Assigned a Mate (3 page)

Adorned? Surprisingly, the nipple piercings didn’t hurt, even though they were brand new. Surely they would be sore. When I was ten I’d had my ears pierced and it had taken well over a month for the holes to heal. I felt no pain now, only a slight pulling on them because of the weight of the chain. It was slight, but constant… and arousing. My nipples tightened and I gasped, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Welcome to Trion. I am Tark, your new master, and you are in the med unit at Outpost Nine. I brought you here to see the doctor after your transfer, for you did not wake.” The one on the right spoke, his voice deep and somehow familiar. His dark eyes met mine and held. I couldn’t look away, nor did I want to, for I felt… something. No man on Earth ever looked at me in such an intense way. It was as if he were claiming me solely with his eyes.

Why would his voice sound familiar? Odd, but I shook that thought away as impossible. He glanced at one of the other men, then looked at me again, clearly and intently. “This is Goran, my second-in-command.” The other man nodded to me. He appeared younger than Tark and an inch or two shorter, but no less powerful of build. “And this is Bron, the doctor stationed here at Outpost Nine.”

The third man offered a slight head tilt as well and remained silent. He didn’t keep his eyes on mine as Tark did, but let them rove over my body. I shifted my hands to cover myself better, but knew he could see
everything
.

All three wore black pants, but while the other two men wore black shirts, Tark’s was gray. The cut was similar to what Earth men wore, yet I’d never seen such broad shoulders or well-defined bodies. These were strong men and their clothing only accentuated that.

Tark was the only man who spoke to me. “Evelyn Day, you have been matched to me by the interplanetary treaty. While I have been assured of your wellness, the transfer could have harmed you. You were asleep for more time
than anticipated. Bron will examine you for any damage. Up.”

He held out his large hand for me to take. I eyed it, then him, carefully. Warily.

“Examine me?” I asked, my eyes widening further. I could hear the rush of blood in my ears and I began to pant. “There’s… there’s no need. As you said, I’m just… small.”

He took a step closer, kept his hand out. “I disagree. I take care of what’s mine.”

Patiently, he waited, then sighed.

“I understand an Earth prison was your alternative. I am pleased with your choice, for out of all the possible mates in the Interplanetary Treaty, your subconscious needs were best matched to our way of life. It seems we are to give each other exactly what we both need.”

He paused and I let those words sink in. Would he give me what I needed? How could he, when what I needed was to go home, testify, and get my old life back?

He reached forward and ran his knuckles down my cheek. “Your past is unimportant,
gara.
You are mine now, and you must obey me in all things.” His voice dropped lower and his tone said that he would not be denied.

I frowned, not pleased with his words, but the tender touch had me off-kilter.

I took his hand because I had no choice. It was so big, my palm engulfed by his. The touch was warm, the clasp gentle, but I doubted he’d let me tug away. I couldn’t get past the men if I wished to run, and if I did evade them, I still didn’t even know where I was. The only way to return to Earth was through the transporter, and they wouldn’t take me to a transport outpost, nor did I know how to operate one. I was well and truly stuck with
him.
At least until I was called back to testify. The prosecutor said that it could take months, however.
Months
with this man on a strange planet? I gulped.

He helped me to my feet and I swayed, the chain dangling from my breasts shifting as well. I stood on what felt like a sheet of thin gray flooring. It did not cover the entire space, for sand ringed it all the way to the walls. Sand? Were we in the desert? Was that why it was warm, why their skin was so nicely tanned? The sight of my bare feet next to three sets of boots looked odd.

The walls were opaque. Lights on stands around the room cast a soft glow.

I put my free hand up to stop the motion. He steadied me as I tilted my head back, way back, to meet his gaze. “What… what are you going to do with me?”

His dark eyes searched my face, then moved lower down my body. I flushed, knowing he—and the others—could see everything.

“You are the first we have seen from Earth and I must have a closer look.” The doctor’s gaze roved over my body just as Tark’s had, but he made me feel… exposed and dirty. I knew that look. Lecherous men, it seemed, were not limited to Earth.

I moved to stand slightly behind Tark, using him as a shield. His scent lifted from his shirt and it was intoxicating. Clean, sharp and with a hint of something mysterious. Whatever it was, I liked it. Was it because we’d been matched?

“I do not need to be examined and you most certainly won’t have a closer look. I am well, or they would not have sent me. I am also not a science experiment. I am a mate.” I tipped my chin up and firmed my voice, but I was at the mercy of these men. I had no idea if the term mate held any sort of status on Trion, but surely no man would allow another to
examine
his mate for enjoyment alone.

I didn’t look up, but I could see that Tark glanced from me to the two men before me.

“You allow her to speak to me in such a way?” Bron asked Tark, his expression venomous toward me.

Tark’s other hand clenched into a fist. “Shall I allow you to examine
my
mate with a cock stand in your pants?”

The man shifted himself and had the decency to look embarrassed.

Tark lifted his hand in a dismissive wave and I felt more than heard a growl deep in his chest. “Goran, take him out of here. I will check my mate on my own.”

Goran nodded and grabbed the doctor’s arm, tugging him away. With one last narrowed glance over his shoulder, Bron was led out of the tent through a flap on the far wall. I briefly saw the shapes of other tents, but the view was quickly blocked once again.

Now alone with me, Tark turned to look down on me, a towering warrior hungry for his bride. I couldn’t believe this man was my mate. While I’d dreamed of finding someone special, it was quite different to know in advance that he was
the one.
There was no dating, no courtship to discover common interests and compatibility. It was actually very unnerving. Add to that, I was on a new planet halfway across the galaxy!

I could hear things through the thin walls: voices, odd mechanical noises, unusual sounds that had to come from animals. Perhaps horses? What kind of animals did they have on Trion?

“What Bron said is true. You are not to speak to him in such a way.”

My eyes widened. “He wasn’t acting as a doctor should,” I countered.

He took a moment, as if considering. “You are new here and therefore I will take that into account regarding your punishment.”

“Punish—”

He raised a hand and cut me off. “Impertinence is not allowed.”

I frowned. “
He
was the one who was impertinent.”

Tark rolled his shoulders back and appeared to have grown an inch. “Who is being impertinent now?”

He took two steps with his long legs to a simple, short bench. It appeared to be made of wood, but I had no idea if that was true. Did they even have trees on Trion?

When he sat down, he held out his hand. “Come.”

I looked at his fingers, long and blunt, but did not move. “Why?”

“I will give you your first lesson about Trion.”

That seemed reasonable considering I had only been on the planet for about five minutes. I closed the distance between us. Before I knew what had happened, he grabbed me about the waist and placed me over his lap. I was not a small woman and he did the maneuvering as if I were a petite waif.

My hips were over his hard thighs, my upper body bent toward the gray flooring, my breasts hanging down. The chain that dangled between them brushed against the floor. My toes touched the floor and I tried to push up.

“What are you doing?” I cried, the blood rushing to my head. “Let me up!”

Tark placed a warm hand at the small of my back to hold me on his lap and as I tried to kick, he hooked my ankles with one of his legs.

“Settle,
gara.
I expected you to have a punishment lesson soon enough, but not this quickly.”

“Punishment?” I shouted. “I thought you said you were going to teach me about Trion!”

“I am. Starting with this.”

I heard the crack of his hand against my bottom before I felt it. The sharp sting of it sizzled across my bare flesh.

“Tark! Cut it out, you overbearing… jerk!”

He spanked me again. And again. Each time his large palm struck, it was in a new spot. Soon enough my skin felt as if it were on fire, stinging and hot.

I was breathing hard, my hair falling down over my face and I swiped to get it out of the way. On one decidedly hard smack of his hand, I reached back and tried to cover my bottom. Instead of deterring him, he only circled my wrists in his free hand and continued.

“Are you ready to listen… with your mouth closed?” he asked, stroking over my heated skin. Surely it was bright red and swollen.

Afraid to say a word, I just nodded my head, then slumped down across his lap.

“Ah,
gara.
Your submission is a pleasure to see.” Before I could even begin to think about that statement, he continued. “We speak with deference here on Trion. I believe it is also referred to as manners.”

I tugged a strand of hair out of my mouth as I realized Tark considered me mannerless. What did he think, that Earth was full of heathens?

“It is not for you to argue with the doctor. It is my job to do so in your stead. He was impertinent, as you said, but it was my job as your mate to defend your honor. To defend your position as a woman in this society. To protect you. When you spoke out of turn, you took that from me, thus dishonoring me as well.”

It was a tad antiquated, but I could understand the logic. I stroked my fingers over the smooth flooring. Having a conversation with my face near the floor was odd, but so was being spanked. Well, so was being on Trion for that matter. “You mean that I am to defer to you?”

“Are you familiar with the ways and customs of Trion?”

I shook my head.

“Are you familiar with me?”

I shook my head again.

“Doctor Bron or the examination he was going to give?”

“No,” I replied.

“If I were to appear on Earth, wouldn’t you wish to speak for me, to help guide me as I learned my way?”

I clenched my teeth again and hated that his reasoning was not unfounded.

“Yes.”

He released his hold on my wrists and helped me to stand before him, close enough to be situated between his spread knees. My bottom was hot and stung from the spanking. His size was great enough that his eyes were not in line with my breasts. That did not mean that I did not feel any less exposed and vulnerable, even more so now that he pointed out the error of my ways.

“I need to check your implant.”

His words stirred me from my thoughts. I was surprised that he could switch to another topic so readily. He’d meted out my punishment and it was time to move on?

“I assume your neuroprocessor is working properly, since you seem to understand everything said to you.”

I frowned. “What?” What was he talking about? What neuroprocessor?

“Do not be afraid, small one.” I was average height and at least two dress sizes bigger than the medical charts on Earth said I should be. I was not
small
,
but standing in front of my new mate, I felt almost tiny, and very, very female.

Tark lifted his hands to my head and ran his fingers up the sides of my face to the top of each temple, just above my eyes. He must have found what he was looking for because when he applied a very small amount of pressure, I felt two foreign bumps pressing into the bone of my skull. It wasn’t painful, but definitely odd.

“What is that?” The moment Tark removed his hands, I lifted my own shaking fingers to the same spots and felt the small bumps beneath my skin.

“They are advanced neuroprocessing units, or NPUs. All advanced member races of the Interstellar Bride Program have them implanted at birth. The NPU increases your brain’s ability to process and learn language and mathematics, and improves memory. We are speaking now in my planet’s common tongue, which was downloaded to your NPU before you arrived.”

Holy shit. I was a cyborg or something now?

“I have alien technology implanted in my head? Are there little wires running to my brain cells? How did the NPU system integrate and communicate with the organic tissue?” My medically trained mind had a hundred questions and no answers.

Tark’s eyes widened and his lip quirked. “Aren’t you the curious one?”

Instead of answering my questions, he glanced at the table in the middle of the room. “Lie down again, Evelyn Day.” His voice was still deep, but lacked the biting edge he’d had when spanking me.

I couldn’t avoid my mate or what he planned to do to me. I could try, but decided against it because my bottom was very sore and still suffering the consequences of my previous actions. While the doctor had pricked my ire, Tark made me feel something else entirely. I wasn’t happy that he’d spanked me—absolutely not—but he did make a clear argument and I
had
been in the wrong. I liked that he’d given the punishment, then moved on. I, too, felt I should move on from it as well. Learn from it, of course, for I didn’t wish to go through that again. I reached back and gently rubbed my hot skin.

Odd. There was something about him, his power, his protectiveness—he had protected me from the doctor—and his dominance that was very appealing. Looking at how well his large body was defined in his dark clothes, I wanted to please him. Besides that, I itched to run my hands over his arms to feel his biceps, over his broad shoulders, down his chest. Surely his abdominals would be hard and well defined. And lower…