2

Chapter 2

When she came down exactly twenty minutes later, Sera found them both seated in a large common room. The place was homey and lived-in.

She didn’t doubt they bunked here regularly, although Sera wondered where the wife slept. Still, there were hints of the true nature of the inhabitants here and there. The staff were efficient and silent, but every last one she’d seen carried themselves like warriors. On her way down and when she’d entered the house with Brandt, she’d noticed the security. Understated but totally top-notch. Her growling stomach led her gaze to the sideboard against a far wall laden with food. It’d been some hours since she’d eaten last.

“Subcommander Ayers, I’m Ceylon, the house assistant. I’m pleased to meet you and have you here. Should you require anything, simply hail me from any comm. station in the house or on the grounds. The others await you in the common room.” A tall, rail-thin man who appeared to be constructed from solid muscle bowed slightly.

Subcommander? She bowed in return. “Thank you. And please, call me Sera.”

“As you wish, Sera. Again, welcome.” He disappeared on nearly soundless feet, and she shrugged, turning back toward the room where Ash waved her inside.

“Sera, come in. Please grab something to eat, and we’ll get started.” Sera’s body responded to the way Ash’s eyes roved hungrily over her face and body. Her traitorous nipples hardened at his perusal, and she was glad she wore a thick enough bra to hide it.

Without a word she went to the sideboard and piled a plate with food.

She carefully brought it over to the low table and couches where they were already seated, eating.

She didn’t ask about anything. She just ate and waited for one of them to speak. Why should she make it easy for them? They’d busted up her life just like Ash had done those years before. Like she was a piece on a game board to play.

Ash sighed. “Are you going to keep this up forever?” 14

Casually, she wiped her lips with a napkin and looked at him. “Sir?

Have I been insubordinate? Perhaps you should find another member of your team you feel more comfortable with.”

Brandt chewed his lip to hold back a smile. Sera didn’t take any shit, and watching her keep Ash on his toes was amusing.

“Damn it, Sera! Let it go! We have a job to do.” Ash clenched his fists on his knees. Brandt knew it was most likely to keep Ash from pulling her body to his.

Her eyes flashed with fury just before she narrowed them at Ash.

“Respectfully, sir, I am here to do my job. I am here as ordered. You told me to get something to eat, and I did so. I am a highly decorated military officer. I earned my way to where I am today with blood and broken bones.

I have one of the best records in the military in all the Federation Universes.

I don’t walk away from my commitments, Commander.” Brandt caught the slight tremor in her hand as she held the plate on her knees. Ash was right, the woman was strong-willed. Brandt had been impressed when he read her file. On top of being quite lovely, he could quite easily add intelligent, skilled and deadly to the list. Her ranking in the Federated Universes Martial Arts League was in the top 3 percent.

But right then, she was on the edge, and Ash had to stop pushing, or she’d snap. Smoothly, Brandt stepped in to repair the damage.

“Of course, and I’m sure that Ash didn’t mean to intimate otherwise.

We’ve both seen your file and your commendations. You’re a fine soldier, Sera. Let’s get to the briefing, shall we?” He looked to Ash, who unclenched his teeth.

“Brandt and I run a covert ops team. Our mobile unit has always had three people, but our third retired recently. We’re often on the frontier.

You’ll be receiving a promotion to subcommander, by the way. While we’re here in Borran, this is our home base. The doors and other entrances are now keyed to your call. There’s transport out in the sheds. You should feel free to come and go as you wish, but only people with level-three clearance and above are allowed at this location.”

Sera put her empty plate on the table and crossed her legs. She listened closely as she bit into a piece of purri fruit.

15

Brandt handed her a file. She ate the last bit of the fruit, wiping her hands before opening the folder to examine the pictures and documents inside.

“The Imperialists have attacked four separate outposts. Clandestine outposts. From these outposts, we believe that they’ve been able to get more of our classified data.

“We’ve tracked some of the stolen information back to Nondal.” Ash sat back, and Brandt watched Sera as she read the information. Watched her eyes as she took in what had been stolen. And, impressed, he watched her piece things together.

“We’ll be going in two turns. A bit of scouting of our own to Nondal.

The file has the intel and also what will be your identity. Memorize the material and leave any and all connection to your identity here,” Brandt explained and then hesitated a moment. “From this moment on, you’re assimilated into our cover as a whole. Ash and I are seen as Family members with lots of credits and too much spare time. You’ll be playing into that as well. We’ll work on the details when we return from Nondal. It’s not easy living a life where people underestimate you. But in truth, it’s quite useful.” He shrugged.

He’d leave off the part about how it hurt to be discounted when in fact he and Ash were dedicated, intelligent and hardworking. It wouldn’t necessarily always be that way. At some point he hoped they’d be able to drop the spoiled rich boy routine.

Sera nodded absently as she looked at the evidence in her lap. Evidence that a member of one of the most important Families in the Federation had collaborated with the Imperialists.

“That memo pad on your communicator is keyed to your voice,” Brandt pointed out.

“Don’t forget Sera has a photographic memory.” Ash nodded at her.

Brandt raised his brows and nodded. “Ah yes, I remember. Handy little skill that. I’m guessing it’s why you’re so good at languages.”

“Well, it’s not photographic. I’m not perfect. But I do have a very good memory. Don’t ever say something to me and try to insist that you said something else later on.” Sera glared at Ash—who had the good sense to wince—before going back to read the rest of the file.

16

Both men waited until she reached the part of the dossier that contained information about her cover identity.

She read it quietly, her body becoming more and more still. Her face flushed, and Brandt could see her jaw clench tighter and tighter until she tossed the file on the table and leveled those midnight-blue eyes at Ash.

“No.”

“Look, Sera . . .” Ash began.

She shot up then, hands clenched into fists at her sides as her chest heaved. “I. Said. No. I won’t.”

Ash stood. “You’ll do what you’re told, damn it.” His hand whipped out and cupped her throat, collaring it with his palm and fingers.

Her eyes widened.

Brandt moved to intervene, but before he reached them, Sera broke Ash’s hold, and he was on the ground with her foot on his throat. “You will not ever touch me with familiarity. Never collar my throat with your hand. I will kill you if you try it. I’d rather sit in the brig until I die than let you fuck me over again, Ash.”

“Sera, stand down,” Brandt said, keeping his voice calm and even. Ash had gone too far. Overstepped. That thing with his hand at her throat was uncalled for.

“I am not a whore.” Her voice was quiet when she removed her boot and turned, leaving the room quickly.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Ash? You didn’t have to push her like that.”

“Brandt, I know her better than she knows herself. She needs to be mastered. She wants it.”

“Ash, this is not about your cock! This is about our mission. She is your team member, and you are her superior officer. You’re out of line.

You’re pushing too far and too hard.”

“Don’t you tell me what I’m doing, Brandt! You don’t know her.” 17

“You don’t either, Ash. The person you left ten years ago is gone. In her place is a different woman. Your actions put cracks in her foundation, and you will not exploit that to get into her uniform. I won’t allow it.” Before Ash could respond, Brandt left the room and headed up to her quarters.

* * *

Sera slammed the door and leaned against it, reaching deep to try to locate some kind of inner strength and stability. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest, and she fought the conflicting shame and desire that rushed through her body.

“You will not cry!” she whispered, taking a deep breath.

That moment when his big hand and powerful fingers closed around her neck—not hurting—it had come back to her with vivid clarity. Each night when she walked into their home, she’d shed her public self. She’d changed into one of the diaphanous gowns with thigh-high slits he’d selected for her. And became his.

The black case lay on her bedside table. Each time, she opened it with care, pulling out the wide leather collar, taking it to him. Kneeling, she’d hold the collar out for him to put on her.

There were days when he would shake his head slowly and put the collar aside. “Tonight, Sera, my words are your collar.” He would often come to her as they prepared the evening meal or some other household activity and put his hand at her neck like that, holding her to him as he devoured her mouth.

It had been a very long time since anyone or anything had made her feel that cherished and safe.

She’d never submitted to another man after the day she moved out. She didn’t plan to let Ash lure her into some elaborate mind fuck game now, either. It had been a long, hard road to pull herself out of the pit of self-loathing he’d dug for her with his fancy nuptials splashed over every vid screen and newspaper in the Federation.

There was no way she’d throw all that work away.

18

She began to pace, working through her options. There was no technically about it, she’d been outright insubordinate down there. She’d refused a direct order and assaulted a superior officer and a member of the Families.

“Sera?” Brandt called out softly as he tapped on her door.

She froze a moment and ruthlessly turned off as much of her emotions as she could. She would not give them anything. She would not shed another tear for Ash Walker if she could possibly help it.

Crossing to the door, she took a deep breath and opened it. “Yes, PC

Pela?”

“May I come in?”

“If you’re planning to help him with this ridiculous ploy, you’re wasting your breath.”

“I’d just like to try and work through this to find a solution. On my word as an officer, I promise I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. I just ask that you listen to me and help me to find a resolution here.”

Sighing, she stepped back and waved him inside.

“Thank you.” Brandt moved past her to the small couch and sat.

Sera went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water, handing one to him as she took the chair across from him.

“Sera, you know Nondal is a patriarchal ’Verse. As a woman you’ll be forbidden to move freely unless you’re a wife or concubine accompanied by your husband or lover. And a concubine won’t be expected to observe all the same rules as a wife. You’d have more freedom as a concubine.

“But if you don’t go in as a concubine, you won’t even be allowed to leave the transport. We need you on the ground. We need your ears and your experience with the Nondalese if we’re to get inside. You saw that file; you know who we suspect.”

“I won’t pose as his concubine, PC Pela. I won’t. I’ll never allow Ash Walker to make me feel like a whore again.”

19

“Please, can you call me Brandt? A three-person team is very intimate.

We’ll be out in the field for long periods of time. If we stick to referring to each other by rank, it’ll just be tedious, don’t you think?” Sera narrowed her eyes but nodded after a few long moments.

“Okay, good. Now, would it be acceptable to you to be my concubine?

Rather, um, to pose as my concubine?” He took a quick drink of his water.

Sera thought it over. Brandt was right. Nondal was a ’Verse where she’d be unable to move about at all without a man. A wife would be expected to mix with the other married women and stay separate from her husband except for certain social events and after retiring for the evening.

But a concubine could easily move about with her lover. The Nondalese would dismiss her as a pretty piece of fluff. A piece of fluff could hear a lot.

She nodded slowly. “All right.”

Brandt smiled at her, and her heart sped up. She realized she’d just agreed to pose as his lover for as long as necessary. It would certainly take some time to get in with the right people on Nondal. They’d be watched closely, and she’d have to be convincing. The Nondalese were notorious for having spy cameras everywhere. But as she looked at him, she realized it wouldn’t be very hard to act like a woman smitten with him.

“I’m glad we could work this through. Your clothes for the assignment are in the transport already. You are aware what you’ll be expected to dress and act like?” Sera appreciated that he said it so carefully.

“I’m aware. I’ve never been to Nondal, but I’ve dealt with enough Nondalese people to know.”

“And from your file it appears that you have extensive background in the local accents? We’ll be dealing with mainly upper-class Nondalese.” Nondal had a very stratified class system. Each class grouping had linguistic variants and accents. Most citizens in the Federation Universes spoke Standard. In addition to Standard, on Nondal the population spoke Nondalese. But there were small but important differences in the language that varied by group. Those small differences made the language nearly unintelligible to most people. Fortunately for Sera, she’d done extensive study on the different variations, and that would be a big asset to the team.

20

“Yes. But Ash is very recognizable. How is he planning to get any information at all?” Nondal was a very closed society. The lower and working classes did not have free access to news from the Known Universes. Or contact with outsiders even. Their travel was restricted, and most Nondalese never even left their domed city levels much less folding to visit other universes. But the upper classes did have access to the outside news and information, and they’d hold their knowledge of gossip and celebrity news as a mark of their status.

“How closely have you followed him over the last ten years? Just between us.”

She studied her hands. “Not very. Not after his engagement was all over the place. But his wedding was big news for a very long time. It was inescapable. His face was on every vid screen and newspaper and every damned day of their honeymoon, which seemed to last forever.” Sera returned her gaze to him. “After that first year, I made it a point not to see him or hear what he was up to. But given that his Family is so powerful, it’s not like you can hide it.”

“No. You can’t. So we’ve played on it. I told you a bit downstairs about our general cover. From the outside, Ash Walker is a playboy with too many credits and too much free time. Sure, he has a position in the military, but he doesn’t do any more than collect the credits and show up every once in a while. It makes him ripe for approach by certain people, and we’ve cultivated it for the last seven years now.” His smile wasn’t a happy one.

“Just two irresponsible men out for as much pleasure as possible.”

“Playboy? And how does his wife feel about that? Or does she just look the other way?” Oops, that may have sounded a tad bitter.

“Kira dissolved their union seven years ago. She’s remarried one of Ash’s cousins. What Ash does is of very little consequence to her. You didn’t know?”

Her breath caught a moment. “I’ve had better things to do than read the Family pages in the newspapers or watch the vids about you people.” Brandt winced. “That’s some chip on your shoulder you’ve got there, Sera.”

“Let’s get this straight, Brandt. Ash Walker professed his undying love to me one day, and the next he brought me the paperwork to be his mistress.

21

Because, and imagine my surprise, it turned out he had a fiancée. He’d even shown me the deed to the new apartment he’d purchased for me. Near his house, of course. He could leave her bed and come to mine with impunity.

His resistance to marrying according to his family’s wishes lasted about as long as his love for me did.

“The Families have walked all over me and mine and acted as if they are better by virtue of blood than people who actually shed it. So it’s not a chip, Brandt, it’s called experience.”

“My father is a decorated military officer who led the troops at Varhana. He lost an arm that day but continued to fight alongside a great many soldiers, including my older brother and my uncles. I’ve given up a life of leisure to fight against the Imperialists. We’re not all the same. I know who you come from. I know you were wronged, but I’m not Ash. My family, although they have their own flaws, aren’t the Walkers.” Sera sighed. “You’re right. I apologize. I’m being unfair.” Brandt’s estimation of her rose. Having the courage to apologize when one was wrong was a quality he wished more people possessed.

“Isn’t it difficult? I mean, clearly you’re not simply rich losers looking for a good time. What do your families think?” She couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if her father thought she was a lazy, good-for-nothing fool.

Before Brandt could answer, there was a rap at the door. Sera closed her eyes for a moment before getting up.

“Do you want me to deal with that?” Brandt asked quietly.

She stopped halfway to the door and turned back to him. “Thank you, but no. I have to deal with this if I’m going to be on the team.” When Sera opened the door, Ash was there as she knew he’d be. As she felt he’d be.

“May I?” He jerked his chin, indicating he wanted to enter.

She stepped back, and he walked in, moving to sit next to Brandt.

“Sera, you can’t continue to assault me every time I piss you off.” 22

Brandt sighed. “Ash, we’ve moved past that. Sera is going in as my concubine. She feels comfortable with that, and it’s really no difference one way or the other. We were just going over our cover.”

“Well, isn’t that cozy?” Ash’s voice was cutting.

“If this is going to work, you cannot continue to be a ’Verse-class asshole, Ash.” Sera wanted to pop him one, but she was too tired to move.

Ash looked at her with surprise and then laughed. “Fine. I see you’re still a smart-ass. And you need to teach me that move you pulled down there. You’re a lot faster than you were ten years ago.”

“We’ll see. Now, Brandt, you were about to tell me about your cover.” She moved her attention back to Brandt.

“Yes, it’s difficult, but we all pay a price in some way. The best rule of this sort of work is to play as close to the truth as humanly possible. My Family is powerful, in ways, even more so than Ash’s. But I’ve not been seen on the front like my father was. All my work has been quiet and behind the scenes. Ash and I have been close since he married my sister. I’m just a guy from a Family full of heroes looking for something to make me stand out.”

Sera blinked several times before she could even find the words. That niggling she’d had the night before became totally clear. Kira was a Pela.

Just like Brandt. “You’re Kira’s brother?” She didn’t like the sound of her voice. She heard the raw emotion, didn’t want them to.

“You didn’t know.” Brandt said it and felt like a heel. How could he have been so stupid? The whole thing was stupid. He never should have brought her name to Ash. She’d been such a great candidate for the team, and he’d truly thought they could overcome her issues with Ash. But all they’d done since the moment they decided on her was to fuck her life over.

“No. I’m very tired. We have time to go over this. I’ll read the file and what you’ve put in my system.” She stood woodenly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you weren’t aware.” Brandt raised his hands but let them fall to his side.

“Please. Just go.” The strain was clear on her face.

23

Sighing, Brandt pushed Ash out the door ahead of him. He knew Ash would want to stay and badger her, and Brandt could see in her face that there was just no more room for that.

* * *

Brandt was the one who slammed into his room this time, and Ash followed, tossing himself on the bed with a grumble.

“We’ve really fucked up, Ash. In less than twenty-four hours we’ve swooped in, broken up her team, torn her from her life, tossed her ex-lover in her face, and made her feel like a whore. Each surprise we’ve given her has been worse than the last.”

Ash knew it. Her pain tore at him. He wanted more than anything to make it right. He would make it right. “Yes. Okay, I admit it. I shouldn’t have collared her neck downstairs. That set her off.” Ash watched Brandt as he pulled his shirt off and sat on the edge of the bed to yank his boots off.

“But she does something to me. She always has. I just got my roles a little mixed up.”

“My, you’re the master of understatement tonight. What were you thinking?” Brandt turned, but his hair was tight in Ash’s grip, the long rope of it wrapped around his fist.

Ash moved to his knees directly behind Brandt. “I was thinking just how much I wanted to fuck her. How much I wanted to restrain her wrists and ankles and have her spread-eagle on my bed. How much I wanted to use the flogger to tease across her nipples and over her mound until she was glistening and writhing and begging me for more. I want her back, damn it. I want her.” Ash’s lips brushed against Brandt’s ear as he murmured the words, “And you as well.”

“I’m not in the mood, Ash.” Brandt’s teeth were clenched as he said it, but Ash heard the slight tremor in his voice, knew the idea of the three of them together intrigued him, too.

“Oh?” Ash reached around to grab Brandt’s cock and squeezed until Brandt moaned, relaxing against him. “You may not be, but your cock sure is. Hmmm, whose turn is it?” Brandt’s groan was like a dark caress as he reached back, sliding his hand up Ash’s thigh.

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“I believe it’s mine. But instead of whipping your ass for being such a fool, I’ll let you suck my cock instead,” Brandt said as he turned and stood, unbuttoning the placket of his pants and looking down at Ash.

For Brandt, switching with a man as powerful as Ash Walker was as much about the exchange of power as the sex itself. Normally, both of them preferred women, but he and Ash had grown so close that after he and Kira had split, they’d ended up together from time to time. Because they were both dominants, they’d had to switch or constantly ended up arguing. So they took turns. Every other time one got to be dominant, and the other submitted.

His head fell back as Ash’s hand closed around the root of his cock.

He’d deal with the situation they’d created with Sera in the morning. Right then, he just wanted to feel.

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