Purity (Pure and Tainted) (27 page)

“I don’t want to rule anything,” K objected. “I don’t even want to
be here.” She turned back to Boone. “We need to leave
now
. I may have come from Eros but I don’t belong here—not any
more.”

“Krissana, of
course
you
belong here.” The Empress reached forward to touch her hand and K jerked away.

Contamination!
She still couldn’t bear to touch
anyone skin-to-skin but Boone, even though her newly restored memories insisted
that the Empress, was in fact, her biological mother.

“K,”
Loki hissed at her. “You can’t
do
that! You must never refuse the touch
of the Empress. It’s a
gift
.”

“One I fear I bestowed all too infrequently when Krissana was
little.” The Empress sat back, a look of sorrow in her jeweled eyes. “I always
felt, you know, that your kidnapping was a punishment on me.
For
not spending more time with you.
For allowing you to
imprint as an infant on another female.”

“My nurse…Vanja,” K whispered as another memory rushed into place.
“Is she—
”

“She is still here in the palace.” The Empress nodded. “It was
clear she had nothing to do with your disappearance and I couldn’t bear to let
her go. She was the only one I could speak to about my lost daughter…about you,
Krissana.”

“Stop calling me that.” K crossed her arms protectively over her
chest. “I’m K.
Just K.”

“Not anymore.” The Empress spoke with determination. “You are a
royal princess of the blood—one possessing the rare triple golden ringed eyes.
And you will conduct yourself as such.”

“Now wait just a minute,” Boone growled. “K is her own person.
Just because she started out here doesn’t mean you own her now that she’s
back.”

“Of course I don’t own her.” The Empress spread her hands. “Krissana
is owned by the entire planet of Eros—as are all of us who rule.”

“Don’t you understand?” K said, fighting to keep her voice steady.
“I was raised and trained to eradicate you—
all
of you. Your filthy
Impure
ways of sexual
procreation—”

“Don’t seem quite so filthy now that you’re going through your own
cycle, do they, my dear?” The Empress raised one perfectly arched eyebrow at
her.

K opened her mouth and found she had noting to say. All she could
think of was the warm, delicious pleasure of Boone’s hands on her, of the
incredible release he’d given her and the hotness of his mouth covering hers as
he brought her to the peak.
Purity!
Even
though she’d had a release just the night before, she could already feel her
nipples and sex getting tender again, could already feel that hollow emptiness
between her thighs growing, begging to be filled…

The Empress frowned. “Speak of your cycle, Krissana, I do believe
you’re about to enter the second phase of it very soon.”

“You…but how can you know that?” K demanded, feeling suddenly
naked.

“Your eyes—the golden rings are glowing.” The Empress gestured
toward her face.

“Are they?” K looked up at Boone for conformation.

He nodded.
“Afraid so, darlin’.”

K’s stomach clenched like a slick fist. “But that means…what
exactly does that mean?” she demanded, speaking to Loki rather than the
Empress.

“It means you’ll be experiencing the urgent need to mate.” The
Empress spoke as though it was no great matter. “Don’t worry, though—we can
have a host of acceptable candidates for you to pick from by early tomorrow
morning.”

“Acceptable candidates?”
K felt like she might be sick. “I
don’t want to pick and choose from a bunch of strangers to contaminate me. I
don’t want anyone but Boone!”

“Now, Krissana…” The Empress spoke as though to a small, willful
child. “I understand that you went through a second infancy as it were after
that horrible black suit thing the Purists put on you came off. And you
imprinted on this…this giant at that time.” She nodded at Boone who was giving
her a stony stare. “But we grow, my dear. We
change
. We do
not
choose to
bond with someone simply because of an early imprint. That’s
irrational—childish.”

“But—”

“We’ll speak of it later.” The Empress tapped on the ceiling of
the carriage and one of the footmen rushed to open the door for her. “We cannot
sit out here in front of the palace arguing all day. There is much to be done.”

Much
to be done about what?
K
thought but the
Empress—her mother—had already swept from the carriage and was making her way
in a stately manner toward the vast double doors bound in gold and covered in
silver script which led to the interior of the castle.

“Boone,” she said, turning to him. “I don’t like this. Being here,
knowing who I am all of a sudden—these are the worst emotions I’ve had yet. I
don’t want to be here feeling like this, knowing the things I know now. Can’t
we go?”

He shook his head regretfully. “I don’t think so, K. I don’t think
they’ll let us.” He nodded his head at the procession of soldiers who had lined
up on either side of the carriage door as though to be certain they got out and
went directly into the palace.

For a moment K was filled with frustrated rage.

“This is
all
your
fault,” she stormed, turning to Loki. “If you were looking for a way to punish
me for the death of your partner, you certainly found it.”

“I was trying to do you a favor.” Loki shrugged. “I mean, it’s
like something straight out of a fairytale from Earth-that-was. Who
wouldn’t
want to find out they’re
secretly royalty?”

“I
wouldn’t,” K spat.

“Well I’m afraid you’ve been outed now,” Loki returned waspishly.
“And there’s no going back in the closet,
your
highness.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I do believe I have a hero’s welcome to
collect.
”
He stepped out of the
carriage, flashing predatory looks at some of the assembled soldiers as he
strutted into the palace.

K watched him go and squeezed her hands into fists. If only she
had her plasma gauntlets on right now she would carve a path through these Erian
soldiers, all dressed in their ridiculous, colorful uniforms with those foppish
plumes on their hats and the useless metals gleaming on their chests. She would
make
a way to get back to the space
port and leave, taking Boone with her.

Boone seemed to sense her frustration.

“Easy, darlin’,” he murmured, squeezing her hand. “I know it’s
upsetting and unexpected but we’ll get through this.”

“Together?” K looked up at him, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“Because I can’t do this alone.
It’s too much, Boone.
I…I
need
you.”

“I need you too.” He stroked her cheek. “And I love you. You know
that, right?”

K let out a shaky sigh. “I don’t exactly know what it means but
yes, I know.”

“I told you I’d teach you and I still will,” Boone promised.
“Right now, though, we need to get going. The sooner we face the music, the
sooner we can figure out a way to get out of here.”

K nodded and allowed him to lead her out of the carriage. She held
Boone’s big hand and drew strength from his large, solid form as they passed
through the assembled lines of soldiers. But in her other hand, she clutched
something small and tightly wrapped and black.

She didn’t want to put the skinsuit back on. But she would if she
had to.

Chapter Twenty

“I love K,” Boone said stubbornly, glaring up at the Empress who
was sitting high on an impressively ornate solid gold throne. He wasn’t used to
having to look up at anyone and it didn’t sit right with him that he couldn’t
look her squarely in the eye. Especially considering how important this
conversation was.

The minute they’d gone into the palace, he and K had been rushed
away in different directions. K hadn’t wanted to leave him at first but then
she’d caught sight of her old nurse—the person she’d imprinted on as a baby,
apparently. Boone had reluctantly allowed himself to be parted from her so she
could have a little reunion but when he’d found himself installed in separate
quarters in a whole different wing of the palace from K, he’d decided it was
time to say something.

Accordingly, he had marched to the throne room where, to his
surprise, the Empress admitted him at once. Now he was standing in front of her
throne, trying to get the whole situation straightened out.

“I love her,” he said again.

The Empress gave a long suffering sigh. “Spare me, please. You’ve
only had Krissana in your custody for a single solar month. I’m sure you
think
you love her—”

“I don’t think, I
know
,”
Boone growled. “And she loves me too. Do you know how much that means—do you
have any idea of what she’s been through?
Because I do, your
highness.
I know about what was done to her when she was taken away from
you. I’m the one who held her all those nights to keep her from shaking herself
to pieces. I’m the one who comforted her—who helped her learn to
feel
again after that damn skinsuit had
been pumping her full of emo-dampers for most of her life.”

“For which I am most grateful, giant,” the Empress said patiently.
“But if you truly care for Krissana, you must let her go.”

“Like hell I will!” Boone growled. “I’m responsible for her. I’m
the one who found her in the first place.”

“You mean you
captured
her
in hopes that she would come in handy while trying to retrieve your sister.”
The Empress tapped long, shapely nails on the golden arm of her throne with a
metallic
click, click,
click
.
“You don’t have to worry about that, by the way. We have several Purist
ships in our royal docking bay—ones we’ve captured in raids. I’ll have one
outfitted and we’ll be in and out of Midas before the Purists have any idea
we’re not one of them. Consider your sister saved.”

“I appreciate that, your highness,” Boone said. “But your
generosity doesn’t change my feelings for K or my obligation to her.”

“Your obligation ended the moment you brought her back to her
rightful home,” the Empress snapped. “You’ll have nothing more to do with her.”

“I think that’s for K to say.” Boone’s voice was quiet but dangerous.
“If you ask her, I think you’ll find she still doesn’t want anyone but me
touching her. Let alone doing anything more…intimate.”

The Empress raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you inferring that
you
should
be the one to mate and bond with Krissana?”

Boone lifted his chin and glared at her.

“I may not be royalty but she could do worse.”

The Empress gave an incredulous laugh.

“Forgive me, my dear giant. I
have
checked your background and I will admit you have rather impressive
credentials in your field. And so, it is to your scientific mind I appeal,
rather than your wounded male pride. As a renowned geneticist, how much do you
know about the Erian mating cycle?”

Boone shifted uncomfortably. “Well, you’re all so secretive about
it…”

“Nothing,” the Empress cut in scornfully. “You know
nothing.
But listen closely, for I am
about to enlighten you.”

“By all means, please
do,
your highness.”
Boone crossed his arms over his chest. “What is it that’s so special about your
cycle that I can’t be with K?”

“Tell me something, giant…” The Empress leaned back in her golden
throne and glared down at Boone. “When you have sexual relations with a woman,
how many times do you usually satisfy her?”

“Satisfy her? As in…” Boone cleared his throat. “You mean give her
an orgasm?”

“Not just an orgasm. I’m asking how many times you penetrate her.
When you take a female to your bed, how many times do you have sex with her
over the course of a single night?”

Boone frowned. “I don’t know…two?
Three?
Maybe four?”
Although that was really
pushing it.
He was a virile male in the prime of his life but he was
only human, after all.

The Empress gave him a cold smile. “Try fourteen.”

Boone’s throat was suddenly dry. “Fourteen?”

“At a minimum.
Though some
females in their first cycle may require penetration and completion up to
twenty or even twenty-five times.”

“That’s…” Boone coughed. “That’s simply not possible.”

“Not for one of your species, no.
But for an Erian it’s the norm.”

Boone shook his head. “But…we’re all human. All our people came
from Earth-that-was.”

“That was millennia ago,” the Empress snapped. “We’ve evolved. You
only have to look in the viewer at your own excessively large frame to see
that. Where would your people be if they hadn’t mutated in order to live on a
heavy G world? In the same way, my people have adapted to live on Eros. The
compounds in our atmosphere have molded us into what we are today—a highly
sexual people.”

“I…see,” Boone said slowly.

“You
begin
to see,” the
Empress corrected him. “I hate to be blunt, but there’s simply no way you could
satisfy an Erian female’s sexual appetites during her mating cycle.
Especially not a royal one.
Our appetites are more…voracious
than most.”

Boone frowned. “So you’re saying I can’t be with K because I can’t
get it up twenty times a night? There are other ways to satisfy a woman, your
highness.”

The Empress’s eyes flashed. “Indeed? And you’re really so full of
hubris that you believe your crude sexual methods could help Krissana get
through what is certain to be the most difficult trial of her life?”

“I think she’d have an easier time being with someone she wanted,”
Boone said stolidly.

“The mind may be willing but the body is weak,” the Empress said,
frowning. “You think that because you were able to help her through the first phase
of her cycle you will be able to finish the job.”

“I would certainly try,” Boone said.

The Empress shook her head. “Trying isn’t enough. Though you might
be able to satisfy her cravings manually or orally during the first and second
phases of her cycle, when she goes into the third phase and her eyes turn pure
gold, Krissana won’t just crave multiple sexual encounters, she’ll
die
without them. Only a pure bred Erian
can help her.”

“Damn it,” Boone growled. “There must be a way—I know I’m not the
only non-Erian to love somebody from Eros. I won’t stand by and let K be raped
by some stranger just because he has the right bloodlines and I don’t.”

The Empress actually threw back her head and laughed—long peals of
mirth that made the short hairs on the back of Boone’s neck stand on end.

“Oh, do forgive me,” she said at last, blotting her eyes daintily
with an embroidered linen napkin. “But rape? You speak of rape? You really
don’t
know anything about the Erian sex
cycle, do you?”

Boone glared at her. “I don’t know what’s so funny. What else
would you call putting K in a room with a stranger and telling her to go for it
even if she doesn’t want anything to do with him, because he’s your choice to
be the future Emperor?”

The Empress sobered. “Firstly let me say that whoever Krissana
chooses as her consort with be simply that—a
consort.
He will
never
be
the ruler of this planet. Only Krissana has the exulted blood—only she can
rule. And secondly, let me inform you that it is much more likely that
she
will rape
him—
whoever it is that she chooses—than the other way around.”

Boone shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“About matters beyond your span of knowledge, obviously,” the
Empress snapped.

Boone struggled to control his temper. “Well then please, your
highness,
enlighten
me.”

“Gladly.”
She leaned forward on the throne.
“When a female royal goes into the third and final stage of her cycle, there is
no stopping her—no controlling her. She
must
mate and she often becomes quite…feral at that time.” She steepled her
long, slender fingers and looked at Boone. “Believe
me,
I am actually doing you a
favor
by
taking away Krissana.”

Boone frowned. “What exactly are you implying? I don’t—”

The Empress cut him off with a wave.

“I’m afraid this conversation is at an end. I have many matters to
attend to and you have taken enough of my time.” She nodded at two of the
guards who were standing on either side of her throne. “Escort him out and see
that he goes only to his own chambers. I don’t want him anywhere near the
princess,” she ordered.

Boone started to protest but the guards had both leveled their
pulse sabers at him. Clearly this discussion was over. He turned to leave but
he couldn’t resist saying one last thing.

“This isn’t the end, your highness,” he told the Empress. “I swore
to K that I would take care of her and that I wouldn’t leave her.”

“My dear giant,” she returned. “Did it ever occur to you that Krissana
might not
want
you to keep your
promise? She’s back where she belongs—she has a home and a life and duties to
take on. She doesn’t
need
you
anymore.”

Boone wanted to say that the Empress had no idea what K needed—no
idea at all. But by that time he had already been herded out of the throne room
and was being marched back to his quarters.

I’m sorry K,
he thought with a mixture of
frustration and regret.
Sorry I brought
you here at all. But I swear I’ll figure something out.
Some
way to get you out of here.

But how when they were practically under house arrest here at the
elaborate and well guarded palace? And even if he did manage to escape with K,
what was he going to do with her? He wasn’t afraid for his own safety—even if
she did go feral when she entered her third phase, he could handle himself. But
he
did
worry about her dying if he
couldn’t give her what she needed.
If he couldn’t satisfy the
sexual demands of her body.

God…
Boone ran a hand over his face as
they passed down the long marble hallways that led to the guest suite where
he’d been installed.
All this was so much
simpler back before I kissed her and started her damn cycle.

But as problematic as it was becoming, he couldn’t regret his
deepening relationship with K. Couldn’t regret loving her or stop hoping that
she could learn to love him back.

* * * * *

“I can’t believe it—nothing has changed.” K looked around her old
room in wonder.

In the center of the room her old sleeping platform still stood.
It was big and puffy and pink with delicate white hand stitched lace edging
everything. Her favorite stuffed animal, a purple bearicorn, was lying in state
in the center in the middle of the many pillows. To the left of the bed was a shelf
filled with toys and to the right was a dainty white dressing table, a
miniature of the one she remembered being in her mother’s rooms.

“I used to sit here,” she murmured, placing one hand on the back
of the tiny ornately carved chair. “Sit here and pretend I was getting dressed
for a ball.”

“That you did, child.” Vanja, her old nurse, smiled. Her kindly face
was just as K remembered it—a bit more wrinkled and careworn, maybe, but the
faded blue eyes with their thin outer gold rings were still kind and
understanding. “You loved playing dress up and pretending you were a grown up
lady,” her nurse went on. “It was your favorite game.”

“I guess…it won’t be a game for much longer.” K sat heavily on the
pale pink sleeping platform and ran a hand through her hair. She had tucked her
skinsuit into one of the inner pockets of the stylish red dress she’d gotten
from Illesca so she didn’t have to explain it to anyone. It made barely a lump
under the silky red fabric but K was very aware of it, especially as the needs of
her body grew. Her nipples were already tender and tight and between her legs
she could feel herself growing damp and sensitive. The feeling of emptiness inside
her was becoming too intense to deny.

K knew she needed to put the suit on soon…but something still
stopped her. How would she feel about Boone once the suit was on again? Would
she retain any emotion at all? Or would it wipe her clean and turn her back
into the emotionless killing machine she’d been before he found her? More
importantly, did she
want
to go back?
Her doubts that morning had been almost overwhelming. But now all she could
think about was being with Boone again and finding some way to get through this
mess she found herself in so they could be together.