“Then hadn’t you better be the one caressing her?” I demanded. “After all, you’re her fucking husband!”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” he demanded and for a moment, his rich, entitled asshole façade cracked and I saw a kind of desperation beneath. “I’ve been trying for an entire solar year!” he continued, running a hand through his thinning brown hair. “But she won’t glow for me, damnit! And until she glows, she can’t conceive.” He looked at me, tears suddenly coming to his beady eyes. “Please understand, Mr. Sark—this is for Isla’s own good. If she isn’t caressed and doesn’t begin to glow, she will become ill—perhaps terminally so. And in the meantime, we both so desperately want a child.”
I held up my hands and shook my head.
“I’m sorry you’re having these problems, but it’s not my place to put my hands on your wife.”
Le’rank’s easy tears were quickly replaced by irritation.
“Look, as I said before, think of it as a bonus,” he snapped, glaring at me. “Isla is very beautiful—if a bit too plump—and you can do everything but fuck her. I only insist that you come and tell me the moment her skin begins to glow so that I can breed a son into her.”
This was so bizarre that I hardly knew what to say. No customer had ever offered me a “bonus” like this. The closest I had come was the Emperor whose life I had saved—he had promised I could marry one of his many daughters if I stayed. I still wasn’t interested.
And I wasn’t interested in this either.
“Look,” I said, trying to be reasonable since I had already signed the contract. “I’m a Security Specialist—not a Fertility Expert. You’ve got the wrong male. Why would you think I’d be able to help your wife, uh, ‘glow’ in the first place? What makes you think I’d have any better luck than you have?”
“You’re a Kindred, aren’t you?” he demanded, frowning at me.
“Yes.” I frowned. “What the fuck does that have to do with it?”
“Kindred are known for their ways with women,” Le’rank told me. “It’s said that your people mate for life and never divorce or sever your unions.”
“Those of us who choose to call a bride do mate for life,” I acknowledged. “But I’m not one of them. And just because I’m Kindred, doesn’t make me some kind of expert on females.”
“Yes it does!” he insisted. “When you look at statistics, women who are mated to Kindred warriors consistently rate themselves happier and more satisfied than women married to any other kind of man.” He ran a hand through his hair again. “Look, I could have hired a bodyguard anywhere but I specifically wanted you because you’re Kindred—I’m sure you can bring on Isla’s glow!”
I shook my head.
“I’ve never been hired for anything like this before—I can’t promise you I’ll be able to, er, make her glow. You might be wasting your money and even if you aren’t, this is really fucking strange.”
“Nevertheless, it’s part of your contract and you already signed it,” Le’rank snapped. “I expect you to fulfill your duties—all of them.”
I opened my mouth to protest again—his wife didn’t even fucking know me—she wasn’t going to want some stranger rubbing her down every night! But then I remembered the voice and the pressure that had held me in my chair.
If it really was the Goddess at work, she would have known about this strange clause in the contract I had signed. There must be a reason for this—though if there was, it certainly wasn’t one I could figure out.
“Fine,” I said reluctantly. “I’ll follow the contract but only if your wife agrees. I won’t touch her otherwise. I don’t give a damn about all your dirty business and shady dealings but Kindred don’t abuse females or force them sexually.”
“I am sure Isla will be amenable to our new situation.” Le’rank gave me that shit-eating rodent grin again. “As I said, we both desperately want a son.”
He must be desperate, I thought, if he was willing to let a complete stranger rub his wife down every night. I knew if I was Joined to a female I loved, I’d kill any man who tried to touch her intimately.
Still, here we were and I had signed the contract.
“Come, let’s go see Isla,” Le’rank said to me, rising from behind his expensive desk. “I’m sure she’s eager to meet her new bodyguard and masseuse.”
FIVE
From the diary of Lady Isla, wife to Lord Baslik Le’rank of Telmar Two of the Orinthian System:
“I’ve found the one who’s going to make you glow,” were the first words out of my husband’s mouth when he finally came to me again after two weeks of leaving me strictly alone.
“I…I don’t know what you mean.” I lifted my chin, trying to keep my voice even and calm, and not quite succeeding.