Not the Man She Thought

Not the Man She Thought

By Paige Tyler

©2010 by Paige Tyler and
Blushing Books

Copyright © 2010 by Blushing Books® and Paige
Tyler

All rights reserved.
 
No part of the book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
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Tyler, Paige

Not The Man She Thought

eBook ISBN: 978-1-60968-412-9

print ISBN: 978-1-60968-419-8

Cover Design: Rae Monet

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This book is intended
for adults only.
 
Spanking and
other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended
for adults.
 
Nothing in this book should
be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the
spanking of minors.

Chapter One

Laken Andara sat back in her seat,
 
fingering the stem of her glass as she gazed out the window.
The sky was clear today, and she watched as ships of every size and shape came
and went from the spaceport located near the eatery where she was having lunch.
As the headquarters of the Merchant Federation, her home planet of Tellune was
a busy place, and she always came down here to watch the ships when she had a
lot on her mind.

Seeing them often made her want to get on one and leave her
problems behind. As bad as things had gotten lately, she would have done it
today for sure if she had the money. Her father kept a tight rein on her
spending accounts, though, so there were never enough credits in any of them to
ever book a flight anywhere. All she could do was daydream. And shop of course.
Her father always allowed her enough money for that since it kept her busy and
out of his hair. She enjoyed shopping as much as the next girl, but it bothered
her to know it was about all he thought her capable of doing.

Ironically, it was exactly what she’d come down here to do
today. She needed something to take her mind off her problems, and the exotic
stores the Marketplace offered had been just the distraction she’d needed.
After spending a good chunk of her father’s money, she had almost forgotten her
troubles. Until she’d stopped for lunch and seen all the space travelers.
Listening to them talk and laugh about their latest missions only reminded her
how stuck she really was, which promptly put her right back in her depressed
mood again.

Beside Laken, her personal communicator rang, interrupting
her thoughts. She reached for it eagerly, praying it was finally her fiancé
Mallin calling to say he was on his way back to her. But her hopes were quickly
dashed when she saw her father’s ident-number on the screen. Not wanting to
talk to him, she put the com down on the table and let it continue to ring. In
another moment, it would be diverted to her messages anyway. Besides, she
already knew what he wanted. He was calling to remind her of the date she had
that evening with yet another one of the suitors he was determined to marry her
off to. Over the past several weeks, she had managed to chase off every guy
he’d tried to foist her off on, but she wouldn’t be able to do that forever, no
matter how rude she acted, or how much of a brat she was. Sooner or later, one
of them would look past her faults and agree to marry her. Especially since her
father was offering a very lucrative incentive to any man willing to put up
with her. And when one did agree, her father would waste no time announcing the
engagement.

She could refuse to marry the guy, of course, but if she
did, her father would cut her off without a credit. Which would mean she’d have
to find some way to support herself until Mallin came back, or until she could
make enough money to go to him. But finding a job would be more difficult than
it sounded. Not because she didn’t have any skills, but because her father
would use his position and influence to make sure no one hired her. He had that
kind of power on Tellune. It wasn’t that her father was a mean man, really; he
was just overly controlling. That, and he valued his place in society more than
he did his daughter’s happiness. Her lips curled bitterly at that.

Tellune had a very rigid society when it came to family
honor and reputation. Her family had been among the leading merchants on the
planet going back a dozen generations. Her father guarded the family reputation
as if it were the most valuable thing he owned, much more valuable than a
simple daughter. If he cared for her even half as much as he cared for his
precious reputation, then he would have understood why she wanted to wait for
Mallin’s return. But unfortunately, Mallin was an off-worlder, which was a big
strike against him in her father’s book. To make matters worse, he had left
without officially asking for her hand in marriage. While Laken was confident
he would officially propose when he came back, her father wasn’t as convinced.
He didn’t believe Mallin was coming back at all, but had just been amusing
himself with her while on Tellune, which was why her father was determined to
marry her off well and quickly before people began to whisper behind his back.
Daughters of a Federation Merchant didn’t have dalliances and they didn’t have
lovers. Her father was wrong, though. Mallin was coming back, she knew it in
her heart.

Laken had met Mallin Pemberton at a party several months
ago. Though they were supposed to be social functions, the parties were just
excuses for the merchants of the Federation to get together so they could
continue wheeling and dealing after normal work hours, which meant that most of
the women were usually ignored. Laken had only gone to the party because her
father had insisted, and she’d resigned herself to spending a boring evening
when Mallin had followed her out to the gardens and asked her to dance.
Attracted to his good looks and charm immediately, she had accepted his offer
without hesitation.

Laken had never been with a man like him. Not only did he
give her his undivided attention during the party, but he didn’t have an
ulterior motive for being with her. Because she was the daughter of a prominent
merchant, men were more interested in what a relationship with her could do for
their career and reputation than because they had any real interest in her.
Mallin was different in that regard, though, and she was captivated by him. It
wasn’t a surprise she had already fallen half in love with him after that first
dance.

Since he was on Tellune for business, Mallin had originally
only planned to stay for a few days, but he’d extended his stay after meeting
her. Over the following weeks, he was just as wonderful as he had been that
first night. When they weren’t spending a quiet evening together,
 
he took her out to the theater or the
museum or wherever else she wanted to go. Although he was an off-worlder and a
newcomer to merchant society, he fit in amazingly well with even the most
powerful members of the Federation, and before long they were getting invited
to functions some merchants on Tellune could only dream of.

She wasn’t the only one intrigued by Mallin, either, and
other women were constantly trying to get him to notice them. Although it made
her jealous as hell, Mallin only had eyes for her, which made her feel special
for the first time in her life. She knew right then that Mallin was the man she
wanted to spend forever with.

Then, one afternoon while they were lying in bed together,
Mallin announced he had to leave to take care of urgent business on his home
world. Laken had wanted to go with him, but Mallin refused, telling her he’d be
back in a few days. That had been almost two months ago. She hadn’t heard from
him since. For all she knew, something terrible might have happened to him.

Laken swallowed hard. She wouldn’t think that way. Ignoring
the tears clogging her throat, she picked up her glass and took a swallow of
water. Hoping to distract herself, she eavesdropped on the conversation between
the two men sitting at the table beside her. Like a lot of people who came to
Tellune, they were there to pick up a shipment of goods, and most of what they
said was boring.

“So, did the captain say if we’re picking up anything on
Marlon Prime or not?” one of the men asked.

  
Laken
sat up straighter in her chair at the name. Marlon Prime was one of the planets
in the Tobagee System, which was where Mallin was from.

The other man shrugged. “Didn’t say. I hope we’re not just
dropping off cargo, though. We barely make any profit on those kind of jobs.”

“I hear ya. But if were going out that far, you can be damn
sure the captain has something for us on the way back.”

The man sighed. “I hope so. Marlon Prime isn’t exactly the
best place to be right now, not with—” He broke off as the com on his
belt beeped. He reached for device and held it up to his mouth, then thumbed
one of the buttons. “Go ahead, Dev.”

“Change of plans, Finn,” a woman’s said. “We’re leaving
ASAP. Captain wants you and Kamran back on board.”

“Roger that, Dev.”

Laken gave the men a sidelong glance, an impulsive and
almost certainly crazy idea suddenly coming to her as she watched them get to
their feet. She had put off going after Mallin long enough. If the ship the men
were on was bound for Marlon Prime, then she was going to find some way to be
on it. She might not have enough credits to book passage on a regular transport
ship, but she just might have enough to convince the captain of a merchant
vessel to take with them. The ship was heading there anyway, so it would just
be more profit for him. She wasn’t sure how she’d get to New Ashanti, the
planet where Mallin lived, but she’d figure it out later.

She intended to stop the men outside the restaurant, but
they disappeared into the crowd of people almost immediately. She swore under
her breath and hurried after them. Fortunately, both men were tall, making it
easy to keep them in sight. It helped that she knew the spaceport well. All of
the merchant transports tended to dock in the same area, so all she had to do
was keep going in that direction and she would be able to see which ship they
got on.

Their ship was docked about halfway down the quay and Laken
automatically quickened her steps, hoping to catch them before they went on
board. They were faster than she was, though, and by the time she got to the
sleek looking spaceship, all she saw was an older man slowly making his way up
the gangway.

“Sir,” she called breathlessly, coming to a stop at the
bottom of the walkway. “Excuse me, but I wonder if I could have a word with
you.”

At her words, the old man stopped and turned to look at her.
Though his skin was weathered looking, it was also remarkably unlined for
someone his age.

He retraced his steps down the gangway. “What can I do for you,
Ma’am?”

“Are you the captain of this ship?”

He shook his head. “No, Ma’am, I sure ain’t. The captain’s
inside, though. What is it you need him for?”