Page 17 of Commander's Slave
“How long have you been here?” he asked, still staring into her eyes.
“About two months. Sixty-three days to be exact.” A day on the Kall homeworld lasted slightly longer than an Earth day, but Betsy wasn’t sure how they measured time here. The days had bled together, all of them nearly the same, but she’d kept count of them in her head. Each night as she said her prayers, she thanked God for letting her live one more day and added it to her mental tally.
“I suppose you’ve gotten to know Draken well?” Again, he stroked her hair.
“Yes, Master. He has been very kind to me.” Tingles raced up and down her spine. He was petting her, and she was still very aware of his hardness beneath her sore bottom. A lump lodged in her throat.
The huge bed behind Betsy suddenly dominated her thoughts.
Would Edek force himself upon her?
She blinked hard and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She told herself the pleasure she derived from his gentle touches to her hair were nothing more than a physical reaction. She couldn’t control it, though she tried to will the endorphins rushing her head to go away.
It didn’t work.
Edek dropped his hand from her chin, but his gaze held her captive and she didn’t move an inch. “Thank you for telling me your name, Betsy.”
His words took her by surprise, and she nodded as heat rushed to her face. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Panic rose in her chest as she spoke, but she stared bravely at Edek. Though she was a slave and it was her duty to obey her master in all things, she wouldn’t acquiesce to his advances. Not in fear.
“Because I’ve never seen a human woman before. You fascinate me, Betsy. Your coloring and your tiny stature are remarkable. Your voice is as sweet as a song and your eyes glimmer with… well, your eyes glimmer.” For a moment, a sheepish look stole over his features, before he drew in a deep breath and straightened, his lips pressing together as the aura of authority that clung to him slipped back into place.
Once again, Betsy stared at him in surprise. If she weren’t afraid he was about to take her to bed, she would have laughed over his observations and his somewhat tender words.
Edek was the remarkable one.
A giant at over seven feet tall, she felt like a child sitting in his lap. Muscles bulged from his arms, and his chest and shoulders were broader than on any human man she’d seen. His thighs felt firm beneath her. And his manhood… well, even firmer. Though he was huge, he didn’t look like he had an ounce of fat on him. Edek, the Commander of Sumlin District’s warriors, was constructed of solid muscle. He had short, dark hair, though he had no facial hair. In fact, Betsy hadn’t seen any Kall males with facial hair. Yet another difference between humans and Kall.
“Where do you sleep at night?” His voice held a gruff note.
The lump in her throat thickened. “I-I sleep downstairs in a small room, two corridors beyond the servants’ quarters.”
His brow furrowed. “In one of the storage rooms?”
She shrugged. “Um, yes. Draken offered me a bed in the servants’ quarters, but the servants have been locking me out since the first night, so I-I had to find an alternative place to sleep. Draken doesn’t know and I’d like to keep it that way.Please. I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.” Even though she couldn’t understand their language, she’d understood the tone and gestures of the servants. She was a slave. She was beneath even them.
Edek stared at her for a long moment. She grew uneasy under the intensity of his dark gaze, yet she couldn’t force herself to look away. Something about him pulled her to him like a magnet. It felt raw and real and confusing.
“Have you been sleeping on the floor?” he asked. “Or, did you bring a cot into the storage room?”
Her face burned. Why was he so interested in her sleeping arrangements? She fought the urge to glance at his huge, and likely quite comfortable, bed. She wouldn’t mind sleeping in a bed, but she most certainly didn’t want to sleep in his bed.
“Betsy?” he prompted when she took too long to answer.
She sucked in a shaky breath. “Yes, I’ve been sleeping on the floor. I-I use the extra dresses Draken bought me to create a makeshift mattress and stay warm.” Except she wasn’t always warm. Not during the darkest hours of night, when even the multiple layers with which she surrounded herself failed to keep her teeth from chattering and her toes and fingers from prickling. If it weren’t for the cold, maybe she wouldn’t have so many nightmares. It seemed like every night she ended up back in that snowdrift, where she hovered on the edge of consciousness, alone and desperate as ever.
Edek appeared deep in thought and for some reason this unsettled Betsy. Was he still thinking about her sleeping arrangements? Was he going to inform Draken of his servants’ behavior? The servants already hated her, and she didn’t wish to incur their wrath further. The ugly looks they shot her and the way they sometimes pushed her out of the way, or even caused her to spill a bucket or drop whatever she was carrying, was bad enough. She didn’t want additional problems from them.
“Is it lonely,” he asked, his gaze suddenly far away, “sleeping alone in the dark?” He kept one hand on her lower back, supporting her as she remained seated upon his lap, and with his other hand he began stroking her hair.
His question stunned her.Yes. Oh God, yes.
It is fucking lonely. It’s nearly unbearable.
But she couldn’t tell him the truth. Admitting to a weakness like this would make her vulnerable. She shook her head slightly. “I-I am used to sleeping alone.”
He gave her a tight smile. “That’s not what I asked, little human.”
Little human.When he called her that, it felt like an endearment. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. Because the gentleness of his tone made her want to cry.
