It came with another bright flare of pain—both to her outer pussy lips and to her clit, which was still peaking out from between them from the earlier stimulation of the phallus.
It hurt terribly, but Selena tried not to move. She could see Empress the Third watching her, a smirk of satisfaction pasted on her sharp features. Clearly, she was enjoying this immensely.
Selena bit her bottom lip, determined not to cry and scream, no matter how much the pussy spanking hurt. She wasn’t going to give that little bitch the satisfaction, she told herself! She wasn’t going to cry in front of the Ma’shorkan royalty.
But the paddle fell again and again, making her wince and gasp and try to jerk away from its cruel kiss. Soon, despite her determination, tears were rolling down her cheeks. Thought she tried to hold still, she was writhing and wincing away from the sharp blows, but Valen’s grip on her only grew firmer.
“Hold still,” he ground out. “Hold still and take your punishment, Selena!”
But Selena couldn’t anymore—it simply hurt too much.
“Master!” she cried, not even sure what she was going to say. “Master—Peaches!”
At once, Valen stopped the spanking. He laid the pussy paddle down on the stage beside him and gathered the sobbing Selena into his arms.
“Enough,” he said, and he was speaking to the Emperor, not her, Selena realized. “My little female has been punished enough.”
“No, she hasn’t!” Empress the Third snapped spitefully. “She hurt a royal person.”
“You have no royal blood in your veins,” Valen growled scornfully. “And you were not injured permanently—nor will I cause permanent injury and harm to my female because of your claims.” He looked at the Emperor. “Your Majesty, it is enough.”
“Indeed, Kindred. I suppose so. Now, now, Empress the Third, you’ll just have to content yourself with what you’ve seen,” the Emperor added, speaking to the third Empress, who was pouting again. “If it makes you feel better, we shall strip Selena of the title of ‘best pet’ and bestow it on you instead.”
“Yes, your Majesty, that would be nice,” Empress the Third purred, looking once more like the cat that got the cream.
“Very well then. Kindred you may take your female home and tend to her,” the Emperor said.
“Thank you, your Majesty.”
Valen rose and the lifted Selena, who was still crying, into his arms. He cuddled her close to his broad chest.
“Come on, little one,” he murmured. “Let’s go home.”
49
Valen’s heart ached as he carried the shivering little Elite through the palace halls. He hadn’t wanted to spank her or hurt her in any way. But he knew from bitter personal experience that the Ma’shorkan High Court was not friendly to outsiders. Nine times out of ten when a non-Ma’shorkan was tried for any kind of crime they were inevitably convicted and sentenced to “a thousand lifetimes of hard labor,” or some other, similarly unreasonable penalty.
Even the mildest infraction could incur such a cost and hurting a Royal was not a minor infraction.
Of course, he knew very well that Selena hadn’t actually shocked Empress the Third. He knew the malicious, bad-tempered Empress had staged the entire scene. But he also knew that the Emperor couldn’t afford to seem weak in front of his people—he would have ordered Selena to be dragged before the High Court if the Empress kept insisting—or if Valen hadn’t offered to punish her first.
But gods, he had hated doing it. Not so much the first spanking—he had read about that in her book, Forbidden Desire, and it seemed to him that such a spanking could easily be part of the erotic play between the Master and his submissive female. But the second spanking on her soft little pussy—well, that had to hurt. And the fact that Selena had been forced to say her safe word, let him know that he had gone too far for her.
Guilt burned him like an open flame. He only hoped he could heal her well enough. He had some healing salve for her bottom—which was as red as a Sothrakian sunset. But her pussy lips were also a dull red, which worried him considerably more. How badly had he hurt her? And would she ever forgive him?
Valen just didn’t know.
50
“Now then, little one. Lay here on your stomach for a moment while I get what is needed,” Valen murmured, depositing her gently in the middle of the big bed. He had taken her to his own bedroom this time, Selena saw, through tear-blurred eyes. It was much more masculine, done in dark browns and greens with a moss-green spread on the broad mattress.
But she didn’t have much interest in the new décor. Her ass was still stinging and her pussy was throbbing dully, hot and painful between her thighs. It felt as though she was swollen down there—the pussy paddle had been cruelly sharp and excruciatingly painful—she only hoped it hadn’t done permanent nerve damage.