Page 18 of Commander's Slave
He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to have to go looking for you in odd corridors and storage rooms in the house. You’re my slave, my responsibility, and I might have need of you at any time.” He tipped her chin up. “You’ll sleephere, Betsy.”
What? She stared at him for a long moment as her mind whirled. He wanted her to sleep here? She finally tore her gaze from his and glanced around the room. There was a rug in front of the fire, and another rug at the foot of his large bed. Perhaps he only meant for her to sleep in his room, not in his bed. Her face heated. Of course he wouldn’t want her in his bed. She was a slave. He probably meant for her to sleep somewhere on the floor.
Still… she didn’t want to share such close quarters with a huge Kall warrior. Particularly one who owned her. If she was conveniently nearby in the middle of the night, he might decide to have his way with her. To use her body for his pleasure. A shiver raced down her spine at the thought, but to her frustration, it wasn’t a shiver of repulsion. Heated pulses were steadily gathering in her core and she was very aware of Edek’s hardness beneath her sore bottom.
“No, Master,” she said, trying her best for a confident tone. “I cannot sleep here. Absolutely not. I-I prefer my storage room.” She shook her head, praying he didn’t force the issue. If he did, she would resist. Even now, despite how cold and lonely she found her storage room, she longed to return to the small, chilled space and hide from her master.
“No?” he asked in a tone of disbelief. His eyes flashed.
She gulped and somehow held his gaze. “I will not sleep here. If you have need of me during the night, perhaps you could install a bell or something to ring and—"
Strong hands slid up her arms to grip her shoulders, the force of his sudden movement cutting off her speech. His eyebrows shot up and his nostrils flared. “Need I remind you what happens when you refuse your master?”
Pain pounded in her jaw as she ground her teeth together. Would he threaten her with a spanking each time she questioned or refused him? Was this her life now? She longed for Los Angeles. For her soft bed covered in plush pillows. For boring, stately dinners with her father. For the slightly intrusive but comforting presence of Secret Service agents trailing her every movement. All that safety and predictability had been stripped away.
Her entire life had changed when the first fleet of Kall warships had been detected approaching Earth. She wished she could go back in time and not run away. Even if she’d gone through with the marriage to Ambassador Merokk, at least she would still be on Earth. She wouldn’t have almost died in a snowdrift, wouldn’t have discovered the full extent of her father’s indifference to her, and she sure as hell wouldn’t be a slave on an alien world.
Tears brimmed in her eyes and she angrily blinked them away.
She would not cry. She wouldn’t.
After a brief glance away, she once again met Edek’s dark, dangerous gaze. “Let go of me, Master. It’s late and I’d like to retire in my room now. Downstairs.” She almost gasped at the sharpness of her tone. Had she truly just spoken to Edek in anger? In her frustration over this entire situation, she hadn’t been able to help herself.
Edek glared at her for a moment, his features tense.
Then he turned her back over his knee.
Cool air hit her skin as he flipped her skirt up and yanked her panties down, baring her bottom. In a panic, Betsy kicked wildly and almost managed to squirm off his lap. His actions shocked her, even though she supposed they shouldn’t. He was a Kall, and he was her master. She ought to have known what would happen if she challenged him.
With a deep growl, he pinned her legs down with one of his and pressed a firm hand to her lower back.
“No! Master, stop!”
When her hands flew around to cover her exposed bum, he trapped them at the small of her back.
Shame heated her face, and anger boiled her blood, the two emotions swirling together as reality set in. He’d bared her bottom. He meant to spank her for refusing to sleep in his room. She chided herself for her stupid display of bravery and virtue.
“Master, wait!” Damn her pride and her virtue, she would apologize now, if only he would allow her off his lap, if only he’d allow her to cover her nudity. She felt very exposed and vulnerable, knowing he had an unhindered view of her backside—and likely even more of her as she struggled against his hold. The cool air wafted against her privates as she squirmed around on his sturdy thighs, her legs falling open now and then while she fought him.
Thwack! His hand suddenly bounced off her bottom.
As before, he alternated spanking her cheeks. First her left, then her right, over and over again. The rapid swats had her howling in no time, and burning tears escaped her eyes. All the sorrow she’d been trying to conceal from him came pouring out, and she cried more from heartache than the physical pain of the spanking.
I’m alone. I’m scared. I’ll never be free of this life.
“Please, Master!” She couldn’t take one more swat, yet he continued on, spanking her bottom raw as her sorrow and helplessness continued building alongside the pain.
“You will obey me in all things, Betsy. Are we clear?” The swats rained down as he spoke, his voice full of command. Gone was the tender Kall she’d glimpsed moments ago.
“Yes, Master! I promise!” Her sobs deepened, and she closed her eyes. Once more, she wished to return to the life she’d left behind.
Earth.
How she missed it and all its imperfection.
Of all the planets she’d visited in her short life, she loved Earth the most. It was home, and she’d never feel at home again. She would always feel displaced.
Punished. Inferior. Frustrated and hopeless.
