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I say the words, but I know they’re a damned lie. Iamgoing to do it. I know it’s the only way for me to get inside that club without arousing suspicion. I’ve been naked so many times in front of strange men that I should have developed a resistance to the embarrassment of it.

I wince, and I detect through the Bond that they know I’ll eventually acquiesce. After all, what choice do I have?

“Okay,” I reluctantly hiss. “What will I have to wear?”

Kitos licks his lips. His aura becomes…harder. More in control. I sense that unexpected streak of delicious cruelness come forward.

“Well,” he muses, eyes flashing, “ifIowned a pleasure slave, I wouldn’t let her wearanything.”

That cruel streak is surging high in this tactician’s aura. Heenjoysthe idea of humiliating me in front of an audience. For a second, I find the idea oddly…delicious.

I’d always felt shame to be exposing my body for mere money. It made me feel cheap and tawdry. But to do it for a man’s pleasure? To shame myself for the needs of Kitos? A gorgeous, sexy man that some part of me is eager to please?

Fuck! What the hell am I thinking about? Why would I care about Kitos’ pleasure?

The Bondthrumsin my mind. I gasp out in sudden arousal as it reaches into me – finding that part of me deep inside thatcravesthe idea of pleasing Kitos. The Bond isn’tmakingme feel this way – it’s just taking a desire I didn’t even know I had, and it’s drawing it out into the open.

A sudden mental image flashes in front of my eyes. I suddenly imagine myself on a leash, completely naked, walked around – paraded like a show pet by the three Aurelians.

Everyone who saw me would imagine me on my knees, crawling to each one in turn whenever they snap their fingers. Satisfying them with my mouth, like the eager little slut I am.

Hadrian’s eye are drawn down to my body, and I feel naked before him; even in my frumpy prison uniform.

“Notme,” the big man growls. “I wouldn’t want any other man to see my property. I’d hide my slave away in a pleasure dress – showing just enough to boast her beauty without revealingallher assets.”

Kitos shares the wolf-like grin of his battle brother. His arousal is suddenly pouring through the Bond. I can feel it flooding through the link between us, inflaming my own needs.

“You’re right,” he murmurs, eyes flashing. “Perhaps I wouldn’t want anyone to see her…assets.” He turns to look at me. “I’d hide your nipples behind clamps, and your asshole behind a plug.”

I gasp at the thought. My cheeks turn red as my own arousal betrays me. I suddenly stand up, knees wobbly, and the big wooden chair clatters behind me as I storm out of the mess-hall.

The worst part is that Ishouldbe angry – but I’m not.

I wish I was – but, instead, all I am is turned on. I guess something about me will always be ignited by the presence of these three sexy, Greek God-like warriors, no matter how high the stakes.

Will I ache for them when they’re executed in front of a crowd?

Will I ache for them if they’re put in a jail cell for the rest of their lives?

Can I trust my newfound power to dull the Bond, or do I need to turn them in?

“Wait, Allie!” It’s Kitos’ voice, calling after me. “Come back! We were just having fun!”

I whip around. “This isnota joking matter.”

Hadrian nods slowly. “You’re right, Allie. It’s not – but when you spend a hundred years clearing out Scorp nests, deep underground, and you watch men you grew to love get cut down in front of it…” He snorts bitterly. “Well, you develop what you humans call ‘gallows humor’. You joke about inappropriate things. We apologize.”

I turn and raise my eyebrow. I’m genuinely surprised. I wasn’t expecting an apology from Hadrian, of all people.

Even more so, his words hit home. I can’t even imagine the horrors this triad of honorable warriors must have gone through during their hundred years of service to the Empire. It had to make stripping for disgusting men look like a cake-walk.

It’s also…difficultfor me to remain angry that the Aurelians ache for me so strongly. They’ve been searching their entire lives for a woman like me.

Notlikeme.Onlyme.

Wait a second… I know what happens when Aurelians search for a mate – how their species normally conducts themselves.

They say they ache for me – that they’d do anything for me…