My darling Perri murmurs quietly as I remove the plug, clean her, and carry her to a private room, wrapped in the remnants of her silk garments. I am still shocked at myself despite the response I knew was pent up inside me. I had been without her for weeks. The gods only knew what would happen if I were kept from her for a longer stretch of time.

I settle her on the large bed in the locked room. Gratefully, I lie down next to her. Her slow and even breathing nearly lulls me off to sleep myself before she turns to me, opening one eye.

When she speaks, her voice is soft and calm. “What are you?”

I frown. The question is both clear and direct. There is no confusion in Perri’s small face. I should dread the prospect of revealing the truth, but it awakens in me a deep longing I am not sure I have ever felt before.

“You know who I am. I am your husband.”

“That’s not what I mean. I know your name and title. I know what you feel like inside me. I know you will always protect me.” She reaches out to lay her hand on my chest, tracing the old scars that live there. She runs her finger along a ridge of scar tissue. There are many, and she has no idea where they come from.

“But what are you? You are one person at court. You are a different person in the bedroom. I thought the worst when I came to the Pearl and saw you with another woman, but she didn’t work here. She’s an admiral. What are you, Rasulus?”

For a wild moment, I think I am going to tell her. I want to. The idea of letting the charade collapse for one person, for the person who is becoming the dearest thing in the world to me, is overwhelming. I pull her to me, crushing her to my chest.

I know I can’t.

“I’m your husband, and that’s all you need to know.”

She sighs. I wonder if her disappointment is something I can taste or smell.

To my surprise, she speaks again. “All right, then. Will it always be this way?”

That is something I can answer without giving away too much of myself and what I am doing.

“No. Things are going to change soon. But believe me, Perri, I will do utterly everything in my power to keep you safe. You are not going to be harmed. I swear it.” I hesitate. “Do you believe me?”

I can see she doesn’t, but she answers in the affirmative. “Yes.”

I know she must be sore from what I did to her earlier, and the exhaustion from the last two days is catching up with me. The situation had not been as dire as I had feared, but it was bad enough. I had managed to catch a few naps here and there, but I longed for my own bed at the palace as well as the peace brought from a good night’s rest.

On the other hand, Perri was here and in my arms. Kissing her was far better than the enticement of sleep. Touching her filled me with a heat that coiled inside me and rolled directly down to my groin.

I had stripped naked to climb into bed with her. I feel my erection rear up, pressing against her thigh. It makes her giggle, and I hold her even tighter. She is so terribly precious to me. I could not survive if anything happened to her.

“Are you that starved for me, Rasulus?”

“Always.” When I kiss her again, I am slower and more careful. I taste her, parting her lips and not letting up until she is gasping for breath. She is small and delicate compared to the women of my homeworld. At the same time, there is something exotically lush about curves, and it feels like every part of her fits every part of me with a kind of gorgeous perfection.

I cradle one breast in my hand, squeezing it gently, and I think again of how beautiful it would look pierced with gold. She brings me back to order with a gentle nip to my shoulder. I look down at her. She grins at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Sometimes when I was sleeping in my room at the Savi estate, I thought about biting you, too.”

“Do you think you can?”

She nods instantly, and I’m intrigued. Biting on Arietus is associated with men, dominance, and ownership. It is not something that men interested in women seek out, and it is not something that usually occurs to women.

“Has something happened to your voice? Show me where you want to bite me, then.” Her gaze sweeps over my body, both shy and speculative. She lays her palm over my hip, blushing as she does so, and I chuckle. “Do it then.”

Perri doesn’t rush. She inches her way down my body, laying kisses along my chest and my belly. The urge to roll her onto her back and take her again is intense, but I manage to keep myself from it. I must clench my hands into fists to prevent myself from grabbing her.

She laves her chosen spot with her tongue for a few moments, and I twitch in anticipation. My entire body can remember the last time she had her mouth on my cock. I ache for more.

Perri bites me, sharp teeth digging into my skin. I grunt with surprise, both at the pain and sensuality. She has a strong bite, but she lets go almost immediately as if shocked at her own viciousness. She looks down at the livid mark she has left behind.

“Did I hurt you?”

“That was the point, wasn’t it? I’ll survive. You are splendid.”

I can’t resist her any longer. I pull her into my arms, wrapping her tightly against me. We are both aware of my erection between our bodies but being close to her is more important than taking her.

“You drive me wild, beautiful Earth woman. You’re mine, all mine. I will never let anyone take you away from me.”

Perri murmurs something in response, but I can’t hear what she says. A thunderous pounding at the door drowns out her voice. She looks at me wide-eyed. “Were you expecting someone?”

“No. Stay here.”

I pull on my trousers and run to the door. Before I have the chance to open it, it splinters inward. Two solid kicks from the other side tear it off its hinges. “What in all the hells is going on here?” I fall back into a fighting stance. The two men who enter, enormous and dressed in the uniform of my brother’s personal guard, are unimpressed.

“Prince Rasulus, under the order of the king we are to return you to the palace. The king has questions for you.”

A cold lump of fear sits in my gut. What happens next could be the end of everything I have worked for, the end of me, and of Perri.

“All right. Give me a few moments to collect my things.”

I have a wild idea of ignoring Perri. Most people do not know who she is. If we leave the Pearl without her, she can wait until the danger is past and make her way back to the Savi who will protect her.

Perri has no intention of being left behind. “I’m coming with you.”

With a sinking sensation, I know things are now out of my hands.

Crucis doesn’t greet us in his throne room. He meets us in an obscure room in the southern wing of the palace. It was used for fencing practice in the past when swords were still popular.

With his guards arranged along the wall like an audience of dutiful statues, Crucis, bare-chested, practices sword drills in the center of the room.

I feel Perri draw a quick breath beside me as she sees Crucis’ skill with the weapon. I wonder if Casca or Miruska told her about what had happened to the Savi heir. He was my best friend. Crucis lowers the sword when he sees us enter the room, coming to stand a few feet away from us.

“Brother, it is good to see you in the palace again. You have been away for too long.”

“Have I? I suppose I must have been, but you know how it is. Pretty girls exist from the sand to the shore. All of them need something hard at night.” Next to me, Perri winces. I cannot be concerned with her feelings. Not now, when Crucis has a sharpened sword close to Perri’s tender skin.

“I’ll take your word for it. Responsibilities of the throne have kept me too busy for wenching these days. I guess you wouldn’t know a thing about responsibilities, would you, brother?”

I grin. That’s exactly what I want him to think. “What can I say, Crucis? You have the crown, and I get all the fun of doing as I please while still retaining the titles and property of a prince.”

“I wonder about you, Rasulus. I wonder if you would ever want to trade.”

I try to look mildly interested. “I watched a play like that once. In the end, everyone ends up happier where they originally were.”

“Is that where you have been for the last few days, brother? Watching plays?”

As a matter of fact, I have been on the coast, settling things with a faction that had formerly allied with me but decided it was better to try to seize power on their own. I wonder if one of them had come back to the capital with revenge on their mind. If they had, they could hardly pick a better agent than Crucis.

“I’ve been doing many things over the past few days. I may have seen a play now that you mention it. Why do you ask?”

He turns to me, eyes bright with suspicion. He suspects something, but he doesn’t know for sure. Even though he is a mad king, he cannot do whatever he wants. He cannot kill his brother out of hand.

“I’m saying there are rumors, Rasulus. They sound disturbing. I can no longer ignore them.”

“For the love of God, they’re all true!”

I freeze, my heart stopping in my chest. As one, my brother and I both turn to Perri.

She has her arms strapped around her waist as if she is cold. The look only serves to push up her round breasts. None of the clothes from the Savi were ready when we left the Pearl. She had to make do with some spare silk garb from the other girls. She was forced to appear in front of the most powerful man on the planet dressed only in strips of turquoise cloth held to her body by delicate silver chains.

I must have been staring at her. Perri glares at me.

“And what exactly is true, Earth woman?”

“He took me to a brothel. He made me entertain him alongside his whores.” She speaks with all the viperous rage of an offended wife.

Crucis draws back slightly, eyes narrowed as he listens to her. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean. Explain.”

Perri’s glorious eyes fill with tears. Even though I realize what she’s doing, it breaks my heart to see them. She looks so hurt and enraged that I nearly scoop her up in my arms. I don’t, of course. I make myself look bored as she speaks.

“That’s not all. He sent me to the country because he became bored with me. I stayed out there for a while. Eventually, he sent for me because he came up with another game. He made me go to that awful brothel where your men found us. He made me dress like this.”

“Well, he made one good decision, at least. Anything else?”

“He made me learn to dance like the other girls there. He said it excited him and turned him on. When he lost control, he violated every part of me.”

“I thought you treated your women better than this, Rasulus.”

Crucis was beginning to look more amused than infuriated. We might get out of here alive, after all.

Perri keeps her face lifted proudly even as tears drip from her eyes. She looks as if she hated every moment she had to spend with me.

“He forced me to use my mouth on him. I was so furious that I bit him.”

Crucis looks startled, for once. He turns to me.

“Is it true?” There is a warning note in his voice. He expects I am unable or unwilling to show proof of the violation against my masculinity. But he’s in for a surprise. I sigh, pulling down my trousers just enough to show him the vivid bite.

Crucis laughs. The sound is ugly. I can tell he thinks this is all ridiculous.

“What a terrible husband you are. Earth woman, I apologize for my brother’s behavior, but I am afraid there is nothing I can do. He is your master now. You must do your best to appease him.”

Perri looks properly hopeless at his pronouncement. Crucis turns to me.

“I think you should stay closer to home for a while, my brother. Rumors are making their way across the kingdom. Some of them could prove deadly to you.”

“I can imagine where they started. If I don’t put a curb on Perri’s tongue, she might get me kicked out of my favorite brothels.”

I take Perri by the arm, dragging her out of the royal presence and all the way back to my chambers. While we are walking, I pretend to comfort her while she cries loudly about her bad treatment, making sure anyone passing by can hear her.

It is not until we are safely back in my own quarters that she lets out a shaky breath, collapsing onto the bed.

“Perri, what is it? Are you all right?”

“We came very close to something dangerous back there, didn’t we?”

There is no use lying to her. “Yes, we did. You may have saved both of us.”

“But you still won’t tell me everything, will you?”

After what just happened, if anyone deserves to know, it is Perri.

I still can’t tell her.