Haldis Imperium, page 3
Watching her eyes go blind behind her mask at the moment of release would stay with him always. He had never had a partner this responsive. While he was distracted by her release, her body clamped down once again with an almost painful force. Her hips rotated slightly, milking his body. His own release hit him like a freight train. Spewing its sticky cargo into her waiting depths, his cock plunged deep and his body jerked and heaved in its attempt to mark her as his territory. His fingers bruised hers where they still lay entwined.
He collapsed on her sweaty torso, his own chest heaving like a bellows, and released her hands from his grip. She flexed her fingers, and then twined them into his hair, bring his head to hers in their second kiss. This time, it was sweet and thoughtful, thanking him for the experience of a lifetime.
He rolled off of her, and his now semi-erect manhood slipped from within her well-used corridor. Palden slowly surrendered to sleep, she knew that he would be up and aroused again in about an hour, but she was not going to be here. She gave him one small kiss on his brow as his eyelids fluttered, and quietly made her escape.
The tavern owner looked startled at her re-appearance and bowed to her as she practically ran through the common room and into the streets. The gauze of her silks stuck to Amy’s damp skin leaving nothing to the imagination. Hoots and shouts of approval followed her as she sprinted to Krik’s shop, collected her cloak, and took off the mask.
Feeling slightly calmer, she walked at a stately pace to the Imperial palace. She nodded to the guards as they checked her DNA tags and then let her into the main halls. Her feet led her to the great hall and she looked wistfully at the throne. Once she had stood next to it as Palden’s most trusted advisor, now she was just a quick lay that he picked up at the carnival.
Ah well, only five more months and she was out of here.
Chapter 4
Amy was in trouble. She had managed to dodge Palden for the first few days after the carnival, but now he was demanding to see her as the Alliance contract female. He still had no idea that Tara was Amy—surprisingly her mask had remained in place—but she had no idea how he would react when he found out, so she wasn’t about to tell him. She mentally kicked herself for choosing such an obvious name. She had had way too much to drink—Terra had been the only thing that she could think of at the time.
She also was beginning to suspect that the timing of their interlude had been all too effective. Her body was telling her that things were changing, but she couldn’t be sure without a pregnancy test, and she couldn’t be tested while the contract Terran was still not officially sleeping with the Emperor.
It had been ten days since the festival, and she was sure that she wanted to see Palden again. Naked. In front of her, with that massive erection that haunted her dreams. It had been beyond anything that her limited experience had prepared her for, but well worth the wait.
Now, how to break the news that his one time lover from the carnival was the contract breeding that he was supposed to engage in, and that she was probably already pregnant. Better leave that part out.
Amy steeled herself and dressed for formal presentation. Her Terran Champion markings clearly visible beneath the cropped top she was wearing, the waist of her skirt rising in a peak to just below her navel and falling in graceful lines to the floor. “Here we go,” she muttered under her breath as she walked through the corridor.
Entering the main audience chamber, Amy walked down the center of the room to the throne where he was sitting. She dipped into a curtsy and kept her head lowered.
“So, you are the Terran Champion that Marvick and the council have been pestering me about. Well, raise your head woman, and let’s have a look.” His arrogant tone began to slice through the thin threads that bound her temper, but she raised her head and met his eyes.
When she made eye contact, he looked startled. As if seeing something in her that she was unaware of.
She stood completely still as he eyed her up and down, his gaze lingering at her breasts and hips, and then strangely at her hands. “Not bad. Not amazing, but not bad.” His tone grated along her nerves. She had to wait until he asked her a question to speak. But, the pressure of his gaze and his insulting comments were causing her temper to flare.
He rose from the throne and began to circle her, taking in every nuance of her appearance and judging it.
“You have several scars on your arms and the back of your neck. What were you doing before they sent you here?” His tone held only polite curiosity.
“Working for the Alliance Council in my assigned profession.” Her answer was the simple and direct version that she had been trained to give when not in the safety of the armor.
“Just what was that profession?” He had stopped directly behind her and she jumped when he whispered the question into her ear. His warm breath sending ripples of sensation down her neck and beginning a slight increase in heartbeat that could be trouble for her.
“I…worked in the Trade Center.” Her answer was evasive. She knew he was up to something, but had no idea what.
“Trade…how, interesting. I suppose that you are unaware that the Alliance Council has offered me a considerable sum to delay the reproductive contract with you.” Her startled face made him laugh. “Apparently, they need your services immediately. Now why would that be?” He resumed his seat on the throne and met her eyes once again. He was amused, definitely, but she didn’t know why.
“I don’t know. I haven’t received any notices from the council. This news is a surprise to me.” She was genuinely bewildered by his behavior, and only then noticed that she and Palden were completely alone in the room.
He withdrew a data pad from the table next to him. “Ah, here it is, ‘It is requested that Amy Tyrell of the Terran Protectorate be released temporarily from the procreative contract with His Imperial Majesty Palden VII, as her skills are required by the Alliance Trade Commission. Should she be carrying an heir by this time, it is the request of the council that she be allowed to consult in the negotiations for which her expertise is needed.’ Does that clear anything up for you, Tyrell?” He lifted a brow and tossed the data pad to her so that she could verify its contents.
“Oh, that. Hiya, Palden.” She was almost relieved that he had not discovered her other secret. “Is that what has gotten the bee in your bonnet, that I didn’t tell you who I was? You know, if you had just met with me right away, I might have told you by now.” She gave him a cheeky grin and the small abbreviated half-bow that was her trademark.
He removed himself once again from the throne and stood facing her directly, only two feet in front of her. “You let me believe that you were male, you arranged alliances between me and other women without batting an eye, you stormed into my private chambers whenever you wanted…and then you left me.” His voice was husky with emotion. As she lowered her eyes, he reached out to grasp her chin in a gentle yet firm grip.
“For five whole years you tormented me, beat me at Wings of War, fought me on every political decision that I made and refused to bow to my every whim and now you won’t even meet my eyes, why is that?” His voice had gotten suspiciously gentle as he waited for her reply.
“I am no longer a Negotiator. I have no value to you except as a means of getting your advisors off of your back by providing you with an heir, and you didn’t ask for me to be here.” She shuddered and took another deep breath. “I have not really considered this to be a welcome back, and by no means a permanent assignment. I know your tastes in women, and you tire of them as quickly as the tides change. Genetically, we are a match. Physically, you are looking for something else.” She raised her eyes to meet his once again. He looked surprised by the matter-of-fact way that she was describing her role on his planet. She braced herself for the hurt blooming within her and kept going.
“Should we breed your heir, and should it be healthy and male, I will be out of your life and granted my freedom from the Alliance Service. Should it be female, you will be free to choose another match and I will have fulfilled my contractual obligations to the Alliance and be sent somewhere quiet to raise my daughter. If you choose not to copulate with me, at the end of the six months I will be sent on to the next world where my match has been chosen.” Her voice held no trace of the emotions that she was feeling. In all likelihood, she was already pregnant and the thought of the baby in her arms with his eyes looking up at her was causing a small part of her heart to break. She closed her eyes and fought back tears.
“But we have already copulated Tyrell, don’t you remember? It is certainly etched in my mind. You were so tight, so wet, so hot, and so responsive that it blew my mind.” His voice had dropped to a husky purr and her eyes flew open to meet his inches above her.
“You knew?” Her voice came out as a horrified whisper. “You knew all along?”
“Don’t be stupid, of course I didn’t know.” He seemed genuinely irritated with her now, how fast his moods changed. “I put it all together after the fact. The dancing, the hair, and of course the fact that I woke up covered in body makeup. Your only really exposed skin was your abdomen, and the only thing that you could have reason to hide with that much makeup would be ranking tattoos, which meant you were from off world. Only seventeen tattooed off-worlders are currently on this planet, and only two of them are humanoid. One is male, and I think that I would have remembered that. So, via process of elimination, I ended up with the contract Terran.”
“By the way Tara…very cute. So Tyrell, what did you think of me?” His voice had once again changed into the husky purr that seemed to reach into her belly and start a fire.
“Adequate…very adequate.” She murmured as he began to reach for her. “In fact, so adequate that if I had known, I would have tried to jump you while still in the armor.”
His boyish grin replaced the rapid frown that had started to grip his features. “Since I thought that you were male at the time, I didn’t know how receptive I would have been, but hey, feel free now.” His hands gripped her upper arms and he drew her to him, hips to hips, breast to chest and thigh to thigh. He let out a sigh of contentment as she relaxed against him. No one had ever felt this right. Despite what she believed, he planned on keeping her.
She looked around to make sure that they were alone, then raised her face to his and leaned up slightly to join her lips to his. “So, ever done it in a throne room?”
Chapter 5
His laughter rang out and he scooped her up once again to carry her to the Imperial Throne of Torgny. The laughter stilled abruptly as she knelt in front of the throne and parted his knees to make room for her.
Delicate, pale fingertips worked the clasps of his pants and when she had him free, his erect and aroused cock flew out into her fingers. She grinned up at him and stroked his interested member from base to tip. Pausing for a moment to stroke the heavy sacs below.
She bent her head forward and teased him with hot breath inches from his flesh. She took him into her mouth and luxuriously moved up and down with her head, one hand keeping a hard and fast rhythm on his shaft. The other reached below to caress and roll his balls between her finger, alternately rolling and squeezing as his groans from above grew louder and more insistent at her ministrations.
His hands came down and threaded through her hair. He used this grip to pull her up and away from his engorged flesh. He drew her up until she was standing directly in front of the throne. With him seated and his lap full of aroused and beckoning flesh.
His hands lifted, tugged, and tore. Seconds later, she was completely nude in front of the Imperial Throne. Only her sandals were intact. He lifted her effortlessly, and she found herself on his lap with her legs splayed over the armrests. This left her off balance and vulnerable to him. He took full advantage.
Her breasts once again were treated to licks and tugs that had her writhing in place. The pulse between her thighs had grown to a pounding drumbeat that she could not ignore. Bracing her hands on the edge of the throne she pushed her wet and aching flesh toward the eager cock pointed at her.
Realizing that the events were getting out of his control, Palden gripped her around her ribs and lifted her onto his throbbing member. She groaned in relief. This is what she wanted. Had dreamed of since the day she had felt him moving within her.
He shifted his grip to her hips and began to drive her up and down on his rigid cock. She shuddered and sighed with every thrust. Helpless to do anything but grip his shoulders for balance as he fucked her on the great throne.
She lost track of time. It seemed that they had been at this for hours, but probably only seconds had passed when a shivering started within her. A mewl growing into howl of satisfaction as one of her hands left his shoulders to find her clit. One little touch sent her over.
Palden watched her face in astonishment, then groaned began to empty his seed into her. Jerking her hips against him as his pelvis pumped violently upward.
Amy slumped forward, her body damp, and her nose registering the scent of her female musk blended with his stronger pheromones. He was still inside her, and she could still feel the rigidity of his member. This was not the time or place for a second round.
“Uh, Palden. If you want to get out of here before the court arrives, we should probably go now.” She tried to move off of his impaling member, but his hands stopped her.
“Tyrell, you were much more aggressive in the armour. I am not sure that I like this timid mouse that you are attempting to portray.” His eyes were closed, satisfaction etched in every part of his body. Except one.
“Being an unprotected female on a strange world is enough to make me a little circumspect. Dealing with the court is not something that I have ever looked forward to. Now that they can poison me, stab me or blow me up with impunity, I will have to be a little cautious.” She squirmed again, trying to leave the extremely vulnerable position of being naked, on his lap, on the Imperial throne.
His hands grabbed her hips and kept her on him. Palden’s eyes opened to slits. “Tyrell, stop squirming. I have you now and you’re not going to get away.”
“I wasn’t trying to get away. I was trying to get dressed. I don’t want to have a member of the court see us like this. Let alone Marvick.” Her hands braced against his chest and she met his eyes.
“Hmm…good point. You may go.” His hands released her and she quickly moved off of him and retrieved her dress. She tugged it over her head, and sighed with relief as the folds flowed around her.
She straightened and looked up at him, then blushed to the roots of her hair.
Palden was lazing on the throne, his erection still pulsing gently, slick with her juices, and completely exposed by the open trousers. His eyes roamed over her form, a self-satisfied smirk in place on his full lips.
“Uh, Palden. That is not exactly the pose that you want to be remembered for.” She began to wander around the room.
She fiddled with the curtains, looked at the record-keeping cameras, and waited for him to set his clothing to rights. He took his own sweet time about it. Finally, he resembled a respectable Torgny noble. Well, superficially at least. She deeply doubted that he would ever be respectable.
Chapter 6
“Hey, Palden. Do you realize that that was possibly the most expensive coupling in Alliance history?” Amy was desperately trying to distance her emotions from the intimacy of the moment. When he smiled at her, she knew she had failed.
“You are worth every credit. Why are you trying to anger me? You are familiar with my temper.” He seemed genuinely curious and left the throne to approach her from behind. His arms wrapped around her, and he bent his neck to whisper in her ear. “Don’t you want me?”
Her body relaxed against his, her curves instinctively conforming to the hard planes of muscle. She reveled in his musky scent and closed her eyes, only to snap them open as Negotiator Marvick entered the throne room. She struggled against Palden’s arms, but he held her firmly against him. Knowing that Marvick’s armor displays would alert him to the scents and pheromones permeating the room, her blush flared to life once again.
“Negotiator, I have decided to adhere to all of the stipulations of the Alliance contract. The candidate for the post of Consort is more than acceptable to me. You may inform the Imperial Council that I have agreed to their choice.” As he spoke, his hands were roaming over her breasts, across her ribs and down to her belly. His interest in her had still not waned; she could feel his cock through his trousers, against the small of her back.
“Consort? What the hell? There was no mention of being consort when I was assigned here.” That was all she was able to get out before his hand covered her mouth. She mumbled her outrage behind his hand. She was getting ready to bite the salt of his skin when an evil gleam came to her eyes.
She sucked one of his fingers into her mouth and began to swirl her tongue around it. Her hips rocked back against Palden’s erection, slowly rubbing from side to side. She could feel the sudden tension in his arms where they held her, pulling her tight against him to prevent further movement. She released his finger from her mouth with a soft pop, and smiled as she drew one arm up, then sent her elbow into his stomach.
The air whooshed out of him in a rush. She skipped out of his reach as his grip around her loosened.
“Listen you pompous, overbearing jerk! I did not agree to a consort contract, nor will I agree in the immediate future.” She put her hands on her hips and watched him rub his stomach with a calculating gleam in his eyes.
“Miss Amanda, the contract offered is extremely lucrative for you. The credits will be put directly into your accounts as soon as I get back to my office. With bonuses for providing a male heir.” Marvick was extremely gracious, and a little concerned. This was beyond his experience.
