The Pleasure Palace. Evangeline Anderson

      Mostly, she wanted desperately to examine the emotions she’d felt coming from Ty during the searing kiss they had shared. The passion and intensity she’d felt coming from him, the desire to possess her utterly, was both frightening and intriguing. But, she reminded herself, everything he had said and felt was just an aftereffect of the hypersleep—he’d said so himself. She knew she had certainly woken up feeling frisky, which was how she ended up in a lip-lock with her aggravating partner in the first place. Still, it was hard to also discount what Faron had told them both…There were stories about D’Lonian males—that they mated for life, that they were the most dominant and relentless lovers…but Shaina wasn’t quite sure if she believed all that…

      “Not quite sure you believe what?” Ty was looking curiously at her from across the small table covered with containers holding small quantities of high-energy food supplements, and Shaina realized she’d been projecting through the link again. Oh Goddess, would she ever get used to these bloody, double-damned symbiotes?

      “Nothing. Just…nothing.”

      “In the second personal chamber you will find appropriate clothing for your role as a Mistress and slave owner on Syrus Six. Please put it on and return to the ship’s central chamber,” Faron said. “Master Tyson and I will meet you there.”

      “Fine.” Shaina left the food prep area quickly and went to find her costume. It was, as the Glameron had promised, laid out on a plush mattress that was furred with the same soft, comforting gray moss that lined the walls. Faron had explained that the moss was a mood sensor, genetically engineered to detect the emotions of the person touching it and produce the necessary endorphins to promote a sense of peaceful calm. Shaina wished she could lie on the mattress and let it soothe and comfort her until she felt composed but she knew there was no time. They only had the rest of this day period to learn their roles. By the next time cycle they would be orbiting Syrus Six and their deception would begin. Reluctantly, she picked up her costume and started putting it on.

      A half-cup gold-and jewel-encrusted bustier was first. Looking at it lying on the bed, Shaina estimated that it was easily worth more than she made as a Peace Control Officer in an entire solar year. When she wiggled into it, she was dismayed to realize that the jeweled cups didn’t actually cover her breasts at all. Instead, they acted as a type of support to present them for public display, thrusting them up and out in a way that was almost obscene. Wearing it, Shaina felt like her breasts were some sort of exotic fruit, jiggling on a tray.

      Luckily, a short, tight jacket made of shimmering golden cloth was also included in the costume. Shaina put it on and looked for a way to fasten it but there were no buttons or zippers or magno strips to be found, nothing but a thin, gold chain to connect one lapel to the other. It was just as well, she reflected unhappily; the jacket wouldn’t completely close over her breasts anyway. The best she could do was to hook the chain and try to be careful how she moved her arms. The slightest motion in any direction caused the jacket to gape and presented a full view of her nipples, which were rubbed erect by the scratchy golden fabric barely covering them.

      Time to put on the bottom half of this mess now. At least, Shaina reflected, it couldn’t be much worse than the top.

      She was wrong.

      At first it didn’t look so bad. There was a pair of bikini-cut golden jewel-encrusted panties that matched the bustier, which Shaina thought had to be the most uncomfortable thing she had ever put on. When she did pull them up, she noticed there was a long split running along the front of the panties. For further display or easy access, she wondered uneasily. Or maybe for both? Well, at least they weren’t completely crotchless.

      She was relieved to see that a long golden skirt, made of the same material as the jacket, was provided to go over the peekaboo panties. Her relief was short-lived, because she soon discovered that a long slit ran from hem to waist in the very front of the skirt as well. The skirt had a low waist that showed off her midriff and what looked like the biggest genuine diamond she had ever seen was provided as a belly jewel. The skirt flared out from her hips and had a long, flowing train that would drag on the floor behind her. Shaina wondered briefly if Ty was supposed to walk behind her and hold it up, like the universe’s largest flower girl at a joining ceremony. The thought made her suppress a smile. Maybe she would just let the train drag. She would just have to remember to keep her legs crossed at all times lest she flash anyone who happened to be looking at her.

      Next, came golden high-heeled, calf-length boots that felt like they were made of the hide of some exotic animal. The boots hugged her legs lovingly, actually massaging her calves like a lover’s hands, Shaina realized after a moment. They were easily the softest and most comfortable thing she had on and they almost made the rest of this get-up worth it. Almost.

      Surveying herself in the full-length holo-viewer, Shaina realized that this gold, jewel-encrusted monstrosity made her happy hooker outfit of a few nights back look as prim as a First School girl’s uniform. There were a few golden hair pins with rubies and diamonds as big as the end of her thumb left over and she decided to try an updo to complete her look.

      Struggling with her hair, her arms raised over her head and her breasts completely exposed, it took her a while to notice that Ty had entered her room and was standing directly behind her, watching her do battle with her wayward tresses.

      “Ty! What are you doing here?” She lowered her arms so fast that the golden bustier pinched her. “Ouch! You made me hurt myself!” she scolded nervously.

      “I’m in considerable pain myself. You look gorgeous,” he answered inside her head, giving her that feral grin that showed his sharp, white teeth. Shaina wished he wouldn’t do that until it became absolutely necessary. There was a kind of intimacy in thought communication that was lacking in its verbal counterpart. It was much harder to lie, for one thing.

      “Lie about what?” At least he was talking out loud.

      “Nothing.” She turned to face him, making sure to keep her arms down and her thighs together. At this rate, she’d be walking like a ’bot the entire time she wore this outfit, trying to hide herself.

      “Don’t hide anything. Not from me.” He stepped forward and pulled the edges of her golden jacket apart, revealing her flushed breasts and nipples rubbed erect by the scratchy fabric. She felt frozen in place, unable to move. “Beautiful.” Ty leaned down to plant soft kisses on the top of each breast before letting the jacket fall back into place.

      “Ty…you can’t just…” She was at a loss for words but he understood her meaning anyway.

      “Sorry, sweetheart, but it’s D’Lonian custom to acknowledge beauty when we see it. And I can’t take my eyes off you in that outfit.”

      “Well, it’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever…” she began, backing away from him. Then she caught sight of Ty’s costume and the problems she was having with her own were driven right out of her head.

      The top of his outfit consisted of two wide black leather straps that crisscrossed his broad, muscular chest diagonally and were joined with a round platinum ring in the center. Attached to the ring was a long leather strap that hung down, brushing Ty’s corded abdominal muscles as he breathed and moved. There was a small loop at the end of this strap. Shaina stared at it blankly for a moment.

      “It’s a leash,” Ty whispered through the symbi-link and she tasted a little of his outrage at having to wear such a ridiculous thing. “It was either the leash or the pain collar and I absolutely refused to wear that.”

      “Afraid I might have to discipline you to keep you in line?” She couldn’t resist taunting him a little, trying to take the edge off the tension that was building between them in the small room.

      “Not in the least. I just didn’t like the way it felt. Choked me.”

      The bottom part of his outfit, Shaina saw, was just a simple pair of black leather pants cut low enough to show his hipbones in front and tight enough to make his firm ass look truly spectacular. There was an enormous bulge in the front of the pants that she tried hard not