Kievan paused just inside the door to their rooms. He could hear Cam singing happily in the shower. It had been a difficult day for him. His office had seemed unusually empty without her warm presence and he had worried about her the entire time. His guards had reported back to him at regular intervals but it hadn’t helped. The minor riot infuriated him even though she hadn’t been harmed. He had gritted his teeth and barely refrained from ordering her home.
The fact that a stranger had actually grabbed her was unacceptable and he immediately sent word that she was to be returned. He also intended to have a visit with the imprisoned attacker first thing in the morning. The assault seemed too targeted to be just a man looking for a woman to drag off and rape.
The water in the shower stopped running and he walked into the bedroom to wait for her. A subtle fragrance attracted his attention and he focused on the source—a cluster of flowers in a red vase on the table. Turning to scan the rest of the space, he immediately noticed the other changes. Two red pillows, heavily embroidered in gold, nestled amongst the usual pristine white pillows at the head of the bed. A soft red throw was flung carelessly over one of the curved couches. A row of red votives stood on the low coffee table. Only a few changes, but somehow they managed to add life to the room, to change it from a beautiful impersonal space to something resembling a home.
The bathroom door opened and Cam emerged, wrapped in a towel. Her face lit up as she saw him and she raced to him, raising her face for a kiss as always. As soon as he released her mouth, she started talking.
“You’re home early, honey.” His chest seized as she echoed his earlier thought. “I’m so glad. I bought a few things. I hope you don’t mind but I thought it would be nice to have something other than white and gold for a change. You don’t mind, do you?” She looked at him anxiously and he shook his head. “Oh, good. And see what else I found.”
She tugged him over to the seating area and he saw a framed print lying against the couch.
“J’Ssett told me he could hang it so it wouldn’t damage the walls but he needed to get the hanger first. Do you like it?”
He stared at the print, a beautifully framed scroll rendered in ancient Sardoran calligraphy.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked. “I know it’s Sardoran but I can’t read the words.”
“It’s the old version of the language,” he answered absently.
“Can you read it?” she asked eagerly.
He could but somehow he couldn’t face translating the ancient love poem for her. Instead, he gestured around the room. “Is this what you bought at the market?”
She looked at him uncertainly. “Yes. You said I could buy whatever I wanted.” Her eyes traveled to the vase. “I’m glad I could find flowers. I used to buy fresh flowers every week for my mother.”
“I meant for you to buy things for yourself.”
Her face relaxed and she shrugged, leaning in to wrap her arms around his waist. “I don’t need anything. I just wanted to make our rooms a little cozier. I hope you like it.”
Without another word, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. A long time later, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “I guess you like it.”
Later that evening they were sitting on the couch. Kievan was working, trying to catch up on some of the tasks he had been too distracted to complete during the day. Cam was lying with her head on his thigh, reading. A knock sounded on the door and before he could answer, it opened and Talasi entered. She went immediately to her knees, head bowed.
“Please, Lord Kievan. I need…” Her voice was shaking and he could barely hear it across the room. He felt Cam’s body tense and he cursed silently under his breath. He should have anticipated that this would occur.
“Head to the floor, Talasi,” he ordered and he saw some of the tension flow out of her body as she dropped into a prone position.
Cam sat up, her lip trembling but she didn’t say anything. He pulled her close so he could talk to her without Talasi overhearing. Her body stiffened but she came.
“It’s not what you think, little flower,” he said quietly. “She doesn’t need fucking, she needs punishing.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“She wants me to whip her.” He paused. “She wants me to hurt her.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Why?”
“I will try and explain later, but now she needs this.” He hesitated. “Perhaps this would be good time to visit Sonda and Leeda.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
He considered the idea. He didn’t want her to see this; he didn’t want her to know he was the kind of man he had to be to do it. But her trust was a fragile thing—and she had made these rooms their home. He stroked her cheek. “No, sweetness. I won’t ask you to leave our rooms. But this might be…difficult for you.”
“I want to stay,” she said after a brief consideration.
“Very well. Then kneel, pet, and do not speak until I give you permission.”
She sank gracefully to her knees and he turned to Talasi.
Cam watched as Kievan walked to the other woman and ordered her to stand. His voice was hard and almost unrecognizable. Talasi stood and walked to the golden wall sculpture. Cam could see the eagerness in her stride. She studied the other woman’s face as she came closer. Her features were very human, only her pointed ears varying from the norm, but her skin was a soft dark green, her hair a long spill of even darker green. She looked like a beautiful wood nymph out of a child’s fairy tale.
As soon as she reached the wall, she turned toward it and dropped her dress. Cam flinched but managed not to make a sound as she saw the scars that covered the other woman’s back. Her back was covered with scars from just above her shoulder blades to her upper thighs.
Kievan manipulated the wall and created a diagonal cross. He fastened Talasi’s wrists and ankles to the cross so that she was spread-eagled. Then he pulled a whip from the cabinet.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes, Lord Kievan,” Talasi said, and again, Cam could hear the eagerness in her voice.
Without any additional warning, Kievan brought the whip down across Talasi’s back. The whip echoed in the quiet room and Talasi’s body jerked. Cam curled her nails into her palms to keep from screaming. The whipping continued. Talasi never made a sound. Cam watched in horror as thin lines of blood appeared across the other woman’s scarred back. Kievan continued until Talasi finally cried out, a shout that sounded almost ecstatic, and sagged against the cross. By that time, Cam’s palms were bleeding from her efforts to keep still and not cry out.
Kievan released Talasi from the cross. She stood limp, Kievan grasping her shoulders to keep her on her feet while he folded the wall back into place.
“Come here, pet,” Kievan ordered. Cam rose reluctantly to her feet and obeyed. How could he have done such a terrible thing? As she approached, he reached for her arm and she flinched, suddenly terrified. He let his hand drop.
“Look at her face,” he ordered. Still reluctant, Cam lifted her eyes to Talasi’s face. The other woman’s eyes were closed. Tear stains marked her cheeks but her face was peaceful, almost beatific.
“Remember that look. I’ll take her back to her quarters and call an attendant.”
He picked Talasi up and carried her out of the room. As soon as he left, Cam raced to the bathroom and lost the contents of her stomach. She was still crouched over the toilet, shaking, when Kievan returned. He picked her up and she fought him, panicking at his hold.
“Stop that, pet.” He carried her to the sink, made her brush her teeth, and washed her face in cold water. Gently he unfolded her hands, hissing at the bleeding nail wounds. He washed those, too, and rubbed healing gel into the small cuts. Cam’s body stayed rigid and she jumped every time he moved. He sighed and picked her up anyway, carrying her back to the couch.
As soon as he sat down with her, she tried to pull away. “How could you do that
?”
“This is why I wanted you to leave.”
“Well, I didn’t. And I saw you torture her. How many times have you done that to her? All those scars…” She couldn’t continue and burst into tears.
He tucked her against him and she tried to fight again but he ignored her struggles and held her until the tears started to subside. In spite of her fear and anger, the warmth and strength of his big body comforted her, surrounding her with the illusion of safety.
“I didn’t leave those scars,” he said finally when she was quiet enough to listen. “Talasi was horribly abused from the time she was very, very young. She suffered so much physical pain, she never learned how to handle emotional pain. It builds up inside her until it has to have a release. If I don’t give it to her, she will try and give it to herself. When I found her, she had almost killed herself.”
“Do you like doing it?” she whispered.
“No.” He grasped her chin and raised her face to his. “But I have done many worse things and for reasons that were a lot less meaningful.”
That wasn’t exactly comforting. “Are you trying to warn me?” she asked.
Something flickered on his face but she couldn’t read it. “Perhaps.”
Cam thought back over her time with him. She had been happy with him, even though she knew what he was capable of—he had kidnapped her, killed her kidnappers, and cut off a man’s hand. Now he had whipped a woman until she bled. Why did this seem so much worse? She remembered Leeda’s words.
“It creates an intimacy,” she whispered.
“What?”
“It wasn’t sex but there was an intimacy between the two of you.” She waved at the wall. “And it was here, in our...home.”
His face tightened and she couldn’t read his expression. “You’re right,” he said finally. “No matter how desperate she was, I should have taken her away from here. And I know Talasi; I should have anticipated this and made arrangements before tonight.”
They were both quiet for a long moment.
“I’ll arrange to have her sold to someone else,” he said. Her mouth opened but he cut her off. “Before you say it, she isn’t equipped to be free. I will find someone strong enough to give her what she needs but who won’t hurt her unnecessarily.”
His words struck something inside her and the tension in her body finally started to ease. “Someone like you,” she said quietly.
“Sweetness, I already told you. I am not a good man.”
She stroked his cheek and he shut his eyes as if it hurt where she touched him.
“What would you like me to do about Sonda and Leeda?” he continued.
“What?”
He gave her a level look. “I don’t need them while I have you. They can stay if you want their company—or I can send them home.”
“You’d do that?” He nodded. “Then send them home.”
“Very well,” he agreed.
“Thank you, honey,” she whispered, and reached up to kiss him.
He stopped her. “What we have between us is still for right now,” he said. “And I will warn you again that I am not a good man.”
A sense of dread curled in her stomach but she ignored it, just as she had ignored it every time the doctor told her mother there was no hope. “For right now, you are a good man.”
Chapter Thirteen
An unexpected repercussion of the trip to the market occurred the next morning. Cam had been quiet since the previous evening, still trying to deal with her feelings. Kievan didn’t push. When they went to bed, he pulled her into his arms as usual but only held her as she fell asleep. She didn’t sleep well. In their morning shower, he simply washed her gently. Afterward they walked silently to his office. She was in the correct position, one step back and behind, as they approached the guards outside his office. Lost in thought, she didn’t look up until the last minute but as soon as she did she recognized Mikaroz. Automatically she smiled at him. “Good morning.”
He nodded but didn’t respond and the doors to the office had closed behind them before she realized that Kievan had tensed.
“Kneel,” he ordered.
Her attention snapped to his face—his hard, angry face. “What’s the matter?”
“I told you not to flirt with the guards. Now kneel.”
Instead she moved closer, trying to calm him. “Honey, you’re being ridiculous,” she said softly. As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew they were a mistake. His eyes started to pale.
“I will not repeat myself again. You disobeyed my orders and you are going to be punished.”
The injustice of his statement made Cam’s temper flare and she glared at him. “I didn’t disobey you because I didn’t flirt with him. You can’t punish me for something I didn’t do.”
“You are my slave. I can do anything I want to you,” he said coldly.
Anger and the lingering fear from the previous night made her reckless. “What do you want to do? Whip me until I bleed?”
A muscle clenched in his jaw but he leaned close, his voice low and deadly. “I could do exactly that. I own you. I can do anything I want with you. I could choose to have you walk naked through the entire station. I could choose to let a hundred men fuck you.”
Cam made another mistake. Too angry to consider her words, she said, “No, you couldn’t. You don’t even want another man to smile at me. I know you would never let another man fuck me.”
With one swift move he tore her dress from her shoulders and dragged her now naked body to the desk. She struggled wildly but he ignored her. His hands bit painfully into her arms as he threw her face down across the desk and fastened her cuffs to the desk legs so she was spread face down across the hard surface. He stalked to the door and ordered Mikaroz into the room.
Mikaroz’s eyes went immediately to her body, and he froze. Terrified and humiliated, she watched the two men face each other. They were of almost equal height, but where Kievan was all lean strong muscle, Mikaroz was built wide and thick. With his massive bulk, he should have been the threatening figure. He wasn’t. Despite Mikaroz’s size, Cam had no doubt that Kievan was ten times more dangerous.
“Do you want my woman?” Kievan asked in a cold voice.
Tears burned in Cam’s eyes and her cheeks flamed.
“She is very desirable, my lord,” Mikaroz answered, quietly but without hesitation. “She’s beautiful and she smells good. She has a nice smile.”
The muscle clenched in Kievan’s jaw again but he leaned in to the other man’s face and asked, his voice still hard and cold, “Should I let you take her?”
The tears slid down her cheeks and fell onto the cool surface of the desk. She couldn’t take her eyes off the two men. Mikaroz turned toward her, took one step in her direction, and the air in the room turned deadly. Kievan’s body poised for attack.
“No,” Mikaroz said, and his eyes were kind. He turned back to Kievan and a small smile crossed his face. “Do I look like I want to die?” he asked. He nodded in Cam’s direction but didn’t look at her. “I suspect that if I even laid a finger on her, the least I would lose would be my hand.”
The tension in the room shifted but Cam couldn’t read it. Kievan studied Mikaroz’s face and then the other man went to one knee.
“You have my oath of loyalty, my lord,” he said. “Your woman has it, too.”
Kievan jerked his chin. Mikaroz rose and left the room without another word.
Silently, Kievan approached the desk. He released the chains but didn’t touch her, moving to the far side of the room to look out at the stars. Cam sat up but didn’t reach for the torn remnants of her dress, her gaze fixed on Kievan’s rigid back. Her body was still shaking from adrenaline, but the fear had disappeared. She expected it to be replaced by anger, but instead all she felt was an odd peace.
After a long time, Kievan moved to the couch and sat down looking at her. The expressionless mask covered his face and his eyes were distant. She went to him
and he silently watched her cross the room until she knelt at his feet and leaned against his legs. The muscles in his thigh were rigid beneath her cheek.
“Is it that obvious?” he asked after a long silence.
She looked up but his eyes were closed.
“You called me your woman,” she said softly.
His eyes snapped open and went to her face.
“You didn’t call me your slave, you called me your woman,” she repeated.
“But you are my slave.” He wasn’t arguing.
“Yes,” she agreed, still soft.
He studied her face. “I could do all of the things I threatened and no one would stop me.”
“But you won’t,” she said. A warm feeling settled into her stomach and the lingering disquiet finally faded. “You have never hurt me, Kievan. Even when you punish me, you let me find pleasure.”
She lifted up and climbed on to his lap facing him with a knee of either side of his hips. Her hands went to his chest, his gleaming skin like warm textured silk beneath her hands but his muscles still tense and hard. She dropped her head against his neck and breathed in his scent, surrounding herself with his presence. When she raised her head, he was still studying her, his eyes unreadable. Leaning forward, she brushed a gentle kiss across his mouth.
“Let me pleasure you, Master,” she whispered, and his eyes turned molten, no longer unreadable.
She leaned closer, rubbing her breasts against the warm skin of his chest as she pushed his open vest down his shoulders. His cock was a rigid bar between her legs and she wiggled until she could feel it pressing directly against her cleft. Moisture was already dripping from her pussy, making his leather pants slippery as she rocked gently back and forth on his stiff shaft while she dropped kisses on his neck and shoulders. Her mouth drifted down and she circled his nipple with her tongue. His body jerked so she licked directly across the tip and then drew the small nub into her mouth, sucking hard. She felt his cock jump and she smiled against his chest before she moved to the other nipple.
Cam and the Conqueror: A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Abduction Book 3) Page 12
