Pirate's Price by Aubrey Ross

reach Devaunt, Kashi will
check in.”
    “I’m sure you’re right. I just hate not
knowing.”
    “Fibros found a ship. He’ll be leaving for
Peronite shortly.”
    “Why is he going back to Peronite? Kashi is
on her way to Devaunt.”
    “When Fibros gets one of his feelings, I
don’t ask questions. If we haven’t heard from him by the time the
cruiser is ready, we’ll head to Devaunt ourselves.”
    Relieved to have a course of action, she
smiled at him. “We’ll just continue my lessons on the ship.”
    He refilled her wineglass and handed it to
her. “You didn’t eat very much.”
    “Neither did you.”
    “I think we’re both distracted.”
    She couldn’t argue with that. “How do we
accommodate the distractions without squandering our time
together?”
    “We could renegotiate our contract.”
    Mischief gleamed in his eyes and her stomach
fluttered. “What did you have in mind?”
    “We were supposed to have six days entirely
devoted to pleasure. Each time a conflict or stress intrudes on our
time, I suggest we extend the contract by another day.”
    “I’m not opposed to that condition.” She
wasn’t opposed to anything that would allow them to spend more time
together.
    He rested his chin on his palm and searched
her gaze. “I don’t want to keep coming back to this, but the pieces
still don’t fit. Tell me the rest of the story.”
    “The rest of which story?”
    “You agreed to marry Vega to help the people
of Devaunt. I have no doubt that’s true, but there has to be
something more. What did your mother have on you?”
    She pushed back from the table and crossed
her legs. “Do I get to interrogate you when you’re finished with
me?”
    “If you like.”
    Except for her highly abridged recounting to
Vega, she hadn’t spoken about Jaque with anyone. She wasn’t ashamed
of what had happened; however, there were elements of the story she
didn’t like to examine too closely.
    “I had an affair with one of my guards and
my mother found out.”
    His eyebrows drew together as he mulled over
the fact. “True, but not complete. Aren’t royal bodyguards supposed
to be of an incompatible sexual orientation with whomever they’re
guarding?”
    With a frustrated harrumph, she stood and
crossed to the window, staring out into the star-dotted blackness
of space. “Jaque was in a long-term relationship with another man.
He’d never been attracted to a woman until he was promoted to my
personal guard. Don’t even look at me like that. I am not a
home-wrecker. His lover, Pavel, assured us both that he wasn’t
upset by the attraction and he wished us well.”
    “And,” Vihlok prompted.
    “And I found them in my courtyard one night.
They were arguing about me. I told Jaque I would not jeopardize his
primary relationship and Pavel explained that the source of his
jealousy was not that Jaque made love with me, but that there was
now a part of Jaque’s life they didn’t share. He wanted to know if
I would consider a sexual triad.”
    “Was Pavel bisexual?”
    “No. He didn’t want to have sex with
me…”
    “He wanted to participate whenever you
summoned Jaque.” She nodded then he asked, “Did you consider
it?”
    With her hands buried in the pockets of her
bathrobe, she turned around. “It was awkward at first, but
eventually we figured it out.”
    “Did your mother find you with both
men?”
    “Yes. I insisted it was the first time and
it would never happen again, but she knew she had me. With a word
she could have exiled them or worse.”
    “What did she do?”
    “They were persuaded to relocate. I made
sure they had enough credits and suitable references so they could
start over somewhere else.”
    “Then you negotiated with your mother,
bowing to her will as you protected your people.”
    Rana shook her head, releasing the past with
a sigh. “You make it sound almost noble. I took the coward’s way
out. I should have stood up to her from the beginning.”
    “You eventually