Taming a Raven

by Kathleen Lash

  Gage’s appetite remained meager at best. In twenty minutes, he’d only managed a few bites of the flawlessly prepared meal. He’d no sooner pushed his plate away before everyone stood to receive Major Deacon as he sauntered into the mess. Reina peered at those standing and when she turned in the major’s direction, her fork went down and she stood. The major scanned the area before slowly approaching. He stopped at the opposite side of the table from Reina and said, “Please, Lady, don’t interrupt your meal for me.”

  The crew sat only after the major did. Despite his time on a sickbed, the man appeared to stil suffer the effects of torture endured at the hands of Theazians. Dr. Nare and medical could repair physical damage. Gage personal y knew only distance and normalcy could remove the emotional consequences of prolonged suffering.

  The young major appeared greatly different from when Gage last saw him at the Governance. Once an uncaring bastard, he seemed humbled. His demeanor, lack of eye contact and the way he carried himself spoke of hard lessons learned. His address of Reina by cal ing her lady, and not raven, implied he viewed her as a woman, not a weapon. His regret over having taken her from her meal was also uncharacteristic. In the past, he worried little about inconveniencing others.

  Those in the mess resumed eating when the major had his plate. “May I solicit information from you, Lady?” he asked.

  She nodded as her eyes remained downcast.

  Nare explained, “She’s unable to speak yet, Sir.”

  Deacon surprised him by directing his next question to Reina rather than a physician officer. “Are you wel ?” A motion of her head confirmed she was.

  The major ignored the food in front of him and stared at her. “Can you understand me?” Again the nod. Gage didn’t appreciate the major’s question but let it pass.

  “Then I want you to know—I need to express…” He sat back and cleared his throat, obviously struggling to bring words together. Reina final y looked up and the major stared.

  Gage didn’t appreciate the intense interest directed at her, but the major spoke before he could. “I felt you, Lady, days before the rescue.” Her eyes went back to the plate as she picked at food. A glass being set down echoed through the silence. The president’s son joining them for a meal was unusual. His speaking to Reina with such intent made any within hearing curious about what he’d say next. “You don’t think highly of me, Lady.” Gage and many others certainly didn’t, but that wasn’t something a man would openly admit. Reina didn’t move. The major placed his palms down on the table and leaned forward. “I can now understand why. Having time to reflect has afforded me insight. Despite what you thought, Lady, you brought me aid.”

  LeRoy said, “She didn’t have a choice, Major. Her clan would’ve been abandoned if she hadn’t tracked for General Ryker.” Stunned at the audacity of his second-in-command, Gage said, “I believe you owe Major Deacon an apology, LeRoy.”

  “No, he stated a fact,” Deacon said. “My father’s a bit overzealous at times and the Governance tends to use its resources to succeed when it deems necessary. I see things in a different light—now. But her tracking isn’t what I spoke of. The lady brought peace at a moment when— Had I not felt her presence, had a hope of rescue…” The major placed his napkin on his plate as he stood. He walked around the table and crouched next to her. “May I touch you?”

  She remained completely stil . He slowly and gently took her hand from her lap and held it. His hands didn’t belong on the lady. Rather than bring the inappropriateness of his actions to the major’s attention, Gage decided to hold his tongue and watched as the major’s thumbs rubbed the back of her hand. “I wish to express my gratitude. The kindness you relayed to me was a rare gift. Please accept my thanks, Lady Reina.” He kissed the back of her hand, placed it in her lap and walked from the mess at a fast clip. Receiving such attention from the president’s son placed Reina in a new station. It clandestinely exceeded even Gage’s command. While rank dictated much of the courtesy and decorum in the military, most knew those in favor of those in charge should be held in higher regard. It was the unspoken, political y correct thing to do.

  “Lady Reina?” Gage asked. The black in her eyes had greatly receded. Her lips trembled as she looked toward him. He stood, went behind her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. The chil in her seemed impossibly bitter. “Do you wish to retire?” She gently placed the fork down and put her napkin beside her plate. Her hands fel limply in her lap. She struggled to stand and he helped. He cared not that others watched. The lady needed assistance. She managed to rise but when her legs bore weight, they gave way. He’d been prepared for such and brought her into his arms with little fuss. Nare and LeRoy jumped to their feet but their assistance wasn’t necessary. “She’s weary, Nare. If she has need of you, you’l be summoned.”

  “Very wel , General. Can you manage?”

  Gage spared a glance at the doctor. With her inconsequential weight, he certainly didn’t need assistance. He took his slight burden from the mess.

  Reina protested by squirming a little and making unhappy sounds. He remedied her discontent by hugging her tighter to his chest until she gave in and al owed him to do what he’d do anyhow. Albeit, a commander carrying a raven through the corridors was an unexpected sight, his crew didn’t question that which was none of their concern.

  After entering the cabin, he walked to the bed. As he bent to lay her down, her hand clasped his neck. A warm emotion overtook him. The woman wasn’t real y awake and yet she wished to remain close. He’d grant her wish, for he found he needed the nearness himself.

  He stretched her out upon his bed and careful y removed her clothes. She roused and stiffened in fright and disorientation. He spoke gently to her, bidding her back to a dream state. He stroked and studied the skin revealed as each piece of clothing came off. The scars upon her back were obtained before he took her from Haven. However regrettable, he accepted the markings as part of who she was. Further permanent damage to her body would’ve been intolerable and to his relief she had none.

  As he removed his own clothes, she tussled beneath the sheet. “Sweet one, I’l not leave you. I’m just getting ready to lie with you.” She turned toward him, her eyes stil closed. Simply his voice seemed to offer her comfort. “Don’t fret. You’l be able to sleep because I won’t restrain you. There’s no need to trouble over such things right now. I’l warm you with my body and keep you safe.” His eyes ached. The most idiotic thing in the universe would be to lie next to the woman in his state. Even if she managed to get beyond the bed, the door wouldn’t open from any trick she used. His retinal scan and two code words had been programmed to gain access or departure from his cabin as wel as the animal compound. She wouldn’t get past him and gain access to the ship. If he slept too soundly, the only damage she could do would be to him. Yawning, he discounted her ability to wreak havoc as he watched her shiver and curl into a bal .

  His arms and legs throbbed as he crawled next to her and brought her chil ed body against his warm skin. He bid heat from the bed and drew the thick, soft cover over them. A noise came from her throat and she stiffened. Something had frightened her. Enough years spent battling night monsters himself, he held his palm against her stomach and rubbed until the strain of muscle lessened.

  He took his time as he touched al of her and gently rubbed every last inch. The soft skin covering her matched the equal y soft sounds coming from her. She mumbled contentedly, especial y when he rubbed her shoulders. A dawning came. The murmurings were those of a woman, not raven. Come back to me, Reina. Let me hear your voice and see the amber in your eyes these last days before we dock.

  She thrashed wildly and he held tight. She fought in her dreams. “Move beyond that which happened. Come forward in your mind to our bed.” Her arms relaxed and he continued to offer his voice to draw her from battle. “I’m holding you, sweet one. Feel me.” Her legs became less tense. “I’l stay beside you through this eve and keep monsters at bay.
You’re safe within my arms, I swear it.”

  “Gage.”

  Thank you for your trust, Reina. “Sleep now.”

  “Mmm.”

  His woman.

  Chapter Twelve

  A bad dream disturbed Reina but in reality she couldn’t wake, not completely. Two worlds. Which to walk in—live in? Lost but aware. Safe but in turmoil. Beds to restrain her, machines to heal her, but nothing to anchor to. Spinning. Fighting—desperate.

  Gage’s arms held and confined her. She felt secure, protected and managed to calm a bit. It didn’t last before the wildness began seeping back in.

  The battle this time was internal and her ability to push it down became a struggle that brought her to the edge of abandon. The raven in her blood beseeched her to set her mind adrift. The keening cal echoed in her mind, bidding her to give over to the freedom to live as an animal without the constraints of formality and civility necessary in the restricted world of others. What remained of the woman yearned for clarity of mind and peace of body to lie with her man. She’d given too much of her essence to the raven and to reclaim it as Reina became less and less possible.

  His breath fel heavily upon her hair as nakedness nestled against nakedness. She regretted giving rise to his ire. She feared her existence as a woman dwindled with each passing moment. The punishment for such wouldn’t be a simple whipping. The cure for losing oneself to a creature was singular. Death. “Please,” she begged, asking for mercy and her life.

  His body trembled and voice shook as he held her down. “You’ve nothing to fear. You’re safe.” The deep sleep hadn’t given rise to clarity—it stole it from her, al owing the raven to take even more of her mind. She was a danger to herself and his crew. She’d be put down. Soon. He hadn’t a choice. By the stars, help me! I thought I’d die in battle, not at the hands of a firing squad. Or worse yet, tied down in medical for the data beast to take my life!

  The self-pitying thoughts forced her mind and body to disconnect and once sense final y returned, she realized she’d waged war on the poor general again. Oh God, I’ve just put another clamp on my space coffin!

  His growling voice sliced into her. “Reina!”

  It wouldn’t be long before she’d have no choice but to let the raven fly. While she could make the request, she mustered every ounce of courage and implored, “Please, please!” A tear fel as she gulped a breath. If death must come, she wanted it to come from the general. She didn’t want others to see her as a stark-raving-mad animal. She’d done enough in life to embarrass herself. This matter could be seen to in private. “Gage, by your hand—here, without others to watch. Please make this stop.”

  “The only thing to cease wil be your struggles. We’l see it done, won’t we, Reina?” She focused on his crystal ine blue-eyed gaze and reminded herself to take deep, calming breaths. He seemed certain of her ability to fight the crazy, wild feelings threatening her sanity despite the swel ing of his eye from where she’d managed to cuff him.

  “End this now!” she yel ed before a surge of unmanageable violence stole her thoughts. A moment later when she could think, she found herself on her stomach upon the bed with her wrists captured behind her back. His weight held her down. The only sound in the room was from heavy breaths denoting her recent rampage. “Please tel me I didn’t hit you again.”

  “You did and I believe I’ve had about enough.” He didn’t sound overly angry and she couldn’t understand why. “While you seem to have a moment of clarity, let’s reason this out.”

  “There’s no basis for what’s happening! One moment I feel wel and the next has me in a lunatic state.”

  “But you retain the ability to speak.”

  “What of it?” This time when the raven took over, it happened without the slightest preamble. Thank the stars it gained her nothing because the general kept her restrained.

  “I believe,” he said, taking many breaths before he could finish, “that by al owing freedom to the raven for an extended time has your mind warring to regain ful control. With your ability to speak, the woman holds the raven back, not the other way around.”

  “I’m losing the battle, Sir,” she said before sobbing.

  “You’re giving way on meaningless skirmishes. You’l win the battle, Reina. We’l figure it out.” His hand gathered her hair and removed it from her back. His fingers traced her spine and she felt some of the tension leave. “Is your mind clear now?”

  “Not entirely. It’s as if I’m part awake and part asleep al at once. It’s most disconcerting.”

  “Reina,” he said, his tone very deep and grim, “I need to bring you to ful awareness.” The whip! That’s why he sounded so regretful and serious. “Can you tel me another course of action to take?”

  The thought of punishment distracted her momentarily and harmful, evil thoughts made her react violently. Again. When intel igence returned, she found herself restrained. This time, the cuffs around her wrists were short. So too were the ones placed around her ankles. It left no room for movement.

  Her legs and arms shook as she waited.

  “Let’s begin and have this over with, shal we?” he asked.

  She swal owed and closed her eyes. The dread and rol of her stomach kept her mind from wandering. “Sir?”

  “Yes, Reina?”

  “I seem most focused at the moment. I believe I’m fine now.” She’d barely gotten her statement out before something slapped against her upturned cheeks. It wasn’t a smal pat that landed there either! “Bastard!” Her eyes rounded in disbelief that the word actual y came from her mouth.

  The slaps to fol ow demonstrated what the first one lacked. “Seems to me,” he said in between stinging whacks, “you lack a great deal of focus and self-control at the moment.”

  She raged and pul ed at the restraints to no avail as the general continued the rhythmic spanking. His determination in setting her mind to rights slowly superseded her initial reaction and she calmed. Strange that. She should be waging war, not settling down.

  His hand eventual y rested against the heat rising up from her burning cheeks. He probably needed a break after the overzealous demonstration. She likely wouldn’t sit comfortably for several eves. She tried to remember he could’ve used the whip and didn’t. The fire moving to her lower back and thighs made it seem irrelevant.

  He said, “Release restraints.” With her wrists and ankles free, she started to move. “Stay as you are!” On a normal eve, she wouldn’t have moved an inch with the tone of voice he used to relay the order. This wasn’t a normal eve.

  Giving him credit, the spanking served to remedy the fog in her brain. She no longer wanted to fight him either. It had other consequences though.

  She tried understanding the source of the defiant musings running scenarios in her mind.

  “Domineer?” she said in a low, seductive voice not belonging to her. Very slowly she rol ed to lie flat on the bed. She brought up the soles of her feet to rest against his naked thighs. “In remedying one problem, you’ve created another.” She drew her knees apart and his gaze fel between her parted thighs. Reina tried to stop herself but it was as if she watched what happened from a distance. “What other problem have I wrought, smal raven?” His fingertips touched her wet and ready pussy. When she moaned, he said, “I see now.

  Indeed, this seems a grave situation. I wonder what could be done to remedy such trouble.”

  “Take me now. Make me come. I need you so very much.”

  Gage watched Reina closely. He became acutely alert when she referred to him as Domineer. To cal him such in their current situation subtly chal enged him on some level. It was also somewhat disrespectful. The beauty squirming beneath his gaze appeared a bit too bold for his woman. That and the expanse of her pupils relayed whom he dealt with. Had he made the situation worse somehow?

  Pondering the current state of affairs while studying the woman, he spread arousal up and down her soaking pussy before inserting a finger into her tig
ht little entrance. Her hips surged, lifting her ass from the bed. She grasped his finger and started rocking. He felt her tighten and tremble inside. An unusual smile crept over her lips. She was on the verge of coming without uttering a word. He firmly believed Reina would’ve mentioned it.

  He slid free from her wetness and she bel owed, “Bastard!” A moment later, her brows creased in concern before her eyes rounded to reveal an amber ring. She shifted and came to knees before him and reached out to touch him before dropping her hands. “I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry.” He enfolded her in his embrace and stroked her back as she placed her arms around his waist. “It seems your alter ego hasn’t completely taken leave from you.”

  “No, Sir.”

  “But she no longer fights.”

  “I haven’t the urge to damage you at the moment. I seem fixated with other things we could do together.” He chuckled before bringing her cheek to his chest. “That’s a start, I suppose. The rest of it though, you can sense something’s amiss?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Then let’s see what we can do to remedy the situation.”

  She gazed at him and appeared hopeful. “You’ve an idea on the matter?”

  He kissed her forehead gently and cupped her face. “I do.”

  She was ripe with need and he ached for release. As long as Reina remained with him, he’d give her as much pleasure as she could stand. The moment he sensed the raven bitch taking control, her enjoyment would end. The two remained bound together, but Reina would remember how to command her own mind and body while the raven learned its place. He’d make it so.

  He leaned down to taste her mouth and she opened. His lips brushed over hers in the barest manner and she moaned. When he did it again, one of her smal hands moved to the back of his head. She thought to hold him stil . Her wet tongue licked his lips and sought to find its way inside as she applied pressure with her hand. Chil ed fingers dug into his side as she slid her breasts against his chest.