Not for the first time, he wished Gar-Kon would just back down, so Basil and Laila could sort their relationship out and get back to cupcakes and snuggles. If they even had a relationship to sort out, he reminded himself. All this danger was like a cloud hanging over their heads, and Basil just wanted it to be done as much as Laila said she did.
* * *
Something wasn’t right still between Laila and Basil, Flin could feel it. He worked on the fake egg in his cabin, because the tension was unbelievable when Basil and Laila were both in the same room. Flin wanted to do something about it, but he knew that, strictly speaking, he wasn’t part of their relationship, and they needed to work it out by themselves. This was exactly why he had avoided relationships for so long, why he’d been concerned about getting involved with Laila. The highs were unbelievable, but when things went wrong, they really went wrong. He guessed it was harder for Laila and Basil because they shared a cabin, so they never got any space on board the ship to work out their differences.
When they landed on Tefan, Flin and Basil handed over the fake egg and all the paperwork from Gar-Kon, which was supposed to prove that it was a genuine egg. They got signed delivery notes in triplicate from Big Vince, and left quickly, before Vince worked out that he’d tried to have them killed during their last delivery to Tefan.
Basil looked exhausted when they got back on the ship. He had those shadows under his eyes that humans seemed to get.
“You need some sleep. I’ll fly the ship back to Pombos. You rest,” Flin said.
“Sure.” Basil was still pressing buttons when Laila left the cockpit. Flin smiled to himself. Maybe they were working out their differences, after all.
* * *
Laila fingered the collar around her neck. It still gave her a thrill every time she saw it in the mirror, and she loved that, almost as much as she loved it when Flin gave her that look, like he wanted to bend her over the nearest table and force her to come on his cock over and over again. He was her master now; he wanted her. Her pussy spasmed at the thought. Why couldn’t things with Basil be going so well? She felt that the distance between them was only growing as time passed and she awaited his punishment for her behavior on Parathos. Flin certainly put himself in more danger to save her, she thought, but it was Basil’s promise she’d broken.
How could he trust her again? All her past mistakes since arriving on the ship now played out in her head, another macabre carousel of mental self-flagellation. There was the tantrum at the petting zoo, followed shortly by the fact she’d managed to get herself kidnapped by leaving her room on her own after bedtime. There was the way she’d thrown his recipe at him when she couldn’t read it. Of course, all the way before that, she’d known from the first moment he’d walked up to her in the space station that she was in his way. Why did he want her around?
The doors to the cabin swooshed open and Basil walked in.
“I need some sleep,” he said. “Are you getting up or going to bed?”
Laila stared at him for a moment. He didn’t even know she’d been in the cockpit with him for most of the day. She’d been right there. How had he not noticed her? They had had an entire conversation earlier! Deciding she wanted her dignity to remain intact, she got up and walked out.
“Wait, Laila. I asked you a question,” Basil called after her, but Laila kept walking. She had actually been on her way to bed. Even though Flin collared her, she still slept in Basil’s cabin on the ship, but now she decided she wasn’t going to sleep in the same bed with him anymore if he wasn’t going to notice when he’d spent the day with her. It seemed like things were really over between them, then. Her heart burned with sadness. Holding back the tears, she went to the galley and got out the red powder to make herself a soup. Hot chocolate was Basil’s drink, and she knew it would make her feel worse right now to see the swirly cream topping. As she opened the lid to the soup, Basil entered the galley.
“I’m too tired for games, Laila, will you tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
He didn’t know? Basil didn’t even know why she was upset? And he thought this was a dumb game? Why had he followed her here just to ask stupid questions? The anger and rejection boiled up and Laila slammed the lid back on, threw the powder soup back into the cupboard, and ran past him. The ship was so tiny, she didn’t even have her own cabin, and she’d been stuck on board since the incident with the egg. She needed fresh air. The metal walls were pressing in on her from every side, and she didn’t know where to go, so she ran to the cargo bay, because it was the most open space on the whole stupid ship.
“Laila, talk to me.” Basil was still following her. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
She ran down the steps of the cargo bay and threw herself on the floor where she started crying. Her feelings had turned into anguished sobs mixed with frustration. All she wanted to do was never stop running, and instead she couldn’t go any further than this cargo bay.
Distantly, she noticed that Basil was rubbing her back. She shrugged him off and snapped, “Get off me!” then continued to sob on the floor. He didn’t care about her anymore; he kept proving that with his actions.
A sharp spank on her bottom caught her attention, but she was determined not to let him get around her again.
“Leave me alone! Why are you here when you can’t even look at me?” she screamed, kicking out at him. Two hands moved her, until she found herself stretched out over his knee, as he pulled her leggings and panties down and spanked her, hard, while she wriggled and kicked and generally fought him.
“I asked you a reasonable question. I’m not psychic. Tell me what’s wrong.” Basil seemed to think he was the injured party, so Laila decided to keep pushing at him.
“Jump off a cliff!” she yowled, trying to dig her nails into the hand holding one of her wrists behind her back.
“If you won’t talk, I’ll keep spanking you,” Basil said, continuing to bring his palm down on her bare ass cheeks.
“It’s not like you’d listen anyway,” Laila snapped.
“I’m all ears.”
“You’re all owwie palms!” Laila corrected him. Her bottom was really starting to burn now, and somehow it was dragging her anger out with it. He responded with a particularly hard spank to the middle of her sit spot, making her squeal.
“I mean it; I can get Flin to take over if my hand gets tired,” Basil warned.
Laila didn’t respond. Each spank was stinging on top of the burn that was building in her ass.
“Why am I the one getting spanked?” she began. “You’re the one who didn’t notice that I was in the cockpit with you nearly all day. I’d been gone for ten minutes, getting ready for bed, and it was like you’d noticed me for the first time all day. You’ve been like this for days, Basil! You can’t even look at me, you hate me so much, and I don’t want to be around you anymore, but we’re stuck on a stupid spaceship—ow!”
He spanked her especially hard when she mentioned the spaceship.
“The Great Gig is not stupid,” he said. “Keep talking.”
“Grrrr! This is exactly what’s wrong! You aren’t even listening.” Laila tried to struggle free again.
“I’m waiting for you to finish telling me the problem,” Basil said. “You’ll find that’s a central principle of the concept of listening.”
Laila wished he wasn’t so strong. She was resolved not to give in to this spanking, but he was making it very hard to resist. The burning in her bottom became unbearable.
“Can you stop spanking me, please, and listen?” she asked.
“Can you stop struggling, please, and talk?” Basil countered, without stopping.
“Fine. But only because you’re wasting your time spanking me. Ever since you and Flin rescued me from that stupid quorak you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder. I can’t stand it anymore. If you hate me so much, will you just tell me so I can get over you and move on?” Laila demanded.
“I don’t hate you, Laila.
I’m very busy trying to save you from a small-time gangster who has fixated his attention on you, and I know we need to deal with what happened on Parathos; I have every detail of your punishment planned out, but I can’t do it on the ship, so you will have to wait, as I told you earlier.”
“And in the meantime, I’m supposed to be on pause, until you see fit to deal with me?”
“I can’t be with you all the time, I can’t hold your hand through every waking moment, and watch you while you sleep. I can’t observe everything you do. I’m sorry, Laila. I can either fix the mess with Gar-Kon or I can give you every ounce of my attention, but I can’t do both. I’m only human.” His voice was wistful. In spite of herself, Laila found she was beginning to cry. He was right. Again. She wished she could find a middle ground between demanding his attention and being stuck in limbo. Just like that, her fury evaporated again and was replaced with regret.
“I’m sorry, Basil.” She hesitated for a minute, before saying, “Basil, will… will you please spank me?”
“A minute ago you were fighting me to avoid a spanking. What’s changed?”
“I didn’t realize how much pressure you were under. Now, I can see why you’ve been distant. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put extra pressure on you. I feel pretty stupid,” Laila sniffled, lying over Basil’s knee.
He brought his hand down and landed it on the curve of her buttocks. Laila wondered if her butt looked as red as it felt. He continued to spank her for a few more minutes as she cried out her sorrows, then he rubbed her cheeks, making the burning feeling dissipate. She loved him so much but she was scared of showing it if he wasn’t interested, because she hated how vulnerable love seemed to make her.
“Shh, shh, it’s all right,” Basil soothed. “What d’you say you and I go to bed, now, and I’ll show you exactly how I feel about you, princess?”
Her heart leapt when he called her his princess again, but she was slightly suspicious of his sudden change of heart.
“That sounds nice… if you still want to, that is.” With Basil’s help, she got up from over his knee, then she followed him back to the main sleeping quarters.
“One of the things about being in charge is that you generally only do things you want to,” Basil said, and she felt reassured.
He pulled the rest of her clothing off and discarded it in a pile on the floor, then kissed her deeply, surprising Laila with his intensity. He was being her daddy again, she thought.
“C’mon, princess, I’ve got a tasty treat for you to nibble.” Basil took his clothes off and lay back on the bed. His erect member was just waiting for her mouth, she thought, as she knelt beside him, leaning over, and took the head of his cock into her mouth.
“Just like that, little lady, that’s perfect.” He stroked her hair as she played her tongue around the tip of his cock. It felt so comforting to feel him inside her mouth; she loved having his cock to suck right now. She was especially pleased that he’d started using his special little nicknames for her again. Being there, on his cock, made her feel better about everything. Yes, she’d royally screwed up by breaking her promise, and nearly getting them all killed, but maybe—just maybe—he was open to reconciliation. After a couple of minutes, Basil took her head between his hands and gently pulled her off his cock. It came out of her mouth with a pop.
“Lie on your back, sweetheart.”
Laila lay on the bed as Basil got up and parted her legs. He stroked her clit with one hand and guided his cock into her with the other. When he was in, she burbled in appreciation.
He began moving in and out of her, continuing to stroke her clit, as little thrills of pleasure spread through her, mingling with the now-fading sore feeling in her bottom, making her feel wonderful. As the feeling intensified, Laila could tell she was nearing orgasm, when it suddenly occurred to her that she might not be allowed to come due to her tantrum a moment ago.
“Daddy, please, can I come?”
“Not just yet, princess.”
That meant she would be allowed in the near future, she reasoned. Trying very hard, she managed to push it back a little longer, but soon, she knew she was too close again, as his cock continued to fill her.
“Oh… but I’m so close. Pretty please?”
“All right, Laila, you can come, since you asked so nicely.” At Basil’s words, Laila let herself go, unraveling as he continued his attention on her clit and pussy. Her body had barely had time to recover when she felt another orgasm building quickly. This time her muscles tensed when the waves of pleasure washed over her, and she cried out as Basil caressed her clit and fucked her with his cock.
“I don’t think I can take any more!” she said, as he kept going while she twitched with aftershocks.
“I know you can handle at least three orgasms in any average session with Flin.” Basil continued to fuck her. “And I know my baby girl loves orgasms more than she loves chocolate.”
Laila giggled, helpless under Basil’s ministrations, as her body started to adjust to the fact that she was going to come again. He leaned down and licked her right nipple with his tongue, then took it into his mouth. Laila felt him sucking hard, felt her nipple hardening under his tongue, felt the thrill of his tongue lapping at her sensitive skin. He released her breast then did the same to the other one, making her arch her back and moan, it just felt so good, especially when combined with the way he was taking care of her clit, too, while he was fucking her.
“I’m going to come in your pussy, baby girl; are you ready for me?”
Laila hurtled toward her third orgasm at breakneck speed, while Basil’s efforts gained momentum, and soon they were coming together; she couldn’t avoid screaming, while he made a low, rumbling noise as he drove into her hard then stilled, holding her tightly. She felt cared for again.
“I love you, princess,” Basil said, after he’d cleaned himself up and was now holding her tightly. When he said it, her heart soared and she knew that he wasn’t going to push her away anymore. Her eyes started growing damp as she realized she’d been really scared that he’d stopped loving her after what she did.
“I love you too, Daddy,” Laila said, as she snuggled up with him. “Can you read me Sleepy Time for Bunnies, please?”
Basil didn’t pick the book up, he just began to recite the story in the special voice he used for bedtime stories, his face brushing her hair beside her ear as his mouth moved.
“It’s sleepy time for bunnies, their burrow’s warm and soft. They put on their pajamas, and take their slippers off…”
Laila never found out what happened next, because she fell asleep in Basil’s arms, reassured that he still cared about her, even if she was in big trouble.
* * *
“You’se delivered the egg?” Gar-Kon asked.
Flin was tense, ready to strike, like a cobra. Beside him, Basil held out a copy of the delivery note. They had the original on the ship, in case this came back to bite them in the ass. Flin merely glared at Gar-Kon, thinking about all the ways he wanted to hurt the asshat. Gar-Kon read the delivery note and nodded.
“That’s great news, but I have thought on my priorities, somewhat, so’s I’ll release Laila’s mother, but I’m not going to take down the searches for Laila.”
Flin saw red and drew his blaster.
“You fucking piece of shit.” Flin flicked the settings up to ‘deadly’ and was about to pull the trigger when three of Gar-Kon’s men pointed guns at Basil. Flin hesitated; he didn’t want his friend to die like this. Thankfully, Basil sidestepped closer to Flin. When the first shots were fired, Basil was near enough that Flin was able to deflect the energy beams and they hit the ceiling.
Gar-Kon stared at Flin in astonishment, as Flin shot him dead in the chest with his blaster. Deflecting more energy beams, Flin took out the nearest men in quick succession before rolling behind a crate for cover. Basil was right behind him.
“The egg we delivered was a fake!” Flin shouted from behind the cra
te. “Big Vince will be here when he finds out, and he’ll be mad. He’ll kill all of you.”
“Wait, hold your fire,” a new voice barked. “I’m willing to negotiate.”
“Stay here,” Flin told Basil, and stood up. He pointed his gun at the man standing in the center of the room.
“I’m Carl,” the newcomer said. “Gar-Kon’s second in command. So I guess I’m running this show, now.”
Flin glanced briefly at Gar-Kon’s corpse. If he wasn’t dead, it was a good act.
“I want that egg, Mr. Flinar. Yes, I know who ya are. I make it my business to know things. What do ya want for the egg?”
“I want you to call off the hunt for Laila. I want to watch you do it,” Flin demanded. Carl pulled Gar-Kon’s tablet out of his pocket and held it up. Flin could clearly read the screen from where he stood, with his enhanced half-elf vision, but Carl moved closer anyway, so he was standing the other side of the crate.
“I won’t shoot ya, Mr. Leif, don’t worry. Look.” Carl tapped a few buttons and typed something, then the word ‘deleted’ was emblazoned across the screen. Carl took his blaster out, and for a moment, Flin thought he was about to attack, but instead he fired at the tablet, burning a hole straight through it with an energy beam. It sparked, then went black.
“I want ya to know I’m a man of my word; ya can do business with me. Will ya hand the egg over?”
“One more thing.” Basil stood up now. “Laila’s three brothers. Get them out of the phosphorus mines, and give them a real trade each.”
“Done. I know a guy who’s looking for three apprentice locksmiths, and I could do with a big gesture to make sure people know I’m running this operation. Now where’s the egg? I can get it smuggled on the diplomatic mission that’s departing in a half-hour.”
“Here.” Flin handed it over. “Attack us as we leave, and none of you will live.” He turned and swept out, followed by Basil.
* * *
Basil fired up the ship and took off, hoping to leave orbit quickly and never look back. Laila needed that too, he knew. As he was about to speed up, another ship pulled alongside. The comms unit flashed.
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