Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (12 page)

“Oh,” Charlie said in a small voice. Stavros had the look of a man who was going to his doom and knew it. That look spoke to her…moved her somehow. She knew it was ridiculous but in the few hours she’d know him, she had begun to feel…what? What did she feel for him? Not trust exactly—she didn’t trust any man. But
something,
anyway. She felt something for him—something that made her sad to see him go, sad to think that he might be leaving to go to his death.

Don’t be stupid,
she told herself.
He took you prisoner, abducted you and brought you up to the damn Mother Ship. Why should you feel anything but loathing for him?

But the fact was, she did feel something for him—even if she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

“I should go.” He glanced at the watch-looking thing strapped to his wrist. “The Council meeting is in ten minutes.”

“Of course. Don’t let me keep you.” Charlie sat back, away from him, trying to keep her voice cool. “Good luck. Unless your mission has something to do with hurting Earth. In which case, I hope to hell you don’t succeed.”

Stavros cupped her cheek in one large, warm palm. Deep blue eyes looked into hers and she found that for some reason she couldn’t look away.

“I would never do anything to hurt you or your people, Charlie,” he murmured. “I hope you know that.”

“I…” She wasn’t sure what to say. But before she could think of anything, he kissed her lightly on the forehead and was gone.

Chapter Nine

“None of this is your fault,
Lasai.”
Six was sprawled on the couch, his long legs stretched out towards the fireplace, watching as Mei-Li paced back and forth in the living area of their suite.

“Are you kidding? It’s
all
my fault.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “My father started the war and then I made it worse by ignoring the message from the Goddess. The whole world is in a big mess and
I’m
the one who caused it.”

“Don’t you think you are being somewhat hard on yourself?” Six rumbled, watching her pace.

“No, I don’t. I think I’m not being hard enough.” Ever since she’d screwed up the warning she was supposed to give Sylvan about the demonic Ur, Mei-Li hadn’t been able to forgive herself. And now that Ur, the demon from a horrible place called the Black Planet, was inside Two, the head of the Collective, the group of thinking machines that wanted to conquer Earth, she couldn’t stop feeling like something terrible was going to happen.
And when it does, it will be all my fault,
she thought morosely.
Completely
all my fault.

Six sighed and she felt bad at once. He was probably tired of trying to reassure her. They’d only been together a few days officially and she’d spent most of that time guilt-tripping—it wasn’t exactly the perfect honeymoon.

But then he surprised her by saying, “All right, suppose it
is
all your fault.”

“
Six!”
She rounded on him, wide-eyed. “Look, I know you’re still getting used to dealing with emotions again but let me tell you, that is
not
the way to reassure your girlfriend. Or mate…or bride…or whatever you want to call me.”

“I call you
mine,”
he growled softly. “And I meant what I said. If we go by the premise that all the Earth’s troubles are your fault as you claim, then something must be done about it.”

“Something must be done? What are you talking about?” Mei-Li frowned at him. “
What
can be done?”

“Have you heard of the Kindred Law of Conduct?” Reaching out one long arm, Six caught her by the wrist and pulled her down into his lap. “Well?” he demanded.

“No, I haven’t. What is it?” Mei-Li stared at him uncertainly. He had a strange look in his steel gray eyes she hadn’t seen before.

“It is a law which states every warrior is responsible for the good behavior of his bride and gives him the right to punish her if she commits a crime.”

“Are you saying you want to
punish
me?” Mei-Li gave him an incredulous look. “I don’t think so.” She started to get off his lap but Six pulled her back, his grip on her arm firm and unbreakable.

“I think that I must,” he said, giving her a stern look. “If I do not, you will simply keep punishing yourself. And that is not good for your emotional health.”

“What do you know about emotional health?” Mei-Li demanded. “You can’t lecture me about that. And you
certainly
can’t punish me.”

“Under the Law of Conduct, I am permitted to do so,” Six insisted.

“I don’t think so.” She tried to get up again but he pulled her back down. But this time instead of sitting her on his lap, he turned her over his knee.

“Hey!” Mei-Li protested as he raised the hem of her dress. She was wearing the red wrap dress she’d made for herself on Zeaga Four and a pair of lacy black underwear underneath. Ever since she’d seduced Six into bonding with her, he’d had a liking for lacy under-things so she tried to always have on something sexy under her clothes. But never in her wildest dreams had she imagined him seeing her panties like this. “Stop it!” she protested. “What are you doing?”

“Punishing you.” Gripping the top of her panties, Six pulled them down, baring her ass completely.

Mei-Li struggled in his lap, trying to get free but it was useless, he had one heavy forearm—his metal enhanced one—across her back and waist holding her down. Try as she might, there was no way she could fight against his superior weight and strength.

“I mean it, Six—don’t do this,” she said through gritted teeth. “Even as child I never got spanked—my parents thought it was barbaric and I agree! Don’t you
dare
touch me—I’ll never forgive you if you do!”

“And you will never forgive
yourself
if I do not,” he growled. “Get ready,
Lasai—
this will hurt.”

His broad palm fell with a loud
smack,
causing her bare bottom to quiver as a bright red pain raced through her nerve endings.

“Ouch!” Mei-Li cried, jumping in his lap. She almost wiggled free but then Six tightened his grip on her and spanked her again.

“This…is…your…punishment,” he said, speaking each word deliberately between the blows of his palm connecting with her stinging ass. “It…pays…for…everything…you…think…you’ve…done wrong.”

“Ow! Ow, ow,
ow!”
Mei-Li gasped. Though she didn’t want to cry, the sharp, stinging blows brought tears to her eyes anyway. “Stop!” she begged. “Six, please!”

He paused for a moment. “Do you feel the pain,
Lasai?
Do you understand what you’ve done to earn it?”

“I…I do,” she gasped through her tears. “I should’ve listened to the…to the Goddess. I should have been able…able to make my father see. But I can’t…I can’t…”

“You can’t change it now,” Six said simply. “What’s done is done. Must I whip you some more or have you been punished enough?”

Her bottom still stinging, Mei-Li choked on a sob.

“I…I don’t know. I didn’t meant to be bad, Six. I just…I couldn’t…”

“You’ve been punished enough, I think,” he rumbled. His grip on her loosened but Mei-Li didn’t have the strength to slide out of his grasp. She just lay there across his lap sobbing as all the pain and guilt of the past several days overwhelmed her and rushed through her.

“I’ve been bad…so bad,” she sobbed miserably. “But I’m sorry…so, so
sorry.”

Then she felt something soft and warm against her stinging buttocks that made her pause in mid-sob.

“Six?” she whispered, sniffing as she felt it again.

“Hold still,
Lasai,”
he murmured, kissing her once more. “I must sooth the pain I have given you.”

“You…you don’t have to do that,” she said as he continued kissing her, his mouth moving lower and lower down the curve of her bare ass.

“I want to.” His deep voice was little more than a growl. “Now that your punishment is over, I want to make you feel better—want to make you feel good. Spread your legs for me, Mei-Li and let me make you feel good.”

“Oh, I…” She gave a little gasp as he raised her hips and pulled her panties down even further. Soon the twisted wisp of black lace was down around one of her ankles and Six was pressing his face between her legs, kissing her from behind.

“Hold still,” he growled when she tried to close her legs. “Open wide and let me sooth your ache,
Lasai.
Or do I have to punish you again?”

“No,” Mei-Li whispered, biting her lip. “No I…I guess I’ve been punished enough.”

“Good. Because now I wish to pleasure you.”

He pressed his face between her thighs, his long tongue seeking her core. Mei-Li gasped and pressed her pelvis back to meet him instinctively when he found her pussy, already hot and wet and ready for his invasion.

Big, warm hands cupped her still-stinging ass cheeks and broad thumbs spread her outer pussy lips, revealing her sensitive inner cunt to his seeking tongue. Mei-Li gasped and grabbed the arm of the couch as his lips met her slippery inner petals and he began lapping eagerly at her exposed pussy.

“Six!” she cried softly when the tip of his tongue found her throbbing clit and began to circle it mercilessly. Hazily she thought that it was incredible that she could go from such extremes of emotion so quickly. From anger and incredulity that he would dare to spank her, to pain and tearful guilt as he did the deed, to overheated lust as he “soothed her ache” after finishing the punishment. It seemed crazy and impossible and yet here she was, panting and pressing back against him as his tongue traced magical patterns in her most sensitive flesh.
God
, he was good at this!

Just as she felt herself right on the edge of coming, he flipped her over and sat her on his lap, straddling his hips. His mouth was shiny with her juices and his steel gray eyes were blazing with desire.

“What…?” Mei-Li literally wasn’t sure which end was up anymore. She only knew she was aching with unfulfilled need and he had stopped right before she was about to come.

“Apologies,” he rasped, his deep voice rough. “I know you weren’t finished but I wanted to feel you coming around my shaft.” As he spoke, he pressed up, rubbing the hard ridge of his cock, still encased in his tight leather trousers, against her open pussy.

“God, Six,!” Mei-Li moaned.

“I will take that for a yes,” he growled.

Quickly he untied her dress and spread it open, revealing the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Since her breasts were quite small, she often went without, a fact that seemed to excite Six.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, pulling her down so that he could suck one small, sensitive nipple into his mouth.

Mei-Li moaned as sparks of pleasure ran through her, jumping straight from her tight peaks to the hot, aching spot between her thighs. Six sucked her other nipple too, taking as much of her breast into his warm, wet mouth as he could and then she felt something hard and long brushing her thighs.

Looking down she saw that he had freed his thick shaft and it was rising between them like club of flesh. Eagerly, she took it in her hand, loving the heated steel and velvet texture. Soon it was Six’s turn to moan as she stroked him up and down, using a leisurely pace to tease him into submission as he had teased her with his tongue.

“Mmm,” he growled as she slid her hand over his hot flesh. “I cannot wait to be inside you. Can’t wait to feel your sweet, wet pussy gripping my shaft.”

“I can’t wait either,” Mei-Li panted. She fit the broad, plum-shaped head of his cock to her entrance and started to push down, allowing him to fill her.

At once the familiar stretching sensation began—the feeling that he was
almost
too big for her. But it felt so good to have him in her, she didn’t want to stop. Six was plainly eager too but he kept his big hands on her hips, guiding her carefully, not wanting to hurt her. At last she felt him bottom out inside her and knew that the broad head of his cock was kissing the mouth of her womb.

“Mmm,” she moaned as she settled more firmly into his lap. “God, you feel so good inside me…”

“And you feel incredible wrapped around my shaft,” Six growled. “But I need to know something, Mei-Li…” His big hands circled her hips, gripping her firmly and keeping her from moving any more.

“Wh-what?” she asked breathlessly, looking into his eyes. He looked so serious—so almost stern. It was a little frightening.

“I have to know if you need me to punish you any more.” Drawing out slowly, he gave a hard, deep, deliberate thrust that sent a bolt of painful pleasure through her, making her gasp.