Protecting His Mistress - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,58
ceremony which was still going on upstairs.
“Well, that was interesting,” Karn murmured, looking down at her as Lilli straightened her own dress and hair.
“Yes…” She blushed and found she couldn’t quite meet his mismatched eyes. “I…I guess it was.”
“Good thing Priss didn’t make us go any farther,” he growled.
Lilli nodded in agreement. She was actually surprised as well. She’d been certain the sadistic Mistress would force her and the other girls to submit to much more—maybe even to being fucked. It seemed strange that she would stop just when she did. But maybe she just wanted to make sure that all of them were even, so nobody could tell on anybody else.
Whatever the reason, Lilli wasn’t sure if she was glad or sad that Priss had stopped things before they had gone any further.
She only knew she felt empty inside, now that Karn had withdrawn and she wished she could have him back in her again.
Thirty
Karn was throbbing as they rode home in Mistress Mirabella’s ship. Lilli seemed to be embarrassed by the intimacy that had happened between them because every time he met her big brown eyes in the mirror, she blushed and glanced away.
Gods damn it, he swore to himself. He hadn’t wanted to hurt or violate her! She’d said she wanted him to fill her, but he was afraid it was only because Priss had been threatening to expose their secret and have him sent to the Diluthian Mines.
Rather be sent to the mines than hurt the female I care for, he thought, trying and failing to catch Lilli’s eyes in the rear-viewer again. He hoped he hadn’t hurt her or scared her. If only they could be alone and talk things out!
But the moment they got back to Lady Mirabella’s mansion, she decided to lecture Lilli about all the things she’d done wrong at the awards ceremony. Karn would have stayed for moral support, but he was sent from the room and had no choice but to go wait for Lilli in her bedchamber.
He decided to take the opportunity to contact the Mother Ship, through the spy device fixed to his nail. Shutting himself firmly in the fresher, he locked the door and tapped in the special code that called home.
“Commander Karn? Are you well?” Commander Sylvan’s face—or rather, a coin-sized image of it—appeared, hovering above the nail.
“I’m fine,” Karn told him.
“Then why haven’t you called for transport off of Yonnie Six?” Sylvan’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “You already completed your mission—good job, by the way—and we’ve been expecting your signal any time now.”
“There’s something else I have to see to here,” Karn told him.
“Oh?” Sylvan raised one eyebrow quizzically. “What might that be?”
“There’s another matter—a warrior who’s been falsely accused.” Rapidly, Karn explained about the Nightwalker Kindred who was being held in the Yonnite jail and was sentenced to execution.
“A Nightwalker? They’re so rare!” Sylvan exclaimed. “And you say he’s completely innocent?”
“Totally,” Karn said. “And I have evidence to prove it—only it has a send-lock on it.”
“I’ll have to send someone to defend him in the Yonnite courts in order to get him out of there, anyway,” Sylvan said. “One of our human female Councilors would be the ideal pick. Maybe you could physically give the evidence to her when she comes to Yonnie Six?”
“Sure.” Karn nodded. “She can make some excuse to come to Mistress Mirabella’s house. Or if that’s too hard, we can rendezvous in Opulex. My Mistress is going there at the end of this week and I’m sure we can work something out.”
“That would be perfect.” Sylvan nodded. “Let me know when you have a more definite idea of your exact location.”
“Will do.” Karn nodded and heard the door of the bedchamber open. “Have to go, Commander—I’ll be in touch,” he murmured and quickly double tapped the spy device to shut it down.
Sylvan’s image dissolved at once, just in time for him to hear Lilli call,
“Karn? Where are you?”
Thirty-One
“Here, little Mistress,” she heard him call back. Going through her living area to the bedchamber, she found him waiting for her. He frowned when he saw her. “What’s wrong, Lilli?” he asked softly. “Was your mother too rough on you?”
“Oh, not really.” Lilli swiped at her eyes and tried to smile. She didn’t like to admit how awful her mother could be sometimes. “She just…wants me to do things right, that’s all,” she said and sniffed.
But it seemed like Karn could see right through her.