admitted grudgingly. “You weren’t wrong.”
“Come here, Hallie.” He was willing to ask her one
more time. “Let me make love to you.”
She stepped back from the bed. “No.”
“Hallie.” He made sure his tone conveyed his warning.
“You’re playing with fire.”
“And you’re being an unreasonable jerk!”
He jumped onto the bed and crossed the wide mattress
in one quick hop.
When he landed on the other side, she scrambled away
from him and straight into the nearest corner. She squeezed
her small body into the tiniest ball and put her hands up
over her face and neck as if to shield herself from blows.
His blood ran cold at the sight of her trembling with
fear. He’d never in his life hit a woman in violence.
Spanking, flogging, some light caning—these were all
things done to arouse and titillate, and always with
consent, but to hurt a woman in anger? No. Never.
To realize Hallie thought him capable of such brutality
slashed deeply. He sat down on the edge of the mattress
and gazed at her cowering figure. What had he done to
make her think so badly of him? He thought back to the
playroom and the tears on her face. She’d been afraid but
he’d assumed it was the virginal fear of consummating
their marriage that terrified her. Had he been wrong? Was
it something far worse that she feared?
Feeling off-kilter, he rested his elbows on his knees and
dropped his head into his hands. Failure wasn’t familiar to
him but he’d done just that with Hallie. He’d failed to
understand her needs. He’d failed to see things from her
point of view. She was a farm girl from a backward planet
where even the most basic medical treatments were
shunned. All of this was probably very unnerving to her.
He’d thought he was doing his best to ease her into his
way of loving but clearly he’d gone too fast, too soon.
A slight movement drew his attention. She sat in the
corner and hugged her knees. Her stare, both wary and
confused, bore into him. Their gazes met and held. Finally,
he held out his hand. She eyed his fingers with some
uncertainty.
When she shoved up off the floor and slowly
approached him, a flutter of hope invaded his belly.
Perhaps all wasn’t ruined.
Hallie placed her hand atop his palm. He curled his
fingers around hers and held tight. When he tugged gently,
she came to him. He slid an arm around her waist and
pulled her onto his lap. He swept aside the hair clinging to
her cheek and neck and pushed it behind her shoulder.
Though she’d mastered her fear and come to him, he
sensed that fright just under the surface. One wrong move
and she’d run from him again.
“I’m sorry.” Surprise crossed her face, and he smiled.
“Yes, I’m quite capable of admitting my mistakes and
owning up to them.” More serious, he added, “I thought
we were playing a bit, just now. I didn’t realize you
would think I wanted to hurt you if I jumped onto the bed.”
She considered him for a moment. “It was just instinct. I
didn’t think you would actually hit me but I wasn’t going
to take the chance.”
Instinct? Had someone dared to put their hands on her?
“What do you mean it was instinct?”
She shrugged. “It’s not the first time someone has flown
at me in a rage.”
Fury ignited in his chest. “Who hit you?” His gruff
voice startled her. He quickly stroked her hand and
apologized for the second time in as many minutes. “I’m
sorry.”
“It’s all right.” She placed her hand on his arm. Her
voice was soft as she explained, “My father isn’t the
nicest of men. He drinks heavily and, well, patience isn’t
his strong suit.”
It occurred to him that he knew so much about her body
already but nothing of her. “Tell me about your family.”
She frowned at him. “Why?”
Because I said so
, he thought, but instead answered,
“I’d like to know more about you.”
“Oh. Well, there’s not much to say. My father is a
blacksmith. My mother died when I was a little girl. I had
a stepmother, briefly, but she died the winter the cough
came to the village. My two youngest brothers, her
children with my father,” Hallie clarified, “followed her
to the graveyard. Father never remarried. My oldest sister,
Kerri, raised the five of us until she married. By then, we
were all old enough to see to ourselves.”
Their upbringings seemed so vastly different. She’d
grown up at home, surrounded by family. He’d been sent
to the most elite military academy at five to begin his
training. It occurred to him that she might have a brother-
in-law among his people since she had an older sister.
“Are you the only female in your family to enter the
Grab?”
She nodded. “Kerri married a dairy farmer before our
councilors signed the treaty with your kind. Bernie…lives
in the colonies.”
He noticed the slight hesitation but didn’t press. His
interrogation skills told him there was a story there but
this wasn’t the time to ask Hallie to divulge all her
secrets. She barely knew him. Trust was something they
needed to build.
“What about you?” She drew a loopy shape on his
forearm. “Do you have family?”
“I did. My parents died some years ago.”
She squeezed his hand in sympathy. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled at her kindness. “Thank you. My fellow
soldiers are my brothers.” He caressed her neck and
touched his lips to her cheek. “But you are my real family
now.”
She eyed him carefully. “Is that what you want with me?
A proper family?”
He placed his hand on her belly, his fingers spanning
the small space. The thought of her growing heavy with his
child warmed his heart. “Of course.”
“Are you sure? Because from what I’ve seen so far, you
want to be my master. A slave-and-master relationship
doesn’t exactly lend itself to the formation of a proper
family. Families require compromise and sacrifice,
Vicious.”
Hearing her voice her uncertainties helped him
understand. He cupped the back of her neck. “Hallie, I
want to be your master
here
, in our private quarters. I
don’t want you to be a true slave to me.”
“I don’t understand. I thought the men from the sky ships
viewed women as slaves and property.”
“Well,” he said carefully, “our laws are similar to
yours in that a woman becomes property of her husband,
but the notion that we all view women as slaves is
nonsense. Just as your men have different ideas about
marriage, some of them more extreme than others, so do
we.”
“My father is a domineering type. His word is law in
our home, but he never put a collar on his wives or put
them in restraints.”
He hesitated before saying, “It’s true that Harcos men
have very specific tastes when it comes to the bedroom.
Some of us require submission from our wives in all
aspects of daily life. Others, like me, find such
relationships tiring. As a colonel, I’m in charge of
battalions of men every hour of every day. I don’t need or
desire the added stress of micromanaging your life.” His
fingertips followed the curve of her jaw. “I only want your
complete submission when we’re together in this way.”
She chewed her lower lip. “And the rest of the time?”
“You’re a grown woman, Hallie. You’re more than
capable of making choices for yourself.” He paused and
considered their future. “There may be times where I ask
you to default to my will outside our quarters but they will
be few and far between and only to ensure your safety.”
She silently considered his explanation. With a smile,
she asked, “And what if I want
you
to submit to
my
will?”
He didn’t miss the teasing glint in her dark eyes. “You
would have to reward my submission.”
“Oh?”
He nuzzled her neck, inhaling her sweet scent now
mixed with the woodsy smell of his soap. “When you
submit to me, I reward you with pleasure. For me to lower
myself to you, I would require an inordinate amount of
pleasure in return.”
Her entire face brightened with amusement. “Is that a
dare?”
He laughed and kissed her gently before touching his
forehead to hers. “Somehow I think you would rise to the
occasion.” He traced her lower lip with his thumb. “I’m
going to make love to you now.”
She gripped his hand. “Please don’t tie me up.” She
dropped her gaze in embarrassment. “I want to be able to
touch you.”
Her simple request moved him. He lifted her chin and
waited until she met his gaze. “I
want
you to touch me,
Hallie. I meant what I said earlier. My body is yours to
enjoy.”
He grasped her smaller hand and put it against his chest.
Her fingertips grazed his skin and left a searing trail. His
eyelids lowered as she explored him. He battled the urges
warring within him, the desire to throw her onto her back
and thrust inside her tight, wet pussy so intense it nearly
overwhelmed him. His dick pulsed in time with his
heartbeat. He forced down the primal need and tried to
concentrate on her gentle touch.
She followed the outline of one of his tattoos, the one
marking his first victorious battle as a commander of men.
It had been the battle that made his career. Like most men,
he’d marked only the right side of his body with mementos
of war, leaving the left bare for his family. Soon, he’d
have their family crest applied to his skin. Hallie would
be given a special space near his heart. Their children
would branch out from there, each one a new branch in
their family tree.
When she placed her hand along his jaw, Vicious held
his breath. She looked uncertain and nervous as she leaned
forward. He didn’t dare move for fear of startling her. She
pressed her lips to his and held them there. He kept his
hands still on her waist and waited for her to gain the
confidence she needed.
At the first movement of her mouth, he groaned. There
was no stopping the needy sound that escaped his throat.
She didn’t seem to mind. If anything, his admission of
desire encouraged her. One of her arms slid around his
shoulders. Her other hand stayed on his jaw, her fingertips
stroking his cheek as her tongue flicked at his.
Had any woman ever kissed him like this? Before now,
his trysts had always been confined to the occasional hour
or two at a sky port brothel or one of the public parties
arranged by the corps. In either case, the women were
professionals paid handsomely to entertain. They were
extremely satisfying encounters, especially when he was
able to engage a professional submissive for an evening. It
hadn’t ever occurred to him that those experiences were
lacking something.
Of course, he hadn’t had a woman like Hallie perched
on his lap, either. There was something beguiling about
her hesitant, awkward kisses and touches. Some primitive
part of him rejoiced at the knowledge that he would be the
first and only man to know her body. It was his hands and
his mouth that had evoked that first passionate climax. It
would be his seed that first marked her, his seed that took
hold in her untouched womb.
Burning with desire, he slipped his hand into her hair
and tangled his fingers in the dark waves. He claimed her
mouth in a more insistent kiss. She whimpered against his
lips and clutched at him. Her fingernails bit into his
shoulders. He slid his arm around her waist and turned her
on his lap until she straddled him. He cupped her backside
and shifted their bodies.
Vicious guided Hallie down to the bed and crawled
over her. Their mouths continued their sensual dance as he
moved between her thighs. His cock jutted into her soft
belly, the weeping tip smearing pre-cum all over her skin.
He couldn’t remember ever being this excited. Even his
first time hadn’t turned his blood so hot. He wanted Hallie
so badly. She’d ensnared him and now only her supple
flesh would sate him.