Only now she had a choice. The hardest choice of her entire life.
She could go back to the castle and try to bargain with a man who showed no willingness to negotiate. Or she could ride away and survive with the skills that had been drilled into her for years. She had completed survival exercises many times in a multitude of environments. She had no doubt she could thrive on a planet as hospitable as Devmaer.
This planet really was like Earth. She could head east. Saavi said there wasn’t much on that side of the continent. A few fishing villages, hundreds of miles away, hugged the ocean. Maybe Adriana could restart life as a fisherwoman.
Smokey would help her get there, if she decided to take him. Such an agreeable creature would make her journey so much easier.
She stroked his neck and he responded by nuzzling her with his velvet, whiskered nose. “What do think, Smoky? Could you and I make it to the coast and hide out there? I could build us shelter and feed us.”
Smoky made a low snorting sound.
“You’re right,” she said. “I have no idea what you eat.”
Quickly she realized how little she knew about the care and feeding of a hump-backed equid. His horse-like nature probably meant he was a herd animal like the DNA specimens frozen in the Condor6. Would it be fair to deny him his pack?
The second stumbling block was Kaljeet, of course. Stealing one of his animals might make him more determined than ever to hunt her down.
But the biggest unknown was the fate of her crew. If she ran away, would he leave her crew as free members of society? Or would he enslave them as retaliation for her escape?
Abandoning them to an uncertain fate, would be a dereliction of her duty. Worse than that, she couldn’t live with herself if she followed that path.
Her shoulders slumped.
She had no choice. She had to return to the castle.
Chapter eight
Adriana touched Smokey’s shoulder and he knelt to let her mount. She paused for a minute, drinking in the beauty of her surroundings before tapping him with her left heel and saying, “Home boy.”
On her way back to the castle she reminded herself of what her mission was.
She’d been given the Condor6 to find a new home for her crew of forty and the many plants and animals that were stored in cell form.
The goal was to reestablish a colony on a hospitable planet.
She’d done that. A benign planet had been found. The crew had landed safely. The animal and plant cells samples would be reactivated. The female crew could go off contraception. If all went well, a new generation would be born. The settlement would prosper.
The success of the Condor6 mission was her greatest career achievement but would never be recorded in the timeline of human history. No human other than those on Devmaer would know. The irony was that her success delivered a promising future for the crew but permanent subjugation for her.
The hypnotic rhythm of Smokey’s hoofs soothed her into deeper and deeper thought.
At the very moment she’d sunk into the darkest imaginings of her future, a small ray of light broke through. All was not lost.
Her mood lifted as she realized she might still extract a prize for herself. She’d denied this goal for so long, it was almost forgotten. This wish was so private, so personal, she barely admitted it to herself. Yet, here it was, bobbing on the surface, just when she needed it.
She let out a long peal of laughter, urging Smokey into a trot. The closer they came to the castle, the faster he went. By the time they crossed the bridge to the inner courtyard, he was in a tidy canter.
Adriana rode with ease, her body almost an extension of his. As she turned into the courtyard, she grinned at the small group waiting for her.
When Kaljeet saw Nahla and Saavi from the window of his counting room, he paused. He waited to see Adriana trailing after them. It was five minutes short of two hours since they’d headed out.
He quickly realized that Adriana wasn’t with them, so he made himself walk slowly down the stairs and through the castle to the inner courtyard. He found them taking the tack off their equids. They wore worried, slightly dejected expressions.
Before he said a word, the excuses started to pour out.
Nahla slid the saddle off her equid. “It’s not our fault. She ditched us,” she said, her voice bitter.
“Where and when?”
“Up on the plain.” Saavi glanced at her watch as she slipped the reins off her mount. “Twenty minutes ago?”
“Groom your steeds,” he ordered. “The three of us will wait for her together.” Secretly he was pleased. This was the boldest thing she’d done since the day the Condor6 had crashed down.
He’d been waiting for her to make a dramatic move like this and she hadn’t disappointed him. This was the spirit and courage he wanted in a mate.
If she was half the commander, he expected her to be, she’d be back at the castle before nightfall. She’d go to dinner on his arm as usual, but tonight she’d do it with a well-spanked bottom and his teeth marks on her breasts.
It took a strong, determined woman to love a man like him. Maisy had shown him that. She stood up to him, unafraid and undaunted even when he spanked her, which obviously hadn’t been often enough.
Since she’d died, none of the many women put forward by ambitious families and friends even came close to being powerful enough for him.
Come Lady Adriana. Your master awaits you.
He watched the two young women groom their steeds, suppressing the urge to pace and worry. Perhaps he’d misjudged Adriana after all. Maybe she’d decided a life on the run would be better than life with him.
He refused to believe that so when he caught the sound of hoofbeats, a mighty burden lifted from his shoulders.
Right. Time for lesson number one: do as you’re told or face the consequences.
Adriana slid off the equid grinning. She noted a look of admiration cross Kaljeet’s face before he buried it. Excellent. He should appreciate her many skills.
Nahla and Saavi frowned, telegraphing their annoyance with her. Surely they would have returned in time and wouldn’t be punished for her misbehavior.
Despite how they might be facing punishment because of her, they moved forward to help her take the tack off Smokey.
While they looked after the animal, Kaljeet produced a small knife that he handed to Nahla. “You two know how to cut a good switch. Show Adriana what is expected and then meet me in the counting room.”
Adriana’s chest caved in, partly at the lack of the word lady this time and partly at the word switch. These girls were in trouble because of her. And they were just girls. Even though they may have lived as many years as she had when she made lieutenant, they seemed impossibly young in manner and behavior. Neither of them could be more than about twenty years old. It wasn’t fair that they should be punished for her misdeed.
One thing at a time she told herself. First get the switch. Then beg for leniency for the others.
Neither of them spoke to her all the way to the kitchen garden. It was mostly planted with neat rows of things she didn’t recognize but there was a large thicket of something called rickleberries in one corner.
Nahla went to the berry bushes and started bending different branches. “Watch what I’m doing. If you make a bad choice, whoever is about to punish you will come and cut his own switch and that will be way worse. Guaranteed.”
Her instructions were curt, and she didn’t look Adriana in the eye. Adriana didn’t blame her, but didn’t know where to start apologizing.
Saavi took the knife and cut a cane from the berry bush. “Look for something about eighteen inches long, long enough to cross both your bottom cheeks at once.” She held up her specimen.
Nahla pointed to Saavi’s. “Find one as straight as possible, about the same diameter as your little finger.”
“And strip it of leaves and knots,” Saavi added. “For your own sake.” She swished it through the ai
r, making it whistle in a most threatening way.
Adriana blinked a couple of times, unnerved by that display, before she followed their example. She cut a straight branch and stripped the leaves off it.
“So that’s it then?” she asked.
The girls nodded but said nothing more, as though language had suddenly failed them.
She followed them into the castle and imitated the way they concealed their switches in the long sleeves of their tunics. That trick fooled no one. A young man coming down the wide staircase as they were going up it, looked at their sleeves and grinned. “It looks like you ladies are about to have your bottoms striped. If your master doesn’t do it properly, tell him I’d be glad to help.”
“Piss off Brinley,” Nahla hissed.
Adriana’s neck burned as he grinned when they walked past him.
The counting room seemed to be a fancy name for an office. Kaljeet sat at a large desk. Penrath sat across from him.
When the trio entered, both men rose to their feet which made Adriana smile ruefully. All this chivalry before punishing them like naughty schoolgirls.
She spoke first.
“Please sir,” she said, laying it on thick. She’d never called Kaljeet sir before. “These young ladies shouldn’t be punished. They weren’t ready for my trick, nor could they have been. If they came home late, it was entirely my fault. I will take their punishment as well as mine.”
Kaljeet nodded at Penrath who collected the three switches and laid them in a neat row on the desk.
“I agree,” Kaljeet said. “But I wanted you to spend a few minutes sensing the distress and worry you caused them, to reinforce how easily friendships can be broken. Nahla, Saavi, you were back on time. You may leave. Penrath was simply here in case I changed my mind.”
Penrath held out his arms, “Nahla, Saavi, come with me. Let’s get some afternoon tea.”
As the door to the counting room closed behind them, Adriana forced herself to stand up straight and look Kaljeet in the eye. “Right,” she said. “how does this work?”
Chapter nine
Kaljeet circled Adriana as she stood, military straight with her arms at her side as he circled her.
“Is there any doubt about who is in command here?” he asked.
“Is that a rhetorical question or do you really want an answer?” She stared at the wall in front of her.
“You’re sassy for someone who is about to have her bottom scorched.”
“You’re mean for someone who has acted like a bloody wet nurse to me ever since I arrived.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. She was usually smarter than this, picking her words carefully. What was it about this alien that caused her to be so careless?
She bowed her head. “I’m sorry. That came out harsher than I intended. What I meant was you’ve treated me like I was made from delicate porcelain since I arrived. Now this. A spanking? A switching? What do you call this?”
“Maybe you can come up with a good name or two after we’re done.” He scooped up the three switches. “One switch can make a girl dance while over a man’s knee. Three of them will make you hop like a flea on a hot skillet. But we’ll go to our room for this. I want you naked for it and the lock there is a little stronger.”
Our room. That was his first declaration of joint ownership.
He held out his arm and she took it, trying to ignore the three switches he held lightly in that hand. As they walked the hall to the stairs to his room, they passed a maid who was dusting pictures on the wall. She stopped and bobbed a curtsey. Her eyes traveled from the switches in Kaljeet’s hand to Adriana’s face. Shaking her head, she turned away, not bothering to hide a smile.
Only when the door to the bedroom suite was locked behind them did Adriana speak. “I guess if one maid knows what is in store for me, the entire castle will have the news soon.”
Kaljeet leaned against the mantelpiece. “It’s true. There are few secrets in my home. But everyone will already know that you gave your escorts the slip today and came home late. If I failed to punish you, they might think I was getting soft. I can’t have that. As someone used to command, I’m sure you understand.”
Adriana stood in the center of the room. Unsure what to do with her hands, she clasped them behind her back. “Appearances are important.,” she said. “Now the maid has seen us come here, you with switches in your hand, she will report that you have carried out the punishment regardless. The story that people believe is the important thing. Not what actually happens.”
Kaljeet pushed away from the fireplace and reached for her hands, bringing them from behind her back to his lips. “I’ve been waiting for you for the longest time.” He kissed each palm.
“What? I was only half an hour late at the most.” She caught the woodsy smell of him and closed her eyes. The fragrance took her to the gully again, reminding her of that moment of joy.
“I’m not talking about today.” He lifted her braid off her back, pulled off the band, and fanned her hair around her shoulders.
His touch was gentle, seductive even. Her pussy clenched and her nipples strained against the silk of her tunic. He couldn’t intend to carry out the threatened punishment.
“I mean I’ve been waiting for someone like you since I lost Maisy.”
So that was the woman’s name. Adriana had sensed the presence of someone else between them.
“Tell me about her,” she said, her voice low. Maybe he’d forget about the switches lying on the bed.
“She was a Devmaerean beauty, a warrior princess. Strong. Stubborn. The right mate for a man like me.”
A look of great sadness flickered across his face. “She died stupidly.” Anger replaced hurt in his voice. “She fell, racing up the stairs one night. Slipped on a loose tile. I was at her side in a second, but she said she was fine, just winded from her fall.”
His eyes darkened. “For the next few days, she was tired, short of breath. Then she woke me in the middle of the night, gasping for air.” He sighed and Adriana wanted to hold him and ease the burden of his grief.
“By the time the healer arrived she was dead.”
Adriana raised an eyebrow, not comprehending.
“She’d broken a rib and it had punctured her lung. While she was struggling to breathe all those days, she was slowly suffocating.” He shook his head in frustration. “If she’d seen a healer and rested like I insisted, well, who knows?”
He rubbed his forehead as though trying to erase the hurt. “It doesn’t matter. Things happen for a reason and maybe the reason Maisy left me is that I was meant to wait for you.”
So that was why he’d been so protective of her all week, Adriana thought. He was trying to guard her from unseen injuries.
There was a kindness in his eyes now. She brushed his cheek with her fingers. “I’m so sorry you lost her.”
“Thank you.” His tone was businesslike again. “One thing I learned from that short union is to always be in charge of my mate. To make sure she does what she’s told. So today you are going to get your first taste of what happens when my mate disobeys me.”
“Will it always be this way if I am yours?” She moved closer and nested her hands behind his neck. Suddenly she was attracted to him more than ever, not by his imperious manner, but by the shadow of vulnerability that he’d allowed her to see. Here was a man who loved deeply when he loved.
“Yes, it will.”
“And I have no say in it?” she teased, rocking her hips against his.
“Not now. When you came back to me instead of disappearing into the wilderness, you gave me your answer. I’ve been reading your ship’s databanks. It seems you are a skilled outdoorswoman.”
“The best,” she said.
“Then you accept me as your leader and mate.” A statement of fact.
“I do,” she said, astonished that her own admission came so easily.
Looking at the tall, handsome man who’d cared for her so gently, s
he realized he was exactly what she needed. She needed a powerful man to appreciate who and what she was.
‘Good,” he said. “Now Lady Adriana, remove your clothing and present yourself across my lap.”
Chapter ten
Up until now, this business of being punished had all been theory. Adriana, who’d lived in co-ed dorms and shared small starships with crews of mixed gender, was suddenly self-conscious as she stripped.
Kaljeet sat on the bed, watching her every move the way a cat watches a mouse. When she was naked, he patted his knees and she awkwardly struggled across them. Her mouth filled with saliva and she swallowed hard.
He traced circles on her buttocks. First one cheek, then the other. Then large circles across both. A flutter of butterflies burst into life in her stomach. She was as terrified and exhilarated as she had been on her first space flight.
His hand wandered down her thighs, nudged them apart, and opened her folds. She was soaking wet so when his finger found her clit, it was well lubricated, ready for him to tease and fondle.
She moaned. If this was punishment, she wanted more.
That thought had barely formed in her mind when he abruptly removed his hand and smacked each buttock cheek. Following that, a series of light slaps rained down on the top of her thighs.
No problem. She could handle this.
“Who is your lord and master?” he asked as the smacks moved back to her bottom, falling in a stronger rhythm that made her gasp.
She promised herself she’d endure whatever he dished out. She wouldn’t beg or burst into tears. She’d show him how brave a human captain could be.
Almost as quickly as she made that resolution, it became impossible to stick to it. Kaljeet was talking to her still, asking her the same question over and over, but all she could think about was the heat mounting as stinging blows covered her rump.
His hands were large and strong and she kicked furiously, trying to wriggle off his lap. Kaljeet covered both her legs with one of his, trapping her and raising her bottom in a slightly higher position.
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