Sera was relieved not to have to deal with Giles Stander or his friends. Even the company of Delia and Rina was preferable.
“Hello there!” Rina waved at her as she approached. “Boy talk get boring?”
“Did Giles get tired of looking at your breasts?” Delia asked with a smile. “He’s rather tedious that way. One-track mind. Three-pump fucking. It’s a good thing he’s got money.”
“I’m sure he must have some redeeming qualities,” Sera said, but doubted it. She nibbled on a tasty bit of cheese.
“He’s unhealthy, so he’ll probably die young. He can only get hard with enhancers, so the other concubines are bored. He’ll most likely wean down to me and one mistress. That’s redeeming.” Delia rolled her eyes. “For a while it looked like none of us would be around for very long. He not only has a problem resisting the tables, he loses at them and attracts the attention of the wrong sort.”
“Wrong sort? That sounds frightening. Oh what’s that little dainty there?” Sera pretended to be interested in a tiny cake and not in working Delia for intel on her lover.
“I’ve eaten twelve of them already, and my legs will show it if I’m not careful. Yes, it was just me, the mistress, and his idiot of a wife, and suddenly he’s rolling in money. Perry and the she-demon are part of his circle, and now he’s got more women than he can satisfy. But I don’t care, because my wardrobe is far nicer than before he started going on his little trips out here and to the Edge.” Delia’s smooth exterior had rubbed off a bit. A calculating woman lived inside, and Sera needed to tread carefully.
“Trips are nice. Shops in other ’Verses. New things. Shiny things.” Sera laughed and showed off her new bracelet.
“Most of the time he doesn’t take any of us, but he does toss credits my way when he returns.”
“I’ve never been to the Edge. It seems awfully lawless and scary out there. Whatever could any man be up to?” Sera really did enjoy the savory bit she snacked on, even if her stomach had dropped at the news that Giles traveled to the Edge.
“It is lawless, Sela. Silly, why else would he go out there? No prying Federation eyes.” Delia shrugged. “It’s him and . . .” her sentence trailed off as the shouting from the hallway echoed out to where they stood. “Perry has been drinking again. Fool. And Giles is bragging, no doubt. Since the two of them are joined at the hip, I imagine I’ll end up sucking Perry’s cock while he pretends I’m Giles. And Giles will pretend he doesn’t know what Perry is thinking.” Muttering, Delia headed toward the noise, and Rina snickered.
“Well now, that was unexpected,” Sera said dryly as she watched Delia leave.
“Perry’s interest in men is pretty well-known with our set.” Rina shrugged and leaned in close. “He’s in over his head. They all are. No one can deal past the Edge and stay alive. If you were a smart woman, and I think you are, you’d get your men away from this crowd.”
“What do you mean?” Alarm raced through her at the thought of losing either one of them. And at the risk Rina had just taken by admitting they’d been dealing with the enemy.
“I can’t say more.” Rina closed off and began to chatter about her new furniture, and Sera wanted to sing for joy when she caught sight of Ash and Brandt moving toward her.
“If you’ll excuse me, Rina, thank you for your words of caution and for your lovely hospitality. I’ll be off with my boys. Hopefully to be ravaged well and truly.”
Rina kissed both her cheeks, blew kisses at Brandt and Ash, and Sera’s men each held out an arm for her to take.
“I do believe I told you two to behave yourselves,” Sera said in a purr as they moved toward the door.
“This time it wasn’t my fault, Freka. Some men need to watch their liquor.” Ash said it without humor, but he did lace the words with condescension.
Owen caught up with them before they reached the doorway. “Ash, Brandt, I do apologize for that regrettable exchange back there. I wanted to invite you to brunch tomorrow. The Nondalese have a lovely gaming hub just south of here. It’s an annex to Nondal Major. Perhaps you’d join us for the afternoon? We could speak of business without shouting, and your lovely lady here could do some shopping with the others?”
“In other words, ‘Keep her back here, because the wives are on this trip.’ ” Sera thought if she could grind her teeth mentally, she would.
“Of course. That would be amenable,” Ash said smoothly, like he shunted her off to the side to hang out with more suitable companions on a regular basis. It was one thing to know they needed to get next to these traitors to discover what was going on, but it was another to experience it. Kira would be there basking in the attention, while Sera stayed back with the other women—women they fucked but never took to places official women were invited. It was a stupid system.
“We’ll send someone for you both tomorrow then. It was a delight to meet you, Sela.” He took her hand and bowed over it, kissing it with his papery lips.
“And you as well, Owen. I hope we’ll have a chance to visit again before we leave Nondal.” She smiled, even though she wanted to wipe her hand on Ash’s shirt.
One of the younger men who’d flirted with her and tested her availability saw she was leaving and rushed over. “Are you leaving then, Sela? The evening would be so much sweeter for your presence.” He looked to Brandt and Ash briefly. “Why do you take this beauty from our presence?” She wanted to laugh at how silly he was in comparison to her men.
“Ash Walker, Brandt Pela, this is Decker Wilhelm.”
“We’re taking this beauty home to bed. You wouldn’t know what to do with her, pup,” Brandt nearly growled. He was jealous. Interesting.
Ash just sized the other man up without a word, and they moved her outside. “Good evening, Decker!” she called over her shoulder as they continued to walk her away from the house and into the cool evening air.
Brandt wanted to hit something. He’d had quite enough for one day. Traitors, assholes, double dealing, and men slavering over his woman right and left. Jealousy coursed through him, and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation nor one he was accustomed to.
“Slow down, please. These are very high heels, and the gown is long. I’m going to fall.” The amusement and agitation in her voice were evident.
He bent, shoved his shoulder into her waist and stood. She squealed as he held on to her with one hand on her ass, totally bare under the dress.
“You two seem very fond of carrying me upside down this way. But it messes up my hair, and all the blood rushes to my head. It’s not very pleasant.”
Ash laughed and patted her ass. “You’re bare under there!”
“Of course I am. The dress is very form-fitting. If I had panties on, they’d show through. Put me down.”
“If I put you down, you’ll complain about how fast we’re walking,” Brandt said, not stopping.
“You could put me down and stop running. That would be a start.”
“I like you up here. At least while I’m carrying you, no one is offering to buy you or asking me to send you their way when I’m done with you. As if I ever plan to be. Which I don’t. Let’s get that clear, woman. I’m not ever going to be done with you. And then some boy who’s barely left his mother’s breast tries it on with you in my presence like I’m not even there.” Brandt was working on being quite angry.
“He was a boy, Brandt. In case your years are now so advanced you don’t remember what it was like to be his age, it’s what they do. They swagger and throw their attitude around and try it on with women who are much older and completely out of their league.”
Her voice, muffled, was patiently amused.
He put her down gently and hauled her to him not so gently. He took her mouth without pause and devoured her.
“You don’t have to be so amused by my jealousy,” he said, struggling for breath after he broke the kiss.
“Darling, a girl has to enjoy these moments. We never know how long they’ll last.”
“No, don’t you throw Sela in my face right now. I’m damned serious.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, we’re in public with three spy cameras pointed at us right this very moment. Sela’s all I have to throw around myself in this situation.”
“What does that mean?”
“Brandt, you’re going to make our lovely Sela very grumpy. So stop.” Ash sent him a look, and Brandt swallowed his anger for the moment.
He took her hand and walked back, more slowly this time.
“It’s a lovely night. Too lovely to be so cross.” Sera’s voice soothed his edgy mood a bit. He tired of the ruse. Hated putting her on display and having her in the position of an inferior. It bothered him because he knew it bothered her, and yet she did it without complaint and quite well. In point of fact, she’d proven quite indispensable. Her ability to get that data the night before had been ingenious.
“Mmm, that looks very tasty,” Sera said as she paused before the window of a small bakery and sweet shop.