Alien Slave (17 page)

Gelan’s tone was calm and reasonable,
as if they were conversing about the weather. “You won’t sink, I
promise. Trust us, Dani. We didn’t come after you to see you
die.”

Dani couldn’t respond. The muck was
over her mouth. In seconds, it would cover her nose.

She stared upward, at the pinkish-blue
sky overhead, keeping her face as free for as long as she could.
She felt the pull of the branch in her hands. She hung on grimly,
convinced that at any moment the mud would close in over her head.
When she slid through it, the muck losing its cement grip on her a
little, she concentrated on becoming horizontal, which meant
putting her face into the sludge.

Darkness enveloped her. Her arms ached
with the tug of war the Kalquorians played with the muck, but she
moved. The slime relinquished its grip a little at a time, so
slowly that Dani knew she’d suffocate before she was pulled
free.

“
Pick your head up, Dani.
You’re almost out.”

At Krijero’s call, she lifted her face
and opened her eyes. The sunlight dazzled her and she inhaled a
grateful breath. As her sight adjusted, she saw the men only three
feet away, muscles straining as they yanked her loose. She suddenly
skated across the surface of the bog, and the Kalquorians dropped
the branch to grab her by the arms and lift her from what should
have been her grave.

Dani was covered in the muck, weighed
down by it so heavily that she could barely stand. She didn’t care.
She lived.

She looked up at her rescuers. Three
pairs of blue-purple eyes regarded her with interest, as if curious
to see what she’d do next. Dani took a deep breath, the thick,
fetid air the sweetest she’d ever breathed. “Thanks for saving
me.”

Gelan answered for the clan. “You’re
welcome.” He nodded towards a rock by the clearer water of the
pond. “You can wash the mud off there.”

Dani swallowed. “What if there’s a —
something dangerous in the water?”

“
We’ll keep an eye out.
Clean up.”

Keeping an eye on the ground before
her, stepping carefully and anticipating another battle with the
moon’s version of quicksand, Dani made her way to the bank. She was
aware of the Kalquorians right behind her. She wondered if they
were guarding

her from the hostile surprises of this
world, or making sure she didn’t run again. She didn’t care. After
her close call, she just wanted to be safe, and the aliens
represented safety.

Shaking like a leaf, she knelt on the
large rock and scooped water to wash her face. Her hair hung in
ropey strands, similar to dreadlocks. She’d be rinsing for hours to
get the mess off.

“
You might as well just jump
in,” Wynhod said.

She thought of the monster she’d seen
in the other pool and shook her head. “No way. There’s no telling
what’s in there.”

An enormous hand seized her by the back
of the neck. The next instant, the Kalquorian picked her up and
dunked her into the water. Another hand seized her by the arm, and
yet another hand gripped her beneath the armpit. She was hefted up
and dunked, hefted up and dunked, and hefted up and dunked again.
When she came up the last time, she spluttered and struggled
against the men who roughly washed the mud from her.

Wynhod spoke. “The dress is ruined. We
might as well get rid of it.”

The sodden, heavy material tore from
her body, leaving Dani naked. Clean at last, the clan pulled her
from the water to stand on the sun-warmed rock.

“
Hey! I can’t tromp around
naked!” She covered herself with her arms as best she could. It
didn’t matter they’d already seen her nude. She felt way too
vulnerable without the dress.

Gelan’s cold, angry voice brought her
protests to a screeching halt. “You certainly will, slave. We can
do any damned thing we want with our property.”

Dani stared at him. Under the Dramok’s
glare and the equally stony-faced expressions of the other two, she
suddenly felt very small and helpless.

Oh shit. She was in big
trouble.

Gelan spoke, his gaze drilling into her
without one ounce of kindness. “Turn around, Dani. Wynhod and
Krijero will hold you still for punishment.”

Dani’s insides turned to water. If she
hadn’t already lost control of her bladder during her battle with
the quick-mud, she’d have wet herself right there. “Wait. Don’t you
think nearly dying was punishment enough?”

“
No, I don’t. You put
yourself in danger far too often, little girl.” Gelan’s voice was
almost gentle as he bent to look her in the eye. “By your own
account, you put yourself in harm’s way on Earth repeatedly. You
indentured yourself on Dantovon without thinking through the
consequences. Then to escape us, you got on a ship that no one with
sense would have boarded. It crashed, killing the pilot and no
doubt nearly taking your life as well. When we showed up to rescue
you, you ran until you were nearly killed. You need discipline,
Dani. You need it every time you commit an infraction, for your own
good.”

“
You’ve been lucky so far,”
Wynhod added. “Sooner or later, your luck will run out, and no one
will be around to save you. You only get so many passes before
death finally accepts your invitation.”

“
I’ll be good. I won’t run
away ever again. Honest,” Dani implored. Surely they’d let her off
this time if she seemed really contrite. They’d liked her enough to
buy her, to come after her when she’d run away. They wouldn’t
punish her, not for a first offense against them.

“
Let’s make sure you don’t.”
Gelan smiled, and Dani relaxed. She’d known he’d let her off with a
warning.

“
Now?” Wynhod
said.

Gelan nodded. Dani found herself spun
around, putting her back to Gelan and facing the pond. Wynhod’s
hand clamped around the back of her neck again. On the other side,
Krijero grabbed her hands, pinning her wrists over her
head.

“
Next time you think about
doing something that can get you hurt, remember this,” Gelan
said.

Before she could utter a sound, Gelan’s
palm cracked hard on her backside. The sharp report of the blow
rang in her ears a second before the pain registered. Then with
crystalline clarity, agony pulsed through her right ass cheek,
making her cry out.

“
What the hell?” she
shrieked.

“
This is called dulma, a
spanking. It will continue until you apologize and promise to
behave.”

Pride erupted despite the shame and
pain of the discipline he administered. She’d never been spanked
before, had never known the harshness of corporeal punishment.
Gelan’s blows came hard and fast, giving her no chance to brace
herself against the blistering torment.

“
Stop! Stop it, damn you!
You’re not my father!”

“
That doesn’t sound much
like an apology to me,” Wynhod commented. The bastard sounded
amused. “And we’re old enough to be your fathers. So accept the
correction and express your regret for being such a bad little
girl.”

Dani danced and twisted on her tiptoes,
unable to escape the grip the other two had on her. Despite her
desperate attempts, Gelan landed each open-handed slap on the
rounded expanse of her buttocks with brutal accuracy. Dani shrieked
curses, but the spanking went on and on, roasting her skin until
she thought it might burst into flame.

Finally her pride crumbled under the
hard hand, and Dani blubbered, “Please, I’m sorry. Please stop.
I’ll be good.”

Gelan ceased immediately. Krijero let
her hands go, and her arms flopped bonelessly to her sides as she
sobbed, as much from humiliation as pain. Wynhod kept his grip on
the back of her neck.

Gelan’s voice was still gentle, as if
the brute had never even considered laying a hand on a helpless
girl. “That will do for a first offense.”

The pressure of Wynhod’s hold on her
made Dani turn to face Gelan. The Dramok cupped her chin in his
palm, making her look at him. His face blurred through her tears,
but she saw the firm expression anyway.

“
You do not want to disobey
us again, Dani,” he warned.

When she simply stood there weeping,
Wynhod’s grip tightened slightly. “Your response is, yes my
Dramok.”

Between sobs, Dani choked out, “Yes, my
Dramok.”

Gelan nodded approval. “Good girl.
Let’s head back to the ship, clan.”

Gelan took the lead. Her neck still
gripped in Wynhod’s firm grasp, Dani followed, with Krijero
bringing up the rear. The strong hand kept her from stumbling,
steering her around obstacles in the path, which was just as well.
Dani couldn’t see for the tears that continued to flow and distort
her vision.

God, her ass hurt. She didn’t think
she’d be able to sit down for a week.

* * * *

Gelan had never felt so turned off his
entire life. His cocks felt shrunken and small.

He’d discovered a huge difference
between spanking a female within sexual play and spanking one in
order to punish. Chastising Dani had made him physically ill. That
she needed to be taught a forceful lesson hadn’t made it any more
palatable. Hearing her cry tore at his guts. His senses tumbled in
a knotted mess: one moment he felt anger at her for putting him in
this position. The next instant, he found fury at himself for
having made her cry so piteously, like a frightened child. Then the
memory of her almost disappearing beneath the mire, nearly dying
right there in front of him and his sense of helplessness made him
sick all over again.

Had Dani gone down, Gelan wouldn’t have
been able to stop himself from plunging in after her, most
assuredly to his own death. That this willful, self-absorbed
Earther sparked such strong feelings, feelings he’d only
experienced for his parents and clan, frightened him. How had she
gotten under his skin so fast?

Gelan stomped over the mucky trail, not
caring how loud his passage was through the tall marsh grasses.
Yes, he wanted a Matara for his clan. Yes, he wanted to breed and
produce offspring. And yes, Dani was pretty and alluring. But that
didn’t explain how much it hurt him to see her in danger, to hear
her cry out in pain when he’d disciplined her.

She brought out a fierce
protectiveness, a sense that he needed to right all the wrongs done
to her. Gelan hated she’d not received the consideration and love
she deserved from her parents. It had made her a selfish creature,
possibly unable to take others’ needs seriously. He didn’t need
Krijero’s psychological education to know her thoughtless actions
were probably a subconscious plea for attention.

They passed from open land into a
wooded area. Blessed shade took the heat off the top of Gelan’s
head, but his thoughts still burned, especially as Dani’s
hiccupping sobs continued behind him. Damn it, he hated hearing her
cry like that. Hated even more that he was the one who’d made her
cry. The thought that he would probably have to take her to task
again made him want to howl.

Dani might not be repressed sexually
like most her kind, but she was a broken Earther just the same.
Gelan had doubts he was the man to heal her wounds. Especially when
giving her the discipline she so sorely needed shriveled something
inside his soul.

Krijero won’t be able to punish her. It
would devastate him.

It would be up to him and Wynhod to
guide her then. Gelan grimaced. He hoped his Nobek was up for the
task. Dani’s next infraction, and he had no doubt there would be a
next infraction, would be corrected by Wynhod. Knowing his clanmate
the way he did, Gelan had no doubt he’d find it just as
distasteful.

Knowing the impetuous Earther couldn’t
help but to test them, Gelan nevertheless sent her a silent plea as
they slogged on through the marshy land. Please, my little Dani, by
all you hold holy, please behave yourself.

* * * *

About an hour after pulling Dani from
the mire, Wynhod realized his grip on the back of her neck was
about all that kept her on her feet. It was no wonder after hours
of flight and the massive struggle to get free of the sucking
mud.

He fought off a stab of sympathy. He’d
seen how punishing her for her stupidity had affected Gelan. His
Dramok’s head hung down, his shoulders hunched as he led them back
towards their ship. Gelan was tough, Nobek tough, but dealing harsh
discipline to someone so much smaller and weaker had to be a
terrible burden.

Still, it would do no good to remain
angry at the Earther. She’d been punished for her willfulness. And
he admired the stubborn pride she exhibited in not whining how
tired she was from her forced march.

Or maybe she remained quiet out of fear
they’d hurt her more? The thought she might be that terrified of
them curdled Wynhod’s stomach. He wanted her respect, not
fear.

He stopped in his tracks right then and
there. “I have to carry her,” he said.

Gelan halted and turned, his gaze
settling on the exhausted Dani. Krijero also drew abreast of them,
leaning down to look into her pale face. Her eyes, almost closed as
if she was more asleep than awake, fluttered the least bit. Wynhod
noticed for the first time how dark and long her lashes were,
outlining her brown eyes. Despite the tear streaks on her cheeks
and the drawn expression, she was still a very pretty
girl.