Chapter Six

Cassandra woke up to food smells. She caught the hint of citrus and sat up, holding the sheet to her chest. The world was dark, and it had the feel of after midnight.

Softly glowing crystals around the room were in domed bowls that had an opening in their tops to let the light out.

Yasku was working at the desk and glanced at her. “Feel rested?”

“Yes, Overseer.”

He gave her a dark look. “You are the one person allowed just to call me by my name. You might want to abuse the privilege.”

She wrinkled her nose and went looking for the food. “Sure, but I am being polite. Every time I think Yasku , my brain suggests butthead. ”

He got up. “That is a little too disrespectful.”

Cassandra blinked and realized that she probably shouldn’t have taunted him while naked.

He slid an arm behind her back and lifted her against his chest. “So, you wake quickly. Good to know.”

Yasku’s kiss was slow, and she hoped her breath wasn’t terrible. If it were, it didn’t slow him down.

The kiss was surprisingly fun, considering his fangs. Cassandra kept one hand on the sheet but held onto his shoulder with the other. His tongue teased at hers, and the slow rhythm that he started was sending echoes down her body. They were localizing around her sex, and she began getting slick.

Her nails clenched on his shoulder, and she pushed at him. He grinned and slowly pulled his head back. “Is my tongue too rough?”

“No. Yes. Maybe.” She blinked.

“So, one kiss gets you this hot? I am impressed. Your species with companion ratings are spectacular. I understand why the bond prices are cascading upward.”

“Good thing I am free.”

He rubbed his cheek against hers. “That makes you priceless. Good thing I have all the funds in the world and a few others. What do you want for your consort agreement?”

“Um, I want visitation with my friends and chosen family. I want the ability to defend myself or those with me if threatened. Oh, and if any horses have survived and they would manage life here, I would like a small herd of horses. I think the keffo would enjoy the company.”

He nodded. “So far, very doable.”

She smiled. “How long do I have to figure this out?”

“Until tonight. After the gathering.”

“Oh. What are you bringing to the table?”

“Funds for you, clothing, jewellery that will mark you as my consort. A house on the other side of the world for vacations. A spacecraft for travel, profits from two mines. For our children, there will be worlds and asteroid belts that they can pass to their own descendants.”

She blinked. “Do I get snacks? A break from sex on my birthday if I want it?”

He wrinkled his nose. “No, but I will make it a national holiday.”

She grinned. “Cassandra Day?”

“It has a certain ring to it.”

She sighed. “Fine. Where do I sign, and where is the food?”

He laughed and stroked her cheek. “You eat. I will draft the agreement.”

He led her, wrapped in the sheet, to the table with the warming unit on it. There was an extensive array of food in tiny portions. She sat and ate while a smiling Yasku prepared the contract. She took her time and mixed and matched a few things, getting a flavour reminiscent of pot pie. It was a lot of fun.

When she was full, she activated the field to contain the scents and drank some water before looking at Yasku. “How is it coming?”

He looked at her. “Do you want to spend time with your genetic family?”

“Absolutely not. They abused my hospitality and tampered with my calculations when we were facing over a year of rationing. They also destroyed two of my beloved birds. They would have produced four hundred eggs each before the arrival.”

He scowled. “Didn’t they know?”

“They knew. I made them sign a contract to abide by my regulations. They broke it, so I took all the animals, my serving of rations, and the feed, and I left to go to people who would appreciate my planning skills.”

“And you never saw your family again?”

“Oh, I saw them on the education station. I just walked to my class while they tried to talk to me. I am a big fan of second chances, but they were on their fourth. New world, new start.”

He nodded. “I can only imagine that betrayal.”

“I knew it was coming, but that is why I made them sign the contract. I then laminated it so they couldn’t pretend it wasn’t something they had agreed to. It took them sixty days to break it. I don’t like broken contracts.”

“Well, then, it is a good thing I feel the same.” He got up and approached her with a tablet.

He offered it to her. “Here. Please read it thoroughly.”

She looked at his serious expression and saw that his own signature was already on it.

Cassandra saw that her stipulations were all there, but something she read made her raise her brows. “If you want sex, I have to comply?”

“If it is outside normal habits, it means I have depleted my energy, and you are my power source, so I require a top-up.”

“I don’t think I can top you.” She pursed her lips. “You don’t seem the type to bottom.”

He cocked his head, went to his terminal, and after a moment, he snorted. “You are correct.”

“Wait, you looked it up? Where?”

“I purchased the Terran archive. It has music and entertainment as well as information on colloquialisms and references.”

“May I look at it?”

He grinned. “Read and sign. It is a standard Hmrain contract with your additions. The behaviour I request is normal.”

She read further. “You choose my clothing?”

“Yes. And jewels. That way, you will always be appropriate for the occasion. Hmrain visit here frequently as we are on several trade routes, and of course, our stockpile of certain minerals is a draw.”

She smiled. “Of course. As long as I get to wear leggings and tunics frequently, I will not kick up a fuss. If it isn’t a fancy event, I don’t need to dress fancy.”

“As long as you understand that, I will determine what is needed. You may not be in leggings and tunics, but tall boots and belted dresses might be more the daily wear I would like you to wear.”

She grimaced. “Fine. If I am riding, I want leggings, though. It would probably weird out the animal if I jumped on commando, as you have not mentioned undergarments.”

“They will only be offered if the clothing requires it. I do wish you to be accessible at all times.”

“This is a helluva retirement.”

She went through the rest of the contract and signed it, pressed her thumb, and a small needle took a drop of blood from her. She sighed. “There. Signed.”

Yasku took the tablet from her, nodded, and put it in a communication link.

When there was a soft chirp, he turned to her with glowing eyes. “How tired are you?”

“Not very. Why?”

He grinned and showed all four fangs. “That is about to change.” He stripped his clothing off, and she saw the mark on his chest that was nearly invisible against the colour of his skin.

“Is that your mark?”

“It is.”

“It’s very attractive.”

Yasku smirked. “I am glad you think so; you will be seeing it frequently.”

Her gaze dropped down, and she blinked. “Oh. Right. I suppose it is to scale.”

He snorted and walked toward her. She stood and gripped the top of the sheet she was wearing.

Yasku moved to stand in front of her. “Time to begin our contract, Cassandra.”

“Shouldn’t we wait until after the party tonight?”

He threaded his fingers through her hair. “Absolutely not. I would end up slaughtering any male who came your way or hauling you to my city home. Perhaps both.”

She looked at his feline features and pressed her head into his hand. His fingers caressed her scalp and held her head as he kissed her. His tongue scraped the inside of her mouth as the kiss went from soft to intense to mindless. She felt his arms come around her, and they were moving. The sheet was pulled away, and she was tilted downward to lie on her belly.

She frowned in confusion until the scrape of his tongue went from neck to shoulder over and over again. He worked his way down her back, licking and scraping his teeth over her. Cassandra had to admit, she liked it.

He licked all the way down to her ankles and back up the other leg. Her skin was humming softly, and she was waiting for the next contact, the next scrape. When she had started to hold her breath, he flipped her.

He didn’t give her time to freak out. He nuzzled her ear and licked down her neck. Everywhere his tongue went was super sensitive. Her back was giving her rushes of sensation. She could feel every thread in the fabric under her. Her back, butt, and thighs were all alive and bright, with the feeling of being touched just below her skin. She knew what a cat’s tongue did to the skin, but he didn’t do more than wake up her nervous system.

When he got to her breasts, she started twisting under him, biting her lip to stifle moans and whimpers. His hand reached up, and he gently tugged her lip free. “I am earning it; I want to hear it.” He lifted his head from between her breasts. “Also, no one is allowed to injure the consort, not even the consort.”

She gasped as he returned to waking the rest of her torso. Her voice rang in the room, and she could hear his breathing getting faster with the occasional chuckle. He liked to hear it.

Cassandra held his head, slid her fingers through his hair, and tried to stop her hips from rocking toward him as he licked her belly. He held her down with his palm, and she was content to be at a writhing simmer until he licked at the top of her sex, and the reality of her situation surged home. The adrenalin coursed through her. Her sensitive skin echoed every touch, no matter where he was in contact. That was an interesting trick.

The rasp of his tongue moved across her clit, and she howled, thrashing as she tried to get away. He gripped her hips and held her while the slow scrape across her sensitive bundle of nerves continued until she collapsed and lay panting. He chuckled and lifted his head. “Oh, that was delightful.”

She was still gasping, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Are you done?”

“Oh, no, kit. But the taste of your pleasure is wonderful.”

She looked down her body to where he lay between her thighs. His eyes were glowing, and she could see falling stars where his pupils should have been. There were constellations and nebulas staring back at her. Keeping eye contact with her, he turned his head, opened his jaws wide, and gently scraped his teeth an inch from her slit. He turned his head to the other side and repeated the gesture.

The surge of moisture that the second bite provoked couldn’t be missed considering that his chin was pressed against her. She closed her eyes and lay back.

To her surprise, he didn’t dive between her thighs, but rather, he continued his travels down the front of her legs. The feel of his tongue wrapping around her toes made her jerk as she giggled. He kept her legs still with a grip on her ankles and finished his thorough awakening of her skin.

She was awake, alert, and wondering what he was going to do next when he knelt, gripped her hips, and pulled her onto his lap with his erection caught between them.

“How are you feeling, Cassandra?”

She met his stellar gaze. “Tingly.”

“Bad?”

“Um, distracting but very good.”

He smiled. “Excellent. Are you ready to continue?”

“Yeah. Do you do this a lot?”

“Never with someone like you.”

“I doubt that.” She smiled.

He slid his fingers through her hair and pulled her head gently to make her look at him. “I don’t lie. I don’t break contracts. I do wonder what it will feel like inside you.”

She looked at him, and her heart picked up the pace. His skin was furry, and her nipples were on high alert as she breathed and they rubbed against him.

She shivered, and his grip meant he saw everything that passed through her thoughts. He chuckled. “My guess is that you have a rating in the mid-three hundreds with a possibility to proceed to over four hundred.”

“I didn’t pay attention to the rankings.”

He shifted and slid a hand between them, moving a finger against her and slipping it inside.

She inhaled sharply as his finger slowly explored then he gave a nearly imperceptible nod, and a second finger joined the first, and she clung to his arms as he verified how deep she was.

“Kit, I believe you can manage half. Maybe a bit more.”

“Okay. I can only take what I can take. I was not designed for you.”

He kissed her neck. “You will be.”

He lifted her, and she felt the pressure against her sex as his fingers slid out and the conical head of him eased in.

The next ten minutes spun away as Cassandra tried to keep her body relaxed when the muscles were all clenching. He kissed her, lifted and lowered her, increasing his depth until he reached the end of her. He pulled away from her. “And that is as far as I go. So, now we will make the best of this, and I will look forward to our future.”

She shivered as she was on the edge of orgasm. “Oh, right.”

“Are you ready?”

She nodded and wrapped her ankles around him, and he began to lift and drop her carefully until she quivered and whined. His bite was unexpected, and she screeched. The rush of heat inside her made her freeze, and he released the bite and kissed her. The taste of her own blood was in his mouth when he kissed her, and she was so busy trying to sort herself out of the riot of sensation. Her skin was humming, her opening ached, and deep inside, the heat was spreading.

Cassandra sighed and came around to him slowly stroking her sweaty back. Yasku asked, “How do you feel?”

“Tingly and full.”

He nodded. “Good. I could have warned you about the sensitization, but I didn’t.”

Cassandra leaned her forehead against him and breathed them in. “That wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be on my part.”

He laughed and stroked her back softly. “I believe we both did well. The bite is healing. How does your belly feel?”

“No longer full. What’s going on?”

“Are you familiar with nanites?”

“Vaguely. We covered a class on it at the station.”

“Well, my body manufactures them. So, when I spill into you, they enter your system, and the bite inserts the controllers. When they rebuild you to ideal physiology, they will break down and dissipate.”

“Who determines what is ideal physiology?”

“The nanites.”

“Oh. Strange.” She smiled and felt the distinct warmth under his hand.

“Shall we take a bath?”

She paused. “I am a little too tired to move but also sweaty. I am conflicted.”

He held her against him and used his wings to push them to his feet. It was pretty smooth.

He walked to the bathing chamber—because it was way too fancy to be a bathroom—and the water was churning up two- thirds of the sides. It suddenly went quiet as the warm, scented water stilled. Yasku walked down a set of steps, and then, he walked to the deep end and settled in the water.

“How did the tub fill?”

“I set a timer.” He nuzzled her neck.

She sighed and relaxed in his arms. “This is not how I planned to spend my retirement.”

He stroked her back. “I am very glad you were trying to sweat out your khimerion.”

“Yeah, it hasn’t been creeping out much lately.”

“That is good. You are at seventy-five percent saturation of the most volatile and useful mineral in this sector.”

“Yeah, well. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I paid my bond and got enough to get the others clear.”

“Most of them were near the end of their bond anyway.”

She sighed; her voice was a sleepy mumble. “I know. I didn’t realize that I couldn’t communicate or pay them off from the mine. I will get them nice presents when they find partners. Oh, can we go shopping in the city before this evening?”

He stroked her back. “We have signed the contract, so it is imperative that we do some shopping for you.”

She yawned. “This is stupid; I just slept.”

“The nanites put you under to do their work. You will be up again in a few hours.”

“Will you wash my back?”

He chuckled. “Yes, Cassandra, I will.”

She sighed and stroked his neck as the feeling of being warm and relaxed knocked her out.