A better time for the Allied Realms Commanders-in-Chief Summit would’ve been hard to imagine. It gave Jancel the perfect opportunity to travel to LORSS.

Considering Eia’s limited resources, only three seats had been booked on the inter-arm starship Ambassador. The delegation consisted of Jancel and two majors.

The three of them had used the travel time to review the current strategy for deterring Teteum and make adjustments to it. They agreed that if Boggond continued to turn a blind eye on the army’s needs, no further adjustments would be necessary. Eia wouldn’t stand a chance. And Teteum would know it. The risk of LOR sending in its Enforcer Corps would be the only deterrent.

Jancel hated the sound of that. Just as he hated the Teteum army commander’s smug face throughout the summit.

In the evenings after the formal sessions with his counterparts, Jancel snuck out to the most private of the LORSS watering holes to catch up with some old friends. Said friends procured him a vial of the truth serum, and a vial of a newly synthesized vaccine that was supposed to counteract its effects in the person who took it. Forever.

Back on Hente, Jancel immediately set out to the South District where he oversaw the biggest training exercise of the year.

He returned to Orogate after two weeks of absence, praying to find Areg on the mend. Keeping Nyssa in the dark about him was cruel, but he’d had no choice… until now. If the vaccine turned out to be effective, it would give him the greatest joy to tell her that her brother was alive.

Unless Areg didn’t recover, after all.

In that case, telling Nyssa he was alive, only to have her lose him again would be even more cruel than keeping her in the dark.

As soon as he got home, Mother told him Areg was still slipping in and out of consciousness. His condition was stable, but he just wouldn’t get better. Reverend Goyyem was at her wit’s end.

After washing and changing into civilian clothes, Jancel headed to Nyssa’s room. It was a little late for a polite visit, but he decided he didn’t care.

She opened the door immediately.

Goodness, I’ve missed her!

He brushed that thought away. She wasn’t his to miss.

Sitting down at her desk, he pointed to the second chair. “We’re going to test the serum and the vaccine.”

He placed the vials on the desk. “I was told just a small sip should be enough.”

Nyssa looked back and forth between the vials and his face before she took a seat.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

“I propose we start with the serum alone first.” He moved his chair closer to her. “Just to be sure it’s the real thing before you take the vaccine.”

“Makes sense. Which one?”

He pointed to the serum vial.

She drank from it.

They waited a few minutes with Nyssa asking innocuous questions about the summit and Jancel struggling not to stare at her mouth, neck, breasts.

Finally, he decided they’d given the serum enough time to kick in. “What’s your name?”

“Nyssa.”

“Your full name.”

“Nyssa Sebi.”

“Did you feel compelled to answer honestly?”

“Hmm… I didn’t feel any inner struggle.” She wrinkled her nose. “But I had no reason to want to hide my name from you.”

“Right.”

She sat back, waiting for his next move.

He frowned, thinking. “I’ll ask you trickier questions, all right? Questions that should make you struggle.”

“Ask away.”

Jancel squinted at her. Was she enjoying herself?

No—why would she?

He cocked his head. “What do you think of Lord Boggond?”

“I think he’s a big stinky piece of manure,” she answered immediately.

“Nyssa, are you even trying to lie?”

“On that one, I refuse to.”

All right, let’s try something different. “How many lovers have you had?”

Women didn’t like to appear too promiscuous, too wanton. Even free-living women like Nyssa.

She counted on her fingers. “Six.”

Was that an honest answer?

Six seemed like what he’d reasonably expect of an adventurous young lady of Nyssa’s age.

Or had she lied? Had she had twice as many lovers? Three times as many?

Jancel found himself rattled by the idea.

“So?” He arched an eyebrow, annoyed at his reaction.

“So what?”

“Did you resent divulging the number? Were you compelled to do it?”

“No compulsion.” She shrugged. “Why would I resent admitting I’ve had six lovers?”

He lifted his eyes upward. When he glanced at her again, her expression was gleeful.

She was enjoying herself.

“This drill is about your safety,” he said. “It isn’t a game.”

Her face grew sober. “You’re right. Of course. I’m sorry.”

He stared at her mouth, forgetting himself.

“Let’s try again,” she offered. “I promise I’ll take your next question seriously.”

“Are you drawn to me?”

Where the hell did that come from?

She looked away, then back at him, frowning. “Yes.”

Sweet Aheya above. “Did you miss me when I was gone?”

She nodded.

He should stop now, he thought, and test the vaccine. The serum was working. It was clear. She’d have never made these admissions if it weren’t. It was unnecessary to ask additional questions. But the need to know was stronger than his qualms.

“Tell me more,” he whispered, his voice coarse. “How exactly did you miss me?”

“Throughout the day, I pictured you looking at me with those dark, intense eyes of yours… your hands stroking me… At night, I imagined you coming to my bed. Undressing. Lying atop me.” Her gaze bore into his. “I touched myself to find relief.”

Jancel’s heart thundered in his chest with a power matched only by his raging erection.

He had to swallow and clear his throat before he was able to ask the next question. “Would you like me to be your next lover?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, very much.”

It was Jancel’s turn to sit back and beam with glee.

The crease between Nyssa’s brows deepened. “You look awfully pleased.”

“Only because the truth serum appears to be working.”

Good thing they weren’t testing it on him!

“It’s working just fine.” She pulled a face. “Can I take the vaccine now?”

He nodded.

She drank from the second vial.

They waited, staring at each other, Nyssa’s face tight and flushed at the same time, her pupils dilated.

She wants me, was the only thought in Jancel’s head.

No matter what names she called him, no matter how much she said she hated him, from now on he’d always know that truth about her. It shed new light on so many things! Her slow, lingering touch when she gave him a massage. He’d struggled to convince himself she hadn’t been caressing him. Then there’d been her letting him see her naked in the bathhouse… The way she’d held his gaze, her slightly parted lips and her erect nipples…

He’d thought she’d been teasing him deliberately, letting him see what he’d never have. Perhaps she was. But it had been more than that. She lusted after him as much as he lusted after her. He knew that now. He cherished that knowledge.

“Will you kiss me?” he asked.

“No.”

Ah. The vaccine. “Would you like me to stay tonight?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to leave now?”

“Yes.”

Jancel nodded. He should be pleased. The vaccine was working. Nyssa was immune to the truth serum now, just as he would become when he took it. Really, their little test session couldn’t’ve had a better outcome.

His cock begged to disagree.

“If you kiss me,” Jancel said, “I’ll let one of your friends—someone trustworthy—visit you.”

Goodness, that was cheap! Indecent, unfair, unwise. Beneath him.

Yes, even him.

But the words she’d said under the influence of the serum still rang in his ears. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. That was the truth. The bare, raw truth underneath her anger and her disdain for the kind of man he’d become.

Nyssa eyed him up and down. “I’ll kiss you. But don’t read too much into that. It’s just payment.”

He nodded and leaned into her, rooting her where she sat. His mouth skimmed hers, his lips brushing hers softly, tenderly. She was stiff. Pulling her closer, he held her tighter, kissed her harder.

The change was barely perceptible at first, but Nyssa’s muscles began to relax. Her whole body softened and sagged into his, and her cheeks felt warmer against his skin.

Emboldened, Jancel swept his tongue over her lower lip before sliding the tip in, coaxing her to open for him. And she did. On a happy little moan—the sweetest thing he’d heard in a long, long time—Nyssa parted her lips for his tongue.

He pushed in, taking her mouth in a hard, savage kiss. Blood surging, pounding in his ears, he pinned her to the back of her chair. His hands stroked and caressed her, plunging into her springy locks. Thank Aheya she wore her hair like this—on the short side, unrestrained with pins or ribbons, a delight to delve his hands into.

She moaned again. Her hands flew to his neck. She clutched it and kissed him back, tangling her tongue with his, matching his ardor. It was more than he’d hoped for. Yet, he wanted more from her.

He wanted all of her.

He released her mouth to kiss her cheeks, her jawline and chin, and then he trailed his lips down her throat. Nyssa tilted her head back, to give him better access. He cupped her left breast. Her eyelids drifted shut and she arched into his caress.

“So sweet, so beautiful,” he murmured, watching her expression grow dazed, alight with desire.

He claimed her lips again.

Nyssa gasped against his mouth when he pressed the pad of his thumb to her nipple and rubbed. He rubbed a little harder, scooping her breast with his palm, pressing, fondling gently.

“Mmm,” she groaned. “Oh, yes.”

Jancel caged her with his body and slid his hand down to her mound. Not daring to push his fingers inside the waistband of her pants, he cradled her through the fabric instead.

Nyssa’s knees fell open on a quiver. “Sweet Goddess above!”

She was wet for him, so wet he could feel her silky slickness through the double layer of her underwear and trousers.

Suddenly without warning, she pushed him away and stood.

“I can’t,” she said.

“Nyssa—”

“I can’t.” She shuffled backward. “You’re still the man who didn’t move a finger to save my brother. You’re still Boggond’s man. If I slept with you, what would that make me?”

“Nyssa, please—”

Her face tightened. “A whore. That would make me a whore.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Go away, Jancel.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Now.”

His mouth compressing into a hard line, he spun around and strode out the door.