Red Light Specialists (5 page)

She whispered her father’s favorite curse over and over again. It was the only thing the man had really ever taught her that she found of use. When he died, he left everything to her brother. Bianca hadn’t had a choice but to earn money anyway she could. It was either gambling or prostitution. Some days, she was convinced she should’ve tried her hand at prostitution. Maybe then she wouldn’t be in this mess.

Her past mistakes weren’t what made her so upset. It was the fact that more and more of her assignment was being released to her. It seemed the man she’d run off on was some sort of royal prince. At least, she was pretty sure that’s what his black tattoo meant. Since there were twelve royal princes, it was hard to know which one Mr. Come Please Me was. She just hoped it wasn’t the future king. Though odds were against it—it was a one in twelve chance that he was the man she was looking for.

Bianca was dressed as a harem girl, thus the see-through outfit. It would make sense. She pretty much felt like a cheap hooker. Oh, and it explained why the man had kept calling her
gengli
. According to her translation, it meant whore.

Lovely bunch of men, these royals.

Her mission was pretty straightforward. Women from the future king’s harem were disappearing. It was suspected, but not proven, that they were being killed. There were no bodies, no leads, no known motives. It was Bianca’s mission to discover where the girls were. Bianca’s first instinct was that the prince himself killed the women. It would make explain why there was no evidence. All it would take is a simple order to the palace guards to have the matter covered up. He probably was some sick pervert into snuff.

Though the one kink in that logic was the king was the one who’d contacted RLS to check out the disappearances. It didn’t mean the king wasn’t a suspect. In fact, she wasn’t supposed to tell him who she was and why she was there because he was one. He didn’t even know she was coming or that the RLS-69s had taken the case.

There was another option. The prince could just be mad because his women were running away from him. If it happened right after sex, it stood to reason that the man was terrible in bed. Maybe the women were bored and went to hide out with the palace guards. Bianca couldn’t say she blamed the women. According to her information, the prince wasn’t allowed to seduce a woman and barely allowed to actively give her pleasure unless it pleased him to do so, which
never
happened. Details got a little fuzzy, but if he gave pleasure it indicated something important.

Yeah, like he had to actually work.

“Great,” she said, her voice low and sarcastic. “Just what I always wanted, an unenthusiastic man that lies there like a cold fish while I do all the work. It’s like a dream come true.”

Because of the possible nature of the crimes, Bianca was going to get a firsthand go at Mr. Royal. It’s not exactly the way Simon would suggest handling the case. He did have that “seduce but don’t fuck” policy. Good thing policies were meant to be broken. Having sex with the king would be the fastest way to get this mission over with.

Could it be the king was killing the women to hide a shameful secret? Maybe he’d have a small cock and then the case would be closed. She really, really hoped he didn’t have a small cock. It might make her assignment easier but wouldn’t do a thing for the ache in her pussy. Why did that stupid mist guy have to caress her like that? Now all she could think about was how horny she was.

Bianca took a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that her nipples were still hard with just the memory of the arrogant man’s touch. She had to focus on the mission. Complete the mission and then she could get out of here.

She was supposed to get chosen by this future king, Hamet or Hammock or Ahmet—blazes, she wasn’t clear on the name yet. Once chosen, she’d get the “honor” of fucking his brains out and then waiting around to see what happened next.

The door to the closet swung open. “I thought I heard someone in there. Get out! What do you think you’re doing? Haven’t you heard the call? All harem girls are to report to the harem. Prince Ahmet wishes to find a bed partner for the night.”

“Ahmet?” She tried to see if that was the name she was looking for. Yep. Prince Ahmet, future king to the Kingdom of…uh, yeah, something. That’s the man she was supposed to seduce. Looking at the woman, she asked, “And the harem would be where?”

“That’s why you’re hiding,” the elderly woman said. As she stepped aside, Bianca saw that she had short white hair plastered to her head. She smelled like onions and it stood to reason the woman worked in the kitchen. “You’re new. Well, it’s not the first time this has happened. I’m going to give you some advice though. When you hear the bells, get to the harem. If the princes have you in mind and you’re not there, they can get mighty angry. We all know what happens when royalty gets angry. Now, come on, I’ll walk you to the harem this one time.”

Bianca stood and was led down the long stone hall. “I’m Bianca.”

“Magha,” the woman answered.

“What happens when royalty gets angry?”

“What do you think happens? They’re descendents of the gods. When they’re displeased, everyone feels it. It’s why you harem women are so important. It’s the pleasures you provide that keep the royal princes from getting frustrated and temperamental. Why else do you think you’re treated like queens?”

“So, what? They cut off people’s heads when they get cranky?” Bianca frowned, making a mental note to try and not beat up the king like she did his brother. Stiffening, she thought of the prince in the hall. “You may come to give me pleasure, my ass! Jerk.”

“What?”

“Oh, ah, nothing. You were saying?” Bianca forced a smile. Spending all that time alone in a mine shaft had given her some bad habits. She really needed to stop talking to herself.

“They haven’t yet. It depends on which prince was upset. With Prince Ahmet, we could have floods. Actually, it’s started to rain so he must be in a dour mood already. It’s no wonder he called the harem. Anyway, with Prince Meketre there could be a plague of insects that destroys everything in their path—lice, flies, boils, sores. Prince Duat and Prince Khufu can cause hail, boiling rivers of blood, famine, endless days of darkness—”

“I get the point,” Bianca rushed. “Keep the royal guys happy. Gotcha.”

Magha led Bianca to a set of wide double doors. Pushing on them, she motioned Bianca to step inside. The harem was a long marble hall with lounge seats next to bathing pools. It smelled like lavender, rosemary and some sort of spice she wasn’t familiar with. She saw burning pots of incense near the opposite wall.

The harem women were all humanoids and were dressed as indecently as Bianca. They lounged in a colorful array of gauze. Their eyes were darkened with thick, black makeup and their cheeks turned a bright red with rouge. Bianca grimaced, reminded of what her face looked like.

“Livena,” Magha said. “This is Bianca. She’s new, come to replace the others.”

Livena was a tall woman, slender and willowy with large gray eyes that were nearly colorless. Her waist-length black hair was parted in the center of her forehead, the long bangs pulled to either side of her face. The color was a stark contrast to her snow white features. Bianca shivered, feeling very cold by the way the woman looked at her.

Livena rudely looked Bianca over and shook her head. “You are to bow to me. I am harem mistress.”

Bianca sighed, bending at the waist. Her body moved automatically, sweeping her arms out to the side as she lowered her breasts toward the floor. The A-mac obviously gave her gestures as well.

Livena merely nodded in return. “You are new.”

“I am,” Bianca answered.

The woman frowned. “Only speak when asked a question.”

“But, you just asked if I was new.”

“No, I stated that you were new,” Livena corrected.

“No, you—”

“Silence!” Livena bellowed. “For your insolence, I forbid you from being presented to the prince today and sentence you to twenty lashes.”

Bianca paled.

“Guards!” Livena yelled. Suddenly, three very hunky men appeared dressed in black loincloths. They were all built, finely toned, lean of muscle. They all bowed their heads at Livena’s order.

Bianca felt her skin tingle. There was something too familiar in the way the men looked at the harem mistress. They eyed her body as if they had intimate knowledge of it. Bianca hid her smile. She’d bet a thousand space credits that Livena had fucked the harem guards.

Oh, wait. She shouldn’t bet anything. That’s how she ended up here in the first place.

“Take this woman to be punished.” Livena motioned at her. “Fifty lashes.”

“Hey,” Bianca said before she could stop herself. “You said twenty before.”

“Seventy-five lashes.” Livena curled her lips into a devious smile, daring Bianca to again talk out of turn.

“Wait a minute.” Bianca lifted her hand in defense as the guards moved to grab her arm. She looked around for help. Magha was gone and the other harem women merely watched, quiet and unmoving. “I said hold on!”

“One hundred lashes!” Livena announced. The harem women gasped. Their gauze-covered bodies began to sway in a frenzy of movement and their murmurs rose over the marble hall.

“That is a harsh punishment for one so frail.”

Bianca stopped struggling and the guards’ hands bit into her flesh. Livena turned on her heels and immediately dropped to the floor, kneeling low in respect. The harem women did the same. Bianca had no intention of moving, but the guards roughly pushed her to her knees as they too kneeled. They let go of her arms.

Two sandaled feet stepped before her. She slowly looked up, moving her eyes over two very masculine calves. The calves molded into thighs that disappeared beneath a bothersome loincloth. Bianca frowned at the material, forgetting for a moment where she was as she let her eyes roam higher. The man stood with authority and she found it tremendously arousing. Seeing the black tattoo on the rippled stomach, she paused.

Oh no! It couldn’t be…no. Bianca swallowed before looking all the way up. Ah, hell! Yeah, it definitely is him. Mr. Royal is back. Shit. Shit. “Shit.”

“Shit?” the prince asked.

Fuck. Did she whisper that out loud? At least it wasn’t in the prince’s native language.

“What is this ‘shit’?” he asked.

“Ah,” Bianca glanced around, trying to see if anyone had heard what she said. People were looking at her, but none seemed to understand her word. It was one Abbi had taught her. “It’s my native form of greeting, your…ah…Excellently Royal Highness, ah, sir.”

“Shit,” he said, nodding.

Bianca grinned. That was too close. “Mm-hmm.”

“Livena?” the prince asked.

“Yes, Prince Ahmet,” Livena straightened slightly.

Oh, great. Mr. Jerkoff was the future king? Great going, slick!

“What is her crime to warrant such a punishment?”

“Insolence, Your Highness.” Livena turned to glare at her from her place on the floor.

“A dire thing indeed,” Ahmet said. When he looked at her, his brow arched on his forehead, she had a feeling he might be thinking about her earlier “insolence” in the hallway. Oh, like when she tried to punch the future king!

Think, think, think. How do I get out of this one?

Bianca licked her lips. Instantly, her mind told her to seduce the future king. Her hands tingled with the consuming desire to touch him. She looked at them, wondering at the sensation. Then, deciding the urge was put there by the A-mac, she went with it.

Bianca crawled forward, closing the short distance between them. She was very aware that she was about to publicly grovel and didn’t like it one bit. Well, okay, maybe she liked it just a teeny tiny bit. But she really didn’t have a choice either way. She’d insulted the future king once by refusing to pleasure him, unintentionally jeopardizing her mission. She thought of the mines. There was no way she was going back there. And more immediate was the threat of being lashed a hundred times. Like it or not, she had to play the part of the submissive and seduce Prince Ahmet.

Bianca touched his calves. She felt him stiffen beneath her palms. His flesh was warm, almost hot. Cream dripped out of her. She bit her lip, trying her best not to think of how little the gauze material protected her from everyone’s view. Already she could feel it sticking between her thighs, attesting to her great arousal.

Bianca gripped his legs, just feeling his flesh for a moment. Blazes, it had been so long since she’d felt warm male skin. A tingling began in her nipples, working primal lust throughout her entire body. Her pussy clenched, wanting to be filled to the brim with hard cock.

Before she realized what she was doing, she was rubbing up his legs, inching forward until her hands could slide up his thighs beneath the loincloth. Her mouth watered. She wanted to taste him, take his cock into her mouth. The material rose before her face, stirring as he became aroused by her actions.

She smiled. Size was definitely not the issue with this man. He was more than well enough endowed to please any woman. Bianca just hoped her cunt wasn’t so tight from lack of use that he’d hurt her when he pried her apart with it. Just the thought actually made her clit pulse.