More heat rises to my face at the casual mention of the device pressed against my most intimate parts. “It's functional,” I manage.
“I read that most humans report intense sexual frustration,” Lorian says. “I don’t know if the doctor told you, but the Venus Lock was created to teach restraint. It shows you that your body's responses can be controlled, channeled, and directed toward more productive purposes. Our former human employees, Denise and Yasmin, did not wear them during their employment here, and that was a mistake. Now, it's standard protocol for all human staff until you can learn to control your sexual urges.”
I open my mouth to refute his implication that I’m a nymphomaniac, but then stop myself. On theIgo,I allowed myself to be brought to orgasm twice by strangers, and then there was the dream last night.
Maybe I do need some help?
So I let that go and use the opportunity to ask, “What happened to Denise?”
The twins exchange a look.
“I assume you would have already heard rumors about Denise and Yasmin. Those we cannot control,” Rafe says carefully. “But the truth is this: they both became emotionally compromised. A revolutionary group called Terra Ka infiltrated our operations last season, and their leader, Gael the Returner, manipulated our previous human employees’ impressionable natures.”
“Wait,” I interrupt, my pulse quickening when I realize my mistake of speaking out of turn. I bow immediately, my eyes down, looking at my expensive black alien shoes.
I hear one of them stand. I think by the shadow on the floor it’s Rafe. He walks over to me. I don’t move. I’m scared of what’s going to happen now.
“Usually an interruption would result in a punishment, but since you’re new, I will let this go with a warning,” Rafe says, and then he smacks my ass hard through my uniform, so hard the Venus Lock shifts for a second. “Next time you’ll be stripped and publicly punished. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sovereign.”
“Now you may rise and continue,” Rafe says, as he takes his seat again.
I stand upright and resist the urge to run my hands over my backside. I’m sure I’ll have a bruise. But it doesn’t hurt as much as it feels…sexy. I have to pull myself together. What is wrong with me?
This isn’t aromance novel.
This is real.
Then I continue, “I've heard of a woman named Lara; they say she was the first human to be truly free. Is she connected to this Gael?”
“Ah, you've done your research,” Lorian says. “Lara is Gael's human wife, though using the termfreeis... generous. She was so highly sought after as a human pet that she was even stolen from Kamos's palace. Kamos, by the way, is the same Imperial crime lord who now owns Denise. But as for Lara, Gael abducted her, but laws being what they are now, for Gael to keep her legally, he had to set her free, as it were. Nevertheless, everyone knows the truth; Lara simply has a more attractive cage now.”
“You see, Eve, Terra Ka doesn't free humans,” Rafe says. “They traffic them through different channels. They told Yasmin and Denise lies about liberation while using them to sabotage our security systems.”
“Denise was happy here,” Lorian adds. “She had purpose, protection, luxury beyond anything Earth offered. She was my lover, willingly.” He sounds like he genuinely liked her.
My mind races.Who can I trust?The Sovereigns who admit the system is flawed, but claim to be changing it, Lira, Cal, or faceless revolutionaries I may never meet?
“Thank you for telling me,” I say.
Rafe acknowledges my gratitude with a slight nod, then calls up holographic displays of complex legal documents. “Tribune Jin Kol, a bureaucrat from the Intergalactic Court, will return in one hundred and fifty days to evaluate our compliance with Court protocols. He is tiresome in his attention to procedure, yet powerful enough to cripple us with an unfavorable ruling. Your job is to convince him that humans at the Celestial Spire are treated ethically and that they have all volunteered to compete in the Grand Championships.”
“What are the Grand Championships exactly?”
“The Grand Championships is a competition where humans compete before the galaxy’s elite,” Rafe says evenly. “On the surface, it’s aspectacle. In truth, it’s proof that humans can be trained, disciplined, and displayed.”
“With all due respect, Sovereigns, you want me to lie to Tribune Jin Kol?”
“We want you to present the truth in its proper context,” Rafe corrects. “The gradual progress we're making. The legal employment of humans like yourself.”
“The Grand Championships begin in one hundred and fifty days,” Lorian says. “Humans are important to us, Eve. So important, in fact, Rafe and I will spend most of that time here at the Spire, training you to represent us effectively. You'll need to answer Jin Kol's questions with the ease of a seasoned galactic ambassador.”
One hundred and fifty days of intensive training with these two dangerously handsome, rich, and manipulative alien men—what could possibly go wrong?“What kind of training?”
“Cultural education,” Rafe says. “Galactic law. Diplomatic protocols. Economic theory regarding human integration into interspecies commerce and data security. The Spire’s reception network is the first line of defense against infiltration. You’ll need to know how to detect proxy interference, reroute encrypted transmissions, and repair corrupted guest records without triggering alarms. If you’re to serve as liaison to the IGC, you must understand how the system works and how to hide within it if needed for the protection of the Spire.”
Do ambassadors for hotels always know so much about computers and security?
