Aiden and Ky Read online

  Ky said, “I have a feeling that after our last stunt, they won’t be lenient.”

  Aiden grinned suddenly. “You mean when you auctioned me off in the street?”

  Ky had stood Aiden on a block in the middle of Pas City and pretended to sell him to the highest bidder. Women had flocked to watch, causing a near riot. The patrollers had not been amused.

  “Yeah, that was fun,” Ky said. “Except we pissed off the patrollers, more so when all those women paid to get us out.”

  “It was for a good cause,” Aiden pointed out.

  They had held the auction to distract all the patrollers in the district so that their friend Rio could get himself off-planet unhindered.

  “I know. I don’t think that will help us any.”

  Aiden blew out his breath. “Well, it’s been a nice almost-life.”

  “Hey, we’re Shareem. We’re not supposed to worry about things like this. No real feelings, right?”

  Aiden did not smile at Ky’s attempt at humor. “We’re screwed, my friend.”

  “Now that you mention it, I’d love to have screwed one last time.”

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  Aiden opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then thought better of it.

  “Yeah.”

  “Remember Judith’s birthday?” Ky said, thinking of their friend who ran a bar in the heart of the city. “Just the three of us. Her on the bar.”

  “Naked,” Aiden said. “All spread out for us.”

  “Me pouring that sweet liqueur over her body.”

  “Her getting pissed because it was her most expensive stuff.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Ky chuckled. “It was tasty.”

  “What I really liked,” Aiden said slowly, “was when we were licking her pussy together and our tongues got all mixed up. Me tasting her on your lips.”

  Ky felt his cock start to rise. “Yeah, that wasn’t bad. Surprised me.”

  “Made it twice as good.”

  Ky considered. “Well, maybe not twice as good. It can’t have been that good for you kissing me.”

  Aiden got an odd look on his face. Ky mused that it hadn’t been bad, feeling Aiden’s strong lips and his hot tongue flickering briefly across his. Different to feel another man’s whiskers burn his mouth, but not bad. It had turned Judith on pretty hard.

  Aiden crossed the short space of cell between them. Ky looked up in surprise just as Aiden slanted his mouth across Ky’s in a bruising kiss.

  * * * * *

  “What do you think of Shareem?” Brianne asked her fiancé Dranis m’Aren as they strolled in the starlit garden protected by the highest-tech force fields in existence. The brutal desert waited outside for the unwary, but under the canopy the air was still, the night bright with stars.

  Dranis walked with his hands behind his back, his long coat bumping his knee-high boots. He was about ten years older than Brianne and handsome in a bland sort of way.

  His parents had been too careful in planning his face, so his handsomeness was somewhat vapid.

  The Shareem in the coffee bar had exuded sensuality. The blond man had been face-sculpted by an artist, that was obvious. Small imperfections like one side of his mouth quirking higher than the other kept his face from being overly perfect and dull.

  And his eyes. Hot blue and beautiful, they’d fixed on Brianne and she’d felt pleasured, ready for climax.

  Her meditation coaches told her that unhealthy sexual yearnings should be exercised out of the body, but even after several hours of working out, Brianne’s yearnings lingered. What might have happened if she had taken the Shareem’s unspoken invitation and walked with him to her private transport?

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  The seats of her hover car were softest plush and just wide enough for a Shareem to lay on top of her with his warm weight…

  She broke off the thought, her face hot. No wonder Shareem were outlawed. They distracted a woman’s thoughts and made men like Dranis look dull and ineffectual in comparison.

  Well, she’d always thought Dranis boring, but she hadn’t really cared before.

  Husbands were for donating DNA, nothing more. Dranis had his own life, and she had hers. Marriage was a business decision, especially in the d’Aroth family.

  Wouldn’ t it be fun, her mind taunted her, if you had a Shareem all to yourself? Even for a little while?

  Dranis snorted suddenly, and she jumped. He sat down on a bench, flipping his coattails out of his way. “Shareem? I don’t think anything about them. They’re just animals, aren’t they?”

  Brianne shrugged as she sat down next to him. “They look human enough to me.

  Two arms, two legs…” Bodies to die for, eyes that made you think things you’ d never dream of thinking.

  “That’s where the resemblance ends,” Dranis said. “Animals, Brianne. Created for rutting women stupid enough to be taken in by them. Which you never will be. I know your IQ.”

  “Of course not,” Brianne said dryly. “I am far too intelligent.”

  “Exactly.”

  Finished with the conversation, Dranis looked up at the night through the clear force field. “No place like Bor Narga for stargazing, is there? Don’t know why anyone ever wants to leave.”

  “Shareem aren’t allowed to leave.”

  He glanced at her, surprised. “Well, no, they have to be controlled. Can’t have them roaming the galaxy ravishing everywhere they go, can we? They need to be contained.”

  “Because they’re animals?”

  “Because they can’t be trusted. How embarrassing for Bor Narga if we let them spread their tainted genes everywhere.”

  Sudden anger washed through her, and she stood up abruptly. Dranis regarded her in surprise.

  “I have some work to do,” she lied, then whirled and walked quickly away.

  “All right,” she heard Dranis say behind her. He couldn’t have cared less.

  Brianne really didn’t have any work to do, but she thought if she stayed a moment longer she would kick Dranis in his boring behind.

  Animals for stupid women, that’s what Dranis thought. Complacent idiot.

  Shareem were human enough. From what she’d read, they could pour pheromones over women and stir the women’s own endorphins, subtly seducing without even 12

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  touching them. In the coffee shop Brianne had been ready to grope herself under her robes, sliding her fingers into her own wetness. Right there in front of everyone.

  It had nothing to do with her IQ and everything to do with her being female. And alive.

  Why had she decided to go into that coffee bar today? Just looking at the Shareem had ruined her concentration. She couldn’t finish any work, she snapped at everyone and she couldn’t stop fantasizing about him.

  His hard body against her skin, sweat and heat sliding, his lips covering hers, tongue probing her mouth.

  But Brianne didn’t like sex. Did she? Sex was for commoners. For women base enough to rip off their clothes and kneel in front of him, to grasp her own breasts while she opened her mouth wide for his cock.

  Sweet gods.

  Brianne brushed her hand over her brow, feeling hot liquid in her quim. What had he done to her?

  Her communications terminal beeped softly at that moment, a welcome distraction.

  She breathed a sigh of relief and touched the screen to answer. “Yes, who is it?”

  The voice of her receptionist purred, “Lady Talan d’Urvey, my lady.”

  Brianne started. Talan d’Urvey was a wealthy highborn woman, quiet-spoken and kind. She was also notorious for having paired up with a Shareem, a tall, impossibly gorgeous man named Rees. Brianne had seen his holo pic in the digital tabloids. Lady Talan lived with him openly, defying convention and almost getting herself shunned.

  Almost—ladies couldn’t quite bring themselves to blackball her, because Lady Talan was one of the wealthiest women on
Bor Narga.

  Strange that Brianne should see her first Shareem today and then get a call from Talan d’Urvey.

  “Put her through,” she said tersely.

  A moment later the picture of a young woman with dark red hair and blue eyes filled her screen. A serenity lingered about Lady Talan’s face as though she’d found the secret to happiness. Or maybe that came from having sex with a man who could constantly flood her with endorphins.

  Talan did not look pleased at the moment. She glared at Brianne, her blue eyes tense.

  “Lady d’Urvey,” Brianne said politely, expecting to be asked a question about some charity or other they were both on the board of. “What may I do for you?”

  “Lady d’Aroth, why did you have Aiden arrested?”

  Brianne blinked. “Aiden?”

  “Did you not even ask his name?” Lady Talan asked angrily. “Shareem have names, you know. You could at least do them the courtesy of using them.”

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  Brianne sat back with a bump. “Shareem? Arrested?”

  “Yes. He’s in the high-security jail at Senoda.”

  Brianne’s jaw went slack, her mind racing. Of course. Her monitors. Her alert bodyguards monitored her heart rate and adrenaline levels when she was out, especially when she left their sight, so they would know if anyone tried to attack her.

  They were trained to deal ruthlessly with an attacker.

  When the Shareem had looked at her and made her heart go pitter-pat, the bodyguards had assumed… And then she’d run out of there like there was a fire under her robes—or at least between her legs.

  She started babbling to Lady Talan. “I didn’t know… I’ll see to it… I’ll take care of it, I assure you. Thank you for bringing the problem to my attention.”

  Brianne d’Aroth, articulate and well-educated, jabbering like a schoolgirl trying to explain her truancy. She signed off, not lessening Lady Talan’s scowl.

  She laid her hands on her desk and drew a deep breath. Then she jammed on the intercom and shouted for her chief bodyguard. “Harbourgh! What the hell did you do?”

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  Chapter Three

  The Bathhouse

  “…and all charges will be dismissed,” the colorless woman said. “Lady d’Aroth sends her deepest apologies.”

  The robed lawyer who let Aiden and Ky out of jail looked less than happy to do so.

  She apparently shared the view that Shareem were best kept locked up if they couldn’t be terminated.

  Clad once again in his black leather leggings and jacket, Ky grinned. “Thanks, darlin’.” He swatted her behind as he strode past her and out of the building.

  Out on the sun-blasted road Ky waited for Aiden to catch up. Aiden had resumed wearing his sleeveless tunic and sun-blocking robes.

  “Making friends wherever you go,” Aiden said mildly.

  “Hey, she pissed me off. All charges dropped— a mistake, little Miss Brianne d’Aroth decides.”

  “Her bodyguards made the mistake. She didn’t even know.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “You didn’t feel her pheromones.” Aiden smiled. “Beautiful face and a great body under those robes. You’ve seen her on the digitals.”

  “Doesn’t mean I like her,” Ky growled. “Besides, she’s a d’Aroth.”

  “Lighten up. We’re still alive.”

  Ky stretched, locking his fingers together and raising his arms above his head. His loose dark hair moved in the breeze, stretching down to touch his leather-clad ass. Two women in the uniforms of city workers paused to gaze at him appreciatively.

  “Watch it,” Aiden said with a grin. “We’ll be right back inside.”

  “Screw that. Bath?”

  Aiden nodded and they moved off to find public transport to take them back to Pas City.

  Their enterprising friend Judith had recently set up a bathhouse where Shareem could swim, bathe and enjoy themselves without hindrance. Shareem could bathe at home in their own water showers, of course, but they found they liked having a place they could hang out without worrying about patrollers. Judith’s bar was another place they could talk, though patrollers sometimes came in to police it. Judith had kept the bathhouse a closely guarded secret, and the Shareem weren’t telling.

  Ky knew that Judith sometimes let women—carefully screened and sworn to secrecy—sit in observation rooms and watch the Shareem bathe or swim. The Shareem 15

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  knew and didn’t mind. If women wanted to stare at them, fine. That’s what Shareem were for, to be looked at, wanted, sought out.

  Judith made plenty of money on the baths and spent it all on her Shareem. She regularly added luxuries, including cascading waterfall showers, massages and steam rooms.

  How to pamper your sex slave, Ky thought as they left the hover train and entered the building that housed the baths.

  They went into the scruffy shop Judith maintained in front selling cheap trinkets and art reproductions. But Shareem knew that in the back room was a latch that let a part of the wall slide back, admitting them into halls that led to marble rooms and the bath chambers.

  As soon as the wall sealed behind them, Ky started to strip off his clothes. A Shareem had no shame about his body—the natural state for them was naked. Shareem covered up to go outside only because the patrollers would love any excuse to arrest them and besides, the harsh Bor Nargan sun would fry them to a crisp.

  In the bathhouse with only Shareem—and maybe a few voyeurs looking through false walls—clothes were superfluous.

  Ky bundled his clothes onto a wicker shelf at one end of the huge steaming pool.

  “I’ll be glad to wash the stink of jail off me.”

  “You were sterilized,” Aiden pointed out, also stripping. “Cleaner than you’ve ever been in your life.”

  “Don’t say sterilized. I don’t like that word.”

  Aiden snickered but shut up.

  Ky walked to the edge of the pool and slowly lowered himself in. The bite of heat on his legs and belly and cock felt damn good. Judith was a goddess. The tiny ring that adorned his right nipple glinted under the water.

  He moved to a seat and watched Aiden finish folding his clothes. Aiden was like that—neat, folding things, keeping his room in the apartment they shared tidy. Ky had seen Aiden naked before, had for twenty years, but today he noticed.

  Aiden’s body was like a taut bow, not as bulky as Ky, who had been made to be a Dom. Aiden was tall and muscular, but he wore his frame almost elegantly. The golden hair that dusted his chest and twisted around his balls was a little darker than the sweep of hair on his head. He had a tight ass curving to strong thighs.

  The black chain on his right biceps was thinner than Ky’s. Level one chains were the thinnest of all.

  The kiss in the cell had been brief. Aiden had laughed afterward, backing away, saying, “What the hell? We’re going to die.”

  Ky hadn’t answered. Dark feelings had swirled through him at the feel of Aiden’s tongue in his mouth, and he’d thought many things.

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  First that he hadn’t minded all that much. Second that he liked the taste of Aiden’s lips and wouldn’t mind tasting them again. Third that his body temperature was heating to dangerous levels and he needed release.

  Fourth that Aiden’s kiss reminded Ky of DNAmo and its experiments, experiments he never wanted to remember.

  Aiden slid into the pool and ducked under, water darkening his blond hair. He found a seat, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. They didn’t speak. Aiden and Ky could sit in companionable silence for hours, not needing to converse.

  Not even about the kiss. When it was important, they’d come to it.

  Ky closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of the cool bench on his backside, the lap of water against his shoulders, the warm relaxing steam.

  “You’re still
brooding,” Aiden said. “I can feel brooding all the way over here.”

  Ky answered without opening his eyes. “I’m a Dom. Being bound and helpless goes against the grain. I want…hmm.”

  “You want to Dom someone. Call Judith. She’ll be on her knees with the collar on before you finish asking her.”

  “Not Judith.”

  Brianne d’ Aroth. When he’d watched her on the digitals he knew she’d make a good submissive. He’d seen it in her eyes. Smart and competent and wouldn’ t she look good with nothing but my chain around her neck?

  “You’ll never get near her.” Aiden had the knack of always knowing what Ky was thinking. “You want to punish her, but even if she agreed, you’d never get past her bodyguards.”

  “Maybe.”

  Ky had methods, honed over years of experience, of getting women to come to him.

  Eagerly. Brianne would be no different.

  “You’re crazy,” Aiden said.

  “No shit.”

  “Why’s he crazy this time?” a Shareem voice said, and Ky opened his eyes.

  Braden, another level three, banged into the room, the closing door echoing against the water. He wore a white tunic and black leather leggings which he began stripping off his Shareem-bulked body.

  “He wants a woman.” Aiden watched Braden stuff his clothes onto the shelf and approach the pool.

  Braden had long black hair, brown skin and a chest shadowed with muscle. His face was different, square-jawed and lean, not as handsome as the face-sculpted Aiden but not as plain as Ky.

  “We all want a woman,” Braden answered.

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  Instead of easing himself into the water he plunged in with a huge splash, going under and coming up fast, throwing his hair back in a wet arc. Ky impatiently wiped water from his face.

  “One particular woman,” Aiden said.

  “Oh. Not as easy.” Braden swam through the warm water. “I heard the two of you got locked up.”