Pet's Pleasure (13 page)

“Considering why I interrupted you, I don’t think you should be thanking me or anyone else.” Rois placed a hand on Bekion’s shoulder. “As a friend, I say this, Bekion. Be careful of her. Her looks make it easy to forget she is not
jattikan
. You should endeavor to treat her more like a pet. That would help alleviate your confusion.”

“I doubt it.” Besides, he had promised Starling he would treat her as more than a pet when dealing with her. He couldn’t have it both ways. Neither could she.

It didn’t matter what her life had been. She was his pet now. She needed to learn her place. Putting her in it would help him as well.

He patted Rois’ hand before pushing to his feet. Rois stepped back as Bekion walked forward and left the room, headed back to his chambers. He needed to set things straight with Starling.

She sat on the bed, wringing her hands, when he returned. The sound of him closing the bedroom door made her look up at him.

Her soft, hesitant smile firmed his resolve.

“Off the bed, Starling,” he said in a gruff voice, pointing at the floor.

A pet. She was nothing but a pet. Owners spoke to their pets this way. Bekion would do the same to Starling.

She blinked at him a few times, clearly confused, but didn’t do as he bade.

“Off. Now.”

She dropped from the bed. “Was everything okay, Bekion?”

“I resolved the situation.” He stripped off his shirt then sat on the edge of the bed with his back turned to her.

He heard her approach him. He had to do or say something before she touched him and ruined his intention of putting her in her place. “You’re sleeping on your own bed tonight. You’ll sleep on your own bed from now on.”

She made an affirmative noise and his insides loosened. He didn’t want an argument that would reinforce Starling as more than a simple pet.

She said, “That’s best. What happened earlier was a mistake. I hope you told Rois that.”

“I didn’t need to tell Rois anything. He knows I’m not one to indulge in bestiality.”

Starling sucked in a sharp breath that almost made Bekion flinch. He’d predicted her anger and had prepared himself for it. His choice of words had been deliberate. They also had the desired effect.

Good.

He chanced looking at Starling’s face. She had an expression that said she would love to hurt him. That was the reaction he wanted.

He said, “Such deviant acts are for common people and low nobility, not monarchs of the Gorov Empire.”

Starling’s brown skin was turning redder with each word he spoke. It surprised him that she let him continue without speaking her mind.

“My judgment lapsed due to my lack of comfort from one of my maids these past two months. Furthermore, I mistook you for one who could fulfill my need when that is not the case. Sexual frustration coupled with stress caused me to act in a strange, unexpected way.” He couldn’t look at her any longer.

Bekion never knew he could be so intentionally cruel. While he had made people angry with him in the past with his words and judgments, those times had been justified. The anger of the people receiving his words had been because they hadn’t gotten their way.

With Starling, he wanted…no, he
needed
her to be angry and said what he knew would spark that anger the fastest. She would put distance between them. Something he couldn’t do.

It wasn’t enough. Not yet.

He needed to say the words to her face, to show her his resolve. He met her gaze once more, steeling himself against her anger, to do what he must. “I will not make such a stupid and demeaning mistake again when I have better options available.”

Starling huffed a few times, opened her mouth and then stopped. She gave him a scathing look he had more than earned before stalking to the bathroom and slamming the door.

Bekion listened, waiting to hear if she would scream or cry or otherwise vent her anger at his words. He heard nothing. That scared him but he couldn’t check on her. She wouldn’t want to see him.

He left the bedroom and closed the door. Somehow, at the end of it all, he had self-exiled himself from his own sleeping chamber.

Nausic entered the outer chamber and bowed, interrupting Bekion’s thoughts.

Bekion asked, “Why are you here?”

“Lady Starling called for me.”

Bekion looked over his shoulder at the closed door. Starling had called for Nausic? When had she learned to use her armbands in such a way? He hadn’t told her. But then, she spent significant amounts of time with Nausic and Furielle. Of course Nausic would educate her.

Bekion moved and waved Nausic past. “See to her then.”

Nausic opened the door.

Before he could walk through, Bekion said, “Starling doesn’t leave my chambers.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Nausic bowed and entered the room.

Bekion pulled the door closed, giving Starling privacy. Rather than stand there like a spy, he sat at the dining table to contemplate his life. Everything had made more sense when he didn’t have a pet.

But he couldn’t imagine Starling leaving. He sighed, annoyed at himself and his predicament. Would he be this introspective if he and Starling hadn’t been interrupted, if they hadn’t been caught?

He hit upon the real problem. Not his desire for Starling, not the risk to his reputation, but the fact that they had gotten caught. If anyone other than Rois had opened that door, Bekion would probably be having an audience with Supreme Emperor Udo this very second about who would sit Panagiota’s throne while Bekion rotted in a prison.

The bedroom door opened and Nausic stepped out then closed the door behind him. Bekion lifted his head and looked at Nausic. “Well?”

“Lady Starling wished her bed moved to the farthest corner of the closet. I had to resituate some items to accommodate the bed but the task is done.” He searched Bekion’s gaze with an uncertain one. “Should I have consulted you first, Sire?”

“That’s fine, Nausic. Good night.”

Nausic bowed and left.

Bekion looked at the closed door as though he could see the closet. He wanted to demand Starling stay where he could see her. That was stupid. Looking at her would test his resolve. Banishing her from his bed wasn’t enough. Starling had done the right thing when she moved out of his sight as well.

Once he was married, thoughts of his pet would leave him.

Marriage? Had his situation become so desperate in such a short amount of time that his most hated and avoided duty became a light of hope?

Bekion shook his head. He corrected his thoughts. Once he exhausted himself in the arms of a palace maiden, he would no longer lust after Starling. Stress and a need for release caused his distraction with her, as he had said.

He tapped his arm cuff.

“Yes, Bekion,” Vieve said through the intercom.

“Send me a girl.”

Bekion could almost see the woman smiling.

“You haven’t requested a girl in quite some time. I was beginning to think you’d gone impotent and didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Vieve,” he said with plenty of warning edging his voice.

“She will be there presently.”

Bekion pushed the button, ending the call. He didn’t appreciate the amount of amusement in Vieve’s tone. He glanced over his shoulder at the bedroom door. Instant guilt gnawed at his gut.

He had no reason for the feeling. His actions were answerable to no one, least of all Starling. The knot of tension settling in the pit of his stomach wasn’t alleviated.

The amorous mood moving him earlier had vanished. As much as he wanted to cancel the girl he ordered, he stayed his hand and waited. He hoped the partner Vieve sent him was worthwhile. She would have her work cut out for her. Bekion also hoped his performance wouldn’t make the girl suspect his inner turmoil.

In the days to come, once Starling forgave him and their relationship as master and pet resumed in an amicable way, everything would be right again.

Chapter Nine

Starling stared at the ceiling of the closet with no inclination to leave her bed. The comfort of the soft-as-oven-fresh-biscuits mattress didn’t cause her lethargic behavior. It should. The very well-constructed bed made her feel sorry she hadn’t indulged in its use before this past night, but other thoughts kept her in it.

Bekion and avoiding him topped the list.

He’d already left the bedroom. She couldn’t help but hear the door open and close when he exited. He didn’t stop to check on her.

That was for the best. She might forget herself and yell at him. She had barely stopped herself the night before. She’d wanted to curse a blue streak and hoped he strangled on it after what he said.

She almost had. The way Bekion watched her, as if he wanted her to explode, stopped her. If he had said it all to get a rise out of her, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

A soft knock at the closet door pulled her from her thoughts.

Nausic called, “Lady Starling.”

She pushed back the covers and left the bed. Rather than tell him to enter, she opened the door. “Is he gone?”

Nausic nodded. “A moment ago.”

“Did you tell him I didn’t want to come out until he left?”

“Yes, when he asked. He agreed with the wisdom of your decision.” Nausic stepped to the side as she passed him. “He also said he wouldn’t call for you today.”

“Good, because I won’t go.”

“Whether you want to go or not doesn’t matter, Lady Starling. If King Bekion calls, I must take you to him.”

“Take me wherever you want. That doesn’t mean I’ll stay.” She headed for the bathroom instead of the outer chamber and breakfast. She didn’t have an appetite. Exercise would get out most of her frustration and help clear her head.

She changed into her workout clothes and ran out of the room without waiting for Nausic or answering the servants who greeted her.

Nausic caught up with her easily. She wondered if he knew why she and Bekion were estranged. He hadn’t asked. Then again, curious people probably didn’t last long as royal guards.

If he knew, at least then she would have someone to talk to about it all. She wanted to rant to someone other than herself. She had never noticed she didn’t have anyone with whom to talk. Nausic and Furielle were her constant companions besides Bekion and sometimes Rois. None of them counted as conversation partners.

She needed another human. If whoever bought her—she still suspected Tinette—had bought someone else as well, she wouldn’t be in need of companionship. Even her worst enemy would be better than no one at all.

A sudden hunger pang tripped her. She pitched forward with a startled yelp. Nausic swept his arm beneath her legs and settled her against his side rather than put her back on her feet.

“That’s enough,” he said. “You haven’t eaten. You and King Bekion may be at odds with one another but he won’t overlook it if you hurt yourself or make yourself sick.”

She sighed but didn’t argue.

Nausic carried her back and left her in Furielle’s care. Unlike Nausic, Furielle had no issues being curious. Once inside the bathroom with the door closed, she asked in an urgent voice, “What happened?”

“With?” Starling pretended not to understand.

“Bekion, you little half-tall. Don’t act obtuse with me. Something happened between you two. That’s why you’re avoiding each other.”

Starling moved the sponge over her arm as she debated telling Furielle the truth. She vetoed the idea. Rois hadn’t told anyone and neither had Bekion. Starling wouldn’t be the weak link, even if pets couldn’t bear witness against their owners.

She said, “He made derogatory remarks about me and Earth. I’m pissed at him. Until he apologizes, I don’t want to see him.”

Furielle’s excited look fell. She rolled her eyes with an annoyed huff. “That’s it? All this drama over that?”

“Well, forgive me for being sensitive about the place of my birth. You and him and none of you know anything about Earth. I’d thank you not to talk about it at all.” She scrubbed her skin harder. It hadn’t been a total lie. Bekion’s mention of bestiality was derogatory to her and all humans. She simply failed to mention the part about almost having sex.

Furielle made a disgusted noise and left the bathroom.

That ended Starling’s conversation. She sighed. She really needed a companion, preferably from Earth. If not for the illegality, she would suggest it to Bekion.

After her shower and a quick bite to eat, Starling had nothing to do. She didn’t feel like messing with the tablet translation. Even after working at it for so long, she had a lot left. Her heart wasn’t in it today.

She said, “Nausic, let’s go wander around the garden.”

“After you.” Nausic opened the outer chamber door and followed her out.

She knew the way to the garden by heart. She visited it regularly when not with Bekion. In her time living on Panagiota, she had seen almost the entire palace. The few areas she hadn’t visited belonged to Tinette and Kuruk, which meant she didn’t ever need to see them.

Happily, their paths hadn’t crossed since that one morning. Bekion or Nausic probably made sure to keep Starling out of Tinette’s and Kuruk’s ways.

“I shall wait here.” Nausic stopped between a set of large stone pillars.

Starling continued walking, letting the beauty around her guide her steps.

The middle of the palace housed a large open-air garden. Actually, the palace seemed to have been built around the garden. Beyond flowers and a lake, large trees sprung up and dwarfed the building surrounding them.

The first time Starling saw them she had worried the trees might present a security risk as either a hiding spot or as a way for people to access the restricted floors of the palace.

Nausic had taken her to the upper levels and shown her the force barrier. Only the first floor had access to the garden. All the other floors, though they looked open, had the force barrier to keep people from falling and from attempting a security breach.

The force barrier was some sort of energy-based wall that looked like nothing and felt like glass. Even knowing it was there, she stayed well away from the edge.

Something heavy thudded in the grass behind Starling. She turned to see who else enjoyed the garden. Panagiota’s palace boasted many visiting nobles who liked to dance attendance on Bekion in hope of gaining favors. A few guests toured the garden. Striking up a conversation with them was futile. Starling knew from past experience the guests felt it beneath them to speak with a pet.

Thinking the word made her angry again. A heavy striking noise distracted her before she could get too heated. She turned in a circle but didn’t see what made the noise or from where the noise originated.

A rustling in the bushes at the base of the trees gave her a clue. She peered into the dark shadows of the branches. Maybe it was Panagiota’s version of a squirrel. She’d never seen any animals inhabiting the garden but she hadn’t been looking for them either.

What stumbled out of the bushes wasn’t a forest-dwelling animal. It was like no animal she had ever seen before. Starling stared in frozen terror. The hunched thing shambled on two feet toward her. When it got too close, she snapped out of her stupor and backed away.

The thing’s mouth opened into a crooked grin. Bunched teeth showed in its oversized head. Its eyes were too close together and its nose was crooked, as though it had been broken several times.

“Purdy,” it said.

Starling barely understood it as speech. The thing spoke the garbled word with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. It even drooled a little.

“Purdy. Purdy.”

It reached for her and Starling did the only thing that made sense. She screamed.

* * * * *

Bekion clasped his hands behind his back as he walked. “I am glad your trip went well, Lady Idruc.”

The woman beside him beamed and flashed a winning smile. She even moved closer to him. “I, as well. I love visiting your palace, Your Majesty. How is your charming mother?”

“Well.”

He didn’t want to think about Tinette. Partial blame lay with her for Bekion’s present predicament with Starling. Thinking his pretty pet’s name made him want to sigh. He didn’t. Such an action was unbecoming a king.

So many times that morning he had wanted to summon her. This prolonged absence from his side constituted a first since owning her. He didn’t like it. What’s more, he didn’t like that he didn’t like it.

Lady Idruc said, “I couldn’t help but stop by your beautiful garden before presenting myself to Your Majesty properly. The Panagiota palace garden is breathtaking.”

“I understand your lapse, Lady Idruc. The garden is stunning. I too felt like visiting its calm before returning to the throne room.”

“Perhaps it is a bit of fate that we ran into each other here then.”

Bekion doubted that. He visited one of two places during times he called recess—his chambers or the garden. Everyone in the palace knew that. Lately he had visited the garden more and more because Starling preferred it. She liked being in the open.

His every thought went back to Starling.

Lady Idruc said, “You seem distracted, Your Majesty. Perhaps I am interrupting your musings?”

Bekion would have answered but a frantic scream rent the air. He recognized the voice immediately. “Starling.”

He and his guards ran the rest of the way to the garden, following the sound. They found Starling beating her fists against a human male who tried his best to copulate with her despite her struggles.

Bekion saw red. He moved forward to add his fists to Starling’s but another’s intervention stopped him.

Nausic joined the struggle. He grabbed the male’s scruff and pulled.

The male resisted.

Nausic bit out, “Release her!”

The male dropped his hold and went limp.

Nausic tossed him aside.

The male hit the ground with a pained cry and rolled.

Lady Idruc, who had followed Bekion and his guards, yelled, “Be careful with my pet, you oaf.” The woman rushed to fawn over her pet, making sure he wasn’t hurt.

“Purdy hurt me,” the male said in his thick voice.

“Your Majesty, I must complain about the ill treatment of my pet at that…” She trailed off when she looked at Starling. “Why, she’s lovely.”

“Yes, she is,” Bekion ground out, kneeling before Starling. She clung to him, her whole body quaking. The shaking intensified his anger “As for your complaint, it holds no substance since my pet is bleeding and yours is fine.”

He pulled away from Starling’s grip so he could touch the thin thread of blood that wound its way from her hairline to her chin. A minor injury the nanites would fix soon but enough to make Bekion want to beat Lady Idruc and her pet.

Lady Idruc said, “Obviously she isn’t as strong as my Ladrow. He is quite a prize specimen. He won best in breed and best in show at the last pet competition.”

“Of what? Freaks?” Starling yelled then pointed at Ladrow. “What is that thing?”

“A human,” Bekion said softly.

“Bullshit! That
thing
isn’t human.”

He turned her chin so she looked from Ladrow to him. “Besides your forehead, are you hurt anywhere else?”

Starling moved her hands over herself quickly then shook her head. “No.”

“Good.”

She gasped a second later. “My necklace. Where’s my necklace?” She looked around, turning in place. “Where’s my necklace?” Her voice took on an almost frantic quality.

Rois stepped forward, holding out the amber-emerald. “Here, Lady Starling. The clasp is broken.”

She snatched it from him and clutched it to her chest.

Bekion nodded to Rois in thanks. The man returned the nod and backed away.

Lady Idruc said, “See? There was no harm done. Ladrow simply has an eye for beautiful females. He likes copulating with them. He is a top breeder, you know, King Bekion. Perhaps we should speak of a union between your pet and mine. Their offspring would surely win every pet show the galaxy over.”

Ladrow grinned in his lopsided manner and moved forward. “Purdy. Sex with purdy.”

Starling screamed and jumped into Bekion’s arms. He stood, moving her out of Ladrow’s reach. “Lady Idruc, control your pet or I shall have it done for you.”

Bekion’s guards stepped forward, ready to make good on his threat before he commanded it.

The woman pulled her pet up short and snapped a leash onto the collar around his neck. Ladrow tugged at the leash and made whining noises. “Purdy. Want purdy.”

“Hush, my sweet,” Lady Idruc cooed. She ran her hand over his head a few times and that seemed to calm the male. “As I was saying—”

Starling snapped, “Lady, I’ll kill myself before I would let that thing touch me again.”

“She’s very eloquent. One of your servants is teaching her naughty things to say but at least her speech is clear,” Lady Idruc said in a thoughtful manner. “I wonder if all humans from Earth are that way. ’Tis a shame harvesting from Earth and buying from poachers is illegal.”