Under By Treaty (SciFi Romance) (11 page)

He yowled.
“
Fuck
that hurts.”

She
disappeared for a few seconds, then grabbed his head by his hair and stuffed cloth inside his mouth. Then she whacked him again. His body bucked, but his bindings held him firmly in place. She settled into a steady rhythm that roundly covered his ass, upper legs, and thighs with a sting that punished both his self-respect and his soul.

His pride needed him to take this beating for Earth.

Deep down, he knew the truth was more complex.

A streak of fire cut close to his balls and jolted a muffled cry from him. By the time Sonil had finished with the belt, Jaden
’s face was wet with tears of anger and self-recrimination. He could not take this from her again. He heard her place the belt on the table and pick up the cane.

Once more she gave no warning.

Jaden bit into the cloth in his mouth and screamed in his throat. She focused on his behind and the back of his legs. His world centered on the vicious, slicing pain and nothing else. Time lost all meaning. He felt like he was floating.

*****

Sonil stopped only when his body no longer resisted her blows. She lifted his head. His eyes were wet and glazed. He moaned and she let his head fall. She left him bound to the chair and put the implements away.

The beauty of this punishment was it did little damage. He would be very sore for a few days, turn
a little black and blue, but heal quickly. Her hand had warmed his skin and she had not drawn blood. Jaden was an intelligent man. If her lesson helped him understand his place in the Qui Empire, he would survive this assault on his pride.

She untied his bonds and left him to recover enough to move. Ten minutes passed before he pushed his body from the chair. He hesitated, waiting to see if she would stop him.
When nothing happened, he rose unsteadily to his feet, his face red with embarrassment and anger that he managed to hold in check.

“Is that it?” he ground out.

She raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise. Her hand twitched.

He noticed and rapidly
rephrased. “I mean, please, may I go, my Lady?” He looked towards the bedroom. He meant to use the bathroom.

“You may use the tub. I suggest cool water, not freezing.
Then dress.”

He nodded. She tried not to
smile as he hobbled gingerly across the room. She had a strong arm. He would be in considerable pain. She felt better for it, her disappointment in Jaden’s lapse on D’ron eased by his stalwart acceptance of his punishment. It would make this last stretch of the training much easier, on both of them. Feeling ready to move forward, she informed the ship’s kitchens to provide food for two.

When he finally reappeared
, Sonil looked up from the report she was perusing. Jaden was dressed in the briefs and wrap she provided for him, and walking very carefully.

“My Lady?”

“Sonil.”

His mouth contorted.

“I like you calling me Sonil,” she explained. “Save the formal address for when you need to placate me.”

“Ookay
…”

“You won
’t get distracted again, will you?”

He shook his head. “Thanks for the rescue.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I wanted to ask about Tah.”

“That’s not your business.”

He frowned, but did not argue. He gestured to the water jug. “May I have a drink?”

Sonil shrugged and turned back to her work, but her senses were heightened and the water pouring into his glass was as loud as a waterfall.

She turned around and he started.
“What are you thinking, Jaden?”

A
look of resignation settled on his face. “I’m thinking you have me whipped, Sonil. I’m standing here trying to figure out how to get back into your good graces.”

“And you
are hoping honesty will help.”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“Drink your water, Jaden. Then I want you to stand at attention until dinner. It’s not a punishment. It’s part of your training. I doubt you want to sit, anyway.”

She ignored
his pained expression and tried to refocus on the rebellion building up in the Trexan sector. Radicals were stirring up unrest. Jaden moved into position breaking her concentration. She reread the report, convinced she must have missed a key piece of information. The empire had invested heavily in the cluster of worlds making up the Trexan Federation and her father had set up trading agreements that had promoted stability. Now the ungrateful wretches had declared they wanted independence when they really wanted to end their stipend to the Empire.

She
’d let them if it wasn’t for the precedent it would set. Maybe she should. They would quickly change their self-righteous tone once they started funding their own defense.

Her sharp ears detected
restless movement. “Hold
still
, Jaden!”

Chapter Nine

Jaden couldn’t get out of the medical facility fast enough. Sonil had insisted he attend for a checkup. The medical officer had insisted this included a thorough colon cleanse. Tonight he was Markl’s property. The implications were clear and his nerves were on edge. He didn’t think there was any way in hell he could voluntarily submit to this kind of torture.

He
headed for the gym thinking to work off some excess energy before he thumped something. Or someone. He hit the track, punching the air as he ran. He was back in shape. He probably looked the best he’d ever been. Sonil was relentless with her stamina training. If he went back now, she would have him standing motionless for hours on end in stifling heat. He passed out the first time she’d added humidity to the exercise. Hell, military boot camp had nothing on Ambassador Sonil, but he liked her consistency. He understood what she wanted from him and he had never been stronger.

A guard entered. “Jaden, the Ambassador is looking for you.”

Jaden trotted over. “I’m going now.”

The guard
smirked nastily. “She sounded a little sharp.”

Great.
All he needed was a pissed off Sonil.

He ran to her quarters
, stomach churning. The doors opened as if expecting him.

Sonil sauntered out
of her bedroom and recoiled at the sight of him. “You’re dripping sweat everywhere, Jaden! Go take a shower. Then I want to talk to you.”

Jaden
silently cursed. The guard had been having fun at his expense. He washed quickly. Sonil entered while he was drying off.

He froze at the sight of the object in her hand then backed away. “No.”

“No?”

“I mean, p
lease don’t ask me to do this, Sonil.”

Her eyes flashed. “You think you can pick and choose whether to obey me or not, Jaden? Bend over the sink.” She opened a jelly lubricant and smeared it over the rubber
-like butt plug.

Jaden
clenched his fists, marched to the sink, and leaned his elbows on the counter.

Sonil
moved behind him and pressed the tip of the plug against his anus. He stiffened and she paused. “I want you to trust me on this, Jaden. This is part of your training. The Qui Court will expect you to willingly service anyone with the right to use Qui property. I don’t want you to be damaged. Try to relax.”

“
This isn’t something I’ve done before.” He flinched when her hand touched his lower back.

She massaged
him gently, gradually moving down to knead the cheeks of his ass. “I’ll insert it very slowly. Give your muscles time to relax around it. You’ll get used to it very quickly.”

“Don
’t go near my balls or I’ll never relax.”

Sonil chuckled.
“Take a deep breath and exhale.”

Jaden
did his best, trusting her not to hurt him, but couldn’t help tensing up as the butt plug inched in. “
Fuck
.”

“
Easy,” she soothed.

He dropped his head and tried to focus on relaxing around the intrusive thing invading him. It slipped in a little further
. He would have bolted, but Sonil’s hand was suddenly between his shoulder blades holding him down.

“Nearly there,” she said.
Then she laughed. “Try to relax, Jaden.”

He looked up and met her
gaze in the mirror. “It’s not funny.”

“I
’m sorry. But I promise you’ll be grateful for this later.”

The plug slipped in deeper and Jaden hissed. He thought the enema had filled him.
This made him feel like he was ready to explode.

“There. Once you get used to the sensation you might enjoy it.
You should take the cock ring with you tonight. Markl will expect you to show arousal and you are always very responsive to its touch.”

Jaden straightened gingerly. The plug was a snug fit and
showed no sign of falling out.

Sonil
washed her hands then led him into the bedroom. She handed him a clean pair of briefs. Jaden hated the strange sensations the plug set off as he stepped into them.

“
You will give Markl the same respect you give me. He won’t damage you permanently, but his tastes are different to mine. Don’t let me down, Jaden. It’s just one night and you need to get your head around your status as the Qui’s property. The Qui may choose to share you with others and your behavior will reflect on her.”

“I haven
’t culminated with the Qui yet,” he pointed out angrily.

“
You will. Failure isn’t an option, Jaden. What’s the matter with you? You’ve been cooperating with your training. Why the sudden resentment?”

Jaden opened his mouth then closed it again. The
truth was painful to admit.

“Jaden?”

Fuck. He couldn’t hide from her. She had beaten honesty into him. “I’m not cooperating with the training, Sonil. I’m cooperating with you.”

He caught her eyes soften
– just for the briefest of moments – before she snapped back into lecture mode. “The Qui is merciless, Jaden. She will not tolerate anything less than total obedience. If she senses any reticence, culmination will fail. Face your fears, accept them, and then set them aside. Tonight isn’t about you. It is about pleasing Markl.”

Jaden nodded, hearing what she was saying, but more interested in that tiny glimpse into her feelings.
His words had touched her.

She cared for him, too.

Sonil tilted her head, studying him with a strange glint in her eye. Then taking his hand, she led him into the bedroom.

“Please,” Jaden said, “I can’t, not with this thing inside me.”

She nodded. “Then we will just talk.” She thought for a second. “You asked me about Governor Tah?”

Jaden’s heart skipped. “Yes.”

“I will answer your questions about my mission to D’ron. Maybe it will help you understand the Qui Empire is not as terrible as the war led you to believe.”

*****

Markl backhanded him a powerful blow the second Jaden stepped through the door. Jaden hit the doorframe and slid to the floor.

“Get up. Strip
,” Markl commanded in K’lahn.

Jaden clambered to his feet and took off his briefs, glad he
’d been allowed to dispose of the butt plug before presenting himself for Markl’s pleasure.

The captain
poured a glass of K’lahn wine and downed it in one. Then he pointed at Jaden and twirled his finger.

Jaden
suppressed his boiling revulsion and swiveled slowly. He’d been expecting humiliation, and worse. He couldn’t get out of it, so he would just have to suck it up and deal with the fallout later.

“Ambassador Sonil said you had a ring.”

Jaden pointed to the box he’d dropped on the floor when Markl had blindsided him.

“Pick it up. Put it on.”

Jaden did, flushing as he pulled his balls through the larger circle.

Markl laughed when
Jaden hardened from his own handling. “The ambassador said you were responsive.” He moved towards Jaden and grabbed his growing erection.

They stood nose to nose, Markl sipping his wine as he fondled Jaden
’s cock until it was stiff and swollen. Jaden returned his gaze equably, giving no hint of his true emotions. He felt a weird sense of triumph when Markl did not pick up on his shame.

The captain grunted.
“On your knees. Elbows on the floor. Ass in the air.”

Jaden dropped and adopted the desired position
, but the humming sound of the scytah set his pulse racing with fear. His mental scaffolding started to crumble.

“
Ah, I see this scares you. Well I want your ass to burn like nothing you’ve felt before. Pull away from its touch and you will wish you’d never been born.”

Jaden felt th
e tip of the scytah touch his anus. Heat flared throughout the sphincter muscle as Markl trailed the end of the whip around the sensitive area. Tears of frustration pricked Jaden’s eyes. The scytah was setting fire to all his preparations for coping with being fucked tonight. Only cussed willpower stopped him jerking away from the searing pain. He would not let the bastard beat him.

When
Markl had completed the scytah’s circuit around the opening to his rectum, he whipped Jaden across both buttocks.

Jaden hissed, but
kept his position.

Markl switched the
scytah off. “Don’t move.”

The ship
’s captain removed his shoes.

“Eyes forward,” Markl snapped.

Jaden obeyed. The heat in his ass intensified and he broke out in a sweat.

Markl pulled over a chair
and sat down. He stuck a stinking, bare lizard foot under Jaden’s nose. “Lick my feet clean.”

Jaden decided he would rather be fucked, despite the blister seeping through his rectum. He wanted to ram his fist through Markl’s smug face – nothing he had imagined came close to this nightmare, not even the punishing aftermath from his lapse of concentration on D’ron. He would rather have pins stuck in his eyeballs, or his innards ripped out than submit to this degradation.

He would rather die.
Earth could go to hell.

“I
’ll give you five seconds to decide,” Markl said. “One.”

The problem coalesced in
Jaden’s mind. Dying scared him less than licking a scaly, ridged foot with unclipped nails that looked more like talons.

“
Two.”

He would rather die than s
wallow his pride.

“
Three.”

He would put his pride
above Earth.

“
Four.”

Jaden
bent down and licked a thick-scaled toe. He nearly puked. It had to be the most disgusting thing he had ever done. He tried to distract his mind with images of Sonil naked in bed, but nothing could mask the disgust building inside of him. By the time he turned to clean the other foot, Markl had bored of his own game.

“Go and shower,”
he said, pointing to the door.

Jaden didn
’t hesitate. He raced into the bathroom, his ass a scorching heat, and vomited into the sink.

“Shower
cold,” he ordered as he rinsed the sink clean.

Then he
bent over and let the cold spray sooth his burning butt.

“Don
’t take all night!”

Jaden grabbed some shower wash and lathered his
body well.

“Air.”

Clean and dry, he took a deep breath and walked back into the lion’s den. Markl was standing next to a desk with a scaly cock poking out of his pants.

He pointed to the clear
ed surface. “Bend over.”

Jaden steeled himself. He walked over and prostrated himself over the cold surface.

“Grip the far edge. Good.”

A foot parted
his legs. He felt Markl’s cock touch his anus. Jaden tried not to tense, but the scytah’s burn made it impossible to relax. He realized then that the shower would have washed away much of the lubricant he had inserted earlier. He gripped the desk harder; Markl was going to tear him apart.

He rested his forehead on the desk
and battled a surging terror. Markl withdrew, slammed forward then stopped, the head of his cock just short of penetration. It didn’t matter. Just his touch was agony.

When
Markl pulled back, Jaden gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. He waited. Seconds passed. Then Markl laughed and stepped away.

“Well done, Jaden.”
The captain sounded pleased. “The Ambassador has done an excellent job with you. I require you to service me with your mouth, swallow everything, lick me clean, and then go.”

Jaden lifted his head, confused. “I don
’t understand.” He pushed up off the table and turned. “Was this some sort of test?”

“Yes. I have you for the night. But sullying the property of the Qui doesn
’t appeal. Now my cock is waiting. Not something I imagine you’ve done before, but you need to be prepared for the day you might. The Ambassador doesn’t have the equipment.” Markl raised an impatient eyebrow as Jaden grappled with the notion that his reprieve had a nasty condition attached to it. Heart thumping, he looked down at Markl’s cock and his mouth dried.

*****

Sonil was half-asleep when Jaden crawled into bed. He spooned around her to relieve the pressure on his burning ass. His guts ached from puking out the Markl’s pleasure from his stomach.