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“I didn’t know you were on their ship. I just knew that the Sisters were here and that as long as I let them know what was going on, they wouldn’t take action against the brothel.”

He sighed. “When they told me you were talking and you had just woken up, I was relieved. When I saw that crowd of males trying to tear into you, I was furious.”

“I wasn’t really impressed myself. It hurt.” She sighed. “But hey, I got to use my programming skills on the mechs, so I will look on the bright side.”

“But you knew they would come. That is why you used the mechs as a barricade.” A hard edge had entered his tone.

“Um, yeah. That was the point. I was still pretty weak after being in cold sleep, so I slipped, and they grabbed my dress and used it to haul me out.”

He looked at her, and there were a few stars in his black eyes. His face was set in a deep scowl.

“If you are looking for a reason to punish me, I was not contracted to you or anyone at that point. I was free to get myself clawed to bits, or whatever.”

“You were never free to be hurt, but you are correct about my rights versus your rights.” He reached for a contract tablet. “Look it over, and sign it.”

“How romantic.” She snorted. She took the tablet and saw that it had a consort contract on it. “Whoa.”

“What?”

“You aren’t starting at companion and then considering options.”

“No, of course not. I have been passively drawing from you for five years. I know very well what you are.” He chuckled. “Why do you think you and Ranna were invited to the city so often?”

“Oh. Right.” She focused on the contract while she was blushing crimson.

He smoothed her hair back and ran his fingers through it while she read. He was vibrating softly, and she tried to focus as her eyes skipped past lines that she had to read over and over.

“You are taking a while to read that.”

“I am stumbling over the whenever-wherever clause. You spend a lot of time with the Sisters. Helping to train them, and that could be embarrassing, not to mention cruel to a number of them.”

“Fair enough.” He reached out and added an exclusion to the abbey where all the encounters would be private to avoid distressing new Sisters.

She nodded and kept reading. The contract time was indefinite. There was no expiry date.

She paused. “What?”

“Hm?” He was nuzzling her shoulder.

“There’s no end date. There is always an end date, or it isn’t a contract, it’s a bill of servitude.”

He lifted his head and sighed. “Ranna mentioned you were fixated on contracts.” He scribbled a date in five hundred years.”

“That’s far beyond my lifespan.”

“It will be up to me to supply you with all you need.”

“Still too long.”

He huffed and changed it. “Two hundred.”

“Still stupid, but at least plausible.”

Rath said softly, “Did you just call me stupid?”

“No, Overseer. Of course not.” She continued reading.

She got to the financial compensation and stared. “The mountain house, the beach house, and the seaside château?”