Free Halt by Viola Grace Page A

No more playing masquerade for you, Your Highness.”
    “You are going to leave with me as if I was a common whore?” He was trying to bristle with indignation, but his continuing contact with her skin was beginning to give him a raging erection.
    “If you want to play the whore, why would you object to my treating you like one?”
    They left the performance area, past the semi-private couches occupied with a number of very personal activities, and when they reached the entryway, a cloak was thrown around Sollas, and his features were concealed in the depths of his hood.
    Tazzy was on her own to face any media members who cared to wait outside. A royal peacekeeper commander with a taste for male Companions was bound to be news, but far less news than a prince who liked to act as a male Companion for any woman willing to pay.
    She linked her arm with his and pasted a fatuous expression on her features. She looked up at him and pretended that she was seeing her ex-partner. It wasn’t too much of a stretch. Arkenor had also been from Decolian 12. His navy blue- and silver-banded hair had reached his hips, and she had always had to stifle the urge to touch it.
    Once outside, a few flashes of light and a request for information were all that were called out. In three minutes, Tazzy was in her personal conveyance and Sollas was sitting next to her, confused and sullen.
    “You are new to the palace, aren’t you?” He sat with his arms crossed over his well-developed chest.
    “I am. It made me the best bet to catch you off guard, so to speak. You are very predictable.” She smiled.
    “You do know I am not going to forgive or forget this.”
    “That is entirely likely. Fortunately, I don’t work for you; I am here working for the imperium.”
    He blinked, “You are an imperial officer?”
    “I am.”
    “Where was your last posting?”
    That was an odd question. “Miracor. I was a peacekeeper there.”
    Sollas smirked. “I bet you were. Did you meet any of my kind there?”
    “Obnoxious princes with too many active hormones and too little impulse control? No. I don’t think so.” She smiled and keyed in the security code to get them to the private landing site.
    Once they were down, he was the royal guard’s problem. She settled the skiff down next to the Guardian transport and gleefully handed his highness over to his personal guard.
    Sollas paused and turned in place, extending his hand to hers.
    Etiquette demanded that she extend her own hand, so she did. His sudden tug on her limb pulled her to him sharply, and his kiss did not land on her hand. He held her to him tightly as he ravaged her lips.
    For a moment, she allowed herself the almost-but-not-quite feeling of being in the arms of the man she really wanted.
    Sollas pulled away, and he licked his lips. “A pity. We could have had such fun this afternoon.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Go and put some pants on. There is a formal dinner for the Guardians this evening. You need to be presentable.”
    He gave her a jaunty salute and swaggered off with his guard, pausing twice to see if she was looking. Unfortunately, she was.

Chapter Two
     
     
    “In the news this afternoon, the newest member of the imperial peacekeeping force was enjoying her day off at the Twisted Limbs . She is shown here in the company of one of the Companions from within, and it seems that she was taking him home for some local research. Commander Rikkat will definitely be a woman to watch.”
     
    Silver watched the broadcast on his wrist com, and he seethed internally. “Why the hell is she here?”
    “Who, Silver?” Quell took a book off the shelves and started to read.
    Silver screwed up his face in a scowl. “My ex-partner. How did she get transferred to Decolian 12 of all places?”
    Flick laughed from his space by the window. “Look it up, you have access to all the records.”
    Silver sighed and pulled out the data pad from his kit. With a few strokes, he brought up