by Sue Lyndon
“Is it true?” he asked in perfect but heavily accented English. “Have you been taking care of Lanzo?”
Words failed her as she became lost in his powerful gaze. Edek was deadly. Lanzo had told her about his feats in battle, about his wife and twin sons. The accident. The grief that had turned to anger. The anger that had hardened his heart.
“I asked you a question.” Edek’s intense glare burned into her.
“Yes, I’ve been taking care of Lanzo. One of your Holy Ones taught me the exercises he must do each day to recover more quickly. I help with his physical therapy every day.”
“That’s not all she does. She’s become an invaluable member of this household.” Lanzo had wobbled over and placed a hand on Edek’s arm. “She’s also my friend, brother, as hard as that might be for you to believe. A dear friend. I cannot own a slave, so I bought her in your name and she’s a gift to you.”
Lanzo had explained his motivations behind her purchase, but it still riled her that he couldn’t forsake his honorary brotherhood with the Holy Ones so she could belong to him. The idea of belonging to Edek made her heart quake in terror, and calling him Master left a bitter taste in her mouth. He wasn’t the one who’d saved her from the pervert. He wasn’t the one who’d taken her into a shop and clothed her before leaving the town, sparing her further humiliation on the day of auction.
“You know I despise humans. Why gift her to me instead of another?”
As he spoke, Edek’s eyes continued to bore into her, but she managed to hold his gaze. She wouldn’t spend the rest of her life cowering before him.
“She’ll be good for you, brother. I can feel it.” Lanzo left the room with slow, uneven steps, disappearing down the dim hallway that led to his chambers.
Betsy seriously doubted Lanzo’s words. Edek’s cold stare prickled her skin, and fear riddled her insides as he approached her once more, coming to stand directly before her. At least this time his hands remained at his sides. The terror of his touch lingered.
“I want your name. Your name and the crimes you committed.” His tone was businesslike and softer than before, but it wasn’t enough to earn her trust. Lanzo had been nothing but kind to her, but she hadn’t told him about her past. She’d resolved to tell no one.
If the Kall of Sumlin District knew her real name, a particularly cruel Kall, possibly Edek, would want to make an example of her. She imagined the execution of the First Daughter would draw an excited crowd. The triumphant shouts of the Kall in the courtroom still haunted her each night as she drifted to sleep.
Edek’s hot breath fanned against her face. He loomed over her, forbidding and tense, as if reining in his anger. She wished Lanzo hadn’t left her alone. A feeling of abandonment filled her. She could barely believe her one friend had left her in such deadly hands. Edek had been on his way to Earth to kill as many humans as possible, so what prevented him from harming her now?
She was nothing to him. Lonely tears brimmed in her eyes, and she blinked them back and bit her lip. Oh, how she missed Earth. And now that Edek had returned to Sumlin District, her days with Lanzo had come to an end. She’d felt safe with the elderly Kall and enjoyed his company. He was unlike most Kall. His constant aura of peace put her at ease, and she’d come to see him as a father figure.
Now the past had repeated itself. Her real father had abandoned her to a Kall, arranging a marriage behind her back. Lanzo had given her to a violent Kall who despised humans, as his slave. The bitter irony of it plunged her into despair. There was nowhere to run this time. Not with the tracking device implanted deep in her arm. She’d be caught in no time and surely punished by Edek.
“Since you want to do this the hard way, we’ll go to my room. Wouldn’t want to scare the servants with all your screaming.” The Kall grasped her arm and hauled her out of the dining room.
Betsy’s bare feet hit the cold stone treads of a set of stairs she’d never climbed. The hallways from the dining room led in many directions, and she’d never had any reason to venture to this part of the large house. Small, dim orbs of light lined the stone walls, casting an eerie glow up the precipitous steps that led to a massive metal door. They reached the top in no time, and her stomach lurched as the door hissed open.
Edek gave her a light shove into the dark room. She blinked, trying to focus on the shapes of furniture barely visible in the darkness. As she spun in a slow circle, dozens of tiny orbs of light glowed to life, revealing a sparsely furnished room with a large bed in the center. The bed gave her pause. Her gaze locked with Edek’s and he shut the door with an ominous click.
*
A little human woman with flowing auburn hair. Heslla was indeed an apt name. Edek stared at her, trying to decide his next move. He hadn’t expected to find a human in his brother’s house. He’d expected to find quiet and solitude, a time to rest before his warriors returned for training. Lanzo’s gift might have been well intentioned, but it certainly wasn’t welcome.
He remained near the door, studying his acquisition. That hair. His fingers tingled with the desire to run his hands through her auburn locks. As much as he liked her hair, her eyes were her best feature by far. Large and brilliantly blue, they seemed to sparkle even in the dimly lit room. She wore a long, plain ivory dress that hugged her form perfectly, accentuating her ample hips and full bosom.
A small measure of guilt crept through him. He’d lost control downstairs and frightened the poor girl. Perhaps she hadn’t deserved to be sold as a slave. The Kall justice system wasn’t without its flaws. The fact that slaves were sold anonymously only proved that.
The hatred he’d felt initially in her presence faded in small measure as he continued to stare at her. His heart rate slowed and his reason returned. Having never seen a human woman up close, he hadn’t realized they were so little. Or maybe it was just this one.
“Come here.” He pointed to his feet.
She paled and stepped backward, tendrils of hair flipping about her face as she shook her head.
Edek softened his stance. “Obey me and you won’t have reason to fear me, little human. Now come to me.” He reached out a hand in encouragement.
Hope shimmered in her eyes and she took a tentative step in his direction. A few more steps and she reached him, peering up from under thick, dark eyelashes.
“Go on.” He waved his hand, urging her to take it.
She inhaled a shaky breath and put her little hand in his much larger one. A jolt of energy shot through him at the physical contact and shook him to his core. He was supposed to hate her. He was supposed to want to kill her. Her people had ruined his life. They’d ruined the lives of many he’d loved, and they’d taken away his precious family. Yet her hand felt perfect and silky in his, and a surge of protectiveness for the little human sped through him.
He pushed the unwanted feelings down. She was his property. Nothing more.
“I need to know your name and the crimes you committed, little human. I’m tired of asking. Tell me now.”
“No.”
“No?” Edek wasn’t accustomed to being refused anything. His warriors obeyed his every command without question, and now a mere slave dared tell him no. It was unfathomable.
“I can’t tell you my real name, but I will tell you that the charges brought against me were false. I didn’t do what the Kall court on Earth convicted me of. I swear it.”
He wanted to believe her. He wanted to trust her. Her name though…he had to know her name. Calling her Heslla, as Lanzo did, wasn’t an option. Hellsa sounded like an endearment, and endearments wouldn’t do because she needed to remember her place.
Taking a deep breath, Edek tightened his grip on her hand and led her to a chair near the bed. He sank down on it and opened his legs, forcing her to stand between his parted thighs as she gazed fearfully into his eyes. He cupped her face with one hand, and she trembled at his light touch. Holy Fires, she was a tiny thing. Even when he was seated on the chair, the top of her head bare
ly reached his chin.
“I’ve given you several chances to answer my questions and you still refuse. I have no choice but to punish you now, little human.” He planned to punish her lightly, but she didn’t need to know that. She needed to learn fear and respect. The next time he asked her a question, he expected an immediate answer to fall from her lips. Slaves didn’t refuse their masters anything, least of all simple information.
Edek hauled her over his lap and draped one of his legs over hers, trapping her in his hold. Her breathing became labored, and she peered over her shoulder at him with pleading eyes.
“If I told you I was American, would that be enough?”
He cupped her bottom, prompting her to tense up. “I can already tell you’re American. You’re speaking English like an American. I take it you don’t speak any Kall? Not even the common dialect?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know your language at all. I’ve been trying to pick it up from the servants, but it isn’t easy. The only words I know so far are ecka, slemma, and casika.”
Edek threw his head back and laughed. “Those are all curse words, little human. Where did you hear them? Certainly not from Lanzo.”
Pink stained her cheeks and she turned around, settling on his lap as if resigning herself to the punishment he still planned to deliver. “The cook,” she finally said.
He laughed once more, but maintained his hold on her, keeping one hand pressed down on her back and the other covering her bottom. His cock shifted at the feel of her firm little bottom beneath his hand. The spread of fabric revealed the outline of her panties.
Damn Lanzo for doing this to him. The last thing he needed was to fight a sexual attraction to a human woman. A girl, really. A terrible thought struck him.
“How old are you?”
“Too old for a spanking.”
He bit back a chuckle. He’d never owned a slave before, but he knew slaves certainly weren’t supposed to sass their masters. Especially while draped over their masters’ knee awaiting punishment.
Grasping a handful of hair in a gentle grip, he tilted her head back and put his lips to her ear. “How. Old. Are. You?”
“Twenty-six.”
Twenty-six. In her culture she’d been considered an adult for several years, and in his culture for over a decade. He exhaled in relief. “That’s not too old for a spanking.”
“I meant fifty-six. I’m fifty-six.”
“Nice try, but that’s not too old for a spanking either.” He released her hair and brushed it over her neck to fully expose the side of her face, reveling in the silkiness of her locks between his fingers. Her skin had felt soft as he cupped her face. He imagined she was soft all over. All softness and pretty pale skin. A spattering of freckles covered her slender shoulders and her nose, and he wondered if she had freckles anywhere else. His pants chafed his enlarging cock.
Edek once again pushed his desires down and tried to concentrate on her punishment. She’d defied him and no doubt deserved it. He hated to hurt her though, this small female. Why did she have to be so stubborn?
“I’ll give you one last chance before I begin your spanking, little human.” He gave her bottom a light tap in warning. “Tell me your name.”
Silence.
“Very well,” he said, raising his hand.
A gasp left her at the impact of the first slap, and he cracked his flattened palm across her cheeks once more. She tensed up and squirmed over his lap. Desire swelled within him, raw and unstoppable, as he brought his hand down again and again, leaving no part of her bottom untouched. He put his arousal down to the fact that he hadn’t held a female, Kall or any other kind, this close since his wife’s death.
“Are you ready to tell me your name?” He swatted her upper thighs, drawing a whimper from her throat.
“You don’t understand. I can’t tell you my name.” Sorrow laced her voice, though she wasn’t crying. Yet.
Edek paused and rested a hand on her bottom. Her shoulders rose and fell rapidly under her quick breaths. Tremors racked her body and testified to her fear. Uttering her name would be so simple, yet she remained uncooperative and he began to suspect her silence indicated she’d been someone important. A politician on Earth, perhaps. One who hadn’t surrendered peacefully even as the rest of Earth ceded to the Kall’s power. Except, no. She’d said she was innocent of the crimes she’d been convicted of. His jaw tensed as he wondered if she’d lied to him about her conviction.
“It’s very important that you tell me your name.” Gasps and whimpers filled the room as he laid into her bottom once more, spanking her cheeks and alternating from left to right.
“Please. I-I can’t.” This time, her voice cracked and her shoulders shook harder. Tears were finally falling.
Edek paused and reached for her hair, brushing the silky locks over her shoulder to reveal her face. She didn’t turn around to meet his eyes, but she didn’t try to hide from him either. He continued stroking her hair over her shoulder, trying to soothe her fears. The inexplicable need to gain her trust consumed him.
“Listen to me, little human. I know you must have been someone important to your people. A public figure of some kind. Are you truly innocent of the crimes you were convicted of in the Kall court?”
“Yes, I swear it.”
“Then I give you my word that no harm will come to you if you tell me your name. I will not return you to the slave block.” He caressed her bottom and his desire ignited anew. She was lovely, feminine perfection.
“But you might kill me. Or have me killed. You could toss me to an angry crowd and let them take care of it for you. I saw something like that happen as Lanzo led me out of the town. A human man being kicked by a large group of Kall. He appeared lifeless on the ground and still they kept kicking him. And laughing.”
Edek straightened and loosened his hold on her. Bringing her up to sit in his lap, he smoothed her hair around her shoulders, delighting in the luxurious colorful strands. Kall women didn’t have hair of this color, nor was their hair so soft and wavy.
“Need I remind you that your people destroyed two of our mountain towns?”
“It was an accident. We apologized. Our governments knew nothing about the illegal mining operation that caused the destruction of your towns.”
“Your governments should have kept better tabs on their citizens.”
Sadness filled her eyes. “I’m sorry about your wife and sons. Truly I am.”
Rage surged through his veins, and he tightened his grip on her arms. “Who told you about that?”
“Lanzo. He told me all about you.”
Edek sighed and relaxed his grip on her, not wanting to hurt her unintentionally. She shifted on his lap, and a blush stained her cheeks. Perhaps she’d detected his erection, or perhaps her bottom hurt from the spanking. Perhaps both.
He’d been on his way to kill humans, but her story about the human near the slave block saddened him. A Kall warrior wasn’t supposed to be motivated by hatred, but by the need for survival and domination after being challenged. A group of Kall kicking a defenseless man was cowardly, and he resolved to look into the matter. Of course, he couldn’t deny that hatred had surged through his heart on his way to Earth. He also resolved to get his emotions in check before training began, lest he fail in leading by example.
“I meant what I said. I will not harm you if you reveal your name.”
She glanced down, twisting her hands in her lap. The same hope he’d glimpsed earlier shone in her eyes, but her reluctance remained. She wanted to trust him—he sensed it—but fear held her tongue. He decided to give her another incentive to talk.
Tipping her chin up, he stared into her brilliant blue depths, piercing her with a stern look. “If you persist in refusing to tell me your name, I’ll turn you back over my knee and lift your dress up. I’ll pull your panties down and thrash your bare bottom soundly, little human. I am your master and you will refuse me nothing. Now tell me or you’ll sorely regre
t it.”
All color drained from her face and she swallowed hard.
“Do you want a bare bottom spanking?”
“No, Master.” She inhaled a deep breath. “My name is Betsy Carson.”
Chapter Three
Edek’s body stiffened. “The American president’s daughter?”
“Yes. M-Master.” Edek’s methods of coercion had taken Betsy by surprise. She’d expected to be beaten brutally. Punched. Kicked. Whipped. Expecting such treatment, she’d vowed to keep silent and withhold her name, believing revealing her name would only lead to more brutality, possibly even death. Except he’d spanked her instead and promised no harm would come to her. Perhaps she’d gone mad, but she sensed Edek was a man of his word. Even before he’d threatened to bare her bottom, she’d resolved to take a chance. To tell her master the truth.
“I thought the story about Commander Merokk taking an interest in a cousin of yours to be strange. Especially since it was reported after the wedding ceremony in which you supposedly married him.” Interest lit in Edek’s dark eyes.
“I ran away and hid in one of the settlements that sprang up. Eventually someone recognized me and I was turned over. I don’t know the entire story, but I believe Commander Merokk wished to remain married to the imposter woman my government provided him with, and the Kall on Earth wanted to see me punished for breaking the treaty. Except they had to save face for Merokk’s sake. I was charged with sabotage and conspiracy, and a few other things. The only crime I was technically guilty of was breaking the treaty between our people when I ran off, but I was not charged for that.” She shifted on his lap, trying to find a comfortable position. She longed to rub the sting out of her punished bottom.
“So they sent you to the slave block in Sumlin District?”
“Yes, Master.”
Warmth glimmered in his eyes. Kindness. Betsy’s heart contracted and she started shaking again. No one here had spoken to her at length or stared at her that way except for Lanzo. She wrapped her arms around her center and wished he’d allow her to look down, but his hold on her chin remained firm. His eyes bored into hers.