Creed of Pleasure; the Space Miner's Concubine (The LodeStar Series) by Cathryn Cade Read Free Book Online

listening. He took a deep breath, and let it out, waiting for his thundering heart to slow. It had only been a dream. By far the most vivid of those that plagued him lately. And no wonder, with her under his roof, even at the other end.
    His house was simple but it was big. He liked space around him, craved it. With credit, a man could have rooms and a house as big as he wanted, especially here where there were no other buildings crowding in, no skyscrapers towering over dirty, wet streets. No constant din of traffic, commerce and voices. No stink of too much humanity crowded in.
    He’d built his house on the lower slopes of the mountain, with one range of peaks rising behind and another across the valley. The house blended in with its surroundings, neutral hues and shapes that echoed the blunt squared rocks of the bluffs over the river. Inside, it was spare but luxurious, with chairs and sofas big enough for a man to sprawl out in and room for all his activities and then some.
    He’d added guest rooms, because Logan and Joran visited. Sometimes he had other guests. Stone Masterson and his pilot had stopped more than once, and irridium buyers made the trip to see where the coveted ore came from.  
    All the guest rooms were at the other end of the house from his, because he wanted his space private. Even with several visitors, he could close the door to his suite and have his bedroom, meditation room, study and lav to himself.  
    But this was the first time he’d had two single women under his roof. The pilot, he discounted. She worked for Stark, and anyhow he was pretty sure she was gay. Like having another man here.  
    Taara, on the other hand ... he could feel her presence vibrating like a vein of ore on the other end of a test drill. Exciting, alluring, beckoning him to the glittering core of her.
    He needed to get her out of here.  
    He’d send her back with the cruiser, back to wherever Stark had found her. Give her some credit. He didn’t want her to lose out just because he wasn’t interested in availing himself of her services. Sex work was honest labor, just like anything else. With vaccinations for STIs and pregnancy, it was a viable career choice.  
    Although it was dangerous, since it involved physical contact of the most intimate kind, often in privacy.  
      He scowled into the darkness, his hands clenching on the light sheet that covered him. What was she doing, exposing herself to danger like this? Taara was so delicate. He was a male, much larger than her, in top physical condition. If he lost control, he could hurt or even kill her and who would know, unless she was implanted with a microchip or wore a monitor of some kind? Like many Frontierans, he’d had his comlink surgically implanted over his left ear. From what he’d seen, she had not.
    Surely there was some other way she could earn a living. He’d give her enough credit she didn’t have to barter her body any longer, and she could set herself up doing ... whatever she wanted.  
    And he’d never have to see her again.  
    Jack-knifing up, Creed slid out off his bed and pulled his loose, soft pants up around his waist, fastening them as he walked over to open the sliding door, and step out onto the balcony.  
    He leaned his hands on the railing, the cool night breeze ruffling his hair and cooling his hot, damp skin. He looked out across the valley, a place of shadows in the brilliant starlight. The sky held a panoply of stars, and although two of Frontiera’s moons were down, the nearest one hung in a huge silver crescent over the southern horizon.
    This moon shone with silver promise, but it was out of reach. Like her. He wanted to do more than look at her. He wanted to touch her ... with his hands, with his body. Wanted to bury himself in her like a weapon in a sheath, wanted to drive himself into her endlessly, again and again, in every position he could dream up, holding on until he was sated and drunk on her ... if he could ever