Page 150 of Trove’s Purpose

There was only a single door in here, partially concealed behind elegant drapes along the wall. Which he fully expected of a prison.

After finishing his look around, he focused back on Rinnicks. She was already glaring at him, irritated that he wasn’t paying attention to her.

And that’s all it was.

She expected a certain reaction from him. That’s why she had him here, like this. Sitting up, nude and therefore – theoretically – vulnerable. She had put herself in a seat of power, wearing a slinky, silky silver dress – the brightest thing in the room – right in his field of view. There could be no way he would miss her the moment he opened her eyes.

He was meant to be surprised. Scared. Confused. She was supposed to be taking control from him immediately upon his return to consciousness.

But instead, he had spouted nonsense she didn’t understand, then set to ignoring her as he looked around the room like she was the most unimportant thing in it.

And as far as he was concerned, she was.

Except that he was rather sure she would have the remote for his mag cuffs somewhere on her. Or, if not, it would be nearby. They would be used to control him, after all, and he couldn’t service or pleasure her if he was strung up like this.

He just had to find where she had it. Certainly not under that skin tight dress. There was nothing at all that would allow for any kind of storage without leading to some kind of bump. It was stuck to her like a second skin, highlighting all the long, elegant angles of her green body.

Objectively beautiful.

Absolutely unappealing.

Trove gave her the kind, open smile he reserved for the prostitutes that came to him full of disbelief of the things the others promised he could do. The ones who were certain they’d be the ones to ‘break’ him and conquer the unconquerable. It was a smile that was completely harmless, totally guileless, open and innocent.

He met their challenge with softness. With ease. Without fear. Without confrontation.

And upset their balance then as certainly as he upset Rinnicks’ now.

“I must say, I’m impressed,” he opened, deliberately ignoring her earlier question, behaving as though he really were praising her. “How did you get me here?”

To her credit, Rinnicks regained her composure quickly. She returned to reclining on her throne, bringing her pipe to her lips.

“Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not as though it’s hard to get ahold of a simple delivery person. You all might be well trained, but you’re still just another delivery company. It’s not difficult to get males like you right where I want you.”

“Ah,” Trove said, understanding in an instant. “Indeed. No ordinary delivery company could stand against you.”

For all of her wealth and power, she wasn’t able to see past their false identities. She didn’t realize who she was provoking.

Lately, it seemed like their enemies had all figured out who they were and what they had done, and so they were cautious against them. It was refreshing to come up against someone who took what they saw at face value.

Disappointing, but a little refreshing.

“I paid someone to get you alone on that station and bring you to me,” Rinnicks continued, so high on her own victory, she hadn’t heard the sarcasm in his easy tone. She saw only what she wanted to see – subservience and well-deserved flattery. “He did his job well and was compensated for it. I am a fair and honest businessperson, you see. I treat my employees well, and I pay them what they deserve. And I always get what I want.”

The words she had once tossed at him, a threat before, were a smug fulfillment of a promise now.

“I’m not so prideful that I can’t admit when I’ve been bested,” Trove agreed easily.

“Indeed.” Rinnicks used her hands to push herself to her feet. Slow and sensuous. Making sure to show off her entire body as she did so. And she was lovely.

But Trove’s cock remained as soft and uninterested as it ever was.

He had never desired a females’ touch in the past. Now that he had his mate, even with their bond unfinished, he was more turned off than ever.

His smile was unchanged, but his skin crawled as Rinnicks began to move over him, on all fours, crawling closer with a familiar look of hunger in her eyes.

“If you had just done as I asked before, I wouldn’t have had to do this,” she said, placing herself in his lap, straddling him in a way that made his stomach turn. Her touch, her scent, her heat – he hated all of it. And only careful practice, years of training at the painful hands of females more terrifying than her, kept him from being sick all over her now.

That would, unfortunately, be detrimental at the moment. He needed more information, and he needed to find where that magcuff control was.