Claimed by the Zandian (Zandian Brides 6)

“Maybe I can keep watching him,” I say, checking Tarek’s face to see how he responds.

He clenches his jaw and scowls. “Or maybe not this planet rotation,” I add hastily. “Since my training session is about to start, and I certainly don’t wish to inconvenience Tarek.”

“Braxton needs to learn patience, too.” Kara scoops him up and tickles him with her hair and he screeches with laughter, happy once again. “But if you can watch him again some other time maybe?” She looks at me, hopeful. “Before your session? Would that work?”

“It’s a date.” I wink at her. “Bye, Braxton.”

When they leave, Tarek crosses his arms. “You are taking liberties.”

“Someone has to.” I cross my arms too.

“Excuse me?” His horns stiffen.

“It just seemed the right thing to do.” I step forward. “What do you want me to do?”

A beat goes by, and I swear he wants to say something so dirty and depraved that I’ll turn red and attack him with desire.

“We’re going to try the program again,” he says instead, although his eyes burn with some kind of energy.

“Oh, great. I am so excited about that.” I flex my fingers. “I’ve been practicing.”

“You have? How?” He steps closer to me. “Please explain.”

“I’ve been stretching my hands. And blinking a lot.”

“A true warrior, by the stars.” He laughs.

“If I don’t improve by twenty-five percentage points this planet rotation, you can…”

“I can what?” He’s even closer now, and his voice is low and dangerous.

“Maybe you can teach me a lesson about how it’s important to practice more.” I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m intoxicated by his scent, his proximity.

He chuckles. “Oh, little human, I plan to teach you more than that.” He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair out of my face. “I can promise you that.”

My belly fills with desire and I hold back a gasp. Please, please…

But he steps back. “Sit down, Zina. I trust you remember the big red button from last time?”

“I remember everything.”

I take a deep breath, forcing myself to focus. I tap the button. “Every. Single. Thing.”

“Excellent. It’s a bare minimum, an eidetic memory, for a top-notch nav. Focus.”

He’s too close, but I stare at the screen and tap as the asteroids fly by, following the prompts on the bar telling me to dodge left, right, swivel around, go backwards.

Before I know it, an hour has gone by and my eyes are tired.

“Okay, I’m done.” I stand up and rub my temples. “How’d I do? Did I improve?” I turn my head to see the screen, but he’s somehow blanked out my scores.

“We’ll discuss your score in a bit. But first we need to have a conversation about your insubordination, inviting the child in here without permission. That requires… a correction.”

“It does?” My heart picks up speed—whether it’s trepidation or excitement, I can’t be sure. “But I apologized.”

“So you did. And yet the protocol remains.”

My pussy clenches. All my fantasies about him being my master—punishing me with his whip and his tongue—come flooding to the forefront of my mind.