Page 7 of Zylonn's Human Bride
“Don’t you dare lie to me, little human.” He returned to touching her pussy, gliding his fingers beyond her folds and into her scorching heat. “The evidence speaks for itself. So wet, and so naughty, my sweet little human mate.”
Chapter 6
Though he knew he should get on with her punishment, Zylonn couldn’t resist stroking through Nova’s wetness. The heady scent of her arousal drove him wild, causing his blood to heat and his cock to harden painfully in the confines of his pants. He couldn’t wait to pound into the sweetness between her thighs, couldn’t wait to make her his.
He withdrew his hand from her pussy and moved his gaze to her bottom. Yes, he had better get her punishment over with soon, for both of their sakes. Even if she was aroused by the prospect of a spanking, it didn’t dampen the fear he still sensed from her. Rather than use the strap for the entire duration of her chastisement, he had decided it best to start with his hand in order to warm her cheeks up for the heavier impact of the leather implement, with which he would only give her a few well-placed strokes.
Admiring the swell of her bottom cheeks, he raised his hand and prepared his aim. He brought his palm down with a resounding smack on her right buttock, then quickly delivered a blow to her left cheek. She gasped and squirmed a bit, but didn’t try to escape her position. But by the time he delivered the tenth blow, she was whimpering and clutching at the covers.
He paused and stepped back to gaze upon her reddened cheeks, then ran a hand over her bottom. The scent of her arousal thickened in the air, a sweet pungent temptation, and he had to steady himself to continue her punishment, when everything inside him burned to claim her now.Soon, he thought. Soon he would be buried inside her, showing her what it was to belong to a Tarkkuan male.
In rapid succession, he gave her ten more sharp swats to her bottom, thus ending the spanking portion of her punishment. She still had a dose of the strap coming. That couldn’t be helped. If a member of the Tarkkuan ruling class discovered she’d spoken out against the trade agreement, there was a good chance a judge would sentence her to reeducation. The thought of having her ripped from his arms and sent to a facility on the other side of this planet, where she would be retaught the value each of their worlds brought to one another, until she wholeheartedly professed that the trade agreement was for the benefit of both their races, left him seething with rage and preemptive despair.
No. He would not let that happen. He would keep an eye on her and make sure she never did or said anything to rouse the suspicions of the ruling class. Though he hadn’t officially claimed her yet, he took the marriage blessing very seriously. He was her mate, her master, and it was his duty to protect her, even from herself. He stroked her enflamed backside before reaching for the strap.
He’d expected her to start pleading when he picked up the implement, but she remained silent, aside from the occasional whimper. She fisted the covers tighter and took a deep breath, though, as if bracing for the first searing thwack of the leather across her already punished bottom cheeks.
“You’ll receive five,” he announced, once again pressing a hand to her lower back. He raised the strap and brought it down across her ass.
“Oh!” she cried out, but didn’t put up a struggle. It pleased him that she wasn’t trying to escape, though if she did attempt to leave her position, he would simply hold her down more firmly and deliver the final lashes.
Thwack! Thwack!He delivered the second and third strokes without a pause for breath.
Sniffles drifted up from the bed, and to his utter surprise, his heart contracted to hear her crying. He had never considered how profoundly his human female might affect him. In this moment, all he wanted to do was gather her up in his arms and offer her comfort.
But he couldn’t. Not yet. He had to finish delivering the punishment he’d promised her—the punishment she had earned. He hoped once this was over, her tongue would not be so loose and that she would truly consider her words more carefully in the future, especially when out in public. The ruling class had eyes and ears everywhere. Just three days ago, a human female who lived down the street had been sentenced to reeducation and had already been taken away from her mate until she completed a round, or however many rounds it took, of rehabilitation.
Zylonn gripped the strap harder and struck Nova’s bottom again. And again.
She released a heartfelt sob and shuddered on the bed. He tossed the implement down and immediately scooped his little mate up in his arms, just as he’d longed to do moments ago. To his relief, she didn’t push away from him, though she didn’t snuggle up against him either.
He sat on the bed and arranged her in his lap, rubbing her back and stroking his fingers through her hair. Using his thumbs, he wiped the moisture from her face and waited until she met his eyes. She sniffled and tried to look away again, but he caught her chin and forced her to hold his gaze.
“Nova, are you all right?”
She gave him an incredulous look as more tears formed in her eyes. “How can you treat me so gently now, so soon after I displeased you and you punished me? Aren’t you still angry, Master?”
“After a punishment comes comfort and forgiveness, little human. As your mate, your well-being, physical and emotional, is the most important thing in the world to me. I was angry at you earlier, yes. However, my anger has long faded. You understood what you did wrong, apologized for it, and took your punishment well. I’m proud of you, Nova.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and used his thumbs to wipe her fallen tears from her cheeks, keeping his touch as gentle and affectionate as possible. Yes, he would be stern with her when he had to be, but he wasn’t a tyrant. He would also be loving.
He’d been waiting for his human female his whole life. Now she was finally here.
She remained silent for the longest while. He kept holding her and stroking her hair and her back, hoping to provide her with much needed comfort. A sense of responsibility swept down upon him as he tightened his arms around her. She was his forever and he vowed to always take care of her, through the difficult times and the happier times.
Would there be happier times? Gradually, she relaxed further and further into his arms, bringing him hope that perhaps once they got to know one another better, things would become easier between them. He withdrew slightly from the embrace and stared into her pretty blue eyes. Her tears had stopped falling and she appeared much calmer.
“I like holding you, sweet Nova,” he found himself saying, as if the words flowed directly from his rapidly beating heart.
She gulped hard. “You-you are not what I expected in a mate, Master,” she said, placing a hand on his chest. She moved closer and finally leaned her head against him, and he hugged her tighter.
“You are not what I expected either, little human, but I am not sorry for it.” And he wasn’t sorry. He’d pictured himself claiming his new mate for the sole purpose of getting her with child, as was his duty to his people. He hadn’t expected his heart to swell with tenderness for the human that had been given to him, especially so soon after she had come into his life. The affectionate emotions rolling through him were almost foreign, it had been so long since he’d felt even the tiniest spark of happiness. The cold darkness of space, and the despair of watching many of his friends die in mining accidents, had followed him back to Tarkkua. But now, as he held this petite human girl in his arms, he thought perhaps he was starting to thaw.
He inhaled deep, breathing in her exquisite scent, a mix of floral perfume, shampoo, and the unique fragrance of her delicious arousal. She shifted on his lap, and the slight movement renewed the aching in his cock. Lust spiraled through him, and he fought to contain it and hold her a while longer, savoring the feel of her resting in his arms, and the tickle of her increasing breaths on his chest, hitting his flesh just above the collar of his shirt.
She pulled back and peered up at him, her face flushed and her eyes wide. “Master?”
“Yes, little human?”
“I’m, um, ready.For the mating.” She said the last three words as a whisper, as if the very idea of being claimed by him was a most scandalous affair. He supposed she was a virgin—most human brides were—though it wasn’t a requirement put forth in the trade agreement. But the females chosen as brides were given medical treatments from an early age that altered their DNA enough to enable them to conceive a child with a Tarkkuan male, and as a typical side effect, these enhanced human females generally weren’t attracted to human males. The scent of her arousal hit him again, sweet and pungent and uniquely hers, reminding him of the hot slickness between her thighs that he’d touched but moments ago. In all likelihood, Nova was experiencing arousal for the very first time.
