Page 4 of The Pleasure Contract

“I could even cook for you guys if you want. It would be no trouble. I’ve been known to whip up a mean soup with almost any ingredient.”

“Mm, sounds delicious,” I purr close to her ear.

Lois yelps and almost falls from her bucket-stool. And years of drakball training may not have made me clever, but it has certainly made me quick. Without even thinking, I grab hold of Lois’ arm to steady her before she falls. Her robe is silky to the touch. It is one of the pieces I have gifted her, though I do not think she knows this. No matter, I am more distracted by the give of her soft flesh beneath the fabric, and the warmth that seeps through it.

“Az! I thought you were Zek!” she exclaims, and suddenly, I am distracted no longer.

“Zek?” I ask. “Who is this Zek, and why are you offering to cook him some goop?”

Her pretty pukpuk-wood eyes search my face like the words I’d just spoken were in High Galaxxorian, and she thinks she might find a translation in my expression.

“Soup,” she says slowly. “I offered to make soup. And Zek is one of the guys your brother hired to run around after Jaya and me,” Lois explains, shrugging her arm out of my hold. “Which I don’t need, by the way. You can tell him that.”

“You wish for K to fire this ‘Zek’? It can be done. Has he offended you in some way? Because if this is the case, I can-”

Before my imagination can stoke embers of anger in my head, Lois puts her hand on my chest and gives me a little shove. It is not enough to move me, but I move for her all the same. If Lois wishes to push me around, she absolutely can.

And I would thank her for it and ask for more.

“No! He hasn’t done anything, I-”

Sighing, she turns her attention back to the basin before her. “I don’t want anyone losing their job. I just don’t need people to look after me, is all,” she mutters, holding her hand beneath the stream of cool water.

It’s then that I notice a part of her little human hand is reddened. Grabbing her by the wrist, I yank the offending injury closer so that I may inspect it. “What happened?”

Lois tries to tug herself free, but I do not allow it. I know I am touching her right now. I know I shouldn’t be. But Goddess-be-damned, my Lois is hurt.

“It’s just a little burn, Az. Keeping it under cold water will help, and it will heal within a day. Let me-” She tugs again, and this time, I relent.

“I do not like to see you injured.”

“I’m a big girl; I can cope,” she snaps, drowning the burn under the water flow again.

Glancing around to make sure we are alone, I grab Lois’ wrist again, muttering to her, “That is not the point,” and ignoring the way she huffs in protest. I really should not do what I am about to do, but seeing my Lois, even in mild discomfort, makes my skin feel itchy, and my chest feel tight. “Do not tell anyone about this,” I warn her.

3

Lois

“Don’t tell anyone about w-” I start to ask, giving up on escaping Az’s strong but gentle grip.

It’s the sight of his fully extended fangs that cut my words short. They’re large. Everything about him is large. Not just large – frickin’ enormous. So it stands to reason the things he’d use to pin down a woman while he fucks her silly would be huge, too.

There’s a brief – and I mean very brief – moment where some kind of primal fear mixed with arousal kicks in, but it’s instantly brushed away when I see Az reach a finger up to his own mouth. I watch with confusion as he seems to wince, forcing out a bead of silvery liquid from the pointy tip of his left fang. It rests on the pad of his pointer finger like a liquid jewel before he brings it to my reddened skin and gently rubs the liquid in. The sensation is instantly cooling, relieving the sting of the burn more effectively than any human-made balm ever could.

He continues to slowly rub the liquid – his venom, I’m slow to realize – into my burn. I think he’s saying something to me in a low, calming voice, but I’m too mesmerized by the soothing action and just how gentle this giant of a man can be to properly hear him.

When his eyes flick up from where he still gently cradles my hand to meet my own is when I snap out of my haze. “What?” I ask, blinking as if I’d just been clocked around the head.

Az’s lips curl into a crooked smile. “I was saying, don’t tell anyone I did that.”

Finally, he relents, allowing me to pull my hand away from him. Frowning down at it, I see the burn has completely healed as if it had never been there in the first place. I can’t feel any hint of the previous sting, either. “It’s gone,” I muse out loud, flexing my hand experimentally. “Was that your…” What was it called again?

“Bloodline venom, yes,” Az says, shoving his hands into his pockets as he shrugs. “But only a few select people are trusted to know I have an active venom,” he adds, “Most think me dormant.”

Ah, that’s right. I vaguely remember Vel explaining to us about this. About how some venoms are so sought after that people end up getting kidnapped. Not that Az would really be in any danger of that with all the protection his royal title brings. Still, the ability to heal must be a good venom to have, no? “What else can you heal?” I ask, only just now dragging my attention away from my perfectly healed hand to look up at him.

Az leans his hip against the sink, his eyes glittering with the way they slowly fall down my body and back up again. “Why?” he asks, as smooth as molasses and as wicked as sin. “Do you have an ache I can help you with?”