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Chapter Five

B enet had a hard time staying motivated for the rest of the day especially once Dmitri donned a uniform and went off to the mansion to accompany Marushka and her father to the meeting at Vasili’s estate.

Aware he wouldn’t hear anything until late in the evening he forced himself to train hard and run the obstacle course over and over.

He even tackled the metal maze twice and was pleased with his progress.

There was no word by dinnertime so he heated up a meal from the stasis keeper and sat outside to eat, gazing at the stars and wondering what Kyden and the others were doing at home, and if they knew where he was yet.

Kyden wouldn’t tamely accept the idea of leaving him in Outlier as a conscripted athlete so he needed to keep his situational awareness high for any hint of an attempt to contact him or initiate an extraction.

He admitted to himself he wouldn’t want to leave Marushka.

She was on his mind more than she should be, given her position in the Outlier aristocracy and her fate.

He speculated whether Dmitri could be mistaken and the engagement might be called off.

What father could stand by and let his daughter go unwillingly to an abusive husband?

Surely the Grand Duke would see her bruises and listen to her account of the evening and do the right thing.

Wouldn’t he?

But then what? Benet didn’t have anything to offer a high-born girl like Marushka.

At least Kyden had become the Master of a gladiatorial House and associate of a member of the Five Systems royalty when he claimed his mate Elara.

Fate wasn’t likely to drop anything similar in Benet’s lap and certainly nothing to equal what Marushka had now.

Benet did all right with his gladiatorial pay and his salary and profit sharing in the success of the House of Badari—Kyden was a generous boss—but besides his flashy groundcar, he hadn’t accumulated much in the way of worldly goods.

He lived in his apartment at the House and had quite a respectable savings account on New Switzerland.

He’d be a good catch for any ordinary woman, he told himself without false modesty. But a Grand Duchess?

After his third bottle of cold feelgood, he decided he was only making himself miserable with dreams of trying to have a relationship with Marushka.

Wrong woman at the wrong time. He didn’t even know how she felt about him.

Sure they joked around and teased each other and he desired her, but maybe he was reading too much into her small touches here and there and her interest in watching him train.

With a curse he tossed his bottle in the recycler and rose to go to bed.

The front door opened and Benet heard Dmitri’s heavy tread. He went into the house and found the Badari in the kitchen, pouring himself a stiff drink of Outlier vodka.

“Well? Is the engagement still on?” he demanded to know.

Dmitri closed his eyes to savor the burn of the drink for a minute and then said. “Yes. Of course. I told you. There was a lot of negotiation as to terms—Vasili is to pay additional bride price for striking her and he gave his word to his mother and her father he’d never touch her in anger again.”

“Which is a stone cold lie,” Benet said.

“Once an abuser, always an abuser in my experience. The scum is reliably sorry afterward and says all the right things and does all the right things and the woman gets drawn further into the situation. That’s what happened to my mother. What did Marushka think?”

“She said little. She accepted his apology and the emerald necklace and earrings he brought as a gift but I saw her flinch when he put the jewelry around her neck. She knows her place and she knows her father’s dire situation.

I think she hopes everything will be all right and the spawn of a vermore will keep his word.

” Dmitri poured himself a second drink and offered the bottle to Benet, who declined with a shake of his head.

“The couple isn’t going to be together in private until after the wedding. ”

“Are you still her bodyguard?”

“Of course. Only the Empress can end my duty and reassign me, which I believe she’ll do on the day of the wedding.

Vasili shows her only his best behavior and he won’t want me anywhere near Marushka once she becomes his wife.

” Dmitri’s broad shoulders slumped. “I pray to my goddess to work a miracle to prevent this fate for my devochka but I fear the worst. After all these years here in Outlier and watching no less than four Empresses and their despicable courts ruin the lives of others, this situation is the one breaking my heart.”

“Mine too and I just got here.”

Giving him a searching look, Dmitri said, “You have feelings for her, don’t you?”

“I could if I let myself,” Benet admitted. “She’s sweet and smart and beautiful. She’s genuine in all she does, no games, no wiles. But we both know Marushka is above my level.”

“The Grand Duchess Marushka is, yes, undoubtedly. You’ve yet to see her assume that role but I have and she can project an icy exterior with the best of them.

The woman underneath? Much as you describe her.

I managed to get a few moments alone with her and told her of your concern. She was grateful.”

Benet had to be content with the secondhand message.

The duke was still in residence the next day according to the servants and Benet had no contact with Marushka.

He put in a full day of training, trying to keep his mind away from thoughts of her, with mixed success.

After dinner, Dmitri went to his room to read private comms he’d gotten from contacts at Court and Benet took his feelgood and went to sit outside.

He was sitting with his feet up, gazing at the stars and hoping Kyden knew where he was when Boris and Oksana came loping into the yard, coming to him for pats and scratches.

He dispensed those with enthusiasm, asking them, “Does your mistress know you’re here?

Do I need to take you back to the house for her? ”

Next second he caught a whiff of her perfume and a sensation like a jolt of electricity ran though all his nerve endings.

“She does indeed know her dogs are here,” Marushka said softly. “I told them to find you and they came straight here.”

Both dogs went to her now, begging for attention as if they’d been ignored for hours.

Laughing she knelt to pet them and allow the pair to lick her face.

Benet enjoyed the scene, committing it to memory.

Her bruises had faded, no doubt due to med robo treatment and the sight of the beautiful woman and her two perpetually ‘smiling’ pets created a warm sensation in his heart.

“I wish you could always be as carefree,” he said.

Rising, she came to join him on the couch. “As do I.”

“Your father left?”

“This afternoon, with many instructions and admonishments left behind.” She shrugged. “I’ll ignore them all, I think. Not much time of freedom left to me. Did Dmitri tell you about our meeting of the two families?”

“He gave me the highlights.” Benet shifted uncomfortably, wanting to say much more but holding his anger and indignation in abeyance.

“It went about as expected,” she said, petting Oksana, who laid her head on Marushka’s knee and gazed adoringly at her.

“Vasili’s mother lectured me with a bunch of utter nonsense about how boys will be boys and they like to play rough and I must have misunderstood the affection he was trying to show me?—”

“If you repeat one more word that bitch said to you, I’m likely to put my fist through the wall,” Benet said, jaw clenched. “You know none of that is true. I was in the room and I saw what he was doing.”

She picked at a thread on the hem of her skirt. “Is it sad I’m reduced to hoping he’ll be satisfied once I give him an heir and then he’ll leave me alone and pursue his fun and games with mistresses?”

“I’d give anything to take you away from all of this,” Benet said. The life she was describing was as cold and empty as anything he’d ever heard.

“That’s not exactly an option though, is it?

” She reached over and took his hand. “I appreciate the sentiment more than you’ll ever know.

I would say I wish I’d met you years ago but even then I was destined for a political marriage to get my father and the estate out of trouble. I always understood my fate.”

Benet pulled her onto his lap and she came willingly, curling up against his chest.

“I like your heartbeat,” she said after a minute of silence. “So strong, so steady. Like you.”

She was testing the limits of his self-control and he gave up on concealing his true feelings. Drawing a deep breath, he said, “Marushka, I?—”

She put her finger over his lips. “No, don’t. Whatever you were going to say won’t help the situation and I want to be at peace tonight with you. I think we feel the same but saying the words will only make things worse for both of us.”

Benet was anything but peaceful. His emotions were in turmoil over what had happened to her and what her future was likely going to be.

He was also holding an attractive woman he cared for and his body was responding accordingly.

Marushka turned on his lap—she had to feel his arousal—and hugged him, which pressed her breasts against his chest. The points were curled tight and he bit back a groan.

“Kiss me?” she whispered.