The Gigolo's Bride (The Necklace Chronicles) (13 page)

"Do women do the soul-walk?"

"No. From the government's standpoint, if the
women are incapable of breeding female children, then expending
resources to bring mates to them makes no sense."

"Your government is ridiculous and
cruel."

"They tend to be, sweetheart."

She changed the topic to his art, and he
talked excitedly about renovations he wanted to make to his
workshop. They talked easily while he painted, and when he had done
as much as he wanted to for the day, he pulled a cover over it,
promising to let her see it when it was done.

For dinner that night, she made a popular
fourn
dish. Eden didn't help her cook, but he did help her
read the recipe from a vid display on one wall of the kitchen.
After dinner, they went to the bedroom where they made love before
falling asleep. She was amazed at how easily she had slipped into
this new life. Two months ago, she never would have thought she
would find happiness on an alien planet, but now, she couldn't
imagine being anywhere else.

Chapter 6

"I love it," Sloan said, looking at the
painting that Eden had finished the first week they had been in the
house. Ashleigh loved it, too. He'd painted her sitting down on a
large stone in front of a waterfall, sunshine sparkling on the
water. She was amazed at his talent.

"I do, too." She couldn't help but be proud
of him.

They moved into the kitchen to get lunch
started. Ashleigh hadn't seen Sloan since her wedding day, and Eden
had called and invited her to have lunch with them. Sloan hadn't
wanted to intrude on their time to get to know each other, but
Ashleigh missed talking to her.

Eden had purchased everything she needed to
plant flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables in the beds in the
backyard. She had never really had a place to grow things, but as a
child she had enjoyed planting seeds and watching them push out of
the ground and stretch up to the sky. The names of things were
different, but she had quickly learned what she and Eden liked, and
chose fruits and vegetables that were easy to grow and tasty, as
well as herbs that were used for cooking. Flowers were added for
color; large, beautiful blooms in every shade in the rainbow.

Looking out into the backyard, she could see
the hard work of the last two weeks, and was still surprised by how
much she enjoyed it. She couldn't wait until the moon cycle had
passed so she and Eden could go out and explore the town of
Polona.

"When does Eden's first class start?" Sloan
reached up onto a high shelf and pulled down a bowl while Ashleigh
opened the refrigerated cabinet and pulled out fruit for a
salad.

"Two days from now. He ordered supplies and
he'll do three classes each week; one for painting, one for
sculpting, and one for drawing. He's already got twenty students,
all young men."

"That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you
both." Sloan smiled at her, and they began to chat about Sloan's
medical practice, which was located in Kyvern City, near the
Bordelayz
. Ashleigh asked about the other women from Earth.
Three women had been taken to the
Bordelayz;
the others had
stayed with the males that had taken the soul-walk for them.

Ashleigh looked at Sloan in surprise. "What
will happen to them?"

"Well, the good news is that all three of
them have taken new males and their debts have been paid."

"Oh! Well, that's really wonderful news!"
Ashleigh felt a surge of relief. To think that women from her home
planet would have been turned into slaves would have driven her
crazy with worry.

She and Sloan were cutting up fruit for a
salad for lunch. She asked, "Was one of the women named Kate?"

Sloan looked at her in surprise. "Yes, how
did you know?"

"She fought so hard, not only for herself but
to try to help the others. She told me to fight against everything
and never give up hope of going home. Do you know who she ended up
with?”

"Go get your husband, and I'll tell you both
at the same time." She winked at Ashleigh.

She found him in front of an ivory canvas,
painting a seascape. She waited until he put his brush into a jar
of paint remover on a table before she closed the distance to him
and slid her arms around his waist. "What do you think, love?" he
murmured, his hands sliding along hers.

"I love it," she said as she peeked around
him to get a better look. "Where is it?"

He hummed in his throat, "It's a place my
parents took me when I was a child during a break in my schooling.
It's one of the few happy memories I have of my childhood. I'd like
to take our children there, someday."

He turned in her arms and tilted her face
with his paint-smudged hands and pressed his mouth to hers.

"You taste like
ronii
." He licked his
lips with a roguish smile.

He let her lead him back to the house so they
could eat lunch. While they sat around the table in the cozy
kitchen, Ashleigh asked Sloan to tell her what happened to
Kate.

"Paoli paid her debt, after only a week."
Sloan smiled.

Paoli's situation was similar in some ways to
Eden's. His father had died in the military when Paoli was fifteen.
He had six brothers and sisters younger than him, and his mother
had to go to work. She was injured and lost her job, and they lost
their home. Unlike Eden, who was sold by his own parents, Paoli
sold himself into bondage to save his family.

He came into the
Bordelayz
a few years
after Eden, and they shared a cell. He was Eden's only friend.

"But he is also a slave worker at the
Bordelayz
, isn't he?" Ashleigh asked in confusion.

"He was." Sloan nodded, spooning the fruit
salad onto her plate. "He had just paid his own debt after saving
enough money to buy a home for himself and his family. He saw Kate,
and he said that something clicked for him and he knew he couldn't
leave her there to be forced. He paid her debt outright, which all
but drained the money he had set aside. But she was never forced or
abused in any way, he made sure of it."

"Paoli is a good man," Eden smiled. "He will
make an excellent, caring husband."

"Where are they staying? I'd like to visit
her when the moon cycle is over," Ashleigh said.

"They're staying at a community lodge. He is
trying to get a job to support them, but with his hair still blue
and the fact he was a
brokah
, he cannot find anything. He
may have to take her home to his mother's."

"So they haven't really mated, with the serum
and everything, so his hair will turn?" Ashleigh asked.

"No. Paoli is determined not to ask her to be
with him until she loves him. She's very distraught and unhappy.
Although she is kind to Paoli, she still wants to go home to
Earth."

"Why can't they just let her go home?"
Ashleigh let her fork drop to the plate with a clang. Frustration
ate at her.

Eden pulled her from her chair into his lap
and kissed her neck. "If one can go home, love, then all could. The
government won’t risk it.”

"She's safe, Ashleigh, that's enough for now.
And Paoli is an honorable young male. He will take care of her. He
won't ever lay a hand on her, until she's ready."

The conversation switched topics slightly as
Eden asked Sloan about her medical work and when the next abduction
journey was planned, which was not for at least a year. It wasn't
to Earth, thankfully. Although happy with her husband, Ashleigh
didn't want to think about them returning to her planet again and
again to kidnap women. It had worked out okay for the twenty-seven
women on her journey, but it could have been a disaster for any one
of them - or all of them.

They finished eating, and Sloan left to go
back to work.

She felt the ridge of Eden's cock against her
thighs as she sat on his lap, and she wiggled experimentally and
smiled when he groaned. He offered her another bite of
ronii
, and she ate it from his fingers.

He chuckled, and then his eyes darkened
slightly, just before he took possession of her mouth with his own.
Their lips mashed together as he slid his tongue into her mouth,
licking and sucking at her tongue, eating her moans like they were
food he could live on. He broke the kiss, setting her on her
feet.

Their clothes were discarded as they kissed,
making their way to the couch. Eden sat down, grabbing her hips and
tugging her onto his lap. She straddled him, playing her fingers
through his hair as she leaned forward and pressed him into the
back of the couch.

"I think
ronii
makes you horny," he
chuckled.

"You might be right. You don't really care,
do you?"

He rolled his thumbs in the space on either
side of her pussy and her hips followed the motion. "No. I love you
just like this all the time. Hot, wet, and all mine."

He pulled her down by her hips, impaling her
on his hard cock, so deep she felt the head of him kiss her womb.
Her head fell back as she reveled in the feeling of him buried so
deep, the heat of his body underneath hers, and the sweet scent of
their mixed arousal.

She rolled her hips against his, moving on
him leisurely so she could enjoy every inch of his solid length.
The flat of his hand pressed against her belly and his thumb
pressed against her clit. A dart of pleasure spiked through her.
She gripped his shoulders and began to move on him. Up, down.
Stroking him, squeezing him. Up, down. Moving a little faster, she
began to pant as he rubbed her arousal against her swollen nub. Up,
down. Her stomach fluttered, her muscles contracting as she met his
dark eyes and held them.

He held her by one hip, his fingers digging
into her skin as his thumb ran relentless circles around her clit
and drove her closer and closer to the edge. She felt her body turn
liquid just moments before she jerked in pleasure, her climax
squeezing his cock tightly. He groaned and grabbed her by both
hips, slamming her down as he thrust his hips up in a frantic pace.
He came after only a few strokes, calling her name and pressing her
tightly against him, their bodies wed.

She collapsed against his chest, hugging her
arms around him. His hands stroked lightly across her back as he
kissed her forehead and whispered his love.

Chapter 7

Ashleigh pulled off her pink gardening gloves
and wiped at her brow with the back of her hand. Their home in
Polona was in the temperate region, so it stayed warm year-round,
but they were in their hottest season. She had learned very quickly
to work outside in the mornings, before the bright sun rose high in
the purple sky.

There were fourteen moon cycles to their
standard year, with an equal twenty-eights days - also known as
dins
- each moon cycle. Last week she had completed her
first moon cycle on the planet and was released from the
requirement to stay within the confines of their home for the first
moon cycle on planet.

She and Eden had celebrated the first day of
her release by going for a long walk around the city of Polona.
They toured the museum, ate lunch and dinner out, and went to a
market to buy plants for her flower garden.

A few days later, they had gone to see Kate
and Paoli at the community home. When Ashleigh was in college,
she'd gone to Europe for a month with two friends from school. They
had stayed in hostels, which was what the community home reminded
her of. It was a large dome with a few dozen rooms that were rented
by the day. A robust woman with graying hair owned the home. Kate
appeared to be fine, but she had clearly not had a good time of
things. Her pretty blonde hair had lost its luster, and her blue
eyes, which had held such fire, were now wary and unhappy. Paoli
was as sweet and kind as Eden and Sloan had said he was. He rushed
around the small room that contained a cot, a low table, and a
clothes rack. A pillow and bedroll tucked on the floor told
Ashleigh that Paoli didn't sleep on the cot with Kate and was truly
giving her time to get used to him.

She and Eden had brought a picnic lunch from
the market, and the four of them went to a nearby park to eat.
Paoli's hair was a lighter shade of blue than Eden's had been,
half-way down his back and tied in a thick braid. His eyes were
caramel, surrounded by thick lashes. He was clearly smitten with
Kate, even though they'd only been free of the
Bordelayz
for
a little over three weeks.

Eden looked like that
, she thought, as
she watched Paoli carefully arrange food on a plate for Kate and
put it on the blanket in front of where she sat. Kate thanked him,
and he practically bristled with pride.

They walked back to the community home
together, Kate and Ashleigh walking just in front of Eden and
Paoli. She linked her arm through Kate's. "Are you feeling okay,
now that you're free?"

"I'm still not home, Ashleigh. I miss my
family and my house and my dog."

"I miss my family, too. I would have liked to
be able to say goodbye. But these are the cards we were dealt.
We're lucky, Kate, so very lucky, to have found men here on this
alien world that will take care of us and keep us safe."

She shivered. "Dex didn't want a wife, he
wanted a sex slave."

"Dex? He was the one that did the soul-walk
for you?"

She nodded. "He was really scary. He kept me
locked up in the bedroom when I refused to sleep with him. I think
it wounded his pride when I wouldn't, and that made him angry. He
tried to get rid of me before we even got to the planet, but they
made him keep me in his quarters until we landed. Then I was just
tossed away like a sack of rotten potatoes."

"Maybe the soul-walk didn't make a mistake.
Maybe it brought you here to Paoli through Dex," Ashleigh offered
as they stopped in front of the community home.