Free Gambit by Kim Knox Page A

the words into his ear, enjoying the growl of his fury and the increased thrust of his hips. “You’re bound to me.” The promise triggered the first unexpected wave of orgasm and it smashed into her. She needed him to come with her. Everything screamed in her that it had to be that way. Everything. She rasped more words into his ear. “Your prince isn’t your master. I am.”
    Daned swore, anger, fury coloring his choice…and he came, the heat of his release coalescing with her own, pulling her into a wild rush of sensation that swept over her thoughts and ran shudders down through her limbs. Chae pressed kisses to his damp neck, needing to taste him, touch him and slowly, slowly, the insane thrum of her orgasm slipped away. The threads of gold curled away from her skin, snaking against Daned’s before melting back into place.
    Chae pulled in a shaking breath and let it out hot against his skin. “Shit, that was…” Words failed her. Maybe it was finally time to give up tech-enhanced men grown in a vat and try out the real thing. She giggled—she never giggled—and pressed a final kiss to his throat before she lifted her head. “Maybe we should take ourselves off to…” The shadows in his gaze, his thin drawn lips made her words falter. Her gut twisted and something like panic tensed every muscle. “What?”
    “You’re fifth caste.” He eased his hands from her hips, pulling himself free of her body.
    She staggered as her boots hit the tiled floor and she tugged at her trousers, yanking the cold wetness over her thighs and backside. “And? So? What? ”
    “I’m first caste.” Daned ran his fingers through his hair, and a muscle in his jaw jumped.
    Chae blinked and the anger flowed hot and hard. Was that what had him so reluctant to touch her, so angry with himself for wanting her? “You’re a fucking sexual snob? ” She backed away from him. Hell, she wanted to put as much distance between them as she could in the cramped space of the ship. Her fury had her shaking. How stupid was she to think that he’d want more from her? “Is that what the Ladaians do? Fuck within their caste? Everything must be done to keep the genetic imperative pure?”
    She traced over the bulkhead, searching for the doorplate. Her fingers found the smooth change in metal. She pressed her palm flat against it and the door unhooked and slid back with a soft clunk. “Now, if you don’t mind—”
    “Take it off.”
    She stared at him as he backed her into the cramped bunkroom. Her thighs hit the edged of the single bunk and she grunted. “Get out.”
    His gaze fixed on her as he swung his hand back and thumped the doorplate. The door thudded into place. “Take this off.” He ran his thumb along the living gold seared to his chest. “Now.”
    Chae ignored the sour burn in her chest. She’d known she couldn’t keep him bound, but the reality of it was suddenly painful. “Fine.” She willed herself to close the distance between them. His scent taunted her, a sinful mixture of him and sex, and the last thing she wanted to do was touch him again. But she had to. Only she could break the hold the tech had on his flesh.
    Her fingers curled into a fist over his collarbone and she fixed her gaze on the gleaming gold. Her mouth thinned. Fuck it. It was his loss. Her palm pressed flat against his shoulder and the gold writhed against it. Daned sucked in a tight breath and his body tensed.
    “I free you,” she muttered, her fingers curling away again. The gold shriveled from his skin, falling in the path she had taken. Unbound flesh would now be incapacitated, a lump of flesh and cybernetics ready to be returned to one of Aleph’s storage tanks. She should be so lucky with Daned. “There. Done.”
    She turned away from him to the small wash facility built into the side of the narrow room. A towel and quiet time were what she needed. Her day had been shitty. She wanted it over for the next few minutes, at least.
    “Do you