Assigned a Mate (10 page)

“There are a few large countries that control almost everything.”

“That is how it is here as well. My region is the most powerful and the largest. Do you now understand the importance of my role and the danger that follows both me and my mate? Yesterday, I wished to shield you from all the curiosity.”

I bit my lip. “Curiosity?”

“Politics would demand that I select a woman from Trion as my mate, but I refused many offers. I waited for an interstellar bride because I did not want a political match. I wanted someone who would be mine, and mine alone, with no political agenda and no ulterior motives. I wanted a woman who would be a perfect match for me, the man. As you are.”

I tilted my head, but all the fear, all the worry was gone. “How can you be so sure?”

“I knew the moment the transfer was complete.”

He seemed so sure of himself, that we’d been matched across all the possibilities in the galaxy. I hadn’t even intended to be matched. I
should
be on Earth, in the hospital treating patients. He believed I would remain here on Trion forever, but our match was short term, only until I was called back to testify. Suddenly, the idea of leaving didn’t seem as promising as it should have.

His hands shifted and cupped my bottom, pulling me closer.

“Then… then you promise me you didn’t send for Mara?”

I heard him growl deep in his chest. “Woman, I wouldn’t have requested an interstellar bride if I had wanted to fuck Mara.”

He must have seen something on my face, for he added, “Have I eased your mind? Are we of similar understanding now?”

I bit my lip and let the tension and worry I’d been feeling seep away. “You sent me to the harem to keep me safe?”

“I had a meeting with the councilors and I could not watch over you. I protected you with the harem guards when I could not be with you.”

I smiled then. It was a little wobbly, but it was there. “I’m sorry. I am not used to a man choosing me over a woman like… like Mara.”

“Now I am the one confused. Why would any man choose Mara over you?”

I huffed out a laugh. “Perky breasts. A flat stomach. Narrow hips. Thighs that aren’t dimpled with cellulite. Hair that is smooth and tamed.”

Tark’s eyes narrowed and he silently worked the slip up and over my head, tossing the garment to the carpet. The chain brushed my belly as it swung.

“Your punishment is getting longer and longer.”

“What?” I tried to step back, but his iron grip prevented it.

“Tossing a hairbrush at your master is most definitely a punishable offense. Behaving like a shrew in front of others calls for stern retribution. Speaking about yourself with negativity is even worse. I will not hear you speaking about yourself in such a way again.”

“But—”

He swiftly turned me, then pushed me down and over his lap so I was once again in position for a spanking. His palm struck my bare bottom.

I reached back to cover myself, but he grabbed that wrist and held it securely. God, he’d done that the day before and I should have learned. I should have learned many things, but I was once again bottom high in the air.

He spoke as his palm rained down. Unlike yesterday, this spanking was much harder, the strikes hitting everywhere with an intensity that had me up on my toes and struggling in his tight hold.

“I like my woman to have curves. I like my woman to have hips I can grip as I fuck her.”

I couldn’t help the cries that escaped my lips. It hurt! This wasn’t a simple lesson on my behavior; this was an all-out punishment. “I like my woman to have breasts that are a handful.” His hand stroked over the heated skin. “How can you question this?”

I tried to catch my breath as he paused. “Because I’m short and fat.”

His spanking began again and I scrunched up my face at the searing pain and fought against his grip on my wrist. “
Gara
,
how were you assessed for our match?”

His hand reached around and a thumb flicked over a gold ring. I sucked in a breath at the pleasure that elicited. Combined with the harsh sting of my bottom, my pussy clenched. My clit ached to be touched and I felt my thighs grow damp.

“They attached sensors and gave me something to trick my mind with visions. They made me look at hundreds of images. Then I slipped into a dream. When I woke, the match was done.”

Another round of spanking began, this time he shifted the strikes to hit the tops of my thighs. As he pushed them apart, the blows landed on the tender skin and I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

“I submitted to something similar. You are exactly as I want because my subconscious says so. Just as I am exactly what you want.”

As I sobbed, I thought about his words. My subconscious chose him. I hadn’t considered, until this very moment, that his had chosen me in return. A perfect match. Everything he wanted and desired in a lover and a mate. The idea that I was as physically perfect in his eyes as he was in mine? I couldn’t wrap my head around it. How could I be perfect if he had to keep spanking me?

Slowly and gently, he lifted me up and placed me before him. Using his thumbs, he wiped the tears from my cheeks. When my eyes cleared, I saw his dark eyes held tenderness “Enough talk. You were a good girl and took your punishment well. It is time to fuck my mate.”

Chapter Six

Tugging me forward, he pulled me onto his lap so I straddled him, my knees on either side of his thighs, taking care that my sore bottom didn’t get bumped.

Even through his clothing, his body radiated heat. This was the closest I’d been to him. Sure, he’d been deep inside me, but I hadn’t been able to see him, to look in his dark eyes, to see the desire there. He was giving me the opportunity to study him. Up close, I saw his nose had a slight crook in it, as if it had been broken at some point. With the odd medical device that had been used on the injured woman’s hand, it should have been easily fixed to perfection. Instead, he looked
imperfect.
He had full lips and I wondered what they would feel like against mine.

I doubted he would be a gentle kisser, but be as dominant with his mouth as with everything else. As I continued to think about him kissing me, he groaned, deep in his throat.

“That look,
gara.
It is my undoing.”

My gaze lifted to meet his. Between my parted legs I felt his cock, a rigid length that pressed against my pussy. If his pants weren’t in the way, surely he’d only need to shift his hips and he would be deep inside me.

“Do you… kiss?” He hadn’t kissed me, not once. He’d fucked me, made me scream, spanked me, and explored my body with his hands. But a kiss? I wanted to know how he tasted.

His dark brow arched and the corner of his mouth tipped up. A dimple formed in his cheek, almost hidden in the dark stubble. God, he was so handsome and he was mine. I couldn’t feel any more aroused if I tried. Surely his pants were soaked through because my pussy was dripping on them. Could he feel the heat from my bottom on his thighs?

I barely knew anything about Tark and he knew nothing of me, and what he did know was a lie. But elementally, we didn’t even need to be more than strangers, for I wanted him with an intensity I’d never known, never felt before. I was like the druggies who came into the hospital, strung out and desperate for another fix. My body craved his. I wanted another hit of the pleasure only he could give me. His scent was almost taunting, the feel of his taut muscles, the way he looked at me. I couldn’t question the validity of the match. The match was real. This attraction was real.

But I wouldn’t be staying here. When it was time to testify, I would return to Earth and he would be countless light-years away. I would be returning to a world where there was no one for me. No one as
right
as Tark.

I had about three months. While I would be leaving, that didn’t mean I couldn’t take advantage of all Tark had to offer—even if that meant punishment.

“Kiss?” Tark asked. He frowned for a moment. “Of course. You don’t?”

I darted a look to the side, then back at him. “Yes, but you’ve never kissed me, so I wasn’t sure.”

He sighed. “As I said, we are at Outpost Nine for the councilor meetings, which conflicts greatly with my desire to be with you. I am not free to devote myself to your pleasure, to learn your body the way I will once we return to the palace. Do you think I wish to be with a bunch of cranky and very opinionated men when I could be like this with you?”

His hands moved to my hips and stroked over them. The movement nudged my clit onto his cock and I moaned. The heat of the action was intense.

“I am coming to like that sound you make,” he murmured.

His eyes were on my mouth and I licked my lips.

His grip tightened as he watched the innocent action. He liked it. I did it again and he groaned.

“You are a bad girl.”

Before I could utter a reply, he leaned forward and claimed my mouth. For a man so big, so powerful and dominant in nature, the kiss was soft, gentle. For a few seconds, then it changed. It turned wickedly carnal as his lips claimed mine and his tongue delved deep as I gasped in surprise. He tasted like wine and decadent, dark male.

He could kiss. Boy, could he ever. It was like lighting fire with gasoline, instant explosion. Bright and hot and scorching in intensity. I’d been kissed before, but not like this. I’d been touched before, but Tark’s hands were so large that I felt contained, possessed, claimed. And he was only touching me with his hands and mouth. What would it be like when his cock wasn’t constrained in his pants but stretching me open, filling me up?

I reached up and cupped his head, afraid that if I didn’t hold onto him in some way, he might disappear. It was like the dream, the feel of him. This time, I was awake.

“I’m not… I’m not a bad girl,” I gasped, then let him claim my lips again.

After an interminable amount of time, he pulled his head back and looked at me, his eyes half lidded and dark as midnight. His lips were shiny from my kisses and his breathing was as ragged as mine. Power shot through me that I could do this to him, make him be this… insentient.

“Murder.” He only said the one word, but it was enough to remind me that, to him, I was a
very
bad girl.

“But—” I wanted to tell him the truth, that that was a lie, but he covered my lips with his fingers.

“Beauty. Fiery spirit. The most perfect pussy. Moans of pleasure. You wield your powers well.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his words.

“My power,
gara
, is over your pleasure. You may not come until I command.”

That shouldn’t be much of a problem, for I couldn’t come for a man. Well, I couldn’t come for a man before him.

“Tark—”

“Master.” His hands moved to lift the chain that dangled between us, twirled it around his finger to shorten it and force me closer until our lips touched. “You will call me master, for while your power has turned my cock as big and hard as a
trundle
’s horn, you will do as I say when it comes to fucking.”

His words, while lust-filled, held the bit of command, too.

“I’m the only one who can give you your pleasure, aren’t I?” he asked.

He tugged gently on the chain and I hissed out a breath as the painful pleasure jolted straight to my clit. How did he know I liked that?

“Yes… master.”

His eyes widened at the word from my lips. Calling him master hadn’t been as terrible as I’d expected. I was a doctor. I was an independent woman who considered no man her master. But when I said it in reference to Tark, it was different
.
He was most assuredly the master of my body, and I was content with that for now.

“Ah, perhaps you are a good girl after all. Let’s see about that. No coming,
gara.
Not until I command it.”

With one last tug, he let the chain go and reached between us to stroke over my pussy.

“So hot, so wet. Put your hands behind your head. Yes, like that. Now keep them there.”

I intertwined my fingers behind my neck, my elbows sticking out. This position also had my breasts thrust outward. He seemed to enjoy having me bound, but on his lap as I was, there was nothing to use to tie me. Forcing me to hold this position was like having invisible bonds and I clenched my inner walls at the thought. I could do nothing but what Tark bid.

He played with me for a bit, his fingers slipping over my folds, dipping inside and stroking—oh, God!—my G spot. He didn’t linger, but moved to circle my clit, tormenting me by not actually touching it, only building me up and up until I was about to come before pulling his hand away. Again and again he did that. I moved my hips into his hand, but every time I did so, he stopped. Then started again. Groaning, I remained still, briefly, until I couldn’t hold back any longer. My fingers started to slip, but with one arch of his dark brow, I tightened them against my neck. It was a cycle of complete torture and the look on Tark’s face—smug satisfaction—let me know his dominance was complete.

Every cell in my body screamed for release, and that was just from his skilled hands. I would surely die once he actually fucked me.

“Master, please,” I begged. My skin was slick with sweat, my throat dry, my nipples tight little pebbles, and my clit throbbed. Every part of my pussy ached for Tark’s cock.

Placing his hands back on my hips, he murmured, “Take out my cock.”

Lowering my hands, I eagerly did as he bid, sliding back on his thighs so I could reach between us and open his pants. Did all men from Trion not wear underwear or was it just him? His cock sprang free, tall and erect and pre-cum seeped from the tip. My eyes widened at the sight.

While I’d felt his cock as he’d fucked me the day before, I hadn’t seen it. I’d never seen one so big. It extended thick and a dark, ruddy red from a nest of dark hair. Bulging veins pulsed up the long length. A broad, flared crown capped it.
That
had fit inside of me?

I grasped the base of it firmly—my hand didn’t even close about it—and slid up, using my thumb to swipe away his visible sign of eagerness. I licked my lips, wondering what he tasted like. Salty? Musky? Surely pure, unadulterated male.