Stark Pleasure; the Space Magnate's Mistress (The LodeStar Series) (45 page)

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Authors: Cathryn Cade

BOOK: Stark Pleasure; the Space Magnate's Mistress (The LodeStar Series)

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“You want me to … what?” she asked. Her voice rasped through her dry throat. She sat on her small sofa, frozen with shock.

Logan Stark faced her, his hard, handsome face calm despite her reaction. “I believe I was quite clear. I want you to seduce my youngest brother.”

That’s what Taara thought he’d said. She was just having trouble believing he’d said it. Logan Stark, space magnate and owner of the galaxy’s newest space cruise line, wanted her, a fashion sales clerk, to agree to prostitute herself … with
his brother
?

What kind of man conceived an idea like that, much less proposing it as calmly as if he were suggesting she link the man for a date?

“In return,” Stark went on, his deep voice smooth, “I’ll do as you’ve asked. I’ll make sure you and your cousin Daanel are safe from whoever is threatening you on Earth II by moving both of you—and his clothing boutique–to Frontiera.”

Taara shook her head, hoping the motion would clear the thick, noxious New Seattle fog, which had apparently settled in her brain. “I—I thought you’d help us,” she accused, hurt pushing up her throat in a thick, suffocating layer. “We’re Kiri’s friends.”

At the mention of his mistress, Stark’s face softened—at least she thought it did. But he continued to regard her with that dispassionate gaze, the same steely gray as the fog.

“Which is why I am prepared to help you. But as Kiri herself will tell you, I never do anything without a price.”

Taara could believe that all too well. She set her jaw, afraid if she spoke she’d scream something obscene at him. One thing was for sure, when this little interview was over, she was going to link Kiri and tell her a thing or two about her wonderful Logan.

When he waited without speaking, she lifted her hands helplessly. “Why … why do you want me? There must be plenty of beautiful, experienced courtesans you could hire.” Women who were willing to use their bodies to make their way in the galaxy.

He lifted his chin in acknowledgement. “A fair question. I want you precisely because you are not a courtesan. You are warm-hearted, loyal, amusing and a beautiful woman. That’s what my brother needs, not the practiced attentions of a professional.”

Taara scowled. He may have just complimented her, but she still wanted to get her legs around his business-suited neck and squeeze until he choked. She could do it, too. Half-Serpentian, she knew some awesome fighting moves.

And anyway, what kind of repulsive troll needed his big brother to get him a woman, even if he did live at a remote mining outpost? Stark owned a fleet of space ships, didn’t he?

Ignoring her glower, Logan Stark reached out one large, manicured hand, manipulating a com unit on the gleaming expanse of desk before him.

“In case you’re curious, this is my brother Creed. Creed Forth.”

Taara didn’t answer. For the second time in their conversation, she was speechless.

Creed.
His name filled her mind, and whispered over her skin and sank deep inside her.

Tall, whipcord lean, skin bronzed by the sun in the blue sky over his head, blond hair ruffling in the wind, he gazed back at her from the holovid. His face was hard with smooth, angular planes that echoed the mountains behind him. His mouth was set uncompromisingly.

But his eyes … a blue as deep and mysterious as the Sound, they held the promise of passion so deep Taara felt herself teetering, as if on the edge of an abyss.

“I’ll leave you the link,” Stark said. “You have until tomorrow at this time to give me your answer. Oh, and Ms. Ravel? Not a word to Kiri, or the deal is off.”

He disappeared, leaving Taara alone with the silent image of the man who was as far from a repulsive being as she’d ever seen. Creed Forth was magnificent. He was sex on a hot reactor core.

Of course her answer to Stark’s degrading scheme was still an emphatic, unequivocal ‘No’.

Wasn’t it?

Creed of Pleasure
will be available later this summer. To be among the first to know,