The Conscripts: Fight or Die (Blood War Book 3) Read Online Free

full of beautiful nude and partially nude women. Some wore full-length dresses that did seem to have a function beyond emphasizing the woman’s figure beneath. They somehow highlighted their perfect breasts or their perfectly groomed pubic hair. One woman had what appeared to be pearls and other precious stones woven into her pubic hair. Others had lights that floated near them carefully calibrated to emphasize portions of their figures. The room was filled with the unique smell of cigarette smoke and an exotic mix of expensive perfumes. These were no regular cigarettes but private blends that contained tobacco and the purchaser’s desired mix of drugs. Dasan felt as if he could get high simply by standing in the room.
    Decades of living the Spartan life of a Legionnaire and then a Marine had not prepared him for this. He stood there drinking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the richest people in the Confederacy. It struck him that it seemed as if they existed in another dimension that did not contain the threat of the Xotolis. Theirs was protected place of privilege and excess, one whose existence hung precariously in the balance at this very moment, yet there was not a single sign of the danger. For Dasan, the privileged sights in the room triggered visions of bloody combat, reflecting the different worlds he seemed to occupy. It was as if all of this display of wealth and power only made him more aware of the world he came from instead of making him forget it. He wondered what Aijuba would think about all of this. He could almost hear her say, “It is the way of things. That is why there are Wolfs and Sols.”
    Dasan, the admiral, and Istas had been standing there for a few moments when the murmuring in the room stopped as everyone realized they had arrived. A woman Dasan had not noticed before turned from talking to a group of people to stare at them. She was simply the most striking woman he had ever seen, and all the other women in the room seemed to pale in her presence. Her streaked blonde hair was finger combed away from her perfect face. She wore little makeup except around her large, beautiful eyes and on her full, rich mouth. She turned. When she did, Dasan saw that she was conservatively dressed compared to the rest of the women in the room. She wore a black dress that was off the shoulder, one breast covered and the other naked. Her nipple was covered with a gold, diamond, and ruby flower held in place with a gold-bar through her pierced nipple. Her figure was rich and full, with large breasts, a small waist, and perfect hips. Her breasts moved gently as she moved. She came striding toward them with the confidence of someone used to having her every move observed. With each step the floor lit up under her with pale-green, effervescent light that would expand with her weight and slowly disappear as she lifted her foot. Her eyes were on Dasan, the admiral, and Istas, taking them in with obvious pleasure. Dasan was still staring when she walked up to them and spoke.
    “Usiche, it is so good to see you. It has been too long,” the woman said as she strode up to them.
    “Kat, you are as beautiful as ever.”
    A small smile crossed Kat’s face and she said, “I love it when you lie to me.”
    Usiche and Kat laughed together in what had to be an old joke between them. Kat leaned forward and kissed the admiral gently on the lips. Then she turned to Istas and said, “This must be Istas. Usiche has spoken of you often, but she never told me just how beautiful you really are, my dear.”
    Kat’s and Istas’s eyes held for a very long moment before Kat said, “I have not had the opportunity to thank you personally for saving my old friend’s life twice now. It is a debt I can’t possibly repay.”
    “It was nothing,” Istas said and held out her hand.
    Kat took it and instead of shaking it, she leaned down and kissed it, in a very formal gesture.
    “Istas, my dear, I do owe you a debt for saving my old