And so, with the logic of the 9-cycle-old he’d been, Paal had blamed her for Zandia’s demise. For the deaths of his father and every friend he’d ever had. And he’d been stuck watching his mother suck up to the ugly, rich Igorian, who within a few lunar cycles she realized wasn’t as wealthy or generous as she’d expected.
From there, she’d found a Niteean, then a Gambordian. But, because a surly adolescent interfered with her scheming, he’d long since been delivered to Master Seke for military training. Which was the best thing that could’ve happened to him.
Leti emerged, long hair hanging down over her bare breasts. The picture might have tempted him but he caught the knowing gleam in her eye as she twirled a section of the shiny dark locks around one finger. “Is this better?” She cocked a hip and used the ends of the section to tickle her bare nipple.
A growl rocketed from his throat. He cut the distance between them in a single stride and gripped the back of her hair. “Yes.” He tugged her head back until she gasped and had to follow. “Better for pulling.”
Anger flashed in the gold of her eyes before she hid it. “Master likes to control.”
Dammit if he didn’t want more of that anger from her. More of anything genuine beyond her vecking fake seductive excrement.
“I do.” Still holding her prisoner by her scalp, he cupped her mons, delighted to find her wet again. His middle finger dipped into her slick heat. “Tell me what it does to your pussy.”
A flush of color tinged her cheeks. Surely a sex pet wouldn’t be embarrassed? Angry, then. He realized, with a start, that she might have learned to be the first to offer up her body, because it allowed her more dignity than having sex taken from her. His little pet was no victim, despite her slave status. She’d kept that one small granule of control.
And he was an asshole for not letting her keep it. And yet her attempt at seduction was like the scrape of metal to his nerves. Every time she asserted her sexual power, he had to take it back.
Part of it was the game, a need to dominate and conquer. But part of it was something deeper, more personal.
He profoundly mistrusted the female.
He didn’t want to be made a fool of, like his father had been. Or all those other males his mother had used.
He shoved a second finger in his squirming female, using the heel of his hand to grind against the place Daneth had told him would arouse her.
Her lips tightened but one of her hands flew to cover his, pushing him deeper, rubbing his hand against her.
“Does this pussy get wet when I make it hurt, Leti?” He rasped in her ear.
She struggled against him, her backside writhing against his aching cock. “I don’t...want it to,” she admitted.
He laughed and released her. “That’s probably the first honest response you’ve given me.” Picking her up by the waist, he lifted her pussy to his mouth and gave it a soft kiss, then lowered her down again.
Her knees buckled under her and he had to catch his wobbling female to keep her from dropping to the floor.
Alarm shot through him. “Are you ill?”
She lurched out of his hold, toddling toward the food, once more. Head bowed, her hair fell in a curtain, hiding her face as she selected a berry.
“Are you that hungry?” he demanded. Stars, he needed to learn how to keep his little female nourished.
She didn’t look at him when she spoke, and her words sounded grudging, like she didn’t wish to say them. “No, I’m just a little...affected.”
Affected?
Ah, affected. By him.
Another honest moment. His heart squeezed with the sudden urge to soothe and care for his female. He rummaged through his clothing and produced an undershirt. He brought it to her where she stood, eating, and pulled it over her head. She threaded her arms through the holes with an air of surprise. Had no one ever taken care of her before?
That idea both enraged him and solidified his determination to see to her needs. Whether he ultimately kept her or not.
The shirt hung to her thighs but the material was thin enough for him to see her dusky nipples through. He picked up the flight tunic she’d been wearing earlier and helped her into it. “Put on those leggings you found on the ship, I don’t want any other being seeing those legs when we leave this chamber. I’m going to shove my fist down the throat of any male who looks at them.”
A genuine smile touched her lips. Not artful or calculating. Pretty. As if she liked the compliment of his jealousy. But just as quickly as it appeared, she turned away, hiding herself from him.
“You’re not wearing these any more, either,” he declared, holding up her boots and dropping them into the waste chute where they were whisked down to incineration.
Leti pouted. “I looked good in those boots.”