Steel and Promise Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Acknowledgments

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-one

  Chapter Forty-two

  Chapter Forty-three

  About the Author

  Books Available from Bold Strokes Books

  Synopsis

  Courtesan Cailyn Derys serves the passions of the noble classes—but she’s never served anyone like Teran Nivrai. Everyone whispers about the reclusive noblewoman, indulging her penchant for cruel passions on a private, hidden planet. She’s even modified her body with retractable steel claws. Drawn by curiosity, Cailyn can’t resist a meeting. Is Lady Nivrai the demon everyone whispers about, or have gossip and scandal made a monster of her?

  Sex and pain draw Cailyn in, but the loneliness Cailyn sees in everyone’s favorite villain keeps her there. When the ruling Councils decide to use Teran’s gift for inflicting pain—and her claws—against their enemies, will Cailyn discover that the monster is real?

  Steel and Promise

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Steel and Promise

  © 2016 By Alexa Black. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-806-1

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: December 2016

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editor: Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Susan Ramundo

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, thanks to Theo. If not for you, this book would still be “that old thing I wrote years ago,” and “getting published someday” would still be a dream I’d given up on. Thanks to you and to Toni for believing in this book, and reminding me to believe in myself.

  And thanks both to Theo and to Kat for such thorough beta reading, aka putting me through hell to make sure everything worked right.

  Thanks to Cindy, my editor, for catching everything they didn’t, and for giving me valuable advice on how to turn weaknesses into strengths. And thanks to the rest of the BSB team for being so welcoming and encouraging.

  Dedication

  To Kat D and Theo T, for their help and for their friendship.

  To Lexy P, for her boundless enthusiasm for this book.

  Chapter One

  Cailyn didn’t know what she expected, but the woman in front of her surely wasn’t it.

  Everyone knew Lady Nivrai had modifications, and everyone knew she’d spent a small fortune to get them. But Cailyn didn’t see any implants in this woman’s forehead, face, or short, muscular arms.

  That should have been a relief. Less implants meant skin she could touch, caress, comfort. Other courtesans might find modifications sexy, brag to themselves or others about the unique features of the people they had served. But Cailyn liked people she could reach.

  Still, this was Teran Nivrai. The sheer normalcy of the woman in front of her unnerved her. High cheekbones, an oval face, thin lips. Sculpted eyebrows, a little angular, but nothing too harsh. Only the color of her eyes looked remarkable—an icy gray almost as pale as her skin.

  That fit, at least. She looked like Cailyn should coax her into a walk outside.

  None of the rumors agreed on exactly what Lady Nivrai had done to herself. But the whispers all said elaborate and sharp.

  Horns. Teeth replaced with knives. Spines emerging from her back. A barbed metal tail. Daggers that emerged from the skin of her palms to drop into her hands.

  She’d even heard that Teran had steel wings, modeled after demon’s wings from stories. Whether they were supposed to emerge from under her skin, or whether Teran hid them away under cloaks and capes, Cailyn had never been sure.

  As for the real Teran, she wore her short hair too severely to call pretty, cropped bangs slanting at a diagonal across her forehead. Her eyebrows arched at a sharp angle too, and her lips looked a little bloodless. But they curled up in a smile that seemed welcoming enough.

  A little harsh, maybe, but hardly the face of a demon.

  Lady Nivrai did wear a cloak, a silver thing that caught the light when she moved. Cailyn stared too long at it, looked for bulges that might pass for wings.

  Don’t be ridiculous, Cailyn Derys. You’re the one standing here naked. Teran Nivrai is just another noble you agreed to serve. Why are you staring like no one has ever hired you before?

  Teran laughed, a clear sound. She spread her arms in greeting. “Welcome. Are you looking for my wings or my spines?”

  Cailyn blushed. She dropped to her knees with a practiced motion. “Neither, my lady.”

  Teran stepped closer. “I could punish you for lying, you know,” she said. Her hands moved to Cailyn’s breasts, and Cailyn tensed. What was she expecting? A blow? A pinch?

  But Teran only ran her hands over Cailyn’s flesh with slow, deliberate care. Cailyn’s nipples hardened under her ministrations. She plans to seduce me, Cailyn thought, and shuddered.

  She should have welcomed it. Guild law said nothing about keeping the courtesans you hired happy. And Cailyn was the one whose hands and lips and flesh would offer solace and seduction alike. She never expected from the nobles what she meant to give herself.

  But how much should she welcome from a woman who supposedly wasted all her credits transforming herself into a demon, who even the courtesans who served the dark channels avoided?

  “But I won’t punish you.” A hand reached out to pull Cailyn’s chin up. “I’ve never needed excuses to do what I will.”

  Teran’s other hand moved down her body, then paused a moment to lightly caress Cailyn’s genitals. Cailyn tried to keep herself still. It might have been better to react as her body, against her own better judgmen
t, wanted to. It was often wise for a courtesan to feign more desire than she felt. To actually feel it was a minor blessing.

  Still, she couldn’t give away all her secrets. Cailyn tamped down her desire and looked down, letting her hair spill over her face. She hoped it looked inviting.

  “I surprise you,” Teran said. Her fingers fluttered at Cailyn’s throat in a quiet, possessive caress. Then they withdrew.

  Cailyn’s neck stung, a sharp pinprick of pain. What—?

  Her hand flew to the spot. She tapped at it and felt moisture. She pulled her hand away and looked down. Drops of bright red stained her fingertips.

  Cailyn’s body went cold.

  “My lady?” she stammered as the pricking blossomed into hurt.

  Half the pain came from the way it unnerved her. If she could calm down it might feel less intense. But how could she, alone and naked in a helldemon’s lair with a contract to fulfill?

  She looked at Teran, who looked down at her hand, the mild smile still on her lips. Something metallic glittered under the cold lights of the room.

  Claws, Cailyn realized. She has claws.

  They jutted from the tips of her fingers, polished and bright. A drop of red stained one.

  Teran moved her fingers. The claws retracted, leaving what looked like silver-painted fingernails. Cailyn couldn’t help but stare.

  Teran laughed and extended them again. They locked into place with a soft click.

  “Do you like them?” Teran asked. “They cost eighty thousand credits.”

  Cailyn was too well trained to let her jaw drop. But her eyes widened. Eighty thousand.

  Why?

  And did she like them? The wound stung. Her neck was bleeding. What kind of question was that? She’d come here to serve Teran, and only Teran’s pleasure mattered. At least if Teran wanted to do something like this.

  Teran didn’t wait for an answer. Perhaps she hadn’t expected one. She talked on, but Cailyn couldn’t focus.

  She heard something about the newsteel the implants were made of, something else about the mechanism that made them work. It reminded Cailyn of a noble she’d once served with a penchant for growing flowers, the way he talked about a strain of rose he’d perfected.

  What should she do? Praise them, probably. She’d come here to please her lady, after all. And to offer acceptance. She shouldn’t have come here if she couldn’t do that.

  Her mouth worked, but no sound came.

  Teran’s other hand rested near Cailyn’s vulva. Cailyn lowered her head again, and she glanced down to see similar silver. Teran’s hand rested too close to her most sensitive flesh.

  I should get out of here. I can make three thousand again easily.

  But not from one meeting. It was exorbitant, of course. No one in their right mind would accept an offer from someone like Lady Teran Nivrai if it hadn’t been.

  No one in their right mind would still be here, she reminded herself.

  “You’re shivering,” Teran said. Sharp metal touched the skin just above Cailyn’s vulva, not piercing her skin. Teran’s eyes locked on hers.

  She’s good with those, Cailyn thought before she could stop herself. She’d have cut me by now if she wasn’t.

  Maybe it would flatter Teran to tell her she was powerful. Maybe Cailyn could make a seduction of it. But even now, those strange eyes looked warm enough to get lost in.

  “Those things aren’t reassuring, my lady,” she said. “How do I know you won’t harm me?”

  Tinkling laughter answered her. “If I wanted to do that, I would have done it already.”

  Cailyn couldn’t answer. Teran’s hand, the claws now retracted, moved back to her breasts and moved on them. Cailyn’s skin tingled where Teran’s hands passed.

  She couldn’t understand why. This woman could pierce a hole through her nipples. Or cut them off, if she’d heard Teran right and those things were made of newsteel.

  “I want to believe that,” Cailyn stammered. Two curved pieces of warm, sharp metal encircled her nipple. She tried not to think about it. “My lady.”

  Teran smiled. “Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to trust me.”

  She leaned over to kiss Cailyn. Cailyn opened her mouth in a show of eagerness. She’d trained long years to give pleasure.

  She felt fingers and steel in her hair. Would the claws tear it, or not? Lady Nivrai might leave her hair more intact than her skin.

  That thought did nothing to ease her mind.

  Teran pulled Cailyn’s head back, just far enough to be uncomfortable. Cailyn felt fingers on her neck. The claws traced lines down it but did not cut.

  “You’re very beautiful,” Teran said.

  Cailyn wanted to laugh. The famous helldemon of Nivrai couldn’t think of anything better to say than…that?

  She didn’t know what might happen if she laughed at Teran. She did allow herself a smile.

  “Amused?” Teran asked. She touched the small nick on Cailyn’s neck, the trickle of blood dripping from it. She peered at the blood on her finger.

  “There’s no need to be frightened,” Teran said with a chuckle of her own. “I told you before that I have no interest in punishing you.”

  “You—?”

  “I’m quite content to leave that nonsense to guilt-filled flagellants who need excuses. Go ahead and laugh at me, if you like. It won’t make me do any more. Or any less.”

  Cailyn had nothing to say.

  “Put your hands behind your back and hold them there.”

  Cailyn obeyed. She wondered why Teran didn’t just bind them. After all, she’d already made her bleed.

  Then again, if Teran had such disdain for the way other people did things, maybe she wouldn’t rush to tie people up, either.

  The tip of a claw rested against Cailyn’s chest. She’s going to cut me now, Cailyn realized. For real.

  It didn’t matter if she laughed, Teran had said. So the laugh came: high-pitched, shaky, and utterly meaningless.

  The newsteel pierced her flesh, between and above her breasts. It stayed there a long time. Then it moved down. The stinging sensation blossomed in Cailyn’s flesh.

  She stared at Teran. What did Teran want? What did this do for her? But Cailyn couldn’t wonder long. The pain made her vision swim. Tears gathered in her eyes. She held them back.

  Another slash down her chest, quick as gasping, and it was over. Cailyn realized, with a shudder she no longer bothered to repress, that the last half of the cut had been fast for a reason.

  Mercy.

  The kiss that came after relieved her. It felt like what she knew. She opened her mouth to it, and fingers, soft and gentle, grazed her nipples.

  And in the middle of it all, impossible to ignore, burned a line of red fire down her chest.

  The cloak slid from Teran’s shoulders. Cailyn could see little. She wrapped her arms around Teran and felt bare flesh under her hands.

  She had nothing on under that cloak, Cailyn realized. She couldn’t help but grin.

  Cailyn let her fingers wander. She didn’t have to feign desire, not now, though that damned cut hurt. She found no other implants on Teran’s back. Unless they could hide themselves under skin.

  So this was the helldemon of Nivrai’s body. Unaltered skin over tight muscles. That wasn’t so terrifying. Cailyn brought her mouth to Teran’s breasts. Methodical noblewomen weren’t the only ones who knew how to tease nipples, after all.

  Teran’s hands wrapped around her. When the small pinpricks came, in the middle of her back, like the kneading of a contented cat, she expected them. They didn’t hurt so much. Not any more. Not in the midst of pleasure.

  Cailyn wondered at it. Did Teran even realize she’d pricked her again, or did the instinct come with having claws?

  Maybe Cailyn had melted this woman a little. She looked up into Teran’s eyes and slid one of her hands downward.

  A slender hand gripped her wrist, surprisingly hard. “Not that,” Teran said. “Follow me.”


  Cailyn scowled. Most nobles delighted in being handled by the courtesans they hired. She was here to touch, to caress, to ease. The rejection confused her. The cuts on her chest and back throbbed, as if in sympathy. But Teran only walked away, her steps as unhurried as her touch had been.

  Teran led her into a bedroom so small and sparse Cailyn could hardly believe her eyes. Teran was a minor noble, but she did own the planet.

  The bed was a decent size, but hardly looked comfortable at all. A nightstand in steely gray sat pressed against it. A low dresser in the same color stood against one wall, under a mirror.

  Here, every wall was white, except for one. That entire wall, top to bottom, was transparent, an enormous window. Beyond lay a small garden, a verdant patch of green amid the dull gray. Yellow and red flowers blossomed from the green ground, ringing a small fountain. She hadn’t seen anything so bright anywhere in Teran’s halls, or anywhere else in Nivrai for that matter.

  She wrenched her gaze back into the gray severity of the room. She couldn’t even see much furniture, which surprised her almost as much as the garden. Teran might not have wings or spines, but the rumors were right about her tastes. Where were the crosses to be tied to, the benches to be bent over, the floggers or switches that should have hung on the walls? Did Teran have another room for that?

  But if she did, she wasn’t leading Cailyn there. Or were those claws all she needed?

  She watched, puzzled, as Teran walked over to the far wall and pressed her hand to it. The space around her hand glowed. A lock, Cailyn realized. Fancy ones were sometimes keyed to fingerprints.

  As the glow faded, a panel slid over the window, the same pale gray of the walls. If Cailyn hadn’t seen the window, she would never have known the window existed. A moment later, the wall Teran touched slid back, revealing a hidden alcove.

  Which contained most of the things Cailyn had just wondered about.

  “It’s tiny!” Cailyn said, laughing again.