His Human Slave (Zandian Masters 1)
“I did, I did!” she cried out, as if that would stop the horrible cane from swinging again.
“Is that another one of your lies?” he demanded, the cane landing again.
“No, master! I was in it, but the door never locked!” Because I didn’t lock it.
He laid another stripe across her twitching flesh.
Stars, it hurt.
“And that is for refusing to return when I ordered it.” Two quick strikes.
She felt certain she was going to die.
“And this is for still arguing with me as if you might pester me into getting your way.” Three more terrible strokes.
She sobbed into the sleepdisk covers.
He threw the cane on the sleeping platform. “Now get in that cage and stay there until I return.”
No. She couldn’t let him leave. She pushed herself weakly to her feet and turned, her pants tangling around her legs. “Don’t go,” she croaked. “You can’t leave—please don’t go.”
He threw her a look of disgust and stalked out, the do
or whooshing closed behind him.
She stood there, tears streaking her face, her ass on fire, trying to think of something else she might do to keep him from that meeting. But nothing came. Her brain had frozen in fear, stopped cold with the vision of her master—her lover—exploding.
~.~
Zander drew deep breaths as his long, hurried strides carried him back to the ship dock. He’d thought Lamira was smarter than that. What in the stars had she been thinking? He ought to punish her again when he returned. No. He needed to talk to her, to try to understand why she felt so strongly about breeding with him today. Because surely she understood she risked punishment, and yet she did it anyway.
He glanced at his cuff. Veck, veck veck. He should be flying already. They’d assigned his ship a specific garage and dock time to cut down on air traffic problems, and now he’d be lucky if he made it by the end of the window. And he had planned to leave with plenty of time to spare. He hated being late. The UG required each ambassador to dock and remain in their docking area for security clearance. The entire process took at least an hour. If he missed his docking window, he might have to wait even longer to be allowed out of his docking garage and into the Great Hall.
His guards stood at the dock door, looking alert and ready. Master Seke also stood waiting. He would accompany Zander into the meeting and serve as his primary advisor and protector.
They folded in when he passed, following him onto the craft. He sat down in the pilot’s chair, not because he didn’t have staff who could fly but because he preferred to be the one in control. All the battle flight simulators in the galaxy didn’t compare to actual flight. Not that the simple flight path to the UG was anything like a battle.
Seke took the co-pilot’s chair. His expression was blank, as always. He wouldn’t ask about Lamira, either. He was a being of few words.
“The human is disrupting everything,” he complained. He knew he sounded like a petulant, spoiled little prince. She was his breeder. He should be able to handle her without whining to his advisors about it. Zander eased the craft out of the docking station and zipped onto the flight path at top speed. He needed to make up the time he’d spent with Lamira in his chamber.
Seke leaned back in his chair. “Yes, she has affected you.”
That wasn’t what he meant. What in the Zandian moons was Seke saying?
His aggravation level increased. The spacecraft wove in and out of traffic, maintaining speed.
“She’s too big a distraction. I cannot go on—”
“Give it more time,” Seke interrupted in his ever-calm voice. “We’ve never had a female living on the pod before. It’s natural for adjustments to occur.”
He gave his head a quick shake. Even now he was thinking about her when he should be focused on the assembly meeting.
He slowed the speed of the craft as the traffic grew heavier around the UG pod. Winding his way through the other airships, he circled to the back to his assigned docking station. He glanced at his cuff. One minute late. Hopefully they hadn’t opened the inner doors yet.
He cut the engines completely and coasted in toward the dock.
White light exploded in front of them and, a second later, a boom deafened him.