Page 24 of The Commander

Her silky skin felt good under his fingers. He sought out all the sore spots where the muscles burned warm and distressed under the skin. Her shoulders, arms, joints—he rubbed at them.

She didn’t say thank you.

“My clothes.” She drew her legs together, curled inward, and tried to cover her female parts.

“You don’t need those right this minute.” She didn’t. She looked good unclothed. It wasn’t natural for her since she lacked durable protection against the elements, but he liked seeing her soft parts exposed.

She examined what was left of what she had been wearing with a turned down mouth and wrinkled chin. “Something to cover myself with?”

“It’s all right. You’ll be fine.” He softened his voice to a near whisper, projecting as much empathy for her situation as he could manage. He hoped that’s how it sounded.

“What do you want? What are you going to do? You said you would release me.” She used the reminder like an accusation.

Bastian ignored that.

She tolerated his support, her body rigid. Her naked back fit against his chest perfectly. He couldn’t wait to explore the curve of her ass where he’d spanked her, find the delta leading to the hole that would take him in and squeeze him. He would release her, yes.

Oh, he would. Then they would play.

He counted the bruises left behind by the night duty’s care. Looked like his ranks would be short a few grunts. It was time to line the streets to the town with fresh meat, anyway.Control might balk at sending down fresh red hats, but they would deal.

“They were very rough with you, Kitten. I do not approve. How would you like it if I got rid of those who did this?”

“Do what you said. Let me go. Let me stand. I’m fine. Do you have? I mean, is there something I can put on? A blanket?” She asked her questions so meekly he wished he could appease her.

Thankfully, that errant wish passed. There were other games to play first.

“Take some deep breaths. Regain your strength. Do you remember what I said about how to get out of this place? You need to trust me on taking the proper turn. I am not lying about that, or the broken door.”

“I remember.”

“I’m going to step back from you in a moment and count to twenty. It will go like this: one, inhale, exhale, two, and so on.”

She gave him a confused expression that said she didn’t understand.

“You can do it with me like we did before when we breathed together. Show me.” He forced his grip to loosen, every muscle resisting the motion.

Perched naked on the table, the faint imprints of rope traced her skin. Shadows stained the area beneath her eyes, tension pressing her lips into a taut line. Yet, the strength etched into every inch of her made her irresistible—a survivor. She had battled moments of panic, but even in those, she hadn’t crumbled to anything. Bastian knew the fight in her soul, and he craved it. He’d decided to claim it. Keep it.

She looked over her shoulder at the closed door, the window above his head, and finally back at him.

“Not yet, Kitten. It might be harder for you to stand than you think, and I don’t have the water for you that youhumans need. Take a moment. Breathe with me. You are good at following directions, and I want you to understand exactly what I will be doing. One—Two—Three. Good girl. Do you understand what I’m going to do next?”

Trying to figure him out, she didn’t respond. She was over thinking this. And that was not what he wanted. Returning to her side, he pushed her head down, ass up, and smacked her on her shapely curves to get her attention. Ignoring her shout and instinctive kicks, he used the same rhythm he would use when he counted to twenty. Noisy, sharp slaps on the roundest parts.

“What am I going to do?” he asked.

“Breathe. Count. What do you want from me? Stop!” She tried to push his hands away, fighting him now that she was free of restraints.

“I’m going to count. Like this,” Bastian demonstrated again how his counting would sound, punctuating his exhale with a stinging spank.

“Count. You’re going to fucking count,” she seized on the answer and screamed it out.

One more swat, to make sure his handprint would glow on her ass like a warning sign to any stupid grunt whose attention she caught before he let her go. His boot heel crunched on the floor as he stepped back from the table.

“That’s right. Just so. They caught you unfairly, between a group of alien dicks and a group of human dicks, is that right? Not your fault. And we can’t have that, can we? Fair is important to humans. So now you’ll have another chance. Humans like second chances, yes? You have until I reach the number twenty. Then I’m coming for you.”

She blinked at him. He didn’t wait for understanding to dawn on her. “Run now, Kitten. Run.”

---