The Gigolo's Bride (The Necklace Chronicles) (10 page)

"The things I did for that, Ashleigh; I don't
like that I debased myself for so long, but I had to get free. It
took five years for the ship to be ready, but I worked like mad to
make a home for us. Kasimir sees me as a
brokah
because I've
been one for fifteen years. In his eyes, in the eyes of many, I
will always be a
brokah
, no matter what color my hair is."
His eyes opened, and she leaned over so she could look into his
eyes. "I should have told you everything. It wasn't fair of me to
leave you floundering about my past, my life."

"I should have asked. You've suffered so
much, but that’s done now. No one will ever take you against your
will again, I swear.”

“I love you, Ash,” he whispered thickly.

“I love you, too, Eden.”

Chapter 5

Ashleigh moaned as she woke up, her skin
tingling in awareness as fingers grazed over her bare stomach in a
slow, languid pattern. Eden pressed open-mouthed kisses against her
shoulder, his hair tickling her neck as he drew himself closer to
her as she woke.

His hand stroked up her stomach to her
breasts and he cupped one, lifting his head and looking into her
eyes. The light in the room was dim, but bright enough for her to
see the hunger in his eyes that made them darker brown, bordering
on black.

"You are so beautiful." His voice was husky
and sent shivers down her spine.

She smiled, opening her mouth to return the
compliment, when he pressed his mouth to hers, slipping his tongue
past her parted lips. Her hands found his hair and played with the
thick, short strands while their tongues glided together, tasting
and touching. Her heart pounded in her chest and she pulled him
closer, wrapping her arms around him. She ran her tongue along the
edge of his teeth, loving the sweet taste of his mouth.

He moved down her body by slow degrees,
kissing and tasting, nibbling and licking, until his lips slipped
over the tip of her breast and suckled deeply. Her back arched off
the bed, and her hands spasmed against his back. His tongue licked
circles around her nipple as he continued to suck, his hair
tickling her skin and making her nerve endings go haywire. Licking
across the valley of her breasts, he nipped at the untended nipple,
smiling against her flesh as she moaned, before sucking and licking
it until it ached with need.

His tongue flicked across her stomach as he
moved down, his breath washing over her skin as he slid, an inch at
a time, towards her throbbing core. Slipping between her spread
legs, he eased her thighs wider and rested on one elbow, dragging
his fingers through the dark curls that covered her mound. "You are
so soft here," he murmured, a small smile on his lush mouth. "Our
people are bare. I love your curls; they are so pretty."

She'd never had anyone say she was pretty
there. She blushed and smiled at him, sucking in a breath when he
parted her lower lips with his thumbs and peered at her. His eyes
met hers, and the look on his face was primal and full of need.
"Pink and wet," he flicked his tongue across her heated flesh, and
her whole body jerked, "and so sweet."

Licking up the wet slit, he delved his tongue
inside her core, as she gripped the sheets and the pleasure began
to coil deep inside her. He spread her apart with the fingers of
one hand as his other hand slipped down, and he pushed a finger
inside her.

"Oh...oh," she moaned, her hips rising to
take his finger deeper. He pulsed it into her, twisting it inside
as he massaged her inner walls. His tongue touched her clit, moving
the sensitive bud, circling and stroking as he added a second
finger. She felt the width of his fingers inside her, and wanted
more. It felt good, so good, but it wasn't enough.

"Eden," she panted, feeling the edge of
climax just within reach. He sucked her clit into his mouth and
curved his fingers up, moving them in hard, fast motions as her
body writhed under him. Her pulse raced, and her stomach clenched
in waves.

"I, oh, Eden, oh....oh!" She cried out, her
body jerking off the bed as pleasure filled her. Her body clenched
around him as heat exploded within her, and her hips rose and fell
as her limbs went limp.

With liquid grace, he slipped up her body,
and she caught his hips with her legs as he rested in the cradle of
her body. His hard cock lay trapped between them, hot and heavy.
Framing her face with his hands, he kissed her tenderly, stealing
her breath and making her fall in love with him a little bit
more.

"You'll be mine, sweetheart? Forever?" His
voice was earnest, his eyes pleading.

"Yes, Eden," she promised, brushing her
fingers through the soft, shorter hair over his ears.

Shifting slightly, he lifted himself from
her, easing his cock to the entrance of her body and pausing,
meeting her eyes once more. With one hand, he gripped her thigh
higher on his body and with the other, he linked their hands
together and pushed inside.

They moaned together as his huge length
pressed into her, stretching her and filling her like she'd never
imagined possible. He held her gaze and squeezed her hand, easing
back before thrusting hard, filling her completely.

"Oh...Eden," she gasped, pleasure rioting
through her body at the exquisite dance between pleasure and pain
as his cock pressed deeply inside her.

"Sweetheart," he groaned, sliding out
slightly before pressing in again, "you feel so good."

Sensually, slowly, he pulled from her body
with languid strokes, filling her perfectly each time he surged
forward and their bodies met. Her hips met his, her legs twined
around his lean, muscular body. She gripped his hand tightly, and
used her free hand to stroke the heated flesh of his side, from the
curve of his hip to his strong shoulders. The muscles under her
fingers tensed and relaxed as he thrust into her, and she gripped
his shoulder and lifted her head to kiss him. Sweat slicked their
bodies, and she felt him trembling slightly as if he were holding
himself back, but losing his grip.

"Harder," she moaned, "take me, Eden, I'm
yours."

His hand gripped her thigh harder for a
moment, and he stopped moving, buried deeply within her. With a
growl in the back of his throat, he pulled almost completely free
of her body and then slammed forward, pounding into her with a
furious pace. She slid her hand from his shoulder to his chest, her
fingers brushing the hard points of his nipples, tweaking one
between her fingers.

Glancing down the length of her body, she
watched his cock move in and out of her body, glistening with her
arousal, pumping and thrusting into her core. He slid one arm under
her hips and lifted her, changing the angle of her body and the
depths of his thrusts.

"Oh! Eden!" she cried, her fingers digging
into his skin as bolts of pleasure spiked through her body. His
body thrust into hers as he swiveled his hips and finally found a
place that made stars wink behind her eyes.

"Come, baby, please," he groaned, his cock
hitting her deepest, most pleasurable place. She felt his cock
spasm inside her as he shouted his release, and her body spiraled
into pleasure, a place where lights exploded behind her eyes and
her body seized in the most amazing, magnificent way. His name fell
like a prayer of thanks from her lips as he slipped down next to
her, their legs still tangled, bodies pressed together.

Her skin felt hot and her heart pounded, as
pleasurable aftershocks shivered through her. She'd never orgasmed
during sex before. It had been intense and amazing, and she was
glad that she could share that with Eden.

"I've never done that before." Eden's voice
was raw and throaty. She wrapped her arms around him as he rested
against her, his head on her chest. Her fingers wove through his
damp hair, still blue.

"I don't understand what you mean."

Tipping his face up, his eyes penetrated
hers. "Made love. You were my first. First kiss, first lovemaking,
first time that I came and I didn't hate myself."

"I'm sorry for all that you suffered through,
but I'm glad that we found each other." She caught the shine of
tears in his eyes, and he smiled briefly and dropped his head back
against her.

The silence stretched around them, and she
found herself drifting off to sleep, comforted by the warm press of
his body against hers.

He woke her again several hours later to make
love, pulling her against him when they collapsed in a panting
heap. She had no idea of the time, as they slept and ate and made
love, in a wonderful, pleasurable cycle.

* * * * *

By the clock in the bathroom, she knew that
they'd been in bed for almost a full day when she noticed his hair
had begun to change. The change was subtle at first, some darkness
to the lustrous blue, and then slowly, as if paint was poured over
him, the silky blue locks changed to dark brown.

He peered at himself in the mirror after they
showered together. She didn't speak, but instead watched him
quietly as he looked at himself. She wondered what he saw; if he
felt like a different person.

"When I was a kid," he tugged on a short lock
of hair, "I loved my blue hair. I used to wear it really long,
pulled back at the sides and braided. We're born with it, you know.
Before the females became sterile, the males would go on their
soul-walks and be led to their woman somewhere on Norlan. There
would be a mating period, a few weeks, when the males would sweep
their females away to a secret place to woo them before claiming
them. Females rarely rejected the males, as eager to be mated and
start families as they were. And then things changed. The females
became sterile, and therefore unwanted. The soul-walks failed to
work; no matches were made. The blue hair became a curse of sorts.
Unable to mate, the males turned on each other, fighting over the
few females that could bear children, ignoring the soul-walks.

"When I was sold into the
Bordelayz
,
my first few customers talked about how lovely my hair was, how
pretty I was. So I cut it off with a dull blade I stole from the
meal hall. The owner was so furious that I'd damaged my hair that
he had me whipped. He told me that I was property and not a person,
and I was not to cut my hair again unless I had permission. The
first thing I did when I was free was cut my hair."

He grew quiet again, and she stood from where
she had sat on the edge of the bathing pool and hugged him. "I love
the color. It means that we belong to each other as equals." She
kissed his bicep. "No more sitting below me like you were doing. I
want you by my side, in all ways."

She met his eyes in the mirror. "It's hard
for me to get out of old habits, but I'll try for you."

They stood in silence while he battled his
demons, and then he seemed to shake his thoughts away and turned
with his arms around her, walking out into the bedroom.

"I have a question about the soul-walk
thing."

She stood next to him at the refrigerated
cabinet and looked inside the lighted interior. Wire shelves held
neatly arranged food items. He pulled an oval container from one
shelf and a jug of fruit juice.

"What do you want to know?"

The container held a
fourn
, a type of
large, black-feathered fowl that tasted like turkey. It was basted
with sweet fruit like apricot and cooked for hours. He shredded it
onto slices of thick, tangy bread.

"Well, if a woman rejects a male who did the
soul-walk for her, you said that the female goes to the
Bordelayz
. Aren't they still soul mates? How can another
male claim her and have his hair change during their mating?"

They sat down at the table, her in a silky
aqua robe and Eden in satin lounge pants. "If the woman rejects
him, even after the three moon cycles, then she's taken to the home
and their ties are severed. He won't be able to go on another
soul-walk, but he can choose another unmated female and take her as
his bride. The medical community has a serum that can be injected
into the male prior to their mating that will allow him to bond
with her as if she was his true soul mate."

"So both the male that lost her and the male
that chooses her eventually will both have to take the serum?"

"Yes. It's complicated and expensive, and
it's why there are three moon cycles for the males to try to win
their females over."

"It must be hard for the males."

He shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich,
washing it down with a drink of juice. "A few years ago, the
government decided that their soldiers would be happier and more
productive if they had mates instead of using the
Bordelayz
,
so they forced them to go on soul-walks. Many of the females from
your planet were from those walks. Not all of those men, though,
sweetheart, are interested in being mated. Some of them are
strictly military-minded and wouldn't necessarily be loving or
kind. I would be surprised if every female from your group had
mated with their males."

"Oh." She suddenly felt sorry for the women
that had been abducted with her. She leaned over and kissed his
cheek.

"What was that for, sweetheart?" He
smiled.

"Because I'm really lucky."

He picked up her hand and kissed the top.
"I'm the lucky one, sweetheart. You saved me. I'll spend the rest
of my life thanking you for it."

* * * * *

The next seven weeks passed quickly as she
learned about Eden and her new home planet. Although there were
times that she missed her family and friends, she loved Eden and
didn't want to be anywhere without him.

He began to teach her their written language,
sharing with her a book of the Norlanian equivalent of fairy tales.
They spent their nights tangled together, sharing about themselves
and their hopes for the future.