Stark Pleasure; the Space Magnate's Mistress (The LodeStar Series) (17 page)

She wrinkled her nose. She’d just have to prove it to him.

***

They ate by the windows again, hot creamed vegetable soup with fragrant rolls and the soft white cheese to which Kiri was rapidly becoming addicted. Stark poured her a glass of the white wine she’d enjoyed at Jasmine, although he drank only water himself. He refilled her glass as soon as it was empty, too.

“I’ve business to finish up for the next few hours,” he told her. “Why don’t you relax with a holovid or a reader?”
 

The prospect of curling up with a good story was beguiling, but Kiri shook her head at Stark’s autocratic tone. “Have you another work station I could use?” She should be doing something, although what?

She leaned her head on her hand and then covered her mouth as she yawned unexpectedly.
 

“No.” He ignored her frown. “What I have is a state of the art holovid viewing area. You’ll relax for a few hours. You can go back to fighting the galaxy tomorrow.”

And with that he picked up her glass of wine and ushered her into a small, plush room with a large leather sofa. He seated her, dropped a cloud-soft half-paca throw over her legs, showed her how to use the controller and left the room. The door shut behind him.

Kiri sat for a moment, stunned. She picked up her glass of wine from the elegant little hover-tray and toasted the huge holovid screen waiting her commands.
 

“Okay, guess I’m going to relax.” Weird. Sex and a meal was all she ever had with a guy, but she was staying with this one. She slid down in the comfortable depths of the reclining sofa, curling up under the throw. A distraction was definitely what she needed right now.
 

She found a travel show about Pangaea and settled back to watch. The tour guide, a slender Pangaean with green hair that fluttered around her head and throat, smiled. “Welcome to Pangaea, the garden planet.”

Soon Kiri was along for a tour of gardens full of beautiful plants and flowers. They proceeded to a farm which grew all manner of vegetables and then to a coffee plantation on a verdant, tropical mountainside. She’d like to walk through the rows of glossy leaved shrubs, feel the leaves and berries for herself, smell the air.
 

She woke with a start when someone said her name. “Ms. te Nawa?”

“Huh? What?” Kiri sat bolt upright. She’d fallen asleep in her nest. The holovid screen was off, and a few large hoverlamps had been lighted. In their soft glow, a slender man in a white smock and black pants stood beside the sofa. He bowed with a polite smile, his pale green hair gleaming. “Would you care for dinner, Ms. te Nawa?”

“Um,” she responded, rubbing a hand over her face. “Who are you?”

“I am Natan, Mr. Stark’s chef and housekeeper,” the man said proudly. “I will serve you dinner.”
 

She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m not really hungry.”

Natan’s round eyes widened in horror. “But, Ms. te Nawa, you must eat. I have prepared a pie with real pheasant and baby vegetables. And there is a special wine to complement.”

Real game bird and vegetables, instead of vegeprotein? That sounded really good. “Will Mr. Stark be having dinner?”

His expression went to neutral, although she noticed shrewdly that his hair fluttered around his throat. “Mr. Stark is involved in a conference and will dine in his office.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. She didn’t need him around all the time.

As Natan returned to his galley, Kiri stretched and then went to use the lav.

“Could I just eat at the small table where we had lunch?” she asked, popping her head into the galley to give Natan the smile that got her male customers to buy the extra-large size of coffee with special additions.

He beamed at her. “Of course. I will set the table immediately.”

He brought a dish of candles and a lovely place setting with a salad and a goblet of wine, then held her chair for her with a flourish.
 

“Thank you,” Kiri said, charmed. “This is really nice, Natan.”

He bowed and then scurried away to bring her main course.

Kiri ate, and drank her wine, gazing out the windows at the lights far below. It was a fairly clear night for once—she could see the lights of space craft coming in to hover and land at the space port across a finger of the bay, and the lights of ships clustered along the docks. Once, a cruiser zipped by the windows, so close she jumped and nearly spilled her wine. It was closely followed by another with a bar of brilliant lights flashing across the top—the cops. She laughed—whoever the daredevil was, he or she was busted.

She wandered over to the windows with her wine to gaze out at the foggy night for a while. It felt strange to be here in this luxurious aerie, with time on her hands. Nothing to do but entertain herself until Stark was done with his business.
 

She watched more travel videos, the next one about Serpentia, the desert planet. Whoa, now there was a place about as different from Pangaea as you could get. Expanses of golden sand and red cliffs, with oases and spectacular sunsets. Strange beautiful snakes and beings.
 

Of course Serpentians looked nearly human, just more sinuous in their movements, and with that golden skin, almost like exotic statues. Haassea and Slidi were Serpentian. Kiri scowled as she remembered the sensuality both women wore like a cloak. But they weren’t here, she was. She curled into a different position in her cushions, leaning her head on one hand as she watched the holovid.

Serpentia had some nice resorts. She couldn’t get over how clean the air was there and on Pangaea. Must be nice to go out in the sun and rain without worrying about being fried or even poisoned.

But as the evening turned to night, she found herself yawning alone on the divan, too sleepy to enjoy her leisure. Well, it had been seven hells of a day, and the day before that. She was exhausted, and she wasn’t waiting for him any longer. She could see herself to bed quite well. How did rich people stand all this free time? Sitting still was exhausting.

She found her new clothing hung in the mistress’ closet, and the nightwear of previous guests relegated to the back. She chose a lovely nightgown and peignoir in a deep teal lii silk. It looked new. The lii silk slipped over her bare skin like a caress, and when she belted on the robe, she stared at herself, barely recognizing the slim woman in the mirror.

“You look like his mistress,” she murmured. She eyed herself uneasily. She felt like one, too. Well dressed, well fed and well fucked.
 

***

Stark sat back in his office chair with a sigh, rubbing his hands over his eyes. They were tired and dry. Natan had long since brought him dinner and then cleared away the remains, but Stark had worked on, making sure all the details were taken care of for his trip to New Asia.
 

He’d done this after spending much of the afternoon in a holovid conference with the captains of
Orion
and her sister ships,
Cassiopeia
and
Andromeda,
as well as the head of LodeStar security, Bronc Berenson. Stowaways had been discovered on all three LodeStar cruise ships. All ex-military males and females, all drugged, disoriented and claiming not to know how they’d gotten onto the ship.

Berenson, a large, stone-faced ex-soldier himself, looked even more grim than usual.
 

“Sir, I believe they’re telling the truth. Commander Navos himself questioned the pair on the
Orion
, and he says their last memories are of drinking in a bar on Earth II.”

“So they were kidnapped?” Stark’s gut iced. “Do we know why?”

“I have my suspicions, sir.”

“And what are your suspicions?” demanded Captain Aleah of the
Cassiopeia
.
 

She was ex-military herself, as was Captain Zeon of the
Andromeda
and Steve Craig. All of them looked as enraged as Stark at the thought that LodeStar vessels were being used to victimize ex-soldiers.

“Slavers acquiring gladiators.” Berenson bit out the words as if he were chewing off a chunk of rock. “Either as sport for large predators captured from the outlying planets or set against other sentient beings.”

“Or against each other,” Zeon added somberly. “This was once a custom on my planet for soldiers defeated in battle.”

“On Earth I, too,” Craig agreed, his disgust clear. “I hear there are still plenty of illegal fight rings there and on E II.”

Stark nodded. “Yes, and on Serpentia. As soon as one is found, the operation is simply moved to a new location. Bronc, any idea who the handlers were?”

Berenson shook his head. “No sir. But we’re working with the IGSF and the IBI. We’ll figure it out. We do have one lead. Two of the men were taken from New Seattle. Place called The Flash.”

“Find out who owns it.”
 

The conference ended with Berenson’s promise that Stark would know as soon as there were any breaks in the case. Stark instructed his captains to give the kidnapped men a free voyage home, and treat them like royalty. From the looks on their faces, this would not be a problem.

Stark called Natan for more coffee and some gesics for the headache that had begun to pound in his temples, and worked on.

Finally finished with his preparations for his journey, he sat back in his chair, and drank a glass of moon brandy to relax before going to bed. He gazed absently into the glass. The clear amber liquid was the color of Kiri’s eyes.

He thought back to their sex earlier, and found himself grinning as he remembered her indignant words. ‘Honestly, Logan Stark. Fall in love with you over good sex? Not gonna happen.’ His little cat was nothing if not brutally honest. That was fine with him. He was all too used to women trying to parse out what he wanted to hear and then cooing it in his ear.

He took another sip, then grimaced as memory soured it on his tongue. The woman he’d wanted first, the one he’d thought would be by his side in his bed and on his arm, had been the mistress of lies. Adora Crest had professed her love for him, and sighed happily as he laid out his dreams of success and wealth.
 

He’d reveled in protecting her, her fears made him feel strong. Her longing for material things had made him feel a hero for giving them to her. She’d also nearly drawn him away from his primary responsibility—taking care of his younger brothers.

In his early twenties, he’d been the oldest, the one responsible for keeping them safe, clothed and fed. The bitch had nearly talked him into leaving them behind. She’d teased him into a hormone-ruled frenzy with her soft arms and glimpses of her perfumed cunt, begging him to cash in his newly successful business and go away with her, somewhere they could be alone together.

Only when he’d found her in the arms of another man had he been able to see the truth—that she had plans for his money all right, but they didn’t include him. She and her lover had planned to take all his credit and disappear.

The shame of even considering deserting the boys for the whore, heavy as his responsibilities had been for a young man, had nearly killed him. When he’d sobered up from a three-day bender, his brothers had forgiven him and they’d gone on with their lives.
 

But it had taken him years to forgive himself. He’d thrown himself into business, vowing he’d never rest until the three of them had so much wealth they would never again be at risk.
 

With his powerful sexual drive, he hadn’t been able to stay away from women for long, but he’d made sure they knew explicitly that sex was all he wanted from them, and a few expensive gifts were all they could expect from him.

Yes, Kiri was definitely one of a kind. But her strength, her defiance conversely made him want to tame her. He had to shift in his chair to ease a sudden tightening in his groin at the thought of her sultry beauty, enhanced by pampering and polishing, displayed in one of the exclusive clubs he sometimes frequented. A jeweled collar and the finest lii silk leash, tied to his wrist.

With a wry twist to his mouth, he drained his brandy and rose from his chair, reaching down to adjust his burgeoning erection in his pants. His imaginings had rendered him unfit for further work.

Luckily for him, relief was only a room away.

Chapter 14

She was in the apartment. The one from long ago, warm and bright despite the dark gloom outside. Her tiny bed cubby enclosed her. Her parents had fixed it for her, under the L of the stairs, so she wouldn’t have to share anymore, because she was a big girl. It was full of her favorite things: an old stuffed dog that she’d pretended was real when she was younger, her game console, a painting of red flowers, and the new comforter she’d chosen herself. But despite the cozy place, she lay stiff with terror, her heart pounding. Something was wrong. Noises outside in the apartment. Voices crying out, and light flashing under her door—wrong. All wrong. A heavy thud of something falling against her door.

She sprang up, scrabbling backward in the bed, her heart pounding, ready to scratch and fight.

“Kiri.”
 

It was Stark, kneeling on the edge of the bed in the lamplight. He was nude, his broad shoulders and lean frame a powerful shadow between her and the lamp.