Yours to Command

by Shona Husk

  Yet here they were, one quarter of the way to nowhere.

  Perhaps he had an itch that needed scratching. A one-off thing. It happened. The guys she served with were doing it, paying female prisoners, or coming to other arrangements. Could she do that? She hesitated … she could at least have the conversation with Alex. But it wasn’t conversation that she wanted. It had been months since she’d had sex. It would be nice to finally move on and put Zane well and truly in her past. Alex could certainly do that.

  She tilted her head toward the stairs and started moving, not sure if she wanted him to get the hint or not. Maybe she’d lose her nerve. It would be easier to go back to her room and do herself. Twice. But it wouldn’t be the same.

  With Alex there’d be no risk. She could lock him down. He wouldn’t get the chance to get his hands around her throat the way Zane had.

  Alex had almost convinced himself it couldn’t be Corporal Jade. He’d never seen her at the Rounds before—and he’d have noticed. Every man would have. Her dark, honey-blond hair stood out among the sea of brunettes. But here she was—and she was giving him the nod to follow. At least, that was what he thought it was.

  He hesitated for a few seconds, not sure if he should obey. His cheek ached, as if reminding him of her touch on his skin, and the way she’d asked for his name. For the first time since getting arrested he’d actually felt like a person, and not some kind of numbered low-level scum.

  Scum he’d willingly become in order to get a place on the first fleet to leave Earth and colonize Solitaire. While research base Unity had been there for just over ten years, this trip was to set up farms and accommodation, to build a working town so that when other ships arrived there would be something there for them. The only reason prisoners were on board was to do the heavy work. The rest of the ship would be filled with those deemed worthy—or wealthy—enough. It had been his only chance to leave the damage on Earth. He just hoped the reports from Unity weren’t all bullshit.

  Corporal Jade moved up the stairs with confidence, and while plenty looked, no one touched and no one said anything. It would have been different on Earth. Somehow being jammed together was making people more careful with what they said. She wasn’t the only woman being watched with a hungry stare, but she was the only one he was interested in.

  “Good fight, 1789,” one of the enlisted called, no doubt after collecting a pile of tokens.

  Alex jerked his chin in thanks, and pulled on his shirt. He didn’t bother buttoning it. He was having a shower after he found out what Jade wanted. When he checked the stairs she was gone, and everyone’s attention was back on the ring, ready for the next fight. He touched the token in his pocket. He could spend it feeding his lust, but he knew some casual fuck wouldn’t satisfy. It was a pity the token couldn’t buy some time with Corporal Jade. He walked to the stairs. Then again, maybe it had—or maybe he was taking her nod the wrong way.

  He was only thinking about sex because he hadn’t had any for months. The adrenalin was pumping, and her watchful gaze had given him a hard-on like a steel pipe. He needed to get rid of that before he had a shower. Before lockdown. There was no way he was jerking off with two other guys in the room. He didn’t really want to be facing Jade with a hard dick, either.

  To hell with it. He’d find out what she wanted and decide what to do from there. He almost took the stairs two at a time, but restrained himself. Running could earn him a penalty. Three strikes for something menial like that and it was into the Box for forty-eight hours.

  She wasn’t in the narrow corridor between the modules that formed the cells, which would be turned into accommodation on Solitaire, so he headed toward the med station. He slowed when he saw the sign. What if this was some kind of set-up?

  If it was, it was one he hadn’t heard of. There were all kinds of tricks that the guards were pulling on unsuspecting prisoners—to be fair, not all guards were brutes, but there was a select group of bastards that it was definitely best to avoid.

  He waited for another con to pass, then knocked on the door. He stood in full view, so she could clearly see him. And he her. Her eyes widened for a heartbeat, as if she hadn’t really expected him to follow. Her gaze flicked to the security camera screen—no doubt making sure he was on his own, and no one was hiding in the corridor. Then she gave him the signal to turn around. He did, placing his hands together so they could be cuffed behind his back. They snapped together and the door opened. He had exactly three seconds to enter before it automatically shut behind him.

  She gave him a glance that ran from his face down to his standard-issue boots. Long enough to assess, short enough that it didn’t feel like she was checking him out. “How’s the face?”

  “Pretty good, Corporal.” He wished he knew what her first name was, but he had to keep it formal and take his cues from her.

  She nodded. Her gaze was firmly on him, but there was enough distance between them that this visit still felt official. His fingers curled behind his back.

  “You fought well.”

  “I wanted the token more.”

  She hadn’t moved closer and he didn’t dare. On Siren he wasn’t her equal. On Earth he would’ve just asked her out. The thought came as a shock. Since getting arrested, he had tried not to think about normal life. All he’d done was focus on getting on the fleet and making it to Solitaire. He’d planned on getting through the one-year trip and the four-year sentence as best he could, which meant getting seconded to the Army Engineering Corps. And not getting sidetracked by the Rounds, or pretty blonds.

  Right now, only three months into the trip, the next four years and nine months was looking like a very long time to be spending alone.

  But that was just the adrenalin from the fight talking. Yeah, right. He could feel his dick pressing against his regulation underwear. He just hoped it wasn’t straining his pants.

  He needed to fill the silence, or she might dismiss him without saying whatever it was she wanted to say. He wanted to hear it. She had treated him like a person and not a thing, and he missed that. If she used his name again, he was pretty sure he’d do anything she asked. “Do you watch often?”

  She shook her head, her curls bouncing around her cheekbones. “I’d never seen the attraction before today.”

  His lips curved before he could stop them. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “Do you?”

  “I like the fresh fruit I can buy.” He stuck to the safe answer, not the one that tattled on an officer for coercing men to fight.

  Her lips parted in surprise. What did she think he spent the token on? But he knew the answer as soon as he’d thought the question.

  She took a step closer. “Isn’t there anything else you’d rather spend it on?”

  His heart seemed to swell, making breathing hard. As much as he wanted to follow this conversation to its natural conclusion, he didn’t like what it would mean.

  She was Army. She could do and say whatever she wanted and he wouldn’t be able to get a word heard in his defense. And yet when she looked at him, he didn’t actually care about the risk of falling for a guard.

  “Some things shouldn’t be bought or sold.” His voice came out huskier than it should have. He fisted his hands until it hurt, glad she couldn’t see the nail marks forming on his palms.

  “Some things probably shouldn’t happen,” she said softly. Whether she was speaking to herself or to him, he wasn’t sure. She looked away and he knew she was going to change her mind. The doubts were taking hold.

  The air thickened between them. He’d happily spend forty-eight in the Box if he could kiss her, sit her on the counter and fuck her—no, that would be worth a week in the Box, and he’d still come out smiling. However, if he suggested sex, even though that seemed to be where this was heading, it would be overstepping, and he didn’t want to take that risk.

  “I want to thank you for using my name the other day. It was nice to hear it again.” That was the honest-to-God truth.<
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  She smiled. “I’m Sienna.”

  He wanted to say it aloud, but didn’t. The ground was still too fragile, so he nodded instead. “Why did you want to see me?”

  Her tongue darted over her lip and his knees weakened. He could take a punch, but she could put him on the ground and out for the count with barely a movement.

  “I wanted to talk to you. Which I can do.” While her words were spoken softly, he felt the edge forming, the chasm between them that couldn’t be bridged. She was in charge of whatever happened.

  He’d run his own life since he was sixteen. That he’d surrendered all control the moment he’d been arrested still chafed. He hadn’t expected it to be so difficult. He gritted his teeth. He’d gotten himself into this, now he had to play the game. He lowered his gaze to her boots, not trusting himself to speak.

  She took a couple of steps forward, then reached out and ran her fingers over his chest before pulling her hand back as if the touch had burned her. He heard her swallow.

  “Just say it, Sienna.” He made himself use her name so he could pretend they were equals checking each other out before someone made the first move. Here, it couldn’t be him.

  “You don’t know what I want.”

  He lifted his gaze from the floor. “I want the same thing.”

  “You could get it anywhere.”

  He had no desire to waste a token on a blow job in the shower, keeping his eyes closed and pretending it was a woman, not a man. His imagination wasn’t that good. He took a risk. “I want you.”

  Pink colored her cheeks like a sunrise he’d never see again. “You only met me two days ago.”

  He laughed. “I could say the same thing to you.” He took a breath. “Ask me and I’ll say yes.” Yes, because he’d never wanted anything more. Yes, because for a short while he’d be more than a number. Yes, because the heat in her gaze was setting fire to his blood.

  She lifted her hand and for a second he thought she was going to slap him. Instead, her finger grazed his cheek below the cut. He turned his head and kissed her soft palm. Her hands weren’t rough from laboring like his were. What he wanted was his hands free, pants down and Sienna up against the wall, her legs around his waist as he thrust until he forgot where he was.

  “I want to get laid.” Her other hand cupped his balls and slid up his erection.

  It was kind of hard to deny the lust pumping through his body when her hand was moving over the evidence. “I can oblige.”

  She leaned in closer. Close enough that if either of them took a deep breath, her breasts would touch his chest. Regardless of the layers of clothing between them, this was still the closest he’d been to a woman in months—a woman he wanted.

  “Why?” She tipped her chin to meet his gaze. Her hand was still on his dick and he was trying not to think about it, or about what getting caught would mean.

  That was not the question or the order he was expecting. “You have your hand on my cock I’m sure you’ve noticed the effect you’re having. If I hadn’t seen you at the fight, I’d have had a shower and done some study. But I saw you and all the blood rushed from my head. Maybe if you’d treated me like shit, like every other bug—guard—around here, I wouldn’t have looked twice. But you didn’t. You aren’t like them.”

  She pulled her hand away. “You don’t know me. I just want you for sex.”

  He blinked slowly, trying and failing to steady his heart rate. That was the crux of it. He could pretend he was getting what he wanted out of this, but the truth was, this was her game. He played by her rules or not at all. But he wanted to play—if only to see what would happen next. “That’s still the best offer I’ve had on Siren.”

  Chapter Three

  Sienna regarded him for a moment. Had she really expected him to say no? Or had she assumed she’d back out, and not even ask? Her fingers curled, as if remembering the feel of his hard length. So tempting. She could laugh and send him away, pretend that she’d been toying with him, nothing more. But she was already slick with need. Her nipples were hard, her body ready. The sight of him standing there, hands behind his back, trying to behave and not overstep the boundaries was rather enticing. She didn’t need foreplay.

  She could unbutton his pants and he’d have no choice. And then she’d be just as bad as the rest of them, using cons for their own amusement, both in the Rounds and in bed.

  “I’m going to give you the chance to speak freely, Alex. If you want to leave, say so. I won’t command you to stay and I won’t hold anything against you or make any kind of report.” She needed to know that he was here because he wanted to be here and not just because he thought he’d get into trouble if he didn’t go along with it. Whatever it was.

  “I appreciate that, but I want to be here.” He held her gaze, completely steady.

  What man, or con, was going to turn down sex with no commitments? She certainly wasn’t going to. She flicked open the button on his fly, then dragged down the zipper. He swallowed, but otherwise didn’t move. He kept his dark gaze on her. If she hadn’t been wet before, she was now.

  She shoved his pants down over his hips, then traced the ridge of his cock, straining against his briefs. The black fabric was damp where the tip pressed against it. He was ready to go, but she teased a little longer, running her fingers over the head and enjoying the way his breathing quickened.

  He probably didn’t realize how good he looked restrained. All that muscle. She slid her hand over his singlet. Naked, he’d be damn fine. She brushed her fingers across the dusting of hair that was visible on his chest.

  The ache in her core increased. She was pretty sure she’d never been so aroused just from touching someone and not being touched. It was better this way. There was no reminder of what had happened last time. The memory of being choked pushed through her mind. Before Zane, she’d enjoyed sex. Liked it too much. A whore. His words echoed in her mind.

  She pulled her hand away. Perhaps he was right. Why else would she be standing in the med station feeling up a prisoner?

  “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “You shouldn’t be stopping.” His voice was rough. “I want you.”

  “You’d fuck any woman right now.”

  He shook his head. “No I wouldn’t. Would you fuck any man?”

  No, she wouldn’t. She’d had offers and declined them all, partly out of fear. Zane had taken something she’d once enjoyed and made her afraid of getting close to anyone. But Alex was different. She felt safe with him because she could control him. “I chose you.”

  She stepped away so she didn’t have to look at him, and pressed the button locking both doors of the med station—the one to the prison and the one to the Army quarters. The lights dimmed and the doors became opaque. If anyone needed care, she’d be alerted.

  “Why?” His gaze followed her.

  “Why not?” She wasn’t going to tell him how attractive she found him. She glanced from him to the chair. The counter or the wall were the only other options, and since she intended to keep his cuffs on the whole time, neither of them would work. “In the chair, no funny moves.”

  “You aren’t going to release the cuffs?”

  “Only long enough for you to put your hands on the chair.”

  “I don’t get to touch you?”

  “No.” She was in control. She had to be—this was the first time she’d been with anyone since Zane. She needed to prove that she wasn’t vulnerable.

  Something that could have been hurt or annoyance flickered across his face before he masked it. For a moment she almost felt guilty for restraining him, but she couldn’t trust him. She barely knew him. He crossed to the chair in four steps and dropped heavily onto it, his pants open, cock jutting against his briefs. Her stomach gave a little twirl of excitement. This felt so different to anything she’d ever done before.

  She touched the controller on her wrist. “Hands on the chair like before.”

  “This isn’t going to work.”


  “Sure it is.” She hoped it was. “You’re going to scoot your hips forward.”

  “I’d rather put you against the wall.”

  She smiled as the image formed in her mind. It sounded rather glorious. “Anything else you’d rather do?”

  His gaze lowered. “Get on my knees and eat a peach.”

  Her knickers were definitely damp now. No man had ever said something like that to her and looked as though he meant it. She was pretty sure he’d do it if she asked. Her knees went a little soft at the idea of Alex on his knees, licking her clit.

  “Are you that hungry?”

  “You have no idea.” His tongue traced his lower lip. His beard would tickle … she was sure she’d like it. But where there was tongue there were also teeth, and she wasn’t sure she trusted him that much. She looked at him and saw the raw hunger in his eyes. Not every man was as cold as a shark. Alex burned with life that was barely restrained by a couple of metal cuffs.

  “Arms. Chair.”

  He smiled. “Peach.”

  “Would you let someone you’d just met put their mouth on something so sensitive?”

  He thought about it for a few seconds. “If I was in your boots, no.”

  “Show me you can obey and maybe next time …” She lifted her eyebrows in what she hoped was a suggestive manner. The idea of a next time was already very appealing. But only if he could prove himself trustworthy—and that included not talking about her to anyone. She’d know within twenty-four hours if he had.

  “Arms. Chair, Corporal,” he said.

  That stung. She’d thought they were past numbers and rank. She released his cuffs and he immediately placed his arms on the chair, then she re-magnetized them.

  Without being asked, he shifted forward so she’d have room to straddle him. “Ready when you are.” He gave her a cold smile that was betrayed by the heat in his eyes.