by Renee Rose
The older Zandian beamed. The crust is made with flour and butter, the inside is egg, cream, cheese and vegetables. He waited with anticipation on his face, for her to take her first bite.
She picked up the utensil and popped a serving into her mouth. “Mmm...it’s...absolutely delicious,” she said, still chewing. “Thank you so much!”
Barr smiled. “My pleasure.”
She ate quickly, partly to show Barr how much she loved it and partly because she didn’t want to be late for her curfew. When she’d eaten every last crumb from the plate, she stood. “Thank you again. Really. I am touched by your efforts. You’re wonderful, Barr.”
His skin turned a darker purple and he ducked his head. “Have a good day, Lamira.”
“You too, Barr.”
She headed back to Zander’s room, running down the hallway in case she was late.
Zander stood outside the door to his chamber, listening to Master Seke tell him something. Their heads were bent together and Zander’s forehead wrinkled.
He threw her a distracted look and opened the door. “Go in your cage.”
That was it? He was trusting her to go in the cage on her own. Her heart picked up speed as she contemplated disobedience. To be safe, she crawled up into the cage and swung the door mostly shut but stopped before the lock clicked into place. There. If he came in and secured it, that would be that. If not...would she dare leave it during the day? Would his servants know and report her?
Well, she could figure that out after he left.
She listened for the sound of the door opening, but it never came.
As always, she closed her eyes to shut out the closeness of the bars. An image immediately flooded her mind.
It showed Zander’s ship docking somewhere—a huge complex—the United Galaxies headquarters, perhaps. The moment it arrived, the dock blew into smithereens.
She gulped for air.
No.
Oh stars, no. Zander.
Kicking open the cage, she scrambled out and ran for the door. For a moment, she feared Zander had locked it so she couldn’t leave, but it slid open.
She raced down the hall, her bare feet digging into the luxurious rugs. Where would he be? Had he already gone? Remembering the direction of the dock from Gunt’s tour, she charged through space.
There.
At the end of the corridor, surrounding by a group of guards and advisors, about to step out into the docking platform.
“Zander!” she screamed.
He whirled around, a frown creasing his brow.
Ah stars, what would she tell him? She couldn’t say what she’d seen.
But she had to stop him—had to.
“What are you doing out of your cage?” he demanded.
“My lord—you can’t go!”
She reached him and gripped his forearm, tugging at it. Of course, he was completely immovable. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, the image of the explosion still burning her eyes.
“What in the Zandian moons are you doing? Why aren’t you in your cage?”
Under different circumstances, she’d be embarrassed that he mentioned her cage in front of other beings, but she didn’t have time to care now. All that mattered was keeping him from getting on that ship.
“Zander—please don’t go. You can’t!” She probably sounded hysterical. Hell, she felt hysterical. “Please, my lord.”
He gripped her shoulders and gave her a shake, like a naughty child. “What’s wrong with you?”
She needed to give him some kind of reason. Her brain raced, searching for something, anything she could tell him that would make him stay. “Right now. I’m ovulating. You have to breed me. This is our one chance for the lunar cycle.”
Yes, it was a stupid reason, but it was the first thing she could think of.
“I think the crystal bath kicked it into gear.”
Zander’s brow furrowed even further, but he shook her off his arm. “Go back to your cage, Lamira. Now. I have to get to the UG complex and I don’t have time to waste with you today.”
She grasped him again, holding his arm tight as he tried to tug it away, causing him to yank her forward and into the air. She twisted wildly as her feet grasped for purchase, refusing to let go of his forearm.
“Lamira.” He shook his arm so hard, her teeth rattled. So much disapproval and irritation rang through in that single word, but she didn’t care. If she let Zander go, he’d die. She’d seen it.
“You cannot go,” she hissed.
His eyes blazed dark-purple. A muscle in his jaw tightened.
“This is unacceptable.” The room tilted and flipped upside down as she found herself upended over Zander’s shoulder. His hand clapped down on her ass, hard. “Start the engines. I will be there in a moment,” he barked over his shoulder as he walked swiftly down the corridor.
Think, Lamira, think. There must be a way to convince him to stay. Something she could do or say?
Zander slapped her ass again, his irritation coming through clearly in the stinging blow.
She steeled herself against the continued spanks. If she’d known sooner, she might have disabled the ship. No, that was foolish. She didn’t have the slightest clue how to disable a ship, even if she were able to get away with such a thing.
They arrived back in Zander’s chambers, where he dropped her on her feet and glowered.
“Don’t go,” she whispered, her body trembling from her scalp to the tips of her toenails.
Zander put his hands on his hips. “What is this about? Is this because I denied you sex this morning?”
“No—” It was silly to keep the up the lie about her ovulation, but she hadn’t come up with a better idea. “It’s just now is our best chance—to conceive a baby. It has to be right now.”
He glanced at his armband. “I do not have the time right now. I am the ambassador of my species, and I’m supposed to be at a United Galaxies meeting representing our interests at this very moment. Are you so foolish you cannot discern what is of the highest importance here?”
Tears of desperation leaked from the corners of her eyes. “Zander...you don’t understand…”
He’d lost all patience with her, though, and stalked to the box of punishment tools. He withdrew the cane she hated with every particle of her being.
Well, at least it meant he was staying—if only for a few more minutes.
He grabbed her elbow and spun her around to face the sleeping platform. “Bend over, pants down.”
Nothing could be more humiliating than folding her torso over the platform and reaching back to bare her own bottom for his punishment. She gritted her teeth, flinching when the cool air reached her butt cheeks.
The cane sliced through the air.
She cried out, rising onto her toes.
“That is for leaving your cage.”
He whipped her again.
“Or did you never get into it?”
“I did, I did!” she cried out, as if that would stop the horrible cane from swinging again.
“Is that another one of your lies?” he demanded, the cane landing again.
“No, master! I was in it, but the door never locked!” Because I didn’t lock it.
He laid another stripe across her twitching flesh.
Stars, it hurt.
“And that is for refusing to return when I ordered it.” Two quick strikes.
She felt certain she was going to die.
“And this is for still arguing with me as if you might pester me into getting your way.” Three more terrible strokes.
She sobbed into the sleepdisk covers.
He threw the cane on the sleeping platform. “Now get in that cage and stay there until I return.”
No. She couldn’t let him leave. She pushed herself weakly to her feet and turned, her pants tangling around her legs. “Don’t go,” she croaked. “You can’t leave—please don’t go.”
He threw her a look of disgust and stalked out, the do
or whooshing closed behind him.
She stood there, tears streaking her face, her ass on fire, trying to think of something else she might do to keep him from that meeting. But nothing came. Her brain had frozen in fear, stopped cold with the vision of her master—her lover—exploding.
~.~
Zander drew deep breaths as his long, hurried strides carried him back to the ship dock. He’d thought Lamira was smarter than that. What in the stars had she been thinking? He ought to punish her again when he returned. No. He needed to talk to her, to try to understand why she felt so strongly about breeding with him today. Because surely she understood she risked punishment, and yet she did it anyway.
He glanced at his cuff. Veck, veck veck. He should be flying already. They’d assigned his ship a specific garage and dock time to cut down on air traffic problems, and now he’d be lucky if he made it by the end of the window. And he had planned to leave with plenty of time to spare. He hated being late. The UG required each ambassador to dock and remain in their docking area for security clearance. The entire process took at least an hour. If he missed his docking window, he might have to wait even longer to be allowed out of his docking garage and into the Great Hall.
His guards stood at the dock door, looking alert and ready. Master Seke also stood waiting. He would accompany Zander into the meeting and serve as his primary advisor and protector.
They folded in when he passed, following him onto the craft. He sat down in the pilot’s chair, not because he didn’t have staff who could fly but because he preferred to be the one in control. All the battle flight simulators in the galaxy didn’t compare to actual flight. Not that the simple flight path to the UG was anything like a battle.
Seke took the co-pilot’s chair. His expression was blank, as always. He wouldn’t ask about Lamira, either. He was a being of few words.
“The human is disrupting everything,” he complained. He knew he sounded like a petulant, spoiled little prince. She was his breeder. He should be able to handle her without whining to his advisors about it. Zander eased the craft out of the docking station and zipped onto the flight path at top speed. He needed to make up the time he’d spent with Lamira in his chamber.
Seke leaned back in his chair. “Yes, she has affected you.”
That wasn’t what he meant. What in the Zandian moons was Seke saying?
His aggravation level increased. The spacecraft wove in and out of traffic, maintaining speed.
“She’s too big a distraction. I cannot go on—”
“Give it more time,” Seke interrupted in his ever-calm voice. “We’ve never had a female living on the pod before. It’s natural for adjustments to occur.”
He gave his head a quick shake. Even now he was thinking about her when he should be focused on the assembly meeting.
He slowed the speed of the craft as the traffic grew heavier around the UG pod. Winding his way through the other airships, he circled to the back to his assigned docking station. He glanced at his cuff. One minute late. Hopefully they hadn’t opened the inner doors yet.
He cut the engines completely and coasted in toward the dock.
White light exploded in front of them and, a second later, a boom deafened him.
“Cut away,” Seke barked, unbuckling his harness.
He flicked the switch for the engines to fire back to life at the same time he wrenched the steering arm to the left. The craft banked, flying into flames.
For a moment, he thought the entire ship would explode—he’d flown too close to the source of the fire. But then the smoke and flames cleared and the craft circled away.
The moment they were free of the flames, Seke ran back to man the weaponry, barking orders at the guards. “Check for incoming.”
“We have three on our tail, Master,” one of the guards shouted back.
“Fire at will.”
Laser fire lit up the windows.
Zander dodged the cluster of airships in his way, dropping down to lure the attacking ships into open territory where his crew could get a clear shot. It must be a Finnian attack.
A flash of light glared behind them as one ship exploded.
“Target one, destroyed,” his guard reported.
“Target two acquired,” Seke said, his voice still calm, even while the rest of the crew yelled.
Another explosion.
“Target two destroyed.”
“Third target has fallen back.”
He whipped the craft around. No way he was letting his enemy get away. Chasing the retreating fighter craft, he wove in and out of traffic, keeping his gaze locked on target three.”
“A little closer, my lord.”
He shoved the throttle open, hurtling forward through space.
“Target three acquired. And…”
Another ship darted into their path, and Zander yanked up to avoid a crash. Veck. He swung back around, but the fighter craft had disappeared.
“Where is it?” he shouted.
The area was too congested. Aircraft flew all around. The vecking enemy had slipped through their fingers.
Seke returned to the co-pilot’s chair and sat down.
“I’m going back to the UG.”
“Not advised. That was a trap, laid precisely for you. We must get you back to the pod and tighten security.”
“I’m not running to hide like a terrified animal!”
“This is not the war. It was not even a battle. It was a plot to assassinate you before you have a chance to assemble your warriors. Do not give them an additional chance to kill you. Your species need you alive.”
He gritted his teeth, but turned the craft and recharted for his pod.
“The bomb must have been set on a timer. If you had been on time, we all would have died.”
Ice washed over his skin.
He remembered Lamira’s wild eyes as she yanked at his arm. My lord—you can’t go. She’d seemed desperate to stop him. “She knew.” He glanced over at Seke, to see if the master warrior had arrived at the same conclusion.
“It seems so.”
A heavy silence fell over them. How did she know? Was she part of this assassination plot? Had she been planted as an insider? Perhaps she’d fallen in love and changed her mind.
In love. The thought tore at his heart.
She’d saved his life and he’d whipped her for her troubles.
But who was she? A stone sank to the pit of his stomach. He could never trust this human. Not even if he kept her locked up in a cage for the rest of her life. There were too many unknowns about her unusual knowledge, and too many beings who wanted him dead.
~.~
Lamira jerked awake to the sound of voices in the corridor. She shifted in the cage and gasped at the pain still radiating from her ass. Worse was the incredible tightness in her chest, the heaviness of lead weighing it down.
Zander. Her Zander. Was he already dead? Some part of her wailed inside in mourning.
The door slid open.
Was it already lunchtime?
She twisted and her breath caught.
“Zander!”
Her master looked pale, but unharmed. His haunted gaze raked over her.
“Open cage.”
She scrambled out and he caught her and lifted her down, but his brows were drawn together, as if disturbed.
“Zander, are you all right?”
“You knew.” His voice cracked.
She reached out to touch his face, still overjoyed to see him alive.
He caught her wrist but allowed the touch, pressing her hand to his cheek. “Were you trying to save me?”
If her emotions were not so wrecked from fear and then joy, she would have played it differently. She would have played ignorant. But his drawn expression made her worry—perhaps his crew had died.
“A-are you all right? Was anyone hurt?”
“Who set the bomb? How are you connected to them?” The lash of his cold voice whipped her.
Sh
e jerked her hand away, realizing her colossal mistake. Shaking her head, she backed away. “No...I don’t know anything.”
“Enough with your lies!” He lunged forward and caught her by the throat, lifting her from the floor and squeezing until her breath died.
She kicked and clawed at his fingers, her eyes bugging out in panic.
As if he suddenly realized he might kill her, he dropped her, pain etched in the deepened lines on his forehead.
She coughed, rubbing her throat.
He stood staring at her, his fingers clenching and unclenching in fists. Were those tears swimming in his eyes?
The sight of him, so reduced from her deceit, made her abandon her pretense and speak more directly. “I’m not working with your enemies—I swear to you, Zander. I have no connections. But I can’t tell you how I knew or it could mean my life.”
“You are safe here,” Zander roared, the muscles bulging in his neck and shoulders as he took a step forward. When she flinched backward, he stopped himself and didn’t touch her. Perhaps he was afraid he might kill her. He jabbed his chest. “I will protect you. My enemies won’t touch you here.”
“It’s not your enemies. You wouldn’t even believe me, if I told you the truth. I just—I can’t tell you.”
He stepped closer and grasped the hair at the back of her head, tipping her head back. His face drew very close to hers, his beautiful eyes light-purple. “You must tell me,” he whispered hoarsely, his lips centimeters from hers, his gaze so intent, she thought she’d dissolve into a puddle.
She blinked back at him, her knees weak and wobbly, her breath stalled in her chest. “I can’t,” she finally managed to say.
She expected anger, but instead Zander closed his eyes. He released her hair and cradled her face, bringing his forehead to touch hers. When his lids blinked open, she was certain she saw excess moisture there.
“Lamira—” he began, his throat catching. “You saved my life and for that, I will make sure you live out your life in peace.”
Her heart missed a beat as it roared to a gallop, thudding painfully against her sternum. Was he getting rid of her? “Zander—” she cried in protest.
“Shh.” He tightened his grip on her face, covering her ears with his large palms. “I...I cannot go on this way.” His voice choked. “I can’t keep you near me when you cannot be trusted.” He thumbed away a tear she didn’t realize she’d cried. “I know you care about me. I saw your distress this morning when you thought I would die. I care about you, too. More than I would like to admit.” His forehead wrinkled. “Is this what you humans call love?”