“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Dante said, feeling himself calm a bit. He noticed that the gnomes were coming in with the second tub. The water she’d cleaned herself in was grimy. She needed a bath from her bath. “Beck isn’t going to hurt me. He’s leaving.”
“We’re leaving?” Cian asked, walking in with a bucket of hot water.
“No,” Beck replied with a frown. “Dante is just being unreasonable.”
Meg got up and fetched a towel as the wee ones made the clean tub ready. Kaja stood.
“Hey,” Dante said, quickly covering her in the towel. He hadn’t thought much about her nudity before. She’d been covered in filth. Now that her pale skin was clean and glowing like a pearl, he had problems with it. “We have guests, Kaja.”
She nodded. “Yes, I can see them. Meg, Cian, and Beck.”
She smiled as she pointed to each and seemed pleased to have remembered their names.
“Yes, and the men have no need to see what belongs to me,” Dante muttered. “They should leave.”
“You see what I mean?” Beck asked, looking at his brother. “Unreasonable. He won’t listen to me, Ci. Talk to him. She’s wild. She needs to roam. She needs a place with lots of land and places to run. I was thinking of the woods outside the village. As long as she promises not to attack our villagers, it would be perfect. There is plenty of game in the forest. Would you like that, Kaja? Would you like to be alone in the woods?”
Dante felt her small hand slip into his. She clutched the towel around her. Her smile had disappeared. “The First does not want me?”
“First?” Beck asked.
She inclined her head toward Dante. “Yes. I thought the First wished to mate with me. He allowed me intimacies. Do I not understand? Does he already have a mate? Our First is allowed to mate with any of the women. I am clean now. I will stay clean if that is what you require.”
Her big eyes were killing him. What was it about this petite woman that got him in the gut? And the cock. Damn, she was beautiful. She was utterly different from any woman he’d met before.
He put his hands under her arms and lifted her out of the water. The gnomes immediately took the filthy tub away. The new tub was ready. Dante could see everything he had asked for, including his Scotch. There was a glass of water for Kaja. “I do have a mate, though we use the word consort where I come from. You are my consort, Kaja. I signed the papers a few moments ago. You legally belong to me. Do you understand?”
Her smile was back, and this time there was a bright happiness to her face. Her chestnut brown hair was starting to curl up, and Dante couldn’t help but stare at the graceful line of her neck. “You claim me?”
Dante gave into the temptation, touching her porcelain skin lightly. “I claim you, Kaja. I’ll take care of you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Beck interjected.
“Leave it, brother,” Cian said in a firm, authoritative voice. “Dante knows what he’s doing. If he doesn’t, he’ll figure it out. He’ll take care of her.”
There was a long moment between the twins. Dante was surprised to see Beck back down. He nodded briefly. “All right, then. We’ll leave you to your wedding night. We’ve been given a tent next to this one. You only have to call out, and I will come, Dante.”
“I don’t need you to save me from a woman, Beck.” Dante winced. It sounded whiny even to his own ears.
Beck studied Kaja carefully. “I hope that’s all she is, cos. Come on, let’s go settle our wife in for the evening.”
Cian grinned brightly. “Aye, she definitely needs some settling.”
Meg shook her head but threw her husband an affectionate look. She crossed to Dante. “Are you sure about this?”
“You, too, Meg? Don’t think I can handle her, do you?”
“No, I was thinking of her, actually. She seems very innocent.”
Kaja frowned. She seemed to be trying to figure something out. “The First told you to leave. Do you not fear the First?”
Meg had the audacity to grin. “Fear Dante? Only if I were a cat. Or a bottle of Scotch. He can tear through that, if you know what I mean.”
Kaja shook her head. “I do not.”
Meg sighed and stepped back. “I know. I’ll see you in the morning, Kaja. If you need anything, we’ll be in the tent next door. Good night.”
Kaja let the towel drop the minute the others were gone. There was no exhibitionism in it. She just seemed comfortable with her nudity. Dante wasn’t comfortable with his own state of dress. His cock was trying to tunnel out of his pants.
“You should beat them more often,” Kaja said. “I do not think they properly fear you.” She leaned over and sniffed at the Scotch. She wrinkled her nose and moved to the water, drinking it down.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the suggestion. He also couldn’t help but notice that he was alone with a naked female whom he was practically obligated to fuck. He’d signed papers promising to fuck her and fuck her often.
“Beck, Ci, and Meggie are family, sweetheart. I scarcely think I’ll be beating on them anytime soon.” He turned and pushed the pants off his hips. He tossed them to the side, but the clever nanites readjusted themselves, folding the pants neatly in a square.
Kaja stepped back. “The coverings are magic.”
It was going to be fun to show Kaja his plane. “I’m sure they seem that way to you. Would you believe me if I told you they’re really tiny machines that a rival corporation makes? We tried to make our own at Dellacorp. They developed their own intelligence and attacked the people wearing them. That was a lawsuit, let me tell you.”
Kaja stared at the pants. “What is a machine?”
Dante decided to leave that part of her education for another time. He sank down into the tub, hoping the heat would wilt his raging erection a little bit. He found it necessary to talk through his fangs. The damn things wouldn’t go away. “Don’t worry about it. Come here, Kaja.”
She didn’t hesitate. She gingerly stepped into the tub and placed herself between his legs with her back to his front. She leaned back and sighed. “I like the warmth. It is very cold where I come from.”
Her shoulders rubbed against his chest, and her little ass nestled against his cock. Nope, the heat wasn’t helping one little bit. His cock was long and thick against her skin.
“Kaja, this home you were taken from, do you want to go back?” He needed to ease his conscience a little. If she had a home and a husband, maybe he should think about asking Beck to help her find her way back. His cock protested.
“No,” she said quietly. “I do not wish to go home. I do not really have a home.”
“Why do you call me First?” He was curious. “Is that what you call the leader of your people?”
He didn’t mention that he wasn’t the leader of anything, really. Or had that changed? When he thought about it, he was kind of the leader of her.
“The First is the most important,” Kaja explained. She spoke slowly, as though measuring each word. “He is First among the pack, though his mate is usually First among the women. He selects a strong mate. Because they are First, they get the best of the meat and the warmest place to sleep. The Second gets the next best, you understand?”
“Yes,” he replied. He let his hands cup her shoulders, reveling in the smooth skin. He breathed in her scent now. Her head rested close to his face. Now she smelled of citrus and soap. It was the same thing Meg used, but it smelled different on Kaja. “So, does everyone have a number? What number were you, sweetheart?”
He felt her deflate. “I had no number. I was not allowed to ever move up, so I did not need a number.”