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“Excuse me?”
“I’m going to outfit you with House Ombra tech that Ganivet security won’t be able to see,” he says. “A tracker in case they blackbag you, so I can find you. The signal beacon you’ll initiate when you need an extraction. They’ll perform a strip search when you arrive at the compound, so you need Aelyd tech.”
“I know how to hide my gear,” I say.
“Like that knife in your boot?” he says. “Not by our standards, sweetheart.”
The term of endearment takes me off guard, and I can’t help but feel like it’s both meant to pacify me and to throw me off. I steel myself against him, more annoyed by the nickname than anything.
“I told you,” I say. “It’s Penn. Not ‘sweetheart.’”
“Okay…Penn,” he says. “Get up. Undress.”
I lick my lips and shove the chair out from behind me as I stand. I look Corvus in the eye as I tuck my fingers under the hem of my hoodie and pull it over my head, revealing the black athletic crop top I’m wearing underneath. He leans back in his seat like I’m putting on a show for him, one muscular arm draped over the back of his chair.
“This isn’t a performance,” I mutter. “Get your damn tech.”
He laughs and stands, then moves to a panel in the wall, keying in a code before sliding it open. Inside is a set of shelves lined with various devices, most no bigger than my thumbnail. I take note of the panel’s contents before he slides it shut again, turning around just as I’m shimmying out of my jeans.
His eyes slide up my thighs, and all I can think about is that pierced tongue doing the exact same thing. I know their senses are stronger than humans’. I wonder if he can smell how turned on I am.
Fuck. Am I ready for this? I’ve only just arrived and I can barely control myself.
“How naked do you need me?” I ask with a scowl.
“Need, or want?” he asks.
I bite my tongue as I bark out a laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t think Atlas would appreciate it if I showed up already spoiled by some other male.”
“I’m messing with you,” Corvus says. “And besides…I get the feeling that you’ve already been spoiled a few times over.”
“Wow,” I say. “You really know how to make a girl feel special.”
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.” He walks closer to me, placing two other devices on the table while he holds two in his hands. They look like plain diamond studs, but I get the feeling they’re a lot more than that. “You’ll want to wear these at all times; they’re dosed with a sedative strong enough to knock out an irkut.”
“Irkut?”
“It’s a…” He pauses, frowning. “An animal similar to what you call horses on Earth.”
“Okay,” I say. I take the earrings from him and put them in my piercings carefully. I’ve got a whole line of piercings up the shell of my ear, silver hoops and studs, and Corvus seems to notice them at that moment. “Like piercings?”
He tilts his head. He has to know I saw that tongue piercing earlier. “Got any in more interesting places?”
“Maybe,” I say. “Do you need me to take off more of my clothes?”
Corvus gives me a wicked smile. “Shirt. Off.”
I hook my fingers in the athletic shirt and pull it off, leaving me completely bare to him besides my underwear. I didn’t wear a bra; I rarely do, when it’s more comfortable to go without. It gives him a full view of my nipple piercings, which he takes in with a cool gaze, though his eyes flare gold again.
I’m starting to think that means something.
Corvus turns back to the table to pick up another device, holding it delicately in his hands. It looks like a sticker more than anything else, the tech with adhesive on one side and plain silver on the other. “This is your tracker,” he says. “Because Aelyds understand that human women are…sensitive…they’re less likely to search your erogenous zones when you arrive at the compound.”
“Makes sense,” I say.
He peels the adhesive off carefully, the silver practically blending in with his iron-shine fingers. “It’s good you have a piercing, actually,” he says. “May I?”
“Didn’t think you’d ever ask,” I say.
