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His thrusts were decisive, but also smooth and deep and gentle. His every fiber strained to listen to her body. He did not want to let her down. With everything that had gone on before, and regardless of what might follow, he was determined that this at least would fulfill her.

  She was moaning lightly into his mouth, clinging to him with damp fingers, clutching greedily, wanting him everywhere at once. At one point, she rolled him onto his back and then over again. Back and forth they went, shifting positions, but always maintaining the essential contact.

  His cock, cemented inside her, hand in glove, sealed with liquid passion. Theryssa sucked at his tongue and lips, rubbing her nipples against him. She pushed her pelvis, too, maximizing the contact between them.

  As his climax approached, Azar grabbed hold of her ankles, lifting them in the air and wide apart. Spreading her open as far as he could, he managed another half inch of depth. Theryssa’s body was racked with pleasure. Her eyes were half-closed, focused on some distant point. She had her teeth clenched and she was holding the backs of her thighs, trying to retract her legs even farther.

  Azar controlled the pace. He wanted her positioned perfectly.

  Once, twice more…

  There. He had it. The supreme moment of release. Timed exactly to Theryssa’s latest roiling crescendo. Shutting his eyes tightly, he let loose, expending his full stock of semen, holding back nothing. Every bit of him was unleashed, every nerve ending, every living cell. The drain, the opening and spilling was total and complete. Primale though he was, he would be tired after this and it would take some time to restore his energies.

  But it was worth it. Feeling Theryssa’s symbiotic spasms, absorbing her willing female heat. Unlocking with her the secrets of her sexual being.

  “Hold me,” she whispered.

  He did so, falling into her, wanting nothing more than to lose himself in her heartbeat. There were answers here. Answers to questions he never knew existed.

  Truth is painful, though, and so is pleasure when one is aware how short-lived it is destined to be. The fact was, he did not deserve this woman’s affection. Whether love, or merely lust.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  It was a dangerous sign. Women who wanted to know what was on a man’s mind were way too involved for their own good.

  “I’m thinking about your punishment.” He sought to put her off.

  “My flogging,” she supplied, as though it truly were her own.

  “Yes, and I am not backing down in administering it.”

  “Why should you? I have it coming.”

  Her attitude surprised him more than a little. “You accept my sentence?”

  “I tried to escape. I disobeyed you. I invaded your privacy. I broke my word,” she read the list of her own crimes.

  “You owe me nothing. I am a pirate.”

  “All the more reason for me to have been more careful.”

  “Not to have been caught, you mean.”

  “Something like that.”

  Azar stroked her hair. “You could just tell me who you are right now, you know, and save a lot of trouble down the line.”

  “I can’t do that.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

  “I expected as much.” Azar disengaged, rising off the bed to his full height. “I must attend to some business. Can I trust you to stay in the bed until I return?”

  “Probably not.”

  Azar nodded. “Your honesty is appreciated. In that case, I will shackle you.”

  He gave her a chance to use the sanitizing chamber first. Once she was back on the bed, her body squeaky clean and pink, her hair fluffy and silky once again, he brought a pair of handcuffs, made of the special, unbreakable metal. “Put out your hands,” he instructed.

  Theryssa did so, palms down. He clicked the cuffs shut. There was a chain attached, which he secured to one of the metal rings on the headboard.

  “That should do it,” he announced, covering her nakedness with a thin fur. “I’ll be back in a while. Get some rest. You’ll need it.”

  She called to him just as he reached the doorway. “Azar?”

  “Yes?”

  “After you flog me…what will happen?”

  “We finish the interrogation and I’ll see to it you get to a Guardian vessel or station.”

  “Oh.”

  Azar tried to read something into her tone, but it was exasperatingly neutral. How this woman managed to inflame his blood. He wanted to kiss her fiercely, all over her body. He wanted to read her mind. He wanted to know what no one else did. Her secrets, the things she did not even tell her closest friends.

  “I would think you’d be happy to leave here,” he said.

  “I am,” she said, though she didn’t sound it.

  Women, he thought.

  He must have been smiling as he left his cabin, because Oleron, who was standing in the corridor, remarked upon it immediately.

  “Been enjoying yourself, Captain?”

  “That’s not your affair,” he told the man. “Have the sensors picked up any more traffic out there?”

  Oleron licked his lips. Like a jackal, ready to tear at a wound. Azar cursed himself for revealing his obvious interest in Theryssa. Now she would be a target for Oleron.

  “A couple of freighters. We didn’t want to disturb you, so we let them go.”

  Azar stiffened. “I’ll decide what’s a disturbance next time. Is that clear?”

  Oleron barely concealed his venom. “Certainly, sir.”

  “To the bridge,” said Azar, pointing the way. “We have work to do.”

  And quickly, too, so he could get back to Theryssa. He told himself he was anxious merely to get on with punishment and interrogation. But the truth was, he was already feeling, in her absence, an odd hole in his chest. Invisible, but real nonetheless.

  Things felt off-kilter. Confused.

  Not a good sign, not a good sign at all for a pirate, a sworn rebel destined to die an unpleasant death. Theryssa was alone, too, he thought. In his quarters. Chained up. That image made him want to comfort her. And dominate her. And everything in between.

  His stomach did a flip. Half hot, half cold.

  I should never have picked up that ship. Not in a million years. It was too easy, way too fucking easy…

  He was paying the price now, wasn’t he? And this was just the beginning. Who knew where it would all end. For him, for her…for everyone aboard this ship and maybe far beyond.

  Chapter Six

  Theryssa resisted as long as she could. She was nude under the black and white fur, her wrists encircled in gleaming metal. Her sex beckoning. Suddenly insatiable. Where had he gone? Her body wanted to know. Where was the man with the magic, conquering hands who made everything else disappear?

  Azar had not specifically mentioned the subject of masturbation before he left, but he had certainly made his wishes—correction—his demands known on the subject.

  No one touched her but him. And that included her.

  The trouble was, it made her burn and twitch to think of a man owning her like that. Forbidding her to pleasure herself. Damn it, this was her pussy, not his.

  And what was with these chains? They really were unbreakable. This wasn’t Earth technology. Fuck it—was it Narthian? She couldn’t bear to think of that now. If Azar really was a traitor to his people, to humanity…well, she didn’t know what she would do.

  Obviously she would have to try to kill him. But it would hurt. In her heart. She didn’t love the man, certainly not. It was just that they had shared some pretty close, intense experiences.

  He had taken her somewhere. A place in her own soul she had not known existed. All her life she had been hiding feelings—trying to be tough, trying to keep ahead of her overambitious parents. So many expectations.

  With Azar she didn’t feel like she had to be anything. Except herself. Theryssa. Whoever that was.

  Stars, she had to pull herself together.

  Wan
ting to surrender to a man sexually was dangerous. Feeling conflicted about escape, about her mission was suicidal. Too many emotions swirling in her head. She was worried about Azar. She didn’t like how tired he seemed. Not in bed—god knows he was a tiger—but outside of it, the way he had looked when he was on his way back to deal with his crew.

  She had seen that kind of fatigue in soldiers who had seen too much.

  Unbidden, Theryssa’s fingers touched her belly. She was on her side. Why not play with yourself? said the voice in her head. It’s not like you can get up and go anywhere.

  Perhaps if she tried not to think of Azar. Could she get him out of her mind? It wasn’t like he was the only attractive man in the universe. She sighed inwardly as her fingertips reached her clitoris. Yes, this is what she needed. Some private time with her own body. A chance to wipe the slate clean.

  There were plenty of other men to think about. With hard, smooth bodies and gorgeous cocks. Men she had seen naked, men she had made sex with. It was no big deal. Sex could be made with lots of people. Azar had come into her life and he would go away soon enough.

  She would deal with him. As soon as she cleared her head. Plunging her fingers inside her slit, she sought to banish him.

  The chain slid across her breasts as her hands shifted position. Cold metal on her nipples. Azar’s metal. One more fucking reminder…

  Theryssa rolled onto her back. She could still smell him on the furs. Fiercely confident and masculine. She could picture him, looming over her, that look in his eyes. The one that let her know he was a man who took whatever he wanted.

  He was not a ruffian, though. As sure as he was of his power, he was even more certain of his prowess. Calmly, quietly, he knew how to take care of business, making a woman feel like she was the only female in the universe.

  Theryssa played with her swollen clit. Unsuccessfully, she tried to duplicate his technique. The way he teased so gently one second, manipulating so masterfully the next. He really could make a woman beg for anything. She hated the idea of any other receiving that treatment. She would want to kill with her bare hands any other wench he tried to chain up.

  How crazy was that? What sort of privilege and thrill was it to be held prisoner? Azar had left her here, nothing to think of but his return. And what was happening then?

  A flogging, that’s what.

  The man actually intended to hang her by her wrists and apply leather to her skin. It wasn’t a matter of the pain. Guardian training had equipped her for much worse in the way of torture.

  It was the sexual side of it. She wasn’t a slave, she was a prisoner.

  And yet Azar awoke things in her. Not a desire to submit to all men—just to him. When he had collared her, it had been like making sex, like being penetrated in some wicked, secret way. The same thing happened each time he held her fast, pinning her down.

  And when he had given her commands. Stars, that had made her skin tingle, head to toe. How was it Azar could make her want to be owned by him? Why did she want him for a Master…at least in bed?

  Theryssa’s breasts ached to be touched. But she could not reach them while her chained hands were between her legs. Her motion had been limited. By the very man she could not get out of her mind.

  The harder she tried, the more her current circumstances reminded her.

  She wasn’t free.

  Far from being enraged, she was thrilled. Excited beyond all imagination. She belonged…to a man.

  Fuck…she was coming again. How many orgasms did that make in this bed? Sucking in her breath, clenching her pussy muscles, she held it tightly as long as she could, relishing every second as the climax ran through her body, like a series of cords snapping, energizing and enervating.

  Eyes closed, her world dark as space, she tried to sink to a place below dreams. A place of peace. Where maybe there would be some answers to all her questions.

  When the shock waves had passed, Theryssa put her fingers to her mouth, licking them clean. It was the one thing she could think that she would not do on her own, but which Azar might order her to do.

  She tasted scandalous to herself. Her limbs felt transcendently weak.

  I’m doing this, she told herself, for Azar.

  My captor. My Master.

  Shivers claimed her.

  Lying there, wrapped in fur, she had never felt more at home in her life.

  Or more terrified.

  * * * * *

  Azar’s gaze through the viewfinder was unwavering. For the second time in as many days, he was studying the movements of a ship that was not what it appeared to be. Yesterday, he had hauled in a courier express, netting himself one small cache of treasure and one big, complicated headache of a female.

  Today he was looking at a civilian transport cruiser. A basic two-seater tourist model used for interplanetary weekend jaunts.

  “Looks like this is our lucky week,” said Trelorne, the navigator. “Probably a couple of rich fools who missed their turnoff on the hyper-way.”

  “This far out? Not likely,” said Azar. “No, they’re pros. See how they’ve been compensating for stellar drift?”

  “What the Captain means,” piped in Oleron sarcastically, “is they might be dangerous. We had best evacuate the area before they attack.”

  Azar’s hand moved to his dagger. Oleron’s eyes darkened. Two of his henchmen moved in beside him on the crowded bridge.

  “Have I offended you, Captain?” Oleron asked, clearly spoiling for a fight.

  Azar could easily have cut down all three men where they stood. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had put down a mutiny. He opted for a verbal retort instead. “That isn’t possible, Oleron. You are far too insignificant to ever cause offense.”

  Oleron smiled sideways, relaxing. For the moment, the crisis was averted. Soon he would make his move, though, and Azar would have to respond.

  Damn it, why was Azar waiting? He needed to stop thinking about the past, about that note from Theron. About Theryssa.

  Oleron licked his lips. “What are we going to do,” he pressed, “about the ship?”

  “We will take the ship onboard,” Azar decided. “You will recover it in the cargo bay. The rest of the ship will be sealed off. In case of a trap.”

  Oleron’s already cruel features pinched in obvious displeasure. Azar had gotten the best of him once again. Instead of showing up his captain, he had only endangered himself with his insistence on dealing with the mystery ship. “Yes, Captain. Where will you be? Back in your cabin?”

  It was an obvious aspersion cast against his decision to remain exclusively with Theryssa since her arrival.

  “That is not your concern, Oleron. Securing the passenger ship is.”

  Oleron nodded brusquely and left the bridge.

  Azar found his thoughts drifting as he looked at the ship again on the viewer. With the mention of her name, he couldn’t help but think of Theryssa. Was she resting properly in his absence? More than likely she was trying to escape. Perhaps he should have put a guard on the cabin. Not that any normal man would be able to stop her if she broke free.

  His mind turned to what he would do when he was with her again. She would be flogged, of course, her golden skin deliciously pinkened by the many-stranded leather flogger he had especially in mind for the occasion.

  Not much of a punishment, really. He wouldn’t cause her much discomfort. But he would play with her mind, tease her just a little. At every available opportunity, he would make it clear that he saw her as a woman ripe for his exploitation.

  He loved the look in her eyes when he talked to her about slavery. He loved how her body sang for him, how she purred in captivity. Such a proud and noble creature. He could never break her—just let her play with her inner demons.

  Those that longed to know what it was like to crawl and beg. To be used for a man’s total pleasure. To be desired beyond all reason, to be so much an object of lust as to be taken as a possession. A piece of property
, never to be sold or traded.

  The trouble was, Azar had never managed to hold onto anything in his life. Especially not a woman.

  “Employ beams.” He gave the order to bring the tiny ship onboard. “Maximum power.”

  Azar had a feeling deep in his gut. Something about that ship felt familiar. It had something to do with Theryssa. But what?

  He shook his head, trying to clear it.

  He was letting himself be consumed. Theryssa was in his quarters, and whoever was out there could not possibly have anything to do with her.

  Not in a million light years.

  * * * * *

  “They’ve activated the beams,” said Nyssa to her husband. “Shouldn’t we shut down the main drive systems?”

  “Not yet.” Theron shook his head, sitting beside her in the cockpit of the small civilian cruiser. “Let’s not alert them to how much we want to get caught.”

  “But we could overshoot their landing bay and end up halfway into the hull,” she pointed out reasonably.

  “We have time to compensate. Blast it, woman, must you keep arguing with me? I’m a trained star pilot.”

  “Who’s been in dry dock for a decade,” she shot him down.

  “You’re just itching to go over my knee, aren’t you?” Theron grumbled.

  Nyssa stole a quick glance at Theron’s lap. His cock was deliciously outlined under his flight suit, as were his muscular, sculpted thighs, his powerful legs and trim waist.

  And those hands…which still rocked her world and made her body dance after all these years of marriage. “No,” she lied, trying to keep his mind on the track of their mission and off of anything sexual. “It’s the farthest thing from my mind.”

  Theron raised an eyebrow. “You’re a terrible liar,” he crooned.

  Nyssa tried to keep her eyes glued to the console. She knew that tone in his voice. She also knew how outrageous he could be when he wanted her. The fact that they were about to be brought onboard a ship full of potential pirates meant nothing to him. Admittedly, there were worse things than having a husband that much in lust after twenty plus years of marriage. But still…

  “I can see you’re aroused. Your nipples are rock hard,” he persisted.