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  “Really,” I said to Kristoff. “You don’t have to do that. I’ve been bathing myself since I was five. I can manage.”

  “No you can’t. Normally you’d have a female attendant for such matters but I trust no one at the moment.” He looked grim. “And I am trained to such service, as well as to guard and protect you.”

  “You are?” I said and then remembered how he’d washed and folded my laundry back home. “Oh, I guess you are. But I mean, you really don’t have to.”

  He frowned. “My Lady, there were two attempts on your life today. I want to check you over thoroughly and make certain I haven’t missed any injuries you might have incurred.”

  “Well…” I bit my lip and shrugged. “Okay, I guess if you feel like you have to.”

  His eyes softened for just a moment.

  “I want to, Charlotte,” he said softly. “I want to serve you—to make you feel better. This has been a difficult day for you. Please, let me tend to you.”

  When he put it that way, I could hardly refuse.

  “All right,” I said, biting my lip. “If you really want to.”

  “I do.” He turned and went into the other room, leaving me alone on the plush gray couch in my bra and undies trying to ignore the tingling of need that was turning into a throbbing between my thighs.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Kristoff

  We slept so deeply I didn’t waken until a pounding on the door shattered my sleep.

  “Captain? Captain are you up?” It was T’zorin’s voice.

  I sat up, my heart pounding. I was completely entangled with Charlotte—her silky limbs entwined with mine in a way that would be considered most improper—if not outright blasphemy—by the members of the Council of Wisdom. The Goddess-Empress was not to have such intimate physical contact with any but her Consort and that only after she was mated.

  Speaking of things the Empress wasn’t supposed to do with anyone but her Consort, I had been skirting dangerously close to the line last night the way I had pleasured her. I had told myself it was an act of service—just part of the bathing process. But if I was honest, I had to admit that it was much, much more than that.

  I could still remember the moment when she reached the peak—the way she called my name and clung to my shoulders as the pleasure overtook her. Gods, she was so beautiful—so wild and wanton and free. It almost hurt to remember it and yet I couldn’t forget—the look on her lovely face as she came on my fingers was burned into my memory forever.

  After that, I had wanted to be strong—to put some distance between us. But when she begged me to share her bed, what could I do? I knew it was weak to give in to my desire to be near her, but I couldn’t help myself. More and more I was having feelings for my new mistress I had never had for the old one. Though I had loved Sundalla the 999th with all my heart, our relationship had never been physical. With Charlotte, it was completely different—we had been drawn together when I was trying to save her from the Burning Blood and now it seemed impossible to extricate ourselves.

  Case in point, the way we’d slept entangled last night. I had been trying so hard to keep her at arm’s length for her own good. And yet, when I heard her soft sobs in the darkness, a part of me had melted. I had felt her pain, her wish for her home world as clearly through our bond as though she had spoken it aloud. I couldn’t resist holding her then, even though I knew it was improper and that it would probably only throw fuel on the fire that was our attraction for each other.

  As I held her close and stroked her silky hair, soothing her until her pain and misery changed to contentment and peace and she fell asleep in my arms, I had reflected that it was a good thing she couldn’t feel my emotions as I could feel hers. A good thing the bond between and Empress and her Guards was strictly one way.

  Because make no mistake about it—I wanted Charlotte as much or more than she wanted me and I was damn glad she didn’t know it. I no longer thought it was just a byproduct of receiving so much of her blood, either. I was deeply afraid that I was in danger of falling in love with my new mistress—which would be a disaster.

  I can’t love her, I thought as I disentangled myself from her gently and went to open the door where T’zorin was still banging and calling my name. At worst, if someone guessed my feelings, Charlotte could be brought before the Council of Wisdom to answer for her infidelity. At best, it would just be my own secret pain—a thorn lodged in my heart which pricked me every time I saw her with whatever Consort she ended up with. Even now, the thought of her sharing another male’s bed made a low growl of rage rise in my throat—a growl I had to swallow back down as I went to the door.

  “What is it?” I asked, opening it to find T’zorin standing there with a worried look on his face.

  “Captain, the Council has voted to move the time of the Trials of Ascendancy up by two hours,” he said. “Has no one told you?”

  “Not until now. This is Morbain’s doing,” I growled. “When are the Trials starting?”

  “In half an hour. I thought I’d better come tell you since you weren’t in the Grand Hall yet.”

  I swore loudly. If I didn’t have Charlotte in the Grand Hall in time, she would forfeit the challenge and Morbain’s candidate would be crowned by default.

  “Will she be ready?” T’zorin inquired.

  “We’ll be there,” I said grimly. “Don’t worry—and thank you for coming to tell me.”

  “I’m here for you, Captain. We’ll stand strong together.” He saluted. “And I want you to know I’m sorry about the exploding mug—I checked every other part of the guest suite but the undermaid had just brought the tray in before you came.”

  “And have you found out who the undermaid was that delivered the tray?” I asked sharply.

  He nodded. “But I don’t think she had anything to do with what happened. Some other agent was behind it.”

  “And I can guess who,” I said sourly. “T’zorin, there was something else—a scroll left behind one of the cushions. It was, ah…” I cleared my throat. “One of the historical documents—the one dealing with Sundalla the 887th and her chosen Guard. I think someone left it here on purpose for Charlotte to find.”

  He shook his head, frowning. “If so then whoever left it did so after I had already checked the room. I swear I was thorough in my sweep—something like that would not have escaped my notice.”

  “All right then.” I sighed. “We’ll just have to double security. I want a double guard posted on the True Incarnation’s door at all times. Make sure they’re males we can trust.”

  “Yes, Captain.” He saluted.

  “Good. Dismissed. I’ll see you at the Grand Hall.”

  He nodded and left with the look of a male who has much to accomplish and not much time to accomplish it in.

  I knew how he felt.

  Charlotte

  “Get up! We have to hurry.”

  “Wha…what’s going on?” I blinked blearily, trying to focus on what Kristoff was saying.

  “Morbain has gotten the Council to move the Trials up in hopes that you’ll forfeit by missing them,” he explained, all but pulling me out of bed. “Come, we can’t be late.”

  “Oh!” His words woke me up and got me moving. “But I don’t have anything to wear or—”

  “I’m taking care of that.” He was already typing rapidly on the holographic keyboard by the clothing-producing armoire. “Here—eat this.” He turned around for a moment to toss me a familiar looking tube.

  I groaned. “Not more nutrient paste!”

  “It’s all we have time for and you’re going to need your strength,” Kristoff told me. He threw a stern look over his shoulder. “Eat it, Charlotte.”

  I didn’t want to—I’d had plenty of the bland, meaty, cardboard-tasting stuff on the trip from Earth to Femme One but there didn’t seem to be much of a choice.

  Popping off the top, I squirted a cold, slimy mouthful onto my tongue and shuddered as I made myself swa