He’d watched her with an intensity she’d never seen before. When she’d told him she was married, he’d looked ready to hit something. Or someone. She couldn’t afford to have him find out she’d been lying to him. For all she knew, he might kill her.
The Saurellians were crazy, everybody said so. They fought hard, they f**ked hard and they were ruthless with their enemies. Without being told, Calla knew that a woman who lied to their commander would be one of those enemies. Rolling over on her pallet, she pillowed her head against her arm, willing the pleasurable sensations in her body to go away. It didn’t matter how much she wanted to go back to his room. It was too dangerous. Even if he didn’t kill her, Jenner would sell her in a heartbeat if she found out what Calla had done. Even death would be better than spending the rest of her life on her back in a mining-camp crib.
Calla slept restlessly and woke up tired. She had plenty of work to do. Even conquering warriors had to eat, and it was her turn to check on the availability of supplies at the market. The bulk of their food at the hostel was delivered each week, but since war had come to their system Mistress Jenner had sent Calla or one of the girls each day to see what was available on the black market. Supply lines were up and running now that the Saurellians had occupied the station, but there were still good deals to be found if you were resourceful enough. Calla was very resourceful.
Slipping out the back of the hostel, Calla pulled a shawl over her head and made her way down a side corridor toward the central market. It was always safer to go out covered; she might not be much to look at, but more than one slave woman of even average appearance had disappeared in the station’s back corridors. It was best not to take any chances. She was also concerned about running into Seth, but once she thought about it, she realized she had never seen him before yesterday. He was probably too important to spend his time on guard duty at the hostel, anyway. Bumping into him wouldn’t be a problem, she assured herself.
The marketplace was centrally located in the station, making it easy for Calla catch a ride with one of the small transports that regularly moved through the station’s main corridors. In less than ten minutes she arrived at the market, where she quickly hit all of her usual stops and arranged for the deliveries. Jenner gave Calla full bargaining authority, but no one got their credits until the goods arrived at the hostel. A slave might be trusted to run errands and negotiate for supplies, Calla thought bitterly, but she would never be trusted with actual money.
Checking the time, she realized there was at least an hour before she needed to be back to the hostel, enough time to visit her friend Dani. Dani’s apartment wasn’t far from the marketplace, although it was on the opposite side of the station from the hostel. That was fine with Calla, because it made it less likely that Jenner would ever run into her and Dani together. Dani was a pleasure worker, a profession that Jenner and her fellow pilgrims despised. According to Jenner, any woman who had sex outside of marriage was a dirty slut and deserved to be treated as such. In Calla’s opinion, Dani had things pretty good.
Dani was a member of the powerful Pleasure Guild, highly trained and well paid for her services. She was completely free to come and go as she pleased, working in any pleasure house she chose. Upon retirement, she would have her pick of suitors and a healthy cash settlement, more than enough to support her for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, the Guild only accepted extremely beautiful girls in their early teens as apprentices. Calla was too old to join even if she wasn’t a slave, she thought wistfully.
“Dani? It’s me, Calla,” she said into the little com outside Dani’s door. It was still a little early for Dani to be up after working all night, but Calla knew Dani wouldn’t mind her stopping by. They got very few opportunities to visit, especially lately. Things had simply been too chaotic.
“Calla?” Dani’s voice floated out through the speaker. “It’s good to hear your voice. Come on in.”
Pressing her palm to the doorplate, Calla waited for the door to slide open. When it did, the scent of Dani’s perfume wafted out into the corridor. Dani stood in the doorway, dressed in a luxurious silk robe tied around the waist. Her long, blond hair fell to her waist in fat curls. Calla knew she must have just crawled out of bed, but she still looked like a vid star. Dani always looked perfect–whenever Calla asked how, Dani would simply wink and whisper “trade secret.”
“Come in, come in,” Dani said, engulfing her in a warm hug, then gesturing toward the low couch in her living area. Dani’s apartment was tiny, like every apartment on the cramped station, yet somehow it seemed like a different world to Calla. Everything was draped with silk and soft pillows, and there were holo pictures on the walls from all over the galaxy, one from each of the places Dani had lived and worked. She’d been everywhere.
“It’s so good to see you, Dani,” Calla said, smiling warmly at her friend. “Things have been so strange since the occupation started. You know, almost all of the Saurellians are staying at the hostel. They’ve taken over the whole place.”
“I’m surprised they even bother to get rooms anywhere,” Dani said with a laugh. “I’d swear they spend all their free time at the House of Lilies–though they’re hardly sleeping there,” she added with a wink.
“Really?” Calla asked, curious despite herself. Dani’s stories of the pleasure house always intrigued her.
Not that she was interested in learning any more about the Saurellian commander, of course, she told herself. She needed to keep her distance from him. But it was interesting to learn more about their conquerors.
“Oh, yes,” Dani said. She sighed dramatically and draped herself back against the pillows. “You wouldn’t believe what those men are like in bed. They’re insatiable . I’ve never experienced anything like it. I have to say, if I wasn’t a card-carrying member of the Guild, I’d do it with any of them for free… I swear the credits are just a perk.”
“I see,” Calla said. For once, she felt like she truly understood what Dani was talking about. She’d certainly never experienced sex as wonderful as what she’d had with the commander. If it wasn’t for Jenner, she’d have taken him up on his offer in a heartbeat.
“Last night I was with one named Seth,” Dani said. Calla’s breath caught. Was Dani talking about her Saurellian? “He’s like a machine. He f**ked me twice in a row! I must’ve come something like five times.