Rees Page 3

  Chapter Three

  In the year 3509, the company called DNAmo invented the men of the Sha reem.

  They were taller than conventional men. They were strong, blue-eyed, long-cocked, tight-assed. They knew how to bring a woman to ecstasy and exactly how to keep her there.

  They were sought after by rich women who wanted wildness in the bedroom.

  The Sha reem were DNAmo’s biggest success. They were also its downfall.

  The Sha reem were trained in every sexual art known to man, and woman. They were offered in one of three levels—pure sensual pleasure, games and wicked fun, or the ultimate barbarian…complete with whip.

  A Sha reem could entrance and mesmerize a woman with his voice and his touch. He could flood the air with endorphins and pheromones designed to make a woman melt as his feet.

  Women adored them. Women desired them. And eventually, they feared them.

  At one time, men ruled the world of Bor Narga. Legend went that when the planet was first colonized two thousand years earlier, the colonists were cut off from the mother planet for a hundred years by a solar storm and eventually abandoned.

  The men, who had qualified to be colonists because of their strength, resilience, and survival skills, had risen to dominate. The women, who’d had equality on the mother planet, eventually succumbed to subservience.

  On Bor Narga, strength meant survival. If a woman was not strong enough to survive on her own, she served a man who was.

  Eventually, as the centuries passed and basic survival was assured, culture resumed. Women were beautiful adornments and served men on their knees.

  In the year 2834, the war to end all wars killed most of the male population. By this time Bor Narga had become a planet to be reckoned with—it had wealth, weaponry, science, art.

  Bor Narga won the war, but at a brutal cost of life. Women were forced to come out from behind their robes and take the jobs the men had left behind.

  Then they discovered they were good at it.

  Now men wrote poetry and made art, the practices of a world in which a large leisure class dominated. Women ran the government, commerce, and universities.

  And indulged themselves with the Sha reem.

  Level ones made women feel good. Level twos made them laugh and blush when they remembered the games. Level threes touched a basic instinct they didn’t want to talk about.

  Then DNAmo, flushed with success, made Rees.

  They didn’t call him Rees. They called him R294E8S. Only Rees called himself Rees.

  The news of the new Sha reem leaked and suddenly every DNA company tried to get their hands on the secret of R294E8S.

  DNAmo did experiments with R294E8S. They wanted to learn exactly what he could and would do.

  The researchers, mostly women, found out the hard way what he could do and what he would do—to them. A researcher who volunteered to enter a room alone with Rees was both pitied and envied. He taught them how to fear him.

  The researchers worried about what they’d done. They destroyed their notes. They talked about terminating him.

  Then Rees disappeared.

  DNAmo, after a long, tense, secret search, figured he was dead. Or off-planet. No longer their problem.

  Soon after, the government of Bor Narga banned the breeding of Sha reem, and DNAmo was forced out of business.

  The Sha reem, created from a pool of genetic material, made for sex alone, became taboo. DNAmo turned them out to fend for themselves.

  A few of them were rumored to have gone underground, to live like kings with women to adore them. A few were rumored to have left the planet, though that had been forbidden.

  Rees lived on his own and got by.

  Everyone forgot about R294E8S.

  Except Rees.

  * * * * *

  A few hours after his arrival at Talan’s home, Rees, clad only in his loincloth, faced Lady Petronella alone in her sitting room. She’d asked to speak to him.

  Rees could have gone home. As he’d told Talan, Sha reem weren’t slaves.

  He definitely would have walked if anyone but Talan had pulled off the hood. But her blue eyes had held concern, and she’d looked so damn fuckable.

  Anyone else, and he’d have gone. For Talan, he stayed.

  Once the bodyguards had released Rees’ hands, a neat, bearded man called Metri had taken him to a sumptuous bathroom.

  The room was laid out like a bubbling stream in a woods. Water poured through rocks on its way to a deep pool. Greenery and holo-walls gave him the feeling of bathing in a cool paradise, although the cheeping birds got on his nerves a little.

  While he prepared himself, Rees fantasized about laying Talan down in the rushing water. He’d open her legs, show her how the water could pleasure her. He filed that thought away for future use.

  He’d put a call through to Rio from the terminal in the bathroom. Rio had snarled at him, but promised to lay low until Rees contacted him again. The freighter pilot had been iffy, anyway.

  Now Rees faced Lady Pet, wondering what she wanted to say. He was washed, oiled, inoculated. Ready.

  “Talan is my foster daughter,” Lady Pet began. “But I love her like a daughter. I found her abandoned when she was barely six months old.”

  Rees folded his arms, waited to hear Talan’s life story.

  “I took her in,” Lady Pet went on. “The poor mite was starving. I had her DNA scanned, discovered she was high-born and who her parents were. They had been killed by the detox virus—I don’t know if you remember, but it manifested on a starship and wiped out all aboard. The military decided to blow up the starship, so even if there were survivors… Anyway, I suppose whoever was designated to care for the baby no longer wanted to, and left her in a children’s refuge. I saw her when I was there doing charity work, poor thing. I never had children of my own, and Talan has become dear to me. She is celibate, you know.”

  Rees nodded. “She wears the garb.”

  “Yes.” Lady Pet’s look turned long-suffering. “She is quite proud of it. The gods only know why. I sent her to the best schools, but she only learned how to be frigid. That is the way things are in our enlightened society today.”

  Yeah, these kids , Rees thought. Not out screwing and rolling around like in the old days.

  “Talan has chosen celibacy,” Lady Pet said, “but she explained to me that she wants to see what she might be missing.”

  Rees grinned. “Like a research experiment.”

  Rees already had a glimpse of how Talan’s mind worked. And he was used to being a research experiment.

  “Exactly. But I don’t want you to be a specimen for her. I want you to turn the tables on her and show her precisely what it is she’s giving up. I want her to fully understand what her body is made for. She deserves to know.”

  Rees nodded. “You want me to screw her so good she’ll never want to be without it.”

  “I want you to make her know what it is to feel good. Those philosophers she worships try to make her ashamed she has breasts.”

  Rees rubbed his fingers over his oiled biceps, catching on the thin black chain. “I might be able to fix that.”

  Lady Pet’s smile widened. “I trust you will. Go with Metri. He will show you the chamber I want you to use. I will send Talan there.”

  The door behind him whooshed open, wafting a draft of air over his naked flesh.

  He turned and followed the majordomo from the room.

  As they walked through the cool corridors, Rees wondered what Metri thought of Lady Petronella abducting him to pleasure Talan. The man wore a resigned look, as though thinking, women will be women.

  The room Metri led him to was not the bathroom, but another holo-room. This one was blank when they entered. Metri showed him the panel from which Rees could select one of five choices.

  He could choose woods with a gentle waterfall, the corner of an intimate restaurant, a flower garden with trickling fountains, a terrace overlooking a mountain lake, o
r a cabin that looked out to gently falling snow.

  Because Bor Narga was a desert planet, most people ordered scenes that were cool, although the snow-covered trees made Rees a little too chilly. He didn’t want Talan getting cold.

  When Metri departed, Rees chose the woods. The air was cool and slightly damp from a trickling waterfall.

  On a “tree” he found a hook, from which hung a pair of handcuffs. He smiled. Lady Petronella was thorough.

  He could chain Talan up, gently strip off her clothes, run his tongue all over her body, including the breasts her philosophers wanted her to be ashamed of.

  He wondered what she’d taste like. His cock was already hard.

  The door whispered open again. He turned, his heart beating faster.

  Talan had removed her outer three layers of robes and stood in a sleeveless gown tied at the waist. It was made of sun-blocking material, quite thick, but still outlined her curves. Her red hair hung in waves down her back.

  Her arms were a little plump, and she probably wouldn’t understand why he thought that was beautiful.

  “Close the door,” he said.

  She closed it. “You understand why I asked Lady Petronella to find you.”

  “She told me.” Come a little closer, sweetheart.

  She took a step forward. “I chose you because I’d met you, and you seemed kind. Maybe that’s why. Or maybe it was your pheromone trick.”

  Closer than that, babe. “That only works for a certain distance. It wears off when you leave. It’s not a love spell.”

  She took another step. “Are you a level one Sha reem?”

  “No.”

  “Level two is games, is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know much about games,” she said.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.” Almost there, sweetheart.

  She took a third step, and then got bold and took a fourth. “I just want you to understand—”

  Rees smiled. “Thank you.”

  He could move fast. He seized her by the wrists and had her hands pinned above her head before she could gasp out a question.

  He closed the handcuffs around her wrists, and there she was, arms high, breasts outthrust, lips moist and parted.

  He leaned down and licked those lips from end to end. They tasted wonderful.

  Here’s where the fun begins.

  Talan’s heart beat fast and hard. Her lips burned where his tongue had stroked them.

  Her arms were stretched overhead, not too high, but she could not get loose.

  “Why did you do that?” she ventured.

  He leaned close. “So you won’t run away.”

  He smelled good from his bath. His blond hair was dark and still sleek with water.

  “I won’t run away,” she said.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  Would she run if he freed her this minute? She didn’t think so. She stood rooted to the spot, she would probably stand with her hands over her head even if he took the cuffs away.

  Her thighs were already creamy wet. If she ran away, it wouldn’t help. She’d have to touch herself for release, like she’d read about in Lady Ursula’s diary.

  She imagined her fingers sinking into her slick, wet folds. She let out a gasp.

  His body pressed hers to the holo-tree. His skin was hot and smelled like soap. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Touching,” she murmured.

  “Touching what?”

  “Me. My…”

  “Your what?”

  “My clit,” she said hurriedly.

  “Your pussy,” he finished, his lips next to her cheek. His eyelashes flicked down. “Say it.”

  She swallowed, closing her eyes. She could shut out his face, and his pale lips so close to hers, but she couldn’t shut out his body. It was hard, warm, and she wanted so much to kiss it.

  “Say it,” he repeated.

  Talan said the words in a rush. “My pussy.”

  “Your sweet, creamy pussy.”

  She gulped. “My sweet, creamy pussy.”

  “Which is all wet with come for me?”

  “Yes, I believe it is.”

  To her surprise, he chuckled. She opened her eyes. He had a wicked smile. It was warm, not cold or cruel. She liked looking at it. She tried a tiny smile back.

  His expression changed. He took a step back, removed his loincloth, and tossed it aside.

  She’d never seen a man’s backside until she’d seen his. She’d never seen the front of a man, either.

  Until now. His cock was huge. It stood straight out from his loins, the head engorged and full. A ridge ran around the tip where it met the rest of the shaft.

  She had a sudden, overpowering urge to touch it, to see what it felt like. She strained against her bonds.

  He closed his own hand around the cock. “It wants you,” he said.

  I want it. The thought shot through her before she could stop it. Her groin burned. A celibate woman of the Way should not think these things, should not feel anything.

  Well, she was now.

  “Tell me about the levels, again,” she babbled. “What do they really mean?”

  Rees ran his thumb around the tip of his cock. “Level one is sensuality. Everything sensual, like the feel of cloth or a chain on your skin. Or the feel of me inside you, full and tight.”

  Talan’s already hot opening began to expand. It wanted him all the way, wanted to pull him in and keep him there. “And level two?”

  “Games. Like putting you in handcuffs. Teasing you until you come, then backing off. Driving you crazy.”

  He would do it. He was looking forward to it.

  “And…level three?”

  “Nothing you are ready for.”

  She shivered. “I am not even ready for this.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I can sense it. The air is thick with your pheromones. That’s you wanting me. That’s how I know you’re ready.”

  In a quick move, he untied the belt at her waist, dropped it to the floor. He unhooked the clasps that held her dress in place at her shoulders. She could only watch, helpless to prevent him.

  She didn’t want to prevent him. She suddenly wanted the dress off, wanted his hands on her body.

  The gown puddled at her feet. Beneath it she wore a shift—sheer, white and silky. She’d always loved it, the only sexy thing she allowed herself. The cloth made her feel like she was being caressed.

  “You have beautiful breasts,” he said. He pinched one nipple, pulled it toward him. “Nice and full,” he said. “I’m going to suck them raw.”

  Was it hard to breathe in here? “Then you will remove my hymen?”

  He stopped. “What?”

  “I am scheduled to go to the Ministry of Families clinic in a few weeks. To have my hymen removed. After I take the classes. But if you remove it, I’ll have to cancel the appointment.”

  He stared at her. “Remove?”

  “Yes.”

  “That means you still have it?”

  “Yes.”

  His eyes took on a faraway look. “Mmm. A cherry-flavored pussy.”

  “Are you qualified to remove it?”

  He leaned down, put his hands on either side of her. “Yes, Talan, I’m qualified to remove it.”

  “Are you going to do it now?”

  Her body flushed. She knew he would break her hymen by driving his long cock into her. The head would penetrate it, flesh against flesh.

  The Way of the Star was having a hard fight against his Sha reem-touch and the chemicals he sent into her brain.

  “I want you to do it now,” she heard herself whisper.

  “Good,” he said.

  He went back to caressing her breasts. Her nipples rose, tingling and hot. He licked her again, tracing his tongue across her jawline.

  “When will you do it?” she asked.

  He laced his hand thr
ough her hair, pulled her head back. “When I am ready.”

  His rock-hard cock rested against her belly. “But you are ready, now,” she said.

  He smiled. “Understand something, sweetheart. No matter how much you demand, no matter how much you beg, I’ll fuck you when I want to. All right?”

  His breath was spicy and scorching hot. She shook all over. “Yes. All right. I do beg your pardon.”

  He gave her another peculiar look. “I can’t do this if you’re going to make me laugh every five minutes.”

  She stared. “Why should I make you laugh?”

  He looked her up and down, tapped his lips. “I see we’re going to have to start from the very beginning.”

  “I am sorry. I’ve never had any training in this.”

  He smiled. “Gods, you’re priceless.” He did not sound displeased, just amused.

  “The Ministry does not offer classes in this area,” she explained.

  He traced her cheek, his touch gentle. “There’s more to life than classes, Talan. But don’t worry, I’ll be your teacher.” He looked away, his gaze remote. “Thank gods you didn’t see Rio first,” he murmured.

  “Rio? Who is Rio?”

  Rees flicked his attention back to her. “A friend of mine. A level three.”

  “Will you tell me about level three someday?”

  “I’ll tell you. I might even introduce you to him.” He stepped close to her again. “But not now. Now you need to learn level one.”

  Her heart quickened. “Sensuality.”

  “Sensuality.” He nibbled her earlobe. “You like classes, so this will be your classroom. I’m the teacher. You have to do whatever I say, do you understand?”

  She nodded. “I think so.”

  “When I ask you to do something, you say, ‘yes, teacher’.”

  “All right.”

  He cocked a brow at her. Her lips formed the words, “Yes, teacher.”

  “Good.” He skimmed his lips across her brow. “I think a girl in this room wants to be fucked. What do you think?”

  “Yes, teacher.”

  “I think she wants to be paddled, and then fucked.”

  She started. “What?”

  Rees raised his head, smiled. “Sorry, that’s level two.” He slid his hands around her waist, his palms warm through the silk. “Back to level one.”