Marked 2: Marked for Desire (3 page)

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh? How would I know?” she asked in a cool tone.

Leo jerked his thumb toward the temple replica. “How about that show you just put on? How much of that is razzle-dazzle?”

If she’d been cold before, she was freezing now. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is if I’m going to keep you from getting killed.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So, you’re here for a job? I don’t need any more bodyguards.”

His lips lifted in a humorless smile. Blunt. He liked that. “No, you don’t need another bodyguard. You need a babysitter.” She took too many risks, exposed herself to danger.

Her nostrils flared, and color flushed her cheeks. Oh yeah, that was better. She was prettier when she was pissed. As quickly as the color rose, it receded, and a sweet smile crossed her face. “Why, thank you, Mr. Eyler.” Her tone was a rich honey. “I’m sure that’s what you do well, but I have plenty of men willing to…take care of me. With your
experience
, I’m sure you can find someone else to
babysit
.” She glanced at the other two men. “This appointment is over.” She whirled around and strode toward one of the shuttles.

He started forward, but the two men held up their hands to stop him. His eyes narrowed. The first man smiled, and Leo gripped his hand until that smile disappeared. Two seconds later, the man was on his knees, tears in his eyes. The second guard attacked, but Leo used his other hand to strike the man’s carotid, rendering him unconscious. The man on his knees gritted his teeth and tried to lash out.

Leo pressed his fingers on the pulsing vein in the man’s neck. The guard slumped to the floor.

He followed the princess into the shuttle. She’d been so confident the two men would stop him that she hadn’t waited. When Leo closed the door, the engines flared to life, and the docking-bay doors opened.

The shuttle shot through the Teran Three atmosphere and into space. One glance around the small shuttle revealed two disturbing facts. The princess flew the shuttle herself, and he was alone on this vessel with her.

And she flew the way she did everything else: fast and reckless.

Leo grabbed the handhold in the wall near the entrance to the bridge. Then he almost lost his balance when the woman twisted the shuttle upside down and flipped back around. The engines screamed, and he used all his strength against the g-force to get into the copilot seat.

The princess glanced at him, but the only sign of her surprise was a jerk of her hand off the accelerator. Then she glared at him and yanked the shuttle into an arc, shooting through Teran space at incredible speed. He forced his hands to relax so he wouldn’t reveal his anxiety. “How far to the nearest gate?”

“Two hours.”

“Turn on the autopilot. We have to talk.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer. She was going to have to give him the information he needed.

“I don’t have a thing to say to you, Dom Boy.”

Dom Boy. What did she really know about Nyral doms? So she was aware of his cultural heritage from the planet Nylar. What she didn’t know was how much of that dominance had been twisted by his time as a Primarian soldier. Sethos Prime had taken his natural need to control up a notch. Uh-huh. Time to show her who was in charge. He hit the autopilot, deflecting her flying fists. Barely.

His hand gripped her arm and pulled her from the chair. He didn’t expect her to end up in his arms, her lips locked with his.

Chapter Two

When her body flew into his, she tried to get away, but he held her tight. She hadn’t meant to kiss him. Had she? His mouth took over in seconds, and she groaned. When his tongue swept inside and dueled with hers, she struggled not to completely surrender.

He attracted her, yes, but even she didn’t throw herself at men this fast. This wasn’t what she had planned. When he tore his lips from hers, she whispered her protest. It slipped out. Like begging. She bit her lip.

He gripped her wrists and yanked her hands out of his hair. “You need to learn who’s in charge, sweetheart.” She shuddered at his hard, insistent tone.

“Whoever can take the power is in charge,” she taunted as she slid her hips closer, rubbing against his cock like a cat.

After all, he was male. He should lose his mind and slam her against the wall, take what she offered, and forget about punishment or retribution. But she’d underestimated his control. He nipped her lips but held her hands behind her back. “No.
I’m
in charge.”

She stared at him, challenged him. He wasn’t the first man who thought he was going to gain the upper hand. They all broke in the end. Because all men wanted one thing. Pussy. They wanted to fuck, and they gave up everything to get it. “All men think they are.”

His fingers tightened on her wrists, his mouth close to hers. “I know all about you. Don’t mistake me for one of those tame Nyral dominants you manipulate in the sex clubs, Princess. They play nice.” His gaze was cold and intense. “I don’t. I suggest you cooperate with me.”

She let her gaze travel over him slowly. “Why you? I’m sure there are plenty of more qualified men I could choose.” He’d unsettled her, threw her off her game. It was imperative she maintain control, and he wrenched that away from her. Worst of all, he barely put any effort into it. He just…
took
it.

One of his eyebrows rose. “Because I know the most about how the Brotherhood works. And because you don’t want another man.”

Her lip curled. “And modest too. How can I resist you?”

For a moment, a dark, forbidding expression twisted his features, and she shivered, fear tripping along her nerves. He held all the cards. How would he play them? His lips tightened. “Princess, I don’t give a hot damn whether you do or not, but I’m going to find out why the Brotherhood is so interested in you.”

She jerked her arm away from him and put distance between them. “So, I don’t have a choice in this?”

He shook his head. “Not really. The Placido council will be informed that I’ve taken over your security detail.” He stepped closer until his breath whispered over her face. “Every move you make, I’ll be there.”

She snorted. “Right. Isn’t that romantic? You’re like a bad hero in a bad romance, Leo Eyler.” She put her hands up to her face in mock fear. “Oh my!” She made her voice high and insipid. “How will I
ever
survive without the big, strong bodyguard to protect me?”

His eyes narrowed. “You have a vicious tongue, Princess.” When he smiled, his lips were thin and bloodless. “But I can deal with it as long as you do as I say.”

She glared at him. “You don’t know me very well.”

“Anytime you want to change that…” One of his eyebrows lifted.

Her teeth ground together, and she whirled away from him to take her seat in the cockpit. “You just hold your breath.”

She took the ship off autopilot and jammed the engines into full power. The satisfaction of watching Leo Eyler grip his armrests was spoiled by the knowledge that she wasn’t going to have any say in this.

* * *

It wasn’t going to be easy to get rid of him. Even though she was Princess Sera Placido, the council still forced her to accept Leo Eyler as her bodyguard. All her reasonable arguments went absolutely nowhere.

Well, the best way to shake him was to shock him. That was her thought. When she landed the shuttle on Arris, a busy planet in the Phereon system, she had a dangerous plan.

He was attracted to her. And he was all about control. The trick would be to break that control. Then he’d be like all the rest. Okay, that was a lie. Leo Eyler would never be like all the rest. But he’d learn his place in her life. She didn’t have time to deal with an overbearing, pushy male. The sooner he figured out she was in charge of her own destiny, the better.

Arris wasn’t one of her favorite stops, but it would suit her needs. What she wanted was one of the risqué clubs, with fewer restrictions and more amenities. On Arris nothing beat Moonset, the best dance club in six systems.

The vid streamers were waiting when she and her new bodyguard disembarked. She fielded several questions while Leo checked her hovercart and arranged for transportation. She barely paid attention, all her focus on the game she was about to play.

When Leo gripped her arm to lead her to the exit, she grinned. This was going to delicious.

They ducked into a hovertaxi, and Sera ordered the driver, “To Moonset, please.”

“Just a minute,” Leo interrupted. He twisted in his seat and glared at her. “We’re not staying at your apartment?”

“Of course we are. Moonset is a club,” she said. “I’m not tired. If you want to go on…”

“I can’t, and you know it,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Well then, why not enjoy yourself?” she said with a smile. She watched the small muscle in his cheek throb. Yes, she was getting to him. Wait until he got a load of the dress she planned to wear.

The hovertaxi weaved through heavy traffic. Nightfall had just begun on this part of Arris, and the nightlife in the capital city of Cerus was hopping. Her companion said nothing more, but he flicked open his handheld to call the council.

She ignored the conversation. Predictability was considered a virtue in a council member. Sera amused herself by imagining the council’s response to Leo’s complaints. It didn’t surprise her when Leo made a low noise of disgust and snapped his handheld closed only five minutes later.

“Your assistant, Riordan, will be here in three hours,” he told her.

Sera wrinkled her nose. “He’s no fun.” She met his gaze. “Can you dance?”

“Princess—” he said in low warning tone.

“Because I prefer to dance with men I know, but I don’t have many qualms about dancing with strangers.”

He pursed his lips, and she struggled not to laugh. For the next two minutes, he focused on his handheld and ignored her completely. She glanced over his shoulders and rolled her eyes. The specs of the club were on his screen.

The hovertaxi swept into the driveway in front of the club, and Leo stepped out first, holding out his hand. She slid her hand into his and allowed him to help her from the taxi. The way he dwarfed her gave her the sensation of being fragile and petite. The familiar
whir
of vid streamers surrounded them, and the bright lights from the outside canopy blinded her for a moment.

Music throbbed from the club, low and sexy. Sera eagerly strode through the entrance and took in the scene.

The room was round, like the inside of a snow globe, and strobe lights flickered from the ceiling. Colored lights flared from the center of the club, where a raised platform dominated the room. Cages dangled above the dance floor, with leather-clad women, collared, mostly naked, who writhed and moved to the beat.

The raised platform was the dance du jour. There, a muscular, imposing male with leather boots and little else whipped a dark-haired woman, each strike coinciding with the bass that blared from the speakers.

Another man on the stage thrust his cock inside a blonde woman’s mouth in time to the music. They were both naked.

The rest of dancers on the lower level followed the same actions, mimicking the writhing bodies on the stage, with floggers and blowjobs everywhere.

It made Sera’s mouth water.

Most of the time, she didn’t participate, preferring to watch, fascinated, as others orgasmed to the flogging and these blowjobs ended in raucous explosions. Watching was safer. This atmosphere was too…wild.

Tonight would be different. She walked straight toward her reserved rooms. When she reached the door to her suite, she pulled Leo’s head close to hers. “I’m going to change. Wait here.”

She let him go and jerked the door open. What she didn’t expect was Leo right at her heels. He shut the door behind them.

“What are you doing?” She glared at him.

“My job. Change. That’s what we’re in here for, right?” He turned his back to her and faced the door.

She threw up her hands in frustration and jabbed the button to open her closet. After a minute, she finally found the dress she planned to wear.

It was completely see-through.

Oh, there were sequins that covered the tips of her breasts and the pinkness of her pussy, but everything else was visible. The material was sheer, white, and glittering. Spaghetti straps held what there was of it in place, and the hem came to just above her knees. It was tight, sexy, and asking for trouble.

“I’m ready,” she said.

Leo’s gaze swept over her outfit. The glitter in his eyes, the way his muscles tightened made her nipples respond by poking through the sequins. He blinked and turned back to the door. “Right, then. Let’s go.” His tone was completely bland.

But Sera was sure she’d aroused him. Something about the way his back stiffened as he walked spoke volumes. She hid her smile behind her hand while her hips swayed to the music. The lights blinked violently, which created a slow-motion effect on the dance floor.

Her arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed. Hoards of people swarmed around them, and Leo deflected them like they were flies. Men oozed forward, their hands bluish in the strange lights. She twisted away from them, laughing and taunting.

The scenes in front of her were seductive and salacious. A woman with a collar strained against a tightly held leash while her mouth was forced on her owner’s cock. Sera could see the cords of her neck and the clench of his hand in the freeze-frame light. The noise, the strobe effects, and the scents in the air all gave the whole scene an unreal feel.

When the beat changed to an erotic, slow hum, Sera danced, her hands smoothing down the almost invisible material. She caught Leo’s gaze and gasped. Possession, need, and dominance all swirled in his blue eyes. She had thought she’d aroused him. That was an understatement.

Every line of his body shouted his desire, his need. Under the influence of the music, the lights, the heat from bodies pressed together, Sera wanted the sexual fulfillment his demeanor promised. In the flickering light, Leo seemed like a dangerous beast on the hunt.

And she was his prey.

The men around them seemed to disappear, but they wouldn’t be ignored. One of them snapped a flogger and tried to elbow Leo.