Training His Human (Zandian Masters 3)

“But they still hurt.”

“Feeling pain is a choice. You can reprogram your mind to perceive it differently. When I see you aroused from your punishment, it does something powerful to me.”

She flushed and looked away.

“So you see, you’ve already mastered me.” He cupped her chin, bringing her eyes back to his. “But that is how it should be,” he said softly. “The master should be as bonded as his pupil.” He didn’t choose the word slave because it didn’t fit—he didn’t see her that way now. Perhaps he never would again. “He should be willing to take any of the punishments for her in a heartbeat if he thought it would help the learning.”

Skepticism scrawled across her features. “And you would do that for me?”

He nodded. “I would.”

“Strip naked and put a tail in your ass? Allow yourself to be cuffed and slapped in your intimate places?”

None of those things would affect him. He did not suffer humiliation or pain, had learned many solar rotations ago how to maintain his spirit with the least resistance and maximum strength. Perhaps she saw the fierceness in his eyes, understood he’d take any amount of pain, would risk his life for her to keep her safe, because her eyes widened and her lips parted, as if in awe.

She nodded.

“Yes, you’re ready to try the cage again?”

She hesitated a moment. “If my master wishes it.”

The riot of emotion produced by those words nearly choked him. His chest twisted up, turned inside out, and then burst his heart right out of his body. It made him want to swear every solemn vow he could think of to her.

But that reminded him of the one he’d sworn to another.

Veck.

He was in too deep now, and he couldn’t see the way out.

He commanded the cage door to open and lifted his chin toward it, directing Leora to enter.

She shot him an uneasy glance but dutifully climbed in, her chin firming into a resolute line.

He walked to the cage, lifted and spun it so they were face to face. She lay curled on her side. “I could test you now. Leave you for growing lengths of time, but it’s not necessary, is it?”

She leaned up on her forearm, considering him. “No, master.”

“You’ve already conquered your resistance and taken the pain from the punishment.”

“Is this a punishment?”

“No. Nor was it ever intended to be. There are many who find small, enclosed spaces comforting. A safe place.”

She considered him for a long moment then gave a single nod.

His cuff beeped with an incoming hologram from Rok. He pushed the cage higher so it floated closer to the vaulted ceiling, removing her from the viewing space.

“I received the training plan you sent,” Rok said without greeting.

He waited.

“With all due respect, I don’t fly that way.”

Still, he said nothing.

“I appreciate you putting it together, but I’m more of a seat-of-my-pants kind of pilot. You don’t learn by studying, you learn by doing. I’m planning on giving them the basics and then just getting them in the crafts for practical experience.”

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. On one hand, he agreed with Rok—there was no better or faster way to teach a student than to throw them in and see what happened. But… “You risk human life and Prince Zander’s air fleet.”