The Price of Pleasure (Saurellian Federation 1)

I can hardly walk this morning, yet I know for a fact that he had at least one other girl last night after me.”

Calla’s brow furrowed. Seth had sex with two other women last night?

“Was he, um, one of the ones staying at our hostel, do you think?” she asked, trying not to sound too curious. It didn’t matter of course. Seth could never be hers, even for a few days. Only a slave who was a complete fool would allow herself to get involved with a free man like him. He’d have to leave eventually, and then she’d be left to Jenner’s tender mercies. No man was worth it.

“Probably,” Dani said. “He’s the commander, so I would imagine that he’s staying there.”

It was him, Calla realized. If he’d left her to head straight for the pleasure house, then he must not have been as interested in her as she had originally thought. He’d seemed so angry when she told him she was married, but maybe that was just his way. He was Saurellian, after all. They were all crazy. It was stupid of her to think she’d actually been anything special to him, she thought in disgust.

“Um, Dani, I have a question for you.” Calla said after a brief pause. Dani was probably her best source of information on the Saurellians–she might as well take the opportunity to learn as much as she could about their new governors. “What do you think of the Saurellians, other than just what they’re like in bed, I mean?”

“Well, I like them,” Dani said, after pausing for a minute to consider her answer. “They’re open about what they want. They’re here, they’re leaving soon, and they aren’t interested in playing any games, especially with women like me. I hate it when men pretend to be emotionally involved in sex.”

“What do you mean, they’re leaving?” Calla asked, confused. “I thought they were going to keep the station. I mean, they fought hard to take it. They must want to keep the mining belts.”

“Well, from what I hear, they’ll be leaving soon,” Dani said, lazily leaning over and picking up a fruit from the basket on the table. Dani offered the little basket to Calla, who took a citrus.

She didn’t get these very often, so they were a special treat. Calla suspected Dani realized that, because she always seemed to have them on hand when Calla came to visit.

“The warriors will be leaving, that is,” Dani clarified. “They’re sending a governor or something, with a regular occupation force. Their military is totally separate from the civil authority. From what Jax tells me–he’s one of my regulars–the soldiers really hate it when they have to stay put for too long like this.

They like action, and this isn’t cutting it.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Calla objected. “The imperial troops liked action, too, but that didn’t stop them from occupying the station for years.”

“I don’t think it’s quite the same with Saurellians,” Dani said. “It’s kind of weird, but these soldiers are different from the imperial soldiers.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this is going to sound strange, but I think they’re just kind of sexually frustrated and restless all of the time,” Dani replied, laughing a little. “According to Jax, they can only really be satisfied when they get a life mate, and there aren’t enough of them to go around. I guess that only about one female is born for every four or five men in their home system, and while they can mate with human women, they can’t bond with them. Once they bond, they bond for life, but the poor saps that don’t get one of the women are just out of luck. Jax told me that by the time they’re about 25, they pretty much have to leave the home system because they tend to get out of control, even violent.”

“That’s horrible,” Calla said. “And they can’t bond with anyone outside their home system?”

“Nope,” Dani said. “They can f**k all they want, but it’s never quite enough. According to Jax, most of them won’t live past their 40thbirthday. They get into too many fights. When they send a governor to the station, he’ll be bonded and stable, a family man. Otherwise their occupation would never last.”

Calla licked the last drop of citrus juice from her fingers, then looked longingly at the little clock hanging on Dani’s wall. It was past time for her to go. With a sigh, she pushed herself off the couch and stood up.

“I need to get going, Dani,” she said. “I’m sure Mistress Jenner’s watching the clock again, just waiting for me to be late.”

“I hate that old bitch,” Dani said, disgust written all over her lovely face. “She’s such a hypocrite–condemning pleasure workers like me, yet keeping you as a slave and dealing on the black market. I wish I could buy you, but the Guild forbids us to purchase slaves, even to free them. I doubt she’d sell you, anyway.”

“You’re too good to me,” Calla said, standing up and giving Dani a hug. “You’re right, though, she probably wouldn’t sell me. Unfortunately, she almost seems to like me in some sick way. She’s told me more than once that the only way I’m getting away from her is to die or get sold to a port-side pimp.”

“Bitch,” Dani hissed with feeling, then sighed heavily. “At the very least, take some of the citrus fruit with you. I know you love it.”

“Thanks, Dani,” Calla said, pocketing the fruit. She’d share it with the other girls at the hostel later. “I wish I had something to give you.”

“Oh, I can always buy more citrus fruit,” Dani said gently. “Good friends are harder to find. I count myself lucky that I ran into you in the market that day. You saved me from losing a fortune on that fake jewelry, you know. I still can’t believe I fell for that guy’s spiel.”

Calla laughed at the memory. She’d seen old Gavin trying to sell Dani some of the same jewelry he usually sold to the drunken miners. Nothing but tin, with a coat of gold paint. Dani had been new to the station, however, and wasn’t used to unregulated trade standards. Calla had stepped in and warned her just in time. They’d been unlikely friends ever since.

“Take care, and I’ll see you later,” Calla said, then stepped out the door. If she was lucky, she’d get home before Jenner realized she’d taken a side trip. Fortunately Mistress Jenner–while cruel–was not particularly smart.

* * * * *