Free Havoc by Linda Gayle

a free woman."
    Kels rolled onto his back and folded his arm beneath his head. “Slaver, was he?"
    "Not exactly."
    "Whoremaster?"
    She flinched at the blunt term. “Not exactly that either. A man with peculiar ambitions.” She imagined her mother, her poor little sister who had never had a chance, and felt genuine tears blurring her vision. “Please... It's very painful for me to talk about."
    Part of her hated to work on Kels's sympathetic nature, for she could see the idea of her suffering repulsed him, yet another bitter part of her was glad Fate had guided her to a man who could be manipulated by emotion. If it meant using him to fulfill her goal, she would bind him to her, through sex, through sympathy.
    He thumbed away a damp trail from her cheek and leaned to kiss the tip of her nose. “Don't cry, princess. When you're ready, you can tell me the rest. For now, you're in good hands."
    She let him pull her close and cushioned her cheek against his chest. Hearing his steady heartbeat in her ear, she thought of his agile fingers on her body, in her body. Very good hands, indeed. And how lovely it felt to be held by him. She hadn't been cuddled since she was a child, when her mother would take her to watch out the huge windows of the Prime's ship at glorious novas and striped gas giants and glittering space battles on the fringes of the Conflicts.
    With her cheek over his heart, she couldn't see his face. “Why do you help me?"
    He smoothed his hand over her back, and she thought she could fall asleep like this, like a baby, sleepy and soft and content. “Let's face the truth, here, luv. You've got something I need, and I've got something you need. That's how business is done this side of the SenVerse, and the other side too, I'd imagine."
    "And when it's over, and I've established myself in the high games, then...you'll walk away?"
    "More than likely. I can't see myself fucking forever—least not that way, competitively. I'm not a man for commitment if that's what you were hoping for.” His hand stilled. “That's not what you were hoping for, was it?"
    "No. Of course not. It's business for me as well."
    His chest fell with an exhale, of relief, she thought. “Tell me, why the high games? You could cut decent pay from the games on the Rim, or do something else, a pretty, clever girl like you."
    She lifted her head to look at him. “You think I'm clever?"
    "Well, you thought pretty quick on your feet back at Ulvik's. How is your tat, by the by?"
    "I hardly feel it. Is it strange that I don't?"
    "Let me take a look.” He rose on his knees, then guided her onto her belly and lifted her blouse. She felt his fingers brushing over it. “Can't even tell he did the job.” The amazement in his voice made her worry.
    "Perhaps it didn't work."
    "Oh, it'll work, all right. He's a scrag bastard, but Ulvik knows what he's doing. Some of Keeva's took a few hours to show. Might be it'll take longer than standard biolumes.” He spread his fingers across her butt. “You never did answer me, princess. Why the high games? Why's that so vital?"
    Sayal answered, carefully impassive. “Why bother scraping at the Rim when I could be swimming in iron in the Zone? Men desire me; sometimes women too. You desire me.” She rolled over and shifted her hips toward him, subtly, but she saw his pupils spread. “I wouldn't be such a clever girl if I didn't utilize the assets given me...” By an alien geneticist , she thought but didn't say.
    His darkening gaze swept over her, and her nipples tightened, aching for his tongue and teeth once more. With the edge of her hand, she brushed open her blouse so her breasts were bared to his sight and circled her fingers around the areolae. She arched her back and stared into the depths of his eyes, more than satisfied with the feral lust building within them.
    "I see what you're driving at,” he said, his voice gruff. He raised a brow and dragged his gaze up to her face. “You are prime