“We should get some sleep,” she said aloud. “Got a big day tomorrow.”
“You’re correct. We should sleep,” Stone rumbled in her ear. “Lights, very dim,” he added and the glows in the corners of the room slowly dimmed themselves in response, until the room was in almost total darkness. “Goodnight, Cassandra,” he murmured.
“Good night, Stone,” Cassie whispered back.
And settling herself more comfortably against her partner’s broad chest, she allowed herself to sink into darkness.
Thirty-Two
A persistent knocking on the door woke Stone and he frowned as he realized there was someone in bed with him. Someone small and soft who had a sweet, familiar scent.
Cassandra! he realized, looking down at his partner, who was cradled against him.
How many times had he dreamed of sleeping with her in his arms? How many times had he longed to touch her, to bring her pleasure? To taste her sweet juices? Many of his dreams had come true the night before—so many that he almost feared he was still dreaming.
It was a dream he never wanted to end.
But then the knocking on the door, which had woken him up, came again and someone called from outside,
“Wake up! By order of his Slimefullness, Xempi Gozeriam, come to the door!”
“What?” Cassandra stirred in his arms. “Who is it, Stone?” she murmured sleepily. “Tell them to go ‘way.”
Stone was inclined to do exactly that. But he couldn’t ignore the knocker’s use of their new employer’s name. He was certain that here on Bachanalius, whatever Xempi Gozeriam wanted, Xempi Gozeriam got—and right now he apparently wanted them to get up for some reason.
With a frustrated growl, he left his half-asleep partner in the warm bed and went to the door. Whoever it was had better have a very good reason to wake them and interrupt the few precious moments he had to cradle Cassandra in his arms. He was well aware that this would be his only opportunity to be so physically close with the woman he loved.
“Whoever you are, you’d better have a Goddess-damned good reason to wake us up,” he growled as he opened the door. “You—”
The words died on his lips.
Standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face was none other than The Beast.
Thirty-Three
The low, menacing growl coming from the vicinity of the doorway woke Cassie up completely.
It’s Stone, she realized sleepily. And he sounds really pissed off. What the hell is going on?
Then she heard her partner speak.
“You,” he snarled in a deep, angry voice. “You dare to come here and—”
“Stone?” Cassie scrambled out of the gold beanbag bed, which dipped and wobbled alarmingly, and ran for the door.
All she could see for the moment was Stone. Her partner seemed to have grown to twice his size and was blocking the doorway with his menacing bulk.
As if he wasn’t big enough already! Cassie thought impatiently.
“Stone?” She put a hand on his arm, which felt like warm, flexible steel. His muscles were tensed and his entire body was thrumming with fury.
Cassie began to be really alarmed. Whoever was on the other side of the door, her partner was about two seconds from attacking them!
“Stone!” she insisted, tugging at him. “Who is it? Move over some and let me see.”
Very reluctantly, Stone took a step back. Though he kept himself between her and the door, Cassie could at least peer around him to see who it was. When she did, she gave a little gasp.
The Beast himself was standing there, an uneasy smile on his darkly handsome face. He had the same golden eyes and black, wild hair of any Beast Kindred and the same living tattoo flowed just under his skin she had seen on all the vids he’d made—including the snuff film. It was easy to see since he was wearing a sleeveless leather vest which showed off his muscular arms and most of his chest.
“Mistress Cassandra?” he asked, frowning at Cassie. “Call off your body-slave, all right?”
“Oh, uh…” Cassie forced herself to get over her shock and remember their mission. Just because Stone had gone into overprotective male mode was no reason for her to blow their cover.
“I’m just here to deliver your script.” The Beast held up a transparent sheet with printed lines flowing across it. “His Slimefullness stayed up all night writing it and he wants you to be ready to perform it soon.”
“Thank you.” Cassie pushed past her partner, who was still growling menacingly, and reached to take the script from The Beast who offered it at arm’s length.
“He’s really fucking protective of you,” he remarked, nodding at Stone.
“Yes, as a body-slave should be,” Cassie said. She waved a hand at her angry partner. “You’ll have to excuse him—he doesn’t like strange males getting near me. The last time one tried to touch me, Stone, here, ripped his head off.”
There—that ought to make the bastard keep his distance!
“I see.” The Beast nodded and took a step back. “Well, maybe I should go then.”
Cassie wanted to tell him that yes, he should go, but it occurred to her that she would be wasting a golden opportunity if she did. If they were going to grab The Beast or lure him back to their ship where they could arrest him and take him back to Earth for trial, she needed to befriend him—or at least pretend to. It was the only way to make the bastard trust her.
“Wait, please,” she said quickly as The Beast turned away. “What’s your name?”
He turned back and flashed her a cocky grin.
“They just call me ‘The Beast’ or Beast for short.”
“Is that because you’re a Beast Kindred?” Cassie asked innocently. “I know about Kindred because my body-slave is a Blood Kindred,” she added.
“Ha!” The Beast lifted his chin proudly, an arrogant gleam in his golden eyes. “You’d think so to look at me but no, I don’t even have a drop of Kindred blood in my veins.”
“Where are you from then?” Cassie asked, pretending to be interested and impressed. “I have never heard of any other race of males that looked so like the Kindred before.”
“I can look like anything I want to.”
In an instant, his strong features blurred, becoming softer and more feminine. At the same time, his body shrank, losing its impressive height and coming down to Cassie’s level. While all this was happening, he grew curves and his hair, which had been a wild tangle, smoothed itself into a long, black waterfall.
Cassie blinked when she realized she was looking at herself. And it wasn’t just her face and hair and body The Beast had replicated—he was also wearing her clothes. The long, black nightgown she had on looked a lot more revealing now that she could see it on someone else. Her breasts were nearly visible through the thin, silky material, her nipples poking prominently against the fabric.
This time she didn’t have to pretend to be impressed or surprised.
“Son of a bitch!” she murmured, staring wide-eyed at her sudden doppelganger. The only way The Beast now differed from her was the flowing live ink tattoo under his skin. As she watched, it slid from his forearm, up his arm and neck and over his forehead before sliding down the other arm.