After months of sneaking around, Captain Alyn Evans and Company rep Jarvez Kashari have gone public as a couple. Alyn wants to move in together, but Jarvez isn’t ready. As the Red Dragon’s trading mission begins, Jarvez worries Alyn’s principles will clash with the Company’s sometimes ethically dubious methods. As the Company rep aboard, he fears he’ll be the one to feel the sharp edge of Alyn’s disapproval and could even lose him.
Alyn’s unbending sense of right and wrong leads him to give asylum to an enslaved man named Sumi, bringing threats of retribution from Sumi’s owner and tension between Alyn and Jarvez. When Alyn makes Sumi his personal steward, Jarvez feels he can no longer get a moment alone with his lover.
Sumi’s owner follows up on his threats and Alyn is brought before a court in a politically charged trial whose outcome already seems fixed. Kept apart from Alyn, terrified he’ll go to prison, Jarvez doesn’t think the situation can get any worse. Until Alyn’s ex shows up. In the end, he’ll be driven to beg for help from the one person who’d like to see Alyn out of Jarvez’s life forever.
“And now, to complete our lovely evening,” George went on, “we have a performance from Swan City Dance. A spectacular performance, I think you’ll soon agree. And if you’d all please stay exactly where you are when the lights go down ...” The room plunged into total darkness, causing a stir among the crowd. “Ah. Then here we go.” Alyn blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust. They didn’t. The blackness was absolute. As pitch-black as the space between stars.
Music started up, and figures appeared on the draped platform. Their forms were not visible as bodies, but as light, through luminous paint on bodies. One looked like a person made of lace or filigree, another like a human and a garden combined, covered in flowers and ferns. And, springing up last from the trapdoor on the platform, a skeleton. Death. A memento mori.
The figures made of light danced, drawings oohs and aahs from the crowd, especially when they came near the edge of the stage. Either they knew their routine well enough to know how many steps to take without falling off, or they wore night-vision contact lenses.
“Can you tell which are women and which are men?” Jarvez moved very close to speak into Alyn’s ear.
“The skeleton is a man,” Alyn said. “The rest?” He shrugged. Jarvez was close enough to feel the shrug, even if he couldn’t see it. Jarvez gave a soft laugh and, instead of speaking into Alyn’s ear, caught the lobe between his teeth and tugged gently. Alyn tingled all over.
“Jarvez,” he whispered. The warning had no effect. Jarvez licked Alyn’s neck, making him gasp. He pulled Jarvez closer against his side and turned his head. He should be turning to tell Jarvez to knock it off. But instead he instinctively found Jarvez’s mouth with his own. That silenced Jarvez but didn’t still him. He ground into Alyn’s side as the kiss deepened, mouths open, tongues wrestling for territory.
They should not be doing this. The lights might come up again at any moment. Dancing in public with Jarvez was one thing. Being caught with their tongues down each other’s throats and practically dry humping each other was a whole other thing. He’d never live that one down. The music would surely stop before the lights came up, though. They were safe as long as the music was playing. Jarvez moaned into Alyn’s mouth. His hand came up and rested on the side of Alyn’s face, making him jump slightly.
Alyn was getting hard. He wanted to push Jarvez against the nearest wall and ravish the hell out of him. He ran a hand through Jarvez’s silky hair. The shock of the cold, silver beads in the ends of some strands startled him. He swept his other hand up and down Jarvez’s body, fingers sometimes sliding over the smooth fabric, sometimes over the rough, raised areas of embroidery. Fabric brushed against the skin on his neck, and he realized it was from the scarf Jarvez wore. He was lost, utterly lost in the touch, taste, and scent of Jarvez. Nothing to see in the darkness, nothing to hear over the music. Only three senses left he could use, and Jarvez flooded them, until Alyn’s skin burned and his head swam with the scent of cologne and the taste of wine on his lips.
The crash of the music ending in a crescendo, and applause bursting from the audience, saved them the embarrassment of being caught out. They jumped apart as the applause continued, Alyn nearly tripping over the bottom step of the staircase, catching it with his ankle. He recovered without falling on his arse and started to clap as the lights came back up, gradually, so as not to dazzle.
The performers onstage took their bows. In the light, the glowing paint was invisible, and they were almost naked. The applause intensified at that, since they were all young and in fine shape, men and women alike. Alyn caught a sidelong look at Jarvez. His hair was mussed and his lips swollen, but at least he had no beard burn, since Alyn had shaved when dressing for the evening. They grinned at each other, still applauding, even though they’d seen little of the performance. Alyn liked to think the two of them were applauding the kiss. That had definitely been worthy of applause.
Then Jarvez’s eyes widened, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he pulled away his scarf, one end of which still lay draped over Alyn’s shoulder.
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