What he should be doing was handing Freya over to the sergeant and focusing on the governance of his colony. There again, he argued, downtime was important and if she gave him what he needed, he would be energized and ready to deal with anything.
There in the gloomy den, when he asked her to come with him, she’d not hesitated, he noted. “Take me then, sir,” she’d said.
He eased away from her, stepping back and letting her move away from the wall. His heel caught the edge of a box—the medicines.
“What did your friend need?” he asked.
“Antibiotics.”
He rummaged in the box and located a vial. One dose would be sufficient. “Her name?”
Freya chewed her lip. “She won’t get into trouble?”
He shook his head and she provided him with the details of the sick woman. As they passed the sergeant, who was barking orders at the shackled prisoners, demanding they lie on the ground until a larger transporter arrived, Marco handed him the vial and instructed him where to find Abby.
Freya looked pleased. What was it about the Earthling he found so appealing? Her generosity had affected him more deeply than he thought possible. Her courage was undeniable—she’d chosen to be a spy and risk her life for a cause. Everything he was learning about Freya, he liked.
He escorted her to the speeder—a round transport pod with a rotating disk that provided the lift to carry it up and over the building then onto the high plateau. An unusual pang of nerves hit him as the speeder took off. She sat opposite him, her head bowed and her legs crossed. She seemed locked down and unavailable. Was he making a mistake? He intended to spank her hard so as to make a point about her safety, and regardless of her protestations, he would see it through. However, afterwards, when the matter had been dealt with, what then? What if she refused to be his? Would he force her into the Volta as a captive or allow her to return to an uncertain future?
* * *
What the fuck was she doing? She’d screwed up in the den with Kiefer by allowing him too much sway over the negotiations. She’d ignored the risks and assumed she was dealing with somebody who gave a damn about her friend. Her morals existed on a different plane and what she had to do was accept that nobody could be trusted.
So why the hell had she agreed to be punished by the governor? Ever since he’d laid eyes on her naked body and forced out of her a stupendous orgasm, she wanted that moment back without the humiliation of the doctors watching. What she craved was the intimacy of his touch and the way he commanded her. It was ridiculous—what would her mentor think of her now that she’d caved in and shown no backbone? Whenever she’d failed a test, he would point out her errors, then tell her to go for a five-mile run. It worked; pounding the ground always helped flush out the bad vibes and usher in a better frame of mind. Was that why Marco was proposing a spanking? Would it have the same effect on her adrenaline-pumped body as a run?
She barely noticed the flight. It was brief, a matter of minutes, then when they entered the docking station, she slowly woke up to her surroundings.
“Wow,” she muttered as she stared up at the dome that protected the city.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” agreed Marco. “We have these domes wherever the outside climate is hostile. Feel the ambient temperature? Much cooler.”
The air was fresh, too. She inhaled a lungful. Flowers grew in pots, palm trees had been planted by an artificial pond, and all the buildings had reflective glass to bounce away the heat. The force field not only isolated the city from the rest of the colony, it cocooned
it in a protective layer and dimmed the bright sunlight to a tolerable level. Down in the sun-soaked canyon, hardly anyone stayed outside for long periods due to the risk of sunburn.
He took her hand, grasping it firmly. She hadn’t expected him to show an open display of affection. Should she be saying something?
He seemed content to lead her in silence to the administration building, which was where he had his headquarters. They followed the paths between the buildings. Called a city, it was no bigger than a village in size since it only provided accommodation for a few hundred soldiers and administrators. Yet, she was surprised by how many facilities there were in the city—a park, swimming pool, and a sports ground, which was packed with men engaged in competitive challenges.
“Why so many soldiers for this colony? It looks like most of them aren’t needed.”
Marco took his time answering. “This place isn’t just a penal colony. It’s a military outpost for a reserve force. Tagra is conveniently close to a wormhole. It means reinforcements can be quickly dispatched to other locations.”
She smiled. “You shouldn’t have told me that. I’m a spy, after all.”
He squeezed her hand. “I don’t think you will be able to do much with the information.”
The smile slipped off her face. Was she really never going to see Earth again? She still couldn’t believe it, she refused to believe it.
“Don’t ask so many questions, they get you into trouble.” It was a veiled warning, but unfortunately, curiosity was part of her nature.
He opened the double doors into his office and she gasped in amazement. The space seemed to occupy a promontory, an outcrop hanging over the gorge. Behind his desk was a vast panoramic view of the entire canyon floor. She reached out and touched the window, which spanned the width of the room and climbed several meters high. It was cool to her touch. Peering down, she had to steady herself. The drop was incredible and it was as if they were hovering in the air. She could see the people moving below, walking along the small river, the men in the fields who toiled in the heat to grow crops. They had at least had protective clothing. She tried to identify her accommodation block, but all the buildings looked the same from up high.
“Impressive, yes?” Marco tapped the window. “Feels like glass, but it isn’t. It’s generated by a force field. Nobody can see us as it looks metallic from the outside. So when I bend you over my desk and spank you, don’t worry about your ass being on display.”
She snatched her hand away from the window and felt the heat rush into her cheeks and neck. “You’re still going to punish me?”
“Of course. I said I would and I’m a man of my word. I want to do this properly. When you are punished by me, you must do as I say.”