“It is not sufficient. She should be crying.”
“There are harsher methods of punishment, but they may cause permanent damage or excessive stress. We want her healthy for breeding.”
“Research it further. This isn’t working.”
“Note the color of her buttocks.”
His cock stirred at the mention of her rather attractive posterior. As if he hadn’t noticed it already. Her skin had turned a mottled red where he’d disciplined her, and the flesh had already swollen.
“It worked, my lord. She is just stubborn.”
He pulled her roughly to stand, out of patience with her deceit, which made no logical sense. Why wouldn’t she simply cry and concede to him if the punishment had worked? “Put her in the cage.”
Daneth stepped back, as if too squeamish to lift her. He supposed there was some reluctance on his advisor’s part to get intimate with the human, if she belonged to Zander.
“Never mind,” he muttered. “I’ll do it.” He scooped her up. She was lighter than he expected. And softer. She smelled sweet, like some kind of flower, but not in an overpowering way. His horns stiffened and turned. His blood warmed. All right, apparently he could be attracted to a human.
The truth was, he had little experience with females of any species. He’d been evacuated from his planet when he was a youth, and most of his species had been destroyed in the takeover. He’d experimented a bit with other species as he came into manhood, but Seke had advised him he scattered his energy in doing so—he should keep it for his training. He’d put off breeding until now.
But his slave needed reminding of her place. He’d have time enough to breed her later, if his irritation with her faded. He hefted her through the door of the cage, slamming the door shut behind her.
Unable to move much with both her wrists and ankles bound, she curled up on her side, with her back to him. He saw trembling in her buttocks and thighs. Yes, Daneth was right. The punishment must have had its effect. Too bad she hadn’t learned from it.
“I’ll leave you, my lord, unless you require anything else?”
“More information on discipline. That is all.”
Daneth bowed and left the room.
He flicked on his hologram and checked the daily reports on his trades.
A sniff sounded from the cage.
~.~
Her bottom was on fire. The Zandian prince’s hand had fallen like a paddle—stinging her flesh as well as leaving a deeper hurt below the surface—the kind that would leave lasting soreness. She’d kept her emotions at bay during the punishment, but now that it was over, tears leaked down her nose, dripped onto the finely woven carpet in her cage.
Yes, her cage had the nicest rug she’d ever seen. Well, apart from the one on Zander’s floor. The cage itself was polished hardwood—light in color. Not a wood from Earth—she was familiar with all of those from her work in agriculture. No, this was a very hard wood, sanded and polished until it gleamed. Zander’s entire space pod spoke of wealth and opulence. She’d never seen such finery—not even in the holograms she’d glimpsed over the guards’ shoulders back on the agrifarm. The rooms and corridors were shaped by domed walls, which were textured and colored in rich, happy shades of yellow, red, and purple. Prince Zander’s egg-shaped bed, draped in rich-hued silks, hovered a foot off the floor without any visible means of support. So did her cage. A skylight in the ceiling had a fist-sized crystal embedded in it, which seemed to provide all the natural light the chamber needed. Zander may have lost his planet—or, rather, his father had, if she knew her history—but he still lived like a king.
“Lamira.”
It was the first time anyone had called her by her name since she’d been taken from the agrifarm.
The prince’s voice was deep and resonant. Commanding. As masculine as a voice got. It reached inside her and made something flutter in her belly.
She ignored the sensation and him.
He spun the cage so she faced him.
She attempted to roll to her back to change sides, but not before he’d seen her face.
“Now you’re crying.”
His powers of observation were overwhelming.
“Why?”
She completed her roll to the other side, away from him.