Ivy opened her eyes, her mind catching up a second later as she took in her surroundings. She bolted up in bed, disoriented, wincing at the tender jolt between her legs. Her head jerked to the side, but the rest of the bed was empty. They only thing that remained of last night’s escapade was her clothing in a pile on the floor and a single purple flower on the pillow beside her.

She picked up the blossom and sniffed the unusual bouquet. She exhaled, putting the flower back on the pillow. “Better than nothing, I guess,” she mumbled, settling back against the headboard “At least he left something as a token.”

“What token?” a deep voice asked from the door.

Ivy’s eyes jerked to the other side of the room where Vander stood carrying a tray. “I thought you left.”

He shook his head with a chuckle. “No.” He lifted the tray. “Breakfast. You slept like the dead so I figured you’d be famished.”

She sat up, shoving a hand through her hair. “Now that you mention it, I never did eat last night. I’m kind of famished.”

He smirked. “Oh, love. You ate all right.” He put the tray on the end of the bed and leaned in to kiss her. “You ate me. Although, I think the proper way to describe it was you swallowed me whole. Never in my life have I experienced anything like that.”

Ivy wedged a pillow behind her back to sit straighter. “Well, that makes two of us. I lost count of how many times I reached climax. No wonder I was exhausted.”

Vander reached for a pitcher and two goblets, pouring a pale yellow liquid into each. He handed her a cup and then touched the rim of her glass with his. “By the two suns,” he said and then drained his cup.

She took a sip and looked at the wine in her goblet. “Is this the same wine you gave me last night?”

He nodded. “Yes, why?”

“White Sidaii wine, right?”

He nodded again.

Ivy put the glass down with a smirk. “Makes sense now.”

He poured himself another glass, puzzled at the look on her face. “You don’t care for the wine?”

“No, the wine is delicious, but now I understand how I ended up here.”

“Here? You mean on Galaxa?”

She shook her head. “No, here. With you. Soria told us Sidaii wine is an aphrodisiac for humans.”

Vander burst out laughing and put his cup on the small table beside the bed. “It is no such thing! It might make you drunker than most, but it is certainly not a tool for seduction. I hate to break it to you, my luscious one, but you came of your own free will…multiple times, I might add.”

She gawked at him and then dragged her pillow from behind her head to throw at him. “It’s not funny, Vee. You have no idea what kind of puritanical bullshit we humans are raised with when it comes to sex. When I tasted the Sidaii, I thought I had an excuse for when I do the walk of shame back to my room.”

“Walk of shame?” He slid across the bed and lifted her chin with his fingers until she looked at him. “There is nothing to feel ashamed about. This was, in your words, amazing…and I agree. As stunned as you are to find yourself here with me, I am just as surprised. Delightfully so.”

“Yeah, right. On a planet of tall, dark, and handsome.”

He leaned in and kissed her pouting lips. “If you don’t stop frowning, I’m going to fuck you again so you really can’t take this path of shame.”

She grinned. “Walk of shame.”

“Either way. So, are you going to smile for me?”

She reached for her wine and took another sip. “I’m still not sure this isn’t an aphrodisiac.”

Confused, he looked at her. “Why?”

She took his hand and slid it between her legs to her wet sex. “That’s why.”

Vander’s lips curved up into a sly smile. “I thought you said you were famished.”

Slipping her hand around his neck, she pulled him in for a kiss. “Oh, I am. The food can wait.”

* * *

“And where have you been all night?” Henley asked, coming down the stone corridor in the opposite direction.

Ivy grinned, twirling the flower Vee gave her between her fingers. “Remember that surprise Gerri left for me in my room on Nova? The holographic sexbot?”

“Yeah,” Henley answered warily, eyeing the flower and then Ivy’s smiling face. “What about it?” At Ivy’s cocked eyebrow, she balked. “Oh, God. Please don’t tell me you were in some X-rated multimedia room all night.”

Ivy grinned even wider. “No, of course not. Besides, why would I wander around for something like that? We have a built-in sex room right upstairs from us, or haven’t you and Riley check it out yet?”

Henley’s lips pushed to the side in a smirk. “Stop stalling. What about the sexbot?”

Ivy lifted her purple bloom to her nose and inhaled, but didn’t say a word.

“Ivy!”

She laughed, tapping Henley on the head with the flower. “He’s real.”

“Real. As in they have his prototype here, too?”

She shook her head, chuckling as the wind through the arched stone window teased her hair. “No. Real. As in VERY real. Like the wind touching your skin right now.”

“How poetic.” Henley’s nose wrinkled and she lifted a finger to her upper lip. “Well, that and standing downwind explains a lot.”

Ivy frowned. “Explains what?”

Laughing, Henley coughed. “Your après-sex perfume. You need a shower, love muffin.”

Ivy lifted one arm and sniffed. “I do not!”

“Gotcha.” Grinning, Henley winked. “That’s for making us worry. Of course, Gerri was a cool cucumber about it. She didn’t even raise an eyebrow. But seriously, go shower. You don’t stink, but you don’t want that shifter woman’s matchmaking nose snooping around. She may decide to put you on the block.”

“How do you know Gerri is a shifter?”

Henley tapped the end of her nose. “First, I’m an amateur private investigator. Second, it makes sense. Why else would all these hunky shifters trust her to hook them up? I’m not a shifter, but I can still sniff things out.”

“Wow, you really have too much time on your hands. Maybe Gerri should play the dating game with you.”

Her friend’s lips parted with a retort, but then clammed up. “Hey, isn’t that Maddox down there?” The two women craned over the edge of the arched stone window and peered into the overgrown courtyard below.

“That’s the creeper, all right.”

“What makes you say that?” Henley asked.

Ivy shrugged, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “I don’t know. He just gives me a weird feeling for some reason. Maybe it’s his toothy used-car-salesman smile, but there’s something about the dude that’s not right. You know what I mean. Like he’s not on the up and up. Makes me wonder what he’s doing on this side of the castle. This is the guest wing.”

Henley nodded. “True, but the royal apartments are on this side of the castle, too, and like him or not, Maddox is the king’s Lord Chamberlain.” She turned, lifting a hand to Ivy’s arm, pulling her attention away from the covert conversation going on below. “Oh, that reminds me. Gerri wants us to go with her to her audience with the king. It’s tonight.”

Ivy pulled her eyes away from Maddox, trying to dismiss the feeling she missed something in the interchange she watched. “Uhm…okay. I kind of have a date this afternoon, but tonight works fine.”

“A date?” Henley hooked a hand, cocking her hip. “With Mr. Real?”

“Ha. Very funny, but yes. With Mr. Real.” She spared a glance at the courtyard only to find Maddox had left. “Damn.”

“What?”

She gestured toward the window. “I don’t know, but my gut is usually not wrong when it comes to men being creeps. Believe me, I’ve had enough practice and know when someone needs to be kicked to the curb. Just keep your eyes and ears open, Miss Private Eye. I’m telling you something is up with that dude.”

The other woman’s response was considered. “I’m all for hunches, too, Vee, but we need to remember we’re guests here.” Henley shook her head. “Actually, Gerri’s the guest and we’re here on a pass from her, so whatever we do, it has to be low key.”

Nodding, Ivy agreed, sparing a glance for the wild garden. “You would think they would take care of the courtyard, considering it is outside the guest quarters. She straightened, taking a step away from the window and winced.

“You okay?” Henley reached to help steady her friend.

Ivy held up her hand. “I’m good, Hen. Mr. Real is also Mr. Big, so yeah.” She hobbled forward with another wince before turning with a wink. “But totally worth it.”

She left Henley laughing as she delicately walked away, glad to find the living room empty when she got to their rooms. Ducking into the bathroom, she turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the warmth and pressure from the spray tingle over her sensitive parts. Her hands traced the path he took and she leaned against the tile, her fingers reaching their mark between her legs.

“Ouch!” She winced. “Objects in the mirror may appear larger because they fucking are!” She hissed, reaching for the shower gel and a soft washcloth. “Hands to yourself, Ivy,” she mumbled. “Save the goodies for the pro.”

Sighing to herself, she glided the silky soap over her skin and even more gingerly over her private parts. She rinsed and then washed and conditioned her hair. She had no idea where Mr. Real was taking her, but she smiled that he wanted to spend time with her at all—well, outside of his bedroom.

Turning off the shower, she grabbed the thickest towel she could find and dried off, doing a double take when a non-existent drawer slid open from the vanity. Inside there was only one item. A tube of ointment.

She looked at the ceiling. “Uhm, thank you?” she replied to no one. She lifted the ointment from the drawer and tried to read the unfamiliar coding on the box. “Not really sure what this is for, but hey, it’s the thought that counts.”

One of the bathroom tiles between her legs glowed silver, the polished ceramic shimmering into a mirror where she stood. Looking down she saw right up her legs to her tender private area and a grin formed on her lips. She cocked a hand on her hip and lifted her face to the ceiling. “Well, aren’t you a sly one. First aid cream for the lady bits. Who’da thunk. Thanks!”

Unscrewing the top, she punctured a hole in the silver safety flap, impressed it was similar to the anti-tamper tabs on Earth. Squeezing a little onto her finger, she sniffed. No scent. Probably best considering if this stuff worked, there was a certain someone whose face was going to be up close and personal in that vicinity. She hoped.

Dabbing a bit onto her sore parts, the ointment warmed immediately and in seconds her private area was chafe free, as fresh as it had been the past six months. Well, not really. That part of her body still tingled with well-used bliss, just no longer raw. Ivy screwed the cap onto the tube and set it on the vanity next to the sink.

Mr. Real had asked her to meet him in the Royal Gardens. She chuckled to herself. She had to stop calling him that, but it felt too weird referring to him as Vee. Every time she did, it made her think of Cassie and the way they giggled as children.

Before she left his rooms this morning, he gave her a quick hand-drawn map leading from her apartment to the royal wing. He said he had business there this morning and would leave word with the guard so she had no problem with entry. Chewing on her lip, she wondered what kind of business he could have with the king. Was Vee an advisor? With his one hundred percent Grade-A muscle, he was more likely part of the king’s secret service or personal guard or whatever it was they had here.

Walking into the bedroom, she rummaged through her overnight case for an outfit that didn’t scream Netflix and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She had a life even if the contents of her suitcase didn’t reflect it. Gerri never said anything about meeting the king, and a romantic rendezvous or anything close was the last thing she expected when the four of them headed for the space port.

All she packed were leggings and comfortable tops, sneakers, and flip flops. In other words, she was fucked, and not in a good way, and the clothes in her overnight bag weren’t going to help in that department. The one dress she brought was crumpled in the laundry bag after spending the night on Vee’s floor.

Damn.

She slumped onto the end of the bed. “Great. I can’t even borrow anything from Henley or Riley. Hen is a foot taller than me and Ri is tiny.” Getting up from the mattress, she took a pair black leggings from her case and matched them with a black and white chevron stripped tunic with peek-a-boo shoulders.

A light blinked above the armoire and she put the clothes down. Curious, she moved toward the sleek door and pulled it open. “Holy shit!”

The standalone closet was filled with clothes and everything her size and style. She looked up at the ceiling, her eyes narrowed. “Okay, big brother, you are seriously starting to creep me out. I appreciate the instant shopping spree, but enough. I drew the line at the vajay-jay cream. No more unless I ask first, okay?”

The walls changed to a soft white and the light around the armoire glowed pale pink. Ivy nodded. “Apology accepted.” She dug through the closet and chose a bohemian empire waist maxi dress. Its azure print was a mix of predatory animals in a faded wash. Understated, but still primal. It felt right for some reason. Vee was predatory and sleek and utterly sexy, and the moment Ivy slipped the dress over her head, it fit. Her body and her mood. If he was predator then she was ready to be his prey.

Running a brush through her hair, she dabbed on a little makeup and grabbed Vee’s map. She took a pair of high-heeled wedges from the armoire and headed for the door. The last thing she wanted was to be late and not be admitted into the royal wing.