Sadie's Mate (9 page)

“Likely a very smart plan.
I don’t think they’d forgive me for all I have to say to them. But my sisters
will definitely be getting a piece of my mind. Right before I ship them off to
some mining colony for a few months.”

“You
can’t do that,” she said with a laugh.
“However, if you
wanted to cut their allowance or whatever I wouldn’t argue with that at all.”
His sisters, and even his mother, loved to spend money. They were creatures
that lived in the lap of luxury and wouldn’t know what to do without it.

“Now
that’s a very good, very effective plan,” he told her. “I’m not sure if I
should be in front of them when I tell them that. I think I should be safely on
board my destroyer with the full might of it backing me up. They damn well piss
me off.”

“I
think sending a communique to them via a video cache would be best. That way
you don’t have to see them or see the fit that they will throw. Just blunt and
to the point discussion of what their new lives will be.”

“An
even better plan,” he said. Nodding slowly, he picked up a piece of fruit to
chew on. “I’ll cut them off first, send the message second, and then we wait
for the backlash message to arrive. They are really not going to be very happy
with me.”

“I
didn’t say cut them off, fully, but I think that being able to cut their
spending in half maybe?” She didn’t want his family to hate her.

“My
father still gets his pension from his time in the military. Mother still makes
money off the shares she holds in a number of companies. The house is paid for
in full, so they can live off the money they have coming in. They won’t like
it, but they won’t have any troubles at all surviving on that money. If I
didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t cut them off. But they’ve become too spoiled,
too full of themselves, and believe themselves above all others. They need a
reality check, and now
is
as good of a time as any.”

“Good
point,” she said with a nod. “Okay, I trust you. If you say this needs to be
done, then it does. I fully trust and believe in you.” It was more than because
he was her husband. It was because he was himself. He was Bracken
Kauller
.

“I’d
never allow my family to suffer, but it’s time for them to live within the
means they have. Besides, I intend to have a family of my own and that money
would be better served keeping them in comfort.”

That
had her looking up at him. “Good, then I believe we should focus on each other
and the lives that we will have together. Besides,” she shrugged and took
another bite of the food that was there before her, “your sisters will now be
able to go off and find husbands. At least I can hope so.”

“I
only hope it’s someone that can handle them. And not someone bought to tolerate
them. They would make most men absolutely miserable, so it will have to be
someone that actually loves them yet is willing to keep a firm hand on their
antics.”

“I
think at least one of your sisters has a male that is in love with her. I also
believe that she has feelings for him as well. There’s a young man that’s been
chasing after your youngest sister for the last three years, at least, but she
wouldn’t ever give him a moment’s notice because your mother won’t allow them
to marry without you having been married. Well, either that or she wouldn’t give
him a moment’s notice because she was afraid of what your parents would do.”
That was simply the way that it was with their people.

“I
think I know who you mean,” he said. He took another drink of his water.
Leaning against the pillows, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “She loves him
just as much, if not more. I’ll make sure she has the wedding she deserves, but
the others are
on their own
. I will also talk to him
and ensure that he realizes what a catch that he has with her.”

“Your
oldest sister, I’m not sure if she will ever wed. For some reason she’s just so
jaded and so angry about life.” She was one of the sisters who had been
tantamount to her not being within a mile of Bracken when he was home. “One
would think she would be happy, she has so much more than a great deal of
women, but she’s not.” She was bitter but Sadie had no idea why.

“I’ve
never figured out what is going on with her. Not that she’s ever talked to me.
When she was little we were friends. Then I went to the academy and that was
it. I’d almost think she was upset that I’d left, but my mother got rather
angry around the same time so I don’t think it had anything to do with me.
Besides, it’s the way our society has always worked. So I don’t really know
what it’s all about. Either way, Mother will get her married off if it’s the
last thing she does. She’s determined that all her children are married.”

“True.
Your mother has always bemoaned the fact that her children were as old as they
were and not married.” It had been her own fault, however, because the woman
hadn’t allowed Bracken and Sadie to be together.

“We
both know it’s
her own
damn fault,” he said. Slipping
an arm around her shoulders, he drew her in closer to him. “But it doesn’t
matter now. We’re together and married. She has no more control over our lives.
We’ll make sure of that.”

“Agreed.”
She rubbed her cheek
to his and patted his knee.
“Now, no more thinking bad
things.
This is our wedding night. This is when we simply enjoy each
other, right?”

“You’re
right, of course. Finish your snack. Then we’ll see how else we can make this
night memorable.”

Chapter Seven

“I
sent off the communication to the family,” Bracken said when he met her for
lunch the next day. He’d left early in the morning, leaving Sadie to sleep in as
long as she wanted. The man had even arranged for breakfast to arrive after she
was up, showered, and dressed for her day. Unfortunately he’d been on the
command deck for most of the day, or locked in his office. “I’ve also ensured
they won’t receive any more money from me. I sent a separate message to Cecilia
to let her know that when she decides to marry I’ll pay for whatever she
wants.”

“I’m
sure she will appreciate that.” She was watching Bracken,
then
asked, “You never once said how you wanted to bring my family wealth to our
family. We need to make sure our houses are combined, right?” She had known
that he married her for her, not her family wealth and not for the prestige of
wedding into one of the original lines, but she still wanted to honor that past
and combine what she had with Bracken’s so that they were a complete family
unit once and for all.

“I
was kind of hoping you’d forget about that,” he muttered. “You know that isn’t
why I married you. Hell, I’d actually forgotten about it. But if you insist on
it we can do the paperwork, talk to your banking institution, and arrange for
everything from here.”

“I
trust you fully, Bracken. You know that. Yes, I want this, but I want this so
that when we do start our family it will already all be in place. Even if you
want the monies to be passed to our children I’m fine with that. I just want it
all settled so that people won’t think the wrong things.”

“I
thought you were above what others thought, Sadie.” Clicking his tongue, he
leaned over the table to take her hand in his. “We’ll do this so that you have
no worries. We’ll also set a chunk of it aside right from the start in trust
for any children we have. But some of it should be left free for you to use as
you wish.”

“I
have everything I need,” she told him with complete honesty.
“You.
You are all I’ve ever needed. However,” she leaned in and kissed his cheek, “I
will do it because it will make you happy. We are good.”

“Good,
I’m very happy to have that settled,” he said. “Now, what are you eating?” Picking
up her utensil, he took a bite of her food and hummed. “That’s very tasty. Let
me go and grab a dish. Then we can sit and chat.”

She
took her utensil back from him and winked. “Hurry,” she added in there simply
because she could. She watched him as he walked away and noticed him more than
once looking back over his shoulder at her, shifting to the balls of his feet
when someone got too close to her. He had the look of a predator if someone
dared touch her. That was her protective
Craegin
husband. He was utterly perfect in her eyes.

He
glared at a pair of crewmen who walked a little too close to her table. They
quickly diverted and scurried on their way. Coming back with a loaded down
tray, he settled back into his chair and passed her a little dish.
“A treat from the cook for you to try.
They are
experimenting with new things for a while now. Ever since
Fintan
married
Adira
, actually, and his cooks started trying
new things to show off for her.”

“Thank
you.” She accepted the dish and poked at it for a moment. She hesitated before
taking a bite. Her eyes went wide and she grinned.
“Oh,
this.”
She took a piece of it and offered it up to Bracken. “Try it.
It’s actually delicious.” It was not fully sweet but not bitter, either. It was
a perfect balance of tastes and creamy as well.

He
accepted the bite from her utensil and chewed slowly, his eyes going wide. “Not
what I expected at all. The flavor seems to just explode on my tongue. That is
very good,” he said, licking his lips.

“It’s
not so overpowering that you want to spit it out. It sneaks up on you with the
burst of flavor. They should make this more often.” She took another bite and
offered him one, enjoying eating the food and feeding him as well.

Swallowing
the second bite, he nodded. “We’ll have to pass along our compliments.” When
she offered him more he shook his head and gave her a kiss on her lips. She
knew he wasn’t big on sweets of any kind. Never had
been,
which his sisters had always been grateful for.

She
continued to eat the small treat and enjoyed herself. Once it was all gone she
ate what little was left on her plate before she leaned back and smiled at her
husband. “So, what do we have to do today? Nothing much I hope, right?”

“No,
I took care of everything I had to this morning. We can go back to our rooms
and spend the day doing whatever you want after we do the transfers. What is it
you want to do?” he asked. He continued to eat while she thought.

“Well,
I’m honestly not sure. What would you like to do?” She was up for anything. “I
just enjoy being with you.
Having you holding me, touching me
or just simply sitting on the sofa together watching videos.
That’s what
makes me happy.”

“All
of that sounds pretty good,” he told her. “I think we should do it all, naked
preferably. We can watch anything you want from the video collection. Maybe get
a nap in as well since we didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“Naked
is the perfect way for us to end our day.” She grinned. “It’s not totally my
fault that we didn’t get a lot of sleep. Yes, a lot of it is my fault but it’s
partially yours as well because you are just too sexy to not keep me up all
night long.”

“For
that compliment you can decide what we do after the video.
As
long as you promise to get some rest at some point along the way.
You
look tired, Sadie.” Lifting his hand, he brushed his thumb lightly to the skin
under her eye. “As much as I enjoyed keeping you awake, and participating in
all you wanted to try, you need to rest too.”

“I
do rest,” she assured him and leaned into his touch. “I’m happy. I love that we
are able to do what we do together.” He fit her, perfectly. He was so giving to
her and when he
took
he ensured that
she enjoyed every single second of the taking as he did. “Perhaps today we can
play with the silk bindings you purchased at the last outpost we were on?”

One
of his brows shot up as he looked toward her. “Saw that, did you? Did you also
see what else I purchased in that shop, or were you too distracted by the
display?” It had been racy, and some would claim vulgar, but it had definitely
had her thinking.

“I
only saw the silks because of how fast you stuffed them into the bottom of the
bag. The display was rather spectacular, wasn’t it?” It had been a massive
piece of equipment in the form of an X, with leather bindings that would hold
arms and legs spread out from the body. It was incredible and had made her wet
from the thoughts of what Bracken might do to her should she be locked into
place with the bindings on the X.

“It
was at that,” he said with a nod. Finishing his meal, he slid his plate onto
the tray with her plates. Pushing it to the side, he leaned back in his chair
but reached out to take her hand in his once more. “I envisioned you on that,
bound, and blindfolded. Then I saw the display of ropes and had several other
thoughts involving you.”

She
shivered and licked her lips. Squirming from the thoughts of all that they
would do together, she smiled. “I would love to try all of it with you. I would
trust you to do all of that to me, you understand that, right?” It had been in
their contract, but she wasn’t certain if he realized that she truly did mean
anything
.

“Of
course I do, little one. It’s why I purchased a few additional items while we
were there. Some still require being put together, but I’ll do them while you
are otherwise occupied. I’ll be
retasking
your former
room to use for our playroom. We need the space for some of the pieces, after
all. I’ve already had the outer doors permanently sealed, the controls removed,
all so that we have privacy for our play.”

“You
are so good to me.” She squeezed his hand and nodded. “And should we ever be
blessed with children as General
Fintan
and his wife
were?”

“There
is a space on the other side of our rooms we can expand into. It was to be a
storage room but became wasted space when they sealed it instead of including a
door. We put in a door on the other wall, create their rooms, and another
little bathing room. They won’t be large rooms, but I’m sure any little ones we
have won’t mind that fact given they’ll have an entire destroyer as their
playroom.”

Warmth
spread through her at the thought of having a family with Bracken. “What do you
say we go back to our quarters and get naked so that we can play a bit before
sleeping?”

He
gave another nod and got to his feet. Taking up their tray, he carried it back
to the kitchens. When he returned to her side, Bracken took her hand in his and
led her out of the dining hall. He slipped an arm around her shoulders as they
walked toward the lifts.

Sadie
had her head on Bracken’s shoulder. She wasn’t wearing her facial film nor was
she wearing the body suit. She saw the looks but was mostly over them. The men
and women on the crew were like family. They would do anything for Sadie and
she knew it.

Bracken
squeezed her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead. In the lift he backed her
into a corner, sliding his hands up her sides. “Did you remember not to wear
any underclothes? Or do I need to punish you for not doing as I asked of you
this morning?”

“I
remembered. I listened to you very well.” Although now she wished she had worn
them so that she could get punished. Her head was bowed, her hands on the
banister behind her and legs spread for him. “However, if you wish to punish
me, I would accept it because I’m sure that I’ve done something to deserve it.”

Bracken
gave a snort at her words. “That is not how it works, Sadie. You’re not
supposed to enjoy your punishments, little one. Obviously I need to think of
something to help you remember that. Lift your skirts so I can see that you
obeyed my instructions.”

She
looked up at him with wide eyes, then to the camera in the corner.
“Bracken?”
She trusted him, but the lift was such a public
place. She did as he instructed, though. With shaky hands she lifted her skirts
for him to see her bare and glistening pussy that was wet and needy for him.

“They
can’t see anything in here,” he said. “Not with where I’m standing. You know I
would never allow another to see what
is
mine, and
only mine. You did exactly as I asked. I’m very happy.” Reaching out a hand, he
slid a finger through her wetness before lifting it to his mouth to lick the
moisture off. “You can lower your skirts. We’re nearly to our floor.”

“Yes,
Sir,” she whispered and allowed the skirts to drop. The sheer skirts were only
opaque around where her pussy would be and the top where her breasts were, and
the back was completely opaque as well. As far as their world standards the
dress was fairly restrained but she found she liked covering more than her
people typically did. She liked it because she loved the way her husband looked
at her as if he couldn’t wait to strip her of the clothing.

When
the lift doors opened he gestured for her to go through first. He was right on
her heels as they went through the corridor toward their quarters. At the door
he pressed in close, the ridge of his cock pressing to her lower back as she
attempted to get them into the rooms quickly.

Once
they were in their rooms she turned, her eyes cast down and hands at her back
as she waited for his next instruction. It seemed as if she had waited forever
before he finally spoke to her.

“Strip,
right here, right now,” he told her. “Then we’re going to watch one of the
videos. Would you care for something to drink?” Bracken was moving to the
kitchenette to collect drinks from the cooler before she’d even processed his
words.

She
quickly stripped out of her clothing, folding them neatly, and answered his
question. “Yes, Sir, please.
Water.
Which video will
we be watching?” She didn’t move from where she was standing. He hadn’t told
her to. He had simply instructed her to strip.

“Your
choice,” he called back. Then he came around the corner and gave a
satisfied-looking nod.
“Very good, little wife.
Go
ahead and make your choice. Get comfortable on the sofa as well.” He passed her
the water she’d requested and a bottle of juice she knew was for him. Picking
up her clothing, he carried it into their sleeping chamber.

She
selected one of the videos that he had in his personal collection, one of the
racy videos that would give them both a great deal of ideas. Once that was
chosen she settled onto the sofa and took a drink of her water while she waited
for him to come back.

He
walked into the room naked and carrying one of the blankets from their bed.
Sitting next to her, he shook it out before settling it around them both.
“Ready when you are,” he told her, leaning forward to grab his drink.