The Commander's Daughter (2 page)

There was not a boy anywhere who had been brave enough to face down her brothers, who stood just over seven feet tall and were built like Mack trucks. They both had the same green eyes and similar facial features to Melody, though their faces were more masculine and they had their father’s dark hair without a hint of red from their mother.

Ten years after the birth of the triplets, Izzy had given birth to triplets again, this time two girls and a boy, and then twin girls two years after that. Little Ransom had his hands full chasing after his four sisters and herding them all together to keep them as protected as he could. Layla and Janine were his partners in crime most of the time, and the three of them were known to occasionally gang up on Mandy and Maggie. They were all still young though, and thankfully nowhere near the age of noticing the opposite sex. Three of mating age was more than enough to deal with at a time.

Only Melody and Maggie had inherited the red hair of their mother, though Melody’s was much lighter than Maggie’s. The rest of the children had dark hair, but all of the commander’s children had Izzy’s emerald green eyes.

When the boys left, both Izzy and Melody had cried. Izzy knew Melody would miss them terribly, but at the same time, she knew Melody saw the change as a chance to live life as a normal girl. The fact she would now have a guard at all times had been a rude awakening.

Izzy rubbed her arms, thinking about the pending bonding of Melody and the serious warrior come to claim her, and would he be able to provide for her happiness?

Grayson’s arms came around her from behind as she pondered her daughter’s fate.

“All will be well, little fire. They are bond mates and therefore created for each other. There will be an adjustment period for both of them as they learn to live together, but eventually they’ll be as happy as we are,” he said, placing a kiss to the place where her neck met her shoulder.

Izzy shuddered in response; even after twenty years, her big warrior made her weak in the knees. She looked up at him over her shoulder with a grin. “Ours wasn’t exactly the smoothest mating in history in the very beginning.”

Grayson grinned. “You were always mine, I just had to show you how much you loved and wanted me.”

Izzy turned in her mate’s embrace and went up on tiptoes to reach her arms up; Grayson obligingly picked her up so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Contentedly she snuggled into him; perhaps Grayson was right and their daughter would find the same kind of bond they had.

A mother could only hope.

Chapter Three

She found the man maddening, always underfoot and sticking his nose in her business where it didn’t belong.

Though Melody was tall for a woman, Liam stood almost seven and a half feet tall and was built like a tree, so he towered over her, making her feel tiny. Liam hardly spoke to her unless it was to tell her not to do something and glowered disapprovingly all the time.

The fact that he also caused her pulse to speed up and often looked at her in a way that brought a flush to her cheeks was just another strike against him in her book. He was ridiculously handsome, of course, as were all the Ramelian warriors, but Melody had no intention of finding herself mated to one of the big oafs. Barefoot and pregnant was no joke with these guys. No, thank you.

Granted, Liam was even better looking than most with dark blond hair and brooding brown eyes set in a rough-hewn face with a strong jaw and a cleft in his chin. One had to ignore the simply yummy way he always seemed to have a shadow of a beard; it was too much for a girl’s peace of mind! Of course there was no way of knowing if the man had dimples, since he never smiled. He was always seemed to be scowling at her and telling her not to do this or that. It didn’t matter how many times she told him he was a guard, not her boss; the autocratic male continued to bark orders at her continuously.

Melody was happy to escape his glower for a few hours of peace. She sang to herself as she clipped a leash to Sassy, and the Saint Bernard-sized basset hound danced around excitedly, as eager as Melody was to get out of the house.

The dog was funny-looking to people when seen for the first time—even though she was so large, she still had the gangly body proportions of a normal basset hound—but their amusement changed quickly if they drew too close to a member of Sassy’s family. She was fiercely protective of her family, especially the children she’d guarded since birth.

As a child Melody had ridden around on Sassy’s back, as her younger siblings did now. The dog was ever patient and never snapped, loving her charges as she would have her own puppies. The Ramelian air and vitamins seemed to have the same effect on the youth and longevity of animals, so though the dog was older than Melody, she still seemed to be in her prime.

“Where do you think to go?” Liam asked, stopping Melody on her way out the door.

“I’m going into town and have no need of your services this afternoon,” she told him firmly.

He snorted in response, “I think not. Go put on shoes that cover your feet and I will take you to town.”

“There is nothing wrong with my shoes!” Melody snapped, looking down at her heeled flip-flops, enjoying the way they showed off her red-painted toenails.

“Other men will see your feet,” he explained.

Melody made a face. “So? I’m not married and who cares who sees my feet anyway? It doesn’t matter, I don’t need you today. I got permission from my father to go in to town alone.”

“What?” Liam asked, clearly alarmed.

“You heard me,” she said with no little satisfaction. “Go ask him if you don’t believe me.”

“You will wait here while I speak to your father,” the large guard instructed as he left the entry hall in search of his commander.

“Fat chance,” Melody muttered under her breath, leading Sassy out the door as soon as the irritating man was out of sight.

Melody smiled as the sunshine warmed her face while she and Sassy walked toward their small town.

* * *

Liam found the commander and his mate in the kitchen. “Why is my mate under the impression she can go into town without escort?”

“I told Melody she could go into town if she took Sassy. She needs to feel a small measure of freedom or I fear none of us will be pleased with the results. My daughter is building to a major rebellion if some of her constraints are not loosened somewhat,” Grayson explained.

“If she rebels, she will know my discipline,” Liam stated matter-of-factly.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my daughter for attempting some level of normalcy in this situation!” the commander’s mate yelled up at him with a finger pointed toward his face.

“Isabella!” Grayson’s bark should have urged his little mate back to a measure of control.

“No, Grayson, I will not let this man bully our daughter into anything before she’s ready,” the woman insisted. “Young man, you will leave my daughter alone. She is going into town with our permission and that is all that matters.”

“If this is the measure of obedience in this home, I will have my work cut out for me training Melody to behave as a wife should,” was Liam’s only response.

Isabella flew at Liam with murder in her eyes, only to be caught around the waist by her large mate. “My daughter is not an animal to be trained, you cretin!”

The commander set his mate down at his side and delivered a sharp swat to her bottom before turning her toward the stairs. “Enough, Isabella. You will go to our quarters and prepare yourself for punishment.”

“But, Grayson—”

“Now, Isabella.” The commander’s tone brooked no argument. The little woman’s shoulders slumped as she headed up the stairs. “Isabella?”

The small woman turned to look at her mate over her shoulder. “Yes, sir?”

“I expect to find the paddle and large plug laid out for my use,” the commander told her, staring straight into his little mate’s eyes.

The commander’s mate closed her eyes as a flush of embarrassment filled her cheeks. She merely nodded to her mate and resumed her walk of shame to their bedroom, obviously understanding the embarrassment of being instructed like this in front of another warrior was part of the punishment.

Liam himself felt a tinge of discomfort to witness something so intimate between the couple who would someday be his parents by bonding. “I did not mean to cause such a harsh infraction for your mate.”

“The discipline of my mate is done for her benefit, not yours. You, young man, would do well to remember I am your superior officer. While I understand this situation is difficult for you, do not forget again.”

The look in his commander’s eyes assured Liam he was not above disciplinary action himself if he pushed this man too far. “Yes, sir.”

Liam knew he would have to accept the decision of the father of his mate regarding her trip to town. He couldn’t punish her for ignoring his order to wait when she didn’t know he had a right as of yet to supersede her father’s instruction.

While it went against everything in him to allow it, he knew she would be protected with the large canine in tow. The dog they called Sassy was probably more vigilant with keeping people at bay than even he himself would be.

* * *

“Grayson, no!” Izzy wailed as her husband’s hand fell again on her already well tenderized bottom. Each swat jolted the large plug in her bottom anew and increased the aching sting of her poor little hole being stretched by the intruder.

He ignored her pleas for mercy, giving Izzy no quarter as he vigorously continued to apply his palm to her burning bottom. A fast volley of swats to her sit spot raised the level of intensity until she gave in to the pain and collapsed over her husband’s lap in tears.

Grayson let her cry for a moment before lifting her to stand and bending her over the edge of the bed. After twenty years with Grayson, Izzy knew her punishment was far from over; she gritted her teeth when she felt him catch hold of the plug’s base.

“You do not attack any guest in our home,” he told her sternly as he began to pull the plug out of her bottom with agonizing slowness, only to push it back in to the hilt with a hard thrust that brought Izzy up on her toes with a squeal.

He continued to scold her about her inappropriate behavior, punctuating each of his points with a hard thrust of the plug into her sore ass. Izzy knew she was really in for it when Grayson stopped lecturing altogether and simply let the plug taking her so thoroughly express his displeasure.

Soon the only sounds in the room were the rhythmic sounds of the lubed plug slapping in and out of her at a hard fast pace and her grunts and cries of contrition.

At the rate this was going, her poor bottom would be sore inside and out for a week. Izzy hated how guilty she felt when she pushed her mate to such a serious punishment. It hurt to know he was displeased with her to such an extent.

She breathed a sigh of relief when all movement stopped and Grayson leaned down to speak directly into her ear, “Do you think you can remember to be polite to guests in our home, young lady?”

“Yes, sir,” she whimpered softly.

“Now we will deal with the danger you placed yourself in by attacking a male, especially a warrior.” Grayson informed her.

Izzy winced when she looked over her shoulder and saw the small paddle in his hand.

“You will receive twenty swats, Isabella,” he told her as he raised the paddle high.

There was a soft whistling sound as the paddle caught the air on its way down and then the loud crack of it hitting its target, then she stiffened as the bright bloom of pain filled her right sit spot.

Izzy barely had time to register the stinging heat of the first swat before the paddle landed again and again as Grayson delivered ten swats to the exact same spot hard and fast.

She was sobbing loudly before he was even halfway through the first set, then he moved and gave the left side of her bottom the exact same treatment.

Usually at this point, Grayson would pull her in close and comfort her, but instead he guided Izzy, still sobbing, to the corner. “You will stand here and think about your behavior and why nothing like this will ever happen again, young lady. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Grayson,” Izzy said miserably. She was sure her poor abused bottom would never be the same again. For the first time in years, the punishment had been so thorough, she wasn’t even tempted to rub.

She whimpered as she shifted from one foot to another, each movement pulling the skin of her backside taut and shifting the plug to remind Izzy of her mate’s displeasure.

“Come here.” The firm tone of her mate’s voice warned Izzy that her ordeal was not quite over. She knew exactly what to expect as she walked to Grayson’s side.

This was the worst part as far as Izzy was concerned; the sore bottom she could deal with, but she hated the aching emptiness she was left with when he brought her to the brink again and again but didn’t allow her to come.

Thankfully, Grayson didn’t punish her this way often, but she knew this would be one of those times from the look on his face. Fresh tears began to fill her eyes as she took her place with her mate at the foot of the bed.

“Please, Grayson, I’m sorry…” she tried to reason with him.

“I hope this will be the last time I have to teach this lesson,” was his only reply as he bent her back over the end of the bed.

She hissed when he pulled the plug from her bottom, then groaned when his tongue took its place, laving the abused area and sending sparks of intense pleasure to race with the pain. When his tongue swept across her throbbing clit, she yelled and ground back against his face in helpless demand.

His tongue continued to whip across her labia and clit until she felt her whole body shake as she prepared to hurl across the summit. Then he was gone, leaving her empty sheath grasping for something, anything to push her over the edge.

Izzy sobbed in frustration.

“Do bad girls get to come, Isabella?”