Perfect.
I lean down, my lips close enough that she feels my breath against her lips. “This is devotion. When you obey me, you are safe. When you stray, you open yourself up to danger, to Terra Ka. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sovereign.”
“Good.” I release her hair. “Rise.”
She obeys, but slowly and uncertainly.
I walk over to my desk and take the pin from the drawer. Heavy silver twin moons cut deep and decorated with jewels from Reima Two.
“I had this made especially for you, Eve. I want you to wear it at all times when outside of your suite.”
Her eyes widen as I hold it before her and then move it down just an inch from her lips.
I grip her hair and tilt her face higher, pressing the cool metal against her lips. “Kiss it.”
She obeys, and her lips briefly brush the silver.
“Again. Like you mean it.”
She kisses it more reverently.
“Good. Now look up at me and thank me.”
She looks up at me with her gorgeous brown eyes, and I expect to see fear there, but instead, I see arousal.
“Thank you, Sovereign.”
“Louder.” I yank her hair again, tighter, wishing I was pulling her hair in a different scenario. “Say it as though you understand what you’ve been given.”
“Thank you, Sovereign.”
“Repeat after me,” I command, lowering my voice to a steady cadence, each phrase an order. “I am fortunate to serve at the Celestial Spire.”
“I am fortunate to serve at the Celestial Spire.”
“I was taken from Earth and elevated to human liaison, making me the highest-ranking human in the galaxy.”
“I was taken from Earth and elevated to human liaison, making me the highest-ranking human in the galaxy.”
“I am marked by the Sovereigns who protect me.”
“I am marked by the Sovereigns who protect me.”
“Good.”
Only then do I fasten the ornate pin at her collar. The weight is far too extravagant for her rank. Everyone will see it and then everyone will know—she is ours. Not as an owned human, or just an employee, but a role that is completely new in the galaxy. A human woman of worth.My woman.
I smooth the pin against her uniform with my fingers, deliberately grazing her throat. “When Terra Ka approaches you, and they will approach you, remember what you saw here today. Lara, oiled and sold at a slave market, and rescued humans turned to grotesques. That is Terra Ka’s truth. And remember that we, your Sovereigns, areyourtruth and this emblem is a reminder of that.”
Her eyes glisten as she touches the pin with shaky fingers.
“Say it once more.”
“I am marked by the Sovereigns who protect me.”
“Our paths are intertwined now.” I dismiss her with a flick of my hand before I say more than I should, and she leaves with a quick bow as if this was all too much. And maybe it was, for both of us.
