Trin’s mouth felt dry and she clenched her own hands into fists as well. Why was it when Needra spoke like this, all she could picture was Thrace thrusting deep inside her own pussy, filling her up?
No, she told herself. It’s degrading and wrong—don’t even think such a thing!
“Gods,” she heard Thrace mutter. When she turned to look at him, she saw that his jaw was clenched and a muscle was jumping in his temple. Was he thinking the same thing she was? Was that why his shaft had suddenly gotten so much harder against her? He was really pressing against her clit hard now and for some reason her pussy had gotten creamy and wet all over again, making her spread around him in a most distressing way.
“I think we’d better try some of this lovely shromp phallus,” she said hurriedly, cutting off a chunk of the gray, shriveled tubing and popping it into her mouth. “Mmm…delicious.”
Which was a total lie. It was chewy and salty and thoroughly disgusting—exactly what she needed to calm the strange thoughts and feelings that threatened to overcome her. She gave a piece to Thrace too, though he didn’t really want it.
“Mmm,” he growled dutifully, chomping on the piece. “Fucking disgusting. Thanks so much, Mistress.” But at least his shaft wasn’t quite so hard against her.
“It’s a delicacy,” Lady Tam-tam remarked. “Especially when combined with the nectar pods you ate earlier, the shromp can have an…interesting effect. They come from the same world, you know.”
“That’s the only reason I eat it,” Lady Needra confided, chewing a piece and giving some to Yorth as well, who still looked considerably too distracted to eat. “Certainly not for the taste but I like the effects.”
“What effects?” Trin stopped with a second piece midway to her mouth and eyed the gray, shriveled meat apprehensively. “What does it do?”
“You’ll see.” The blonde mistress giggled and took another bite. “Just wait, my dear Lady Trin. You’ll see…”
Chapter Nineteen
“What do you think Lady Needra meant when she said the shromp had interesting effects?” Trin whispered later, after dinner was over and they were strolling on the rolling back lawn of the vast estate. They, along with a few other couples, were heading for the dream-sphere fountain, whatever the hell that was.
“No fucking idea,” Thrace growled. He certainly hadn’t noticed any strange effects himself—not that he would have noticed anything, as distracted as he’d been. Even though they were up and walking around, he could still feel the warm, wet spot whereTrin’s pussy had been pressed against his shaft.
Gods! Dinner had been torture—sheer torture. Holding her so closely and intimately, wanting her so badly and being unable to act on it…
Thrace thought it wouldn’t have been so bad if Trin really was as completely disinterested in males as she claimed to be. Then he could have ignored his own feelings. But despite her repeated assertions that she wanted nothing to do with him sexually, her body and scent told a different story.
Havoc, like their Kindred cousins, had an incredibly sensitive olfactory sense. They could actually smell and identify pheromones which other species were manipulated by unconsciously. And Gods help him, Trin was putting out fucking clouds of sex pheromones—filling the air around them with her lust as she sat on his lap and pretended to herself that she had no interest in sex with a male. In sex with him.
Not to mention the way her nipples got so hard and her pussy got so hot and wet when he was pressed against her. If she’d done the little trick Needra had and raised up—even just a little—he was certain he might have slipped into her by accident. She was that wet—that ready to go.
Unbidden, the idea of having her under him, spreading her legs for him, rose in Thrace’s mind. He could imagine her parting for him, reaching up to scratch his shoulders, to pull him in deeper…
Fucking stop it! he told himself angrily. It doesn’t matter what kind of chemicals her body is putting out, if her mind isn’t on board, it’s not going to happen. It’s never going to happen. She’s one of the Unpenetrated, remember?
Besides, why would you want to get involved? You’re just here to do the deal with the crystals, then you’re gone. Back to The Empress and finding Solar and getting on with your life. If you made love with Trin now you’d be sure to bond her to you and Havoc don’t bond!
He glanced briefly at Trin who was walking beside him over the short, well trimmed back lawn. It was true that unprotected sex with her would almost certainly result in bonding. It didn’t always—Havoc were not nearly as easily bound to a chosen female as their Kindred cousins. Making love to her and filling her with his seed wouldn’t result in a permanent soul bond unless there was some deep emotional attachment between them in the first place.
Watching her lovely face and the determined set of her slim shoulders, Thrace knew he couldn’t risk it. It wasn’t just that he desired her—he was beginning to have feelings for his mistress. Feelings that were completely irrelevant since she was never going to let herself care for him.
Get over it, he told himself roughly. She’s never going to change her views on males—she’s a proud female and part of that pride is her dignity. It would never recover if she broke her beliefs for you. Anyway, why would you want her to? You don’t want to form a permanent bond with her any more than she wants one with you. Just do your job and serve her as best you can until this is over and you can get the fuck out!
Thrace looked around him at the other mistresses and slaves walking over the dark lawn, trying to distract his mind from the turmoil inside him. To his left, Yorth was walking with Lady Needra. The two of them were holding hands, smiling at each other like lovers, which they surely were.
Thrace reflected that no matter how hard dinner with Trin on his lap was, the meal had certainly been more difficult for Yorth. He couldn’t imagine the self-discipline it took to sit there while his lady settled herself on his shaft and wiggled her hips, riding him in that leisurely, casual manner while he wasn’t supposed to move a muscle. Still, it didn’t seem to bother Yorth—he was probably used to the little game he and his mistress played together. Thrace reflected with envy that they would almost certainly be playing other, even more erotic games in their sleeping chamber later.
“Look, that must be it.” Trin’s soft voice drew his attention back from the other slave and mistress couple and he looked ahead to see a tall, silver filigree pyramid structure rising before them. It was set in the center of a circular, paved area which sparkled—doubtless made of the same semi-precious gemstones that lined the path which led to the front door of the estate.
“Must be,” he said, nodding assent. “But what the hell is coming out the top of it?”
The silver pyramid’s point was about the level of Thrace’s head and it was shaped like a narrow spout or funnel. From this small opening, large bubbles were drifting. At least, Thrace assumed they were bubbles—they certainly weren’t like any he had ever seen before.
For one thing, weren’t bubbles supposed to be round? These weren’t. Or at least, not all of them were. In addition to a few floating spheres, there were also square, rectangular, and triangular bubbles. There were also a few which didn’t seem to stick to any shape at all but shifted constantly. But perhaps strangest of all, each and every bubble was filled with colored smoke. Pink, blue, purple, orange, scarlet, and even black smoke filled shapes drifted past him, wafted by the gentle breeze.
“What the hell?” Thrace muttered, staring as the soft shapes drifted from the mouth of the tall silver pyramid.
“Dream spheres—unfiltered dream gas,” Lady Needra said, in answer to his question. She and Yorth had stopped right at the edge of the round, gem-encrusted circular path that surrounded the fountain.