alone. Her throat constricted with alarm. “I don’t like this game anymore.”

 His mouth caressed her ear even as his soapy hands swept across her belly. “It stopped being a game when I registered you and no one argued the claim, making you legally mine to collect.”

 Blood and Fate!Her knuckles whitened on the rail. “Sobehk, you can’t make me yourpet! ”

 “I already have.” He pressed the rigid lengths of his erections against her spine and her butt. His soft groan caressed her ear, creating shivers. “You’re already showing signs of impression.”

 Fallon shook her head as foam dripped down her body.Impression? What in burning fury was that?

 He brought his soapy hands up and cupped her breasts. “Relax, kitten.” He kneaded and caressed the warm softness in his broad palms. “I’ll take very good care of you.” He tugged the peaks of her nipples to rigid tautness with his strong fingers. “No more living in sewers.”

 Arousal scorched through her in a torrential wave of damp heat. Fallon felt her breath violently rush from her lungs. A small sound escaped her lips. He was doing it again, making her boil with need, and so easily. She was not used to getting excited so quickly; but then, she was not used to being completely in someone else’s power, either.

 “It’s done, it’s over. Just let go, kitten,” he whispered. He slowly rubbed both of his hot, rigid erections along the damp seam of her butt.

 She found herself leaning back into him. She couldn’t stop herself anymore than she could stop the ache between her thighs. She took a deep breath to gain control and caught a nose full of his scent. She could smell the rich musk of his arousal even over the soap. A small, helpless sound came from her throat.

 “That’s it ...” His hand slid sensuously over her belly, drawing tremors along the path of his fingers. “Don’t try to resist.” One hand slid up to cup her breast as the fingers of the other dipped lower, seeking the juncture of her thighs. “There’s no need to resist.”

 Her body clenched in eagerness. She couldn’t stop her legs from parting in invitation.

 He squeezed her breast and a soft groan came from his throat. “I have you.” The fingers of his other hand delved among the folds of her intimate flesh, exploring the damp softness with inciting skill. “Body and soul ...” His fingers trapped her nipple and slid across her clit at the same time.

 Fire, heat, urgency ... She gasped, arching back against him, and bucked against his palm, so close to the edge of orgasm a breath more would take her over.

 He chuckled. The sound held pure masculine triumph. “And you want me to have you.” He pulled his hands away and stepped back.

 Fallon shook hard with both fear of what was to come and raw carnal frustration. She set her forehead against the slick glass wall and fought against the lust howling in her body.Bastard ...

 He reached up and shut off the water. “You’re clean. It’s time.”

 Fallon felt her heart slam in her throat. He was going to put a collar on her throat and take control of her body.Blood and Fate ... Sudden panic engulfed her. Her voice escaped in a tight whisper. “I wanna go home.”

 He grabbed the hair at the nape of her neck and jerked her head back. He stared hard and unyielding into her wide eyes. “You are home.” His mouth took hers in a devouring and possessive kiss.

 She moaned under his hungry assault, unable to release the rail and not all that sure she wanted to release his mouth. Pain crushed her heart in a tight fist of inexplicable and undefined emotion. A sudden sob exploded from her chest and tears abruptly fell from her eyes. She ripped her mouth away from his in mortified dismay. She was crying?

 Sobehk caught her face in his palms. “There, that’s what I was waiting for.”

 Fallon stared up at him in confusion.

 “Let go of the rail, kitten.”

 She released the rail and scrubbed at her damp cheeks. The damn tears didn’t want to stop. “You want me to cry?”

 He pulled her into the circle of his arms. “Yes.” With an arm around her waist, he turned and hit a switch by the door. Warm air filled the tiny glass room, drawing all the moisture from the shower stall.

 Fallon wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

 He knelt down to catch her eye. “Rehkytare affectionate by nature.” He brushed away the tears that still slid down her cheeks with his thumbs. “You obviously don’t give your affections easily, but you’ve begun to respond to me.”

 Fallon shook her head. “I don’t want to be anybody’s slave!”

 “Ha!” He rolled his eyes and grinned broadly. “The way you kept dodging in and out of my reach, daring me to catch you? You were begging me to collar you!”

 Fallon stared up at him in horror. All those times she had popped out just to see where he was, how close he had gotten ... Had she been daring him to chase her, to catch her?

 To keep her?

 His blue gaze remained steady, knowing and amused.

 She finally had to look away.

 “You will make a very finerehkyt .” He leaned over to drop a kiss on her brow. “Trust me.”

  

  

 Chapter Six

  

 Clean, dry, and somewhat shaken, Fallon let Sobehk nudge her out of the water stall. Did she really want to be a slave -- a pet?Sobehk’s pet?

 He strode past her to pick up a long silver-gray robe from the counter, then shrugged into it, knotting the cloth belt at his waist. The long, rich folds swept to the floor. He pulled his mane from the back of his collar, then turned around and waved at the wall. A hole widened outward into an oval door. He stepped toward the opening. “Come on, let’s go.”

 Fallon crossed her arms over her bare breasts and raised her brows. “Don’t I get a robe?”

 Sobehk turned to her and snorted. “You’rerehkyt .”

 She looked at him in shock. “Are you saying I don’t get clothes?”

 “You get clothes when I decide to put them on you.” His grin was slow in coming and malicious when it got there. “IfI decide to put them on you.”

 Fallon lowered her chin, and her temper burned with comforting heat. “If you think I’m going to walk around naked ...”

 “You’ll crawl on your knees naked if I tell you to!” A growl rolled in his chest, and he nodded at the door. “Are you coming, or do I need to make you?”

 Fallon abruptly turned away to scowl at the open door. “Fine, whatever ...” Stiff-legged, she marched toward the door.

 Sobehk caught her shoulder. “Stay behind me and on my off side.”

 Fallon looked up at him, puzzled. The off side was his left, away from his weapon hand. “You’re not carrying a sword.”

 His brows lowered. “Are you going to argue with everything I say?”

 She shrugged. “Probably.”

 Sobehk sighed and pressed his fingers to his brow as though it pained him. “You really need a beating.”

 Fallon couldn’t help but smile. “Probably.”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes and stepped out of the door. “Come on.”

 Fallon followed him out. The corridor was narrow, shadowed, and empty, but there were doors on either side that anyone could suddenly walk out of. She eyed the closed doors with grave misgivings, suddenly glad that she had his wide back to hide behind. “Where are we going?”

 “To see theSehnbay’syr Tah, the master-surgeon.”

 “What for?” She flinched and wished she could suck the words back into her mouth. They were going to medical to get her collared, obviously.

 Sobehk glanced over his shoulder at her with a sly smile. “I’m taking my stray to the veterinarian to get a check-up.”

 Fallon growled. “Keep it up with the animal stuff, and I’m just going to have to bite you.”

 “I would not try that if I were you.” Sobehk stopped at a closed door and waved his hand. “We have muzzles for pets that like to bite.” The door opened under his palm, and he stepped through.

 “Oh, come on!” Fallon grabbed the edge of the door and stepped over the bottom edge. The door closed almost on her heels. “Muzzles for people?”

 The medical bay wasn’t particularly large, but it was immaculately tidy. A black-and-chrome padded table commanded the very center and was stretched out under a well-lit, state-of-the-art medical array designed for full emergency surgery. The slightly curved walls were the same silvery gray she’d seen everywhere else.

 A man in a sleeveless smoke-gray robe looked up from behind his curved black glass desk, set against the right wall. His mane was the color of old bone and pulled back into a snug braid. The holographic projection display floating over the desk vanished. “Muzzles are for disobedientrehkyt .” His voice was deep, crisp, and slightly amused. “Do you need one?”

 Alarmed, Fallon ducked behind Sobehk and peeked from around his arm.

 Sobehk shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I am considering it.”

 Fallon glared up at him.

 “Indeed?” The medic stood and came around the desk to stand by the foot of the long table. He was very tall and painfully slender. His robe swept the hem of his long black kilt. His bare arms were roped with muscle. “So, what did you bring me,A’syr Sobehk?”

 Sobehk turned to the side, revealing Fallon to the medic. “This is Isabeau.”

 Fallon kept her place as her face heated. “No one calls me that.”

 “Then I definitely will.” He caught her around the shoulders and pushed her gently but firmly toward the long table and the waiting medic.

 Fallon eyed the table and the medic uneasily, but went where she was pushed. “Why do you have to be such a pain in my ass?” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

 The medic raised his brows at Sobehk in obvious question.

 Sobehk snorted and returned the medic’s speaking glance. “She’s on the second dose and starting to feel it,” he said very dryly. “Isabeau, this isSehnbay’syr Tah. Be nice.”

 Fallon stared up at the master-surgeon. Although his face was lined with age, he was still quite arresting. Electric blue gleamed in the heart of his stone-gray eyes, betraying his eyesight augmentations. Gold cuffs glimmered around the lobes of his pointed ears.

 She closed her hands into fists to hide the shaking, and couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

 Tah smiled and patted the table. “Let’s have a look, shall we?”

 For some undefined reason, every hair on Fallon’s body came to sudden and alarmed attention. Her breath stilled in her throat.

 The master-surgeon raised a brow. “Shy?”

 “Feral.” Sobehk caught Fallon around the waist, lifted her, and deposited her on the edge of the padded table.

 She gasped in surprise then bit her lip to keep from making another sound.

 Sobehk sighed as he stepped back. “She’s not used to handling yet.”

 “Ah, I see.” Tah walked around the table and parted her knees to step between them.

 Fallon trembled only slightly but didn’t try to stop him.

 The master-surgeon smiled briefly and raised a small stylus. “Relax, this will not be painful.”

 “That’s what they all say.” Fallon flinched. Blood and fury, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut if she tried!

 Tah gave her a startled look and amusement flashed across his expression. He looked over at Sobehk. “How new?”

 “Hours.” Sobehk folded his hands behind him.

 The master-surgeon’s brow shot up. “Indeed?” He caught Fallon’s hand and turned the palm up. Gently he set the point of his instrument on her pulse. “And is this the reason you were a day late?”

 “Yep.”

 “It took you that long?”

 “Three, actually.”

 Fallon felt a small spurt of pride.

 “Three?” Tah glanced over at Sobehk. “Your stubborn streak is showing.” He smiled. “Mastered?”

 Sobehk flinched only slightly. “Not quite.”

 “Ah, so not yet conditioned.” Tah focused on the bandages on Fallon’s shoulders. He raised a cool brow at Sobehk. “What happened?” He moved his stylus up to Fallon’s right shoulder.

 Sobehk suddenly flushed. “Isabeau decided to remove her force-cuffs with some exploratory surgery.”

 Tah blinked. “Surely that’s an exaggeration?” He moved his stylus to her left shoulder.

 Fallon snorted. “He’s still pissed because it worked. I got one off.”

 Tah leaned back to look at her. “Did you now?” He turned to Sobehk.

 Sobehk ground his teeth and glared at Fallon. “She got one off, all right, and bled out like a faucet, too. I had to patch her and dose her early to stop the bleeding.”

 The master-surgeon sighed. “Triggering imprint vulnerability.”

 Sobehk nodded. “Pretty much.”

 Tah lifted his brow. “Considering your new acquisition, and the regulations against personal ... possessions, were you planning on retiring from service?”

 Sobehk gave a small shrug. “I’ve made enough to afford a small school on the coast.”

 “Ah, I see.” Tah lifted the instrument from Fallon’s shoulder and waved his hand by the head of the table. A holographic display bloomed into being. “Let’s see what you have.”

 Fallon leaned over to look, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was seeing. None of the figures or lettering made any sense.

 Tah began to recite in a voice laced with dry humor.

 Fallon couldn’t understand his language. Her internal translator didn’t have anything to work with. Yet.

 Sobehk’s expression was grave as he nodded.

 Fallon frowned. Was it bad?

 The master-surgeon stepped away from the table and went to his desk.

 Fallon looked up at Sobehk’s grim expression. “What was all that?”

 Amusement lifted the corner of Sobehk’s mouth. “Oh,‘Syr Tah was just confirming my suspicions.”

 Fallon frowned at him. “What suspicions?”

 Sobehk gave her a tight smile. “That you’re a mongrel.”

 Fallon gasped. “Cheap shot, you big bastard!”

 The master-surgeon returned and the amusement was back in his expression. “Her arm, please.”

 Sobehk took Fallon’s wrist in his firm grip and held her arm out.

 She looked up at Sobehk, startled. “What now?”

 Tah took his place between her knees. “You are apparently somewhat under-nourished. I’m giving you a vitamin supplement.” He set the blunt end of an instrument against the vein near the bend of her elbow. There was a soft hydraulic hiss. He lifted the instrument from her arm and glanced at Sobehk. “That should keep you from having to feed her in the traditional manner during the rest of the process.” He stepped away.

 Sobehk frowned down at Fallon. “When was the last time you ate?”

 Fallon opened her mouth, and then closed it. She shrugged. “That depends on what you mean byeat .” She was pretty sure that he wouldn’t see nutrient bars as actual food, but it was all she had been able to carry for the past three days. They weren’t good for much, but they were better than nothing, and they kept the hunger pangs down to a manageable level.

 Sobehk rolled his eyes. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.” He hopped up on the table to sit next to her.

 Fallon raised a brow at him. “What, are you getting a checkup, too?”

 Tah came back from his desk with a sleek black case twice as long as his hands. He looked up at Sobehk. “Make sure she has plenty of food as soon as she comes out.” He opened the case and lifted out a smooth silver ring. It was open and one end was crammed with thousands of tiny pins. It was a collar.

 Fallon froze. This was it.

 Sobehk took the collar from the master-surgeon. He turned his gaze to Fallon. “Lay face down across my lap, Isabeau.”

 Her gaze leaped to the closed door, but there really wasn’t anyplace she could run to. The door was already gone, and the medical bay was too small to hide in.

 Sobehk’s hand closed tight on her wrist. “Isabeau, you have already done all the running you could possibly do. We are already a full jump from Dyson’s Ring station. There is absolutely no way for you to return.” His voice was calm but completely unforgiving. “That life is over. You have a new life now, with me.”

 Fallon looked up into his hard gaze and her heart beat in her mouth. A new life? Withhim?

 Sobehk patted his knee. “Lie down and this will be over quickly.”

 Fallon did not want to do this, but she couldn’t think of a way around it. She pulled up her knees. She shook so bad she almost fell off trying to get into position.

 Sobehk caught her shoulders and helped her lay facedown with her head on his knee. “Isabeau, put your hands behind your back.”

 Fallon closed her eyes. She really, really didn’t want to do this. She folded her hands behind her back.

 “Keep them there.”

 The command sizzled through her augmentations and she jumped. She’d been expecting it, but she was so damned nervous.

 Sobehk moved her hair to the side and over her shoulder, baring her neck. “Relax, kitten. I have you.”

 Cool metal went around her throat. It suddenly became hard to breathe. She closed her eyes tight.

 He brought the ends together. With one hard jab, he pressed the pins into the base of her neck.

 Fallon blinked.Was that it? The sharp stab from the pins was not that impressive. Stabbing herself in the shoulder had been far worse.

 Sweat broke out on her body.

 Huh?A blinding power surge went through the internal comp in the back of her skull. She gasped. The power surge traveled with appalling speed throughout the rest of her physical augmentations. Her entire body shuddered hard under the assault.

 From far away, she felt both Sobehk and Tah grab her to keep her from falling off the table.

 The massive surge spread down her spine and into places she knew for a fact no augmentation existed. Her skin tried to crawl from her bones and her fingers and toes twitched in reflex. She bit her lip to keep from screaming. A frightened whimper escaped instead.

 It stopped.

 “Shit ...” Soaked in sweat Fallon panted, shaking with exhaustion. “Is it over?”

 Tah’s cool hands closed around her wrists. “Not quite.”

 Sobehk wrapped her hair around his hand. He barked out something in a language her translator couldn’t interpret.

 Lightning blazed through her. She screamed and fought to get away. Both men worked to keep her in place.

 The lightning stopped.

 Fallon moaned and tears streamed from her eyes. “Son of a bitch ... What in screaming fury was that?”

 Sobehk released her hair and stroked her back with his palm “That was the command setting for punishment. This is the other one.”

 Fallon stilled. “Other one?”

 Sobehk barked out another phrase.

 Heat and lust burst in her core then clenched tight with terrifying strength. All thought fled but for the hunger in her cunt. She writhed across his lap, moaning in urgent need.

 The vicious hunger abruptly relaxed its grip.

 Fallon gasped and shifted restlessly. The urgency was over, but the need was not completely gone. A threatening heat simmered in her belly.

 “Those were the two extremes of the collar.” Sobehk stroked her back again. “The telepathic commands are programmed.”

 “Hold still.” Tah daubed cool cream where the pins stabbed into her neck, easing the slight burn.

 Fallon released a breath.

 Sobehk’s knee shifted under her cheek. “You can release your wrists.”

 Her wrists separated and she struggled to sit up. “Is it over?”

 Sobehk lifted her up onto her knees. “This is.” He took her wrists and the force-cuffs came off in his hands.

 She stared at her bare wrists.He took them off? She swallowed and felt the metal shift against her neck. She closed her eyes.That’s right, he doesn’t need them; he can control all of me now.

  

  

 Chapter Seven

  

 Fallon stepped from the medlab and padded after Sobehk, gripping her elbows in a daze of shaky confusion. Her heart thumped in her chest and ached in a way she couldn’t quite identify. Half of her wanted to run away screaming and find the smallest hole she could crawl into to hide in, and the other half wanted to lean up against Sobehk.

 Something surged in her heart and her breath hitched. A shudder passed through her and she stopped. What in bleeding fury was going on?

 Sobehk turned back to look at her. “Isabeau?”

 She took a breath. “I’m ...”Afraid. She couldn’t say it. She’d never admitted to fear in her life, but some part of her was desperate to be ... comforted.

 Sobehk smiled. “It’ll be all right. I’ll take good care of you.” He held out his hand.

 Fallon shook her head. “I can take care of myself, damn it.” But she took his hand. His fingers closed warm and snug around hers. It felt far too good for her peace of mind.

 “Yeah, but now you don’t have to.” He tugged. “Let’s go fuck.”

 “Isabeau?” The sweet and eerily familiar voice whispered poisonously from the corridor behind them. “Izzie Fallon?”

 Fallon’s head came up in alarm. Every hair on her body stood at attention. There was no way in bleeding fury her boss’s pet assassin could be on this ship. She turned around to look back up the corridor. Theycouldn’t have let that nightmare of a cyborg onboard!

 Metal struck hammer-blows against metal.

 Sobehk jerked at her side. “What in bloody Chaos ...?” He turned around to head up the corridor.

 “No! Don’t!” Fallon grabbed Sobehk’s arm. “If it’s who I think it is, you’ll only make him attack you. You don’t stand a chance against him unarmed.”

 The shriek of tearing metal followed. Shouts echoed down the corridor. Then wet crunches and choked screams.

 Sobehk tensed. “What the fuck is going on?”

 Fallon’s fingers tightened around Sobehk’s arm. “If we’re lucky, it’s nothing you guys can’t handle. If we’re not lucky, it’s a friend of mine.”

 “Isabeau, that doesn’t make sense.”

 A smallish, gangling, and completely naked human male came timidly down the hall. His face was plain, with ordinary brown eyes and a mop of bland blondish-brownish hair. He was one of those people you never looked twice at. He lifted his chin and moved his head from side to side. He appeared to be looking for something, or listening for something. A band of silver gleamed around his throat, and blood painted his bare arms almost to the shoulders.

 Sobehk frowned and set his hand on Fallon’s shoulder. “Where in bloody Chaos are his handlers?”

 Fallon stared at the blood-soaked arms and fought off a shiver. “They’re probably dead.”

 “The collar is for controlling killing aggression ...” Sobehk glanced down at her. “Is that yourfriend? ”

 Fallon swallowed and nodded. And she had thought her luck couldn’t possibly get any worse. “He’s a nano-based mimetic cyborg. I doubt your collar has any effect on him.”

 “The collar has some effect; he’s obviously sightless.” Sobehk glanced down at Fallon. “Wait a minute -- he’smimetic? ”

 Fallon nodded slowly. “He shape-changes.”

 “Who is this guy?”

 Fallon winced. “Tusk is my company’s assassin.”

 “A mimetic cyborg assassin.” Sobehk rolled his eyes. “Great.”

 “And he’s good. He’s single-minded, single-purposed, and has never failed a mission.” Well, he had failed once. That was how she found out how to take him out if she ever needed it. The following week, she’d had her augmentation upgraded for dexterity and speed.

 The young man’s head came up. He stared straight at Fallon with unfocused eyes. “There you are, Izzie!”

 “Oh, hi, Tusk.” She pasted a smile on her lips. “What’s going on?”

 The young man smiled. “Oh, the boss wanted to see you.”

 “He did?” Fallon kept her hands open and loose at her sides while slowly moving in front of Sobehk. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

 Tusk shrugged. “Couldn’t find you.”

 “Oh, that’s right ...” Fallon rolled her eyes and glanced up at Sobehk. “Some guy was chasing me all over the station.”

 Tusk shuffled gracelessly toward her, smiling absently. “Rudi said you’d be here, so I waited for you.”

 Fallon frowned. “He did?” How in bleeding fury had Rudi known that she would end up here? “How long were you waiting?”

 Tusk pursed his lips. “Three days or so.”

 Three days?Fallon felt her temper surge. Rudi had set her up.That back-stabbing son of a bitch ...

 Sobehk glanced down at Fallon. “Who’s Rudi?”

 Fallon scowled. “This guy I made my last delivery to. New guy, stinks of the Imperium. He tipped me for the delivery and gave me a pass to the club where I met you -- three days ago.”

 Sobehk frowned. “That sounds like a setup.”

 “Yep, it sure does.” Fallon glanced at him. “The question here is, why?”

 Tusk tilted his head. “Rudi told the boss you didn’t make the delivery.”

 “He ... what?” Impending doom dried her mouth. You did notever miss a delivery. “Tusk, he lied.”

 “Oh ... That’s too bad.” Tusk’s brows lifted then fell. “Because I gotta bring you back to talk to him, or kill you.” He sucked on his bottom lip. “But we’re in space already, and I don’t know how to fly the ship, so we can’tgo back.”

 An icy sweat soaked her back. “Tusk, I’m sure something can be arranged ...”

 Tusk shook his head and eased closer. “No, I don’t think so.”

 Sobehk stiffened and grabbed Fallon by the shoulder. “He’s not terrifically bright, is he?” He pulled her behind him.

 “No, but heis terrifically deadly.” Fallon shoved back in front of him. “Donot get in front of his target.”

 Tusk sighed and smeared a hand across his cheek, staining his face with blood. “I’m gonna miss you, Isabeau.”

 Sobehk frowned. “Is he actually crying?”

 Fallon winced. “Yes. He does that, right before he attacks.”

 Tusk shuddered violently.

 Fallon licked her lips. “Now’s a good time to get your knife out, and if you have a spare, I’d love to have it.”

 “I don’t have a spare.” Sobehk drew his long dagger from his boot and moved to Fallon’s side.

 Fallon dropped her voice to barely a whisper. “His only weak spot is at the base of his skull in the back just below the data jack. Nothing else will have any real effect on him.”

 “Got it.” Sobehk flipped the dagger in his palm. “Just stay out of the way.”

 Fallon frowned at him.Stay out of the way, my ass. “Sobehk, he’s really, really fast. I hope you have dexterity in your augmentation. You’re going to need it.”

 “I’m not exactly a slow-ass.” Sobehk snorted. “I got you, didn’t I?”

 Fallon flashed him a bitter smile. “Yeah, after three days of little food and less sleep.”

 Sobehk grinned. “That doesn’t change the fact that you are currently wearing a collar.”

 Fallon rolled her eyes. “That ego of yours is going to get you in trouble.” She shook her hands and bounced on her toes to trigger her augmentations. She did not want to be dealing with Tusk barehanded, but it looked like she didn’t have much of a choice. Sobehk was going to need a distraction. She just hoped to the Maker that Sobehk was up to speed.

 Shaking and twitching, Tusk flung his arms to the sides, and his head fell back. He wailed and stretched ... and thinned. His arms extended and reshaped themselves from the elbow out into long, curved blades. His feet lengthened until he stood on double-jointed legs, balancing on elongated, clawed toes. His head reshaped and stretched into a muzzle. His mouth split his head nearly in half, full of long, jagged teeth. His skin hardened into pale, skin-toned scales.

 Sobehk curled his lip and dropped into a fighting crouch. “Oh, that’s pleasant-looking.”

 “Personally, I was hoping to never see it.” Fallon nibbled on her bottom lip and promptly stabbed it.Damned fangs.

 Tusk’s head came forward. He focused on Fallon and raised his bladed arms. “Time to die, Isabeau Fallon.” The words were barely recognizable coming from that gaping maw.

 Fallon took a calming breath and gathered herself. Time to see if her technician had done his job right. She lunged for the company nightmare.

 Sobehk shouted.

 Fallon dove, rolling under Tusk’s swinging blade. She rolled up onto her feet behind him -- and dodged Tusk’s second swing as he turned with blinding speed.

 Behind them, Sobehk lunged into the fray, dodging swings and opening harrying cuts along Tusk’s sides and flanks.

 Tusk turned from one to the other, snapping and slashing at both. His foot lashed out and caught Sobehk in the gut, propelling him into a wall.

 “Oh, shit!” Fallon lunged in and slammed her fist into where Tusk’s kidneys ought to be, then dodged his retaliating bite.

 Sobehk climbed to his feet and came toward them, shaking his head. He was not moving well. Tusk’s kick must have struck something.

 Need a distraction! Need a distraction! Need a distraction!Fallon lunged toward the side wall, leaping up and catching it with her feet to shove herself toward the opposite wall, dodging another swing. She bounced off the wall and back-flipped out of range, drawing Tusk further down the hall and away from Sobehk.

 The guy Fallon had spoken to hadn’t been kidding when he said Tusk was fast. She only hoped she had enough energy to keep moving until Sobehk could take out Tusk’s head.

 Fallon ducked another swing and saw Sobehk grab Tusk around the slender throat from behind. The knife rose ...

 Tusk’s arm moved into an impossible angle and stabbed backwards and sideways -- straight into Sobehk’s side under the ribs, and came out the other side.

 Sobehk’s eyes widened and he froze.

 Fallon gasped.No ... It didn’t look real. The blade went in, the blade came out covered in red ... but it didn’t look real at all.

 Tusk pulled his arm free and Sobehk dropped. The knife clattered to the deck.

 Fallon stared in shock as blood pooled under Sobehk’s body.No ... Lightning seared up her spine and engulfed her skull. A white-hot blaze of rage erupted within her. “No!” Fallon focused on the nightmare, and the entire universe slowed to a crawling bloody haze. A liquid growl vibrated deep in her chest. “Kill you ...”

 She dove under Tusk’s lazy swing. Skimming low across the floor, she snatched up the fallen knife. The handle was warm from Sobehk’s hand. The smell of blood filled the hall with thick copper heat. She dropped to her knees, skidding into a turn then pushed off the wall for more momentum, and launched herself at the nightmare. She set the dagger in her teeth, biting down on the blade.Kill ...

 Tusk’s movements seemed incredibly slow. It was almost easy to dodge his bladed swings and get behind him.

 She leapt up and scaled his long back by stabbing her fingers and toes through cool scaled hide into the warm wetness under it. Funny, she’d always thought his scales were harder than that.

 Gripping him with her dug-in toes, she pressed flat against his cold back to avoid his blades. Taking the dagger from her teeth, she jammed the blade with all her strength up into the base of his skull. “Killyou! ”

 The blade went in just above the data jack, and up, sliding past a bony ridge to encounter some resistance within, then slid all the way in to the hilt. She twisted the dagger deep in his skull. “Die!” White-hot blood sprayed, covering her chest with thick, slippery heat.

 The nightmare collapsed, howling, and she rode it down, holding the dagger and screaming.

 Voices shouted.

 “Blood and hell!”

 “Sobehk!”

 “What the fuck happened?”

 Her head came up. She could barely see through the wetness on her face. People with long white hair were running toward her with long blades in their hands. She grabbed for the dagger, but it wouldn’t come free

 “What in fury is that?”

 “It’s dead ... whatever it is.”

 “It looks like she killed it.”

 She lunged for Sobehk and straddled him. She snarled in warning. If they tried to touch him, she would make them bleed.

 The shouting people surrounded her. They all smelled wrong. She didn’t know any of them.

 “We have to get him to the medlab!”

 “Watch out, she’s inrahyt .”

 “Who’s got the collar codes?”

 “I do.”

 Lightning exploded in her skull. She fell to the deck screaming as sanity and consciousness were savagely torn from her grasp.

  

  

 Chapter Eight

  

 Fallon tried to stay asleep, but the nagging pounding in her head wouldn’t let her. No, she did not want to wake up; something bad was waiting for her. She twisted, trying to go back to sleep, and discovered that she couldn’t move.

 Her eyes snapped open and she saw ... blackness. She blinked. Still nothing but utter and unrelieved darkness. She rotated her wrists and shifted her knees. She was lying on her back naked and spread wide, harnessed into something that was keeping her completely immobile and suspended. A broad strap was all that kept her head from falling back.

 She was absolutely helpless.

 Terror washed through her, followed by hot anger. “Sobehk!” She tugged harder. “Sobehk, what the fuck did you do to me?”

 Memory crashed. Her breath stopped and her heart tried to stop with it. The nightmare, Sobehk being stabbed and falling, the blood ... the killing.

 Sobehk ...A fist of pain and terror crushed her heart. He couldn’t be dead! He couldn’t leave her like this. He was all she had left. She threw her head back and shouted. “Sobehk, you better not be dead!”

 But everybody always left ... everybody.

 Her breath rushed out on a sob then refused to return. She couldn’t catch her breath, she couldn’t breathe. Panic engulfed her. Her breath returned in a rush only to leave her on a scream. “Sobehk!” Tears burned down her cheeks. “Don’t leave me!”

 Somewhere at her feet she heard hurried footsteps. Her heart leaped with hope.

 “Isabeau?” The voice wasn’t Sobehk’s.

 Disappointment slammed her back down. She swallowed past the ache in her throat. “Who’s there?”

 The footsteps moved to her side. His scent was rich and vaguely familiar.

 “Sehnbay’syrTah. Are you all right?”

 Oh, right, the master-surgeon. “Where’s Sobehk?” She twisted in the harness and winced against the pain stabbing her skull.

 “He’s recovering from surgery.”

 She stilled. “He’s alive?”

 “Very much so.”

 “Thank the Maker.” Every drop of energy washed out of her body and she collapsed into the harness’s embrace.

 A cool hand pressed against her face. “How do you feel?”

 Like shit. Fallon groaned. “Do you have anything for a headache?”

 “Just a moment.”

 Fallon felt something press against the inside bend of her elbow. There was a slight hydraulic hiss. Her headache faded. She sighed in relief. “Thank you. Can I see him?”

 Tah took a deep breath. “Are you hungry?”

 Fallon opened her mouth to say “not really,” and her stomach seized up on her. She bucked in the harness, trying to fold in half, and moaned. She was starving. Blood and hell, hunger never hurt this bad! She panted for breath. “Now that you mention it, do you have any deep fried bovines on you? Preferably a whole one?”

 The master-surgeon chuckled dryly. “I haveA’syr Mohr with me. He’s brought you some dinner.”

 Fallon sniffed. Something smelled warm, meaty, and delicious. Her stomach gurgled in demand. She blinked into the darkness. How was she supposed to eat like this? “How come it’s so dark in here?”

 Tah’s fingers brushed her arm. “It is not dark. You’re temporarily sightless.”

 Fallon frowned. “You blinded me? What for?”

 The master-surgeon’s cool hand grasped her fingers. “Blinding is standard procedure for allrehkyt in processing.”

 “Oh ... When can I see Sobehk?”

 Tah removed his hand and clothing rustled. “Tomorrow you will be brought to medical to speak withA’syr Sobehk.”

 Fallon’s felt a sudden chill. “Am I in trouble?”

 “No, you are not.” Tah’s voice came from the vicinity of her feet. “You were quite obviously acting on your impression.” He sighed. “However, there are ... complications.”

 That didn’t sound good at all. “What complications?” And what in bloody fury was this damned impression thing they kept mentioning?

 “Eat your dinner and be good, Isabeau. Everything will work out just fine.” His footsteps receded.

 Fallon took a breath to call him back.What complications, damn it? She groaned instead. “Why can’t somebody just give me a fucking straight answer around here?”

 Someone chuckled. “Hungry?” The masculine voice was at her left ear.

 Fallon jumped. She didn’t recognize the voice.Oh, that must be A’syrMohr. He was the one with the food. She relaxed. “Starved, but ...” She frowned and tugged at her bound wrists. “How am I supposed to eat like this? I can’t even see!”

 He chuckled. “I’ll set you upright so you don’t choke.”

 Fallon blinked. “Okay.” Upright would definitely be an improvement over being flat on her back ... and defenseless. She waited for him to do something about whatever was binding her wrists so she could sit up.

 The rig vibrated and the whole thing moved until her feet were in the direction of the floor.

 “Better?”

 “Uh, sure.” She sucked on her bottom lip. Oh, yeah, what an improvement. She was upright, but still bound hand and foot. Oddly, she didn’t feel quite so defenseless.

 “I’m putting the food to your lips. Open and swallow.”

 Something pressed against her mouth. She opened and a cube of something juicy and delicious was pushed in.Food at last! She attempted to chew, but her teeth wouldn’t let her jaw move side to side. Her fangs overlapped, keeping her jaw locked in one position. She tried again and stabbed her bottom lip.

 “Don’t try to chew it!” Mohr chuckled. “Swallow it.”

 Fallon shifted it to the side of her mouth. “Swallow it? Whole?”

 “Yes. Your teeth are not designed for chewing.”

 “Huh ...” She struggled to chew what she had in her mouth then finally gave up and swallowed it. It lodged in her throat like a rock then something in the very base of her throat seemed to close around it, crushing it smaller. It passed into her stomach with ease. She sighed in relief. “So whatare my teeth designed for?”

 “Biting.” Another morsel of food was pressed to her lips. “Open.”

 Biting? Great ...She opened and swallowed. Eating swiftly developed into a new kind of torture. She couldn’t chew and she couldn’t wipe her chin when it dribbled. For some reason, the dribbling annoyed the piss out of her more than the inability to chew.

 “You’re scowling.” A soft cloth swiped across her chin. “Is something wrong?”

 Fallon turned her head away from the next bit of food and licked her lips. “Why am I tied up like this? Why can’t I see?”

 Footsteps moved away then returned. “All therehkyt are blinded and harnessed. It’s for their safety.”

 “I wasn’t before.”

 “But you should have been on your arrival.Rehkyt are not supposed to see their captors.”

 Fallon turned toward his voice. “It was kind of hard to avoid seeing him. He tracked me for three days.”

 “So I heard.” A warm moist cloth landed then slid across her shoulders.

 She jumped and her heart thumped in alarm. There wasn’t a damned thing she could do to avoid it. She heaved a sigh in defeat.

 The cloth skimmed across her breasts. “Most targets don’t even know they are being stalked until they’re taken. We blind them at capture and set them in harness before we begin processing. You, on the other hand, were dosed by your taker before you arrived.”

 “Among other things.” Fallon shivered with the visceral memory of being taken over the saddle of Sobehk’s glider. Illicit heat stirred in her belly. “I understand the rig ...” She was a prisoner after all. “Why the blindness?”

 “Rehkytare blinded to avoid accidental impression.” Mohr’s hands drifted up to the metal band of her collar. “They’re allowed their sight when they meet their masters for the first time.”

 Fallon shivered slightly. “What in bleeding fury is ‘impression’? I keep hearing it, but I don’t get it.”

 Mohr sighed softly and his fingers lifted from her throat. “Impression is the physical dependency arehkyt has for their master.”

 Fallon stilled. Physicaldependency?

 His fingers slid down her arm to the straps around her left wrist. “We blindrehkyt because they will often imprint on the first person they see when they complete processing. The procedure makes them emotionally unstable and imprint-vulnerable. Compare it to hatchlings that will claim the first thing they see as their parent.”

 Fallon shook her head. “But I’m not a hatchling, I’m a human!”

 “You arenot human.” Mohr snorted. “You arerehkyt . A creature designed specifically for carnal pleasure.”

 Carnal pleasure, my ass ...Fallon set her teeth. She’d heard enough. “Thank you for dinner.”

 “You’re quite welcome. Are you ready to sleep?”

 Fallon frowned. “I don’t know if I can ...” A huge yawn interrupted her. “On second thought ...”

 Mohr chuckled. “Sleep well and sleep deeply, Isabeau.”

 Fallon smiled sourly. “I’ll do my best.” Her augmentations buzzed just a tiny bit.Was that the collar? She was sucked under before her thought completed.

 * * * * *

 There were people talking.

 Isabeau started awake.

 “Oh, sensitive!”

 “The chart says feral.”

 Hands stroked her arms.

 She jumped.

 “That would explain her reactions.”

 Hands closed tight around her upper arms.

 “Relax. No one’s going to hurt you.”

 They unfastened her and pulled her from the harness. The metal floor was warm under her bare feet.Hot damn! Her hands were tugged together at the base of her neck.

 “Keep your hands there.”

 Fallon’s augmentations locked them in place. She groaned in disappointment and stretched. She was still utterly blind, but at least she was out of the rig. “Am I going to see Sobehk?”

 There was a shared chuckle. “Not just yet.”

 Abruptly they switched languages.

 Fallon sighed. If they didn’t want to talk to her ... well, fine. Her translator had a hard time understanding their language, but the bulk of it came through pretty clearly. It wasn’t anything momentous. They were chatting inanely about people and places she didn’t know. Thank the Maker she had done some tinkering with her programs or she wouldn’t have picked up a word.

 Hands caught hold of her upper arms and tugged.

 Now what?

 They marched her out of the room and down the hall. She was turned to the left and they entered a room that smelled strongly of water and soap.A facility? She heard a hissing spray and then hot water spilled across her. She yelped in surprise and jumped under their hands.

 “Watch it! Don’t let her fall.”

 “I have her. Get the soap.”

 Hands and cloths moved over her entire body, cleaning every last finger and toe, and everything in between. It smelled like there were only two of them, and she only heard two voices, but it sure as damnation felt like there were a lot more. And she couldn’t move a bleeding inch to avoid them!

 Something was smeared in intimate places only to be rinsed away, taking intimate hair with it. Tubes went in to clean areas that had never seen cleaning before, triggering bodily functions of the most embarrassing kind.

 One of them chuckled. “I don’t think she likes this.”

 “Think not?” The other snorted. “She’s only been growling since the water started.”

 Fallon stiffened.Growling? Therewas a low-grade rumble in her chest. She stopped it, but it took effort.

 They stilled.

 “Does she have her language downloads?”

 “Not according to her chart.”

 One of them leaned closer to her ear. “Pet, would you like your nipples pierced with pretty little rings?”

 My nipples pierced?Fallon jerked back, not that it did any good.

 “Well, well. Someone has a talented translator.”

 Fallon winced.Shit ... She shouldn’t have moved and given away that she knew what they were saying. But, damn it, it was freaking hard to hold still. It was like something had scoured away every drop of self-control she ever had.

 The other one chuckled. “Relax, pet, this is only a bath. Wait till they send you to the groomers.”

 “Don’t scare her! The poor thing is a nervous wreck already.”

 Fallon scowled.Poor thing, my ass. Get close enough for me to bite you, and I’ll show you a nervous wreck!

 Her attendants continued bathing her with a disgusting amount of humor. She was moved this way and that as they scrubbed, pinched, prodded, and inserted oil-slicked fingers into embarrassing places.

 They scrubbed her dry and rubbed some kind of scented cream into her skin, their strong fingers massaging her sore muscles. If it hadn’t been so damned humiliating, she might have actually enjoyed it. They buffed her finger and toenails and trimmed her hair. For some odd reason her hair seemed to be longer than just to her shoulders. From what she could feel, the stuff had grown long enough to reach almost the middle of her back.

 When they finally headed out, Fallon was exhausted.

 They walked down the hall and through a doorway. She smelled her own scent and cleaner. They had cleaned her room while she was gone. She did not want back in the harness, but she wasn’t given a choice.Fucking control collar.

 Someone walked in. It smelled like Mohr.

 Fallon rolled her eyes. It was getting to be a serious pain in the ass identifying people by their body odor. Damn it, she wanted her sight back.

 “Well, now, that is much better.” It was Mohr, all right, and he sounded insufferably cheerful.

 “Thank you, we do try,” one of them said dryly.

 “Were you aware that her translator is picking up Skeldhi?”

 Fallon ground her teeth.Tattletale .

 “Really? How interesting.” Mohr didn’t sound cheerful anymore. “I wonder how much?”

 “From what we could tell, quite a bit.”

 “I see.” Mohr sounded positively annoyed.

 Fallon felt a completely irrational sense of triumph. She bit down on her lip trying to hold back a sudden smile, and almost pierced herself with her fangs.

 Mohr moved to Fallon’s side. “Go to sleep, Isabeau. Now.”

 The command brought a sizzle through her augmentation. He’d used the damned collar.The shit ... Fallon had time to take another breath and sleep sucked her under.

  

  

 Chapter Nine

  

 Fallon awoke stiff and fuzzyheaded for no good reason whatsoever. Her nose barely had time to register that Mohr was in the room with her, when she felt something being unplugged from her data jack. Swiftly and efficiently, he unfastened her from the rig. Groggy and blind, Fallon was shoved onto her feet and her hands pulled to the small of her back.

 “Keep them there.”

 Her arm augmentations jolted slightly, locking her hands in place.Damn it. She groaned. There was a nagging bruise in the middle of her chest that she couldn’t rub because her hands were trapped behind her.

 Fallon rolled her shoulders, but the ache in her body wouldn’t go away. “What in fury did you do to me?”

 Mohr’s hand closed on her shoulder and he turned her. “Your third nanite dose. One more dose to go and your processing will be complete. Walk.”

 Fallon walked. “Where are we going?”

 “Medlab.”

 Sobehk ...Fallon stretched her stride.

 Mohr snorted. “Are we in a hurry?”

 Fallon frowned. “I’m going to see Sobehk, right?”

 His fingers bit into her shoulder. “That’sA’syr Sobehk to you,rehkyt , and yes.”

 Fallon gritted her teeth.Bastard . But he was taking her where she wanted to go.

 A sharp turn to the left, a mechanical hiss, and Fallon smelled antiseptic and blood. They were in the medlab. Sobehk’s rich scent washed over her. He was somewhere close by. Her heart clenched then thumped hard.

 Mohr tapped her shoulder. “Wait here.” His footsteps moved to the right. He took a long pronounced step.

 Fallon frowned. He must have stepped through a doorway. She waited about four heartbeats then turned to the right and followed, sliding her feet across the floor to keep from tripping or knocking into something she couldn’t see. Her toes encountered something hard. Lifting her knee and pressing forward told her that she’d either found the wall or a door. She caught a nose-full of the medic Tah’s scent ... and someone else’s.

 For no good reason, every hair on her body shivered upright.Danger ... Alarmed, she rolled to the right, pressing her shoulders back against what she hoped was the wall and not the door.

 Voices murmured. Fallon focused on her hearing and waited for her augmentations to take over. The murmurs became distinct speech.

 “Did you do any conditioning on thatrehkyt whatsoever?” Mohr sounded annoyed.

 She sucked in a sharp breath. They were talking about her.

 “Why, did she bite you?” Sobehk’s voice was soft, breathy, amused, and cut through her heart like a knife.

 Sobehk... Fallon blinked moist eyes. He lived.

 “She’s defiant, disrespectful, and flinches when she’s touched!”

 Bitch and complain.Fallon rolled her eyes. Mohr was whining like one of her damned instructors from the institution.

 “She’s feral! What did you expect?” Sobehk released a snarl. “She just needs proper care and thorough reconditioning.”

 “What she needs is a thorough beating.”

 Fallon snorted. Mohr was in a pissy mood.

 Sobehk laughed. “She is a Prime! Of course she needs a beating!”

 Tah chuckled softly. “An experiencedupuaht nehkyx should have no difficulties.”

 There was that guard dog word again, but Fallon’s translator completely tripped over the following word. Too many holes in her language context archives. She puzzled over it, but the translator refused to accept the word. There was no context for it. It had to be outside her experience.

 “Proper care and training? That’s all? You’re sure?”

 Fallon frowned. She didn’t recognize that masculine voice at all.

 “Damned sure, Khan. I followed her for three days. She’s feral but not heartless.”

 Fallon couldn’t stop the curl of warmth that bathed her heart. Sobehk didn’t think she was heartless.

 “It took three days?” Khan snorted. “Why didn’t you leave her?”

 Sobehk sighed. “I couldn’t.” His voice was so soft Fallon barely heard him. “That station was ... awful. I couldn’t leave her there.”

 There was something in Fallon’s eyes. She was forced to wipe them against her shoulder.

 “We’ve had a number of fear-based reactions, but she’s shown no signs of overt aggression, merely a strong instinct for survival.” Tah’s voice seemed calm, but a thread of annoyance was also apparent.

 “You’re saying that she learned to fight like that for survival?” The disbelief was crystal clear in Khan’s voice. “Even inrahyt she displayed a suspicious amount of control. That leads me to believe that she is quite accustomed to dealing violence.”

 Fallon tilted her head. According to her context translator, thatrahyt word seemed to be connected to “rage” and “insanity.” She had no clue where her internal comp had picked it up, but it was interesting to know.

 “Did you look at the file on that rodent-run station? Of course she’s used to violence!” Sobehk sounded like he was pissed. “But not once in three days did she attack anyone or anything that didn’t attack her first!” A growl rumbled. “She’s feral with damned good reason, but she’s not a killer by nature.”

 Fallon felt a smile nudge her lips. He was defending her.Damn ...

 Khan sighed. “Even if everything is as you say, an internal inquiry must still be done.”

 “I’m not arguing with that.” Sobehk growled softly. “Just be nice.”

 “Nice?”

 “You heard me.”

 Fallon’s brows shot up.Nice? This from Sobehk?

 “I’ll do my best.” Sour amusement colored Khan’s voice.

 “You’d better.”

 Fallon heard footsteps approaching.Shit! She scooted along the wall away from them and bumped into something that felt like a chair. There was a subtle metallic hiss on her immediate right.

 “Isabeau?” It was Mohr.

 She turned to face him. “Here.”

 “You were supposed to stay where I left you.”

 Fingers dug into her upper arm. She winced as she was tugged and turned around.

 “Not particularly obedient, are you?”

 Fallon snorted. “Not my style.” Never was, probably never would be.

 “Now there is an understatement.” Mohr sighed and caught both her upper arms. He grunted, lifted her off the floor and took a long step forward.

 Fallon bit back a small sound of alarm.

 He set her down and released her arms. “Go on.”

 She took a small step forward. She could smell Sobehk directly in front of her. Tah’s scent seemed to be coming from her right. She heard the softest rustle of fabric on her left. The other person, Khan ... The hair on her neck rose.Trap ... She froze and barely stopped herself from turning to face the sound. “I need my eyes.” She wasn’t moving a muscle without sight.

 Silence ruled for about three breaths.

 “Let her see.” Sobehk’s voice sounded tired, but firm.

 There was a subtle shimmer through her augmentations. Fallon shivered. What were they doing now? The deep darkness began to fade from her vision. She blinked in the sudden brightness and realized that she was staring at the foot of a chrome medical bed in a rather small steel gray room. The wall behind the head of the bed blinked with a holographic display covered in incomprehensible streams of data.

 Sobehk sat propped upright under a pale gray blanket. His hair was unbound, a sweeping fall of frost that draped off the side of the bed. He was dressed in a cream robe open across the chest. Dark bruises stood out against skin nearly as white as the bandages around his middle. His face seemed hollow and dark smudges lay under his tired blue eyes. “Hey, kitten.” He smiled. “You look good.”

 “I had a bath.” Fallon stared, completely unable to look away from Sobehk’s pale and bruised form. Blood and damnation ... he was alive. “You look like shit.” She winced. Why in fury had she said that?

 Sobehk grinned. “Thank you. I feel like shit, too.” He patted the blankets. “Come here.”

 She started forward, jerking at her hands pinned to her back. She needed them. She needed to touch him. A small distressed sound escaped.

 Sobehk held out his hand and glanced to her left.

 Fallon’s augmentations shimmered and her hands were free. She lunged across the small room to the left side of his bed and grabbed his hand with both of hers. She pressed her nose into his warm palm then stared up at him. He was real, he lived. Her heart tried to shatter in her chest. His image smeared as her eyes overflowed.

 “Hey, don’t ...” His arm curled and he leaned toward her, pressing her head against his chest with his free hand. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

 She closed her eyes and heard the steady thump of his heart under her left ear even as the rich perfume of his skin filled her head. She opened her eyes and her gaze dropped to his bandages. He lived, but ...

 She jerked back but didn’t release his hand. Her lips curled back from her teeth. “You big stupid bastard!”

 Sobehk blinked then scowled. “What?”

 “Don’t youever do that again!” Her fingers dug into his hand. “I told you he was fast! You should have let me handle him!”

 Sobehk’s lips curled back from his teeth. “You? I’m supposed to ...!”

 “Supposed to what?” She shouted over top of him. “Supposed to get dead? I’m faster than you, you stupid, egotistical idiot! Don’t youever do that shit again!” She jerked one hand free and punched the mattress for good measure. “Do you hear me? Don’t youever put yourself in danger like that again!”

 Sobehk’s hand clenched tight around hers, and the dark heart of his blue eyes shifted to feline slits. His mouth opened and he released a coughing roar that rattled the instruments on the back wall. “You listen to me, you little pain in my ass!”

 Fallon flinched back, but she refused to look away. She dug her fingers into his hand and the blankets.

 “I’m the master -- you’re therehkyt! I’m the one that’s supposed to protect you!” A growl thundered in his chest.

 Fallon opened her mouth, but her shout died in her throat. “What for?”

 Sobehk blinked and gaped. “Whatfor? ” He rolled his eyes. “That has got to be the stupidest question ever to come out of that mouth of yours!”

 “You and your big fat ego!” Fallon jerked on his hand. “You should have let me take him! I’m faster and better at fighting than you!”

 “Better?” Sobehk curled his lip showing a long fang. “I caught you, remember?”

 Fallon curled her lip and showed her teeth, too. “It took you three days, and I almost made it that last time, too!” She scrubbed her free hand across her watery eyes and glared at him.

 Sobehk grinned. “I still got you.” He tugged her closer. “Come here.”

 Fallon sighed and let him pull her against his chest. She pressed her cheek against his heart and curled her fingers into his silver hair. Blood and fury, he smelled good. “I’m still going to kick your ass, as soon as you’re well enough.”

 Sobehk wrapped his other arm around her and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “We’ll just see about that.”

 Laughter rang out. “What happened to ‘nice’?”

 Sobehk snorted. “Fuck you, Khan.”

 Khan’s laughter softened to chuckles. “All right, I’m convinced.” He sighed. “But I still need to do a map before I can release custody.”

 Custody?Fallon stilled then turned to look over her shoulder. Only three strides away, a man sat in a small chair. He was draped from head to toe in the folds of a voluminous hooded robe that began as blood-bright scarlet and darkened to deep black where it reached the deck. Fallon couldn’t believe she hadn’t even noticed him.

 Within the hood of his robe, bright copper eyes gleamed predator green within their feline-slitted hearts. A shimmering black circlet graced his brow. His sharply sculpted pale face was completely devoid of softness, and yet his mouth was surprisingly full and sensual. “Such a direct gaze.” He raised a slender brow and looked over at Sobehk. “I’d say that you left off the conditioning altogether.”

 “There wasn’t time.” Sobehk sighed and brushed a hand against his bandages. “This happened within minutes of her collaring.”

 “I see.” Khan rose gracefully from the chair, lifted his hands and dropped the scarlet hood, revealing hair the color of rich cream bound severely back into a complicated braided tail. The graceful curve of his ears had the same cuts in the lower arch as Sobehk, but the rings piercing his lobes were as black as the band around his head.

 Fallon glanced around, but neither master-surgeon Tah nor Mohr were in the small room. They must have left while she was still blind. And the door was missing.Damned mimetic ship.

 Sobehk’s hand squeezed hers. “Isabeau, this isMehdjay’syr E’sey Khan. He’s a lord-officer from the office of Security and Intelligence. Address him as‘Syr Khan, or‘Syr .”

 Fallon swallowed hard. He was an investigations agent. An icy finger slid down her spine and every hair on her body shivered to life. She was in a small room with no door, with a wounded man and an investigations agent.

 And she was a criminal that had just killed somebody.Great...

  

  

 Chapter Ten

  

 Khan stepped toward Fallon. The black hem of his silk robes whispered across the deck. “Hello, Isabeau.”

 Fallon automatically backed away.Scary, scary man ... She could tell just from his gliding steps that he was augmented to the hilt and combat trained. He could kill her, and easily.

 Sobehk’s hand tightened on hers, holding her at his side. “Isabeau, stay with me.”

 Fallon turned to see Sobehk’s pale face. He didn’t look well. She did not need to add to his stress. She took a breath and nodded then looked back at the lord-officer. “‘Syr?”

 Khan folded his hands behind him. “Isabeau, I need to map the contents of your mind.”

 Fallon sucked in a sharp breath. “You want mymind? ” He wanted her to turn over her personal data, her private programs, her memories and experiences ... everything that made her who she was? Was heinsane? She bit back her initial comment. What he was, was dangerous. Pissing him off was probably not a good idea. “What for?” She cleared her throat. “‘Syr.”

 Khan glanced at Sobehk then focused on Fallon. “Somehow a rather nasty assassin ended up onboard this ship. It killed two men and severely wounded two more ...” He looked down. “I was sent from the office of Security and Intelligence to find out who sent it and why.” He shrugged with elegant precision. “We collected as much data as we could from the ... assassin, but we couldn’t collect much.”

 Sobehk smiled tiredly. “There was this big hunk of live-steel in the middle of his brain.”

 Khan’s bright copper gaze locked on Fallon. “And the only person who currently knows anything ...”

 Fallon winced. “Is me.”

 Khan smiled fleetingly. “I’m afraid so.”

 Fallon took a deep breath. “How much of ... my mind, do you need?”

 Khan lifted his chin and tilted his head toward Sobehk. “All of it.”

 Allof it? Her throat closed tight and her voice came out in a breathless whisper. “I don’t know if I can do that,‘Syr .”

 Khan took a deep breath and released it. He spoke quietly, gently and completely without remorse. “Isabeau, I’m not asking.”

 Fallon felt the icy chill of fear then the hot flash of temper surged. “You honestly expect me to let you take mymind? ”

 “Isabeau!” Sobehk’s growl was a low rumble. “He’s not taking it! He’s just looking at it.”

 Fallon turned to glare at Sobehk. His blue eyes focused on hers. His expression clearly appeared angry, but his face was far too pale and his mouth nearly white. She clutched his hand and finally noticed how cold his fingers were. He wasn’t angry, he was afraid. Something more was going on here. Her temper bled away under an icy wave of cold hard terror. “Sobehk, what’s going on? What haven’t you told me?”

 “Quite perceptive.” Khan sighed. “Do you want to tell her, or shall I?”

 “I’ll do it.” Sobehk closed his eyes briefly. “Isabeau, you must cooperate with‘Syr Khan, or you’ll be ... taken.”

 Fallon’s heart tried to stop in her chest. She grabbed the edge of the bed to stay upright. “What?”

 Sobehk stared hard at her. “When you took out the assassin, you were declared too dangerous for me to ... keep. They want to impound you.”

 Fallon shook her head. “Dangerous? But what about the collar?”

 “He no longer has control over it.” Khan very deliberately stepped away.

 Fallon frowned. “Then who ...?” He gaze focused on the red-robed lord-officer, and her blood froze in her veins.Oh, no ... No, no, no ...

 Khan turned to face her and a small smile appeared. “Very perceptive indeed.”

 Fallon turned to Sobehk, her fingers biting into his palm. “How do I get out of this?”

 Sobehk sighed tiredly. “Let him in your head. All he wants to do is look.”

 Fallon closed her eyes and hunched her shoulders.Blood and Fate ... Why not ask for my soul while you’re at it? She opened her eyes to stare at Sobehk. He was the only person she knew on this ship, and the only person who knew her. Did she really want to lose him? No. No, she didn’t. She licked her dry lips. “Will it hurt?”

 Khan moved to stand at the end of Sobehk’s bed. “It hurts only if you try to keep the probe out. As long as you let it go where it will, you will feel nothing more than a slight tingling.”

 Fallon flinched. “Great.” She took a deep breath, trying to control the pulse beating in her throat. “Can you make it quick?”

 “I’ll make it as quick as I can.” Khan strode for the small table on the far side of Sobehk’s bed. He opened up a small computational. The holographic projection behind Sobehk’s bed shivered then changed.

 She stared up at Sobehk. “How in fury did everything get so ... complicated?”

 Sobehk’s brows rose. He smiled. “It got complicated when you saved my life.”

 Fallon snorted. “So it would have been a lot simpler if I’d let Tusk kill you?”

 Sobehk nodded gravely. “I’d be dead and you’d be in a holding cage on your way to theMehdjay headquarters for Security and Intelligence where they would assign you to a trainer to see if you could be reconditioned and imprinted on someone else.”

 Fallon frowned, her fingers closing tight around his. “And if I couldn’t be ... reconditioned to like somebody else?”

 Sobehk looked toward the lord-officer on the other side of the bed. “They destroyrehkyt that can’t be recovered.”

 “Terrific.” Fallon groaned. “You know, if you had left me on Dyson’s, we wouldn’t be going through all this.”

 Sobehk’s brows rose. “So this is my fault?”

 Fallon snorted. “Damned straight, it’s your fault.”

 “If you hadn’t taken my glider ...” Sobehk smiled tiredly.

 Fallon rolled her eyes. “You got it back the next day!”

 Sobehk groaned. “I really need to beat that ass of yours.”

 “Probably.” Fallon smiled just a little.

 “Speaking of your ass ...” Sobehk patted the blankets. “Get it up here on the bed.”

 Fallon jerked back. “Are you out of your mind? You’re hurt!”

 Sobehk glared at her. “Did I, or did I not, just give you an order?”

 Fallon released a small sound. She desperately wanted to climb up there with him, but he was not in any kind of condition to deal with jostling. “Sobehk, I don’t want to hurt you.”

 “Then be careful.”

 “Are you sure?”

 His brows lowered. “Get up here. Now.”

 Fallon scowled as she moved to the foot of the bed. “What did I ever do to deserve a big bully like you?”

 “You stole a glider,” Sobehk said dryly.

 Fallon climbed up at the very foot of the bed and faced him on her hands and knees. “I thought it was a kiss in a bar?”

 Sobehk smiled. “That, too.” He shifted toward his right with a wince and patted the side of the bed with his left hand. “Come here.”

 Fallon crawled to his side. His arm settled warm and comforting around her. She sighed and carefully set her head on his shoulder, snuggling into his embrace. His leg shifted under the blankets against hers. She lifted her knee and set it over his, pressing against his side. She set her palm over his heart. She felt his pulse steady and strong under her palm and stared up at him. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

 His hand pressed atop hers and he smiled. “Your assassin couldn’t get me. Think you can do any better?”

 Khan came to the side of the bed in a whisper of heavy silk. “I’m going to set the probe in your data jack; then I want you to turn over and face away from Sobehk.”

 Sobehk scowled. “Why?”

 “Because you are wounded, and if my suspicions are correct ...” He glanced down at Fallon and sighed. “She’s going to need you to hold her, more than she needs to hold onto you.”

 Fallon swallowed. So, itwas going to hurt.Great .

 Sobehk set his jaw. “I can take it.”

 Fallon stared up at his tired and bruised face. No, he couldn’t. She took a breath and smiled, though it hurt. “You and that big, fat ego of yours.” She looked over her shoulder. “Do it. I’ll turn over.”

 Khan stared down at her; his brow rose, and a slight smile curved his lips. He nodded. “I’ll set the probe.”

 Fallon turned away. Fingers moved the hair from the back of her neck. Her hands closed into fists.

 Khan pressed his device into the portal in the back of her skull. “It’s in.”

 Fallon twisted her wrist from Sobehk’s grasp and wordlessly shifted onto her back, then her side, facing away. She dug her fingers into the blankets and mattress and focused on Khan.

 Sobehk spooned against her back, his arms closing around her. His lips brushed the back of her neck. “I have you.”

 Khan held a small device in his hand. “Are you ready?”

 She nodded, her mouth dry.

 “Then we begin.” Khan activated the device in his palm. “Relax, and try not to fight it.” He turned and faced the holographic projection at the head of the bed. “Take nice, deep, steady breaths. Don’t try to think, just let it go.”

 A shimmer went through her augmentations then something oily began seeping across her thoughts. Fallon closed her eyes.

 “I understand how difficult this is. I’ve had to go through one of these, too.” Khan’s voice was calm, soft, and almost gentle.

 Fallon frowned. The fact that he’d gone through the process of having his mind ... probed, made him seem less threatening, though not by much. But why had he told her that? He hadn’t had to.

 There was a slight bump and what felt like a puzzlement in her mind. It was a request for entry.

 Fallon released her personal firewalls and opened as wide as she could. The pressure eased.

 Khan sighed deeply. “Good.”

 Breathe in, breathe out ... Another bump in someplace unexpected. Fallon frowned, but there was nothing there to open. The bump persisted then abruptly shifted and moved elsewhere. Tension whispered through her body. Another bump ... and shift. Tension tightened and pressure built. Heat flushed through her body and a cold sweat drenched her skin.

 Sobehk’s hand swept dawn her hip. “She’s heating up but sweating cold.” He sounded annoyed. “What are you doing in there?”

 Khan turned to look at them with a frown. “Sweatingcold? ”

 Fallon panted for breath under a wave of heat and opened her eyes. Sweat gathered and dripped. Pressure built in her mind and in her joints. She released a small sound of distress.

 Sobehk hissed. “She’s sweating ice cold, but her temperature is rising fast.”

 Khan stood over her his eyes hard. “How many doses does she have in her?”

 Sobehk shifted against her. “Two.”

 Fallon tightened her fingers in the blankets. “They said three.”

 Both of them took a startled breath. “Three?” they chorused.

 Sobehk’s fingers bit into her hip. “Are you sure?”

 Khan gripped the chrome rail on the side of the bed and shook his head. “Never mind that ... How many times has she been ridden?”

 Sobehk leaned up. “Isabeau, has anyone ... fucked you?”

 Fallon groaned under the ache building in her joints. “Just you.”

 Khan frowned. “How many times?”

 “Once, right after the first dose.”

 “Once?” Khan bared his long teeth. “One of you had better be wrong.” He strode for the wall and punched a button. “Sehnbay’syrTah, how many doses are in thisrehkyt? ”

 “Three.” Tah’s voice fizzled with electronic interference. “Is there a problem?”

 Khan’s hand curled into a tight fist and he stared at the floor. “Was she mounted after her last two doses?”

 “No, I assumedA’syr Sobehk mounted her after her second ...?”

 Khan looked over at Sobehk, his brows low over copper eyes that burned.

 Sobehk’s nails cut into Fallon’s hip. “There wasn’t time!”

 Khan’s mouth tightened to a white line. “Apparently not.”

 Another bump moved in Fallon’s mind. This time the shift became another bump ... and then another. Pressure intensified. She dug her fingers into the mattress hard enough for her nails to pierce it. The sound of ripping fabric was loud.

 Khan stared up at the holographic display and bared his teeth. A growl rumbled. “This has been one farce after the other!” He punched the wall. “Get a mattress in here and bring me the fourth dose, now!” He moved away from the wall and pulled at the fastenings on his robe, opening it. He let the cream robe drop from his shoulders, revealing a long black robe bound with a scarlet sash.

 Sobehk stiffened. “What are you doing?”

 Khan tossed the heavy outer robe over a chair by the wall at the head of the bed. “I’m going to dose andmount yourrehkyt .”

 “Khan, no!”

 “No?” Khan turned to face him with his teeth bared. “Then you’d rather she die?”

 Sobehk jolted. “Die?”

 “Yes, die.” Khan drew several daggers from the folds of his scarlet sash. “Let me put this in clear detail for you. You have in your arms a newly Primedrehkyt .” He turned and tossed the daggers onto his robe. “A Primerehkyt that has yet to be mounted after her second dose or after the kill that made her Prime, and yet was given the third course.” He tugged his sash free. “A Primerehkyt that is currently undergoing a mapping of her mind with boring probes.” He pointed to the holographic display at the head of the bed. “According to that, she is riddled with sleeper codes that lead to one rather nasty trapdoor program.”

 Fallon’s heart stuttered in her chest. A trapdoor program?How in fury ...?

 Khan jerked the black robe from his shoulders, baring a pale chest marked with jagged sword scars. Small black rings pierced his pale nipples. “When those probes run out of places they can map, they are going to converge on that trapdoor.” He threw the robe at the chair, leaving only his long black kilt. “Make no mistake – theywill get in. And when they do, the pain will drive her straight intorahyt! Is that clear enough for you?”

 Fallon shivered.Rahyt was madness, insanity, and killing rage.

 “Rahyt?Are you sure?”

 “She has three doses and only been mounted once. What do youthink will happen?” Khan sat on his robes and jerked at his boots. “If she isn’t dosed and mounted, therahyt will trigger regeneration fever. She will bleed to death from every pore in her body,after she tries to kill us once the rage hits.”

 “Bloody Chaos ...”

 “An apt description.” Khan scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “The only other option is killing her before she goes into regeneration fever.”

 Fallon scanned for the program and winced as her thoughts burned, but found nothing. “I can’t find it ... I don’t see it!”

 “You’re not going to. It’s a trapdoor -- a sleeper virus. You won’t see it until it’s active.” Khan pointed to the wall. “According to what I’m seeing, you’ve been hacked.” He waved his hand at the holographic display. “It’s sloppily done and recent.”

 Sobehk shifted behind her. “Khan, she doesn’t deserve to die!”

 “No, she doesn’t.” Khan set his hands on his hips. “She’s keeping her promise to cooperate, but every part of her that’s still hers has already been mapped. It’s tracking the sleeper traces, but it’s running out of traces to find. We are running out of time.” He turned to face Fallon. “Sheis running out of time.”

  

  

 Chapter Eleven

  

 Khan jabbed a finger at Sobehk. “Only you would have something like this!” He turned away, set his hands on his hips, and sighed. “I swear Fate and Chaos share a bed whenever you’re involved!” He strode for the communicator on the wall and punched it. “‘SyrTah! Where’s that mattress?”

 “On its way.”

 Sobehk sat up in the hospital bed. “I’ll do it ...”

 Khan curled his lip at Sobehk. “You barely have enough strength to sit up on your own. Do you honestly think you’re strong enough to stop her when she goes to rip your heart out duringrahyt? ”

 Fallon jerked. “No!” She moaned under the pressure building in her body and mind, but turned to look back at Sobehk. “No, I would never ...!”

 Sobehk pressed his hand over her heart. “Rahytis not something you can control.”

 Fallon bared her teeth. “Watch me.”

 Sobehk’s hand closed on her arm. “You can’t. Norehkyt can; that’s why you wear a control collar.”

 Fallon glared at him. “Then use it.”

 Khan shook his head. “We can’t. The collar’s signal will stop the probe and we’ll only have to do it again. And you will still go into rage.”

 Fallon turned to glare at Khan. “Then wait until he can handle it.”

 “No.” Khan’s gaze hardened. “Other lives may be at stake. We need answers now.”

 The door opened. Tah and someone Fallon didn’t recognize in dark gray sleeveless robes carried a mattress roll between them. They dropped it on the floor. Tah held what looked like an antique syringe, while the other Skeldhi unrolled the mattress and set a pale gray blanket to one side.

 Khan strode to the side of Sobehk’s bed. “Sobehk?”

 Sobehk pulled his arms free. “Take her.”

 Fallon turned to look at Sobehk. “Sobehk, I don’t want ... anyone but you.”

 Sobehk’s face was pale and drawn, but he smiled. “It’ll be all right. You can trust him.” He leaned over to brush his lips across her brow. “Go to him, and be good.”

 Khan slid his arms around Fallon and lifted her against his heart.

 Fallon flinched back. He smelled ... wrong. She shifted uncomfortably, but his arms were hard and his hold firm

 Tah looked at Sobehk then Khan. “Sobehk, if you let‘Syr Khan take her on the fourth dose, it will change the DNA imprint from yours to his.”

 Sobehk folded his arms across his chest. “I know.” He turned away.

 Khan turned with Fallon in his arms, took four steps to the mattress spread out on the deck, then knelt, setting her down on the mattress. He pulled up the skirts of his kilt and stepped over her, straddling her hips. He sank down on his heels. The black silk draped over her thighs. He held up his hand.

 Tah slapped the syringe into his palm. His mouth was tight.

 Khan checked the syringe then focused on her gaze. “Put your hands over your head.”

 Fallon hesitated. She didn’t want to do this with him.

 Tah frowned. “Did you tell her what this means?”

 Khan scowled. “No.”

 The medic moved to stare down at the lord-officer. “‘SyrKhan, she needs to know.”

 Khan’s jaw tightened and his gaze chilled as he stared up at the medic.

 Tah set his jaw as well. “This is arehkyt that killed to save her master with only two doses in her, before she hit Prime. That cyborg killed two fully armed Skeldhi and severely wounded two more, and she took it down with only a knife.” He folded his arms. “If you force this, how do you think she’s going to react after the fact?”

 Khan turned away and closed his eyes. “Fine. Bring me one of my knives. They’re on my robe, over on the chair.”

 Tah nodded and went.

 Khan turned back to stare at Fallon with burning copper eyes.

 Fallon stared up at him, panting through the heat that rolled through her body while shivering from the cold sweat that drenched her. She could feel her body soaking the mattress under her back. She could also feel pressure building in a corner of her mind that nothing should be in.

 Khan held up his hand for the curved, black-handled knife in Tah’s hand. He bared his teeth at the medic and the other Skeldhi. “Out! Now!”

 Tah nodded and they left, the door spiraling closed behind them.

 ‘SyrKhan licked his lips and focused on Fallon. “Isabeau, what is happening to you will kill you. If I dose you and mount you, you will live, but my DNA will overpower Sobehk’s. You will bear my mark on your body, not his. Do you understand what this means?”

 Fallon’s mouth fell open. “Are you saying that I won’t be Sobehk’s anymore?”

 Khan glanced down then focused on her. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Physically and legally, you will be myrehkyt .”

 Fallon shivered hard and shook her head. “I don’t want you. I want Sobehk.”

 Khan held her gaze. “He’s not physically strong enough to mount you and control you duringrahyt . That’s what I have to do to save your life. The only other option is to kill you, now, before you fall into rage madness and kill us both.”

 Fallon shook her head and dug her fingers into the mattress. It was an impossible choice. Live and lose Sobehk or ... die.

 “Isabeau.” Sobehk’s voice was hoarse. “Khan is a good man. He’ll be a good master. You can trust him to look after you; I swear it.”

 Khan looked up at Sobehk, his eyes wide then turned away and swallowed.

 Fallon could barely draw breath past the ache in her heart. “But I don’t know if I want to live without you.”

 ‘SyrKhan pressed his hand over his eyes. “Isabeau, I know you don’t want me, and I’m not a particularly kind man, but ...” He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “I swear I will do my utmost to be a good master to you.”

 Fallon closed her eyes and turned her head, but the tears fell anyway. Fate and blood, it already hurt so much, maybe death would be easier. At the very least all the pain would stop.

 ‘SyrKhan sighed and set his hands on his hips. His left hand held the syringe and his right the dagger. “If you want to live, put your hands over your head so I can dose you. If you’d rather die, put your hands under your back so I can ... cut your throat.”

 “Isabeau, you stubborn little pain in my ass!” Sobehk’s voice was tight. “Don’t you dare give up and die on me!”

 Give up?Fallon felt shock rock through her. Was that was she was planning? To just give up? She took a deep breath and scrubbed a hand across her wet cheeks. “I don’t give up. I never have; I never will.” She raised her hands over her head and clenched her teeth, glaring at the Skeldhi sitting on top of her. “Do it.”

 Khan arched his brow. “You’re quite sure?”

 Fallon loosed a growl. “Do you want me or don’t you?”

 Sobehk choked out a laugh. “This is your last chance to escape, Khan.”

 Khan smiled, displaying his long teeth. “Oh, I want you.” He set the knife down at his side and caught her jaw, tilting her head back. He raised the syringe in his right hand.

 Fallon had only a moment to realize that her hands were not locked into place by her augmentations, then something long and sharp stabbed into her chest. She sucked in a breath but held still. Her heart stuttered painfully. The needle was withdrawn and her heart began to beat twice as hard. A fist of light seemed to close around her heart then expanded and exploded in a blaze of lightning that rushed through her. Her spine arched. Her nipples tightened and her core clenched with sudden urgency.

 Khan rose to his feet and his hands went to the ties of his kilt. His eyes had expanded from feline slits to wide pits of darkness surrounded by bright copper. The kilt dropped to his feet, and he stepped out of it. His cocks were only half aroused and oddly shaped. Pronounced bumps marched from the flared edge of his cockhead to the root in a line along the top and the base of both cocks.

 Fallon raised her brows. His cocks were not only ridged with small metal balls that had been invested under the skin, his cockheads were both pierced. Black metal balls the size of the tip of her pinky finger sat on the top and the bottom of both cockheads , marking a bar that had been thrust through them. “Kinky bastard, are you?”

 “You have no idea.” Sobehk snorted behind them. “Khan is a big-time pain junkie.”

 Khan raised his chin and set his hands on his hips as he looked over at Sobehk. “You would know.”

 Fallon’s breath stopped in shock. Sobehk ... andKhan?

 Khan dropped to a crouch and focused on Fallon. “I happen to enjoy both taking and delivering pain.”

 Fallon eyed his cocks. Oh, yeah, he liked delivering pain, all right.

 He licked his lips. “Come up on your heels and spread for me.”

 Fallon lifted her knees, digging her heels into the mattress, and opened.

 Khan nodded and reached for his fallen kilt. He pulled a small tube from a pocket and squeezed a dollop of clear gel onto his hand. He grasped his lower cock and smeared gel along its length.

 Fallon swallowed. That ridged and pierced cock in his hand was getting shoved into her ass. All those bumps and that big hunk of metal at the end were going to be sawing in and out of her. And Sobehk had been a snug fit.Shit, shit, shit...

 Khan’s brow rose. “I am suddenly under the impression that you are not exactly looking forward to being fucked.” His full mouth spread in a smile that was decadently sinful.

 A bolt of lightning struck within her mind, and burned. She sucked in a breath and writhed. A hammer of heat slammed through her and she arched up from the mattress. A second bolt struck. She screamed.

 Sobehk lunged up. “What the fuck ...?”

 “The probes.” Khan dropped on top of her to hold her bucking body down and wrapped her in his arms. “They’ve begun to work their way into her trapdoor.”

 Gasping and whimpering, Fallon wrapped her arms and legs around him. It burned! Oh, bloody fate ... her mindburned! She dug her fingers into him, and her claws cut into his back.

 Khan hissed. “Oh, yes ...” He pressed her mouth to his shoulder. “Bite me, Isabeau. Bite hard.”

 Fallon opened her mouth wide, baring her teeth. Lightning struck again, and she tore into his shoulder with her long teeth, biting down to keep the screams at bay.

 Khan groaned and shuddered. “Chaos ... Her venom is potent!” He opened his mouth and closed his long teeth on her shoulder. He bit down with merciless strength.

 Fallon groaned as the pain in her body overwhelmed and eased the burning in her mind.

 Khan moaned and released her shoulder. “Yes, that’s it, pay attention to your body.” He licked the jagged wounds he’d made in the meat of her shoulder.

 Fallon released his shoulder and licked at the blood seeping from the tears she’d made. Urgent carnal warmth curled through her. She pressed up against him. His cocks were hot, hard and exciting lengths against her belly. She had a moment to savor the feel of his arousal, and then he reared back.

 Khan stared into her eyes as he fit his upper cock to the slippery mouth of her body. He thrust and the bar in his cock head became a brutally hard pressure just within her.

 Fallon gasped softly and arched upward only to feel his second cockhead pressing for entry into her ass.

 He came down on one elbow over her. “This one is going to hurt.”

 Fallon swallowed. “I know.”

 He smiled briefly, and pushed.

 She moaned as her anus began to spread, catching on the unforgiving metal bar lodged through it.

 He groaned and pressed, hard. “Take me.”

 Fallon took a deep breath and pushed outward. Her body opened and the bar surged within. She groaned as the ridges along the top and bottom of his cock followed, scouring viciously past her abused anus and then within the interior of her ass.

 He grunted and shoved, sheathing both cocks within her.

 She whimpered as her body closed tight around him. She could clearly feel both metal bars within her and writhed.

 Khan held perfectly still and brushed the hair from her brow. “Are you all right?”

 Fallon took a panting breath. “Yeah ...”

 “You’re very tight.” He smiled briefly. “Might I assume Sobehk has been the only one in your ass?”

 Fallon felt heat flood her cheeks. “You might.”

 His brows rose. “Oh?” An unholy smile wreathed his lips. “Then my pierced cock is probably going to be quite an experience.”

 Fallon scowled at him, but a smile danced at the corner of her mouth. “Looking forward to it?”

 “I think you are looking forward to it as much as I.” Khan leaned over to look up at the display above Sobehk’s bed. His smile faltered. “Isabeau, it’s coming.” He focused on her face and closed her tight in his arms. “When the pain comes, don’t try to hold it back, and don’t think; just let it wash through you.”

 Fallon shivered. “How bad is it going to be?”

 “Very.” He flashed a brief smile. “But we’ll get through this, I promise.” He focused on her mouth. “Isabeau ...” His hot mouth covered hers and his tongue swept in to lay claim to hers. His clawed fingers dug into her ass.

 She arched up, moaning -- and lightning exploded at the back of her head, leaving a trail of fire. She closed her eyes and howled into his mouth, raking her claws down his back.

 He pulled back and thrust his ridged cocks into her with horrific strength.

 The ferocity of his stroke jarred her from what was going on in her mind, but the sensation was fleeting, and the fire in the back of her skull still burned. She arched up, writhing to feel more of his ruthless cocks, desperate to drive her searing thoughts away.

 He grunted and drove into her.

 She arched up to meet his thrust and snarled for more.

 He groaned and his claws dug into her, cutting her skin as he thrust again, and then again.

 She twisted under him. More, she needed more ... Her mouth closed on his other shoulder, biting down.

 He shouted and shuddered, then grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her away, arching her throat back. His mouth brushed her throat and then his teeth closed on her. The canines sank in.

 She arched her entire body and howled, grinding up into his ruthless and brutal thrusts. He released her head and she twisted sharply, rolling him onto his back.

 He stared up at her in surprise, then grinned as she proceeded to slam down onto his cocks. Her head dropped. Her teeth scored his breast, and her tongue lashed across the rings that pierced his nipples.

 He gasped but pressed her head against his breast.

 She bit down.

 He shouted, then pulled her head back and leaned up to take her nipple into his mouth. He sucked it into his mouth, then opened wide and bit down on her breast.

 She screamed and raked his chest with her claws.

 The smell of blood and arousal mixed in a potent perfume.

 The fire in the back of her skull was suddenly eclipsed by a red heat that burned up her spine. She released a scream that raised the hairs on her entire body. The perfume of arousal changed to the rank scent of violence -- and fear.

 “Isabeau?” He rolled her under him and grabbed for her wrists. His eyes were fire bright with passion, but his mouth was hard. “Isabeau, stay with me!” He thrust hard into her body and struggled to hold her. “Stay with me, pet!”

  

  

 Chapter Twelve

  

 She snarled up at the male holding her and writhed to escape his hands as the fire in her mind triggered a rage that hungered to tear the heart from his breast and drink the blood that raced under his skin.

 A shadow fell over them. “Isabeau?”

 She snarled at the second male, then screamed with the lightning stabbing through her mind.

 Yelling, shouting, struggling ... The scent of freshly spilled blood, and sex.

 “Isabeau, please ...!”

 She knew that voice. A warm, familiar scent curled around her. Need, want ...heartache...

 Fallon blinked up at Sobehk, down on one knee at their side. She leaned toward him, searching for his scent. “Sobehk?”

 Sobehk sighed and pressed his palm to her cheek. “I’m right here.”

 “Don’t ... go away.” She turned her face into his hand. Tears streaked down her cheeks. “Don’t ... don’t leave me.”

 Khan snarled. “Sit down before you fall down, Sobehk; in fact, why don’t you go get your mattress and lie down here with us?”

 Sobehk frowned. “Are you sure?”

 Khan rolled his eyes. “You just pulled her out ofrahyt . What do you think?”

 Fallon whimpered and writhed as the fire in her mind surged. “It hurts ...”

 Khan focused on Sobehk. “She is not talking about my dicks.”

 Sobehk groaned as he rose to his feet. “I’ll get the mattress.”

 “Ignore it, pet.” Khan began ruthlessly thrusting. “Pay attention to your body.”

 Fallon closed her eyes and arched up in an effort to erase what was happening in her head. Sobehk’s rich perfume covered her, and she opened her eyes to see him stretching out on a mattress alongside theirs.

 Khan released Fallon’s wrists and groaned. “You may as well be useful. Push up your sleeve and give me your wrist.”

 Sobehk’s brows rose, but he shoved up his sleeve and leaned close, presenting his wrist.

 Khan lunged at him, lightning fast, and sank his fangs deep into Sobehk’s forearm.

 Sobehk shouted in shock. “Khan!”

 Khan pulled back and licked his lips. “Lick the wounds. I need you hard.”

 Sobehk hissed in obvious pain. “What are you thinking?”

 Khan smiled sourly as he ground into Fallon’s body. “I’m thinking that there’s arehkyt that needs to drink a load of cum. Get busy.”

 Sobehk’s eyes opened wide. “Are you serious?”

 Khan bared his teeth. “Did I, or did I not, just bite you?”

 Sobehk licked the wounds on his arm and yanked at the ties of his robe with his free hand.

 Fallon writhed, caught between the agony in her mind and the cocks grinding harshly in her body. The base of his cocks began to swell into a ball of rock hard flesh sliding in then out, passing deliciously against her clit. Liquid heat flared in her core and began to build. She gasped in surprise, then moaned under the rising wave of bittersweet and agonizing pleasure.

 Khan grinned down at her and thrust in earnest. “You better hurry, Sobehk. She’s rising.”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes as he tore the robe from his shoulders. “I would find one that likes pain as much as you do.” He dropped onto his back, grabbed his cocks, and stroked them, groaning. “How did I get so lucky?”

 Fallon leaned up and nipped at Khan’s nipples.

 Khan hissed as her teeth raked him. “I have no complaints.” He grunted with his thrusts. “Are you hard yet? I’m just about to knot.”

 Sobehk sighed. “Yes. Your venom is fucking potent!” He sat up on his knees, framing Fallon’s head.

 “You think I’m bad?” Khan snorted. “Wait ’tilshe bites you.” He caught Fallon’s chin. “I need you to suck cock, pet.”



 Fallon tilted her head back to see Sobehk’s rigid cocks only a breath away from her mouth. The scent of his arousal washed over her in an irresistible wave. She opened her mouth and stroked the underside of the swollen head of his larger primary cock with her tongue, then opened wide to suck him in.

 Sobehk hissed. “Shit!” He dropped, his hands framing her chest, arching over her body, and spread his knees to get lower.

 Fallon tilted her head back to get more of him and lashed him with her tongue. He became even more rigid against her tongue. She moaned and suckled.

 Sobehk groaned and thrust into her mouth. “Damn ...”

 Khan pushed up onto his hands, his thrusts slower, but hammer-stroke hard. “That good?”

 Fallon moaned and sucked hard as Sobehk thrust into her mouth even as Khan ground his torturous cocks into her body.

 Sobehk moaned and panted. “That enthusiastic. And I’m just as hard-up as she is.”

 Hard-up?Fallon growled and let him slide against her teeth.

 He flinched. “Watch it with the teeth!”

 Khan chuckled. “Can you cum first?”

 Sobehk groaned. “Not going to be a problem; just about there.” He sucked in a breath. “In fact ... there.” He groaned and shuddered. “Swallow it, kitten; drink me down.”

 Fallon felt him pulse on her tongue. Salty, musky cream filled her mouth, even as his second cock pulsed against her neck, spattering hot cum across her breasts. She swallowed, but there was so much of it, it dribbled past her lips.

 Khan snorted. “She’s missing some.”

 “Got it.” Sobehk caught her jaw, tilted her head back, and thrust his entire length down her throat. He gasped.

 She couldn’t breathe past the long cock jammed down into her throat. She whimpered and reached up to push him back.

 Khan caught her hands. “No, swallow, pet.”

 Fallon struggled against his hold while cum pumped and pumped straight down her throat.

 Sobehk moaned. “Mother Night, yes ...” He sighed and pulled from her throat.

 Fallon coughed and sucked air.

 Sobehk fell on the mattress beside them and rolled onto his back, smiling. “Mmm, I needed that.”

 Fallon struggled to swallow what was left in her mouth and scowled at Sobehk’s grinning face. “Dirty ... trick.”

 “Is that so?” Khan dropped over her and thrust brutally hard. “My turn.”

 Fallon gasped as the metal at the end of his cock bumped something inside, something exciting and deliciously urgent. He struck it again, and then again ... She groaned and shivered, arching up to meet him.

 Sobehk rolled up on his side, set his chin on his hand, and grinned. “I love watching you fuck.”

 Khan flashed him a smile, then groaned while twisting his hips hard.

 Fallon felt something swollen pass into both her ass and cunt, filling them brutally tight. She gasped.

 Khan released a harsh breath. “I’m tied.” He ground into her and moaned. “Mother, she’s tight ...”

 Fallon felt something spark, and shuddered as pleasure rose hot and fast. She writhed to reach it.

 Khan smiled down at her. “Ready to fall, pet?”

 Fallon panted, and a small sound escaped her lips. She ground up against him. He was pressed right up against that delicious spot, but something was missing. “Please?”

 Sobehk raised his brow. “Oh, begging? I like begging.”

 Fallon bucked up hard, but got no closer. A whimper escaped. “Please ...? I need ... I want ...” She writhed and bared her teeth. “Bite me!”

 Sobehk looked at Khan.

 Khan smiled at Sobehk. “Bite her.”

 Sobehk’s brows shot up. “Doesn’t she have enough venom in her by now?”

 Khan shook his head. “She doesn’t need the venom; she needs the bite. She needs the pain.”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes. “Pain junkies ...” He leaned over Fallon. “Where do you want my teeth, kitten?”

 “Her breast, around the nipple.” Khan grinned. “I took the other. Make them match.”

 Sobehk’s brows rose as he stared at Khan.

 Fallon squirmed as climax coiled in a boiling morass of threatening intent. She was right on the damned edge and they were talking! “I don’t care where; just bite me, damn it!”

 Sobehk’s mouth dropped over her nipple. His mouth opened wide and he sucked hard, his long teeth pressing into her skin.

 “Maker, yes!” She grabbed Sobehk’s hair to hold him and moaned as his sucking mouth burned a trail of delight from her nipple straight down to her clit. Her gaze locked on Khan’s blood-orange eyes.

 Khan held her gaze and ground his metal laden cocks into her. “Now.”

 Raked by the delight within her body, Fallon arched up on a wail. Sobehk’s teeth sank into her breast, delivering sharp slices of pain that pushed her over the edge into an exploding spiral of mind-shocking pleasure. She stared into Khan’s eyes and shrieked.

 Khan choked, his eyes went wide and he shook. “Bloody Chaos.”

 * * * * *

 Fallon moaned; every part of her hurt. But the burning in her mind was gone.Hot damn. She opened her eyes and stared blearily at the steel gray ceiling overhead. Khan’s warm but heavy steel and titanium weighted body was stretched out full-length on top of her and nestled between her thighs. His breath feathered the left side of her throat.

 Someone had pulled the pale gray blanket over them. It was actually fairly cozy, if it weren’t for the fact that she was cuddled up with one of the scariest men she’d ever met.

 And he owned her.

 Her mind immediately shied away from that line of thought. She pushed at his shoulder. “Are we done?”

 Khan opened one copper eye and tightened his arms at her sides. He snorted against her throat. “We’re tied.” He moved his hips and the swollen base of his cocks tugged at the more than tender flesh he filled to capacity. He moaned in obvious enjoyment. “Tight.”

 She hissed and grabbed his bare butt to stop his movements. “I meant with whatever you were doing in my head.”

 Khan growled. “Be still.”

 Fallon froze, then scowled. “I’m not the one that’s moving!”

 “No, you’re the one that’s talking. Be still.” He opened his mouth and pressed his teeth against her throat in clear warning.

 Fallon’s breath stopped. Apparently that pleased him. His wet tongue stroked where his teeth had been. She relaxed and fumed.Just what I need, another bully. She turned to look over at Sobehk ... but he wasn’t there. The mattress he’d been on was missing, too. She tilted her head back to see if he’d gone back to his bed. The hospital bed was missing. The hair rose on her body. She was alone with Khan.

 Khan’s hand slid down the standing hairs on her arm. “What?” His tone was clearly annoyed.

 Fallon flinched and promptly became annoyed with herself. “Sobehk ...?”

 “Has been moved to my ship. We’ll join him later.” He nuzzled against her throat and ground his still-hard cocks into her. “Go to sleep.”

 Fallon winced and shifted under him. Great Maker, he was tight in her.Sleep? She rolled her eyes.Right, sure, like that’s going to happen like this?

 He growled.

 She stilled, expelled her breath, and tried to relax. His heart beat against hers in a slow, even rhythm. She found herself listening to it. Oddly, she found herself matching his slow breaths. Odder still, her eyes became heavy and she slid into sleep.

 * * * * *

 Fallon felt the weight on top of her move and opened her eyes to find Khan up on his elbows staring down at her. A slight smile curved his lips.

 She blinked up at him in sleepy confusion.What?

 He hooded his eyes and lowered his head slowly. His lips touched hers.

 She opened her mouth to him, and his tongue brushed against her lower lip. The touch was surprisingly gentle. She touched his tongue with the tip of hers, and he stroked lightly but more boldly against her. He tasted of warm male and slightly of copper. He tasted ... familiar.

 His head turned slightly and he joined his mouth more fully to hers, his kiss slow and exploratory. She answered his kiss without thought. It just seemed ... the right thing to do.

 A sound vibrated in his chest. It was the strangest sound she’d ever heard. It wasn’t a growl; it was more comforting in its rumbling, like a gigantic feline purr. The idea of Khan purring made a smile curve her lips.

 He pulled back, releasing her mouth. Amusement softened the harsh lines of his face. “What?”

 “You’re purring?” Fallon couldn’t help but smile more fully.

 He snorted but smiled. “I do that when I’m pleased.”

 “Oh ...” He was pleased. She’d pleased him. Something warm and alarming shifted in her heart. She flinched back from that warmth and her smile fled.

 His brows shot up. “You don’t want to please me?”

 Fallon opened her mouth and then closed it. She did. She did want to please him. She looked away in confusion. This needful feeling was completely different from the protective urge she felt for Sobehk. It was more like she wantedhis protection, as though she wanted comfort fromhim -- Khan. She needed the comfort of knowing that Sobehk was safe, but the thought of wanting Khan to be comforting...? The idea was alien, and alarming. Her heart pounded in fright and she jerked under him. She needed to get out from under him. She needed to get out...

 “Isabeau.” His arms closed tight around her and his finger nudged her chin toward him, encouraging her to look at him.

 She turned to face him but closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see what was in his gaze. She didn’t want him to see what was in hers.

 “Isabeau, look at me.” His voice was soft, but very firm.

 She opened her eyes and braced herself.

 There was a slight smile on his lips and warmth in his odd copper gaze. He was very pleased about something. “Your feelings have changed, have they not?”

 Huh?Fallon gritted her teeth. “No.”

 He snorted and rolled his eyes. His smile widened. “Toward me.” His thumb brushed her bottom lip. “You feel differently toward me.”

 Fallon opened her mouth to deny it, but closed her mouth instead. She didn’t believe in lying.

 He raised his brows. “Yes?”

 She licked her bottom lip where his thumb had been and desperately wanted to agree, just to please him. This need for his approval was the most frightening thing she’d ever felt. It honestly felt as if she would die without it. Her breath stuttered in her throat and a fist crushed around her heart. She couldn’t make herself say no, but she couldn’t make herself say yes, either.

 He smiled. “You do feel it. Don’t you?”

 Sprawled across his folded knees, her breath stopped completely and tears streaked down her cheeks.

 “Ah ...” His arms closed tight around her. He crushed her to his chest and sat up, taking her with him. “You do.”

 Fallon wrapped her arms around his neck in complete dismay at wanting to be held just like this. He didn’t smell wrong, he smelled right, and good ... and strong. And it hurt. She could feel her heart ripping completely in half. She dug her nails into her arms and held her breath to keep the feeling at bay. Silent tears dripped down her cheeks and spattered down his back.

 His lips brushed her ear. “It’s all right. This is supposed to happen. You’ve taken an impression.”

 What?She had to gulp for breath before she could speak. “How can I have two impressions?”

 He sighed and his cheek rubbed against hers. “You can’t.”

 She froze and anger flashed at the back of her skull. Her tears dried instantly. “My feelings have not changed for Sobehk.”

 “I suspected that they hadn’t.” His hand swept down her spine. “I don’t think you ever impressed on him.”

 “What?” She tried to push back, to look in his face, but his arms tightened. She finally gave up and set her arms around his neck again, letting him hold her. “If it’s not ... that, then what’s going on?”

 “Isabeau, what you feel for him is different from what you feel for me, yes?”

 She frowned. “Yes.” Very different, almost the complete reverse of each other.

 “You want to comfort him, you want to care for him, you want to make sure he’s safe. Yes?”

 Her frown deepened. “Yes.”

 “But you wantme to care foryou, yes?”

 She stilled in alarm. That was exactly what she was feeling.

 “Isabeau, if you had impressed on him, you would not have yelled at him for being foolish. With no physical contact for almost two whole days, impression would have driven you insane to get him to bleed for you, or fuck you.”

 Fallon shook her head. “That’s stupid. He was hurt ...”

 He chuckled. “No, it is instinct for arehkyt .” He sighed. “What you feel for me is more basic, more physical, and very primal.”

 She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

 “Isabeau, you love him.”

 She froze and her heart turned over.Love?

 “But you need me, physically. You want to be mine.”

 His?She frowned and shook her head slowly, even as her eyes filled and spilled over.No . She didn’t want to be anybody’s. So what if he’d put his DNA in her body? That was herbody, not her heart, not her soul.I’m still me, inside, where it counts. Her arms tightened around his neck and her nails cut into her forearms.I don’t need anybody. Anger was a refreshing heat that swamped the feeling of helplessness trying to overtake her.

 He caught her shoulders and pushed her back to stare into her eyes. “No?” A smile played at the corner of his mouth. “You’re quite sure?”

 Fallon set her jaw and nodded.

 His brow lifted. “Then you won’t mind taking a shower by yourself?”

 She glanced down. She was covered in brown smears of dried blood and other bodily fluids. She was seriously nasty. She grinned defiantly at him. “Are you kidding? I would kill for a shower and some privacy.”

 He nodded. “Very well.” He pushed her up, and his cocks slid from her body.

 Fallon winced as the piercing bars at the end of his cocks slipped free. She stood up on the filthy mattress on shaky legs. Every muscle in her body ached and shivered. Thick gobs of moisture slid down her thighs. She grimaced. “Oh, gross ...”

 He rose to his feet, his long braid swinging at his hips. “You don’t like being dirty?” He stepped behind her and tugged free the thing he’d put in her data jack.

 She winced. “I hate being dirty.”

 “I see.” He stepped past her and strode toward where Sobehk’s bed had been.

 Fallon turned and followed. She blinked. A massive and complicated tattoo sketched across his shoulders and swept down his back in swirls of dark blue ink. It was all sweeping lines and points, like thorns, but it didn’t seem to be a picture. It was more a design ... but something about it nagged at her. The shape was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

 At the head of the room, Khan moved to the left of the colorful but completely incomprehensible holographic display. He pressed his palm on the blank wall. The wall spiraled open into an oval door. He turned to face her. “Take all the time you need. I’ll shower after you.” His smile held open anticipation, but a touch of cruelty seemed to hover on the edges.

 Fallon grabbed her elbows and slipped past him. He was up to something.

  

  

 Chapter Thirteen

  

 Fallon looked around with interest. The small facility was very spare, with plain steel walls, a covered sink, and a zero-gravity commode commanding the back wall. A shower stall was set into the wall on her right, with towels hanging on the left of the shower’s sliding door. The towels seemed silly. There was a perfectly good water collector unit in the shower itself.

 The chance to use the commode in utter privacy was near blissful. She pulled the shower door open and the interior light went on. The walls were highly reflective, but she was only interested in turning on the hot water. She wasn’t interested in knowing exactly how filthy she was.

 She got the water on and stepped under the spray with her eyes closed. The burning hot water poured down her head and spilled down her body in fierce rivulets. The scratches and bites on her ached under the water’s heat, even as her muscles loosened and unknotted. She pressed her palms against the wall, moaning in sheer animal pleasure. She dashed the water from her eyes and reached for the soap.

 Arm outstretched, Fallon blinked at her nude reflection. Her over-large emerald green eyes widened, and her deep-red lips parted in surprise.What the fuck ...?

 Frost-white streaks from her temples blazed in the midnight darkness of her well-beyond-shoulder-length hair. The graceful tips of pointed ears peeked out from her overlong mane. Her bruised and somewhat battered skin gleamed under the water like burnished gold.

 She choked.That’s not me! She looked down. The curved white nails on her feet looked more like claws than toenails. Itwas her. Scarlet nipples crowned her breasts, framed by livid gouges from being bitten by long teeth -- gouges that were already closed and appeared to be well on their way to healing.

 She turned to look at the reflection of her back and muscle rippled. She did not remember having that much visible muscle. She investigated the bites on her shoulders and neck. Those bites were healing, too -- healing faster than she’d ever healed in her life. Fingers tipped in curved white nails drifted up to the points of her ears.

 She frowned at her face. “Damn it, I donot have green eyes!” She had hazel eyes, kind of bluish, kind of greenish with brown mixed in them...

 The four reflective walls stated otherwise.

 She scowled and saw her fangs for the first time.Damn, they’re longer than I thought. The small spurt of pride took her by surprise. She stepped back to look at her entire length.

 She didn’t look human at all.

 But then, they’d been telling her she wasn’t human. Not anymore. Her heart thumped hard. Sweat soaked her back. What had they done to her?

 They had changed her. Just like Peter had said they would.

 Fallon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m still me. That’s just the outside.”

 Peter had also said that she wouldn’twant to come back. An image of Sobehk flickered in her mind, followed by a stronger image of Khan’s naked back covered with marks from her nails.

 “No.” She folded her arms tight against her stomach and felt the bunch of muscle under her palms. “On the inside, I’m still me.” She opened her eyes and reached for the soap in the wall dispenser, refusing to look at her reflection.

 But she wasn’t her on the inside either. Someone had jammed a sleeper program in her head.

 Terror froze her where she stood, and the visceral desire to find Khan swamped her utterly. She had the shower door open before she stopped. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. Damn it, she could handle this herself. She was a top-notch hacker in her own right. If she could get into her own head, she could disable the program -- if she could find it.

 But she wanted him.

 “No, damn it. I don’t need him.” She slid the door closed and took several bracing breaths. She turned around and stomped back to the water to finish her shower. She didn’t need him.

 Not right then, anyway. She could wait.

 No, damn it!She slapped soap on her skin and lathered, shaking her head. Shedidn’t need him. But part of her did. Part of her wanted to hear his voice, to feel his hands touching her ... the perfume of his scent on her skin.

 She scrubbed her golden skin with a vengeance, but the color didn’t come off.

 Fallon shut off the water feeling more exhausted than when she had gone in. Tension sang in her bones. She wanted out of that bathroom. She activated the water collector and was dry in seconds. The scent of clean water and soap wreathed her skin. She smelled clean.

 But she didn’twant to smell clean. The absolute worst urge to bolt out of the shower stall to find Khan burned through her. Something in her desperately wanted to rub against him to change her scent to his.

 No, damn it!Stiff-legged, she stepped out of the shower and deliberately turned her back on the open door. Instead, she searched for a brush to do something with her overlong hair, but couldn’t find one.

 She faced the door and gripped her elbows to keep from running. She stepped out and automatically searched for him.

 Khan was on her left with his back to her, using a small computational. His pale skin was marked by old sword scars, smeared in dried blood, and covered in fresh scratches. Sleek muscle shifted in his shoulders and arms, creating an arresting display under that strange and sweeping tattoo. His long braid fell down his spine in a creamy line.

 He had a great ass, too.

 Her gut clenched. He was painfully beautiful to look at. She wanted to touch him, to be touched by him. She desperately wanted to get him to turn around and at least look at her. She set her jaw.No, damn it. It took everything in her to hold still and wait.

 Khan shut down his computational, sighed, and raised his head, setting his hands on his hips. “You’re very stubborn.” He didn’t turn around.

 Fallon looked around. There was no one else in the room with them, so he had to be talking to her. A smile lifted the corner of her mouth, part relief that he had acknowledged her, but more in the fact that she had held out. “Stubborn is what I do best.”

 His head lowered and a small chuckle escaped. “I strongly suspect that we are better suited than I thought.”

 Fallon felt a small rush of elation. He thought they suited. Then her heart clenched.Sobehk ... She closed her eyes and turned her face away. Good-bye was coming. She took a breath and shook her head. Good-bye always came. It was just the way it was. She should be used to it by now.

 “What is it?”

 Fallon opened her eyes. Khan was at her side, less than a hand-length away. His hands were still on his hips. She hadn’t heard him walk over. She took a shallow breath and yet the scent of his skin reached her. She turned to face him, but crossed her arms and dug her fingers into her upper arms to keep from reaching for him.

 What should she say?

 How about the truth? That was usually unexpected.

 She looked up into his copper gaze. “You’re taking me from Sobehk.”

 His eyes widened just a hair then his mouth set in a firm line. “Itook you from Sobehk, last night.”

 She flinched. The truth cut both ways.

 Khan sighed. “Isabeau, it’s better this way. Believe me. He couldn’t have handled you. You’re too much for him.” He turned to the side and swept a hand across his jaw. “I don’t think he has any real idea what you’re actually capable of.”

 Fallon felt a spurt of anger. “And you do?”

 Khan snorted then shook his head. “According to his report, you’re a talented acrobat, a damned fine fighter, and quite a successful escape artist. You’re listed as a thief.” He turned to look at her. “But according to your personal data your real talents are not physical, they’re mental. Just from the style of your personal programs, it’s very obvious that you’re one of the finest programming architects I’ve seen in a long time. You are definitely a thief, but not for objects -- for information. You could make or break just about any code out there.”

 Fallon frowned, unsure how she felt about him knowing this. That he was impressed was obvious and ... satisfying in a strange way, but it was also really unnerving to have someone know so much.

 Khan raised a brow. “You also have one of the most sophisticated translation programs I’ve ever seen.” He tilted his head to the side. “Most Imperial translators cannot grasp Skeldhi at all, and yet you seem to have quite a vocabulary and grammar list.”

 Fallon shrugged. “It’s a context translator.”

 Khan shook his head. “But you’ve only been hearing Skeldhi for the past two days.” He grinned. “Would you make me a copy of that program?”

 Fallon felt the smile creep onto her face. “Sure, I can do that.”

 Khan folded his arms across his chest and leaned back on his heels. “You’ve been stealing data from landed ships. Yes?”

 Fallon hunched her shoulders and her smile disappeared. He was an investigations agent; how had she forgotten? “Everybody stole something on Dyson’s. I took ship secrets. It was how I made a living.”

 Khan nodded. “Yes, but you’ve been stealing it from within the ship. You’ve actually been breaking into the ships and then leaving without detection.”

 Fallon shrugged. “Most of the really valuable data is hidden within the ship’s sentience. The trick is not to disturb the sentience.”

 His gaze sharpened. “According to that data ...” He pointed at the holographic display up on the wall. “The only reason you are still on this ship is because you were unconscious when it left the station.”

 Fallon looked away from the incomprehensible display toward the distant, invisible door. He was half right. “I don’t have my tools. I’d have to make new ones before I could break out.”

 “But you could do it, even from this ship.”

 She nodded. It wouldn’t be difficult either; a simple matter of getting into their supply hold and digging around for appropriate parts to make new taps. The real key to getting into and out of ships was in her programming codes.

 “Isabeau.” Khan sighed deeply. “Sobehk would never understand you or your talents like I do. As hisrehkyt , you’d only be someone that warmed his bed. I’m aMehdjay ’syr , a lord-officer of Security and Intelligence, a minister of investigations. Arehkyt with your talents is more valuable to me than just someone to fuck.”

 Fallon jerked back as though struck.

 Khan walked past her and stepped into the facility.

 She listened as the water went on then walked over to the facility’s doorway and sat down against the wall beside it. She pressed her cheek against her upraised knees and tried not to think or feel anything at all.

 And failed miserably.

 Sobehk. She closed her eyes and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Sobehkdidn’t know her. Not really. But then, very few people ever had. Her boss had some grasp of what she was capable of, but even he had no idea how she did what she did. He only knew that if he wanted something she could get it, and that she was near impossible to catch or stop.

 But Khan knew her. It felt strange to be understood, to be accepted, even appreciated. But she didn’tlike him. Part of her wanted him, desperately. It was hard to admit, but there was no denying that something in her craved him. But the rest of her was scared shitless of him, and with damned good reason. He knew her. He could destroy her in ways that went beyond a few broken bones.

 She sniffed and rubbed her damp cheek on her knee. Khan didn’t seem inclined to cripple her like that; in fact, he seemed more likely to actually let her use her talents ... But that could change. And she’d never see it coming.

 He knew her -- but she didn’t know him at all. And her life was in his hands.

 She tightened her arms around her knees and shivered hard.

 “Isabeau!”

 Fallon jerked upright.What in fury? She leaned over to look in the doorway. Water splashed against the glass door. He was in the shower. “What?”

 “Get your ass in here!”

  

  

 Chapter Fourteen

  

 Fallon got up and stepped into the facility. She jerked the sliding glass door open. Steam curled out along the ceiling. She stuck her head in.

 Khan stood under the water with his head down and his hands braced against either wall. The shower stall was that small. His hair was still in its tight braid, but he was clean. Even the scratches on his back and flanks were practically gone. The blue tattoo on his muscular back was brilliant under the shower light. She could smell nothing but water and soap.

 Khan raised his head and his copper gaze, reflected in the wall before him, caught hers. Tension sang in his body. “Come here.”

 She stepped into the shower and closed the door. Water splashed onto her as she approached. Her neck hairs rose.

 He turned with blinding speed, caught her by the upper arms and slammed her against the back wall.

 She gasped in surprise; he was fucking fast!

 His mouth came down on her open mouth as he pressed the entire hard length of his body against hers. His cocks were urgently rigid against her belly. He growled and kissed her, taking her mouth as though starved, and with ruthless skill.

 Fallon’s nipples rose to hot, tight points and her belly clenched with sudden hunger. She moaned into his mouth and grabbed his forearms, digging in with her long nails.

 He pulled his mouth from hers and his eyes blazed with heat. “You are better at resisting than I.” He reached down to catch her thighs, lifting her against the wall. “You would think I would have more control than a newborn Prime.” He pressed her against the wall with his body as he reached down to set his pierced cock against the entrance to her body. He snorted and a small smile appeared. “Ah, not quite so resistant, after all. You’re wet.” He grunted and thrust.

 Fallon gasped as the unforgiving metal bar at the end of his cock pressed into her snug channel. All too soon his second pierced cock was an insistent pressure against her anus. She grabbed him around the shoulders and groaned, pressing outward to let him in. He’d rubbed something on to make his second cock slick, but the bar still jammed against the ring of her anus. She writhed in discomfort. The pressure increased. She whimpered and arched. The bar passed within. She sighed as it slid deeper.

 He grunted and thrust further in, the ridges of metal balls under the skin of his cocks scraping against tender flesh.

 She bucked hard and sheathed him, all the way to the root. It hurt and yet the pain shoved all the aching in her heart out, making room for her body’s pleasure.

 He sighed against her right ear. “Mother Night, I don’t know how in Chaos you held out. I was going insane.”

 Fallon locked her legs around his hips and writhed against him, feeling his rigid and pierced cocks moving in her depths. “You?” She moaned with the agonizing delight of having him within her. “I thought I was the one with the ...” She panted. “The impression?”

 He chuckled. “Impression goes both ways, master torehkyt ,rehkytto master. My body wants yours as much as your body wants mine.” His hands closed tight on her thighs and his nails dug in. “And I really want to fuck you right now.” He pressed his head against the wall. “Bite me, on the shoulder, hard and fast.”

 She stilled in shock. It went both ways? He wanted her?

 “Bite me, damn it!”

 She bared her long teeth and sank them into his shoulder.

 He gasped and shuddered, then sighed. “Mmm ... yes.”

 Her eyes caught their reflection on the far side of the stall. His long muscular body with her legs wrapped around his hips, one of her arms around his shoulder, and the other gripping his upper arm. A thin line of blood slid down his back from where her teeth pierced him. She pulled her fangs from his shoulder and watched her reflection licking the blood from the wounds she’d made.

 He pressed her hard against the wall and his hand came up to grab a handful of her hair. He tugged her head to the left.

 Fallon watched his mouth open in the wall’s reflection. His teeth gleamed white and then his head fell, lightning fast.

 Fire exploded in her shoulder. She shouted and bucked forward, her nails slicing into his back.

 He sucked on the wounds, growling, then released her shoulder, licking his lips. His hands reached down to cup her butt, his nails digging in. He slid outward, the bars at the ends of his cocks keeping him from slipping completely free. He thrust back in brutally hard then again, and again ...

 She bucked in his arms, moaning and straining to meet his pounding rhythm. Her gaze was trapped by the reflection of his straining body fucking hers. Every muscle in his back, ass, and thighs flexed as he took her with desperate violence against the wall of the shower. It was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen.

 Pleasure sparked with incredible speed and coiled tight with boiling fury in her core. She dug her nails into his back as the scream built in her throat. She could see the blood running down his back from her nails. Slender but bright threads of blood slid down his thighs. It was hers, from where his nails dug into her ass. The sight inflamed her further. Her gasps became cries as pressure and need rose to the explosion point.

 His grunts became gasps. “Yes, Chaos, you’re going to cum ... Yes!”

 She writhed as her body came to the razor’s edge -- and refused to fall. Damn it. She moaned in frustration. “Oh, please ...”

 “Please what?”

 “Please!” She shouted and bucked hard. “I need it!”

 He groaned, but the amusement was clear in the sound. “What do you need, pet?”

 “Please!” She shuddered, tormented by the pleasure she couldn’t reach. “Bite me again!”

 His hands came up and closed on her upper arms. He pressed her back against the wall. Her thighs held him tight as he stepped back and stared her in the eye. Possessive heat flared in his gaze. “You need me.” His lip curled, showing his long teeth. “You needme . Say it!”

 Fallon shuddered on the edge of a chasm that was deeper than merely sex. Terror raised every hair on her body.

 “You needme! ” His eyes were burning pits as he shouted in her face. “Say it!”

 She cried out and burst into tears. She didn’tlike him, but she did need him. She dug her claws into his arms as she fought against it, but the need for him burned in her heart as well as in her body.

 Something like agony raced across his expression. “Say it, damn you!Say it! ”

 “Yes, you bastard!” she screamed and collapsed, gasping for breath as the tears ran down her cheeks. She just couldn’t fight it anymore. “Yes. I need you.”

 He expelled a long breath and set his brow against hers. “Bloody Chaos, you stubborn little bitch.” His voice was heavy with exhaustion. He took a long slow breath. “Say it again.”

 She exhaled and sniffed, hanging limp in his embrace. “I need you.”

 He sighed. “Who do you belong to,rehkyt? ”

 She closed her eyes and shuddered, but she was too tired to bother fighting it. “You.”

 “That’s ‘you,‘Syr .’ Say it.”

 ‘Syr, according to her translator, meant “master.” He was telling her to acknowledge him as her rightful master. Her rightful owner. She moaned, but didn’t put any real effort into it. “Do I actually have to call you that?”

 “Yes, you do.”

 “Bastard.”

 He snorted. “That was not what I said.”

 She sighed. “You,‘Syr .”

 He groaned. “You reallydo need a beating.”

 “Everybody says that.” Her chuckle bubbled up unexpectedly.

 “Then it must be true.” He chuckled, too. “And that’s ‘everybody says that,‘Syr .’”

 “Bloody Fate, you mean I have to use ... that, all the time?”

 “Yes, you do.”

 “That sucks ...‘Syr.”

 He leaned back and smiled. “You’ll adjust.”

 Fallon narrowed her eyes at him. “Now what?” She curled her lip. “‘Syr.”

 His copper gaze hardened. “Who do you belong to,rehkyt? ”

 Fallon swallowed. “You,‘Syr .”

 “Do you belong to Sobehk?” His gaze was absolutely merciless.

 Fallon jerked and turned away. She was not going there. No way in fury ...

 His growl was low and thoroughly threatening. “Do you belong to Sobehk?” His claws cut into her arms. “Answer me.”

 She faced him and snarled. “Are youtrying to rip my heart out, you bastard?”

 He bared his teeth in a vicious snarl. “I didn’t ask if you loved Sobehk. Do youbelong to Sobehk?”

 The whimper escaped before she could stop it. She couldn’t do this; it hurt too much. She unlocked her ankles from around his hips and tried to pull off his cocks, but he was swollen tight within her. She writhed in his hold struggling to escape. “Let me go!”

 “No.” He caught her wrists and pressed her against the wall with his body. “We’re tied.”

 She pulled and twisted, whimpering with the pain, even as he hissed and struggled to hold her still. She could not free herself. She couldn’t unlock her body from his. She collapsed, panting with exhaustion. She had to fight herself to meet his gaze, but meet it she did, with every last drop of defiance she had. “I will not answer that!” She bared her teeth. “‘Syr.”

 “Yes, you will!” His voice was low and even, but his copper gaze blazed with rage. He bared his teeth, and a low growl rumbled.

 Her gaze focused on the pulse beating in his throat, only centimeters from her mouth, and her fangs. She could make him release her. She could rip out his throat. She was close enough, and fast enough to do it. She took a breath and tumbled the thought of killing him in her mind. She turned her gaze from his vulnerable throat. She just couldn’t make herself do it. She just couldn’t. She didn’t want him dead.

 He sighed and the anger went out of his gaze. His exhausted breaths panted in time with hers. “Answer the question, Isabeau. Do you belong to Sobehk?”

 She closed her eyes and shook her head. She didn’t want to answer. It would break something in her that would never be the same.

 “Isabeau.” He took a deep breath. “Answer me.”

 She laid her cheek against his shoulder, begging for comfort. “Please don’t.” She released a breath, and her tears. “Please, don’t make me ... do this.”

 “I have to.” He released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, supporting her weight. “We both already know the answer, but you have to say it.”

 She wrapped her arms around his neck and shuddered with the sobs that tumbled from her shattering heart. “You can’t ...” She had to take two breaths before she speak past the pain. “You can’t ask me to stop ... loving him.”

 “I’m not asking you to stop loving him.” He took an unsteady breath. “I’m asking if youbelong to him.”

 “He wants me to. I want to.”

 He took a very deep breath and sighed against her throat. “Isabeau, he deliberately gave up his claim on you last night, when he told me to take you.” His arms tightened around her. “When you decided to live, you knew you would not be his, but mine.”

 She closed her eyes and curled in tight. It hurt. It hurt ... Blood and Fate, ithurt . “You can’t make someone love you.”

 The angry tension went out of his body in a rush. “This isn’t about love. Impression is the Skeldhi instinct to hold on to and protect their mates. A Skeldhi female goes into compliance, breeding heat for two solid cycles, but only once every two years. Between seasons, they won’t allow sexual contact. Without impression, males would not stay with them long enough to raise a family. Love is something else entirely.”

 “You’re capable of mating for sixty days straight, but you only get to do it once every two years?” She winced. “That has got to be ... frustrating.” No wonder they were such a war-like race.

 He chuckled tiredly. “That is the absolute truth. It would have been easier if males shared their seasons, but we don’t. We’re sexually ready at all times, so as to be available when a female goes into season.Rehkyt are specifically designed for fucking. They’re concubines to keep the male half of the race from committing territorial genocide.”

 “And your females allow this?”

 He snorted. “It was their idea. The firstrehkyt was designed for apshent , a ruling queen, to keep her consort sane while she carried her children to term. There’s your love.Queens originally killed their consorts after mating. She loved her mate enough to find a solution to territorial madness so he could live.”

 He pressed his cheek to hers. “Unlike humans, we are ruled by our instincts, not our emotions. As arehkyt , you have our DNA, and the instincts that come with it. You love Sobehk, but you’ve impressed on me. Your body knows who it belongs to, but I need you to admit it, to say that you accept it.”

 She bit her lip. She wanted him, but she didn’tlike him. “I don’t want this ... instinct.” Her gaze caught her reflection behind him. Her burnished gold skin was bright under the light, and her eyes were over-large and green in a way no human eyes could ever be. She looked away from her alien reflection and leaned back to stare into his copper eyes. “Why do you do this to people? Why was this done to me?”

 His red-orange gaze focused on her. “Do you honestly think a human would have lived through what we did last night? I would have ripped your fragile human body apart from the inside out. Yourrehkyt body is designed to not only endure, but enjoy sex with one of us -- sex that would kill a human.”

 “So you altered me, into ... this.”

 “We alter all the humans that come into our hands. They live longer.” His gaze pinned hers. “Isabeau.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “Do you belong to Sobehk?”

 It was done. It was over. There was nothing left to fight for. There was nothing left to fight with. “No,‘Syr .”

 His teeth sank viciously into her shoulder.

 She screamed with the bright hot pain of his bite even as her body flared with an overwhelming wave of clenching carnal heat that threatened to eat her alive. She wrapped her legs around him and clawed his back with her nails in her violent urgency.

 He released her shoulder and thrust, the blood running from his mouth as he slammed her into the wall with his merciless strokes. “Cum, for me. Cum now!”

 Climax rose so fast she was screaming before it hit. Her body exploded from the inside in a release so profound it felt as though her heart burst. Lightning rushed up her spine and exploded at the back of her skull. Her screams stopped and she collapsed in his arms, barely conscious.

 “Mine.” He thrust into her, grunted, thrust again and then held. “You aremine .” He gasped, shuddering, his cocks pulsing in her body. A snarl escaped his bloodstained mouth. “No one else’s!” His eyes closed briefly then he threw back his head and screamed with a voice that was not even remotely human.

  

  

 Chapter Fifteen

  

 Khan trembled as he released Fallon from his arms, his softened cocks sliding from her body.

 Fallon, burned and scoured, heart, soul, and body, slid down the wall. Her shaking legs couldn’t hold her.

 He caught her under the arms. “Turn around and face the wall.”

 She panted softly and fought a losing battle to get her feet under her. “I don’t think I can stand.”

 He grunted as he helped her turn. “You don’t need to stand. Kneeling will do. Just keep your head up. ”

 Fallon dropped to her knees and pressed her head against the reflective wall.

 Khan knotted his fingers in the base of her hair, twisting it around his fist. “Head up and hold still.”

 Fallon winced. “I’m not going anywhere.”

 “No, you’re not.” He groaned. Hot liquid splashed her back, ran down her arms, and spilled over her thighs. He reached down and hauled her up onto her feet, then jerked her around and pressed her back against the wall, trapping her with his big, scarred body. “Who is your master,rehkyt? ”

 She dodged his stare and shivered hard. “You,‘Syr .” The reply fell from her mouth before she knew she was going to utter it.

 He caught her jaw and forced her to meet his hard copper stare. “I claim you by right of conquest as mine; my property, my pet, and my slave. Do you yield to my claim?”

 She gasped in fright even as something else wrapped tight around her heart. The rank and inescapable smell of him burned in her nose.

 His claws dug into her jaw, his gaze utterly pitiless. “Do you yield?”

 She cringed and blinked as her eyes swam. “Yes,‘Syr! ”

 “Good.” He took her mouth in a brutal kiss, his teeth scoring her tongue.

 She whimpered in submission. There wasn’t a drop of fight left in her.

 He released her mouth and held her gaze. “I swear I will do my best to be a good master to you.”

 Her breath stopped in her throat and the tears tumbled free. She hadn’t thought there was anything left in her to cry for. He’d already ripped out her heart, but this felt deeper. Like he was shoving something in the gaping hole he’d carved in her breast. It wasn’t love. It was something older and more primal. And far more permanent.

 He frowned. “Isabeau, breathe.”

 She choked and sucked air. She tried to hold back the sobs that burst free, but she just couldn’t.

 “Easy, pet.” He caught her in his arms and held her against his heart. “It’s done, it’s over. Just let it go.”

 She wrapped her arms around his neck and dropped her head on his shoulder. “Oh, Maker, what have you done to me?”

 “I’ve claimed you.” He sighed. “Your head still isn’t ready to accept what you are, but your body understands just fine.”

 She sniffed. “Understands what?”

 “What you are, and what I am to you.” His palm swept down her soaked back.

 His touch felt good, and right. Too good, too right. “Instincts again?”

 “Very much so.” He dropped a kiss on her brow. “Let’s get cleaned up.” He pulled her under the shower’s still-running water. His hands were gentle but thorough as he bathed her, touching every inch of her.

 She sighed and relaxed, giving in to the comfort his touch offered. A small amount of shame coiled in the basement of her heart. She hadn’t let Sobehk touch her this easily.

 Fallon stepped out of the facility, stopped and shook hard. She swept her hands down her skin, still uncomfortable with the gleaming inhuman color.

 Khan moved to the chair where his abandoned clothes lay. He picked up his black kilt and began to dress.

 Fallon paced uneasily. She didn’t want to think about what had happened in there, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Her mind latched on the one thing she didn’t get. “‘Syr, why in fury did you piss on me?”

 Khan turned to her as he closed his black under robe. “It’s part of the ritual of claiming.” He wound his scarlet sash around his waist.

 Fallon’s mouth opened in shock. “But that’s so ... disgusting!”

 Khan snorted and tucked his daggers into his sash. “No, it’s male. Most males of any species piss to mark their territory and their property.” He picked up his heavy black and scarlet hooded over-robe.

 Fallon’s hands fisted at her sides. “That’s what I am? Property?”

 He paused, staring hard at her. “Are you saying you’renot my property?”

 She turned her gaze away. She couldn’t look him in the eye. “No,‘Syr .”

 “Isabeau, just let it go.” He shrugged into his over-robe. “Trust your instincts. They’ll lead you in the right direction.” He sat in the chair to pull on his boots and a small smile appeared. “And keep you out of trouble.”

 Fallon glared at him. “And if my instincts tell me I should bite someone,‘Syr? ” She flinched. She was using that “master” title a little too easily, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

 Khan’s brows rose, and his smiled broadened. “Then it’s highly probable that that person should be bitten.” He stood and fastened his robe closed. “But be warned, to Skeldhi a bite is a prelude to sex or violence. You bite someone and they’ll expect you to either fuck them or try to kill them.”

 Fallon rubbed her arms. “So far, I haven’t seen much of a difference between sex and violence,‘Syr .”

 Khan grinned. “To Skeldhi, there isn’t much of one. If we can’t fuck it, we want to kill it.” He strode over to his computational and the holographic display on the wall dispersed.

 She rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks for the warning.”

 “You’re welcome.” He closed the small computational case and carried it back toward the chair. He set the case down on the seat then turned to her. He held out his hand. “Come.”

 Fallon moved toward him uneasily. He was fully dressed in his long robes of office, just as when she’d first seen him. Tall, dark, and scary. And an investigations agent. But she couldn’t stop herself from going to him. She stopped a single pace away, unable to look into his face.

 Khan caught her chin and raised her gaze to his. His mouth was tight and his eyes held something she couldn’t begin to define. “There is nothing to fear. Anyone that wants to hurt you has to go through me first.”

 Fallon blinked and felt the most incredible urge. She gave into it just to see what would happen. She tilted her head and rubbed her cheek against his palm. She had no idea why, but it seemed the right thing to do.

 “Yes.” A slight smile lifted his lips. “That’s it. That’s right.” He sighed deeply, as though a weight had been lifted. His other hand came out of his robes. There was a distinct rattle of chain.

 A chill raced across her skin and the hairs on her neck rose.

 Khan released her and held up a chain between his hands. It was pitch black, like the band on his brow, and made of links large enough to put her pinky through. A tag swung from the end. “This is my collar. Your blood carries my ownership in your DNA, but this chain marks you visibly as mine. The tag holds my name and yours.”

 Italready had her name on it? Fallon hissed in shock and sudden anger, smelling a deliberate betrayal. She stepped back. “Youplanned to take me from Sobehk, before you ever met me.” It wasn’t a question.

 Khan’s gaze hardened. “Yes.”

 She dropped her chin and set her jaw, her hands fisting at her sides. “Why?”

 His copper eyes ignited with anger and a warning growl rumbled from his chest. “Are you questioning me?”

 Anger lashed through her in a white-hot bolt. “I don’tknow you! You don’t make any sense to me! How can I ...?” She looked away then looked back. “How can I trust you?”

 Khan took a deep breath, but the anger didn’t fade from his gaze. “Isabeau, I have my reasons for what I’ve done, just as you had your reasons for choosing to live, knowing that you would be mine and not Sobehk’s.”

 Fallon winced in shame. He wasn’t the only one that stank of betrayal.

 “Isabeau, you do know me, better than you think. Trust what you feel, not what you think. Impression doesn’t happen without an instinctive connection.”

 Instincts again!Fallon stomped her heel on the deck in pure reflex, but there was nothing she could say to argue the point. Every time he opened his mouth he hammered home the fact that she was not meant for Sobehk. And it was pissing her off! A growl rumbled in her throat.

 Khan tilted his head and a slight smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Blood or sex?”

 Fallon froze. Every thought in her head ground to an abrupt halt. She looked at him. “What?”

 Khan set his hands on his hips. “Right now, what would make you feel better, blood or sex?”

 Fallon shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand,‘Syr .”

 “Don’t think.Feel . What do you want to do? Bite or fuck?” Khan moved the small computational in the chair behind him to the floor, tugged at his robes, and sat down.

 Fallon considered what she was feeling. She was furious. Wound tight with anger, and that anger definitely wanted something. She rubbed her jaw. It ached from clamping her teeth together.Her teeth ... She looked at him. “Bite,‘Syr .”

 He nodded. “Blood.” He pulled back his right sleeve, baring his forearm. “Come here.” He stretched his arm out to the side, his hand fisted.

 Fallon couldn’t look away from the blue veins in his pale arm. She stepped toward him, drawn. She wanted to bite him with everything in her ... and something else. She wanted something else, too.

 “Down, get down.” His voice was hard, firm, and oddly encouraging.

 She dropped to the cold metal floor and crawled on hands and toes toward his bared arm. A breath away from his arm, she stopped. She could smell the blood pulsing under his skin. Her mouth watered and her jaw ached to sink her teeth into him. She looked at him.

 He nodded. “Just your mouth, not your hands, and pull your teeth out to suck.”

 She licked the soft skin of his arm. The moan erupted from her throat before she could stop it. She pressed her teeth against his skin. His forearm was too broad to get her teeth into. She moved closer to his wrist. Her teeth sank into the thin skin with a slight pop.

 He grunted and his fist tightened.

 She pulled her teeth back out and closed her mouth over the holes. She sucked gently. It was salty, sweet, and right. She swallowed, and liquid copper fire burned down her throat and warmed her belly. Her thoughts drifted apart along the edges under a muzzy wave of warmth.

 She blinked.Am I getting drunk? She swallowed again. The ache in her heart eased, washed away under the warmth spreading from her belly.I amgetting drunk. She thought about stopping. A fist of pain closed around her heart.No, I’m tired of hurting.

 She sucked harder, greedily. This was right; this was good; this was ... comforting.More ... Her thoughts subsided into a warm, comfortable lull that pushed the pain away. She swallowed and swallowed. Something in her calmed, eased, unfolded, and a strange low vibrating sound came from the very base of her throat. It wasn’t a growl, but it was a sound she’d never made before. It felt good to make that sound. She relaxed and let it happen.

 “Ah, there we are.” Khan curled his arm toward his body, slowly, pressing her backwards toward him. “You needed to be fed.”

 She moved with his arm, too hungry to let go or resist, until her back pressed against the edge of the seat, sitting between his robed knees with his arm curved around her. Her stomach filled and her mind drifted toward the edge of what felt like sleep.

 “That’s it.” His free hand swept down her hair. “Drink, pet, feed from me.”

 That sound in her throat became louder and her mind stilled, awash in a warm safe place where nothing hurt. She took one last swallow and licked the wounds she’d made. Her head fell back onto his hard thigh and she looked up at him, her mind silent, her heart utterly at ease, and her body completely comfortable at last.

 Khan smiled. “Better?”

 She felt a smile tug at her mouth. She couldn’t bring herself to even think of a vocal reply. She let her body reply for her. She nodded slowly.

 “Feel good?”

 She nodded again.

 Khan raised his hands with the black chain between them.

 A small shimmer of alarm slipped into her place of comfort. She swallowed and that sound disappeared.

 He lowered it around her throat and gently encouraged her to lean forward.

 She did so and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about this. There was a subtle click. The chill chain draped loose around her neck. She flinched. There was a second click, and a weight tugged on the chain around her neck. She turned.

 Khan held up his hand, showing her another chain with a handle. It was a leash. He’d attached a leash to her collar. He leaned over to collect his computational and then rose to his feet. “Come.”

 Fallon climbed to her feet and stared at the chain between them. The meaning was simple: follow. There was meaning beyond this, but she didn’t want to consider it. Beyond that was pain. Pain she didn’t want to feel.

 He turned toward the door and walked.

 Fallon followed, automatically moving to the left, his offside, one pace behind.

  

  

 Chapter Sixteen

  

 The door opened and voices stopped.

 Khan stepped through the doorway and two men in gleaming, iridescent black armor came to attention on either side of the doorway.

 Fallon jerked in surprise, but she was just too ... comfortable to feel real alarm. Her gaze darted around the dimly lit med lab’s outer office. Tah turned to look at her from behind his smoked-glass desk on her immediate right. A Skeldhi she didn’t recognize in dark gray sleeveless robes, his pale hair pulled back into a long tail, leaned against the examination and surgical couch before them.

 Khan turned to her and smiled. “It is done.” He stepped back, encouraging her to follow him into the room.

 Fallon stepped over the door’s bottom edge, staring at his smile. He was pleased. Something lightened in her heart. She smiled and eased back into that warm place.

 Tah rose slowly from behind his desk. “You succeeded in breaking her impression?” His voice was low, but tension tightened his mouth.

 Fallon heard and saw, but filed it all away for later consideration. At that moment she didn’t want to think. It was more comfortable to just feel.

 Khan’s smile broadened, but his teeth remained hidden. “It appears that she didn’t have one.”

 The other male, the one she didn’t recognize, straightened upright, his eyes wide. “What?”

 Khan nodded toward Tah. “Ordinary affection.”

 “Affection? That was all?” The other Skeldhi looked over at Tah. “Then how did she go intorahyt? ” He shook his head. “Why would she ... do what she did?”

 Fallon frowned. The other Skeldhi’s voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t smell anything beyond Khan’s scent. She couldn’t identify him.

 Khan turned to look at him and frowned. “Calmly, she’s just fed.” Khan turned back to Fallon. He caught her gaze, pulling her attention back to him, and offered his palm.

 She pressed her cheek into his palm and released a small breath. She didn’t feel like making the effort to consider the somewhat recognizable Skeldhi any further. She was too busy being ... comfortable.

 Khan pulled his palm back and his gaze flicked from Tah to the other Skeldhi. “Humans have been known to accomplish some rather amazing things from the strength of their emotions.” He tucked the handle of her lead into his sash and held his hand out to the left.

 The left door guard handed him a length of red silk.

 Tah looked over at the unknown Skeldhi. “Strong emotion has been mistaken for impression before.” He looked over at Fallon. “In fact, emotion is normally the trigger for impression.”

 Khan opened the silk out, revealing a short sleeveless robe. “The telling difference is in the possessive display of the emotional state versus the possession display in impression.” He stepped closer to Fallon and slipped it behind her, holding it up with the obvious intent to dress her.

 Fallon put her arm into one armhole and then the other, focused on his pleased expression. She wanted to please him. She liked pleasing him.

 Tah frowned. “When did you know?”

 “The moment she touched him.” Khan pulled the robe closed, folding one side over the other and knotting the side ties. “She didn’t try to feed, she tried to comfort, and neither displayed the physical traits of impression abstinence.”

 The unknown Skeldhi tilted his head and frowned. “That was comfort?”

 Khan held out his hand and another length of silk was handed to him, black this time. “Protective display. She was angry because he had gotten hurt. It was a purely emotional reaction, and he reacted in the same manner.” He shook the silk open, revealing another robe, this one with long sleeves and embroidered, black on black, with a design similar to the one tattooed on his back.

 Fallon tucked her arms into the sleeves. The hem fell to mid-thigh. She would wear his personal mark. That pleased her.

 Khan folded the robe across her chest. He held out his hand and received a red sash. “My biggest difficulty was in getting through the emotional connection to get her to acknowledge the impression.” He wound the sash around her waist.

 Tah frowned. “The emotional connection was that strong?”

 Khan sighed as he knotted the sash. “Quite. If there had been more physical contact between them, the emotion would most definitely have become impression.”

 Tah looked down at his desk. “Then is it wise to put them on the same ship? If the emotional connection is that strong, will this not cause emotional distress?”

 Khan smiled, but his copper gaze chilled. “Absolutely.” He turned to look at Tah. “May I have the ear clips?”

 Tah frowned. “Yes, of course.” He scooped up something from the top of his desk. He stepped out from behind the desk and approached Khan. “Would you like my assistance?”

 “No, thank you.” Khan held out his hand but did not remove his gaze from Fallon’s face. “I’m going to do this in the traditional manner. I do not wish to disturb her current ... focus.”

 Tah dropped whatever was in his hand into Khan’s palm. “And the traditional manner will not?”

 Khan’s smile drifted away. “She has come to expect ... such, from me.”

 Tah glanced at Khan. “Is this what you wanted?”

 “This is not a matter of want, but of need.” Khan sighed and glanced down at his palm. “My needs are ... complicated.” He raised his palm toward Fallon’s head. “As are hers, apparently.”

 Her gaze flicked to his raised hand. His fingers caressed the lower curve of her ear. She frowned. His touch was a little disturbing, but it seemed to be what he wanted. And she wanted to please him.

 “Our natures are more closely suited than I expected.” Khan smiled briefly then wrapped one arm around her and tightened until she was firmly pressed against him, chest to breast with her arms trapped between them. “Impression happened the moment she came with me in her body.”

 Fallon leaned into his warmth. She couldn’t move her arms, but liked being held by him. She felt safe. He brought his other hand up and encouraged her to turn her head.

 Fallon felt him set something metal around the lower arch of her ear. His breath feathered her ear. She shivered. His lips caught around whatever was in her ear and his hand pressed against her head to hold her to his mouth. His tongue swept wetly across the curve of her ear and the metal piece. His flat front teeth caught hold of it. She heard a distinct crunch.

 Sharp pain stabbed from her ear’s lower arch. She jerked in his hold and cried out.

 His arm tightened around her and his hand pressed her head still as he sucked on her wounded ear. A rumbling purr vibrated in his chest and into her.

 She made small sounds of distress but leaned into him, comforted by the vibrating sound pressing into her. She hurt, but she’d pleased him. She liked pleasing him. She stilled.

 He released her ear.

 Weight dangled uncomfortably on the bottom of her ear. She frowned.

 Khan caught her gaze. “Do not touch.”

 She nodded slowly. The weight shifted along the bottom of her ear and she winced.

 Khan turned to look at Tah and raised his brow. A smile appeared briefly. “Tradition seems to suit her. Wouldn’t you agree?” He turned Fallon’s head the other way.

 Fallon looked at Tah.

 Tah’s expression was perfectly placid, but tension showed in the corners of his mouth. “Her eyes are dilated very wide. I thought she seemed a little ... quiet.”

 She leaned against Khan and sighed.

 “Blood intoxication.” Khan placed another piece of metal in the lower arch of her other ear. “I fed her for a good quarter, right before we stepped out.”

 Tah frowned only slightly. “In the traditional manner?”

 “Yes.” He shook back his sleeve to display the mark of her teeth then cupped the back of her head to encourage her toward his mouth. His lips captured her ear and the metal piece in it.

 Fallon felt his breath in her ear, his sweeping tongue and his teeth clamping on the metal in her ear. She closed her eyes. Pain was coming. A small sound of distress escaped.

 Khan’s chest vibrated against hers with his rumbling purr. He waited.

 She took a small breath and leaned into him, seeking to keep that purr, that sign of his pleasure.

 He bit down.

 Crunch ...fire.

 She cried out but held still as he sucked on her ear. The pain mixed with his comforting purr and wrapped her in warmth. She blinked and felt something slipping away. Her knees buckled.

 “She’s falling.” Tah’s voice came from far away.

 Khan bent to catch her under the knees, then lifted her up against his heart. “She needs rest. This was a rough impression. For both of us.”

 Fallon blinked blearily up at him and curled up against his neck, snuggling into his warm hold and warmer scent.

 Tah’s mouth tightened. “I saw the bites.”

 “I have as many, if not more than she does.” A chuckled vibrated in Khan’s chest. “And she really likes using those claws of hers.”

 Fallon pressed her lips to Khan’s throat in a brief kiss then set her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. That strange sound bubbled up in her chest and lower throat.

 “She’s purring.” Tah sounded surprised.

 Purring?Fallon frowned then sighed.Oh, that’s what that is ... She released the rest of her thoughts. She didn’t want to think right then, she was too busy feeling warm, and comfortable, and sleepy.

 “Some Primes can.” Khan’s voice was soft. “I need to get to my ship. I’ll contact the captain with my new data on the incident as soon as I get this one settled.” He started walking. Footsteps followed.

 Fallon’s eyes opened briefly to see the two guards about three paces behind them. She glanced to the side where Tah paced beside them. Khan’s hand slid down her back.Safe ... She closed her eyes and relaxed.Warm...

 “Was this ... separation between them necessary?” Tah’s voice was very quiet, but his distress was clear.

 Khan sighed. “‘SyrTah, even if they had imprinted, I would have had to separate them.”

 “What?” Tah’s question was barely a breath of sound. “What is so terrible about the two of them paired? Is it because she’s anupuaht -level Primerehkyt? ”

 Khan snorted in crystal-clear derision. “No. It’s because thisupuaht -level Primerehkyt also happens to be the Fallen Star, one of the Moribund Company’s code-crackers. She has a file about as long as this ship.”

 “Mother Night ...”

 “I was already on my way here to take custody when your call came through about the incident.”

 Fallen Star...

 Fallon’s mind struggled up from her warm, comfortable place of nothingness and into the place that pulsed with a hurt that felt like betrayal. She opened her eyes. She was being carried through one of the gray hallways. She swallowed and the purr in her throat disappeared.

 Khan stiffened and turned to look at her.

 She turned to look at Khan with that hurt pulsing around her heart. “You knew, all along?”

 Khan glared briefly at Tah, then looked at her. “Yes.” Tension tightened his mouth. “It changes nothing. You are safe with me.”

 She wanted to believe him. Part of her already did. That part was loud and inviting and promised ease. She wanted that ease. She nodded and set her chin on his shoulder then closed her eyes. But another part of her refused to believe.

 The purr didn’t come back.

 * * * * *

 A door buzzed closed.

 Fallon’s eyes snapped open. She was lying under a thick black comforter in a pile of black and scarlet pillows. She jerked upright to discover that she was in a huge, circular bowl-like bed draped with sheer gold curtains that hung from a ceiling high over her head. She groaned. She was dead tired and desperate for sleep, but there was no way in fury she could sleep in this. It was too exposed, with too much light, and it was way too low.

 She crawled to the edge of the bowl and shoved back the curtains. The damned bed was sunk about knee-deep into the floor! Her lips curled. There was no way she could fall asleep in this. Anything crawling along the floor or spilling across it would end up in the bed with her.

 Beyond the edge of the bed, the room was long and fairly broad with gold carpeting. Though only a few of the sconces at the edges of the high ceiling were lit, there was a disturbing amount of light. Tall, smoked mirrors on the dark red walls made the room look even more cavernous and bright. She would not be able to move an inch across that floor without being seen in those mirrors.

 A massive set of black trunks sat against the left wall, a low but broad round table with four thick sitting pillows occupied the room’s center, and a pair of huge doors were set into the wall on her right. Small tables with art objects were posted along the walls. She had no clue where the exit was.

 There was barely cover at all.

 However, the good news was that the room was so exposed she could tell in a glance that no one else was in it.

 The bed she occupied appeared to be set in a small alcove and was the darkest part of the room, but it was far too open and exposed for comfort. Worse still, the whole setup led in a clear straight path to the bed. Anyone entering the room would come straight there.

 If she was going to get some decent sleep, she needed to find someplace a lot more secure, higher up, and dark. Her gaze drifted to the doors in the wall.

 She moved cautiously from the bed, watching for any sign of movement. Her gaze darted to her own reflection moving in all the mirrors. It was unnerving as fury to be so visible.

 She tugged open the tall door on the right. It was a wardrobe stuffed full with hanging robes, mostly black and red, and assorted trunks. She looked up. Above the hanging clothes, a broad shelf occupied the top quarter with the far ends concealed by the fact that the doors did not open the entire width of the wardrobe. There was a meter of shelf space concealed at either end even with the doors wide open. Boxes filled the center of the shelf, but the concealed ends appeared to be empty.Perfect .

 She went back to the bed and collected two black pillows. Holding the pillows with her teeth, she grabbed onto the wardrobe’s inner edge and climbed up. Hanging onto the top edge of the wardrobe with one hand -- thank the Maker for augmentations that allowed her to lift twice her own body-weight -- she pushed all the boxes out of the right corner then pulled herself up and shoved her feet into the empty space. Folding her legs tightly, she wriggled her butt onto the shelf. She turned over onto her knees and leaned out from the shelf to grab the top edge of the open door. She pulled it closed.

 Darkness enveloped her. She wriggled back into the corner, tugging one of the boxes along the shelf with her. She set the box at her head to block her from view should someone open the door. Curled tight in the small space with her head nestled on one pillow and the other jammed against her back for comfort and warmth, Fallon sighed in complete ease. The shelf space was actually roomier than her bed at home. She snuggled into the pillows and promptly went to sleep.

  

  

 Chapter Seventeen

  

 TheMoon Blade --Skeldhi Mehdjay Battle-Cruiser

 Outer Rim of Imperial Space

 Local Space

 Somebody chuckled.

 Somebody else cursed. It sounded like Khan. “I know she’s in here ... somewhere.” Itwas Khan, and he was seriously annoyed.

 Fallon curled tighter into her dark corner, clutching the pillow under her head. If he was pissed, she was better off where she was.

 “I’m sure she is, but I told you she wouldn’t stay in the bed.” Sobehk’s voice was calm and very smug.

 Fallon dug her fingers into the pillow.Sobehk ... She didnot want to face him. She was not ready to say good-bye.

 “Why in Chaos not? She was dead asleep when I set her in it.”

 “Because she’s feral.” Sobehk sighed heavily. “Khan, she’s been living in the bowels of a vermin-infested station run by cutthroats. She would sleep more comfortably in a blast hole high up in a wall before she would fall asleep in that bed. In fact, I found her more than once sleeping quite comfortably curled up in a disused drainpipe.”

 “I find it hard to believe that a talent like the Fallen Star would sleep in a drainpipe! She had to be earning her weight in Imperial credits.”

 “She probably did, and I’m pretty damned sure it’s allin her body. Did you get a look at the report on her augmentations? It’s all state-of-the-art, elenium and titanium alloy. Her internal comp is worth a small craft all by itself, but it’s obvious from her behavior that she didn’t live in the station’s top-side. She probably had a snug hole somewhere in the deeps that she had to climb to reach.”

 Fallon frowned. That was a pretty damned close description of her cubby.

 Sobehk chuckled. “My guess is that she’s tucked into the smallest, darkest, highest place in here.”

 “Such as?”

 “Try there.”

 The wardrobe’s doors were pulled open.

 Fallon froze.

 The clothes below her were shifted about. “She’s not in here.” Khan’s voice showed clear annoyance.

 “Try looking up, not down.” Sobehk sounded like he was barely holding back outright laughter.

 “She couldn’t possibly fit!”

 “Oh, yes, she could. I watched her slide into a sewer pipe a child would have difficulty getting into.”

 The boxes shifted at the back of her head.

 Fallon curled tighter into the corner, but she was already wedged in as tight as she could go.

 “What in bleeding Chaos ...?”

 The pillow was snatched from behind her, and someone grabbed the collar of her robes.Oh, shit! Fallon scrabbled for handholds as she was hauled headfirst from the shelf and into the light. The pillows spilled to the floor as she fell into Khan’s arms.

 Khan set her on her feet, one hand knotted in the back of her robes, and glared down at her. “What in the name of Chaos were you doing in there?”

 Fallon rubbed at her eyes. “Iwas sleeping.” She folded her arms and looked away from his angry copper gaze. “‘Syr.”

 He slammed the wardrobe door closed with his free hand. “I have a perfectly good bed.”

 Fallon rolled her eyes. “It’s in the floor, and perfectly visible! Anybody walking in here will go straight to it!”

 Sobehk snorted then sighed. “Khan, I doubt she’s ever slept in a real bed.”

 Fallon closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see him. And no, she hadn’t slept in an actualbed before. Too many things could find you there.

 “Well, she’s going to sleep in one now.” Khan shook her by the collar of the robe. “No more sleeping in the closet!”

 Fallon gritted her teeth.Fat chance.

 “You’re going to have to tie her in the bed if you expect her to stay there.” Sobehk definitely sounded amused.

 Fallon opened her eyes and peeked at the mirrors. Sobehk was a tall, broad, pale shimmer in the smoky glass. Long cream and gold robes draped him to the floor, and he appeared to be leaning on the curved handle of some sort of pale staff. His hair fell down his back in a loose fall of frost white. Her heart lurched.

 Khan swiped a hand across his jaw. “Mother Night, I cannot believe that one of the brightest minds in civilized space prefers the upper shelf of the closet to a bed!”

 Fallon’s brows rose. “You’re supposed to becivilized? ”

 Both men stiffened.

 Fallon clapped both hands over her mouth. Great Maker, where was her sense?

 “Compared to you?” Khan’s eyes narrowed, his lip curled. “Idon’t sleep in thecloset! ” A growl rumbled.

 Sobehk smiled. “You’re growling.”

 Khan snarled at Sobehk. “Iknow I’m growling!”

 Sobehk shook his head and chuckled. “Khan, she’s feral. I doubt she even knows how to eat at a table.” He looked over at Fallon. “Do you?”

 Fallon’s mouth fell open. “I’ve eaten at a table before.” Well, at the counter of the diner, occasionally, when she wasn’t in hiding during assignments.

 Khan released a long breath. “How am I supposed to take her before theMehdjay council if she doesn’t know even the basics of polite behavior?”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes. “I believe I already mentioned that she needed a lot of training?” He folded his arms and smiled. “I wasn’t talking aboutupuaht skills. She knows how to fight. It’s everything else that needs work.”

 “I don’t have time for this!” Khan bared his long teeth. “I have duties!”

 “I guess you should have thought of that before you took custody of a feralrehkyt .” Sobehk grinned maliciously. “I feel so bad for you.”

 “Do you?” Khan turned to Sobehk. “Then you can help. I’ll have the staff move you in with me.”

 Sobehk stilled. “What?”

 “I can’t have her disappearing into drain holes or conduits when my back is turned. You’re merely a passenger, so you can help civilize her while I’m on duty.”

 Fallon jerked. Khan was havingSobehk watch her?

 Sobehk moved closer. “Khan, are you out of your mind?” He stood a full head taller than the lord-officer and was nearly twice as broad, but he moved stiffly, supported by the thick staff clutched in his hand. He looked better, but he was obviously not well. “You can’t expect me to stay here and not want to ...” He bared his teeth. “That’s cruel, even for you!”

 Khan smiled and set one hand on his hip. “I didn’t say you couldn’t have her.”

 Sobehk’s eyes opened wide and he looked at Fallon. “Are you serious?”

 Fallon stared at him, fully aware that her heart was beating in her mouth, afraid to think, and even more afraid to feel.

 Khan turned to smile at Fallon. “Isabeau knows who she belongs to.”

 Fallon cringed and stared at the floor. And she thought Sobehk was a sadistic bastard?

 Khan lifted his chin. “Since you’ll be sleeping in my bed, you can help keep her ‘tied’ in it.” He raised an insinuating brow. “Among other activities.”

 Sobehk folded his arms and smiled. “Missed me?”

 Khan pursed his lips. “Perhaps a little.”

 “I see.” Sobehk grinned and shook his head. His mouth tightened. “I’ll need a leash and a training whip.”

 Fallon turned to gape at Sobehk.A leash and a whip?

 “You can use mine.” Khan grinned and reached into his robes and pulled out a length of black chain with a leather loop at one end. “Start with voice training.”

 Fallon blinked. “What’s wrong with my voice?”

 Sobehk snorted as he took the leash from Khan. “The fact that you are using it for something other than answering direct questions.” He took a step closer and set his hand on Fallon’s shoulder. “I’ll see she gets the basics.”

 Fallon couldn’t help the warmth that coiled around her heart with his touch.

 Sobehk snapped the leash onto the chain around Fallon’s neck.

 Fallon flinched, her gaze drawn to the black chain from her throat to Sobehk’s hand. On second thought, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Khan might know what was in her head and what she was capable of doing, but Sobehk understood her habits. Regardless of the fact that he had taken three days to catch her, he had somehow managed to stay on her ass all three days.

 Khan shoved back his robe sleeve and raised his brow at Sobehk. “Think she’ll be ready to eat at the table by dinner?” Coiled around his wrist was a length of braided leather that ended in a supple handle. He loosened the leather from his wrist, revealing a slender whip about a meter long.

 “This stray?” Sobehk rolled his eyes. “She’ll probably be more comfortable with a bowl on the floor.”

 “What?” Fallon set her jaw and glared at one then the other. They wereboth sadistic bastards.

 Khan coiled the meter or so of leather, smiling tiredly. “It will be enjoyable having your company again.” He handed the whip to Sobehk.

 Sobehk took the whip and smiled as well. “If we can keep from tearing out each other’s throats this time.”

 Khan turned away. “A great deal of time has passed since the academy. There is only one constant in life, and that is change.” He looked down then took a step away. “I’ll assign crew to move your belongings.” He strode for the far end of the room.

 * * * * *

 Four Skeldhi men in plain black skin-suits trooped through the oval door of Khan’s room towing large red cases and matching smaller trunks. They set them in a neat arrangement beside Khan’s black cases. One of the men went to the wall just past the double doors to Khan’s wardrobe. He pressed his palm against it. The wall shifted as the mimetic material of the wall reshaped itself. Two more doors appeared, indicating a second wardrobe.

 Sobehk orchestrated the arrangement of his belongings while kneeling comfortably on one of the large pillows by the low table in the room’s center.

 Her leash tucked into Sobehk’s sash, Fallon knelt at his side on the bare carpet as ordered, her knees tight together, the tops of her feet flat on the carpeting, heels slightly out, and her palms flat on her thighs. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable position to sit in, but she’d been in far worse positions for far longer periods of time.

 Under Sobehk’s direction, the crew encouraged ledges to form from the mimetic walls and art objects were set on them. A few colorful hangings were posted on the walls between the tall mirrors. Clothing was unpacked and set in the new wardrobe. The four crewmen glanced at Fallon on occasion, but not one of them openly stared.

 Fallon found the whole display fascinating.

 “Isabeau, don’t stare; it’s rude.” Sobehk’s voice was soft but firm.

 Fallon dropped her gaze to the carpet. “What? Am I supposed to pretend they’re not there?”

 Sobehk snorted in clear amusement. “Yes, as a matter of fact, you are, and you will address me as‘Syr .”

 “Not you, too?” Fallon looked up at him and hunched her shoulders. “‘Syr.”

 Sobehk grinned. “Yes, me, too. In fact, you are to address anyone in possession of your leash as‘Syr .”

 Fallon turned away.Leashes, collars, ‘Syr ... Gross! She suddenly had the most incredible urge to writhe on the floor in complete disgust.

 Sobehk had the nerve to chuckle. “You’ll get used to it.”

 Fallon cringed. “Do I have to?” She curled her lip. “‘Syr.”

 Sobehk raised his brow and gave her a broad smile. “You’ll get beaten a lot less.”

 Fallon opened her mouth to reply.I haven’t gotten beaten yet. And closed her mouth just in time. There was a whip sitting on his knee. Tempting Fate when it was sitting right next to her was probably not a good idea.

 The crew trooped out and made the door disappear behind them.

 Fallon looked over at Sobehk. “Now what?”

 He raised an expectant brow.

 Fallon hunched. “‘Syr.”

 Sobehk nodded. “Now, I teach you some manners.”

 Everything went downhill from there.

 * * * * *

 “Sit.”

 Fallon fumed as she sank down toward the carpet for what had to be the hundredth time.

 “Roll on the balls of your feet. Keep your knees together, your shoulders back, and your back straight.” Sobehk gestured with the uncoiled whip as he spoke. “Don’t rush! Calmly.”

 Fallon eased onto her knees and was never so grateful for her internal augmentations. Without them, she would have fallen on her face more than once.

 “Sitdown on your heels. Set your hands on your thighs gracefully, chin up, and with poise.” Sobehk nodded. “Better, much better.”

 Fallon let out a soft breath.

 “Stand.”

 She stood.

 “That’s it. Roll back onto to your heels.” The whip flicked out, tapping her thigh with a sting that was as fast and fleeting as it was accurate. “Thighs apart!

 Fallon ground her teeth and parted her feet exactly shoulder-width apart. Sobehk was disgustingly free and painfully accurate with that whip.

 “Chin up. Show some pride.” Sobehk’s eyes narrowed. “You are anupuaht rehkyt , a fighter, arehkyt who defends her master, a pet with purpose, not asaysehn rehkyt , a flower, a pet that sits on her master’s lap looking decorative!”

 Fallon took a deep breath and lifted her chin.

 “And get that look off your face!”

 Fallon worked to school the annoyance from her expression. It wasn’t easy.

 “Sit.”

 And so on.

 “Bow.”

 While kneeling, Fallon made a triangle with her thumbs and index fingers on the carpet and lowered her head. Her overlong hair fell in a straight black curtain around her face as her head lowered to only a few centimeters from the floor, her gaze concealed yet never leaving Sobehk’s form.

 “That was graceful, finally.” Sobehk smiled tightly and raised his hand above his head. “What do I have in my hand?”

 She flicked her gaze up without moving her head in any way. The mirror behind him showed her that he held one of Khan’s back-curved daggers. “A knife.”

 “Describe it.”

 “Black handled, eight centimeter live-steel blade, back-curved. One of‘Syr Khan’s.”

 “Good.” He released a deep breath and lowered his arm, setting the dagger on the table behind him. “At ease.”

 Fallon sat back on her heels as smoothly as she was able, her hands placed where they were supposed to be, open-palmed on her thighs, elbows slightly out.

 Sobehk nodded. “Very nice.”

 Fallon released her breath and relaxed, a little. All this poise was a freaking pain in the ass.

 “Stand.”

  

  

 Chapter Eighteen

  

 Sobehk leaned back on the thick sitting pillow, setting one elbow on the low table behind him. “Do you sing?” He unfolded his knees and extended his legs, crossing his slippered feet at the ankles. His movements were a little stiff, and his mouth tightened. It was obvious that he was tiring.

 Sing?Fallon’s brows shot up as she knelt before him in the proscribed manner. Her gaze slid from his. She wasn’t supposed to look him in the eye anyway. “No,‘Syr .”

 “Play a musical instrument?”

 She found herself frowning and worked to get it off her face. “No,‘Syr .”

 “Know any poetry?”

 Poetry?Fallon’s fingertips bit into her thighs. Whatwas this? “No,‘Syr .”

 “Dance?”

 Fallon lifted her shoulder the tiniest bit. “Some,‘Syr .”

 Sobehk snorted. “It’s a good thing you’re classified asupuaht . You’d need intensive training to be a successfulsaysehn rehkyt .”

 Intensive training?To be adecoration? Fallon felt the hair rise on her neck and had to fight the urge not to hunch down. He made it sound as though she wasn’t good for anything.

 “I know you know knives ...” He rolled his eyes.

 Knives? Fallon straightened immediately.Oh, bloody Fate, yeah! She bit back her comment. He hadn’t asked a direct question.

 Sobehk tilted his head to the side and a smile kicked up the side of his mouth. “Do you know anything about swords?”

 Fallon flinched before she could stop herself. “No,‘Syr .”

 “Would you like to?”

 Fallon’s heart stopped, just for a second. She would kill to know how to use a proper blade like a real duelist. She looked directly at Sobehk. Screw manners. “I would love to learn the sword,‘Syr .”

 Sobehk nodded and his smile widened. “As long as you continue to do well in your other lessons, I’ll see to your sword training as well.”

 Fallon blinked. “You know the sword?” She flinched. He hadn’t asked a question. Too late now. “‘Syr.”

 “Yes, he does indeed.” The doorway disappeared behind Khan. He moved toward them in a whisper of heavy robes. A small smile curved his lips.

 Fallon jumped in surprise. She hadn’t heard the door open.

 Khan nodded toward Sobehk. “A’syrSobehk was a very fine sword master before he ever becamemahf’dhyt , an enforcer.” He smiled at Sobehk then raised his brow at Fallon. “He was my sword master at the academy.”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes. “And a more stubborn student I never had in my life!”

 Fallon tilted her head. Sobehk taughtKhan?

 Sobehk smiled. “At the time, my father was the headmaster at the school, and he thought the young lord ...” His gaze drifted toward Khan. “... would have an easier time dealing with someone closer to his age.”

 “More like he thought a little humility would do me some good.” Khan curled his lip as he tugged at his over-robe. “Sobehk was already a master-level swordsman at a good three years younger than I.”

 “You were master-level at other things.” Sobehk nodded at Fallon and tilted his head toward Khan.

 Fallon nodded slightly. One of the things Sobehk had spent far too much time on was the intricacies of Skeldhi dress. She rolled to her feet and approached Khan.

 Khan’s brows shot up. He glanced at Sobehk.

 Sobehk smiled. “I thought I’d teach her something useful.”

 Useful, my ass ...Fallon barely stopped herself from growling.

 Khan dropped his hands and raised his chin. “Indeed?”

 Fallon tugged at the twist-fastenings of his robes. She slipped behind him to draw the robe from his shoulders and folded the heavy fabric over her arm.

 Khan stepped away. “How has her civilizing progressed?” He tugged at his robes and rolled down onto his knees, dropping onto a sitting pillow at the low table with an unconsciously graceful ease that made Fallon instantly envious.

 Sobehk sighed. “We have the very basics, but I haven’t approached table manners yet.” He caught Fallon’s eye and nodded toward the wardrobe.

 Fallon walked over to Khan’s wardrobe to hang the robe.

 “She has absolutely no cultural skills whatsoever.”

 She caught the shake of Sobehk’s head in the mirror just before she opened the wardrobe door. Fate and damnation, he made her sound like a total barbarian. She struggled briefly with the heavy robe and the hanger, making damned sure to hang it with all the other robes like it. Order, precision, and grace.Bleck . She closed the door.

 Khan chuckled. “Good thing she’supuaht .”

 “That’s my opinion.”

 Fallon turned in time to catch Sobehk’s smile.

 Khan nodded. “The midday supper should be arriving shortly.” He turned to face Fallon. “I guess we’ll see if she can manage a table or will have to eat from a bowl on the floor.”

 Sobehk snorted. “Well, she knows how to sit and stand properly. I don’t hold high hopes for anything else.”

 Fallon decided right then and there that she really, really wanted to bite Sobehk, and not in a good way.

 * * * * *

 The midday supper arrived on an anti-grav levitating tray escorted by two youthful, slender Skeldhi. They wore knee-length gray robes with white smocks cross-tied over them. The smell of something juicy, meaty, and delicious wafted from the tray.

 Fallon knelt on the carpet by the edge of the table, while Sobehk on her left and Khan on her right got to sit on nice cushy pillows.

 The attending Skeldhi set a large smoked-glass bowl holding a good-sized chunk of meat in a golden broth in the center of the table, followed by two smaller bowls with other meats in broth. Square plates of exceedingly expensive black Shido porcelain edged in gold were set before Khan and Sobehk. Matching cup-sized bowls were set on the plates, with snowy-white rolled cloth napkins bound in gold paper twists above them, and utensils above that.Crystal goblets and matching tumblers were set beside the plates, and a carved crystal decanter filled with a deep-gold liquid was set between Sobehk and Khan.

 The arrangement was done in complete silence with swift efficiency and a formal elegance that Fallon found surprising. Watching their reflections in the mirrors rather than staring openly, Fallon found the whole thing fascinating.

 One of the attendants bowed to Sobehk and presented him with a rolled mat, a shallow bowl of red glass with some kind of lettering around the bowl’s rim, and a broad spoon.

 Sobehk nodded in thanks and then raised a brow at Fallon as he set them on the far left. “In case eating at the table proves too difficult for you.”

 Fallon’s cheeks flushed with heat, but she didn’t growl. She dropped her gaze to the bare table before her.

 At the last second, a square plate of plain clear glass was set before Fallon with a matching clear bowl. A napkin and utensils were added and a simple plain glass tumbler was set beside her plate. A clear pitcher filled with what looked like water was set by the crystal decanter.

 Fallon took a deep breath. Obviously she did not rate the good porcelain, but it wasn’t a bowl on the floor, though that was still a distinct possibility. She eyed the rolled mat and the red bowl by Sobehk’s elbow.

 The attendants bowed and left, directing their floating tray between them.

 Khan leaned forward and gestured for Sobehk’s cup and plate. He scooped meat from all three bowls onto the plate and broth from the largest bowl into the cup, then served himself.

 Sobehk reached for the crystal decanter and filled both Khan’s goblet and his, then filled his tumbler from the clear glass pitcher. He turned and filled her tumbler from the pitcher, as well.

 Fallon sniffed as discreetly as she could as he poured. It smelled like water.

 Khan finally collected her plate and bowl and put food in them, then set them before her. It smelled incredible. Her mouth watered, and her stomach decided to protest its emptiness with a hard kick. She winced. She was hungrier than she thought, but she wasn’t about to touch a damned thing until she saw how Khan and Sobehk did it first. She was not going to eat off the floor if she could help it.

 Fallon watched as Sobehk reached for his napkin first, noting the way he placed it in his lap, then how Khan held the utensils. On instinct alone, she waited.

 They began to eat.

 Still, she waited. Something told her it was the right thing to do.

 Khan smiled at Sobehk before nodding at Fallon. “You may begin.”

 She blinked in surprise but reached for her napkin. She stopped before she touched it. Something was not right. What had she forgotten? She glanced at Khan. “Thank you,‘Syr .”

 Khan grinned. “Very well done!” He nodded at Sobehk. “Definitely an improvement.”

 Sobehk grinned openly. “She figured that one out all by herself. We’ll have her civilized yet.”

 Fallon flushed and collected her napkin. She’d pleased them both. Warmth wrapped around her heart.

 It was the most nerve-wracking meal she’d ever attended in her life. Handling the utensils alone was an exercise in patience, but she did it. She speared a sliver of meat and sucked it into her mouth. It took two tries before she remembered that chewing was not an option. She finally noticed what was missing. There wasn’t a single vegetable, just meat and broth.

 Khan sipped at his goblet. “Something wrong, Isabeau?” Humor curved his lush mouth.

 Fallon looked over at him. “No vegetables?”

 Khan’s lip curled. “Only food eats plant life.”

 Fallon froze. Humans ate plants. She stared at the unidentified meat on her plate. Great Maker, what was she eating?

 Khan’s brow rose, and he snorted. “Before you go into a panic, no, we don’t eat humans.”

 Sobehk sipped water from his tumbler. “We don’t eat plants because they are poisonous.”

 Fallon frowned at Sobehk. “For me, too?”

 Sobehk raised his brow at her.

 Fallon flinched. “Sorry,‘Syr .”

 Khan chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, for you, too. If it grew in the ground, you don’t put it in your mouth.”

 Fallon stared at her reflection in the mirror across the table. No deep-fried potatoes? No bread, or noodles, which were made from wheat? Blood and Fate, there went every last one of her favorite foods. Great Maker, kaffa was brewed from a bean. She curled her hands in her lap. Chocolate came from a bean, too. She groaned. Nochocolate?

 Khan glanced at Sobehk and set his elbow on the table. “Something you’re going to miss?” He smiled.

 Fallon looked up at him in total misery. “No more kaffa orchocolate? ” She sniffed. “‘Syr”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes.

 Khan laughed out loud. “You can still have both.”

 “I can?” Fallon sat up straight. “‘Syr?”

 Khan nodded, grinning, and held up a finger. “But only in small amounts; they are still fairly toxic. Too much will make you very ill.”

 Fallon sighed in complete relief. “For a moment I thought my life was over.” She clapped her hands over her mouth. “‘Syr.” Her voice was muffled behind her hands.

 Sobehk groaned. “We genetically alter her, and she does just fine. We threaten her with the loss of chocolate, and now it’s the end of the world?” He looked away, pressing his hand against his brow while closing his eyes.

 Khan shook his head. “Do not underestimate the importance of chocolate to a female.” He nodded at Fallon “Sobehk had brothers; I had sisters. I discovered quite early that chocolate makes an excellent bribe.”

 Fallon frowned at one then the other. She couldn’t imagine either one being part of a ... family.

 Khan tilted his head. “Didn’t you have a family?”

 Fallon looked at her half-eaten dinner. “No,‘Syr .” She had Peter and the lostlings, but that wasn’t the same as having people that you actually belonged with.

 Sobehk turned to face her. “Then who raised you?”

 Fallon lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “There was the institution ...”

 Khan tugged his napkin from his lap and tossed it over his plate. “You did not learn to write code in an Imperial institution.”

 Fallon shook her head. No, she hadn’t. Well, she wasn’t on the station anymore, and it didn’t look like she was going back. She glanced at Khan. Ever going back. Peter’s secret would still be safe. She hunched, just a little. “Peter taught me to write code.”

 Both Sobehk and Khan sat up. They traded glances.

 Khan leaned on his elbow, cupping his chin in his palm. “Peter?”

 Fallon nodded. “He’s the station master.”

 Sobehk tossed his napkin on his plate. “You were raised by the station master? The Dyson’s Ring station’s artificial intelligence?”

 “Peter isn’t artificial.” Fallon shot him a quick glare, then looked back at her plate. “‘Syr. He’s a normal ... well, mostly normal, person. He has a body. It’s hardwired into the station, but he has one.”

 Khan pursed his lips and glanced at Sobehk. “It was a very old practice that the humans used in their early days of jump-space travel. They originally hardwired a living body into the ship’s computational to achieve quantum consciousness.” He shook his head. “Your Peter must be quite old.”

 Fallon nodded. “He is,‘Syr .” Ages and ages old.

 Khan’s brows rose. “How did you meet him?”

 Fallon sat up. She’d never toldher story before. She’d prepared one, but she’d never actually said it out loud before. She looked over at Khan. “Can I tell it in story form,‘Syr? ”

 “Story form?” Khan blinked, glanced at Sobehk then nodded. “Certainly.”

 Fallon tilted her head and nibbled carefully on her bottom lip. “I have to change the way I sit.”

 Khan sat back and waved his hand. “By all means.”

 Fallon rose to her feet, remembering at the last second how she was supposed to stand. She bowed to both Sobehk and Khan, stalked two paces away, grinned, then twirled and dropped into the traditional folded seat of the storyteller. She loved storytelling.

 She raised her hands in a sweeping gesture. “Once upon a time, in the heart of Dyson’s Ring, there lived a boy who would never grow old, and his name was Peter.”

 Fallon recited the story she had rehearsed in her head but had never said out loud. It began with being strapped in an institution couch, looking for anything but what they wanted to shove into her brain.

 Peter had come as a welcome voice in the deep darkness. He told fascinating stories about far-away worlds and showed her wonderful images from all over the universe. One day, he asked if she wanted to join him in Neverland and become a lostling.

 Thrilled to find a way to escape her drab world of shouting voices, she had eagerly accepted. A map was dropped into her mind with fantastical instructions that marked an adventurous journey into the station’s deeps. Her travels culminated in an open elevator shaft marked with a star.

 Fallon pointed at the distant wall, caught up in her story. “First star on the left and straight on ’til morning!”

 A leap into the darkness and she flew, buoyant on a cushion of wind, to Neverland.

 Neverland consisted of a tiny maze of rooms crammed wall to wall with servers and couches where kids of all ages were wired in to play in the most incredible virtual reality fantasyland she had ever seen. It was there that she learned to build her personal fantasies with code and talent.

 Eventually she joined the hunting parties of older kids that made forays above ground to collect food. Armed with door codes, internal maps, and Peter within easy reach through any communications line, they slipped unseen through the station’s maze of disused tunnels. Snatching and grabbing, the hunting parties provided the basic necessities for the rather motley group that lived deep in the station’s heart.

 Then kids started disappearing all over the station. Eventually, some of the lostlings started to go missing, too.

 Fallon, with her talent for code splitting, and a small collection of the savvier older kids went above to discover what happened to them. Armed with breaker codes for entry into doors and moving through hidden passages known only to the station master, they hunted through the station’s bowels. Eventually, they found a small group of kids with a few of their missing companions locked in a warehouse. They had been collected to be farmed.

 Sobehk shook his head. “Farmed?”

 Fallon nodded. “Station kids are considered a crop of unskilled labor. This particular outfit collects them -- ‘harvesting,’ they call it -- then ships them off-world to sell.”

 Sobehk winced. “Oh ... farmed.”

 Khan tilted his head. “Any idea who runs that operation?”

 Fallon bared her teeth. “The Moribund Company. The nastiest bunch of filthy pirates in the known universe.”

 Khan sat back. “You don’t like the Moribund Company?”

 Fallon let loose a string of foul curses that should have peeled the paint. She took a breath and smiled. “No,‘Syr .”

 Khan’s brows rose. “But you code-cracked for them, yes?”

 “No, I didnot! ” Fallon barely held back her snarl. She had to look away to get her temper back under control. “‘Syr. The boss sold some of my stuff to them, I’m sure, but I didn’t work for them. I broke into every ship of theirs I could find.”

 Khan smiled. “How very interesting. Please, continue with your story.”

 Fallon took a deep breath, closed her eyes briefly to get back into place and continued.

 It became a regular mission to go out and find kids. It took time before she was able to get into ship holds as well as warehouses. Then one day, she ran into a trap code that knocked her out cold. She woke up lashed to a chair, facing the boss for the first time.

 The boss was very curious as to how she had gotten into ships. He was not interested in the released kids, he assured her, but there were things he was definitely interested in getting out of the occasional ship. He’d be willing to ignore her forays to rescue the kids if she wouldn’t mind picking up a few things for him along the way.

 And so began her extremely lucrative job of breaking into ships for secrets. Every credit she earned went into her physical and mental augmentations to make it faster to get into ships and easier to avoid capture. With every upgrade, Peter taught her as much as her brain could hold. Peter wasn’t exactly state-of-the-art, but he had access to every drop of information that went through the station’s inter-star communications.

 Rather than continue with how she had been caught by Sobehk, Fallon twirled up onto her feet and delivered a sweeping bow. “And so ends my adventures, gentlemen, of Peter, Neverland, and the Pirates.”

 Khan looked over at Sobehk. “A most remarkable story.”

 Sobehk smiled. “I was impressed.”

 Fallon grinned. She’d pleased them. A small touch of sadness brushed her heart and tightened her smile. She hadn’t been the only one that had gone on hunting forays for Peter, merely the most successful. With luck, another lostling would take her place and continue her mission, because ... she wasn’t going back.

 Khan poured some of the golden liquid from the cut crystal carafe into his goblet. “What pleases me the most is your profound dislike of the Moribund Company.” He set the carafe down. “Because after a long and detailed look at your internal programs, it seems that the trapdoor program in your head is theirs.”

 Fallon gasped. “What?”

  

  

 Chapter Nineteen

  

 The Moribund Company had planted something in her head.

 The rage closed around Fallon’s heart into a fist of hate so tight she had to gasp for breath.How dare they? She folded onto her knees and dug her nails into the carpet, shaking with violent rage. Howdare they presume to put their filthy programs inher?

 “Isabeau?”

 Fallon looked up, not caring if Sobehk saw her rage.

 Sobehk tilted his head. “Would you like some water?” He patted the floor beside him. “Come.”

 Fallon took a deep breath and eased back onto her heels with exquisite slowness. She rose and stalked toward the table. She folded her knees and dropped beside the table in proper form. The amount of control it took to sit properly actually helped to disperse the shaking rage trembling in her limbs.

 Only then did she notice Khan’s perfect and dangerous stillness. His copper gaze was ice cold, but a smile curved his lips. “Isabeau, what do you want right now?”

 Fallon could barely think past the hate boiling in her. It took her two tries before she could get her desire into words. She looked straight into Khan’s eyes. How she kept back the scream, she didn’t know, but her words came out even and fairly quiet. “I want to make them bleed.”

 “Good.” Khan nodded. “So do I.”

 Sobehk pressed her water glass into her hand. “Don’t squeeze; you’ll shatter it.” He pushed the glass toward her lips. “Drink.”

 Fallon took a swallow, pretty sure she wouldn’t need more than that, but drained the glass. She looked at the empty glass in surprise.

 Sobehk smiled. “Better?”

 Fallon nodded. The rage was still there, but it was far deeper. It took two tries before she could speak. “Thank you,‘Syr .”

 Sobehk looked over at Khan. “Can the program be removed?”

 “It can, though not easily.” Khan tapped the rim of his goblet with a finger. “Interestingly enough, I don’t believe that whoever decided to put that program in Isabeau understood our Isabeau’s actual capabilities, as it does not take advantage of them.”

 Fallon turned to look over at Khan. Her teeth clenched so hard her jaw began to ache. “What did they put in my head?” Screw manners.

 Khan lifted his goblet. “It seems that whoever broke into your head made the same assumptions that Sobehk did.” He sipped at the golden liquid.

 Sobehk frowned. “What assumptions?”

 Khan set the goblet down and focused on Fallon. “They assumed that you were a clever acrobatic thief, because that is all the program accesses, your physical abilities.”

 Accessed herphysical abilities? Fallon frowned. “For what? Am I supposed to do something,‘Syr? ”

 Khan pursed his lips. “When the code goes active, it turns you into a mindless killing machine.” His copper gaze hardened. “And then it kills you.”

 A killing machine?Fallon’s mind came to a complete screeching halt.

 Khan leaned forward and tapped a clawed finger on the tabletop. “They have programmed you to be a sleeper assassin.”

 Anassassin? Fallon shook her head. “But that’sstupid, ‘Syr. ”

 Khan’s lip curled. “As I said, I don’t think they had any idea what your real abilities were.”

 “If she’s supposed to kill someone ...” Sobehk leaned both elbows on the table. “Then who is she supposed to kill?”

 Khan raised a brow. “That is an excellent question. You see, she only has half the code in her head. The person with the other half of the code is the only one who knows.”

 Sobehk scowled. “How in bleeding Chaos do we find them?”

 Khan tapped the tabletop with his finger. “It’s simple, really. According to what you and Isabeau have told me, she was set up specifically for capture. The rest leads me to believe that the assassin was deliberately sent to push her into displaying her fighting skills.”

 The hair on Fallon’s neck rose. Tuskhad been sent to her, she knew ... he had told her. But he had been sent todie?

 “I don’t believe they intended their assassin to be captured, but they obviously knew that Isabeau would be able to kill him.” Khan tilted his head at Fallon.

 Fallon shook her head. “I don’t see how that’s possible. I never told anyone I knew how to take Tusk down.” She winced. “‘Syr.” She was speaking out of turn.

 Khan patted her wrist. “Whoever did your physical upgrades would know exactly what you were capable of. And also, theywere in your head. They could have deduced it.” He rolled his eyes. “Though I seriously doubt they were quite that bright, just from looking at the program they planted.”

 Fallon looked away. They had deliberately sent Tusk to die at her hands. Tusk was deadly, true, and he had killed a lot of people, but mostly other bad guys. He’d never disobeyed the boss once. In fact, he adored the boss. And they had sent him to her todie? He had been betrayed, just as she had been betrayed. She closed her eyes as a fist of pain closed around her heart. All because someone wanted to show off her fighting skills.

 Of all the stupid reasons to die.

 Sobehk ...Guilt stabbed right through Fallon’s heart. It was her fault Sobehk had gotten hurt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking in his warm scent. He was alive. He lived. But he almost hadn’t. She leaned over and pressed her head against his side. Screw protocol. “I’m sorry.” Her voice came out in a tight whisper.

 Sobehk’s hand slid down her back and he sighed. “It’s not your fault.”

 She rubbed her cheek against his side. “Itwas my fault. I should have taken the knife.”

 Sobehk’s hand slid through her hair. “You’re assuming that you could have gotten it from my hand.”

 Fallon sniffed. “I could have.” She closed her eyes. “Ishould have.”

 Sobehk groaned. “I’m supposed to protectyou, remember?”

 Fallon wiped at her damp cheeks and looked up at him. “So?”

 Sobehk glared down at her “So?”

 Fallon simply smiled.

 Khan rolled his eyes. “May I continue?”

 “Yes,‘Syr .” Fallon took a deep breath and sat up. Oh, yeah, she definitely wanted to know the rest of this.

 Khan folded his hands on the tabletop. “If Isabeau had not taken three days to catch ...”

 Sobehk winced just a little.

 Fallon snorted, amused in spite of herself.

 Khan cleared his throat and raised his chin. “If Isabeau had been caught as mostrehkyt are, what would have been her fate?”

 Sobehk swept a hand across his jaw and flushed. “The auction at Port Destiny.”

 Fallon froze. Auction? Aslave auction?

 Khan nodded. “Then that is where the one with the other half of the code is waiting. We take them and we will know who the target is.”

 Sobehk shook his head. “But how do we find one person in that morass? There will be over a thousand Skeldhi attending that event!”

 Khan lifted his glass. “We put Isabeau up for auction. The one who buys her has the second half of the code.”

 What?Fallon jerked back and nearly fell over. He wanted to put her in a slave auction?

 Sobehk growled. “You can’t be serious!”

 Khan smiled and it wasn’t pretty. “I assure you, I have no intention of selling myrehkyt . I was thinking more of merely tempting the buyer into coming out of hiding.”

 Sobehk’s brows dropped low over his blue eyes, and his mouth set in a white line. “How? Exactly.”

 “You set her up to be auctioned, and I pose as yournehkyx , your handler.”

 Sobehk shook his head. “You, asmy handler?”

 Fallon frowned. What the heck was a handler?

 Khan raised his brow. “You are still recovering from an accident, are you not? I assure you, the news of the incident aboard theVortex was not kept under wraps. So a handler would be quite appropriate, if not expected. As long as we keep the story as close to the truth as possible, it will be believed.”

 “They’ll never believe she’s still mine.” Sobehk shook his head. “Your DNA marks her ...”

 “So does yours.” Sobehk smiled, and his copper gaze chilled. “She drank you down during the fourth course, remember?‘Syr Tah says your mark is as prominent as mine.”

 Sobehk narrowed his blue eyes at Khan. “You did that on purpose?”

 Khan waved his hand in dismissal. “Does it matter why I did it?” He focused on Sobehk. “Because of it, you can pose as her selling owner.”

 Sobehk frowned. “Khan, what are you up to?”

 Khan’s chin rose and his mouth tightened. “I am out to find the target of an assassination. If my suspicions are correct, then the target is among the council members.”

 Sobehk jerked back. “What?”

 “Think!” Khan jabbed a finger toward Sobehk. “Arehkyt that kills an assassin like that creature where all can see? Naturally she would have been marked forupuaht training. Therefore, she was deliberately set up to be so marked. How many Skeldhi can afford anupuaht rehkyt? ”

 Sobehk’s hands became fists on the tabletop. “Only a lord could afford one.”

 “My point exactly.”

 “Night and Chaos ... A lord is planning an assassination?”

 “Not all that unusual. Lords kill each other all the time.” Khan shrugged. “But Isabeau is a female. She could have been made to appear to be asaysehn rehkyt , a common pleasure pet, if her conformation had not gone so obviously Prime. Though I doubt that will be a factor. Too many do not look beyond a pretty face to see if it has teeth.”

 Fallon felt a sudden curl of warmth. Khan thought she was pretty?

 Sobehk shook his head. “What does Isabeau being female have to do with anything?”

 Khan set his elbow on the table and propped his chin in his hand. “Sobehk, in case you haven’t noticed, our Isabeau is rather small and delicate in appearance.” He looked over at Fallon.

 Fallon tilted her head in confusion.Delicate? Since when?

 Sobehk snorted. “But she’s not!”

 Fallon frowned. She wasn’t exactly sure she was pleased that Sobehk didn’t find her delicate.

 “No, but shelooks that way.” Khan sat back up and pressed his fingertips together. “And the only place the bigupuaht rehkyt males are not allowed to enter ...?”

 Sobehk looked down at the tabletop with a frown. “TheEhnyad enclave -- the council lords’ personal chambers -- have that restriction.”

 Khan nodded. “Correct. ThePshent enclave, the court of queens, does not allowupuaht or Primes of any type, male or female, but theEhnyad enclave only restricts males from entering.”

 Sobehk straightened. “You think Isabeau has been set up to assassinate anEhnya’dhyt? A council lord?”

 Khan leaned back. “We won’t know until I have interrogated the person with the other half of the code. But itis a possibility.” He nodded toward Fallon. “Isabeau is anupuaht graderehkyt capable of taking down a mimetic cyborg assassin. Whoever she’s supposed to kill must have some pretty strong guards if they think they need someone with enough killing power to take down a fully grown maleupuaht rehkyt , if not more than one.”

 Sobehk frowned. “But she’s a Prime and wearing the ear-cuffs of anupuaht in training. Obviously she’s capable of killing.”

 Fallon started and recognized the weights dangling from the bottom edge of her ears, about a finger-width above the lobes.So that’s what he put in my ears. She lifted her hand, but for some reason couldn’t make herself touch them.

 “You would think so.” Khan sighed and shook his head. “However, too many males assume that a female cannot kill them, simply because they are smaller.” He rolled his eyes and smiled slightly. “I had sisters, I know better.”

 Sobehk stared at Fallon. “Khan, I am in no condition to protect her from a lord and his guards when he comes to collect what he thinks is his property after the auction.”

 Khan smiled, showing his long teeth. “But I am, and I have a full coterie ofmehdja’dhyt -- security and intelligence officers -- on this ship.”

 Sobehk turned to Khan. “Won’t this ship give away the fact that theMehdjay , the Office of Intelligence, is aware of this ... conspiracy?”

 Khan raised his finger. “Not if we proceed as though you never left theVortex . I have spoken to the captain and he is going to make sure that the logs state that both of you are still aboard.” He set his hands flat on the table. “The most obvious reason for the presence ofmehdja’dhyt -- intelligence officers --isthe auction. I assure you, my ship will not be the only one there. TheMehdjay office is always looking to acquire high qualityupuaht graderehkyt .” He smiled. “Though not everyMehdjay’syr -- lord-officer -- has the resources to buy one such as Isabeau.”

 Sobehk shook his head. “There’s a big gaping hole in this plan of yours, I can smell it. I just can’t see it at the moment.”

 Khan rolled his eyes. “There are a number of gaping holes in it, one of them being that one look at our Isabeau will show that she’s not only sighted but semi-trained.”

 Fallon sat up straight. “Does this mean I get to drop all the manners stuff?”

 They both turned to her. “No!” they chorused.

 Fallon cringed back. “Fine, whatever. Yes,‘Syr .”

 Sobehk scrubbed his hand along his jaw. “I suppose I can say I had her trained somewhat to deal with her aggressive tendencies?” He looked over at Khan. “And perhaps drive up the price?”

 Khan’s brows rose. “Indeed. Sheis a Prime and your best catch to date, so it would be quite logical to try to get the best price for her.” He frowned at Sobehk. “Are you in need of your medication?”

 Fallon’s gaze jerked to Sobehk.

 Sobehk looked at the colored band around his wrist. “Yes, damn it.”

 Khan rose and approached Sobehk. “To bed with you.” He held out his hand.

 “I can get up on my own.” Sobehk rolled forward. “I’m not that much of an invalid.” He fell back on the cushion. A look of surprise widened his eyes.

 “Is that so?” Khan leaned down to catch his arm. He frowned at the colored band around Sobehk’s wrist. “You’re late for your treatment.” He reached down and levered Sobehk onto his feet. “Come on. I’ll call the medic as soon as you’re settled in bed.”

 Fallon jumped up and slid Sobehk’s other arm over her shoulder.

 Sobehk lurched toward the bed between them, his face pale and his mouth somewhat gray. “I hate this.”

 Khan snorted. “I’m sure you do, but I don’t need you overextending yourself. No more waiting on the meds. I need you in the best possible condition by the time we get to Port Destiny.”

 Sobehk rolled his eyes. “Yes,‘Syr .”

 Fallon dropped his arm and moved in front of him to pull off his sash and tug at his robes. Sobehk had been very clear that Skeldhi did not sleep clothed. Ever. She pulled his long robes from his shoulders, tossed them over her arm, and dropped to one knee to tug at the ties to his kilt.

 Khan nodded. “Remove your robes as well, Isabeau.”

 Huh?Fallon darted a startled look at Khan.

 Khan smiled. “You’re going to make sure Sobehk remains comfortable while he sleeps.”

 Yeah, right ...Fallon curled her lip just a tiny amount as she unwrapped Sobehk’s kilt. She would wait until Sobehk was asleep and then find someplace else to nap.

 Sobehk snorted as he stepped out of his slippers. “I don’t have the energy.”

 “Oh, no?” Khan chuckled. “That is simple enough to fix.”

 Fallon collected his slippers and turned toward the wardrobes to put Sobehk’s belongings away.

 “Khan!”

 She opened Sobehk’s wardrobe and caught a flash of movement in the mirror. She turned.

 Khan faced her, holding Sobehk around the waist with his hand fisted in Sobehk’s long white hair.

 Sobehk grabbed Khan around the shoulders. “What are you doing?”

 Khan jerked Sobehk’s head to one side and sank his teeth into Sobehk’s shoulder.

 Sobehk shouted and shuddered. “Fuck ... Khan!”

 Khan stared at Fallon as he pulled his teeth free and licked the wounds he’d made. He leaned back, releasing Sobehk’s hair. “How do you feel now?” He licked his lips and smiled.

 Sobehk groaned. “Okay, that worked, you bastard.” He bowed his head and chuckled tiredly. “Still up to your old tricks?”

 Khan shrugged, just a little. “Perhaps one or two.”

 “Is that so?” Sobehk caught Khan’s face in his palms. “Payback can be a bitch.” He pressed his open mouth to Khan’s, kissing him.

 Khan’s eyes opened wide, then closed. His arms slid around Sobehk’s waist as he kissed him back.

 Their lips parted, and they leaned against each other with their heads together. Khan turned and helped Sobehk step down into the knee-deep bed.

 Okay ...Fallon turned and tucked Sobehk’s robe and kilt in his wardrobe. Perhaps the two of them together wasn’t such an odd combination. She’d seen odder pairings, and there seemed to be some kind of romantic history between them. She just hoped it wasn’t ugly history. Broken hearts made vicious enemies faster than cold-blooded murder.

  

  

 Chapter Twenty

  

 “Isabeau!”

 Fallon flinched. What in fury did Khan want now? Oh, yeah, for her to get in that open target of a bed. “Coming,‘Syr .” She closed the wardrobe door and headed back across the room, tugging at her sash. She had her robes off her shoulders by the time she reached the edge of the bed. She would slip out as soon as Sobehk fell asleep.

 Khan held out his hand.

 Fallon gave him her robes and sash.

 Sobehk was a pale and delicious vision among the tumble of red and gold pillows. His long sweep of frost-white hair glowed against the black silk sheets. He pulled back the black comforter and smiled. “Come.”

 Fallon dropped down into the bed and slid under the covers. Sobehk was almost hot against her bare skin. He smelled wonderful and precious. She leaned in close to sweep a hand across his chest and pressed a kiss over his heart.

 Sobehk rolled over her, and his mouth took hers with hunger.

 She leaned up into his kiss. She’d missed him. Excitement washed through her body with sudden voracious heat. She moaned into his mouth as cream slicked her thighs.

 His hand slid between her thighs, parting them. His fingers explored her intimate folds, and he groaned in appreciation. His fingertips rubbed against her clit, inciting small bolts of delight.

 Fallon moaned into his mouth and lifted her hips, pressing against his palm.

 He released her lips and pulled his hand away to suck on his damp fingers. He smiled. Shifting his hips, he settled between her thighs and sighed. His primary cock nosed between her slick folds, pressing for immediate entry.

 Fallon gasped. He was hard, both of his cocks. Khan’s bite...

 He thrust and sank into her with a soft groan, his secondary cock nudging for entry into her ass. It was slick with something. Sobehk chuckled. “Khan was kind enough to grease me. Open for me.”

 She looked up to see Khan watching them from the edge of the bed. An odd and hungry smile curled his full lips, and heat darkened his copper eyes.

 She frowned. Khan obviously wanted the two of them together ... like this. He was pleased that they were together ... like this. But Khan had made damned sure she admitted that she wasn’t Sobehk’s. What was going on?

 Sobehk nipped sharply at her nipple.

 She yelped and jumped.

 “Pay attention when I’m fucking you!” Sobehk groaned as he pushed. “Let me in.”

 Fallon arched, pushing, forcing her body open.

 He surged hard and slid within, groaning in obvious pleasure.

 Fallon moaned. Tight fullness, exquisite ache, dark pleasure ... He filled her, and her heart leaped to have him there. She closed her arms around his neck and locked her heels around his hips.Sobehk ... She arched in eager hunger. She loved him. Great Maker, sheloved him. And wanted him right where he was, in her body. Desperately.

 He panted, then surged again, seating himself to the root. He groaned. “Mother Night, it’s good to be back in here.” He closed his arms around Fallon’s waist and rolled, bringing her atop him.

 Fallon sat up, straddling his hips, not wanting to put any pressure on his bandaged middle.

 His eyes were dark, wide pits outlined in sapphire brilliance. He smiled and caught the back of her neck. He pulled her down to him, his mouth taking her nipple. He sucked with brutal tenderness. His teeth scored her breast.

 Delight scorched from his mouth straight to her clit and throbbed. The scent of his arousal rolled from his skin, electrifying her. She moaned.

 He released her nipple and cupped her breasts in his warm palms, pinching and rolling the swollen tips between thumb and forefinger.

 Fallon whimpered with the exquisite fire stirred by his fingers.

 He licked his lips. “Fuck me, kitten. Fuck me hard.”

 She rocked forward and up, leaning into his hands. The shafts slid outward. Decadent delight. She sat back and they slid within. The ripple of pleasure in her core was laced with the bright edge of pain in her ass. She rose and fell. It felt so good, it felt so right ... More, she needed more.

 She caught his wrists, holding his hands to her breasts, using him for leverage, rising sharply and falling hard in increasingly stronger lunges.

 Sobehk groaned and moved under her. His knees came up, and he thrust in counterpoint to her driving plunges. His mouth opened, showing long teeth. He groaned. “Chaos.” He sucked in a breath. “Almost there.” His breath quickened, and he increased his thrusts in speed and strength, grunting with effort.

 Fallon felt the sudden and violent rise of heat and tension that marked approaching climax. She was going to cum ...

 Sobehk arched tautly under her, and his pupils abruptly changed from round to feline slits. A rumbling, liquid growl vibrated through him.

 A shiver of anticipation raced through Fallon. She felt the fullness in her cunt and her ass swell with alarming speed. She rose from him. She didn’t want to get locked to his body.

 “Oh, no, you don’t!” Sobehk snarled and twisted, rolling her under him and grinding mercilessly within her. “Your tight little body will squeeze the cum from my knots in one long delicious orgasm guaranteed to give me an excellent night’s sleep.”

 Fallon hissed and bucked as the tightness stretched her. Movement became uncomfortable.

 Sobehk growled in masculine triumph. “Oh, yeah ... good and tied.”

 She twisted hard and yelped. He was lodged tight in her. They were locked. She glared at him. “Bastard!”

 Sobehk leaned up and smiled hungrily. “Yep.” His head dropped and his teeth sank into her shoulder.

 Release exploded through her in a hot wet rush. She howled and bucked frantically under him, her nails scoring his butt and thighs.

 His tongue stroked the bite on her shoulder. “Mmm, that was nice. Do that again.” His mouth shifted, and his teeth sank into her a second time, only a few centimeters from the first bite.

 She gasped, shocked. The venom in his bite made the second bite sharper, harsher, and hotter.

 Climax knotted in her belly and rushed outward in a blaze of glory that burned up her arching spine and ripped a scream from her throat.

 Sobehk ground into her, riding her bucking climax. “That’s what I like to hear.”

 Fallon whimpered as she came down from her release and panted under him, soaked in sweat, the air perfumed with the rich musk of lust.

 “Isabeau ...” His mouth found hers in a leisurely but thorough kiss.

 Fallon kissed him back, glad to her soul to have him exactly where he was, safe in her arms, though annoyed that she was stuck in the damned bed.

 His arms closed tight around her and he rolled to his side, their bodies locked in carnal intimacy and their legs entwined. His tongue swept deliciously against hers. A purr boiled from his chest. He pulled back and stared at her with eyes dark yet hooded with sleepy heat. “Isabeau.” He brushed the hair from her damp brow then pressed a kiss there. He pulled her against his heart. “Go to sleep.”

 Fallon glanced up past Sobehk’s broad shoulder to see that Khan still watched from the edge of the bed. His eyes were hot, but his mouth was tight. He rose and moved away.

 Sobehk’s heart pounded against her ear in a steady rhythm even as his purr closed around her.

 * * * * *

 Someone came into the bed.

 Fallon started awake.

 An unknown Skeldhi in long, sleeveless gray robes bent toward Sobehk.

 Her entire body tensed, and a growl of warning boiled from her throat.

 The gray-robed Skeldhi jerked back.

 “Isabeau, no.” Khan was suddenly in the bed at her side. He caught the chain around her throat and tugged slightly. “He’s asehn’dhyt , a medic.” He looked up. “I have her,A’syr . She’s just being protective.” He nodded toward Sobehk, who had not awakened. “Continue.”

 Thesehn’dhyt leaned over Sobehk with a wary eye on Fallon. He applied a hydraulic syringe to Sobehk’s throat.

 Sobehk sighed, but did not wake.

 Thesehn’dhyt lifted Sobehk’s wrist to examine the band around it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another hydraulic syringe. He darted an uneasy look at Fallon before applying that syringe to the bend in Sobehk’s arm. He withdrew from the bed.

 Khan released her chain and stroked her hair. “Go back to sleep.” He moved from the bed.

 Fallon snuggled up against Sobehk, putting an arm over his hip.

 Thesehn’dhyt looked over at Khan. “He’ll need another treatment at the beginning of the night cycle and again in morning cycle.” He glanced at Fallon. “He can begin exercise therapy the following day,‘Syr .”

 Khan nodded and lifted an arm, gently herding the medic toward the door. “I’ll see to it that he stays on schedule,A’syrsehn’dhyt .”

 Fallon pressed her nose against Sobehk’s heart and curled tight up against him, listening to his slow and steady heartbeat.

 * * * * *

 Someone was in the room.

 Fallon’s eyes snapped open. She shifted and discovered that Sobehk was no longer locked in her body. She wormed out from under him.

 He sighed heavily but remained asleep.

 She moved as silently as she could across the blankets and pillows to the edge of the bowl. She lifted her head to catch a trace of scent. It was Khan.

 “Isabeau.” Khan’s voice was barely a whisper.

 An odd hunger tugged at her. She eased up over the edge and parted the gold curtains. There were fewer lights than before. Deep shadows filled the room’s corners.

 Khan sat cross-legged and facing her on a large pillow by the round table. He was barefoot and in only his black kilt. Sitting on the table by his elbow were a clear glass bowl half full of meat, a spoon, a folded cloth napkin, and a clear glass tumbler of water.

 “Come.” He patted his knee, and muscle moved across his broad, scarred chest.

 Fallon moved silently across the carpet, his scent drawing her. He smelled good. He smelled right. And a part of her wanted ...shewanted ... to touch him, and be touched by him. Sheneeded to touch him.

 She stopped only a few steps away, trembling.

 “Down.”

 She dropped to her knees.

 He smiled. “Good. Lower, and closer.”

 She dropped to her hands and inched toward him. He encouraged her closer until she crouched nearly on her belly with her hands on his knees. She spotted the black chain leash coiled by his knee under the table.

 He picked up the bowl, scooped food into the spoon, and held it up. “Open.”

 Fallon cringed and made a small sound of protest. He wanted to feed her like a child? She knew how to eat properly.

 His brow rose.

 She flinched, opened her mouth, and sucked the meat from his spoon. It was warm but tasted as though it was barely cooked. The copper taste of extremely rare meat was very strong. She sucked it down just the same, finally resigned to no longer chewing.

 He smiled and picked up the napkin to dab at her lower lip. In complete silence he spoon-fed her, stopping every now and again to offer her the glass of water or dab at her lips with the napkin.

 He set the empty bowl and the spoon on the table, and gave her lips a final swipe of the napkin. He leaned to the side, lifted the black chain leash from beside his knee, and clipped it to the chain around her throat.

 Fallon winced.

 “Open my kilt.”

 Fallon reached into his lap to tug at the ties. The cloth parted to reveal his half-aroused cocks.

 “Lick. Don’t suck; just lick.”

 Fallon set her hands on his thighs and dropped to her belly. She lowered her head into his lap, extended her tongue and stroked the bumpy underside of his primary cock. The metal balls under his skin rasped against her tongue. The flavor was strong enough that she was pretty sure he wore titanium. It was a little odd, tasting so much metal in his cock. She licked.

 He sighed and hardened.

 She slid the point of her tongue around the flared edge of his cockhead and then across the sensitive tip. She flicked her tongue across and around the heavy balls that marked the bar that speared through the center of his cockhead from top to bottom.

 Khan let his head fall back and groaned in pleasure.

 The sound of his enjoyment and the scent of his arousal seared through her and cream slicked her thighs. She licked with increasing eagerness.

 The electronic whisper of the door caught her attention.

 The leash rattled in his hand. “Continue. Do not stop.”

 She continued to lick but proceeded to lave the top of his shaft so she could look above his knee to see who had entered.

 The slender gray-robedsehn’dhyt , the Skeldhi medic from before, came in and bowed to Khan.

 Khan waved his hand toward the bed. “Proceed.”

 Fallon watched him move toward the bed.

 Khan tugged lightly on the chain. “Pay attention to me.” He pushed her head lower.

 Fallon licked at his lower shaft, her view completely blocked by his raised knees. His cocks stiffened considerably, and his breathing deepened. Liquid musk dampened her tongue. She lapped at it. Warmth curled and clenched in her belly and her nipples tightened to hard, hot points. Her clit throbbed. A small hungry moan escaped her.

 She felt Khan’s body shift and turn, but he held the chain too tight to allow her to raise her head to see.

 He groaned. “All right, thesehn’dhyt has left.” He pushed her back. “Sit up.”

 Fallon sat back on her heels and licked her lips.

 Khan unlatched the leash, set it on the table, and stood, his kilt sliding from his thighs. He lifted the fallen cloth and set it over the leash on the table. “Come.” He strode for the bed, his rigid cocks waving before him.

 Fallon rose and followed, her body trembling with hungry tension. He was going to fuck her. She couldn’t wait.

  

  

 Chapter Twenty-One

  

 Khan pushed the curtain back and stepped over the edge into his enormous round bed. He turned and bent to pick up a black squeeze tube that lay on the floor at the bed’s rim. He squeezed a large dollop of gel into his palm, then smiled at her as he reached down to stroke himself. “Come. Come to me.”

 Fallon eased over the edge into the blankets and pillows of the deep bed.

 Khan seized her around the waist and flung her back onto the pillows.

 She gasped in surprise.

 Khan grinned down at her and then fell on her, his hot body dropping onto hers and his mouth taking hers in a devouring kiss. His clawed fingers raked down her side.

 She bucked, moaning under his mouth, and clawed his shoulders and back in retaliation.

 He groaned and pressed his cocks against her belly as he dug his claws into her butt.

 She hissed with the bright, hot burn. Khan was apparently in the mood to play. Wriggling, she caught hold of his arm, insinuated her leg just right, and flipped him over onto his stomach. In half a breath, she climbed on his back to straddle his hips, then locked his arm behind him, pinning him.

 He grunted in surprise.

 Fallon dropped along the top of him and opened her mouth on his shoulder.

 He stilled, and his breathing quickened.

 Fallon smiled. He was waiting for her bite. She raked her teeth and tongue across his shoulder instead, deliberately teasing him.

 He growled, clearly disappointed. He rolled, trying to get her under him.

 Fallon eluded his grasp with ease, rolling among the pillows and twisting out of his holds. Small giggles erupted as his frustrated growls increased. She darted in to nip at his pierced nipples, making him jump, then nipped the tender undersides of his arms. He pulled away, but she pursued him, twisting around him to nip the sensitive insides of his thighs. She scored a nice nip on the cheek of his ass.

 Khan jumped and twisted, but he couldn’t quite grab her.

 Sobehk, spread out on his belly, groaned and opened one blue eye. “Khan, you are not going to win a wrestling match with her. She’s augmented to the hilt for dexterity and ...” He smiled. “She plays dirty.”

 Khan sat back on his heels among the pillows, panting just a little. His skin was marked by a full dozen tiny bleeding nips and more than a dozen scratches from her claws. “Is that so?” He grinned. He was obviously enjoying himself and brutally excited. He raised a brow at Sobehk. “Then how did you catch her?”

 Sobehk chuckled softly. “I wore armor.”

 Khan’s brows shot up. “Armor?”

 Fallon snorted. “You try fighting him for three days straight when he’s wearing armor and you’re not.”

 Khan tilted his head toward her, and his eyes narrowed. “So you like to fight dirty?” He came up on his feet but remained crouched.

 Uh-oh ...Fallon instinctively backed away, but the bed was not all that large, and Sobehk took up a pretty big portion of it.

 Khan launched himself at her.

 She threw herself back and rolled -- and couldn’t. Her foot was caught on something; or rather, something was wrapped around her ankle. Khan landed on top of her. The breath was knocked from her lungs. She twisted her hands free and scrambled to get out from under him, but her ankle was caught fast.

 Khan took no time at all to repay her nips.

 She yelped and twisted but couldn’t free her ankle.

 Sobehk chuckled from the pillows. “Having problems, kitten?”

 Fallon glanced down. Her ankle was trapped in his hand. She gasped. “Let go, you big brute! Let him fight his own battles!”

 Khan locked his legs around her hips and pinned her hands above her head. “I’ll take the backup, thank you.” He sank his teeth into her shoulder.

 Fallon shouted and arched up under him. She trembled, held still by the teeth in her shoulder. His venom raced through her, bringing every single one of his nips to bright, hot life while stirring the heat in her belly into an unbelievably ravenous craving. She moaned and lifted her knees to pull away from Sobehk’s hold.

 Sobehk’s hand, a manacle around her ankle, tugged her legs apart.

 Khan released her shoulder and grinned. “Yes, hold her open for me.” He unlocked his legs and shifted between her spread thighs.

 “Hey, no fair!” Fallon tried to buck him off, but Sobehk’s grip held her open.

 “You don’t fight fair ...” Khan came up on his knees, catching her under the thighs. His hands spread her wide. “Why should we?” He thrust. His primary cockhead surged into her slick interior.

 They both gasped.

 Fallon twisted her hips. The bar in his cock was a fierce and delicious pressure as it forged into her. The second cock pressed for entry. She sucked in a breath and pushed out. The slick head of Khan’s second cock, and the bar that pierced it, pressed into her ass even as his primary cock surged deeper into her hungry cunt. She groaned.

 “Mother Night, ah ...” Khan dug his clawed fingers into her ass, pulling her tighter to him. He thrust, hard, surging in to the root, and sighed.

 Fallon wrapped her arms under his. She need to be fucked and was not in the mood to wait any longer. She pulled him down to her and arched up to sink her teeth into Khan’s shoulder.

 Khan shuddered and hissed then moaned. “Spawn of Chaos, you’re potent!” He ground his metal-laden cocks deep into her.

 Fallon locked her legs around his hips, pulled her teeth from his shoulder and stroked the tears with her tongue.

 Khan sighed. “Mmm, yes.” He locked an arm around her and pushed up with his free hand, sitting up on his knees with Fallon in his arms. His hands slid down to cup her ass. He lifted her to the very end of his cocks.

 Fallon moaned as the cock in her ass delivered dark, rich pleasure on the retreating stroke.

 He pressed her down onto him while thrusting upward.

 She squeezed on the thrust and was rewarded as his pierced cock struck something deliciously exciting deep in her cunt. She released a startled cry and bucked hard.

 Khan smiled. “Oh, liked that, did you?”

 Fallon dug her claws into him and pushed upward. “Don’t stop! More!”

 Khan laughed softly and lifted, then shoved her down on his cocks while thrusting as she fell onto him. Then again, and again ...

 Fallon twisted in counterthrust and bright, sharp pleasure raked through her on each stroke. Delighted and desperate cries poured from her lips.

 The rich scent of lust perfumed the small alcove.

 Khan’s breathing became labored, and sweat slid down his body. The base of his cocks hardened and expanded, slipping in and then out, pressing against her clit on each entry.

 Fallon dug her claws into Khan’s back as she bucked and cried out her building pleasure. Climax rose and tightened in a white-hot ball of tension waiting to explode.

 Khan groaned and dropped down among the pillows, his body pinning hers. He caught a handful of her hair, pulling her head back and forcing her to arch under him. He lowered his head and nipped at her swollen nipples, scoring her breasts with his long teeth, while grinding deep within her. The bases of his cocks expanded further, swelling to tightness, locking her in his carnal embrace. His mouth centered on her nipple and opened wide.

 She bucked frantically, right on the edge of falling. “Bite me!”

 He held perfectly still.

 She snarled and her nails scored his ass as she pulled him in tighter. “Bite me, damn you!”

 He growled.

 She stilled. “Please!” She shuddered in desperation. “‘Syr, please!”

 His teeth stabbed into her.

 Fierce pain slashed across her breast in a burning rush of sharp-edged pleasure. Release detonated then shock-waved through her, setting her blood on fire. She screamed.

 Khan locked her in his embrace, sucking hard on her nipple and drawing her blood into his mouth.

 Fallon shuddered and bucked under him, releasing cry after gasping cry. The venom in his saliva increased the pleasure surging through her body and the burn from sucking at her wounds, extending the waves of climax to a maddening degree, drowning her in dark-edged pleasure.

 Khan released her breast, his tongue stroking gently across her wounds. He released her hair and took possession of her mouth, stilling her soft cries.

 She moaned and kissed him as the final echoes of her climax trembled through her, tasting her blood on his tongue.

 He released her mouth and smiled. “Isabeau.”

 Panting and exhausted, Fallon looked up into his hooded copper gaze and couldn’t think beyond the pleasure still curling through her.

 He tugged the blankets over them and settled between her thighs, pressing her down into the bed. His arms slid under the pillows supporting them, cradling her body to his. His lips sought the base of her throat, and a purr vibrated through him, signaling his contentment.

 Fallon sighed, comforted by his deep purr. Her breaths timed to his and his heartbeat became loud in her ears. Her eyes grew heavy.

 On the very edge of sleep, she turned to look over at Sobehk.

 His blue eyes were open.

 She reached out and caught his fingers.

 A smiled flickered on his lips and his fingers tightened around hers briefly. His eyes closed.

 Fallon released a long sigh and let sleep claim her, still grasping Sobehk’s hand.

 * * * * *

 A small chime sounded.

 Fallon jerked awake. Khan’s long body was a heavy weight atop her, and he was breathing deeply, directly below her ear. Sobehk had rolled up against them in the night, and flung his arm over both them for good measure. It was more than a little warm under the two of them.

 The chime sounded again.

 Fallon frowned. Was that noise some kind of alarm? She pushed at Khan’s shoulder.

 Khan groaned. His arms tightened around Fallon, and he pushed his nose under her hair by the back of her ear.

 Great. Fallon blew a hair from her nose. She took a breath and eased to her right, slowly working to get out from under his heavy and hot sprawling length.

 The chime sounded again. And continued.

 Khan groaned. “Fuck,” he whispered in her ear and slid off to the right. He rolled over on his back, taking half the blankets with him while crowding Fallon up against Sobehk on her left.

 Sobehk grumbled, tugging the blankets the other way and tighter around him while shoving her up against Khan.

 Fallon shifted from side to side, trying to make some room for herself between both men.You would think a bed this large would be big enough for everybody, but no ...! They both have to have the middle!

 Khan suddenly threw his arms up in a full body stretch.

 Fallon found herself watching the blanket sliding down Khan’s body, revealing the muscles all across his stomach and chest shifting in an arresting display. She licked her lips as she gazed in admiration. Khan’s body was gorgeous in motion.

 Khan took several deep breaths, sat up, and slapped her thigh. “Come on.” He rolled forward and made for the edge of the bed.

 Fallon groaned. She understood perfectly well that he had duties, but why didshe have to get out of bed? She arched her back, stretching, then rolled up and climbed out after him. Her feet braced on the thick red carpeting, she twisted her hips and shook hard to make sure that all of her augmentations were awake and functioning. Fairly long periods of sleep had a nasty habit of occasionally sending one of her limbs into a mechanical torpor. She was not in the mood to fall on her face in front of Khan.

 She looked down at her smeared thighs and grimaced.Great Maker, I need a shower ...

 Just beyond the red and black trunks arranged on the left wall, a doorway gaped open. The sound of running water was too much of a temptation to pass up.

 She jogged toward the doorway and discovered a facility done completely in black. Even the chrome rails were black. Water splashed against the frosted glass wall on her immediate right. Apparently the entire wall was the shower. A long counter took up the left wall. She used the black commode in the center of the back wall with a profound sense of relief.

 “Isabeau?”

 Fallon looked over at the frosted glass. “Yes?” She rolled her eyes. “‘Syr.”

 “I don’t have all day; get your ass in here!”

 Fallon slid the glass door open and stepped into a black-tiled shower.

 Khan leaned on his elbows against the right wall, his head back and his long creamy hair loose from its braid. Water sprayed down from three showerheads, spilling across his tattooed back, over the curve of his ass, and down his long, muscular thighs. He groaned and lowered his head, looking over at her. “About time.” He turned over, pressing his shoulders against the wall, and held out his hand. “Come.”

 Fallon walked over to take his hand and he shoved her under the water. It was hotter than she expected. She flinched back, but he held her under the spray.

 “Hold still.” Khan picked up a cloth from somewhere and proceeded to scrub the living daylights out of every square centimeter of skin she had. Foam sluiced down her body.

 “Close your eyes.”

 Fallon shut her eyes in time to have her head jerked back. His long fingers dug into her hair. In a very short time, he had her hair thoroughly washed and rinsed.

 Khan tugged her backwards, by the hair.

 Fallon winced.He could have asked!

 His hand slapped the wall and the water cut off. Half a breath later, the water collectors powered up, drying them both in seconds.

 Fallon was pushed from the shower into the main facility room and subjected to one of the most ferocious hair-brushings of her entire life. She hissed. “I could cut it ...”

 “Don’t you dare! Only humans ruin themselves like that.”

 Fallon blinked.Ruin themselves?

 Khan tugged and scraped her hair back and proceeded to braid it painfully tight. “A Skeldhi’s hair is a measure of their personal attractiveness. Our women pride themselves on hair that can sweep the floor.”

 Fallon’s mouth fell open.Floor-length hair? She couldn’t imagine having to deal with hair that long. It had to take forever to wash it all.

 Khan snorted. “To have your hair cut is to be shamed.” He tugged sharply as he bound the end of her braid with a slender cord. “Only criminals have their pride shorn like a human.”

 Fallon frowned. “Sounds like you don’t like humans very much.” She winced. “‘Syr.”

 “Oh, Skeldhi like humans just fine.” Khan moved to the counter to brush and braid his own creamy mane. “They’re as much fun to kill as they are to fuck.”

 Fallon froze. All of a sudden his earlier comment about humans living longer asrehkyt took on a completely different meaning. A shiver raced down her spine.

 “You have nothing to fear, Isabeau.” Khan smiled as he watched her in the mirror, but his copper eyes were hard. “You are not human.”

 His comment annoyed the piss out of her, but she was not about to argue with him. Shewasn’t human. Not anymore.

 Fallon followed Khan from the facility to discover a number of Skeldhi moving around the chamber. A pair in silver-gray robes assisted Sobehk out of the bed, while another two, far younger and in dark gray knee-length robes, pulled the blankets and sheets from the bed. Two more in floor-length black robes waited by the round table with clothes set out neatly across the dark, polished surface.

 Khan headed for the two by the table. One lifted a long black kilt and the other a deep-red under-robe. Khan held out his arms and they proceeded to dress him with blinding speed and methodical efficiency. In a matter of minutes he was fully robed, bound by a scarlet sash and strapped into his tall boots. His black-handled daggers were handed to him.

 Fallon caught the reflection of Sobehk and the two silver-gray-robed Skeldhi in the mirrors as they turned to enter the facility.

 Sobehk stopped and looked up, staring straight into her reflected gaze. His nostrils flared, as thought he’d caught an interesting scent. His eyes abruptly darkened as his pupils opened wide, the black centers swallowing the blue.

 Fallon suddenly realized that Sobehk was not looking at her reflection -- he was looking past her, at Khan.

 Sobehk’s brows dropped, and his mouth tightened. He was clearly not happy about something.

 Khan, for his part, was definitely, if not pointedly,not looking at Sobehk. He smiled slightly, his gaze locked on Fallon as he tucked the daggers into his sash. He gestured for Fallon to approach. “Hold your arms out and remain perfectly still.”

 Sobehk closed his eyes and disappeared into the facility.

 Fallon did as ordered and the two Skeldhi approached, holding a pair of short robes and a sash. They smelled utterly wrong and the hair on her neck rose. Her skin shivered under their fingers. Their scent wasn’t bad or foul, but the urge to bite increased the more she breathed their scent.

 Khan’s gaze stayed hard on her.

 Fallon held her breath to avoid smelling them even as panic made her heart pound. She couldn’t hold her breath for long and took small breaths with her mouth. She could not believe how ...wrongthey smelled.

 In swift order she was dressed as she had been before, though in clean robes. Fallon exhaled in a rush.

 The two attendants bowed toward Khan before heading for the door, with the two carrying bed sheets and blankets close on their heels.

 Khan lifted his chin. “We are breaking dock with theVortex . As I’m monitoring the pilot during breakaway and the first jump, I thought you might like to sit with me and pair-view the flight.”

 Fallon blinked. “You’re going to add me to your neural link,‘Syr? ” She was going to see space -- as a pilot perceived it?Great Maker ...!

 Khan tilted his head to the side. “I believe your computational array is sophisticated enough to do so.”

 Fallon bounced up on her toes before she could stop herself and grinned. “I’d love that!” She dropped to her heels, jerking her hands behind her, and felt her cheeks heat. She wasn’t a child. “I meant, thank you,‘Syr .”

 “You’re welcome.” Khan smiled and lifted the black chain leash from the tabletop. “Shall we go?”

  

  

 Chapter Twenty-Two

  

 The corridor directly outside Khan’s private chamber was narrow and black with bright chrome handrails along the walls. The ceiling curved overhead and everything shimmered slightly, indicating the ship’s mimetic, atomic-level shape-changing nature. Fallon’s brows rose. She hadn’t realized that the entire ship was mimetic. A mimetic ship had to be a quite an advantage if someone shot at it. The hull could stretch to seal itself -- as long as the holes were fairly small.

 Fallon ducked behind Khan’s back as Skeldhi in black skintight ship-suits or robes in differing shades of gray or black with the occasional bit of red trim passed to either side. Curious glances were sent her way, but their gazes retreated too quickly to be considered impolite.

 The Skeldhi and their thing for manners ... Fallon rolled her eyes. On second thought, being polite all the time could be considered a good thing in a society that was as quick-tempered and consistently armed as they were. It was much harder to take accidental offense if everyone followed the same rules.

 The walk ended at a lift that opened onto another passageway. The corridors they passed through and crossed remained uniformly black, but widened and held more foot traffic. Fewer robed Skeldhi walked these hallways; most wore ship-suits, with the occasional fully armored and sword-armed pair marching in perfect step.

 Another lift, and they entered another, broader, passageway with oval windows that marched along the left wall.

 Fallon frowned. The ship was a lot bigger than she thought. What in fury were they on?

 The passageway ended at an open doorway with two fully armed guards. The men came to attention, heels snapping together, shoulders thrown back, and chins rising.

 Khan nodded as he passed them with Fallon in his shadow.

 Through the door, Khan halted.

 Fallon peeked around his shoulder. A walkway opened directly in front of them, curving toward the right. A small four-step stairway was on their immediate right. She looked up the wall on her right. And up. The wall ended about two meters over her head, but there was a lot of open space past the wall. She’d seen a cathedral in an old holo-vid of Peter’s. The ship’s ceiling was about two stories away with a definite cathedral arch to it.

 Whatever she was on was huge.

 Khan led her up the small stair. His hand pressed on her right shoulder as soon as she cleared the last stair.

 Fallon dropped to her left knee, setting her right hand to the floor and tucking her left hand in her lap, the way Sobehk had taught her. It was hard to make out much with her eyes kept no higher than knee level. She could see little more than the bottom of a long curving desk to her left and the bottom of three black leather command chairs on her right set before a black wall.

 “‘SyrKhan, we are ready to release theVortex on your command.” The voice was deep and belonged to a pair of armored boot-toes protruding from under a long black kilt. A scarlet robe, apparently left open, framed the sides of the kilt. The unmistakable bottom halves of two sheathed swords hung at an angle by his left thigh.

 Khan shifted slightly, his leg pressing against Fallon’s side. “You may release at will,‘Syr Captain.”

 Captain ?Fallon swallowed. They were on the ship’s command center. She was kneeling on an actual ship’s bridge. She frowned. But if he was the captain, why was he deferring to Khan?

 The captain turned to the left and a second person was suddenly visible -- well, from the knees down. He, too, wore an open scarlet robe framing his black kilt. The toes remained pointed at Khan.

 “At your leisure,‘Syr Khan.” The heels clicked together. The voice was youthful and soft-spoken.

 “Thank you,‘Syr Commander.” Khan tapped Fallon’s shoulder and turned to the right.

 Fallon rose to her feet and followed. From the corner of her eye, the captain appeared to be massive in size. His sleeveless robe of deep scarlet showed powerfully muscled arms with forearms riddled with active electronics. Both wrists blazed with electronic auras from the arrays embedded into his hands and forearms. Two swords were thrust through his black sash.

 The other person was far more slender and dressed very much like the captain, with only one sword through his sash. His wrists were also aglow with active electronics. Fallon caught the hint of a smile on his mouth before she turned completely away.

 Khan walked to the right, then along the back wall to the command chair on the far side. He turned to face the front of the ship.

 Fallon turned with him, and had to remember to breathe. Just past the captain and the commander, and a little below, a nav-pilot sat electronically enthroned and haloed in shifting gold light, indicating an active piloting array. Linked directly to the ship’s sentience, the living mind of the nav-pilot created the quantum consciousness that folded space. Once jump-space was achieved, the ship would pierce through the vast forever of space in a blink of time.

 Flanking the nav-pilot, two crewmembers in skin-hugging ship-suits were wired into chairs with holographic control displays spread out under their hands.

 The view-screen that took up the entire front portion of the pointed oval of the bridge showed theVortex , which appeared to be parkedon the end of the ship. Beyond theVortex was an ocean of stars that literally went on forever.

 The silence was deafening. No one said a single word, but Fallon’s inner array hummed with interest as her programs responded to the signals from the active arrays all around her. She could almost make out what they were doing ...

 TheVortex suddenly lifted from the nose of the ship and kept lifting.

 The captain turned to look at Khan. He was ruggedly handsome with a massive jaw in a broad face commanded by bright yellow eyes. His mouth was full and his smile wide. “We are ready to proceed,‘Syr Khan.”

 Fallon shifted her eyes from the captain’s face, barely in time to avoid his direct gaze.

 Khan smiled just a little. “You may proceed, Captain.”

 The captain nodded. “‘Syr.” He and the commander turned to face the front of the ship and held out their hands. Their wrists blazed, wreathed in halos of shifting blue-white energy.

 Khan tugged at his robes and sat in the huge, heavily padded command chair. He leaned forward a bit and allowed the interneural link in the chair’s headrest to reach out and connect to his data port. He winced and sat back with a sigh.

 Fallon winced. Sobehk had been adamant thatrehkyt did not sit on chairs. The steel floor did not look comfortable. And the view from down there was going to suck big time.

 Khan held out his hand and smiled. His copper gaze blazed with electronic blue radiating from deep within the pupils.

 Fallon tilted her head in confusion but took his hand.

 Khan tugged her into his lap, spreading his legs to let her sit on the seat with his chest as her backrest. His arms slid around her, and his lips pressed against her ear. “I trust you will not access anything in my head with that array and rather interesting collection of programs that is in yours?”

 Fallon leaned into the press of his lips without thinking about it. “No,‘Syr .” She was not about to jeopardize her chance to view pilot-space. “You won’t even know I’m there.”

 “Good.” His hands lifted to the back of his chair and retrieved a slender link jack. He gently pushed her forward and affixed the jack to her port. “Lean back and close your eyes.”

 Fallon leaned back against his hard and warm chest.

 “Ready?”

 “Yes,‘Syr .”

 Blackness, then ripples in the dark. The ripples became layer upon layer upon layer of velvety black cloth ... all around. Space, rippling like a frozen ocean moving in tides immensely vast with an incredibly slow elegance. Flows of color bloomed into being, indicating gasses, temperatures, and matter. Sprays of color she had no name for shimmered and sparkled everywhere.

 Shebloomed into being, feeling the tides of space against her skin, tasting the different flavors of stars, and hearing the harmonies of solar systems as orchestras of incredible grace. Ever changing, ever moving, ever harmonious ... She could listen to it forever.

 “Are you all right?”

 She had to pull back into herself before she could respond, and found that her cheeks were wet. Fallon wiped at her cheeks, still feeling the pull of the music of space. “Yeah ... Yes,‘Syr . It’s so ... beautiful.”

 His arms tightened around her. “Yes, yes, it is.”

 “Ready to proceed into jump-space on your mark, Captain.” The nav-pilot’s calm voice was a soothing ripple.

 Fallon jumped. The nav-pilot’s voice had come through her link to Khan.

 “Begin.” The captain’s command was a deep bass through the link.

 Fallon concentrated and realized that other voices chatted softly along the link. There was another voice murmuring under it all, but she couldn’t quite hear it.

 “Activating Phalrium hull grid and opening quantum teleological space-time manifold at factor eight.” The nav-pilot’s anticipation came through loud and clear.

 The ship’s skin seemed to shiver.

 Fallon suddenly felt the fabric of reality shifting into a shimmering field of crushed star-space. It coalesced to spiral around the ship.

 “Jump-space gateway open and stable, Captain.”

 The captain lifted both hands. “Advance drive, speed four. Proceed into jump-space.”

 “Proceeding into jump.” The nav-pilot’s voice echoed with deep calm.

 Fallon took a deep breath. Tension shimmered through her inner array in echo of the ship.

 The ship shimmied, collected itself, and lunged, not forward, but through the quantum-folded layers of space as a needle thrusts through tight folds of cloth. Her mouth opened as the calm orchestra of eternity became a wild rushing concert of screaming, whirling stars -- that swallowed her whole.

 Something caught her, steadied her, and pushed her mind to focus on the harmonious melody in the center of a whirling storm of sound and color. It was the ship, sliding between the layers of folded space like a finely honed blade too sharp to even feel its passing.

 Fallon’s heart settled down to something less than complete panic. There was a hand pressed over her mouth. She sucked in a breath.

 “Are you all right?” It was Khan.

 Fallon could hear him, but he seemed to be very far away. She nodded. Her voice didn’t want to work.

 “I thought you said she didn’t have a piloting array?” It sounded like the captain.

 “There is no pilot’s access,” a soft feminine voice whispered. “Merely broad perception.”

 Fallon’s curiosity surfaced.Who ...?

 Attention and amusement became directed at Fallon. “I ...” Presence echoed all around.

 Fallon’s breath caught. She was hearing the ship’s sentience -- and it was paying attention to her. The ship sensed her presence.Oh, shit! Alarm raced through her inner array. Her pixie programming activated, shrinking her sensory signature to a tiny mote of light. Out of sheer habit, her spectral program activated, reversing her light into a mote of shadow, masking her signature.

 “Oh!” The ship registered surprise. “Has she gone?”

 “Isabeau? Are you still connected?” It was Khan. His concern echoed across their link. Curiosity poked her way, but encountered nothing. Of course. “Where are you?”

 Fallon froze.Uh-oh ... “Oh, I’m ... right here.” She turned off her spectral programming, but kept her pixie program running, letting her sensory signature gleam like a tiny comet against the larger presence of Khan, and the ship. Hopefully no one had noticed that she had disappeared completely.

 The ship registered outright surprise.

 Fallon bit back a groan. The ship had noticed. Time for some damage control. “I’m using my pixie program. It makes my signature too small to notice.”

 “I see that. I barely sense you at all.” Khan’s curiosity increased and suspicion entered the link. “However, there was no trace of you, before. Nor was there a trace of any active programs.”

 Oh, shit ... he noticed it.Her pixie program and the spectral programming at its heart were part of her secret array. Khan may have thought he’d mapped her entire brain, but in reality, he only had her surface programs. Without her personal coding language, they wouldn’t even know that those programs were there -- until she used them. And she had just used them.

 Idiot!Fallon wanted to bang her head on something hard, but the only convenient hard surface was Khan’s chest. She had a bad feeling that she was about to get into big trouble.

 Khan’s silence was deafening and his suspicion was a growling pressure along the link. “Isabeau, why do I have the feeling that there is something you haven’t told me?”

 Oh, yeah, trouble was coming all right. “I’m not used to being seen by ships, so I ... panicked, and one of my programs kicked in.”

 “A program that makes you completely invisible to sensory detection?”

 She took a careful breath. “Well ... yes. I can’t get into a ship’s mind if they know I’m there.”

 Khan tensed under her. “A program that cannot be seen when active, even though I am in direct link to your personal array?” The message slid across the link masked from everyone else -- including the ship.

 The hair on Fallon’s neck rose and sweat formed all down her back. Oh, yeah, she was in very deep trouble. “Yes.”

 Anger throbbed hot and heavy along their private connection. “Isabeau, are you going to tell me, or do I need to peel it from your skin with my whip?”

 She held very, very still. “You have to be equipped with spectral programming to detect it.”

 “Spectral programming.” Suspicion seethed through Khan.

 Fallon was almost too scared to breathe. “It’s a programming code that’s made of absence or shadow, rather than energy. ‘Spectral’ was the only name I could think of that fit.”

 “Youbuilt it?”

 “Well, yeah ... I had to find some way to mask my energy signature while I was looking through a ship’s mind, so I wouldn’t be seen -- and expelled. So I used non-energy, or reverse energy. Spectral energy.”

 “There is no such thing as spectral energy.” Disbelief threaded through the anger that throbbed from Khan.

 Fallon cringed. “True, it was something I made up. But it works pretty good for something that doesn’t actually exist.”

 “There was no sign of this ... spectral programming in your scan.”

 Fallon took a deep breath. “Of course not.” Either he killed her for hiding this from him -- or he didn’t. “Because your scan couldn’t read the spectral coding language either. Your scan saw what Peter made for me, all my basic programs. I doubt it found any of my real programs.”

 “When did you plan to tell me this?”

 Fallon’s mouth went dry. Truth or lie?Shit ... When in doubt, go for the truth. They rarely believe it anyway. She released a breath. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you at all.”

 “Isabeau.” His entire body vibrated with tension. The link thumped loudly with restrained fury.

 “Yes,‘Syr? ” He was really, really pissed. She hoped her death would be swift, but she sincerely doubted Khan had anything swift in mind.

 “I am going to beat you bloody.”

 He wasn’t going to kill her? On second thought, he was fully capable of coming up with something worse. “Yes.‘Syr .”

 Khan grabbed her thick braid, shoved her forward, and jerked the jack from the back of her head.

 The stars dissolved and normal sight returned. Fallon winced.

 In a single breath, Khan disengaged from his link and shoved Fallon from his lap and onto her feet. He did not let go of her hair. He turned to face the captain and the commander.

 Both men abruptly saluted, their fists slamming against their hearts.

 Khan nodded and marched Fallon down the stairs and into the hallway.

 She marched, driven by the punishing grip on her hair.I am so fucked .

 Oh, yes, you are,came across loud and clear.

 She blinked.What in bloody fate ...? Where the fuck had that come from?

 Khan stopped and jerked her around to face him.The collar allows telepathic contact, if I so require it. He smiled.I am suddenly of the opinion that I should have been monitoring your thoughts all along, rather than occasionally.

 Occasionally?He’d beenin her head occasionally? She narrowed her eyes at him.Get out of my mind! Lightning seared up her spine and through her augmentations. She knew that feeling. It was the punishment setting on the collar.

 It stopped before she could take a breath to scream, but her knees gave out. Khan’s fist was the only thing that held her up off the deck. She moaned.

 Khan glared down at her.Whose mind? White-hot fury accompanied the thought. He didn’t wait for an answer. He tugged her back onto her feet, shoving her before him as he marched in a long ground-eating stride. His heels thumped on the carpeted deck.

  

  

 Chapter Twenty-Three

  

 The grueling march continued through several broad corridors and ended with a sharp left turn into a small very plain chamber walled in black and carpeted in dark blood-red. The compartment was commanded by a broad black desk on the immediate left and a huge, nearly floor-to-ceiling window against the facing wall, showing space as it streamed by at jump speed. The door cycled closed behind them.

 Khan unsnapped the leash and pushed her toward the desk. He tugged out the desk chair and shoved her into it. He slapped both palms on the desk’s surface. A keyboard formed from the desk’s surface and three holographic displays bloomed into being. A second keyboard, completely holographic, appeared and lifted to sit under his palms.

 Khan’s fingers flew across the holographic keyboard. “You will give me a copy of this spectral code of yours. Now.”

 “Yes,‘Syr .” Fallon folded her arms and raised a brow at him. “I need a direct access jack and a rather specific Imperial interface script editor to make you that copy.‘Syr .”

 Khan curled his lip, showing a long tooth. “Name your program.”

 She did.

 Khan tapped across his floating keyboard. The program appeared on the main display before her.

 Fallon blinked. Great Maker, he not only had the program she needed, his version was newer than hers. She winced. Newer than hershad been. Everything she’d owned was lost back on Dyson’s.

 Khan leaned over the edge of the desk by her right knee, opened a drawer that hadn’t been there before, and wasn’t there again after he pushed it closed.

 Fallon blew a strand of hair from her nose. Hewould have a mimetic desk.

 Khan uncoiled a direct data jack, plugged one end into a port that appeared under his palm and then held the other end out to her. “Begin.”

 Fallon set the jack into the back of her skull and began writing code. Her spectral code activated, and the music that ran it began to play.

 Khan frowned. “Do I hear music?”

 Fallon nodded, watching as the code on the holographic display began to shift into harmonious patterns. “I have a problem with math. Music is mathematically precise so I use it to memorize key phrases of coding.”

 Khan frowned at his display.That explains the stylistic flavor of her coding.

 Fallon glanced at Khan, guessing that he’d meant his comment to be private. Apparently the collar-induced telepathy went both ways.

 Fallon felt her program shift, and the text written before her abruptly changed composition. Her programming still saw it, but it no longer existed as light.

 Khan frowned. “What happened?”

 Fallon frowned at her display. “I’m running it to check for flaws,‘Syr .”

 Khan stared at her. “There is nothing on my display.”

 Fallon smiled tightly. “It’s there, you just can’t see it. You have to have the programming code downloaded to perceive it.” Her internal program scan ended. It was functional. She turned to Khan. “It’s ready,‘Syr .”

 “Burn a copy.”

 Fallon shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. You can’t save it the way you can normal programs. What it’s written in disintegrates. If you want it, I have to upload it to your internal array and activate it there. We need to tandem link.”

 Khan frowned and his gaze chilled. “A direct mind-to-mind activation?”

 Fallon held his gaze and nodded. She could feel through their telepathic connection exactly how not pleased he was to hear this. “If you want this program, the only one who can give it to you, and activate it, is me.”

 Khan walked away to stare out the window at streaming space.

 Fallon crossed one knee over the other. Either he trusted her or he didn’t. If he didn’t trust her enough to go into his mind, install and then activate the code, that was perfectly fine with her. Without an active code, he couldn’t see hers -- and erase her programs.

 Any other programs could be replaced with a bit of hacking, but not this one. If he took her code, she would not be able to replace it without going back to Dyson’s for Peter’s help. She could rewrite it, but she couldn’t activate it. Peter was the only other one with an active spectral code.

 She was betting he didn’t trust her enough to let her set the code.

 Khan clasped his hands behind him and his head lifted. “Have you lied to me in any way?”

 Fallon frowned. “About what?” She cleared her throat. “‘Syr.”

 Khan turned to face her. His mouth was tight and his entire body radiated tension. “About anything.”

 Fallon stared down at her right hand, thinking, and frowned. Had she? She’d omitted a few things, absolutely, but she couldn’t recall a single thing that she’d lied about. She looked up. “Not that I can think of. No,‘Syr .”

 Khan nodded. “Very well, then.” He walked around the desk, opened another drawer that hadn’t been there, closed it, and it wasn’t there again. He stood over her and held out a tandem jack. “Do it.”

 Fallon blinked. He was trusting her? “All right.” Her fingers danced across her keyboard. “The code is ready for upload.” She took the tandem jack and swallowed. The probe had exposed some of her -- this would expose all of her.

 Trust. He trusted her. She was going to have to trust him, too.

 She got up out of the chair. “Please, have a seat.”

 Khan frowned slightly. “Will it hurt?”

 Fallon bit back a smile. She’d asked him that about the probe. “Actually, no, but it does knock you off balance when it’s first activated.”

 Khan tugged at his robes and sat.

 Fallon affixed the tandem link and readied the upload. She looked over at him. “Ready?”

 He flashed a brief smile. “I am.”

 Fallon hit the mark key. “Beginning upload.” She watched the code proceed down the page. “Nearly done.”

 “I don’t feel a thing.” Khan’s voice was steady, but Fallon was pretty sure she could smell nervous sweat coming from him.

 She smiled but kept her eyes on the screen. “You’re not going to, your mind can’t see it yet.”

 “How many people have this code?”

 “I do, and Peter, though I’m sure Peter’s given the code to someone else, by now.” Fallon tapped the keyboard and made an adjustment. “And you.” She looked at Khan. “Ready to activate?”

 Khan swallowed and took a breath. “Do me.”

 Fallon blinked, then reached in and touched his code. The strains of the orchestral piece that held the activation key pulsed from her mind directly into his.

 He frowned. “Music again?”

 Fallon didn’t answer. She turned to the display. The code shifted, connected, and came into harmony. It was active.

 “Oh ...” Khan sighed. He leaned back in the chair with his eyes closed. His eyes snapped open and he jerked forward, focusing on the display screen. His eyes narrowed. “I can see it.”

 Fallon swallowed. Oh, yes, he could.

 His brow rose. “Can I disappear the way you did?”

 Fallon glanced at the window of rushing stars and lifted her hands to remove the jack in her data port. “You said you wanted a copy,‘Syr .” She took a deep breath. “You can do everything I can, and you can tell if someone has that program active in their system.”

 “How?”

 Fallon lifted her shoulder just a little. “They tend to ... resonate, like tuning crystals.”

 Khan removed the jack from his skull. “Resonate ... I see.” He turned to her. “How do I work it?”

 “When you sleep, it plays a kind of how-to file. When you wake up, you can use it.”

 Khan frowned. “I dream it?”

 “It was the easiest way to do a tutorial,‘Syr .” She’d been a kid at the time. Dream-flight had been theonly way to do a tutorial.

 Khan pursed his lips. “And it cannot be tampered with, because no one can see it?”

 Fallon nodded. “Other codes can’t detect it, because the languages are made of opposite compositions.”

 Khan shook his head. “How did you come up with this to begin with?”

 Fallon looked at her toes. “I had a really vivid dream,‘Syr .” Inspired by one too many retellings of Peter’s stories of flying children and a sparkling gold pixie, no doubt ...

 “A dream?”

 Fallon nodded. “I was eleven at the time.”

 Khan turned the chair to look at her. “You wrote this when you wereeleven? ”

 Fallon looked up and smiled. “No,‘Syr . I had the dream at eleven. I actually made it when I was fourteen.” Her smiled faded. “I was seventeen before it could do everything it does now.” She hadn’t needed to be completely invisible until she started breaking into sentient ships.

 Khan rose from his chair in a rustle of black and red silk robes and set his palm on the broad black desk. The holographic displays winked out and the keyboard she had just used was absorbed back into the desktop. His eyes narrowed and a smile curved his mouth. “Are you ready for your whipping?”

 The hair on Fallon’s neck rose. “What?” She took a step back.

 Khan lifted his hand and uncoiled the meter-long whip from his left wrist. “You need to be punished.”

 Fallon took another step back. “‘Syr!I gave you my program!”

 “Yes, you did.” He set the whip on the smooth desktop and pulled his daggers from his sash, dropping them in his abandoned chair. “You also omitted telling me that it was there.” His chin dropped and his copper gaze heated as he unfastened his over-robe, exposing his black under-robe. “But I think you are missing the point entirely.”

 Fallon searched her memory.Point? He had a point? She lifted her chin, exposing her throat in instinctive submission. “‘Syr, I don’t understand!”

 Khan nodded. “I see that.” His smile broadened, showing teeth as he peeled his black and scarlet over-robe from his shoulders. “Go around to the front of my desk, and take off your robe.” He began to unwind the scarlet sash closing his black under-robe.

 Fallon hunched her shoulders and turned away, tugging at her red sash. It was probably better to just endure it than piss him off any more by trying to talk him out of it. She’d been cornered and beaten before ... but not with a whip. She pulled the robes from her shoulders and took deep breaths. As long as she was still breathing at the end of it, she would recover.

 Bare-chested, wearing only his long black kilt, with whip in hand, Khan followed her around to the front of the desk. His long pale braid lay over his shoulder and across his breast, nearly falling to his waist. The black band around his brow and his matching black nipple rings gleamed with midnight rainbows under the light. He tugged her robes and sash from her fingers and droppe