Rae Stewart closes her eyes as Lu's calloused thumb slides across her cheekbone. A familiar cord of heat tightens in her throat and shoots through her stomach. Take me in your arms, she wants to say. Hold me forever. He shifts and becomes indistinct. Dawn spreads gray light at the curtain edges. She swims up from the dream, struggling against an avalanche of emotion and rubbing tears from her eyes. Damn, she whispers.

I hate this. She strides to the bathroom, welcoming the ready litany of her day's duties. It will be just another day of managing people, making decisions, dealing with a crisis or two, but the work will settle over her mind and block out the past, unwelcome feelings, and anything else that might distract her. The focus, today and every day, has to be the House and its successful operation, her smashingly successful enterprise where Lu has become just another employee. An involuntary sob shudders her chest as she turns on the shower. ** Lu Haverson lies in bed waiting for it to end. Rae's soft lips brush his. His groin responds, moving against her welcoming warmth.

Her wetness. Christ. He sits up and rubs his face. Participating in Rae's dreams exhausts him. He really does need a good night's sleep to help him meet the demands of his clientele. Rae's clientele. He shakes his head and grimaces. Surely by now he has moved past what he felt for Rae.

Now it's about the work, not just pleasuring the women but knowing the energy generated in their pleasuring flashes along the grid to perform its healing magic. It's something he's proud of, something he helped make possible. It should be enough. ** Josh Carter adjusts his hat as he steps off the bus, squinting his eyes against the glare as he surveys the compound. House of Rae. His target. Finally. ** Rae gazes at the young man standing in front of her, contemplating her choices.

At nineteen and already flexing a perfectly sculpted body, Josh is a mouthwatering temptation, sure to be a big hit with the clientele. No way would she hire him for the gray water position, not after his abysmal score on the security screening. But as a pleasure partner? Her tongue slides over her lips as she meets his visibly angry green stare. Possibly a virgin, or at least very little experience. A smile quirks her mouth. Yes, she'll offer him the position, assuming he passes her, um, interview. It should be obvious if he's a terrorist. He won't accept the job.

** Lu takes one look at the kid Rae just hired. White bands of luminosity radiate from his body, triggering Lu's worst fears. It doesn't matter how much native ability he may have, whether he's an Indigo like Rae says. The file spells it out. The kid's a plant. ** It's a radical social climate in 2055. Food and water and fire are daily challenges. Sex is a legal enterprise and pleasure energy is the new penicillin.

Now, at the Kansas City House of Rae, an eight-day war of desire rages.