The Commander's Slave Read Online Free Page B

she
interrupted, raising her voice. “All I remember is wandering around
before being picked up by that group of natives.” She put a hand to
her forehead, and her mane of hair fell forward, obscuring part of
her face. “There was a wreckage. I remember seeing it burn,
smelling it. But I don’t know where it was from.”
    He looked at her golden skin. “Do you know where you’re from?”
    By the Creator, he would consider
himself the luckiest man in the galaxy if he could find a planet of
women just like her.
    She shook her head.
    It was improbable, but not unheard of.
Tangus had lots of contact with people who had suffered trauma
after a life-or-death event. He knew it did strange things to the
mind. Pressuring her was probably the worst thing he could do at
this stage.
    “ So you crash-landed on
Helson V? Not a very good choice, I’d say.”
    “ No,” she
agreed.
    “ Well, if you don’t have a
name, I suppose I’ll have to give you one.”
    “ Give me …?”
    “ What else would I call
you? ‘You there’? ‘Woman’? ‘Personal slave’ has a nice ring to it,
but I don’t think it would be very useful outside these
quarters.”
    Of course. Lest she forget exactly
what her circumstances were, she should bear in mind that this man
had paid money, a lot of money, for her.
    “ How does Asha
sound?”
    Asha? She rolled it around her mind a
few times. Asha. It wasn’t a bad name, soft, soothing. She supposed
it would do until her own memory returned. She nodded but said
nothing, and Tangus looked satisfied.
    “ Good. Asha it
is.”
    She returned to her meal, finishing it
before finally voicing the question that had been haunting her.
“What do you want with me?”
    He, too, laid down his dining
utensils, taking his time to fill their glasses with a light wine
before answering.
    “ Considering how we spent
the afternoon, I thought that would be obvious.”
    “ You said ‘slave’ before.
Is that what I am to you?”
    Again, it wasn’t the words but the
tone in her voice that set him on edge. As if she was somehow
superior to him, and she knew it.
    “ When a man pays good money
for a piece of flesh and then commands it to pleasure him, more
people than not would say that’s a slave.”
    She turned her face away but not
before he saw a flash of anger cross her features. He was surprised
to find himself amused.
    “ Finish your wine,” he
instructed softly, a sudden vision overtaking his other
senses.
    “ I don’t think
….”
    “ I said, finish your
wine.”
    Asha already knew that tone of voice.
With trembling fingers, she lifted the glass and emptied it,
sending the liquid’s light bubbles coursing down her
throat.
    “ Shall we attempt a
dessert?” he suggested, tugging her to her feet and pushing her
back. She retreated, step by step, until she felt the wall at her
back. But he still kept advancing, skimming the sides of her body
with his hands, cupping her buttocks, pressing himself against
her.
    “ You need to understand one
thing, Asha,” he whispered harshly. “I bought you, and now I own
you. Whatever I tell you to do, you do, willingly and obediently.
Do you understand?”
    She felt his hardness grind against
her, and by the Gods, she wanted him again. “Yes,” she
breathed.
    “ Until I’m through with
you. Until I’ve taught you every trick to pleasure me.
Understand?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ We continue your lesson,”
he ground out. “No hands.” And he pulled her back to the bumpy
platform. Only instead of pushing her down onto its firm surface,
he instructed her to kneel while he secured her hands above her.
Then, after stripping off his pants and kneeling on the platform
himself, he took her head between his hands and kissed
her.
    There was nothing gentle about the
kiss. It was a sign of conquest, of domination, making sure she
completely understood exactly how helpless she was. His hot tongue
thrust into her, and his hands held her immobile while he explored
every inch of