At the end of the third day, he finished work early. He had only one wish in on his mind—to fill her with his seed. Leaving Adris bemused by his urgency to hurry home, Galen took a speed shuttle, one of the most expensive that zoomed above the city on the highest routes. Within minutes, he was home.
He waved aside his servants, who leapt toward him when he entered his house. He tossed his tunic into the arms of one of them, barking orders about not being disturbed.
“Where is she?”
“She is at her studies, sir,” Bisma said before he dismissed her too.
Zara was bent over his desk with her chin propped on her hands, elbows resting on the surface. She jumped up, knocking the seat flying with her abrupt movement.
“Sir, I…” she said, flustered, her cheeks flushed and her eyes brightening.
He snatched her hand as it wavered above the console and drew her toward him.
“I want you,” he growled. He ached inside his belly. An increasingly familiar form of neediness.
Her pupils widened as he pushed her back against the wall. He tore the seam of her shirt down her front, exposing her breasts and nipples. With no need to ask her—she couldn’t lie anyway given the prominence of the tattoo?
??he sucked on one hard pebble and rolled the other between his finger and thumb. She moaned and flattened her palms against the wall.
He straightened up, breathless and barely in control. “What is this disease you have infected me with,” he demanded. “Do you feel it too?”
She nodded, licking her lips. “I do.”
“You’ll stay in my bed from now on. So that I can touch you, feel you whenever I wish. Your body there next to mine, bound to the bed, ready to use for my pleasure.”
Her throat tightened; he saw the lines of strictures as she attempted to swallow. He made her nervous. Excited. Turned on. He liked watching how she responded to his dominance. However, she needed more than that. “Then,” he said, softening his tone, “I shall bathe you, hold you, and you shall sleep in my arms. Won’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“And if you disobey me, I shall spank you hard. Long enough for you to endure my displeasure. Swift enough for you to learn strength and courage. These are the true qualities of submission. You will honor me with them, as Astra did.”
“I will,” she said, her cheeks blushing.
He pulled off her shirt, tossing the shreds onto the floor at her feet. He stepped back to admire her body. She was ready for him and he’d only been in the room a few minutes. He reached down to release his cock and, out of the corner of his eyes, spied the console and the words filling the screen.
Galen turned away from her and bent lower to read them.
“Sir, I was just…” She charged forward, but he pushed her back with his hand.
“What is this?” he asked. “This is not part of your studies.”
“It came up by mistake.”
She lied. He tapped on the screen. She was attempting to access a messaging service. It should not have been easy to do.
He spun around. “Are you a spy?” he snarled. “Is this an elaborate trick on the part of humans?”
She slipped to her knees, her skin turning pale with every passing second. “No, please. I’m not a spy. I’m sorry. I should have asked. I miss my family,” she sobbed, her shoulders hunched and face hidden by her hands.
He reached to pry them away from her face. The tears were genuine, as was her distress.
“You wish to contact them?”
She hiccoughed. “I’ve not spoken to them in weeks. They will worry. I worry about them, too.”
“Weeks? That is hardly any time to fret over such things.” The Vendu maintained few family ties once they came of age.
“It is our way,” she said clearly.