by Paige Tyler
Laken’s heart pounded as the officer dragged her across the room to where the man with the branding iron stood.
“No!” she cried. “You can’t do this to me! I’m not a runaway!”
Tears ran down her cheeks as the guard pushed her to her knees and held her there. A hand grabbed her by the hair and cruelly yanked her head back as the man with the branding iron approached her.
Laken tried to turn her face away, but the man’s grip in her hair was too tight and she could do nothing but stare in horror at the glowing metal coming toward her cheek.
“Stop!”
Laken caught her breath, too afraid to even hope, but there was no mistaking Rade Karsten’s commanding voice.
* * * * *
Rade’s gut clenched. Seeing Laken on her knees, a glowing branding iron inches from her beautiful face, made him want to pull his weapon and start shooting right then, the plan he’d come up with be damned. But he held himself in check, praying what Pammay had told him to do would actually work. She had briefed him on the ride over to the Detention Center, and while he had tried to listen to what she’d told him concerning slave-ownership laws and the punishment awaiting Laken, he’d barely heard a word of it. All he could think about was getting to Laken before they branded her. The black-robed man at the desk frowned. “What is the meaning of this?”
“This girl is my slave,” Rade explained. “I demand that she be released immediately.”
Rade tensed as he waited for the man’s reply. They were getting Laken out of there one way or another. Keir, Vance, Jorn and Finn were just outside the door, ready to start shooting if Rade gave the word. He hoped it didn’t come to that. More than half the people in the place were armed officers. If someone started shooting, it was going to get messy real quick.
The man seated at the desk scowled. “Sir, we don’t have time to keep up with your slaves for you. That is your responsibility. Before I release her, I’ll have to see proof of ownership, and since your property has violated several laws, you will have to pay a fine as well.”
“Of course,” Rade said. “I completely understand.”
Stepping forward, he handed the man the ownership papers Pammay had said he’d. Getting them from Enak hadn’t been easy. The man had refused to hand them over no matter how much Rade threatened him. Luckily, Pammay had come through again, though, leading him to the desk where Enak kept his important papers. If it hadn’t have been for her, Rade and his men would probably be storming the Detention Center now. But she had pointed out that Laken belonged to whomever held the piece of paper, and having it would make things much easier. He hoped she was right because the man behind the desk was giving them an enormous amount of attention.
Finally, he folded the documents and handed them back to Rade. He then rattled off a fine in an amount that stunned Rade.
After counting the money, the man seated at the desk nodded at the officer holding Laken. “Release her.” He looked at Rade. “She said she was running an errand for you. Is that true?”
Rade watched as the man holding Laken lifted her to her feet and unlocked the handcuffs. “Yes. She ran off before I even realized she’d left. Apparently, she gets these wild ideas in her head and acts without thinking of the consequences. If she would just do as she was told, she wouldn’t get herself into so much trouble. I’ve been trying to teach her the errors of her ways, but she’s a slow learner.”
The man grunted. “Perhaps she needs a more forceful lesson. She’s obviously needs a firm hand.”
Rade slanted her a pointed look. “I couldn’t agree more. I plan on correcting her as soon as I get her back where she should be.”
* * * * *
Laken eyes narrowed at Rade’s words. She supposed that was his way of saying he was going to spank her when they got back to the ship. When he’d burst into the room a few minutes ago, all she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms. Now, she wanted to slap him. She probably would have, too, if he hadn’t taken her arm and hustled her out of the room the moment the officer handed her over to him.
Keir and Vance were waiting for them in the hallway, and the two men followed her and Rade out of the building. Laken was surprised to see Pammay standing with Finn and Jorn beside the transport vehicle. She gave Rade a questioning look, but he didn’t say anything.
Rade and the other men checked behind them more than once on the ride to the ship, but fortunately, no one had followed them. Once they were safely back on the ship, Rade immediately gave the order to take off, then asked Dev to get Pammay settled before hustling Laken up the stairs and through the warren of passageways to his cabin. When it slid open, he urged her inside.
Laken whirled on him the moment he closed the door, sure he was going to grab her and drag her over his knee, but all he did was reach out to gently brush her hair back from her face.
“Did Enak hurt you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
He nodded, relief clear on his face.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Dev saw you leave with that asshole at the club and thought you might be in trouble. When I learned he’d done time for slave trading, I figured she was right.”
She chewed on her lower lip. She waited for him to tell her how stupid she had been to leave with some guy she didn’t even know, but to her surprise, he didn’t. “You said you wouldn’t come after me if I ran off again. Why did you?”
“Because I was worried about something awful happening to you. And because I couldn’t live with myself if it did.” He cupped her cheek. “When I saw them holding that branding iron, I…” He shook his head, his voice suddenly hoarse. “I should put you over my knee for doing something so foolish, but all I want to do right now is kiss you.” Laken felt her breath hitch at the suddenly tender look that came into his dark eyes. The thought of him kissing her again made her feel warm all over. Which was all the more reason for her to run out of his cabin and lock herself in her own. But instead, she took a step closer to him.
“Then what are you waiting for?” she asked softly. Surprise flickered in Rade’s eyes. With a groan, he slid his hand in her hair and covered her mouth with his. She swayed against him, parting her lips for his questing tongue even as she gripped his shirtfront to pull him closer. She ran her hands over the hard wall of his chest, lingering over each and every muscle hidden beneath the material.
Rade dragged his mouth away from hers, his breathing ragged. “If you want to stop, now would be a good time to tell me, sweetheart.”
Laken knew they should stop, but she couldn’t. It was like a dam had burst inside her and all she wanted to do was let it carry her away.
Not trusting herself to speak, she wrapped her hand around the back of Rade’s head and she pulled him in for another kiss. His mouth closed over hers even more hungrily than before, and she moaned with pleasure as his tongue found hers again.
Rade’s hands were all over her, arousing parts of her body she barely knew existed. He trailed them over her arms, then down her back, before moving up her midriff to cup her breasts. She gasped, arching against him, yearning for more. His thumbs found her nipples through the thin fabric of her dress, and Laken let out a moan as the sensitive peaks hardened beneath his touch. Suddenly desperate to have his hands on her naked body, she reached up to slide the straps of the dress from her shoulders, but he was already doing it for her.
The garment offered him little resistance, sliding down her breasts and over her hips to fall at her feet, leaving her clad only in her bra and panties.
Rade gazed down at her, his dark eyes smoldering with desire. “God, you’re beautiful.”
Laken blushed and would have thanked him, but Rade was already bending his head to kiss her again. As his hands explored her body, her bra and panties magically fell to the floor, and soon she was naked against him. There was something very erotic about being completely naked while he was still fully clothed. The urge to see him
naked was too much, though, and she reached for the buttons on his shirt. Rade didn’t let her get more than half of them undone before he swung her up in his arms and gently set her down on the bed. Gazing down at her hotly, he finished what she’d started, stripping off his shirt and breeches, and she found herself watching eagerly as his magnificent body was slowly exposed to her gaze.
She’d known he was well built, but he was more gorgeous than any man she had ever seen. She took in his broad, well-muscled chest and washboard stomach, then moved down to where his thick, hard cock was nestled between his thighs. He was absolutely perfect.
She would have reached out to run her hands all over him, but he climbed into bed before she could move. He pulled her into his arms, cupping her breasts as he trailed hot kisses along her jaw line and down her neck. She arched against him, clutching at his shoulders as his mouth closed over her breast. He swirled his tongue over her nipple, sending shivers down her body, and she gasped.
Still teasing her nipple, Rade ran his hand over the curve of her hip and down her bare leg, then up again to cup her ass and give it a squeeze. Laken moaned, surprised at how much she liked it. After all the spankings he’d given her, she hadn’t thought she’d want those hands of his anywhere near her bottom, but what he was doing now felt delicious.
He released the nipple he’d been sucking on to do the same to the other, his hand sliding his hand down her thigh again. This time, his hand came up between her legs, gently parting them as he did so. Laken’s pulse quickened as heat pooled there. He slowly ran his hand up the silky skin of her inner thigh, his fingers brushing her downy curls.
“Rade…”
Laken caught her breath as he slid his finger along her slick folds, only to moan in pleasure as his found her clit and began to make slow, lazy circles. Her hands tightened on his shoulders. She’d been touched there before, but not like this. A sensation so intense and unlike anything she’d ever felt rippled through her, and she cried out in pleasure.
When she finally came back down to earth, Rade slid his hand around to cup her ass cheek again, pulling her closer. His cock was hot and heavy against her thigh and she had an uncontrollable urge to slide her hand down and wrap her fingers around him, but Rade moved before she could. Tightening his hold on her ass, he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Grasping her hips in both hands, he lifted her up and slowly lowered her down on his shaft until his entire length was inside her.
Laken gasped. He filled her so completely it was like he was just made for her. Right then, she wanted to believe he had been.
She looked down at Rade to find him gazing up at her with what could only be called awe in his dark eyes. Did he feel like she was made for him, too?
Leaning forward, she kissed him long and lingeringly as she rode up and down. A groan rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest, and she sighed against his mouth, thrilled to know she was bringing him as much pleasure as he brought her.
She waited for her orgasm to peak and come crashing over her like a wave, but it didn’t. Instead, it continued to build as Rade thrust faster and faster. “Harder,” she demanded. “Take me harder!”
Tearing her mouth away from his, she buried her face into the curve of his neck and clung to him. He gripped her hips more tightly and pumped into her harder.
The wave she had been waiting for crested then, washing over her without warning and bringing with it a rush pleasure so intense that she had to bite down on his shoulder to keep from screaming loud enough for the whole ship to hear. He groaned with his own release, the sound long and low. The knowledge that he was coming with her only made her orgasm all the more intense.
Afterward, they laid there together, her head on his shoulder, his arms around her, neither one of them saying anything. As much as she didn’t want to think about Mallin right then, he was the first thing that came to mind. She had never experienced anything so amazing with any other man, not even her fiancé. It was like she and Rade had connected on some other level, she was afraid to wonder what that meant.
Chapter Eight
Laken woke up the next morning the moment the ship’s computer turned on the lights in the cabin to simulate sunrise. According to Dev, it helped to keep the body’s natural rhythms, but she just found it be annoying. Pulling the blanket up more tightly around her shoulders, she snuggled back into the pillow and closed her eyes, only to jerk awake as the memory of last night came rushing back to her. Oh God, it hadn’t been a dream. She’d slept with Rade Karsten. She had betrayed her beloved Mallin with another man. Not just any man, either, but one she didn’t even like. And she was still in his bed. Clutching the blanket to her breasts, she sat up and looked around for Rade, but he was nowhere to be found.
Flopping back on the bed, she yanked the blanket over her head with a groan. Oh God, what had she done? She’d thought that Mallin would be the only man she would ever make love to, but she’d slept with without even giving her fiancé a second thought. The most upsetting part was that it had been the most passionate and glorious thing she had ever experienced in her life. Of course, she didn’t really have much to compare it to. She’d had very little experience with men before she’d met Mallin, and as she’d already figured out from her conversation with Dev, her fiancé wasn’t that passionate in bed. Compared to Rade, Mallin’s lovemaking had seemed almost mechanical. She clenched her fists. What was she doing comparing her genteel Mallin to a brute like Rade? The man was a pirate, for heaven’s sake. There was no comparison.
No matter how good the sex with Rade had been, she couldn’t escape the fact that she’d cheated on her fiancé. As much as Laken would like to blame Rade entirely for what had happened the night before, she knew it was as much her doing as it was his. He had given her the opportunity to put a stop to things before they went too far, but God help her, she’d wanted Rade more than she could ever have imagined wanting a man. Even now, the memory of his hard, naked body intertwined with her own brought a rush of desire to her that made her tingle all over. What was it about Rade that had her forgetting all about her fiancé and giving herself to a man she hardly knew, and didn’t even like? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she couldn’t do it again.
Could she trust herself enough to keep it from happening again, though? If Rade came walking back into the room right then and pulled her into his arms, would she be able to resist him? She wanted to think she could, but she didn’t know for sure. She had to get off his ship before she did something that would completely and irrevocably destroy her relationship with Mallin.
As reluctant as she was to face Rade after they had slept together, Laken knew she would have to sooner or later, especially if she wanted off his ship. Deciding that sooner would be better, she pushed back the blankets and got out of bed. Naked, she scooped up her dress and undergarments from where they lay, then hurried into the adjoining bathroom to shower and get dressed.
Laken didn’t waste any time getting ready. While it was tempting to stand beneath the spray of warm water, she didn’t dare. She wanted to be gone from the cabin before Rade came back. Being in such close confines with him, particularly when the bed was so near, would just be asking for trouble.
Going into the main part of the cabin, Laken hurried over to the door and waited impatiently for it to open. When it did, she quickly stepped outside, only to come to an abrupt halt when she spotted Keir coming down the passageway. Her first instinct was to duck back into Rade’s cabin, but it was too late. The blond-haired crewman had already seen her. Maybe if she acted naturally, then he wouldn’t suspect anything.
He flashed her a grin. “How’re you doing this morning?”
Laken smoothed her dress in a self-conscious gesture. “Fine, thank you. I, uh, was looking for Captain Karsten. Do you know where he is?”
She held her breath, waiting for Keir to make some reference to her spending the night in Rade’s bed, but he didn’t, much to her relief. Then again, he probably wouldn’t remark on his
captain’s choice of bedmates.
“He’s in his ready room with the first officer, I think. I can take you there, if you want.”
Laken shook her head. “I can find it. Thank you, though.”
“Sure thing.” Keir gave her a wink. “It’s good to see you back.”
Laken watched Keir walk down the passageway. While she appreciated his offer to take her to the captain’s ready room, she’d refused mainly because she needed some time to think and go over in her head what she was going to say to Rade. If she had found the other conversations she’d had with him uncomfortable, now that they’d slept together, it was going to be even more awkward. With a sigh, she turned and made her way to the stairwell.