Chapter Fifteen

As usual, Kievan woke early. Instead of getting up immediately, he rolled to his back, pulling Cam after him so that she was tucked into his side. She uttered a sleepy sound but didn’t wake up. Her delicate fragrance surrounded him and he felt unexpectedly content. He had work to do—he needed to make sure that his message had been received and deal with the instigators—but he was in no hurry. His mind drifted back over the previous evening, over Cam’s concern and over her passionate response to his need. She was worthy of a warrior and he was increasingly anxious to mark her. Smiling, he contemplated the possibilities for the ceremony until the lights in the atrium began to glow.

With a reluctant sigh, he turned on his side, stroking Cam’s face until her eyes fluttered open.

“Morning, honey,” she said sleepily and smiled at him. His chest twinged but he ignored it and bent down to give her a long, slow kiss. As always, she melted into him and he let his hand slip down the soft skin of her side to curve around her hip and pull her closer. As he grasped her hip, he felt her flinch and raised his head.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” She tightened her arms around his neck and tried to pull him back down.

“Let me see, pet,” he ordered.

Reluctantly, she pushed the covers aside until he could see the bruises on her hips from where he had held her. An unusual feeling of guilt swept through him.

“I’m sorry, little flower.”

“Don’t be.” She smiled again. “I seem to recall urging you on. Now, come here.”

Unable to resist her teasing look, he dipped his head again but he kept the kiss brief and sweet.

“I have work to do.”

She sighed but started to sit up. He pressed her back down.

“No. You stay here. Get some more sleep and take a healing bath. Just relax today. I’ll send an attendant to take care of you this afternoon.”

“Honey, I’m fine,” she protested.

“Then you’ll be even better tonight.” She opened her mouth and he put his hand across it. “And you’ll need your strength tonight,” he whispered. Her eyes went heavy and he saw her nipples peak. Fighting back the desire to indulge his rapidly stiffening cock, he swiped a thumb across the tempting buds and pushed up.

Cam’s bottom lip pushed out. Hiding his amusement, he bent and nipped the soft pink flesh.

“Go back to sleep,” he ordered.

“Okay, honey,” she whispered, and turned her head into the pillow. Her eyes were closed before he reached the bathroom.

By the afternoon, Kievan was tired and irritable. They had been unable to contain the battle quite as tightly as he would have wished and a number of residents wanted to make their feelings known. Their objections tended to die as soon as he gave them a hard stare. If they persisted, he invited them to take a look at the bodies hanging outside the holding cells. That always put an end to the matter but it was an annoying process and his temper started to slip. In addition, he missed Cam and he had to fight the urge to return to their rooms, even though he knew he had taken her hard and she needed time to recover.

J’Ssett joined him in the afternoon and they arranged a series of meetings with the leaders of other factions. Kievan intended to impress upon them the consequences if they allowed their rivalry to escalate in a similar manner. Schedules arranged, he sighed and sat back.

J’Ssett was sitting in front of the desk, watching him as he rubbed a tired hand across his eyes. After a brief hesitation, the other man reached into his robes and handed Kievan a small box. Raising an eyebrow, Kievan opened the box and instantly recognized the marking device. His hand closed around it, fighting the surge of possessive pride that filled him. He nodded dismissal to J’Ssett, his mind already turning to his earlier plans of how he would use it. Preoccupied with his thoughts, it took a few minutes before he noticed that J’Ssett hadn’t left.

Surprised that the other man was still present, he asked, “What is it?”

“I have news, my lord.”

Cold hit the pit of Kievan’s stomach. “Yes?”

“There is an Imperial battle cruiser approaching the sstation.”

His whole body turned to ice.

“It brings a message from Prince Ustrod.”

“What is the message?” he forced himself to ask.

“Time’s up.”

Cam knew something was wrong. Kievan hadn’t returned to their rooms for dinner last night. Late in the afternoon, he had sent J’Ssett with a message telling her not to wait for him. Unwilling to eat alone again, she asked J’Ssett to join her. Surprised but agreeable, he turned out to be a pleasant dinner companion. At her urging, he told her several stories about Kievan’s early days on the station and some of the enemies he’d had to conquer. He had a dry wit that amused her, but several times she caught him watching her with a sad expression on his face. She started to feel uneasy and after he left, she was unable to settle down. She tried and abandoned several books, prowled the room restlessly, and finally gave in to exhaustion and went to bed. Kievan still hadn’t returned.

Sometime during the night, she felt his weight hit the bed. He turned her into his arms and held her so tightly that she murmured a sleepy protest. His arms didn’t relax so she snuggled closer and drifted back to sleep.

She woke in the morning with his mouth pulling hard on her breast and his hand working equally hard between her legs. She came twice before he covered her with his body and plunged into her pussy with a frantic urgency that made her come a third time. She was still quivering when he rolled off and disappeared into the shower. He didn’t take her with him as he usually did.

He emerged a short time later and dressed rapidly, not looking in her direction. She watched him in silence, sure that something was wrong but afraid to ask. He headed for the door and then paused.

“You can’t come to the office today.”

Before she could respond, he was gone. It was the first time he’d left without kissing her goodbye.

By the time the atrium lights dimmed for the day, Cam was worried, annoyed, and more than a little scared. When Kievan’s tall figure appeared at the doors, relief was added to the mixture. She started toward him but he raised a hand to stop her, his face hard. She was wearing one of his silk shirts and his eyes flicked to it briefly before resuming his mask.

“Kneel.”

Biting back a protest, she knelt at the end of the couch. He still demanded formal protocol occasionally when they were alone together but it was usually the prelude to sex. Somehow she didn’t think that was on his mind tonight. Watching silently, she saw the tension in his body as he moved past her to the windows and stared out into the dark atrium. Despite her annoyance, she wanted to go to him and ease whatever burden he was carrying.

After a long silence, he moved to the couch. He didn’t look at her as he sat down and pulled out a small box. His long fingers turned it over and over.

“Do you know what this is?”

No endearment, no emotion in his voice. Her mouth suddenly dry, Cam whispered, “No, Master.”

He turned the box a few more times. “It is the marking device.”

A surge of relief loosened Cam’s limbs. No wonder he was being so odd and tense. She had read enough Sardoran books now to know that using the marking device on a woman was big deal. Warmth settled in her stomach. He might not be able to tell her that he loved her but he was marking his claim on her.

“You remember that I told you I would mark you?” he asked, his voice still emotionless.

“Yes, Master.”

“And this is what you want?”

Unable to contain herself any longer, she jumped up and flung herself into his lap. “Of course,” she whispered into his neck. “I lo—I belong to you.”

His body went even stiffer beneath hers. She melted a little more that he should be so anxious.

“Can we do it now?” she asked eagerly.

“I had intended…something different,” he said slowly. She raised her head and smiled at him, trying to ease his tension.

“Now is better,” she said. Raising her arms, she pulled his shirt over her head and turned in his lap so that her back was exposed. A much more desirable stiffness pressed against her bottom.

“Sweetness,” he groaned.

“Please?” She wiggled against his erection and sent a teasing look at him over her shoulder. His face had changed, no longer expressionless but she couldn’t decipher the emotions flickering across it.

“You will have to keep still,” he warned. “Lay down.”

Almost humming with anticipation, she turned face down across his knees. He lifted one leg and trapped her thighs beneath it. His other hand went to her neck and pressed her against the couch. As always, the feeling of being restrained spiked her arousal and she shivered. Her nipples tightened and pressed into the soft cushions and a sweet ache started between her legs.

Kievan’s hand caressed her ass. “This is going to hurt.”

“You told me,” she said a little breathlessly. “You also told you would help me find pleasure in it.”

The tension was back but before she could ask what was wrong, his hand slid between her thighs. All thought vanished as he pressed one thick finger into her already dripping pussy and swept his thumb across her engorged clit in firm, wonderful strokes. She shuddered, already close to coming, but he kept her poised on the edge, letting the pressure build inside her. Her body throbbed, demanding the orgasm his fingers promised.

“Kievan,” she begged, desperate for relief.

As soon as she spoke, his fingers withdrew, his leg clamped down, and the hand on her neck went rigid. She felt the quick brush of his lips on her back and then the marking device hit her skin just before a white hot flare of agony seized her body. Almost before she could register the sensation, his fingers were back on her clit and he swept her over into an orgasm. She cried out his name again, the lingering pain adding to the intensity of the sensations rushing through her as she came.

Still shuddering, she felt him move her, yanking her up until only her chest was on the couch. His hands pulled her hips higher and he plunged inside her. Unable to move, she could only take his thrusts, her body still convulsing as he pounded into her.

“Mine,” he roared, and buried himself to the hilt, his cock jerking inside her and sending jets of hot seed across her womb. He went to his knees, taking her down with him so that her upper half was still on the couch and her lower body spread across his thighs. He was still deep inside her and she could feel his fingers lightly tracing the edges of his mark. The mark burned but she relished the pain, happy that his symbol was on her skin.

“Yours,” she whispered. His fingers stilled and she felt a fleeting sense of panic that he was regretting his actions. Before the panic could take hold, he lifted her gently in his arms and carried her to the bed, careful not to touch the mark. He laid her face down and disappeared for a second. As soon as he came back, she felt the coolness of the healing gel being spread across the mark and the burning stopped.

“Mmm,” she murmured, feeling lethargic and content. She tried to turn her head to look at him but he kept her in place as his mouth replaced his fingers and he kissed his way down her back. She felt the chains click into place on her wrist bracelets and then he raised her hips, sliding a pillow beneath them.

His fingers traced the outline of the mark again. “Beautiful,” he said softly.

“Can I see it?”

The stillness hit him again. “Later.”

Before she could protest, his mouth was back on her. Spreading her cheeks with his thumbs, he teased her puckered rosette, awakening the hidden nerves. His tongue delved between her swollen folds, and he lapped her in long slow strokes until she quivered and came again. He didn’t stop, even though she was almost unbearably sensitive, and drove her straight into another orgasm.

Barely able to move, she nestled into the bed, sure that they were done. His fingers probed her anus and she startled back into awareness. She felt a cool gel sliding between her cheeks and then one finger slid deep inside.

“I’m going to fuck your ass.” His voice was hoarse.

Another finger joined the first and she shuddered at the stretch, aroused and scared. He had played with her ass many times but he had never taken her there.

“Yes, Master,” she whispered.

There was a muffled curse and then he flipped her. Her hands were still chained above her head, her hips still raised on the pillow, but he was leaning over, studying her face. His fingers slid back inside and she shuddered again.

“Is this what you want?” he asked as his fingers fucked slowly in and out.

“Yes, Master.”

He closed his eyes. “No, sweetness. Is this what you want?”

With a shock, she realized that he was asking her permission. Her heart melted. He was big, she knew it was going to hurt, but she could see how much he wanted it. And the little shivers of arousal skating across her skin meant she wanted it just as much.

“Yes, Kievan.”

He bent over and kissed her, his tongue on hers sending her arousal flaring as it always did. When he raised his head, she licked her lips, tasting him on her mouth, and breathed in his scent. She caught a glimpse of his eyes, pure molten bronze, before he moved down her body, trailing kisses along her neck and down across her chest. He lavished attention on her breasts, suckling her nipples until they were red and throbbing, before moving lower and drawing her distended clit into the hot depths of his mouth. And all the time he kept finger fucking her ass in slow tantalizing strokes that made her needy and desperate.

His mouth was hard around her swollen clit, sucking it deeper into his mouth, and her whole body was shaking. A continuous loop of arousal ran from nipples to clit to ass.

“Please,” she begged.

His fingers widened, stretching her open, his teeth scraped across her engorged flesh, and she came hard, pushing mindlessly against his face and hand. He swept her soothingly with his tongue, then withdrew his fingers and straightened.

Mouth dry, she watched as he spread gel over his erection. He looked even more enormous glistening with gel, the head dark gold and swollen. Kneeling between her legs, he lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around his waist. His hand guided his cock into position and she flinched as she felt the broad crown probing at her tiny rear entrance.

Between the gel and her own juices, she was slick and open and he slid in a fraction of an inch. Her eyes widened as she felt the stretch and her muscles instinctively clamped down.

“Easy, pet. Relax and push out.”

His hands gripped her hips and he eased in a little further. The stretch turned into a burn. Desperately she tried to follow his instructions and her body loosened enough that the thick head pressed through the tight ring of muscle. He groaned. Cam bit her lips to keep from crying out. Her ass was on fire.

Relentlessly he pushed deeper, impaling her on his huge cock. She felt every inch burning as he entered her, awakening nerve endings she had never felt before. When he was completely inside her, he stopped. She felt full, stretched to the point of pain, and both of them were panting.

“So tight,” he muttered, and then he began to pull out. She cried out, the burning sensation turning to a dark erotic pleasure. Her hands clamped convulsively on the chains.

He paused with only the broad head still inside the tiny opening and then pushed back in, faster this time, and the dark pleasure increased. Fiery sparks of sensation coursed through her body, pleasure and pain intermingling into something overwhelming.

Once more his cock slowly withdrew and he stilled just inside her body. Eyes blazing, he looked down to where their bodies were connected. His thumb went to her clit and she jerked, the flood of sensation even more overwhelming. His thumb made another swipe, she tightened her legs and tilted her ass higher, wanting more. He roared and drove into her. She screamed and came instantly but he didn’t slow down, driving into her with powerful, mind-numbing thrusts. His thumb kept moving and she immediately started to climb to a second peak. Her back rubbed the bed with each stroke and the mark began to burn but it only sent her arousal soaring higher. He slammed down into her with one final hard plunge and roared again. She felt him swell impossibly larger and it sent her over again just as she felt the hot liquid flooding the dark depths of her rectum.

His body collapsed over hers, the chains released, and her arms went around his neck, her legs still circling his waist as she clung to him. He buried his face in her neck and she stroked his shoulders as his breathing stilled. His cock jerked inside her and she clamped down reflexively. He groaned and lifted his head, studying her face, his eyes soft.

“Honey,” she whispered. Something flickered across his face and then he was gone, slipping slowly from her body. She winced and he ran a soothing hand across her hip before he disappeared. When he returned, he cleaned her gently, spreading more healing gel across her mark and into her sore ass. When he was done, he lay down next to her and turned her into his chest. Her body was completely limp and she was too tired to move. She buried her face in his neck, breathing in his scent as her eyes drifted closed.

“I love you,” she whispered. She thought she felt his arms tighten before she fell into an exhausted sleep.

Cam opened her eyes, feeling unexpectedly cold. After a sleepy moment, she realized that the temperature wasn’t any lower than normal but this was the first morning she had woken up without Kievan’s warm body wrapped around hers. Anxiously she scanned the room, her body relaxing as she spotted him emerging from the bathroom. He was fully dressed; he must have early business. She closed her eyes and stretched sleepily, enjoying the slight soreness between her legs and the faint heat of his mark on her back. Opening her eyes again, she smiled at Kievan.

“Morning, honey. Are you in a hurry?”

He didn’t move toward her and something cold and ugly settled in her stomach as she took in his rigid posture. His face was completely emotionless.

Clutching the blanket to her chest, she forced her body to a sitting position. “Master?” she whispered, forcing the words past the tightness in her throat.

“Your contract has been sold. You leave this morning. J’Ssett will take you to the ship.” His voice was as expressionless as his face and as soon as he finished speaking, he left the room.

A hole opened in her chest, an abyss so vast and painful that her entire body went numb. She couldn’t move in case the hole opened up and swallowed her. The illusion that he had started to return her feelings shattered like broken glass, the shards slicing into her flesh. A distant part of her brain was screaming but she locked it away, unable to face the agony waiting for her. When J’Ssett opened the door an infinite time later, she was still in the same position.

“Misss, it is time to get ready.”

She forced her body to a standing position, still holding herself in check. “What am I to wear?”

“Misss?”

“Tell me what to wear.”

His eyes closed. “The gold ssarong and halter.”

“Very well.” Moving with infinite caution, she walked into the closet to dress.