Commander's Slave Read online

  “I don’t want to cry.” Her voice came out thick and strained.

  “Of course you don’t want to. But you need to.” He resumed spanking, though not as hard as before. Her bottom had turned a lovely shade of crimson under his hand, and his cock shifted at the vision she presented, draped over his lap as she received punishment.

  It didn’t take long for the walls she’d erected around her heart to come crashing down. Soft sniffles drifted up, and she squirmed and tried to slide to the floor. He clamped his legs tighter over hers and readjusted his grip on her wrists.

  More gentle slaps. More sniffling. Soon her shoulders heaved and she breathed heavily under deeper sobs, her tears finally falling as she surrendered to her emotion. Her struggling ceased. Edek stopped spanking and simply held her over his lap, stroking her back as she cried, and smoothing the hair from her face.

  At last he turned her over. Their eyes met briefly, and he wiped at her tear-stained cheeks, brushing the moisture away with his fingers. He glanced at her hands fidgeting in her lap, and he guided her arms around his waist, smiling gently down at her in encouragement as he invited her to seek comfort in his embrace. He held his breath, waiting.

  Betsy leaned against his chest and sank fully into his arms.

  Chapter Five

  The water removed every last ache and pain, soothing Betsy’s muscles and providing a much-needed sense of relaxation. She sighed and let her mind drift as she sank lower in the hot spring. Five days had passed since the night she’d tried to hide from Edek. Her bottom tingled at the memory of his firm hand spanking her, and a warmth that rivaled the temperature of the spring flushed her center.

  He’d caused her pain, yet he’d been so gentle, so caring. She’d felt their minds and hearts connect that night as he’d spooned her in his grand bed, pulling her close yet not pressing his erect cock inside her. She’d felt his hardness pushing against her bottom until she’d drifted to sleep, but he’d restrained himself. Now she found herself imaging what it would have been like had he not exercised restraint. Desire tightened her nipples and her pulse increased.

  An unspoken intimacy was growing between them with each passing day. She spent more time thinking about Edek than she did thinking about Earth, and this realization startled her. She gazed at the specks of light glowing on the walls and ceiling of the basement, made to mimic the stars. Steam drifted up from the water, hitting her face and prompting the last of her tension to dissipate. It wasn’t so bad here on the mountain of this alien world, though she wasn’t prepared to admit this truth out loud. Her duties didn’t extend much beyond helping serve meals and overseeing Lanzo’s physical therapy, leaving her with plenty of free time to roam the hills and take long, luxurious soaks in the hot spring. And to her surprise, she wasn’t lonely on this alien planet.

  She’d spent her whole life surrounded by people, but she’d always felt desperately alone. Aside from Layla, she hadn’t had a single friend she could trust not to sell her out to a tabloid. Even worse, with cameras and eyes on her twenty-four seven, she had to maintain a picture-perfect appearance and poise. It had been exhausting.

  In Lanzo’s house she might be a slave, but she was freed from the shackles of her former life. She didn’t miss the panicky feeling she got while walking into a party, nor did she miss the all-consuming stress of juggling her duties as First Daughter with her job.

  A smile touched her lips when she recalled the servants’ treatment of her as of late. She’d endured no ugly stares or harsh whisperings in days. The cook no longer cursed in her presence, instead smiling each time she entered the kitchen. Edek had obviously interceded once he learned of their behavior toward her. She resolved to thank him for his kindness.

  Kindness. He truly had a heart of gold, and she witnessed it each day when he watched his brother’s progress during therapy. She watched the hope filling his eyes each time Lanzo put more weight on his wounded leg than the day before. She also witnessed it firsthand in his interactions with her. She saw no cruelty lurking behind his eyes, not even the times he’d punished her. His hatred had been a front, a mask he wore to hide the hurt caused by losing his family. The mask had fallen off and she liked the man underneath.

  She did the math in her head. Nine days. Nine days until his men returned from their leave to resume training. The training grounds rested further down the mountain, a short walk from the town she never wished to set foot in again. She’d miss him during the days, but he’d promised to be home before darkness fell most evenings. Swirling her hands through the water, she let her mind wander deeper into the uncharted territory of her feelings and desires for Edek.

  Dinner had ended a short while ago, and she’d decided to take a bath before joining him in bed. A heated longing she couldn’t deny swelled within her as she anticipated the feel of his hard, muscular body next to hers under the covers. She always remained tense and unsettled beside him until he drifted to sleep, but it was no longer out of fear of receiving his intimate touches. At some point during the last few days, her fears had been replaced by a deep soulful ache to experience his touch.

  Water cascaded down her body in rivulets as she stood up. She ascended the steps that led out of the large spring. After drying off, she donned the new nightdress Edek had given her and crept through the house, listening for the sound of his voice. She didn’t run into Edek or anyone else on her way to his room, so she closed the door behind her and moved to the window. The moons didn’t bother her as much as usual.

  Her gaze fell to the tree line, and she wondered if it was really dangerous to go walking in the woods after dark. Lanzo had warned her not to leave the house in the evenings, lest she run into a mountain beast, and after questioning him she’d learned that mountain beast was a collective term for over a dozen kinds of nocturnal wildcat and doglike creatures native to this planet. Edek had gone so far as to scold her and swat her bottom for sweeping the terrace at night, insisting that she remain completely inside after sunset. Their concern, especially Edek’s, had touched her, and she’d promised to remain indoors during the night hours.

  A flash of light and a movement on the tree line caught her attention, and she leaned forward on the windowsill to get a better look. Whatever it was moved again; she blinked and the image faded. She strode to the bed and pulled back the covers, flushing as the naughty thoughts she’d had about Edek in the hot springs resurfaced. The words he’d spoken several nights ago hit her: Allowing me to take your body won’t make you a whore, Betsy. You belong to me and no one else. All others are forbidden to touch you. I promised not to sell you, and I promised to protect you.

  The only intimacy she’d ever know would be at Edek’s hands. Of course this wasn’t the reason she wanted to feel his naked body next to hers, and to feel his lips claiming her mouth. In the short time she’d known him, he’d calmed nearly all the fears she’d experienced in the past several months. Being sold at auction in Sumlin District was supposed to have been a great punishment, but it no longer felt like one. Being kept away from Earth and all that was once familiar still hurt, but she didn’t know misery as Commander Edek’s slave. Though he was strict with her and expected obedience, he’d shown her no brutality. Trust and respect had grown between them. Yes, even though she was his slave, she felt he respected her. It was no secret that he wished to bed her, and she shivered with delight as she recalled the feel of his hugeness pressing against her backside as they drifted to sleep each night.

  Despite his obvious interest in her, he’d held back. He hadn’t claimed her body, and each night she felt a tremor of disappointment when the sound of his soft snoring reached her ears. She longed to submit to Edek’s advances and tremble and quake as he pumped his huge cock into her.

  And it was huge. He slept naked, and she’d glimpsed his size a time or two. At first it had terrified her. Now the thought of spreading her thighs and inviting him to surge inside her left her a quivering mass of hormones.

  Footsteps sounded
on the stairs, and Betsy spun to face the door. Her heart thumped louder and louder, and her palms broke into a sweat. She wiped her hands on her nightdress and glanced back at the bed. She gulped in shaky breaths and tried to calm her excited nerves. She’d never anticipated Edek’s arrival at bedtime as she did now, and her pussy clenched with the need to feel his dominance and his protection underneath the covers as he laid claim to her body. And her heart. She couldn’t ignore the tender warmth that filled her soul each time their eyes met and he smiled.

  The door opened to reveal Edek, his large frame taking up the entryway. He paused and fixed a dark stare on her that made her knees wobble. He entered and the door automatically zipped shut behind him, sealing them alone together in the dim room. Like a predator, he stalked toward her slowly as he sized her up, his gaze traveling up and down her body. His muscles flexed with his every movement, rippling underneath his fitted uniform.

  “Edek,” she whispered. Horror struck her a second later, and she clamped her hands over her mouth. “Master, I meant. Master.” She dropped her arms to her sides and bowed her head, biting her tongue as she considered the ramifications of calling him by his familiar name. Except…she’d done so once before and he hadn’t so much as scolded her for the slipup.

  His hot breath wafted against her forehead, and she looked up at his chest, not daring to meet his eyes. She’d seriously been considering seducing Edek, or at least throwing a few encouragements his way, but those thoughts fled as she fidgeted in place, fearing a spanking was imminent.

  He tipped her chin up with one finger, forcing her to stare into his dark depths. Angry. He appeared angry and rigid. Her bottom tingled. Yes, she definitely had a spanking coming. Her lip quivered as shame washed over her, the memory of his hand cracking across her bare bottom fresh in her mind. Pangs of desire heated her core, moisture seeping from her pussy. Her eyes widened as his expression transformed from angry to amused. He arched an eyebrow and his lips curled up.

  “You smell intoxicating, Betsy. You are also very, very naughty, and I’m going to put you over my knee and spank your bare bottom until it’s flaming red.”

  *

  Poor Betsy didn’t stand a chance at hiding her arousal. Edek had detected her pungent-but-sweet feminine scent before, but never as strongly as tonight. Tonight she was on fire, and her desire had intensified in the moments after she called him Edek. The fear of punishment, he suspected, had caused the sweetness between her thighs to swell with need. Or so he imagined. He’d never been with a human woman before, but he’d heard humans were anatomically similar to Kall, and obviously her body was preparing to accept his entrance.

  “I’m sorry, Master.” She attempted to slip away, but he grabbed her shoulders and glared down at her sternly. “Please don’t spank me,” she whispered.

  “You know better than to call me Edek. You’re a slave and I’m your master.” His words were teasing, and the open surprise on her face confirmed her understanding. Had he spoken such words firmly, he knew resentment and defiance would have flashed in her eyes. He preferred her nervous surprise and smiled as the scent of her arousal amplified. “Not only did you call me by my name, but you disobeyed my bedtime instructions. Haven’t I always told you to wait for me in bed?”

  “But I was standing right next to the bed. That’s not fair! You can’t punish me on a technicality.” Her lip protruded. A pout. He’d never seen her pout before, but it kindled the flames of his desire to burn hotter. Holy Fires, she was beautiful.

  He squeezed her shoulders. “I’m your master and I can punish you whenever I see fit. I can even spank you for my own pleasure if I wish.”

  She huffed, and he bit back a grin. Their relationship had blossomed during the preceding days, a friendship growing between them. Edek didn’t have many friends, and it was a joy to have someone to talk to at the end of each day. Of course as their friendship deepened, the initial spark of sexual tension had ignited into a passion that threatened to drive him mad if it went unquenched. Tonight was the night. He’d have her beneath him, on her hands and knees on the bed as he pounded into her swollen, wet center. He planned to drag it out though and enjoy the little human who trembled before him.

  “Take off your nightdress, Betsy. You won’t be needing it.” He released her shoulders and stepped back, raising an eyebrow at her in warning.

  She stared at him. “I-I don’t understand. You’ve never made me take my clothes off during a spanking before. Please, Master. Don’t make me do that.” Shuddering, she hugged her waist.

  “The longer you delay removing your nightdress, the longer and harder I’ll spank you, Betsy. Take. It. Off. Now.” His last four words came out as a growl, and he crossed his arms in a show of disapproval.

  The scent of her fear and arousal mingled in the air, heating his blood and accelerating his heartbeat. She hesitated and stared at her feet, her lower lip trembling. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she blinked them back as she reached for the bottom of her nightdress, drawing the fabric up to slowly pull the garment off. She held it in front of her like a shield, but he plucked it out of her hands. The tips of her firm breasts tightened into perfect dark pink peaks. He threw the nightdress aside and moved around her, taking a seat on the bed. She peered over her shoulder at him, dread filling her features even as her arousal grew. He licked his lips, dying to taste her. But that would come later.

  He patted his thigh and spread his legs. “Come stand right here, Betsy.”

  She obeyed, her feet shuffling as she took her place—the place he liked to make her stand as he scolded her for being naughty.

  He drank in her beauty, appreciating her smooth skin and curvy body. Especially her breasts. Reaching up, he tweaked one nipple, twisting it and reveling in the little gasp his touch drew from her full, pouty lips. He paid the same attention to her other nipple, squeezing until she whimpered and shuddered. With amusement, he noted she’d clamped her thighs together. Trailing a hand down her stomach, he reached her sex and dipped a finger into her moisture. So slick and hot.

  “Spread your legs apart, Betsy.”

  Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can and you will. Spread those legs and show me that pussy of yours.” The flushing of her cheeks told him he’d used the correct terminology. He’d been brushing up on his English during the last few days. “Do you want a strapping, Betsy?”

  Again, she shook her head, but this time she acquiesced and spread her legs. Edek swirled his finger deeper in her swollen crevice, delighting in the smooth folds that hid a sweet center.

  “You’re perfectly smooth down here, Betsy. I wasn’t expecting that.” Humans had hair in weird places, or so he’d thought. It had been a while since he’d paid attention to one of his men bragging about bedding a human woman.

  “Um, well, I had it removed years ago.” She cleared her throat. “Laser treatments.”

  He grinned. “So you like being smooth and bare down here, Betsy? Do you ever stroke yourself?” He found a tightened nub hidden within her folds and zeroed in on it. Her face contorted as she moaned and struggled to remain in place with her legs spread. “Tell me, Betsy. Do you ever touch yourself?”

  She pressed her eyes shut. “Sometimes, Master.”

  “Not anymore you don’t.” He withdrew his finger and cupped his hand over her damp pussy. “Your pleasure belongs to me now. If I catch you touching yourself, you’ll be punished.”

  Her eyes shot open and she stared at him in shock.

  “It’s time for your spanking, little human. Over my lap.”

  He guided her over his knee, and his breath caught to see moisture glimmering between her thighs. Tapping the insides of her legs, he prompted her to open wider. He stroked her back and murmured his approval, delighting in her sweet submission to her spanking. If she’d have started kicking and screaming, he could’ve easily subdued her, but he much preferred her cooperation. He admired and treasured it like a precious
gift.

  A startled gasp left her when he cupped her bottom, giving it a firm squeeze. “I will admit I enjoy hearing my name on your lips, Betsy, but you must remember to never speak it. It’s too dangerous for both of us. The laws and customs of my people are quite different from yours. A slipup like that could cost us both a great deal.”

  “I know and I’m sorry, Master.” Her cheeks clenched and unclenched in his hand. Moisture trickled down her thigh and onto his pants.

  “Starting tonight, Betsy, I’m going to spank you every night before bed to remind you of your place and how important it is for you to remember to obey me in all things. I’ll expect you to be naked and waiting for me in bed each night from this night forward. If you fail to do so, you can expect a more severe punishment.”

  “I understand, Master.” Her voice cracked as she answered, but Edek resolved to remain firm. If one of his men, or even one of the servants, were to overhear Betsy calling him by his given name…he shuddered to think of the outcome. Slaves were slaves. Humans were humans. Kall were Kall. Masters were Masters. Commanders were Commanders. She’d never be his equal, not on this world and in this lifetime. However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t find happiness together in secret.

  “I’m glad you understand, Betsy.” He didn’t enjoy causing her pain, but it couldn’t be avoided. It was just a spanking with his hand. Most nights he’d go light on her, but not tonight. Tonight he thought it prudent to make an impression on her.

  He raised his hand and brought it down sharply on her upturned cheeks, his palm searing over her white flesh. A red handprint marred her bottom, spreading across her cheek. He gave her several more slaps in that fashion before focusing on one cheek at a time, from right to left and back again. She squirmed and gasped with each spank, but she didn’t try to block his blows, even when he laid into her upper thighs. Edek was pleased with how well she was taking her spanking.