Chapter Twenty
Strong hands lifted her off the table and set her on her feet. She gazed up at Roth, thinking he was very tactile, always touching, caressing, or merely guiding her with a hand on her back. And he carried her, a lot. She’d never experienced that with a man before. Being of average height and weight, it wasn’t that human men couldn’t, just that the few she was with previously didn’t try. And it wouldn’t have been the same. With Roth twice the size of any of her previous short-term boyfriends—emphasis on short—she wasn’t afraid he’d drop her. He handled hear easily, as though she weighed no more than his neighbor’s big cat, as well as making her feel loved and cared for, precious, like the golden purrada.
“Thank you for coming in for more testing, Commander, and Maggie.”
She offered a smile to the kindly older man as she snapped out of her daydreams. “If you think it will help the others, we’re happy to assist however we can.”
“I’m sure it will. Each new mating brings something different. If I could find two that followed the same progression, I could do some side-by-side comparisons, identify similarities and variables, and perhaps…”
As Jarlan went off on one of his scientific soliloquies, Maggie’s eyes started to glaze over, scientific analytics not her thing, at all. Still, she didn’t want to offend and nodded politely, throwing in a few mm-hms now and then as she straightened her sleeve where it had been rolled up to obtain the blood sample. A gentle nudge in her side had her looking up. Roth’s eyes got big as he shook his head, having noticed her distraction. And he sympathized with it, evidently, because after aiming a quick wink her way, he cleared his throat, stopping the physics’ mind-numbing, jargon-filled ramble.
“We have another appointment, Jarlan, and really can’t stay since we depart tomorrow. Perhaps when we return, you’ll share your findings.”
“Oh, yes, of course. I’d be happy to. Hopefully, in that time, I’ll have this all figured out.”
“Maker willing,” Roth replied as he led Maggie through the door. Beyond it, he chuckled. “I thought you were going to fall asleep on your feet from abject boredom.”
“Did it show? How rude of me.” She whirled to go back, but Roth caught her around the waist.
“Where are you going?”
“To apologize.”
“No need, little captain. The man was so into variables and constants he didn’t notice.”
“Are you certain? I wouldn’t want him to think me disrespectful.”
“I’m certain.” A door slammed down the hall. When they looked up, Lana was rushing toward them, so deep in thought, she didn’t notice either of them until she was on top of them.
“Lana,” Maggie said both in greeting and as a warning in hopes of avoiding a head-on collision.
“Pardon me!” she exclaimed, skidding to a halt just as Roth hauled Maggie out of the way. “My fault entirely.”
“Is everything all right?” Maggie asked.
“Yes,” Lana answered snappishly, which wasn’t at all like her. “Why do you ask? Did someone say something?”
“No, but you seem preoccupied. Were you here to see the doctor?”
“Yes, only for a routine check, though,” she offered quickly. “They have been doing extra tests on the new mates.”
Maggie didn’t doubt that when it was the same reason she and Roth were there, but her eyes narrowed with suspicion when Lana flushed crimson. She wasn’t entirely forthcoming; Maggie would bet on it.
Suddenly, the young geologist blurted out, “I need to get back. Trask will be expecting me.”
Roth promptly shot that excuse down. “I spoke to the general earlier today. He didn’t think he would be finished at the mine site until near dark tomorrow. Didn’t he advise you of that, Trask’s mate?”
“Her name is Lana, Roth.”
He responded with a brief nod. “I’m surprised Trask was lax in letting you know his schedule; among mates, that is very important.”
“Oh, but Trask and I aren’t fated, like you and Maggie, or Eva and the Princep. We’ve been apart for several days without any effect.”
She watched as Lana shifted from side to side, almost nervously then peer sadly up at Roth, before switching to Maggie. When she realized she had garnered her captain’s attention, her gaze flitted away.
“Are you certain something isn’t amiss, Lana? The doctors didn’t find anything, did they?”
“Not a thing,” she replied, almost too quickly. She also smiled cheerily, which Maggie saw through straightaway. Something was off about her.
“So, you leave for Earth tomorrow, isn’t that right, Commander?”
“Yes, Lana, we leave at dawn.”
She nodded, glancing back at Maggie, whose frown didn’t stop her from questioning Roth further. “And you’re taking two ships, leaving only one to guard all of Primaria?”
“That is correct. But if you are worried, Trask and his army have sufficient ground forces and advanced weapons to ward off any threats, as well as scores of fighter craft who constantly patrol, in addition to a fully capable battlecruiser. We can launch fighters from the air or the ground, both of which can respond in a matter of seconds. You won’t be left unprotected.”
“Thank you, sir. I was a bit concerned when I heard the other ship, the In—um… something or other. I don’t recall the name, and yet another is in for repairs.”
“The Reliant returned to full service this morning, or we wouldn’t be leaving, I assure you. Under no circumstances would we leave our planet and people so vulnerable. And the Intrepid should arrive home in about a week, which will double your protection.”
“Good to know,” she replied with a forced smile.
“Lana...” Maggie began, still unconvinced.
“I won’t see you for quite a while, Maggie. Can I have a hug?” Before she could reply, the younger woman had enveloped her and was squeezing her tight. “If only I could go, too,” she whispered.
As she pulled away, Maggie could see a sheen of tears in her eyes, and she could swear she hadn’t meant her to hear her words. When she started to ask her to explain, Lana suddenly took off in a rush.
“Bon voyage,” she called as she went. “I hate to run, but I remembered I’m late for something. Best of luck with negotiations, Commander, and Captain.
“She’s a bit odd,” Roth observed.
“No, she’s not, although she’s certainly acting that way. Something is wrong. She doesn’t snap, or fidget, or worry about protection, or hug!”
“Hm… You think she saw Jarlan about an illness?”
“I don’t know, but something isn’t right. Are they happy, do you think?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Her comment about not being fated and being able to separate for so long.”
“What she described is the norm, Maggie. As I’ve explained, fated mate pairings are exceptionally rare. Things are still early with her bonding with Trask. As you know it takes time to adjust, perhaps that is it.”
“Maybe…”
“I’ll alert Trask when I talk to him next. It warrants watching.”
“What if I’m wrong and you upset him, or her? Never mind. It’s probably best if you don’t say anything.”
He took her arm and began moving them down the hall. “That isn’t your call, Maggie. I’ll alert Trask.”
And that quickly, the master and commander emerged. “Just when I think you’re human, you morph into Commander My-Way-Is-the-Only-Way Roth.”
“There are several things wrong with that statement. First, I am not human, so why would you think I would be. Second, I do not morph into the commander. That is who I am every day, rain or shine. And third, my way is the only way when it comes to rules and the right thing to do, which includes alerting my friend, a fellow warrior, and my superior that something could be physically wrong with his mate. Not disclosing the possibility and finding out later she was afflicted by some odd Earth anomaly that could have been treated is the wrong thing to do. And lastly, that tone reemerges just when I think you have learned your lesson. Do you need another when we get home, mate?”
She couldn’t argue with his logic in any of that, except number four. Her tone was both subjective and directly related to the outrageous and narrow-minded things that he said, darn him.
“Maggie.” He stopped suddenly and with his hand caressing the line of her jaw, tipped her face up to his. “I require an answer. Is a lesson over my knee required?”
“No, you’re right,” she conceded, the intensity of his lavender gaze stirring her more than his scolding. “If something happened to Lana, and not alerting Trask made things worse, I would feel awful.”
“Not as bad as the general if he could do something to help and we kept it from him.”
“That, too.”
“Very good,” he replied, his expression softening. “What else?”
“Pardon?”
“I addressed four wrongs and received only one acknowledgment.”
Her lips parted. “You’re going to make me apologize for each one?”
“No,” he answered softly, his thumb sweeping across her lower lip, as he did so. The stirring ramped up into a sultry heat gathering between her thighs. “One should cover the other three,” he went on to say, as he leaned down a bit, his alluring mouth drawing nearer. “If said in a respectful tone, that is.”
“I’m sorry, Roth,” she replied softly. “You are the commander, all the time, and the crack about being human was simply that, and my tone was sharp and disrespectful, which I’m sorry for as well.”
“Ah, Maggie, you did well, love.” A disarming smile seconded his approval. “You gave me three for three when one would have sufficed.”
She sighed, and her eyes rolled up to the ceiling before she could think to stop herself.
He was tender, his embrace sure, as he took her lips with his own. The warmth and delicious taste of him lingered when he lifted his head and whispered against her mouth, “When we get home, however, you are still getting a lesson.”
“What? Why?”
“Those eye rolls you do.” He shook his head slowly. “Very impertinent. I haven’t addressed it before now because it is also incredibly arousing since you bite your lip and your lungs fill with an air of exasperation. This makes your breasts rise and fall, which never fails to catch my eye. Though not much about you doesn’t catch my eye, purrada.”
Her eyes narrowed as she peered up at him. “Are you teasing me, Commander?”
“Yes and no.” The enigmatic grin was back.
“I don’t understand.”
“No, in that I do have a lesson to teach, and yes, because I plan to tease you, make you squirm over my lap and beg me to take you as I deliver it.”
“Roth.”
“That’s another thing. When you say my name in that breathy whisper, I get hard and can’t think of much else other than baring you, bending you over the nearest raised surface, and expanding your education with the length and breadth of my cock.” He gave her one more quick but achingly thorough kiss before he released her body and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
***
“Stalling prolongs the inevitable and only increases your anxiety, little one. Do as I say, now.” His command was softly spoken, yet held a steely edge of authority.
Trembling inwardly, she crawled forward on her hands and knees to where he sat in the middle of the bed with his broad shoulders resting against the headboard. After meeting his unyielding gaze, she hesitated another moment, before she draped her naked form over his thighs, amazed he got her to do so willingly. Once settled, with his big hands helping her, naturally, she rested her cheek on the soft linens, facing him.
Purple eyes ablaze with heat locked onto hers. “That’s my good mate,” he murmured as his warm palm slid up the length of one leg, over her upraised backside, slowing as he surveyed every hollow and curve, before sliding down the other leg, coming to rest slightly above her knee. “Why are you in this position once more, Maggie?”
“I’ve never been over your lap in the middle of the bed, before.” She yelped as he pinched a goodly portion of butt cheek. Not hard, yet enough to tweak and startle her.
“You know what I was referring to. Try again.”
“I haven’t learned a respectful tone of voice yet, sir.”
“Correct. I am patient, however, and am happy to repeat this lesson as often as needed.”
Immediately, she looked at the ceiling, unable to help it in the face of his sheer arrogance.
“Mm… that gesture says disrespect without words. Good thing I had a mate’s helper installed in our room on the Odyssey.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did. Apparently, it will be needed.”
Thoughts of the unusual sex contraption made heat rush to her pussy, and her clit, which had already started tingling, began to pulse with excitement. Was it her nudity? An expression of her submission to his dominant ways, she was convinced, especially with him still fully clothed and her bare-assed naked. Or perhaps it was all the rubbing and touching while talking about spanking that got her going? Maybe it was merely a heretofore undiscovered kink, the thought of being bound, spanked, and fucked, sending her libido into overload. Or it could be the simple fact that Roth had an impressive cock and knew exactly how to use it, and he always used it on her in some fantastic way after he bared her bottom for a spanking.
Upon silent reflection, all of the above was her conclusion.
“Try to follow the rules in the future, Maggie, and this won’t be necessary.”
He was wrong. It was starting to become very necessary. And maybe soon, she’d get up the nerve to tell him she liked when he made her strip naked when he was not and required her to put herself in position. That she actually enjoyed when he spanked her—unbelievably—not so much the pain of the swats, which was more of a sting, or a burn, and was fleeting, even when he’d given her five sharp licks with the strap. Rather, she relished how it made her body come alive with sensation, and an urgent need to be possessed by him, with his hands, his very talented tongue, and especially the rigid length of him that was pressing into her belly right now.
There was also an intimacy to it, something only the two of them shared. Followed by him taking her, whether fast or slow, soft or rough—and she really liked rough—and afterward, when she lay wrapped in his arms, and they talked, or just fell asleep, she had a sense of belonging to another she’d never experienced before.
So maybe, one day, she would find a way to admit to all the swirling emotions her mate instilled in her. Or perhaps not.
As the old Earth adage went, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
That made her smile, and a soft giggle escaped.
“Something amusing about this lesson, Maggie?”
“No, sir. My mind wandered. I’m sorry.”
“Mm… Spread your legs. Let’s give you something to help keep your focus, then.”
She eased them apart, her face heating, knowing this would reveal how aroused and wet she was.
A pat on her behind had her inching them further apart.
“More,” he said, giving her a light smack.
This time she spread them so that they didn’t touch, and cool air brushed along the dampness of her inner thighs. His hand slipped between her legs.
“You’re very wet,” he murmured, as his fingers lightly stroked her pussy. “Up on your knees, I think.”
Her eyes, which had closed on the word “spread,” flew open and met his directly.
“With my ass in the air?” she squeaked.
“And your legs wide apart.” She bit her lip, catching a moan when he parted her outer folds and slid his fingers through her slickness as he spoke. “I want every bit of this glorious heat and wetness open and available to me.”
Her brows gathered together. “Is this punishment or foreplay?”
“I believe I answered that earlier.”
He did? Then it came to her.
“Yes and no,” she breathed.
“You remembered. Do as I say, now, little captain, and stop making me repeat myself or you will be perched on your knees for a very long time this afternoon.”
She pushed up with her hands, but his hand moved to her upper back, fingers splayed as he helped her stay in place. “Head and shoulders remain on the bed.”
“How embarrassing.”
“Why? I’ve seen you bare before.”
“Not with my butt and all my, uh…”
“Hot, wet pink parts?” he suggested.
“Yes, not with all of that pointed skyward.”
“You’re wrong. Let me list them for you. There was position five on the helper when everything was exposed very nicely. As well as any time you’ve been over my knee, which is growing in number. You squirm, which parts your legs, giving me charming and very enticing wet glimpses. And the times I’ve had my mouth on you, licking, tasting, and memorizing every lovely pink part have been extremely revealing. Shall I go on?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Good, because with this bounty spread out before me, I’d much rather play than talk.”
His caressing fingers made her ache as he ran them the length of her slit. Over her clit, rounding and circling the entrance to her passage, and up between the cheeks of her soon-to-be spanked behind. On the return, one dipped inside. It felt divine and was accompanied by a whimper of pleasure from her throat.
“More?”
“Yes, please,” she replied.
“Ah, Maggie, now that was very polite.” Her reward was two fingers delving into where she’d much rather have his cock, but she’d take any number of pleasuring digits about now.
Another—up to three—dipped in with the rest, while his pinky extended and tickled the nub in front. As he continued the skillful one-handed torment, the other hand ran up her spine, into her hair, fisting it firmly though not harshly.
When the first smack landed, her head jerked, trying to arch backward, but his fingers tightened in her hair, holding her in place. Another resounding slap met with the taut skin of her other cheek, and she rocked forward, though only slightly, his grip making movement nearly impossible. This time, her spine bowed tight, lifting her bottom higher, and she moved her knees apart for balance.
“Perfect,” he whispered. “Now don’t move in the slightest.”
The next volley came harder, creating a sizzling zing that made her gasp. She lost count as the heat of the skin on her rear merged with the molten need between her legs.
“Roth, please,” she begged, needing more of his hand on her behind, and at the same time craving his intimate possession.
He didn’t seem in a hurry to move things along, however, for he stopped, his palm rubbing slowly in ever-widening circles, across the skin he had just warmed.
“You wanted something, Maggie?” he asked as his fingers returned, to glide through her slick swollen folds at a leisurely pace.
She tried to rock, to wiggle, anything to change the direction of his tormenting erotic touch, but his hand in her hair held her prisoner. Left with no other option except to endure his prolonged teasing, she stilled and surrendered to the building of the predestined culmination he had planned.
That didn’t stop her from pleading for more. “Please, Commander, I need you inside me. Now.”
Two sharp slaps rang out as her pussy mourned the loss of his fingers and her ass welcomed them back, the tingling in her cheeks making her groan with decadent pleasure.
“Leave it to me to find a woman who enjoys a good spanking.”
“I enjoy being fucked, too, sir, can we get on with it?”
He chuckled, delivering one swat to her lower right cheek, catching a bit of her thigh. “And she continues to make demands of her mate right in the middle of it.”
When her replicated the same swat on the opposite side, Maggie imagined red handprints appearing in symmetry. The inane meandering thoughts ceased to exist when his large hand, nearly big enough to cover an entire cheek in a single swat, and hard enough that a stout piece of pine would have been more forgiving, laid a fingers-only zinger right on the wet folds in between.
She cried out, equal parts surprise and arousal at the very loud splat it made. Mindless with need, she laid on the polite begging. “Roth, mate of my heart, please put an end to this torture.”
He flipped her onto her back and rose above her, positioning himself between her open, very welcoming thighs. Then he paused, his arms locked on either side of her, holding him up as he grinned. “Since you phrased your request so sweetly, I’m happy to oblige.”
In one motion, he plunged deep and immediately began moving in and out with slow, steady strokes. Maggie sighed his name once more as the delicious friction penetrated every nerve in her channel. She entwined her legs around his hips, her heels digging into his firm backside. Lifting her warm, tingling backside off the bed to meet each down stroke, she sought more, urging him faster, with every retreat.
Above her he shifted, planting one forearm in the mattress beside her head as his free hand reached behind him and moved her feet higher, up around his waist. Peering intently down at her, his tone was a low, husky rumble. “There is no rush, little captain. No clock is counting down to warrant such urgency.” He slid out, nearly all the way then sank slowly in again with a long, unhurried glide. “Take it all in, Maggie, ride the waves of pleasure and savor every single one. On a ship, in close quarters with hundreds of others demanding our time, we won’t always have the luxury of enjoying each other at our leisure.”
Bending his head low, he gave her bottom lip a hungry nibble, his tongue coming out to soothe it soon after in a tender caress. After several delicious licks, Roth sealed his mouth over hers and explored its depths without urgency. Likewise, his cock claimed her body, his hips rolling in a slow, deliberate fashion.
Foregoing the mad rush to climax, Maggie took what he gave her in the unhurried pace he dictated. Roth was in firm control of every aspect of his life, and by extension, hers, which included a stunning command of his body, and now, hers as well. Somehow, she was adapting to this new paradigm, which she had fought so damn hard. With this new mission, came acceptance, and each time with Roth, which was infinitely different from the last, she increasingly found contentment.
Yes, in the obvious sexual way. Whether with a raw hunger that robbed her of breath, or tender and poignant like now, with excruciating slowness, prolonging the pursuit of the natural ending, which threatened to steal her sanity. Always he surprised her, and every time he made her passions soar to incredible heights. Her legs flexed to encircle him tighter, while her hands slid up his chest, curled over his shoulders, and into his silky dark hair. Suddenly, she felt the need to thread her fingers through its length and began releasing the band that confined the braid down his back.
He raised his head, watching her as she worked. Combing her fingers through it at last, she pulled it forward until it curtained them and tickled her breasts and shoulders. “I never imagined falling in love with a man whose hair was longer than mine.”
He grinned, taking in the blonde waves spread out on the pillow. “Yours is stunning, silky soft, and so fair. Does mine being longer bother you?”
“No, I like it.” She smiled, as one hand slid through the length. “I dreamed of you before I ever saw you. You had the same sable-brown hair, and your eyes were deep purple the same way they get when you’re turned-on. Did you know they do that?”
“Until now, no. But I’m more interested in the rest of your dream.”
“It was after the first group was taken and before I saw you the first time. I don’t know how, yet I saw you in my dream.”
He stilled, wedged fully inside her. “You dreamed of me naked with my hair wild?” His brilliant teeth flashed white in a wicked grin. “And what else did you imagine, purrada? Being chased and ravished by a barbarian, perhaps?”
A hot flush rushed into her cheeks. Okay, maybe she’d shared a bit too much.
Still grinning, he gave her more of his weight while gathering her closer. He brushed her hair back from her shoulder and nuzzled his face in the curve of her neck while beginning to pump slowly once again.
“Dreams are an outlet for tension, anxiety, and fears. You had plenty of that while worrying about your missing crew. Sometimes they also have meaning. I’ve heard of fated mates dreaming of the one destined for them. That you did so vividly gives us even more proof we are without a doubt fated to be together, although we don’t need more with my mark inscribed on your beautiful body.”
“Roth.”
“And there’s that sigh,” he growled, the sound vibrating through her. “I told you how hard it gets me, but when I’m already deep inside you, it makes me want to move, to drive into you full force until breathy and sweet becomes the opposite, raw…rough…carnal.” As he rasped out the visceral words, he pulled out and surged back, punctuating each one with a long, powerful thrust. “And ultimately, when I let you climax, at last, you’ll do so while screaming my name.”
His lips moved upward, grazing hotly across her neck. He caught her lobe between his teeth before he breathed into her ear. “I’m done with slow and easy. Right now, I need to fuck you.”
“Yes, please,” she groaned, accepting the vigorous plunge readily before the words had completely formed. Almost pulling out entirely on the next stroke, he slammed home. Skin slapped together, and they both grunted from the force, his motion unrelenting, Maggie’s groans became mewling, breathless cries. And when he hooked his powerful arms beneath her legs and pushed them to her chest, he sank more fully inside her channel.
While he continued moving unremittingly, the cries were now keening moans of a single word, loud enough to wake the dead. “More.”
Intense and dark with desire, his eyes blazed into hers as he reared and drove into her, over and over. She lifted her hips, meeting him each time and continued to do so when he lowered his chest to hers, taking up every scintilla of space her sheath could accommodate and pressed his lips to hers, as his powerful, potent possession carried on.
Hearts pounding, bodies melding, they moved as one until her pussy, rippling and clamping around him, told them both that the culmination for her was near.
“Come apart for me, Maggie,” he demanded roughly.
And she did the next instant, needing nothing more than his leave to fly. She twined her arms around his neck tightly, hanging on as he rode her hard, while her climax rocked through her.
She spurred him into his own near-violent release. His body jerked, tensed, and finally, he filled her with his exquisite heat, at the same time he let out a rough groan of pleasure.
Fully spent, Roth gave her his weight, though only briefly before rolling them as one to their side. Panting as their bodies cooled and their rates and rhythms reset, Maggie tucked her head beneath his chin and pressed her lips to his chest. With the last little zap of energy, she smiled.
“Yes and no,” she whispered, with a small huff of a laugh. “The answer is a definite yes, Commander.” After a brief pause, she added, “Although, no was pretty damn hot.”
He chuckled, the rumbling vibration transferring from his chest into her body, which felt quite nice.
“Sleep, mate. We still have more to accomplish before we can depart in the morning.”
“Go without me, because I won’t be able to move. In fact, I’ll still be here and in the same position when you get back in three months.”
“You forget one rather important thing, my fated mate.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, yeah, that.”
“Yes, that. Now hush and get some sleep, so I don’t have to drag your comatose body up to the space dock.”
“Space dock?”
“That stirs you. I see how it is.”
“You stir me, Roth; you also wear me out. And while I’m numb from the waist down, the words space and dock, and the images of ships and battlecruisers they spark, has me raring to go from the waist up.”
As he heaved a tired sigh, his arms squeezed her tight. “I’m glad, mate, but I did all the work, and since you’ve kept me up every night with your demands, I need to shut my eyes for a bit.”
“Hm…maybe you need some vitamins if you’re going to keep up with me.”
His hand swatted her lower cheek with a resounding smack. “Maybe I need a gag or a silencing collar.”
Her head popped up, completely serious. “No, Roth. I heard about that.” Eryn’s mate had used one on her when she wouldn’t keep quiet during a formal dinner with the council. It sounded brutal, like something out of the Dark Ages, yet it hadn’t hurt her, only interrupted the nerve impulses allowing her to speak. That didn’t mean she hadn’t been humiliated. “I’ll shut up,” Maggie quickly told him.
“Good idea.”
Resting her head on his chest again, she was quiet, listening to the slow thud of his heart and the soft rush of his breathing. One thing from his banter was keeping her from relaxing, even though sleep called.
“Roth...”
His arms flexed around her. “No, little one, I wouldn’t use one on you, not when I have other more effective, and highly pleasurable measures. Now, of your own free will, cease talking so I can sleep.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered, as she let the air escape her lungs in a long sigh of relief. Although he could be brusque, domineering, and an unequaled chauvinist, he was a good man and had exercised care with her, compared to some of the stories she’d heard.
He squeezed her, already half-asleep as he uttered, “Thank you, purrada.”