Allison Chomko allowed herself a husky laugh as she ran her long fingernails in patterns across the man’s naked chest, then used the thumb and forefinger nails to lightly pinch Ituri’s dark nipple. The man gasped, stiffened, and slowly relaxed as she stroked her fingernails down, around his navel and into the damp mat of his pubic hair. As her fingernails continued to trace their way into the man’s ultimate erogenous zone it brought a low moan from his lips.

She met his longing gaze with her own steely blue stare. “What do you think would be enough? A berth down at Corporate Mine? The chance to be your kept woman as I reveled in the splendor of the mine’s cafeteria? Perhaps took evening strolls along the scenic chain-link fence on the mine perimeter? Or were you thinking of just buying me for all time? Maybe with a couple of gemstones? Rubies are always good, especially if you can find more of the pigeon-blood reds the size of a hen’s egg.” She frowned. “But wait. Don’t I already have a safe full of those? What, I wonder, could you buy me with?”

Ituri made a pained face that drew his dark eyebrows together. “It always comes down to SDRs doesn’t it?”

“That, and power, Desch. Though, in a sense, they are two faces of the same thing. Wealth gives power, and power attracts wealth. It’s an equation that’s as old as humanity. No one, not even The Corporation for all of its vaunted claims of providing social justice, blind equality, and systemic brotherhood for all has ever risen above the sordid reality of wealth and power.”

“I know.”

She could see him struggling for the right words. Cut him off before he could make a fool of himself. “You don’t want to say anything dumb. I appreciate the honesty, and I certainly value your company. Otherwise, I wouldn’t take you to my bed for any price. But sex for money is as far as it goes. Don’t delude yourself with sloppy romantic shit, or images of love and a caring relationship where you sweep me off my feet. You’ll only humiliate yourself.”

He nodded, a faint quiver of a smile teasing the corner of his mouth. “That just makes you more attractive, you know? There’s never any misunderstanding, no wheedling or play acting. You just tell it like it is. The other women. Dalia and Angelina. They overact, especially when they’re bored and just doing a job.”

“Maybe I’d better have a talk with them.”

“Ali, don’t. It’s part of the game. Most of the guys coming here are looking for just what they’re giving. Right down to the faked orgasms.”