Blade’s cock stiffened at the sight.
“Holy shit, Atlas, can’t you do your frigging on a lower deck? I’m trying to sleep.”
His deputy opened one eye and grinned lazily at him. A line of sweat dripped down his stomach. “You’ve been ornery as hell, Magistrate. You need a lay.”
Blade glanced at the prostitute licking her lips and he was tempted. But the face he saw wasn’t a pixie redhead.
“After we pick up the consignment on Shadigascar tomorrow, we’re heading back to Callisto.”
Atlas sat up straight. “What about Earth?”
“I’ve changed my mind.” He turned his back, stopping any further discussion, and returned to his quarters where he released his sexual frustration in private, his mind focused on Thea’s wild surrender.
As soon as his ship docked at Callisto, Blade heard Steele was in town.
“Where is she?” Blade asked when he spotted his brother at the trade center.
“Blade. What are you doing back already?”
“Change of plans. Where’s Thea?”
“Staying with Pandora.”
“What?” He didn’t stay to hear an explanation. He would deal with his brother later.
Blade paused outside Healing Waters and breathed deeply. He didn’t want Thea to see his excitement. Any sign of weakness and his lover would pounce, bending his will to her own. Throwing his shoulders back, he entered the building and demanded a drink.
Blade hid his anxiety behind a glass of Gladian port, listening as Pandora explained how Julliet and Thea had bonded in friendship. He was happy for Thea, she needed a friend. Happy for both women, actually.
Disappointed Thea hadn’t greeted him, Blade set down his glass. News of his arrival should have reached her by now, and he’d be damned if he sought her out like a lovesick devotee. “Bring Thea now.”
Pandora buzzed Thea’s room, keeping a sharp eye on Blade’s face. Her lips twitched into a knowing grin.
“You like her.”
“Aye.”
“She challenges you.”
“Don’t be offended, Pandora. Your women know every way to please a man, and for most men, that’s enough. But their passion is contrived. They’ve lost the spontaneity of an untutored woman.”
“Falling for innocents must be a Kevlar weakness,” Pandora said sharply. “Do you plan on leaving Thea as soon as she’s learned everything you wish her to know?”
Ouch. He didn’t want to sound like he followed his brother’s path. Once Pandora had been as innocent as Thea was now. Ultimately it was Pandora’s sexual experience that drove Blade’s brother away. The mix of Pandora’s rampant desire and Steele’s ridiculous jealousy created irreconcilable differences. Pandora was destined to love a man who could never trust her.
“I won’t leave her. Besides, it’s not the same. There’s no affection between Thea and me.”
Pandora made a rude noise.
Julliet entered the room, a willowy picture of temptation, except for the thick, pink scarring disfiguring her face. She curtsied. “Good to see you again, Magistrate.”
Blade nodded in greeting.
“Thea went to the pharmacy. She should be back in a metron.”
He gaped at her. “You let her roam the city alone?”
She smiled at him. “Don’t be so protective. The shop is only two buildings down. Thea is friendly with the proprietor’s wife, Mrs. Wid. She’s made many visits without incident, sir. Everyone knows Thea is protected by you. No one would dare accost her.”
Despite the terror clutching at his chest, Blade forced his facial muscles to relax. He exchanged pleasantries with the ladies while inconspicuously watching the timepiece on the wall. After fifteen metrons, his patience ran out.
“I’ll find her.”
Julliet rose from her seat with a gentle smile. “Of course, sir. If you’ll excuse me, madam?”
Pandora nodded. “Shall I expect you for dinner, Blade?”
“I wouldn’t count on it.” He sprang to the door.
Thea wasn’t at the pharmacy. According to Mrs. Wid, Thea hadn’t been in all day. Memories of his sister’s late night departure crowded his mind. Why did women seek independence so recklessly? Was he such an ogre they sought out any means of escape? Maybe he tended to be a bit overbearing. But it was for their own safety. A woman alone on Callisto attracted predators.
Gods, if Thea made it back to twenty-first century Earth, Blade would have to save her from Fowler’s bullet all over again. If he didn’t shoot the manipulative female himself. Dammit! He’d trusted her. Loved her.
If anything happened to her…
Blade questioned every citizen on the street and in the nearby businesses. He began expanding the circle to include the more unsavory parts of the city, but no one had seen anyone meeting Thea’s description.
By nightfall, the murderous sky pirate in him surfaced. He had his men fanned out all the way to the drilling zone with nothing to report but the daily water yield. His woman had slipped through his fingers.
He’d drunk almost a gallon of tabrum and wreaked havoc in almost every club along the spaceport when a rumor surfaced the captain of the Excaliber had a female passenger awaiting the morning liftoff.
The Excaliber was an ancient rocket-style cargo transporter, its elevated walkway thirty stories up and currently disengaged. Blade scoffed at the minor inconvenience. An elevation pack rushed him straight to the entry door which he bypassed in no time. Blade was outside the captain’s cabin before an alarm sounded.
The captain, a young man fresh from interplanetary space academy by the looks of him, greeted Blade while pointing a laser pistol at his chest.
Undeterred, Blade glared at him. “I believe you have something of mine, Captain.”
“Everything aboard this ship has been bought and paid for,” the man said stupidly.
“Who exactly did you pay for my woman?” Blade raged.
Realizing his error, the young captain gulped. “Beg your pardon, sir. She purchased a ticket for a berth. She claimed to be a free woman.” He glanced nervously over Blade’s shoulder.
Blade spun sideways, expecting an attack. And there stood Thea, calm as could be, dressed in the tight black leather outfit she’d worn on Earth.
“Have you come to take me back?” she asked, her only emotion a nervous twitch by her eye.
He wanted to attack her, to ravage her, hurt her, but he stood frozen, caught by the courage in her eyes. His beautiful, cool Thea. He grabbed her wrist and tugged her close. “We’re getting off this ship.”
The captain lowered the walkway for them himself.
Blade’s anger surged again while he dragged Thea through the streets to the brothel. He didn’t speak. He contemplated her punishment in all sorts of vile ways. In the end, he decided he didn’t trust himself touching her at all.
Chapter Six
Blade didn’t make the scene Thea expected. He nudged her down the stairs, grabbing the first woman he spotted in the hall and shouting demands. As soon as they entered an unoccupied room, he peeled off his clothes.
Pandora slunk into the room behind them, wringing her hands. “I’m so sorry, Blade. I had no idea she would run.”
He stared angrily at her, all his frustration evident in his face. Naked, he stepped beneath the mist of a chemical shower and dismissed Pandora with a terse, “Go! This rebellious act is between my woman and me.”
Fixing a baleful eye on Thea, he snapped, “Take your clothes off.”
Thea obeyed, her hands shaking. Oh, he was pissed. She knew this wasn’t the moment to provoke him.
He pulled a semi-clear screen around him and scrubbed himself clean, watching off and on while Thea stripped, as if she barely held his interest. When she posed naked before him, he dunked his head under a separate water spray, washed his hair, rinsed, and then swung his head, splattering water across the room and Thea.
When Blade slid the screen aside, it was very apparent s
he held his interest after all. He dried himself in a flash of blue light, then lounged against the bedpost in naked glory, arms crossed over his tattooed chest. God, she’d missed him.
“Get on the bed, Thea, face down.”
She sucked in her breath as she climbed on the bed, nerves taut, stomach in knots. “You would’ve tried to escape too if you’d been taken prisoner.”
“You were not my prisoner. I asked you to wait for me.”
“You didn’t ask. You ordered!” Thea squeezed her eyes shut when he stalked over to the bed. With a quick jerk, Blade lifted her hips off the bed until her ass perched high in the air.
“That’s good,” she heard Blade say, and then she felt his fingers sliding over her slit. The first few strokes after he gained entry, she drenched him in her cream, and swallowed her moan of ecstasy.
He arched over her back, his arm snaking around her waist. “I came back for you. I planned on taking you to Earth, giving you a shot at Joe Fowler.” Two fingers twisted inside her.
Thea gasped. Was he telling the truth? Oh, God. Steele had said Blade never lied. She didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“But you couldn’t wait for me, could you? No. All you could think about is killing Joe-fucking-Fowler.”
“You’re wrong. I’d like to murder the sonofabitch, but a cop can’t kill someone, unless it’s self-defense,” she explained, trying to ignore the pleasure Blade’s fingers aroused. “I want to see him suffer. But I’ll be the one hauling his ass off to jail, presenting the evidence against him, ensuring he gets the maximum penalty.”
“You would have gotten killed,” Blade said quietly. “You should have trusted me to handle it. You are an easy target in the twenty-fourth century. Did you think to ask if the ship you picked to take you home has time-travel capability, Thea? It doesn’t. There are slave traders plying the galaxy, flesh eaters, inter-planetary wars. A whole slew of dangerous scenarios. When I tell you to stay put, it’s for your fucking safety,” he roared. “There are times when absolute obedience is necessary.”
“I’m a cop, Blade. I face dangerous situations every day.”
“You’re a maverick. And it cost you your life, Thea. Instead of waiting for your partner’s help in arresting Fowler, you sought personal revenge and Fowler gunned you down. That’s why I plucked you out of your time. To save you.” He plunged his fingers deeper. Thea grunted at the same time she convulsed around them.
“Good girl.” He removed his fingers and rubbed them along the track to Thea’s puckered sphincter.
Blade’s touch made it difficult to concentrate on his words. “No. You made up that savior story to cover your wrongful arrest, to appease your brother… didn’t you?”
“I told Steele the truth.” Blade’s deep sigh whispered across her back.
“Fowler was going to kill me?”
“Aye. Did you think I harbored you for selfish reasons alone?”
“Yes!” Thea’s breath hitched as his finger twirled around her hole.
“The fact that I wanted you… cared about you… called you my own… should have been enough for you to listen to me. I’m very angry at you for risking your life, Thea. Disobedience requires punishment. Do you understand?”
Thea dropped flat against the bed and squeezed her buttocks tight. She understood she hurt him by running away and he was ticked off. “You want to take your anger out of my hide.”
His hand caressed her clenched cheeks. “No, Thea. I want you to learn that you are mine and I protect my own. I give you direction for your own safety, and punishment if you fail to comply. Putting yourself in danger squeezes my heart, Thea.”
Soft strips of leather drifted across her butt. Oh, God, where did he get that? In her heart, she knew Blade wouldn’t hurt her, but…
“Will you take your punishment, Thea?”
Thea was pleased that he was upset. It proved Blade felt something for her after all. Hurting him, however, made her remorseful as hell. She deserved his penalty. Wanted it, but she’d do it on her terms. A spanking? Thea raised her buttocks provocatively into the air again. “Then punish me.”
A light swat made her cheeks quiver. “Never disobey me again.” Thea heard the anger gurgling beneath the surface.
“I don’t like living by your rules, Blade.”
“Tough. Just for believing that I would lie, you should be punished.”
The thwack across her buttocks surprised her. It didn’t bite as much as it sounded like it did. Blade’s cool hand smoothed over the prickly tingle. “Hmm… You don’t like my rules. Would you rather not live at all?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“You’re tough, sweetheart, but not tough enough to survive your world let alone mine.” The leather slapped over her buttocks again, her tender flesh warming quickly. The next hit caught her off guard, making Thea jerk.
“Ah!” Thea squirmed. Pleasure rippled after the pain.
“I will take care of you, Thea.”
The flogger tails trickled from her lower spine to her thighs, teasing, caressing. Her body tensed, not deceived by the gentle strokes.
Dear God, she actually craved more. “Is that a promise or a threat?” she taunted. The answering stroke made her inner muscles convulse. Thea must’ve wiggled because another thump warmed her butt. God, yes! Harder.
“You want a little slave girl to mind your every word. Forget it, Blade.”
Soft leather strips draped over her cheeks, gently rubbing where they’d recently smacked her flesh. The teasing threat pushed her heartbeat into her throat.
“I don’t want a mindless slave, Thea. I want you, but I want you to benefit from my experience. If I tell you to stay put because it’s safer, you stay put!” The flogger whipped across her cheeks hard, then soft. Hard. Soft. “Understood?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“Do you like fucking me, Thea?” Blade asked, his voice suddenly gentle and curious.
She turned her head and gave him a ‘don’t be stupid’ look.
He grinned, but it wasn’t a happy look. “Aye. You heat up if I look at you across the room. You burn for me all the time.”
Thea didn’t acknowledge the truth. “Conceited ass.”
The flogger came down hard, the force of the swing wrapping the ends around Thea’s thigh. Thea jerked. Now that had stung.
Blade licked the sharp sting in a long slurp, his breath warm and moist on her inner thigh. “You want me now. Don’t you?”
Thea split her legs open, making it easier for his mouth to soothe her. “Yes.”
“Don’t ever leave me again.” Blade moved away and the leather strips slashed down repeatedly until Thea knew her butt glowed pink.
Thea hid her face and wiggled in discomfort, yet yearning for the strikes again and again, discovering her pussy dripping with moisture.
The lashing stopped. Thea whipped her head up afraid that Blade might leave her desperate for completion, but he knelt on the bed behind her, leaning to one side, one arm flung over the side of the bed. A moment later, an airlock hissed and Blade drew up a vacuum-packed, pre-lubricated butt plug. Thea shivered as a hand ran over her sore ass, caressing it softly. Goosebumps rose all over her body. “Your ass is red, Thea. Does it feel warm?”
“Burning.” She watched him open the package with his teeth. Some habits never changed, she mused, anxiously waiting for him to fulfill one of her most wicked fantasies. “Hotter every second.”
His fingers slid down to her vaginal folds, playing with her, petting her, stimulating every single nerve ending. Her internal muscles contracted in rapid anticipation. Blade smoothly slid the slick butt plug into her ass. It felt intrusive, and wicked, and she tightened her butt muscles around it. How could something painful feel so pleasurable?
“Would you like me to fuck you now, Thea?” His hands caressed her heated flesh.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hiding her flagrant lust. “Yes.”
“You’ll follow my
directives?”
“If they make sense…”
He backed away, leaving her body hungry for his touch. “They always make sense, Thea.”
“To you.”
He laughed, then sobered. “I care, Thea. I want to protect you. Don’t you understand that?” Blade’s fingers teased her sensitive clit and she pressed desperately against his wrist.
“Yes.” Her breath hitched in her throat. “Make me come.”
“In good time.” His fingers plunged deep, searching for her juices.
Thea squirmed against the tightness in her belly. He left her hanging, smearing fingers damp with her own arousal over her breasts, milking them until she gasped for release. “Please!”
She felt the prod of his erection against her tingling backside, and leaned back against him. His cock slid against her wet pussy, rocking slowly, his abdomen pushing against the butt plug, and every sensation intensified as if licked by fire. “Take me, Blade. Take me.”
“Promise you won’t run again.” His fingers tightened on her buttocks.
“Fuck me. I know you want to.” She contracted and released her muscles hard, inviting him in, soaking his teasing cock as it slid along her swollen lips.
He slowly pulled the plug out of her ass and she felt empty without it. He teased her there, spreading the residual lubricant around the hole, and then shockingly, his finger slipped in.
Her muscles contracted around his thick digit. “Oh!”
“Hush,” he commanded softly. His finger dipped and rotated while his cock bumped against her pussy.
Thea panted with want. “Take me, damn it.”
She rocked and wiggled against him, moaning with desire. Her body contracted in increasing spasms. “Blade!”
“Hmm… What do you want, Thea?” He pushed the tip of his cock until it flexed between her vaginal muscles.
“Fuck me!” She tried pushing against him, but he moved back, pulling his finger out of her ass too. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest. “Do it!” She was practically screaming. Any second she was going to climax without him. “Please?”
In answer, he pushed his cock deep, brushing against her womb. “Is this what you want, love?” His finger sank into her rectum. “This?”
Bonds of Justice: Blade’s Decree Page 6