Alkard

ALKARD

I brooded as I stalked through the station.

Making the deal with Tessi had been a mistake.

There were things that must be attended to, the simmering chaos brewing just below the surface of Thodos III needed to be dealt with.

And yet, I couldn't resist.

Thoughts still swirling, I reached the station's green belt, an unfamiliar anxiety rising as I neared home. After all, Tessi would be there when I arrived.

There would be no time for second guesses.

Nayal greeted me at the door. The retired warrior bore a look of worry etched onto his granite-like features.

"Just out with it, Nayal," I said with a sigh. "No point in being indirect."

The butler took my overcoat, folding it with care as the wheels turned behind his eyes.

"As you wish. I could say any number of things about bringing stray humans in from the streets. If you want an Earth pet, I would suggest one of the Felis Catus. Much easier to take care of. But instead, I will only ask you one question, and one question only."

Nayal's jaw set hard. "Are you sure you know what you are doing, young master?"

He only asked the question no one else dared ask.

"Of course I know what I'm doing." I put a hand on his shoulder. "I would never put you or the organization in danger, Nayal. You know that."

"I was more thinking in terms of distraction rather than security, Master Alkard," Nayal said dryly. The butler's eyes crinkled with the amusement he managed to otherwise keep off his face. "She is a young, healthy, fertile female of a sexually compatible species after all?—"

"I get your point, Nayal. I assure you I'm not going to end up over my head about her."

"As you will, sir."

As I climbed the stairs, I could only wonder.

Was I already over my head?

My private quarters were in the opposite wing from where Tessi was staying. Something inside of me protested as I went further from her, instead of closer. I gritted my teeth and fought the feeling.

I am not in over my head. I do know what I'm doing.

Stripping down, I stepped into the shower, letting the water rush over me. Most bathing facilities on the station were of the sonic variety, to preserve vital water supplies. Not this one. It tapped right into the irrigation reservoir for the trees of the green belt, then recycled and purified it for use again.

I cleaned the blood from my gray skin, then toweled myself off while I considered my garments for the evening. Considering our eventual destination, I needed to look my best.

Dammit.

I wasn't fooling anyone, let alone myself.

I didn't want to look good for the rabble.

I wanted to look good for her.

Even just thinking of her quickened my pulse and ignited my senses. An urgency-tinged excitement sparked through my core. I no longer felt like tarrying. I quickly put together an outfit I knew worked well.

A leather doublet so dark red it flirted with blackness covered my torso, belted at the waist over black trousers.

Simple, but effective.

Lastly, I donned a magnificent cloak made entirely of the plumage of a flying creature native to the Mondian home world. The black feathers were so starkly black, they almost seemed to be made of shadow, but the occasional glimmer of light reflected off of them to dazzling effect.

I swept up to her chambers, pausing only for a moment before rapping on the door, as was the human custom.

When I received no response, I pushed the panel and opened the door. Inside, my eyes quickly found her standing by the window and looking out on the arboretum.

Her arms crossed over her chest, her hair a sloppy mess as if she'd just awoken from a nap, she did not look the least bit ready.

Tessi met my gaze with a look of defiance that pushed me over the edge.

Where on the station did she even find clothing so…so dowdy in this house! I should rip them off of her.

My heartbeat sped up like I was in a foot race. I liked that idea.

Yes, tear her clothing right off of her, then bend her over the bed and ? —

With a monumental force of willpower, I made that train of thought derail. It was not the way to handle this one. I'd need as much subtlety as firmness.

She did this because she wanted to get a rise out of me, pure and simple. If I allowed that, I played into her hands. I would show her how the game was truly played.

I forced myself to relax, letting go of my anger as much as I could. Then, in a calm and casual tone, I asked her one question.

"I won't stop you, but I must ask if you really want to dine at the Nebula like that?"

Her jaw dropped open.

"The…Nebula? Seriously? Do they even let gangsters in there?"

I eyed her sourly.

"No, but they let businessmen in. First lesson, my pet. We never discuss business in public, or in front of outsiders. And we never, ever, refer to ourselves as gangsters."

She put her hand on her out-thrust hip.

"And what do you want to call yourselves, then? How many times have I heard it? ‘Don't mess with the Grim-fucking-fangs.' Always a theme to prove how much of a bad ass you are."

"Reputation is everything." I shrugged. "It's for the best to cultivate a certain healthy amount of fear of our business enterprise. It's for everyone's benefit."

"How is terrifying people to their benefit?"

"It keeps them from doing something stupid, like instead of paying their protection credits for the week, they try to ambush my button men with a crowbar."

"Button men?"

"The low level soldiers who do the dangerous pick up work."

Why tell her all of this? I couldn't fathom why, unless I planned on keeping her around for a lot longer than a month. I shook it off and returned my mind to the business at hand.

"It's been a long day, my dear. I am famished. For the last four hours, I have been unable to get the thought of eating Khamish rump roast out of my mind, and the longer you take to get ready, the longer I must go without my dinner."

I cocked an eyebrow when she continued to stand by the window.

"The hungrier I grow, the more likely I will be…temperamental. Unless you want me to throw you over my lap and spank you again, you'd best get about the business of preparing yourself."

She froze, her wide eyes darkening, nostrils flaring. My knees nearly buckled at the sudden aroma filling the room.

By all the Dark, she was going to break me.

Suddenly she shook off her apparent fugue, and licked her lips while her eyes burned with heat.

"I, ah, just give me five minutes?"

"Very well."

She went to the closet, then turned and gave me a pointed stare.

"What?"

"Turn around."

"Very well." I turned my back, smirking as I now faced the mirror on the vanity. I could still easily watch all that transpired.

She peeled out of the baggy garments, revealing her sweetly curved body. Human women had a wondrous form, I decided. Or at least, this one did. I had never been all that impressed before.

My heart thudded a bit harder when her breasts came free. Her large, creamy pink areola made me lick my lips. I tried to rein myself in, but it proved difficult.

To hell with dinner. I'll just eat her instead .

"I can't believe we're going to the Nebula," she said. "I've heard all kinds of stories about it."

"Whatever you have heard is not an exaggeration. It is, in fact, likely an understatement."

She laughed, a clear bell.

I'd need to do more things to get her to laugh again.

"I've heard all kinds of things that are too good to be true. Like the station's way bigger than it seems, and there's a whole other beautiful area where tens of thousands of people live."

My breath caught. If she'd grown up in the Under, had worked at dive bars in the lower worlds for her entire life, how much of the world around her did she really not know about?

And could I be the one to show her?

"Those are not exaggerations, either."

She paused, looking over with shock as she held a black dress in her arms.

"Jesus Christ, you must be kidding me."

Tessi slid the dress on with a graceful swirl and settled the thin straps onto her shoulders. She went to the vanity and didn't seem to do much, but when she finished, her lips were red and her eyes had a smoky shadow.

Her hair had been put into an updo that somehow made the occasional unruly curl look deliberate. I had to do a double take, because it was hard to believe I was looking at the same woman I had walked in on five minutes before.

"Okay," she said.

I turned around, and even though I had already taken a sneak preview, seeing her still took my breath away.

"You are beauty personified," I said in a hoarse whisper, offering my arm. "Shall we?"

She hooked her arm with mine, and a giddy warmth spread over my chest. Tonight was going to be special.

One way or another.