In the following days, I didn’t get to see Alex as much as I would like. Fleeting glances, stolen kisses, and lingering caresses were slowly driving me insane, but there was always something that needed doing, and as the members of a High House who wanted to set a new direction for the Royal Consortium, my siblings and I made sure that we were out there doing it.
Alex always gladly pitched in to help, and he was incredibly patient and understanding when I got pulled away, but I kind of wished he’d drag me into a dark alley and have his way with me. However, it looked like the dragging would be up to me.
I started plotting.
I laid my trap with care and baited it with the promise of a delicious dinner. Alex’s grin had told me that he knew exactly what I was up to, but he’d agreed to arrive at my suite promptly at six.
It was a quarter till. I smoothed a nervous hand down the fabric of my dress. It was a lacy ivory sheath that hugged my curves and flattered my complexion. The low-cut bodice fastened behind my shoulders, just below the nape of my neck, leaving my back bare. The short skirt was just a few centimeters from being indecent.
It was a dress that left no doubt about the intentions of the person wearing it and tonight I was going to be brave enough to actually let someone see me in it.
If I didn’t chicken out in the next ten minutes.
I paced the living room of my suite, as comfortable in heels as I had been in my boots. I took two steps toward the bedroom before checking myself. I was a badass. This dress killed. I was going to own it.
At eight minutes till six, the suite doorbell chimed. “Alexander is at the door,” the computer said.
Rather than asking the suite to open the door, I crossed to it and opened it manually. Alex stood outside clad in a black suit that showcased the breadth of his shoulders and the thickness of his legs. I tried to remember how to form words. “You’re early,” I said at last.
A slow, wicked grin tilted up the corner of his mouth. “I couldn’t wait any longer.”
The banked desire I always felt around him kindled to life. I stepped back and waved him into the suite, then manually locked the door behind him. Tonight we would not be interrupted.
When I turned around, he was there. He crowded me back against the door, and I shivered as the bare skin of my back met the cool metal. Alex’s body was hot and hard, encased in designer fabric. The temperature difference made me shiver again. With my heels, we were nearly the same height.
His mouth met mine in a scorching glide of lips and tongue. I buried my hands in his hair with a moan and pulled him more firmly to me. In return, he palmed my breast and tweaked a nipple. When I gasped, he pulled back and gazed down at me, expression hot.
“That dress is the stuff of fantasies,” he growled. “My fantasies.” His lips brushed over my jaw to the sensitive place behind my ear. “I want to unwrap you like a present.”
“What about dinner?” I protested weakly. In point of fact, I’d expected to get dinner from the synthesizer—eventually—and hadn’t even started on it yet. My plan was going exactly like I’d hoped.
“Dinner can wait. I want dessert first. Hold on.” He lifted me with complete ease and I wrapped my legs around his waist. My dress rode up, but not quite high enough for him to get a glimpse of anything interesting. He pulled me closer and groaned into my throat. “Which way to the bedroom?”
I directed him out of the colorful living room and into the quiet oasis of my bedroom. Candles flickered on the nightstands and dresser. A sturdy, straight-backed chair stood alone near the end of the bed, clearly out of place.
“Remember yesterday?” I whispered into his ear.
He nodded, his eyes half-closed in pleasure. Yesterday, he’d pulled me aside and kissed the living daylights out of me, then refused to find a convenient horizontal—or vertical, I wasn’t picky—surface.
I shook my head at him. “What did I tell you about starting something you didn’t intend to finish?”
The sound of pleasure he made seemed to be pulled from his very soul.
I kissed him, slowly and thoroughly, taking my time, stoking our desire until I burned with need. His hands flexed on my ass, kneading the flesh through my dress, and I moaned into his mouth.
When he took a step toward the bed, I said, “Put me down and sit.” When he didn’t move fast enough, I gently nipped his earlobe with my teeth.
He put me down, and I removed the gauzy scarf from the back of the chair. Alex sat. I regarded him for a moment before I began unbuttoning his shirt. I let my fingers brush over his skin after every button slid free and his muscles shivered under my hands.
“Take it off,” I whispered.
He shrugged out of his shirt and coat, revealing a hard expanse of chest and abs that almost made me forget about my plans. Almost. I pressed a kiss to his pec, then moved behind him. I pulled his arms behind the back of the chair and secured his wrists with the scarf. He laced his hands together. It would be laughably easy for him to break free, but this was merely a game. The scarf was a reminder, not truly a restraint.
I moved until I could see his eyes. “Is this okay?” I asked him quietly, seriously.
“Fuck yes,” he agreed, his voice gravel rough.
I smiled, happy that he was willing to play along. This dress might be his fantasy, but having him bound and helpless was mine. “You are going to sit and watch until I tell you otherwise, understand?”
He nodded, expression hot and hungry.
It was impossible to be self-conscious when his eyes burned with desire. My pulse thundered in my ears and I already felt like I was on the edge. It would take so little to push me over.
I slid my skirt up my thighs a millimeter at a time. Alex’s gaze was locked on the rising edge of the fabric, and when it cleared the apex of my legs, he groaned like he’d been punched. “Stars have mercy, you’re not wearing anything under that dress.”
“Not a thing,” I agreed. The air was cool on my overheated flesh. I propped my foot on his rock-hard thigh, exposing more of myself. I slid one finger through my heat and it came away glistening.
Alex’s pupils were blown and he tracked my finger with intent focus. His muscles tensed as he fought to hold himself still, to not reach for me.
I leaned down, until my lips just brushed his ear, then whispered, “Would you like a taste?”
The groan of agreement rumbled from deep in his chest.
I painted his bottom lip with my finger, then let it linger. He sat stone-still, frozen in agony and ecstasy. “Suck.”
When his lips closed around the digit and drew it into the molten cave of his mouth, I moaned and shivered, so, so close to tipping over the edge. Playtime was over. Almost.
I reluctantly pulled away from him and turned. He groaned when I bent to remove my shoes and again when I unfastened the dress and slowly shimmied out of it. I laid back on the bed, bare and open to his gaze.
“Now it’s time for your punishment. Do not move until I give you permission. Understand?”
He nodded his agreement, his eyes glued to my body.
I drew it out as long as I could, petting and stroking while telling him exactly what I was doing and how it felt. When I trembled into release, he stood with a growl, the scarf falling away.
“My turn,” he said, his voice thick with promise.
His pants vanished and he was magnificent. Light brown skin, dark hair, and muscles, so many muscles. My eyes dropped to the impressive erection between his legs. Oh my. Followed by, yes, please.
“I want that in me,” I said boldly.
His grin promised sin and pleasure. “Patience, princess. As I told you, it’s my turn now.”
He started at my feet, kissing and licking his way up my body—slowly. He skipped the place I wanted him and nuzzled into the soft skin of my belly. I arched with a whine and he pressed a palm to my hip to keep me stationary.
By the time he reached my breasts, I was on fire again, my earlier orgasm forgotten. My hands were buried in his hair, trying to direct him, but he had his own plan. He laved each nipple into a straining point before moving on. I writhed, achy and hot.
I tugged on his hair. “Now, please,” I moaned. “I need you.”
He shifted and settled between my thighs. Pleasure danced over my skin when his length nudged my clit and my hips lifted, chasing the feeling.
He pulled back and met my eyes. “Yes?” he confirmed.
“Yes! Now!”
He slid home in one glorious stroke that hit every nerve I had and a few I didn’t know about. I shouted my rapture to the ceiling and shattered again.
He kept moving, a heady push and pull, give and take, that blended into a long wave of pleasure that crested when he whispered into my ear, “I can feel you’re close. Come for me again, princess.”
Words had always been my weakness so I sailed into bliss once more.
EVENTUALLY, WE DRAGGED OURSELVES FROM BED TO find food. I threw together a simple plate of meats, cheeses, fruits, and bread—a plate that could be carried back into the bedroom and snacked on over time. I opened a bottle of wine and we feasted in the middle of the bed, naked and unashamed.
It was glorious.
I’d never felt so at ease with someone before, and like dawn breaking, a thought bloomed: I loved Alexander Sterling.
I must have looked as poleaxed as I felt, because Alex stopped eating and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I love you,” I blurted out. “You don’t have to say anything,” I continued in a rush, “I know it’s fast and I don’t expect—”
“Cat,” he interrupted, and from the tone of his voice, I figured it wasn’t the first time he’d said it. His slow smile made my heart sing with joy. “I love you, too. I’ve loved you since the day you set your jaw and decided you’d go to Earth alone if you had to. I love your determination, and your empathy, and your strength.”
“But you were so mad at me after that.”
“Not mad, terrified. I wanted to wrap you up and keep you safe, but I knew I couldn’t.”
Happy tears flooded my eyes, even as old fears rose. “I’m not normal,” I admitted quietly.
Alex set aside his plate and mine, then pulled me into his arms. “You’re better than normal. Do you really not know what they did to you?”
“Nothing specific. I think they altered my genetics somehow. I was too scared to look into it because my father wanted to use me as a weapon. I started faking normal so he’d think whatever they’d done had faded and he’d lose interest.”
Alex tensed under me and cursed quietly. “Your father was a real piece of work.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“I will tell you what I know, but you must promise to keep it to yourself. You can discuss it with Bianca and Ada, for reasons that will become obvious, but I need your word that you won’t tell anyone else.”
“I swear I will keep your secrets safe.”
Alex nodded distantly and took a deep breath. “I joined the RCDF at seventeen. I hadn’t even been in a year when I heard about a program that promised to turn us into supersoldiers. The people in charge weren’t clear about specifics and none of us asked too many questions, blinded by the promised abilities and the pay bump.”
He shook his head. “I was young and stupid. We all were. They grouped us into four squads of eight. Loch and Ian were in my squad.”
I gasped. “They’re like you?”
“Yes. You asked me before what debt I owed to Bianca. When we were rescuing your brother, Ian fell. Bianca jumped out of the ship and went back for him. He’s like a brother to me and she saved his life.”
“She doesn’t get to complain about me going into danger ever again,” I said with a grin. Then, very quietly, I added, “Aoife was in your squad, too.”
“You’re too observant for your own good,” he said with a rueful grin. “She was, but you must absolutely keep it a secret.”
“I will.”
Alex stroked a hand down my arm, but his expression was still distant. I wasn’t sure if he even knew he was doing it. “They code-named our experiment the Genesis Project, and the scientists fucked with our DNA,” he said. “Soldiers started getting sick almost immediately. That’s why I asked about your symptoms, because those were the symptoms we had. Thanks to some genetic fluke, our squad recovered. The others did not.”
“But I had those symptoms for years,” I protested.
“I’m getting there. One story at a time. Like your father, the scientists and the RCDF generals wanted to see what we could do. Our first real mission was to slaughter women and children on Fornax who were starving and rebelling against the price of food. When we refused, our commanders told us that it was us or them. Loch saved us.”
“The Devil of Fornax Zero,” I whispered, the pieces coming together. “He faked your deaths and sent you into hiding.”
“He was our squad leader. We tried to get him to come with us, but he knew the Consortium needed a visible target or they’d keep searching for us. He sacrificed his life for ours, if not literally then figuratively.”
“I’m glad he found Ada.”
“Me, too. He saved us, and your sister saved him.”
I nodded thoughtfully. Ada was blissfully happy, as was Bianca, and they were both with partners who had altered genes. The Consortium as a whole had a very dim view of DNA editing—it was a capital offense—but I doubted my sisters subscribed to the same way of thinking. Maybe now that Father was gone, I could share my secrets with them and they wouldn’t find me unlovable.
“So that’s me, a military science experiment gone wrong,” Alex said lightly.
“Don’t say that!”
He smiled. “I’ve had years to get used to it. I can see the humor now, especially when seeing in the dark is so handy. But now we come to you.”
I swallowed nervously. I still wasn’t used to talking about myself openly. “What about me?”
“I think you were the first test subject. I think your father tested the changes on you for years before the Genesis Project experiment.”
“No. I was born sickly. If anything, the changes cured me.”
“Were you, though? You don’t have any memories of running and playing? Your older siblings didn’t ever mention it?”
They had dubbed me a chaos monster, but I’d thought that was from when I was feeling well enough to play. But I didn’t remember a time when they hadn’t called me that. Had I been completely well at some point?
Had Father stolen my childhood?
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to believe that Father was capable of hurting his own daughter as a child for no reason, but it’s possible.”
“You should talk to your sisters. If the information exists, Bianca can find it. I’ve seen her work. It’s miraculous.”
“She is amazing,” I agreed. “After all, she brought me you.”
Alex’s eyes glowed with happiness, even as wicked desire tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Let me show you just how lucky you are.”
I tilted my face up to his. “Please do.”
His mouth slanted across mine and the time for words was over.