Galen briefly grinned. “Like her sister.” He inhaled, considering his verdict as he would in his court. “Bisma, you deceived me. You, who I have known since childhood, have greatly disappointed me. You shall suffer the consequences. Sentaria, I apologize for my accusations. I require you to punish your woman. I would ask that you ensure she submits to you and deny her fully for the duration of a week. I have seen how she craves for you. Spank her if she disobeys you. A good hard spanking will refocus her thoughts to an appropriate place.”
Sentaria smiled, his gaze on the still blushing Bisma. “Indeed, lord, they will. You can rest assured, Bisma will be duly punished for her failure. She had not told me either that you were kept in the dark with this matter. I assumed she’d sought your permission.”
“She had not.”
Bisma lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry, lord. Please forgive me.”
Galen rose to his feet. “You are forgiven. Now, go. I wish to speak to my prisoner. Alone.”
The two left the room and Galen stood once more over the diminutive earthling. She’d ceased crying and looked almost defiant, as if ready to battle him. He required not only an apology for her deceitful behavior, but her submission. If she didn’t not give him the latter, the former would be meaningless. It was time to reestablish what she meant to him. And now that she was at his feet, he intended to show her fully what he was to her.
“You disobeyed me. You will return to your former room and the chains of your captivity. You will be whipped as the ordeal demands it, and not as I desire it.”
The pallor of her face changed to white. “Sir, please, don’t whip me in public,” she pleaded.
“I promised you, I would not do that, and I keep my promises. I only wish that you’d kept yours. Why,” he said with increasing exasperation, “did you not tell me of your sister?”
“Because you don’t understand,” she blustered.
“Understand what?”
“That my family is everything to me. I would do anything to help April. I just wish I’d never been foolish and got drunk, then I would be able to do this with the help of the university.”
“But, you didn’t ask for help, Zara. You made no attempt to ask me for help.”
She blinked at him, the tears forming on her cheeks. “I’m afraid, Galen.”
He jerked. “Of me?”
“Of what you represent. The mighty Vendu warriors who conquer planets, enslave people. The Vendu wouldn’t care for a human child. I assumed there would be nobody to help and that I would have to send word of my failure to my father. I feel cut off and alone.”
He’d asked questions of his contact, the one he’d sought out, but perhaps he’d not asked the right ones. He’d focused on sexual compatibility, on endurance and submission, things that he thought important for the ordeal. Those things meant little to Zara when she had another burden to carry on her shoulders: the life of her sister. It was little wonder she hadn’t wanted the public whipping—she would have not only been sent home in disgrace, but lost any chance of finding a cure. His human captive wasn’t weak or manipulative—she was desperate and strong, willing to defy him and risk punishment to find the answers she sought.
She would have to be punished for lying, but that wasn’t what troubled him now. All those things she done—the trials of the ordeal—had she submitted to them only out of love for her sister? Did she have any feelings toward him? Any desire to be with him?
He had to find out one way or the other.
Chapter Thirteen
She waited, on her aching knees, feeling like her heart was stuck in her throat, its pulse beating frantically. Her emotions were a mess. She’d just heard that the doctor could help her sister, perhaps cure her, but instead of being able to celebrate the news, she was facing a disappointed Galen. He wanted her chained again, and probably whipped and degraded.
Why had it been so hard to tell him? Had he been that cruel to her? No, he’d been tender as well as demanding in his ways. He’d given no indication that he would ignore April’s plight and yet, Zara hadn’t trusted him. She had to show that trust to him now, and the only way she could think to do it was by submitting fully to him.
With his eyes tracking her every movement, she rose and began to undress. He didn’t command her to stop, so she continued until she was naked. Slowly, and with as much grace as her trembling legs could offer her, she knelt, slid forward until her bottom was raised high, her head low and her arms outstretched before her. She threaded her fingers together and remained as still as possible. She heard a soft sigh from above her head. The exhale was the only sign she had that she might have pleased him.
“Punish me, sir,” she said clearly.
“I shall.” Galen circled her a few times, contemplating her pose. “I shall spank you over my knee.”
He resumed his seat and patted his knee. “Over here, now!” He raised his voice and its sternness snapped her out of her self-pity. She had to be very good for him now, not protest and certainly not struggle on his lap.
She lay over his thighs and he tucked her close to his body with a restraining arm.
“I’m going to spank you long and hard with my hand. I’m very disappointed in you, little human.” He smacked her ass and she clenched her teeth together to suppress a cry of anguish. With her hair dangling around her face, she hid herself there while he spanked her.
The pain was almost unbearable. It wasn’t as if he was laying them on harshly compared to other spankings she’d endured; it was that she wasn’t in a good place emotionally. If he expected to see her tattoo blaze into life, he would be disappointed. She wasn’t inclined to feel that way, consciously or unconsciously.
He didn’t use the word naughty. It wasn’t appropriate. She’d disobeyed in a different way. She’d not given him her trust and how could she survive this ordeal without trust between them? He’d never been dishonest with her, so why had she kept a secret?