The walk was a short one, the males parting to allow the ranking male clear passage with his charge, and in no time they arrived at Zoldana’s chamber.
“I will take my leave here,” Arkness said, gently pressing his lips to her hand, a very intense look in his eyes. “I do hope to show you more of our city.”
Olivia felt butterflies in her belly fluttering hard. “I—uh, thank you,” she said, then moved to the overseer’s entrance. The door materialized and opened before her, revealing Zoldana, as before, but this time she had a visitor. Arkness flashed a displeased look but said nothing, walking away with annoyed stiffness in his stride.
“Hello, Olivia,” Rykker said from beside the overseer, his low baritone rumbling pleasantly like the purr of a big cat.
His smell hit her again, light, but no longer a faint hint by any means, triggering something primal deep within her. Olivia’s cheeks flushed, and she was quite aware she was on the verge of getting wet.
What the hell is going on with me? Down, girl!she chided herself.
Zoldana watched with a curious look a moment before turning to the man at her side.
“I had intended to have a little chat with our guest before her visit to Nijello, but I think you had best escort her there immediately while the effects of her purge are intact. I worry she might be a bit more susceptible to certain stimuli than I had originally thought.”
“As you wish, Overseer,” the man replied. “Olivia, please follow me.”
She did as he asked, following him down a corridor and onto another lift disc. This one took them only partway down, stopping seemingly in mid-air.
“This way,” Rykker said, stepping forward into what looked like empty air.
A walkway illuminated under his feet as soon as he did, leading to a small pod suspended nearby. Olivia stepped out, forcing herself to ignore the height. As soon as she felt the firmness of the platform at her feet, along with the faintly visiblewalls on either side, her initial distress faded. Just another trick of alien tech, she realized.
It was a short walk, and in no time they reached a platform outside the Skrizzit’s workspace. Rykker gently placed his warm hand on her shoulder and leaned closer. Olivia breathed deep, his alien scent mingling with the traces of his rival’s in her nose in a most delightful way.
“Did you hear me?”
“What?” she asked, snapping out of her daze.
“You will go through that door on the left. The Skrizzit will be waiting for you. It will be a lengthy process and your body will need time to recover after. Know that if you requireanything, I am at your service, day or night.”
She could feel the silent implication hanging in the air as thick as his pheromones, her nipples hardening in response entirely on their own.
“Uh, thank you,” she managed, forcing herself to regain her composure.
He watched as she strode to the door then took his leave. Olivia was on her own, and she was about to get inked by an alien artist. Given all that had happened since her abduction, this was almost tame by comparison.
“Well, here goes nothing,” she said, then stepped inside.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Over here. Please, remove your clothing and lay face-down.”
Nijello was gesturing to a faintly blue platform of force energy in front of him. At his side, a large selection of colored pigments were at the ready. Some, Olivia noted, seemed to be faintly glowing. He had a display projection of all her existing tattoos hovering in the air in front of him, parts of them highlighted with notations she couldn’t understand.
“No sense being shy,” she muttered, shedding her clothes and carefully climbing onto the floating energy field, the scent of the two men still clinging strong and alluring in her sinuses. This man, she noted, lacked any such smell.
Olivia rolled to her belly and lay flat. The energy field supported her weight easily, and, unlike a masseuse’s table, when she rested her face down on the device’s projected power, it simply molded around her without any additional pressure to her cheeks, forehead, or jaw. It was, for lack of a better analogy, akin to floating in a soothing pool of water, only she could breathe without any difficulty.
“I have mapped out the areas of your existing artwork where I will be able to incorporate the required runes.”
“You’re going to change my ink?”
“Some of the designs you have are in locations I cannot work around, unfortunately, so yes, I will make some modifications. But as I can see my test area from yesterday seems to have accepted the pigment without issue, I do not foresee any trouble with the rest of them. I will, however, be required to use particularly powerful pigment for a few locations, so there may be some irregularities as a result. Do not worry about those, they will heal just fine, I am confident.”
“I trust you,” she replied, her body quite literally in his hands as he began the process.
“I would normally apply a soothing energy field as I work, but as I do not know how your physiology might react, I am afraid I will have to keep the use of it to a minimum, and only if the discomfort becomes too distracting for you.”
