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Orion paused when he realized she wasn’t on the upper deck. He frowned as he traced her signal to the CRD.
CHAPTER48
KAIA
Sutton had been yelling into the roar of the square with some stupid factoids about how the weight distribution of bodies on the CRD affectedColossal’snavigation in minuscule amounts Kaia would never have to care about. She wasn’t about to be a fucking colony ship pilot, steering this behemoth. She wondered if anyone else in her cohort had their eyes on that particular job. Sounded like hell, being responsible for so many souls.
The back of her neck prickled, prompting Kaia to do a sweep of the crowd. There it was. A familiar figure slumped against the smooth wall of the public sandbath house. Orion loomed two or three heads taller than most of the people passing him by, giving him a wide berth.
Were they scared? Kaia wouldn’t blame them. To an uhyre, they may as well be Old Earth cattle—animals humans had raised for consumption.
Orion’s expression was not subject to interpretation. He was waiting.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when she was finally jostled into earshot.
“I should be asking you that, princess.” Orion dragged her out of the stream of bodies and pulled her closer, then into a secluded nook between two makeshift constructions. “You shouldn’t be down here.”
“Why not? Scared of all the commoners?” Kaia began to roll her eyes, but quickly remembered she was supposed to be buttering this man up. Fuck.
“I’m not,” he said. “They wouldn’t dare touch me. Butyoushould be. We have enemies, Kaia. Even in our own colony. A future commander’s wife can be used against us.”
Well, that was rich, considering nobody even knew she was a future commander’s wife.
“Did I miss an engagement announcement where people suddenly know who I’m supposed to be?”
She hoped he didn’t pick up on the trace of sarcasm in her voice because she was trying really fucking hard to control it.
Kaia had resisted bringing forth the topic for weeks. Something felt off. Until it was announced to everyone in the colony, the whole marriage plan could collapse any minute without anybody being the wiser. Which would be just fine for her if her grand plan didn’t involve using that event to get Loran onto the ship.
Orion considered her.
“You know what, princess?” he finally said. “You’re right.”
Kaia didn’t have time to brace or get her bearings as she was dragged into the packed square surrounded by makeshift market stalls. There was a raised platform in the middle, coming into view as the throng parted for Orion.
“Orion, what are you—” He grabbed her waist with both hands and hoisted her onto the platform, above hundreds of heads.
Eyes were beginning to turn, the rumble of the crowd somewhat muted as they noticed Orion Halen and the outsider he was manhandling above them.
He hopped up after her with one long stride and turned her to face him. Rough hands burned into her sides as he hauled her close. Kaia craned her neck to meet his eyes for a clue, but didn’t get a chance to ask again what the fuck was going on because he was already pulling her up and slamming his mouth to hers.
Orion had this way of possessing her when he wanted. He’d done it before after the dinner with his mother, in Kaia’s old cabin. He pried her mouth open with a forceful shove of the tongue. It was all teeth and pressure. Uncomfortable and unyielding. The way his hands roamed up and down her sides in front of all these people made her burn with shame. Kaia winced as his hand moved to her rear and squeezed, igniting the bruises from the previous night. He wasn't deterred, gripping harder until she released a pained whimper.
“What’s gotten—” She tried to curl away, but his hold was iron. His other hand raked up, and she had to pull her dress down as the fabric followed his grasp.
“Nothing’s gottenintome, princess,” he said darkly, mouth harsh against her jaw. “You don’t care though, right? You can take it. Because you can’t get addicted, can you?”
His voice was sickly sweet, a mocking contrast to the metallic exorin she already tasted. He didn’t believe her, she realized. And yet he was still punishing her, his hand now shoving down the front of her dress to clasp her breast in the vise of his palm, threatening to expose her.
Kaia didn’t hear the crowd anymore, only the blood and pounding in her ears. She tried to look around from the corner of her eye, and that was when his mouth split into a smile against her.
“Yes, they’re all watching,” Orion rasped against her lip, then caught it in his teeth for a tug. He was rubbing and ripping and grabbing like she wasn't even a person. Just a toy for him to fuck with. That’s all he ever wanted. Her cheeks ignited, a physical manifestation of the heat in her belly as charged prickles of want skittered along her skin at the thought. He hummed against her, the thumb beneath her dress flicking over her pebbled nipple.
“What a good little slut you’ll make for me, Kaia,” he murmured. “Tell me, are you loving this? All these eyes?”
Kaia wanted to both stab him and fuck him right there, and she wasn’t sure which impulse was winning. She was shaking, and she wasn’t sure what from—the fear, the loathing, or the need?
Her gasp hitched, giving her away. Fuck. Kaia tried to get herself under control, even though her body was swaying with the ache to melt into the hard bulk of her tormentor.
