A Treasure Worth Far More Than Rubies

At the same time Xion was speaking with Mirage, a separate call came through for the dark-haired woman seated in The Grande's opulent bar.

‘What the fokk?' she whispered into her wrist comm after listening for a beat.

‘Tis true, the data stream you placed in the Eden II's vault has been turned off,' the voice of her eldest brother, Korin, thundered down the line. ‘Our sponsor is livid. You must devise another fokkin' way we can salvage this.'

She had already enacted her Plan B and pulled off a master stroke at the same time. But Korin had little imagination and had no idea, and she had zero intention of informing him.

He'd never been tactical, unable to see past his ego.

On the other hand, Katya constantly strategised days, weeks, and months in advance and always had an alternate fallback.

‘We need to find another way to access the Sable vaults.'

‘Leave it with me,' she soothed to smooth his ruffled feathers.

‘Father demands it; otherwise, you know what will happen,' Korin continued.

This time, his words cut through, and her breath hitched as a frisson of ice trailed down her spine.

Tapping off the call, she stared into her drink, her mind racing like always.

A shadow fell over her table, and her body shivered in anticipation and wild desire before she even raised her head, already reacting to who it was.

Xion slowed to a stop at a small table in the hotel bar.

The stunning woman in a crimson dress glanced up.

Despite her efforts to appear nonchalant, he tagged a subtle flicker of emotion flash flit over her features as she caught sight of him.

A tsunami of yearning hit, and his breath hitched.

A feral, prescient vision went through him. Fokk she was meant to be his, a treasure, a collectable worth far more than all the rubies in Pegasi.

He tamped the untamed need to possess her, and lifting a brow, Xion fell uninvited into the seat across her. ‘May I? Party got too much for you like it did for me?'

Katya's eyes narrowed as she regarded Xion, her usual composure wavering for a moment before she masked it with a charming smile.

‘Just taking a little breather from the festivities,' she murmured, her husky tone light but her eyes sharp. ‘You seem to be everywhere tonight, Sable. Keeping tabs on me?'

The Rider leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his lips. ‘Oh no, Katya, our meetings are purely coincidental. That said, you're one alluring woman that none can resist,' he quipped.

His gaze flicked towards her right shoulder where the real Serpent's Iris lay hidden.

Katya's simper didn't reach her eyes as she raised an eyebrow. ‘I'm flattered.'

Her voice held a faint edge of challenge as she sipped her drink, the clink of ice against crystal cutting through the tension between them.

Xion chuckled, letting his meta-glowing eyes fall on her, giving her his full and undeniable attention.

She squirmed in her seat.

He wasn't sure whether it was because she wanted to deflect their heated attraction or was uncomfortable under the weight of his scrutiny. ‘You're much more relaxed now than a mere hour ago. You find what or who you needed?' he rasped.

Katya's grip on her glass tightened, but her face remained inscrutable. ‘I'm not confused what you mean, Xion. I was enjoying the party like everyone else.'

‘You were jumpy, a tad flighty,' Xion pushed, his drawl laced with a hint of mockery, his gaze piercing through her facade. ‘What got you so riled up?'

A flicker of surprise crossed Katya's features before she schooled her expression into nonchalance. ‘You have a vivid imagination, Sable. Perhaps you've had too much champagne tonight. Or perchance not enough.'

‘Maybe so,' Xion smirked. ‘I'm going with not enough. Care to join me?'

He flashed Katya a sensual smirk that hit her to the core.

She didn't have the luxury of getting caught up in his lure.

She had to land her ace in the hole, and it cut her up to think of what she was about to do.

She also needed to watch herself because, on top of being savvy as fokk, Xion Sable was one enticing male creature.

Especially when he lifted those lush lips and added a dimple to the right side of his cheek.

One she wanted to dip her tongue into and lave even as he powered his cock into her.

Her face heated at the unbidden thought, and she swore his eyes danced like he could read her X-rated mind.

‘Katya, a drink?' he repeated.

She nodded. ‘Same as before, the barman knows what I had.'

He rose and made for the bar. Taking a step past her, he stumbled, brushing against her lapel.

He flung out an arm to steady himself and caught her shoulder.

The pocket within the moulded sleeve ripped open.

A crimson object was hurled out of its protective hold.

The red bauble fell and rolled to the ground.

Katya panicked and feinted a swoon, falling into Xion's arms as her hand reached for the gem.

Her mind whirled as he stared at her face so close to his.

She bucked in his embrace as her eyes spotted sight of her purse, which had fallen a few feet behind him.

‘My bag,' she whispered.

He turned his head to retrieve it, and in that moment, Katya managed to slip the ruby into her mouth covertly.

When he whipped his head back, she served him with a smile.

Which began an impressive series of tricks to hide the prize gem.

First, a sneeze delivered it from her hands and into her small bag, where it bulged, needing an alternative hiding place.

She slid the clutch out of view below the table, and in her lap, she wrapped the gemstone in a tissue she had removed from her purse.

‘You OK?' Xion murmured, with concern in his glowing meta gaze.

‘I will be,' she breathed, patting her hair down with her free hand. ‘I'll even be better when I have that drink you promised in my hand.'

He gave her a narrowed look, lips turning up.

When he rose to get a drink from the bar, she waited for a beat before slipping the wrapped gem between her breasts.

Studying him at the counter, bosom heaving, she wondered whether he'd caught the entire juggling act.

Fokk, it'd been a close call.

That was why she had to be on her A-game with this man; she could not be sure his stumble had not been deliberate.

But how would he have known about the heist?

She bristled, perplexed emotions running riot through her.

She wanted to run from it all but couldn't escape yet.

Not until she had what she needed from him.

Xion went on a charm offensive.

The bar was the perfect setting for it.

It helped that the fine liquor put him in the right mood and the woman in question as sexy as fokk.

He brought back a bottle of rare whisky for himself and the bubbliest of top-shelf champagne for her.

He poured with a liberal hand.

Katya was a stunning woman, and he sensed her relax as he unleashed his charisma.

She responded with laughs and smiles that weren't saucy, fake or unreal.

As they bantered back and forth, Xion steered the conversation away from sensitive topics like heists, robberies and the gem nestled in between her lush tits.

Soon, her husky laugh echoed in the room as he shared stories of his adventures running security for Eden II.

He sensed Katya's walls beginning to crack as he manipulated their chat, luring her in with his enticing yarns.

‘You're quite the storyteller, Sable,' Katya remarked with a hint of admiration as she leaned in closer, her guard lowered for a moment.

Xion flashed a charming smile, his eyes glinting with amusement and calculation. ‘Just sharing a slice of my world with you, Katya. It seems we've both led fascinating lives, nada?'

Katya's mask slipped for a fraction of a second before she regained her composure. ‘That's one way to put it,' she hedged, her tone light but with an underlying tension.

The Rider's mocha-jade gaze locked with hers, a silent challenge as they danced on the edge of deception and revelation. ‘Here's to more fascination,' he rasped, eyes locking on her, giving in to the energy and arced attraction that was ratcheting up between them.

He flicked a quick look once more to the swell of her breasts, where he'd tagged it after she had slipped the Iris after her impressive juggling act.

He moved his scorching eyes back up to her face to find she'd noted his eyes resting on her stunning cleavage.

He met her eyes with a slight smirk.

The buzz of whisky hit, and the lock of their glances sent a lightning bolt straight to his cock.

Fokk, she was a trip.

He had to keep his lips pressed tight at the time to stop from leaning in to nip on her nape.

She had a way of tossing her hair back, giving a throaty laugh that exposed the curve of her neck.

Her halo of gems on her temple pulsed with soft light, and he clenched his fists, wanting to run his hand over them and then his mouth.

He imagined her under him, head thrown back in passion.

Her hips working, grinding against him.

With sensual seduction in her eyes

Fokk, he was beginning to feel.

Even though he was well aware of the endgame and that she was not a regular woman, there was something real and raw about her.

Pushed the unbidden emotion rising inside him, Xion continued to play along, weaving through conversations and laughter with Katya.

Her intelligence was spectacular. She was quick-witted, brilliant, and even droll as they discussed topics ranging from geopolitics to the latest in quantum computing.

Xion couldn't help but be impressed by how she shifted gears, her intellect matching and keeping up with his own.

Yet beneath the surface banter and intellectual sparring, an unspoken tension hung heavy in the air between them.

He relished in it, committing himself to go all the way in the name of justice.

Xion was the consummate date, Katya thought. Hot as hell, with that panther lean, roguish smile and those locks that fell over shoulders that she wanted to stroke.

His mocha eyes were like kahawa, sugar and cream on Saturday morning.

He was giving off a spicy musk, and under his suit jacket, his muscled, freakin' naked chest gleamed as his meta-tattoos shifted and oscillated on his dermis.

She was burning up under his heated gaze. Damn, this heat wasn't safe.

She fell into the lie her heart was telling her, her soul hanging onto the mixed messages her body and psyche were sending.

Slipping in the mood, she began to play out scenarios in her mind.

Of Xion and her in a real situationship.

Of him in her bed, driving his hips into her, working those sensual lips over her skin, his hands stroking and heating her.

A flood of wet hit as the line between reality and fantasy blurred for Katya. Xion's charm and charisma were like a drug, intoxicating her senses and clouding her judgement.

She found herself drawn to him in a way she hadn't anticipated, his magnetic presence luring her into a web of desire and danger.

As they laughed and talked, a tiny warning gnawed at the back of Katya's mind, a whisper telling her not to trust him.

But with each shared brush of their hands and every stolen glance, she pushed reason aside, caught up in the moment's thrill.

When Xion leaned in, his breath warm against her ear as he whispered another tantalising anecdote, Katya almost lost it.

She was playing with fire, but she couldn't resist the allure of the flames dancing over her skin.

The heat of his body radiated towards her, igniting a primal spark deep within her.

His words, laced with seduction and mystery, wrapped around her like a silk thread, pulling her closer to the edge of a dangerous precipice.

In that charged moment, the world encircling them faded into a blur.

It was like a shroud fell over their table, enclosing them from the occasional murmur of hushed voices from other tables, the sophisticated music, and the gentle tinkle of glassware nearby.

Katya made a decision.

With a suddenness that surprised her, she leaned in to meet Xion halfway, her lips brushing against his in a daring move that sent a shockwave through them both.

The kiss was electric, a collision of desire and deception that left them breathless. In that fleeting instant, all pretence and caution fell away, consumed by a hunger neither could deny.

They pulled back from each other, chests heaving, their eyes locked in a silent acknowledgement of the unspoken truths between them.

Katya's pulse raced as she processed the gravity of what had just happened.

‘Fokk woman, what was that?'

She panicked at his growl and the narrowed set of his golden-jade gaze.

Until he leaned in and rasped under his breath, ‘Who the hell do you think you are, woman, making me feel what I don't want to?'

His words sent frissons of need through her.

He reached a muscled hand, nabbed the back of her head and tugged her to him.

His lips crashed over hers in a punishing, writhing, heated exchange.

When he withdrew, leaving her panting, he growled. ‘I want to feel you all of Katya. Tonight.'

His rasp delivered a wave of craving through her.

Damn, he hit different.

The bar's dim light cast shadows on his face, accentuating the intensity in his eyes. She could nearly touch the danger that radiated from him, a thrill coursing through her veins at the thought of what lay beyond this seductive facade.

When his other hand banded around her waist, and one long finger brushed the underside of her breasts, she almost combusted.

At that moment, Katya sensed she was teetering on the edge of something dangerous and intoxicating.

Her mind screamed at her to pull away, to resist the lure of Xion's charm and magnetism. But her body betrayed her, leaning into his touch as if drawn by an invisible force.

The music faded into the background as they locked eyes, a silent challenge passing between them. Katya unravelled under his gaze, her walls crumbling in the face of this compelling energy.

He was burning for her.

She felt the same way, by the heaving chest, glowing skin gems and parted soft lips.

It was time to level up.

‘Staying at this hotel?' Xion rasped.

‘I am,' she replied, her voice husky with an undertone of desire.

Their eyes met once more.

‘If I say so, I think you're too buzzed to return to your lodgings,' she added.

There was nothing to lose, so he shot his shot.

‘You may say so,' he grunted. ‘What are you going to do about it?'

Her haloed gems flashed, and her chest heaved.

She was feeling the heat as much as he was.

As the tension crackled between them, Katya exhaled, revealing a raw hunger in her eyes that mirrored Xion's desire.

She leaned in closer, her breath mingling with his as she whispered, ‘I think I can accommodate you.'

He cocked a brow. ‘Why don't we explore said accommodations and see how hot this fire burns.'

She rose to her feet and extended a slender hand.

Despite a warning in the back of his mind, he took it.

Without another word, Xion took her hand and led her out of the bustling bar, their steps quickening with anticipation.

At the elevator, he ushered her inside, stroking all down her back.

‘No attachments, beautiful,' he murmured, giving her his consummate one-night stand preamble. Even as the words left his lips, he sensed their hollowness and regretted them. ‘Sorry - .'

‘No feelings, handsome,' she breathed in return, as if she hadn't tagged his contriteness.

The lift pinged open.

They exited, exchanging yet another heated glance.

The air conditioning did little to cool their skin as they made their way to Katya's suite, along a corridor lined with plush carpeting in deep burgundy.

The walls were pristine white, adorned with ornate gold accents.

Soft instrumental music filled the space, adding to the sophistication of the ambience.

Crystal chandeliers hang from the high ceilings, casting a warm glow over the opulent surroundings.

She paused at a gild-edged door and fumbled with her wrist comm.

A muted ping let them into an apartment as extravagant as the hallway outside.

It featured rich furniture, silk curtains, and velvet cushions scattered throughout.

It invited, called and promised a sensual voyage of discovery.

Between two bodies, souls and minds.