The Golden Line (Knotted 1)

And it was done at once. A dumbfounded Morgaine was dragged into her sleeping pit and shoved down to sprawl on her belly. Between them they moved her where they would, the girl too shell-shocked to grasp what was coming.

Esin held her forearms. Pulling them away from her body and planting them into the floor with his weight. Hair gathered and moved away from her back, clothing tugged aside before she could complain… she didn’t even know where Sergeant Uriel had procured the cane.

A shrill whistle and searing fire tore a line across the naked cheeks of her ass. It happened so quickly, with no break between strikes, that by the third she was sobbing and fighting to get away.

All the while, Esin whispered that if she remained still, the bite of the cane would cause less damage. He pled with her.

The fourth caught her across the shoulders, the hardest strike yet, landing on a girl so beyond the ability to cope tha

t she shrilled out a cry for help from the very man holding her down. By the fifth she was begging for mercy, saying anything she thought they might want to hear to get the pain to stop.

The sixth fell and she was certain she was going to die.

Breaking the cane over his knee, Sergeant Uriel threw it across the room, shattering a pitcher on the table. “May that sting remind you that though we do not enjoy doling out punishment on our females, we will!”

He stormed out, leaving the stink of Alpha anger and something even more terrifying— compunction—in the air. The burden of remorse had not held back his rage; even under its sting Sergeant Uriel had still beaten her into perfect submission

…and he’d abandoned her to Esin’s care.

Slumped over the pillows, the flesh of her back and buttocks seared as if from open flame, Morgaine put up no fight when the corporal circled to her back. No resistance was offered when he pet unmarked skin.

It was time to get it over with and accept that she’d been cast into hell.

This male had the right to enter her now. And then tomorrow another. And then another. And another.

The threat that had been hanging over her head would be carried out while she was in too much pain to do a damn thing.

Instead, he blew cool breath over the marks, speaking softly. “There is no blood. He was surprisingly delicate. The sergeant could have struck you hard enough to split skin and leave scars.”

Hating the world, Morgaine sobbed. “My only value here is in my beauty…”

Esin did not answer her, blowing again as if a soft puff of air might soothe her. “As this was a punishment, I am forbidden to heal you. All I can offer is ice for the pain.”

And he did, cautious in how he cooled the fire of each mark. While he tended to her, he spoke of his disappointment, of how he had thought to impress her upon her return. “I spent a great deal on the best foods available on this ship. There is even a bottle of Hessmirn wine I’ve been saving just for you. For my beloved mate.”

Morgaine didn’t argue with the creature sliding ice over scalding fires. She only nodded in hopes of appeasing him.

“When you’ve calmed down, I’ll make you a plate. Don’t move a muscle, just rest, sweet renegade.”

And thus the night progressed. Esin was with her until she slept, iced her wounds when she whimpered. Offered water, wine, food, anything he thought she might require.

Not once did he initiate mating. It would have been impossible to do without hurting her more.

For that, Morgaine was almost grateful.

Chapter 11

The commandant’s punishment produced the desired effects. Morgaine could not sit, nor could she comfortably lean against the glass cage she was once again locked inside. On display for the second time in as many days, she stood still as stone in the center of the enclosure exactly as they wanted her to.

When she was asked a question, she answered it. When foreign males picked up the clothing outside her cage to sniff, she pretended she didn’t see their reaction or the way many would reach down and adjust their growing erections.

“What is your name?”

“Morgaine.”

“Show me your breasts, Morgaine.”

Staring over their heads, the panels of her garment were pulled apart, taut nipples catching the fabric until fleshy orbs bounced free.