Page 84 of Decadence

And deep down, she was thrumming with anticipation.

She couldn’t wait to have him whole again… and all to herself.

“The discovery led me to do some more digging,” Zharek continued. “Interestingly, it seems all the mated females share a tiny fraction of Kordolian DNA.” He shook his head ruefully. “A gene that encodes a certain protein that produces a very specific pheromone. It was staring me in the face the entire time. I just didn’t know where to look… until my monitors caught the two of you on the brink of a lustful meltdown…”

“Wait,” Arin said, her voice loaded with skepticism. “No fucking way. You’re telling me that we all have some distant Kordolian ancestor? That’s impossible.”

“Is it?” The General’s voice was loaded with something Sienna couldn’t quite understand; a dark, calculating intent that terrified her more than a little. Suddenly, she felt very small and insignificant; a tiny pawn in this big, complicated game that was owned and dominated by Kordolians.

What choice did she have but to let herself get swept away by it all?

By him?

“Our ancient masters, the Zor, did all kinds of genetic manipulations on our ancestors,” Zharek said solemnly. “It is not inconceivable that they had contact with Earth at some point in humanity’s not-so distant past. I’m surprised they didn’t enslave you all, to be honest.” He shrugged. “The answers are probably all in Ash’s big black box, but that will take some time to unpack, won’t it?” His lips curved into a cynical smile. “Our old imperial masters didn’t want us to know all the dark, dirty secrets of how we came to be.”

“What the hell?” Sienna blurted, her head spinning. Ancient masters? Zor? She didn’t understand any of it. “Imperial ancestry? I look nothing like a Kordolian.”

“It would have been a very distant ancestor,” Zharek added. “Too distant to really be of any significance, but let’s face it, the ones that want you so badly are pitifully obsessed with such things.”

Under her touch, Ikriss stiffened. He hissed something in Kordolian; a low, dangerous threat that was ripe with the promise of death.

The General responded in kind, and for a moment, the two males engaged in a rapid-fire conversation that escalated in savagery until they seemed to come to some sort of conclusion that satisfied them both.

“Someone’s going to wish they had never even looked in your direction,” Rykal chuckled good-naturedly, as if he thought that would somehow reassure her.

“And who are they, exactly?” she asked softly.

“Fools that worship the old imperial line,” Ikriss whispered, his fingertips snaking up the inside curve of her wrist, driving her more than a little crazy. “Our enemies, trying to mobilize against us. But you have nothing to fear. Wipe every last trace of them from your mind, my love. Mark my words. We will destroy them.”

“I just don’t understand,” she whispered, leaning into him, savoring his masculine scent, relishing the barely restrained savageness that rolled off him. “If have this so-called imperial gene or whatever, then why would they tell the Ephrenians to… to treat me like…” Her voice cracked. Why would they want to break me?

Suddenly, she wanted to be alone with him so badly. She wanted to fall into his arms and let go of everything.

“That is the old Kordolian way… to subjugate and control… even the things that are important to them. But we are different to them.” His voice became cold. “They do not know how to cherish or protect a single thing in this Universe apart from themselves.” He paused, and Sienna got the feeling there was a whole lot of darkness he was intentionally concealing from her. “I swear to you, we are nothing like them.”

“I already know that, Ikriss.”

“Good.” Still holding her tightly, he locked eyes with the General. “So… what now?”

“Go.” The General gestured magnanimously toward the dark, shimmering pool of water. “Even if you cannot consummate right now, you must begin the process of bonding with your amina, Ikriss. Otherwise, the tension will break you. That is something Zharek is yet to understand. We will retreat now and give you as much privacy as is possible, given the circumstances. I alone will remain in the antechamber as a precaution, but I already know you would never do anything to harm her, and that includes putting yourself at risk.”

“You’re practically one of the First, anyway,” Rykal added, a note of admiration in his voice. “That’s how good your control is. Remember that. You just lack the nanites.” The Kordolian grinned. “Well, now that I have official permission to stand down, I’ll leave you to enjoy your exquisite hell. Welcome to the enlightenment, brother.” Rykal gave Ikriss a mock-salute and made to leave.

Arin came to Sienna’s side. “Hey. You okay with this? Because if there’s anything you don’t want to do right now, they will step back.”

Heat crept up her neck, suffusing her cheeks, extending to the tips of her ears. But she made no effort to detach herself from Ikriss’s possessive grasp.

On Earth, she would have found such a situation highly awkward, but here, amongst these over-the-top aliens, it all felt perfectly natural.

Besides, there was no way she was going to let either of them suffer for another second. Not when they were both feeling like this.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine,” Sienna said with a smile, surprised at how serene and confident she sounded.

Arin smiled and gave her a knowing wink and a nod. “I’m sure you will be.”

“You will,” Ikriss whispered as the onlookers peeled away, silently disappearing into the shadows in a way that seemed strangely coordinated. The General said nothing. He just spoke to Ikriss with his eyes, in that slightly infuriatingly cryptic way that Kordolians sometimes had about them.

Ikriss switched to English. “You will be very fine, my amina,” he whispered in her ear.

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