Spider Bight [Deep Space Mission Corps 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Tymber Dalton

get used to seeing the naked men working all around. In the gardens lining the paths leading to the ruling palace, they worked without making eye contact, like silent ghosts.
    She tried to keep her scientist’s hat firmly in place. “Is this all part of the Imperial Home?”
    “Oh, yes. It is the center of our city.” Emi didn’t notice any supervisors, male or female, overseeing the workers. Baltin noticed Emi’s blatant curiosity. “Only certain utility males are allowed access like this inside the grounds of the Imperial Home. Otherwise, only our trainers, breeders, and the Imperial pleasure males are allowed to come and go freely. Notice the utility males’ collars?”
    Emi had. Emerald green with what looked like a small gold crest in the front. “What does that mean?”
    “That is the Imperial Seal. It is every utility male’s wish to be accepted at the very least as an Imperial worker. It is a very high honor.”
    Another guard at the entrance to a huge home opened the door for them and bowed her head at Baltin as they passed. They climbed an ornate stairway, inlaid with gold, from the looks of it. The Imperial Home was lavishly decorated inside, and climate controlled. All the guards they encountered were women. They tipped their heads respectfully to Emi and Baltin as they passed.
    Emi saw no men working inside.
    They paused at a huge set of double doors, where Baltin spoke to a female guard in their native language. The guard nodded, then led the way as a small cadre of guards fell into step behind them.
    More long, twisting passages. I hope they don’t expect me to find my way out of this maze by myself . After what felt like minutes, the guards stopped before another large, ornate set of doors and opened them. They stepped out of the way and bowed to Emi and Baltin.
    “Come, Doctor,” Baltin said, leading the way.
    The middle-aged woman seated at a desk under the windows stood at their approach. Baltin bowed her head. “Mauri Dob’antu, this is Captain Doctor Emilia Hypatia, from the DSMC vessel Tamora Bight .”
    “Thank you, Baltin,” the woman said in rich, warm tone, her English standard only slightly more accented compared to Baltin’s. “You may wait for us outside.”
    “Thank you, Mauri.”
    When they were alone, the woman smiled. “So how did you like your preview of our society, Captain Doctor Hypatia?”
    “Just Doctor is fine.”
    “Very well. Your impressions, Doctor Hypatia?”
    “Very…interesting.”
    One of the woman’s eyebrows arched skyward as a slight smile curved her lips. “That is an unusual choice of words. I take it you do not approve?”
    “I never said that, ma’am.”
    The woman laughed. “Relax, Doctor. I am…how do you say? Teasing you. And you may call me Mauri.” She pointed to a large, comfy sofa along one wall. “Please, let us sit and talk.” She indicated the other end. Emi sat. As Mauri sat, she touched a button on a console on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
    Almost immediately, a man appeared through a small door Emi hadn’t noticed before. As naked as the other men, only his collar was of a rich purple, bearing the same gold seal.
    Mauri said something to him in Moran. He bowed and quickly left the room. “He will bring us some refreshments,” she explained as she settled back. “Now, please, may I ask you something?”
    “Of course.”
    “I am very intrigued. I heard from Commander Ren’yawlkin that you own not one, but three men. Is that correct? I was left puzzled by her explanation. I suspect I either misunderstood her or she was confused.”
    Emi blushed a little, but nodded. “I don’t own my men. They are my husbands.”
    Mauri looked puzzled. “Husbands?”
    “That’s right. On Earth, we allow plural marriages. They are married not just to me, but to each other as well.”
    “Oh, I do not doubt they are bonded to each other. Such is the nature of males. They seek their own. But how do you deal with them?”
    “I