by Sadie Marks
"It's a small matter. We can arrange for him to have a portable light that's somewhat more sophisticated than what he could manage on his own. As long as he uses it regularly, he'll remain healthy," the general said, waving a hand to dismiss the concern.
She let out a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She forced herself not to get too excited. It was only a possibility until she actually spoke to him. "You said he'd be here soon, Triad General, uh, former I mean. Sorry, I don't know what to call you now." She winced, knowing she sounded like an idiot. She was nervous. It had been over two years since she'd last seen Trev, and just because she'd hung onto her feelings for him, didn't mean he'd done the same for her.
The older Sadec looked amused at her stumble. "My name is Ka'Le'aav. You may call me Ka-alay, if you like. And yes, he should be here soon." He paused, examining her flustered appearance. "Perhaps you'd like to go refresh yourself while you wait?"
She wasn't sure if he was implying she looked a mess, or if he just thought it would give her something distracting to do; either way, she quickly accepted. Alone time was exactly what she needed to calm her nerves.
She raced back to their quarters, burning off some of the nervous energy with a fast sprint through the halls that nearly got her in trouble twice as she careened around corners and almost crashed into warriors. She palmed the door and ducked inside before it had finished cycling all the way open.
And then, finally alone, she started to hyperventilate. She wasn't prone to panic attacks. It wasn't how she dealt with stress, but just this once, she indulged in the histrionics, including some tears. It was only fair, she thought, since she'd just had some massive world-changing decisions dumped on her and she didn't know how much time she had to recover from them before she had to face Trev.
She was just pulling herself together when the communicator panel on the wall beeped. "Yes?" She hoped her voice didn't sound as wispy and breathless as it did to her own ears.
It was Era'D. "Silla, they're docking now. They will escort him to you so you can speak in private."
"Thank you," she said and then went into motion. She washed her face with cool water to get rid of the redness and then quickly pulled a brush through her hair so it didn't look so messy. It was shorter now than when Trev had last seen her, curling to frame her face and ending just about at her chin. Her own rebellion on a ship where everyone else wore their hair long, but it also made it a lot easier to care for.
She hesitated over her clothes. Knowing how he felt about other Sadecs and the military, she balked at meeting him dressed in the standard uniform. For the first time in a long while, she dug through her cabinet to find her Earth clothes. When she came across the outfit she'd been wearing the first night they met, she realized it was perfect.
A glance in the reflecting panel assured her that she still looked like the woman he'd fallen in love with. She'd been through so many changes that she thought some of it would show in her appearance, but it didn't. She still looked the same.
A deep breath. Another. And then she was ready to answer the door.
Chapter 12
There were two Sadec warriors escorting him, but she barely registered them. He was her focus, and they stood there in silence, staring at each other like two thirsty strangers in an emotional desert. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but the words caught in her throat.
He looked the same. His hair had grown out some, but otherwise, he was exactly how she remembered him.
He broke the ice first. "I never thought I'd see you again, Sam." He sounded almost as if he didn't believe she was standing in front of him. Like she was a dream and he might wake up alone.
"I didn't expect to see you again, either, Trev. They told me I wouldn't." The words sounded flat, awkward. She swallowed hard and drew in a long, slow breath. "Please, come in." She stepped back out of the doorway and motioned him inside, letting the door close behind him and leaving their audience outside. They didn't look pleased about it, but Sadec manners dictated an invitation before entering the home—even if that home was only a small shipboard apartment.
Trev's eyes scanned the room but settled on her after a quick look. "You live with your—" He stopped, and she could almost hear his teeth grinding. "Master?"
"Masters, plural; they're twins. They've been kind to me." She felt she owed them the last. She knew it had been they, or at least Era'D, who had made this happen.
"Do you…love them?" The Sadec voice was wonderfully expressive. They made the simplest sentence sound like music when they spoke, but just then all she heard was pain.
She shook her head rapidly. "No. I like them. They treated me well, but I don't love them."
He seemed relieved but didn't speak. She waited for him to say something, anything, but the silence stretched into minutes, and finally, she lost her temper. "Don't just stand there, Trev! Talk to me! Why did you come here if you aren't going to say what's on your mind?" she demanded.
Part of her, knowing that he had trouble with the concept of sharing, thought he was disgusted by her. On Earth, there were so many different lifestyles that monogamy was no longer the premier choice, but she knew those who preferred it often had trouble with those who didn't. Did he blame her? She waited for him to blast her for it and was prepared to snarl right back at him—but that wasn't what was on his mind.
"What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? I am! You'll never know how sorry I am. I took you from your planet and then let you get confiscated by the military. I should have told you why I was keeping the ship out in the middle of nowhere. I should have warned you about my people."
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, and then he was continuing without even noticing.
"I wasn't going to sell you. Any thought I had of selling anyone vanished as soon as I got to Earth and saw what it was like. Your people are so different from mine. So much freer in many ways. I didn't even want to leave, let alone drag someone else back to my planet. And the second I saw you, all I wanted was…" He trailed off, arms outstretched and empty, pleading with her to understand. "…you."
"Oh." She didn't—couldn't—manage anything more than that, and it was more of a sound than a word.
"I wouldn't blame you if you hate me, Samantha. I hate myself," he said. Sadecs didn't cry. Their eyes weren't built for it, but she could hear the equivalent in his voice, and she found herself stepping into his arms.
"I don't hate you. I've never hated you, Trev. I was angry—for a long time, but that was hurt not hate." She was shaking. He was shaking. They clung to each other, and somehow all of the doubts and insecurities were pushed aside.
They still had things to discuss. They definitely needed to work out a few details, but for a few minutes, they put those problems away just to focus on each other. It felt so good to be back in his arms. She'd forgotten how good it felt to be held there, safe.
"I love you, Trev. I wish I'd said it before. I'm not sure I understood how much I loved you until you were gone." She whispered the words against his chest, just loud enough for him to hear and she heard his breath catch in his throat as he held it before letting it go in a loud exhalation.
"I love you too, Sam. I'm sorry for my mistakes, but we've got a second chance now if you want one. They told me if—if you wanted to leave with me, they'd allow it. I don't know why, but I wasn't going to argue."
"It was Ka'Le'aav. The former triad general. He made it happen. I don't know why, but I think he felt bad for me." She pressed closer to him, realizing that seeing Trev again had been a matter of luck. If she hadn't refused to go to the mating ceremony, she wouldn't have gone on display, wouldn't have met Ka'Le'aav, and she'd never have gotten Trev back.
The thought of that left her close to panicking and she clung tighter to his body. Her head tipped back, and his mouth found hers for a deep kiss that made it impossible to think of how close they'd come to never meeting again. His mouth, his tongue, his warm body pressed against hers was eve
rything in that instant and the rest of the world and their problems didn't exist.
She was tempted to take it further but not here, not in the quarters she'd shared with other men. There would be time for that later, because she'd made her choice. She broke the kiss reluctantly and stepped back before she could be tempted further.
Her face was flushed, and her heart raced like she'd just run a marathon. How had she forgotten the way he could make her feel everything so easily. Not just pain and pleasure, but the full spectrum of emotions that she kept shut down with the others. That, alone, was worth agreeing to be solely his.
She took a deep, shuddering breath, hands rubbing at the sudden chill bumps that had appeared up and down her arms.
"Trev, how do you feel about living on Earth?"
"Earth? They won't let us go there, Sam. They can't. If we got caught by the council, they'd—"
"They will. Ka'Le'aav will arrange it, if you agree. But it'll have to be permanent, or close to it. We won't be able to leave the planet, at least for a few years, until security backs off anyway. You'd have to park your ship and give up traveling." It was a lot to give up and saying it out loud made her wonder if she was asking too much of him.
He reached out, grabbing her hands in his and speaking to her earnestly, "Sam, I would give up everything for you. I'd even share you if that's what you wanted. You—you don't even have to be my submissive. I can understand if you've been put off that entirely. The sharing can be intense for a human."
She was glowing with happiness until he got to the last part and a frown appeared. Her eyes narrowed. Apologies were one thing, but he was starting to sound like he'd lost his Dominant streak entirely. Had guilt destroyed that part of him? "You don't want me as your sub anymore?"
"No, I—"
"What, you think because I've had other Masters that I'm not good enough anymore?"
"Sam, that's not what I said!"
"I guess now that I've been used by other Sadecs, you can't be bothered." She practically spat the words at him.
"Samantha. Stop it, right now. I didn't say anything like that." His voice suddenly had that stern undertone she used to love. Her Dominant lover was still in there. Underneath his guilt and need to apologize and make things right, he was still there.
"Typical, possessive, ass!" she snapped. She gave him her best peeved look, scowling like she was ready to stomp away.
"Watch your mouth, girl." One eyebrow went up and his expression went cold. "I've made some mistakes Sam, and I want to make them up to you, but if you don't watch your tone, I'm going to take off my belt and you won't be sitting any time soon."
She held the angry expression for a few more seconds, but then the laughter broke through. One look at her sparkling eyes and wide grin, and he realized he'd been played. "Oh, Samantha, I have missed you like you wouldn't believe." He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her forehead as one hand came down across her ass with a firm swat. "Brat."
"Your brat; if you still want me, that is. The rest of the details we can work out later, but if you're willing to give up your ship to live on Earth with me, I'm willing to give up playing with other people for you." The real truth was that the sharing had been intense, and she'd loved it, but she'd had enough of it. Belonging to only one man sounded wonderful to her, but if he wanted to think she was giving up something for him, well, that was fine too.
"You've got a bargain, Sam. Your ass is mine, and this time, I'm not letting you go."
She smirked. "You'd better not. I've got plans and all of them involve you," she said.
Eventually, they were going to have to face her former Masters and the general and let everyone know what had been decided, but not just yet. She wanted to bask in the love and warmth of Trev's arms for just a little longer first. She'd waited over two years to be back in his embrace, and she was done waiting.
The End
Sadie Marks
Sadie Marks has been in love with science fiction and horror since she was a little girl, and when given the opportunity to mix power-exchange romance with sadistic aliens there was no way she was going to turn it down. She is currently working on the sequel to her first novel: Surrendering to Her General, and there’s a good chance she’ll be getting into some darker territory as she goes.
Her wide and varied experiences lend a note of realism to the D/s relationships she portrays in her books.
(Sadie Marks is the darker half of Author Kessily Lewel)
Sadie doesn’t have her own website, but she does share one with Kessily Lewel, which covers a mixture of topics like writing, safely exploring BDSM relationships, and the occasional kinky short story. You can find it at:
KessilyLewel.com
Or you can visit her Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/SadieMarksAuthor
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Sadie Marks and Eclipse Press!
Rise of the Sadecs
Surrendering to her General
Taken by the Renegade
