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Harlan groaned as the queen reached out and took control of his cock, her fingers moved in time to Marcus’ on the screen.

Sven rocked his hips, allowing his shaft to move in the constricted space between their two bodies. He loved touching the queen. He loved the scent of her arousal, the way her body tightened and gripped his fingers when she climaxed. He increased the 13

Kate Pearce

tempo of his fingers, guiding her toward an orgasm as Harlan continued to suckle her breasts and kiss her.

The king groaned as the queen writhed in Sven’s grasp and his face contorted with desire. “Make her come for me, Sven. I want to see her come.”

Sven clamped his thumb down hard on the queen’s clit and she climaxed, just as the king did. When she relaxed against him again, Sven came too. He closed his eyes and imagined he was inside Thea, her tight sheath fisting around his cock, his hot seed filling her. There was a disturbance on the screen as Bron, the queen’s other server appeared and murmured to the king. The king groaned and rolled over onto his stomach.

“Once is never enough, My Queen. I look forward to pleasuring you in person in just a few days. Now I have to go and meet with the President’s advisors and Bron has reminded me that I really need to shower.” He blew a kiss at the queen. “I will speak to you later, my heart.”

The screen blacked out and Sven lay back and savored the scent of sex mixed with the steamy perfume of the bath water.

After the death of his wife after only a year of marriage, he’d never thought he’d find another female who would allow him to touch her. The king’s offer to make him one of his consort’s pleasure servers had been an honor and a blessing he’d never expected. Pleasuring Douglass was a delight, although recently, when he was with the queen he’d started to fantasize about Thea instead. Sometimes it almost made him feel guilty because he’d come to respect and love the king’s chosen one, especially after she’d provided the king with a son and the opportunity to restore their dying polluted planet.

“You should ask her out on a date.”

The queen’s voice shattered his sense of calm. “Who, My Queen?”

“That woman. Ms. Cooper. The one you want to suck.”

Sven opened his eyes. “As I said, she doesn’t like me. And what exactly is a date?”

Harlan nudged him, his long dark hair, shining with moisture, hung over one of his shoulders. “Haven’t you been watching the entertainment system? The queen has been educating me about the shows called soaps about everyday people. A date is when a man or a woman asks a person out for a meal or to a holo-center.”

“And what is the point of that?”

“To get to know someone.”

Sven shifted his legs as the queen slid off his lap and turned to face him.

“Why?”

Douglass crossed her arms under her breasts and stared at him. “So that you can eventually have a relationship with someone that includes sex.”

Sven imagined Ms. Cooper sitting on his cock, her breasts pressing into his face as she rode him hard. His shaft twitched.

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“I do not need sex.”

Douglass laughed. “Sven, you’re a great big gorgeous man. Of course you need sex.”

A stark memory of his wife’s pale, dead face flickered in his mind. By Thor, he had no right to fantasize about any female. He got out of the bath, keeping his gaze on the bathroom door. Water slid down his body to pool at his feet. Grabbing a towel, he crushed it in his clenched fist.

“Sven?”

At the sound of the queen’s worried voice, he drew in a guilty breath. “I am sorry, My Queen. The idea of betraying you with another woman seems wrong.”

Warm fingers curled around his ankle. “I would not feel betrayed. I would be happy to see you find someone you can love for yourself.”

Sven swallowed hard. “I thank you for that, but I still feel a little uneasy.”

Harlan helped Douglass out of the bath. She came to stand in front of Sven, her soft face, full of concern as she reached up to stroke his cheek.

“It’s not like Valhalla, here, Sven. There are more women than men on this planet.

You don’t have to fight to find one female and commit to her whether you get along or not. It’s an opportunity for all of you to get to know women who haven’t been sheltered and over-protected by their kinfolk. Women like me who can stand up for themselves and tell you whether they want to have a relationship with you or not.”

“And if I made a child with one of them?”

Her gaze softened. “You don’t even have to worry about that. There are many ways to avoid conceiving a child. I’m sure you’d be careful.”

And if I wanted a child?
Sven looked away and focused on the delicate features of the sleeping baby before the queen could see the question in his eyes. The idea of deliberately having sex without trying to conceive a child was a concept he struggled with.

He returned his gaze to the queen. “If it makes you happy, I will consider what you have said.”

She stood on tiptoe to kiss his mouth. “It will make me happy.” She turned to stare at Harlan. “And I’m including you in this, Harlan. I want you to consider dating women here as well. I’ll tell Bron the same thing when he gets back with the king.”

Harlan winked at Sven as he bent to pick up the baby’s crib. “I’ll definitely date a woman if Sven does it first.”

Sven raised an eyebrow. “As if any woman would have you.”

The queen slapped him lightly on the arm. “You don’t have to make it into a competition. I want you all to be happy.”

Sven rubbed the towel over his chest. If he asked Ms. Cooper out on a date and she said no, it would probably get the queen off his back for a while. He smiled at the thought of Ms. Cooper’s face. He hoped she wouldn’t slap him.

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Thea smoothed a hand over her hair as the Valhalla bodyguards and their queen filed into the large meeting room. Harlan, who was dressed in his usual black leather pants and open-necked white shirt, preceded the queen. His hair was gathered at the nape of his neck apart from three narrow beaded braids at his temple. Despite his quiet, amiable expression, Thea found him much harder to read than Sven who tended to display his feelings more openly.

Sven came in last, scanning the people as he paused at the door. His large hand rested on the shoulder of the queen who stood in front of him. His gaze fell on Thea and she smiled at him. One of his eyebrows rose. She immediately felt foolish and converted the smile into a scowl.

Of course, he didn’t know that she’d been told to act nice to him. He’d probably expected her to still be mad after their last encounter. He guided the queen to a seat on the opposite side of the table to Thea. Harlan took the seat to the queen’s left and Sven stood behind her.

Matt cleared his throat. “Mr. Magnusson? Would you mind sitting down? It’s hard to include you in the discussion when you’re towering over everyone.”

Sven frowned and then looked pained as the queen elbowed him in the stomach.

He sat down with reluctant grace.

Matt smiled and took a sip of water. “Thanks for coming to this meeting. I realize that as the king is away, we might not make much progress, but I assumed you’d like to know how things are coming along on Valhalla.”

The queen sat forward, her hands clasped together on the table. “I assume the king is being given this information as well?”

“Yes, of course. A transcript of this discussion will be sent to him in Washington.

We would have included him on a live link but apparently he’s in a meeting with the President.”

Thea admired Matt’s easy, relaxed manner. From all reports, the new Valhallan queen was no fool. It was hard to believe she’d only been a courier for the United Planetary Parcel Service before her ship crash-landed and she met King Marcus of Valhalla.

Sven cleared his throat. “The President is more important than the future of the king’s own planet?”

Thea fought a smile at Sven’s direct intervention. Before Matt could answer him, the queen said, “Sven, as the President is also the current chairperson of the Interplanetary Health Organization, and the man responsible for the plan to clean up Valhalla, then 16

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yes, he is more important.” She smiled at Matt. “Please continue. I’m sure we’re all anxious to hear the news from Valhalla.”

Matt gestured at the white wall behind him. A series of images of Valhalla flashed up on the screen. “As you can see, it’s looking great. The scientists say you and the remainder of your population should be able to move back for good in about two more Earth months.”

The queen’s face flushed with color. “That’s wonderful news. It is such a beautiful place.” She glanced around the table. “You must all come and visit us as soon as you can.”

Thea smiled. She’d love to take the queen up on that promise. The idea of all those gorgeous Valhallan men in search of a good woman made her squirm in her seat. If they were all as good looking and hunky as the king and his bodyguards, women from Earth wouldn’t need much persuading to go and settle there.

She glanced at Sven and found he was watching her. She licked her lips and slowly bit down on the bottom one. His pupils widened and his hand clenched into a fist. She brought her hand up to her throat as his gaze intensified.

“We would be delighted to send a team of observers back to Valhalla with you, Your Highness, in fact, we’re counting on it.” Matt said. “I’m sure the people of Earth would be fascinated by the discovery of this new world.”

Sven snorted. “The idea is acceptable to me from a security standpoint as long as you don’t bring any of your so-called media with you. “

Matt looked puzzled. “The press is an important element in spreading information throughout our galaxy.”

“
Mis
-information, more like.”

“We would take the greatest of care to screen any journalists who accompanied the team.” Matt nodded at Thea. “In fact, I’ll make sure that Ms. Cooper handles that part of the process and reports directly to you.”

Sven continued to stare at Thea. “And I will get final approval on all the names submitted to me?”

Matt turned to Thea. “Ms. Cooper, can you answer that?”

“Mr. Magnusson, in light of your well-known contempt for the gentlemen of the press, how will I ever get you to agree to a single person coming along?”

The queen sighed. “Sven, what have you been doing?”

Thea tore her gaze away from Sven. “Mr. Magnusson had another unfortunate interaction with a reporter this morning.”

“Did he hurt anyone?”

“Fortunately, I came along and persuaded him to put the guy down.”

The queen’s face lit up with amusement and a hint of approval. “You persuaded him? Good for you.” She turned to Sven. “You should definitely liaise with Ms. Cooper.

It sounds like she won’t let you get away with anything.”

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“But, My Queen…”

Matt’s smooth voice intervened. “Speaking of the press, I’d like to arrange a photo opportunity for the Valhallan court. It might be the best way to stop reporters trying to sneak over the wall. We can include some of the more reputable entertainment channels such as
Your Planet Home or Mine?
and
Greetings
! magazine.”

The queen’s blue eyes widened. “I’d get to be in
Greetings!
magazine? Oh wow.”

Sven swiveled around in his seat. “My Queen, with all due respect, you will just be pandering to this planet’s obsessive interest in our private lives.”

The queen held his gaze. “But I agree with Matt. Isn’t it better that we show them what we want them to see rather than letting them misinterpret what they do see?”

To Thea’s surprise, Sven’s mouth snapped shut. The queen waited a moment and then nodded. “I’ll talk to the king. I’m sure we can agree to this.” She smiled at Thea.

“Please start compiling a list of possible attendees for both the promotional opportunity and the observation party who will travel back to Valhalla with us. Sven will be delighted to work with you on both of these projects.”

Thea glanced at the tall bodyguard who was trying not to glower too openly at his queen. He was obviously as thrilled about working more closely with her as she was.

“I’ll do that, Your Highness.” She looked at Matt who was smiling benevolently. “If that’s okay with you, boss?”

“That’s perfect.” Matt stood up. “I’ve streamed some more of the latest footage of the Valhalla clean up straight to your personal screen, Your Highness. Let me know if you have any questions after you’ve watched it.”

“Thank you.” The queen got to her feet as Harlan pulled out her chair. “I’ll go and watch it before the baby wakes up.” She placed her hand on Harlan’s arm. “Sven, why don’t you stay and work out a schedule with Ms. Cooper?”

Matt winked at Thea. “That’s a great idea. Consider it a priority, Ms. Cooper. The sooner we get that list agreed, the sooner we can make arrangements for traveling back to Valhalla.”

Thea remained in her seat as the others filed out leaving her alone with Sven. He continued to sit opposite her. His massive hands joined together on the table, his frowning gaze fixed on his fingers.

Thea took a long careful breath. She felt like she was at high school going through the agony of a blind date. But this time she couldn’t walk away, she had a job to do.

Matt and the team were relying on her.

“I’m hungry. Would you like to come out for a pizza so that we can discuss this further?”

Sven slowly raised his head until his brown eyes met her gray ones.

A pizza?”

“Yes, it’s a very popular Italian dish made from bread dough, tomatoes and cheese.”

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“I know what a pizza is.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He frowned. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Thea leaned across the table until her face was an inch from his. “What the hell gave you that idea? I just thought it might be a more comfortable way for us to ‘liaise’ as Matt put it, while we got something to eat.”