The Commander's Daughter (6 page)

Obviously used to negotiating, Maggie stepped into the breach. “But Melly said—”

Mandy elbowed her hard. “Hush!”

Liam glanced at Melody out of the corner of his eye, watching her fidget nervously. The reason for the outlandish behavior of the commander’s children was making more and more sense; he’d been ambushed.

His jaw tightened with resolve. “You’re right, Melly, I’ll get the little loves their ice cream because we both know who the real mischief maker has been today, don’t we?”

A dull flush quickly spread up from her neck to fill her cheeks with color. Melody didn’t answer and instead started staring pointedly at the floorboard of the van, which only served to confirm his suspicions.

When he pulled up to the local ice cream parlor, Melody started to get out of the van with her siblings. Liam stopped her. “I don’t think so; as I said, badly behaving children don’t get ice cream. They get something we’ll be discussing in depth later. You sit right where you are and don’t move.” He picked her up, sat her back in her seat, and shut the door.

* * *

Melody watched in shock and no little embarrassment as Liam led the children into the ice cream parlor. All of her siblings looked back at her then up at Liam, obviously having heard his rebuke and understanding she was being punished for their behavior as well as her own.

She knew promising the zoo, the picnic, and kite flying had been bad enough, but she’d also promised them all ice cream if they acted badly. Her parents would be horrified if they knew how shamelessly Melody had encouraged the misbehavior.

Her father might spank her himself! And Melody knew she’d deserve it; she didn’t know what she’d been trying to prove today. At first she thought the day would exhaust him to the point he’d leave her alone, then Melody decided if she showed him how bad and unruly the children were in her family, he’d rethink wanting her as his mate.

Melody actually felt her bottom cringe when she looked up and saw Liam and her siblings walking back with their ice cream. Why had she thought it such a good idea to try to thwart him?

Liam gave her a knowing look as they all piled back into the van to drive home.

The children were all very quiet on the way, pretending to be consumed by their treats, but Melody knew better. Usually a good dose of sugar had them bouncing all over the van and chattering like magpies. She again felt a twinge of guilt, knowing they were all upset about her being in trouble with Liam and unsure what exactly that would mean.

As Liam parked the van and everyone climbed out, Ransom came to stand next to him. “Melly doesn’t mean to be bad, she really is a good girl. Girls sometimes just can’t help it.”

Liam had to choke back his laughter at the somberly voiced observation from his soon-to-be little bond brother. “I know your sister isn’t bad, little brother, but it is my job to correct poor behavior on the part of my mate. Just as some day you will have to correct a mate of your own.”

Ransom nodded sagely with a sigh. “Yes, my brothers have told me many times it is our job to try to curb the tendency of misbehavior in our sisters by example in an effort to make it easier for them to obey in the future.”

Liam blinked; this from the boy he’d had to transport down from the top of a cage? “Do you feel you served as such an example today?”

The boy flushed and shook his head sadly. “I knew I should tell Melly it wasn’t a good idea, but I was having so much fun. Now she’s in trouble.”

“The fault for your sister’s behavior does not lay with you, brother. She is an adult, though in the future I would encourage you to set a better example for your younger sisters. You will make a fine warrior when you are older, Ransom.”

Ransom glowed from the praise and grinned up at Liam proudly before, with a great sense of purpose, he began shepherding his younger sisters into the house to give his older sister and her mate privacy.

Melody had come to stand next to them on the front steps and sighed at the exchange. “You guys are hard-wired at birth to be bossy.”

“This is so,” Liam said as he looked down at his little mate’s morose features. “It has always been thus. It ensures the happiness of our mates.”

She didn’t even try to respond to that announcement, but started edging away from him toward the front door. “Thanks for today. I think I will…”

“Stop where you are, little mate.” Liam caught Melody lightly around the upper arm and pulled her back to him. “You and I have much to discuss.”

She glared up at him from beneath her lashes. “I don’t want to be mated to you! I don’t want to be mated to anyone!”

The words were hissed out softly from between clenched teeth.

“What was today’s behavior in aid of?” he asked curiously.

“You were supposed to decide I wasn’t worth the trouble! You were supposed to think our children would be horrid and change your mind about everything!” she said with a stamp of one small foot.

Liam cocked his head at her, trying to understand her reasoning. “Understand you not our mating was fated?”

She blinked at him. “What do you mean, fated?”

“God chooses a mate for each of us, the softness to balm a warrior’s soul… a woman to become his very heart… the center of his existence. This you did not know?” he asked with a frown.

* * *

“No. I mean, I know my father loves my mother and she loves him, but I figured they were the exception to the rule,” Melody said softly, trying to come to terms with his words and the giant fissure they caused in the wall around her heart. She couldn’t allow herself to be swayed by pretty words, so she stiffened her spine once again.

“They are not the exception, little mate. They are the rule. This is the way for all bonded pairs,” Liam explained, allowing her to pull away from him as she took in the information.

“No! It’s not possible!” she said, her voice getting louder, unwilling to believe the possibility that their mating was more than the whim of a warrior who couldn’t take no for an answer. If that was the truth, then she was already lost and had no hope of finding her way out of this situation.

Liam caught her shoulders in his big hands and turned her to face him once again. “Little mate, you already know this to be true. You know it here, why do you fight it?”

When one big hand pressed to her chest over her heart, Melody felt tears spring to her eyes and began shaking her head in fierce denial. When he would have pulled her in close to comfort her distress, Melody pushed sharply away and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could.

* * *

Liam barely flinched from the sharp little toe of her boot, but knew the time to talk had passed them for the moment. With a sigh, he bent at the waist and tossed his defiant little mate over one broad shoulder.

In response, Melody beat her fists on his back and began calling him every foul name Liam had ever heard and a few he had not. Growing up as a triplet with two boys had obviously given her an impressive vocabulary.

Liam’s brows rose to his hairline at some of the inventive curses she was heaping on his head, but he just kept walking straight up the stairs toward the quarters the commander had assigned him. He would deal with Melody and all of the day’s misbehavior in complete privacy.

He passed her parents on the stairs and didn’t even stop to greet them, hurrying on his way as Melody continued to turn the air blue and beat at his back in a tantrum equal to that of any brat on record.

* * *

Grayson was horrified by his daughter’s language and immediately covered Isabella’s ears to try to block some of the tirade.

His mate rolled her eyes and removed his hands from her ears. “Really, Grayson? I’m almost sixty years old. I’m as appalled as you are by our little girl’s vocabulary, but I hardly think I need shielding from it.”

“Where did she learn such filth?” he asked, aghast.

She merely crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow at him.

“I would never speak thusly in front of my daughter,” Grayson spluttered.

“What about your sons?” Isabella asked with a knowing smile.

“Sons are different, but they would never…” he trailed off.

“Obviously they would; where else did our daughter learn such salty language? I especially liked son of a Ramelian sheep’s arse… or whore’s frozen…”

Grayson stopped the demonstration by covering his mate’s mouth. “Point taken, little fire, I will curb my tongue and those of my warriors when small males are present. You do not repeat these phrases further. I will see you at dinner.”

He heard his mate laughing out loud at his haste to find his youngest son. Grayson intended to ensure his younger daughters never demonstrated such knowledge of Ramelian swear words.

* * *

“You son of a Spurilian goat ass!” Melody shrieked at him, trying to flip her body off his shoulder.

Liam carried his struggling burden straight into the bathroom, keeping her in place over his shoulder as he turned on the shower. Leaving the water cold, he plopped her beneath the spray.

“Ramelian bast—ahhh!” Melody ended mid-swear as an icy blast of water caught her on the top of the head, leaving her gasping with cold as her whole body became drenched.

“Ohhhh!” she yelled as the barrage of cold water continued with Liam holding her firmly in place beneath its onslaught.

She was shivering by the time he reached in and turned off the tap. “Do you now have control of yourself, little mate?”

Melody shuddered as she looked up at him. Liam stood looking down at her with a raised brow and arms crossed over his chest.

Obviously knowing she’d gone way past the point of acceptable behavior, Melody bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know why I lost control of myself so completely,” she said softly, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

Liam knew part of the problem was his agreement not to bond with her immediately; without the bond in place to temper her fears, his little mate was left feeling lost and confused. He was giving her discipline, but none of the other loving parts of mating to soften his dominance. His little mate needed to see him as her refuge instead of viewing him as the enemy.

“Worry not, little mate, I will always assist you in regaining control of yourself. Take off those wet clothes,” Liam instructed her as he turned to get a large towel.

“But…” She clutched her wet shirt, clearly nervous.

“Now Melody, you don’t want to add to your punishment by disobeying me yet again; this I promise you,” he said implacably, his brown eyes currently devoid of all warmth.

Sniffling softly, Melody began to strip the heavy wet clothing from her body, and then she stood naked before him in the shower stall.

Liam immediately wrapped her in the large fluffy towel, drying her briskly to warm her chilled skin. Not liking the defeated air surrounding her, he pulled Melody in tightly to his body, rocking her softly in his embrace. “Worry not, little mate, all will be well.”

He smiled when she sank into him; it pleased him that she sought comfort from his touch.

Once he sensed she had calmed, Liam lifted a very surprised Melody to sit on the counter by the sink. “We have much to discuss, do we not, little mate?”

She flushed and looked at the floor with a shrug.

“That is not an answer. What have we to discuss?”

“My language?” his little mate asked, her voice almost a whisper.

“Indeed a fine place to begin. I will never hear such filth from your sweet mouth again. Do you understand this?” When she continued to avoid his gaze, Liam captured her chin and forced her eyes to his. “Do you understand this?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” His brow arched commandingly at her.

“Yes, sir,” Melody again almost whispered.

“Very well, now we will ensure this to be so.” Liam picked up a bar of soap, ran it under the water, and worked a good lather up under her gaze. “Open your mouth.”

* * *

“Please, no! I won’t ever—mmmffff!”

Trying to talk him out of soaping her mouth had been a tactical error as it had left her mouth open to the invasion of marauding soap. Liam rubbed the lathered soap into every surface of her poor mouth and coated her teeth and tongue until she was left with foam dripping down her chin. The bitter taste filled her mouth, making her desperate to spit.

As she moved to do so, he stopped her. “You will rinse your mouth when I give you permission and not a moment before, young lady.”

Tears filled her eyes as he lifted her off the counter and stripped the towel from around her body before leading her into the bedroom, her mouth still full of soap.

Liam placed her nose in a corner of his room. “Stay here in this corner until I come for you. If you behave and stay where I’ve put you until I return, I will allow you to rinse before we commence with your punishment. If you rinse before I give you leave, we will begin this portion of the lesson again and you will not be allowed to rinse until your punishment is finished. Am I understood?”

Melody nodded miserably and shoved her face further into the corner. It was humiliating.

She heard the door close behind him as he left the room, but for once Melody didn’t dare to disobey him. She couldn’t believe some of the words she’d screeched at him. Melody was shocked by her own behavior.

This punishment was going to be bad. In fact after the display Liam had been treated to, he probably would give up on her. Why did the thought of that make her so very sad? It was what she wanted… wasn’t it?

Perversely she wanted to be back in his arms; how did one who stirred such extreme emotions manage to make her feel so safe when he held her close?

Melody fought back a gag as the moisture building up in her mouth caused the soap to foam more; not knowing what else to do, she let more dribble out of the corner of her mouth. There was no way she was swallowing.