“If you please, Miss, it’s nothing—just an incident with the water trough, that’s all.”
“But the water trough is filled with water—not acid!” Elli exclaimed. “What in the world happened?”
“He got splashed, Miss,” another groom explained. “Our skin don’t react well to the water here, is all. That’s why we’re all of us so careful of the trough and try to keep out of the way when the sky spits on us.”
“You mean when it rains?” Elli asked.
“Yes, Miss.” Yanus nodded. “Please don’t worry,” he added, clearly seeing the concern on Elli’s face. “It doesn’t hurt anymore and it ‘ent like I’m one of the nobles and have to be careful of my complexion.” He laughed roughly. “A groom don’t have to be pretty, you know. It ‘ent like the Crown Prince is going to choose me as his Bride for the Night anytime soon.”
This brought a collective roar of laughter from the other Tenebrian grooms which seemed to ease the tension. But it made Elli realize exactly why they hated normal water and could only use the milky blue stuff that had been treated with chemicals from their home planet.
Regular water was disfiguring to them. No wonder all the nobles, who were so vain of their complexions, ran if it started to rain!
I must tell Roke, she thought as she went on with the lesson. The big warrior was back at the palace at the moment, though he usually stayed and took lessons with the grooms. He had never worked with zorels before but he was proving to be a natural—he had a deft touch and the zorels seemed to trust him and love his deep, rumbling voice almost as much as she did herself.
But by the time she got back to the palace, it was almost Supper time and Elli’s head was filled with thoughts of the Mirroring they might have to do that night.
Supper or Bathing Time was also a part of their daily routine. One that Elli secretly looked forward to—though she would scarcely admit it, even to herself. Every evening it seemed that she and Roke were forced to push their personal limits, going further and further down an extremely erotic road, doing things that Elli would never have dreamed of doing on her own.
Often these erotic interludes left her aching for release but Roke was always eager to “heal” her later in their room. The big warrior seemed to love lapping her nipples and pussy and for her part, Elli loved being “healed.” She didn’t even try to protest any more. The minute they got back to their room, Roke had her on the bed with her legs across his broad shoulders as he buried his face between her thighs and lapped until she came for him—often more than once.
Elli welcomed him in. The feeling of his hot tongue caressing her inner folds was addictive. And though she still felt guilty for breaking her vows, she told herself everything she did was necessary to her quest. After all, they had to Mirror the Crown Prince—otherwise they would get kicked out of the Court. And since the Mirroring caused such a deep ache in her most sensitive areas, she had to allow Roke to heal her as well.
To assuage her constant, underlying guilt, she promised herself that the moment she got back to the Mother Ship, she would take a sip from the cup of Mortem Amore and kill all her wrong desires forever. She wouldn’t even wait for the Shriving ceremony first—she knew where the cup was kept so there was nothing to stop her. Then she would beg forgiveness, which she hoped the Goddess would grant her, since she would be saving the life of the old Priestess Superior.
After that, she would live the life of a devout and chaste priestess ever after and never even think of what she and Roke had to do together in order to get the piece of Healing Lattice in the first place.
But what about Roke? whispered a sad little voice in her head. You’ll never see him again. Is that what you want?
It doesn’t matter what I want, Elli told herself firmly. What matters is healing the old Priestess Superior and doing the right thing. I must purge myself of my desires and without desire, why would he want to be with me?
She knew the big warrior enjoyed their physical relationship as much as she did—he was certainly eager to “heal” her all the time. Though he was careful not to push things too far—doubtless because he had no wish to bond with her, as he had stated before.
Even if I did want to stay with him, I couldn’t, Elli reminded herself. He’s half Havoc and they don’t bond. He had no interest in tying his life to mine—or to any female’s for that matter. After this is all over, he’ll fly off and have more adventures and probably forget all about me.