Chapter Three
Most of Jade’s friends back on her home-world, Malimor, enjoyed swimming or ball games. Jade was different. When she was a teenager, she’d spent her free time in the anti-grav stadium practicing her acrobatics. It beat getting wet any day. She loved spinning or somersaulting, floating in midair and feeling weightless. Short spells were fun, but long durations meant exiting the facility with weak legs.
Mason wasn’t quick enough. The moment she realized the gravity stability system had malfunctioned, she pushed off the wall and shot down the corridor. She immediately lost the towel. It didn’t matter as she only had a small window of opportunity to escape and she wasn’t going to lose it. If she made it to the docking bay where her ship was held, she might be able to disable the lock and free Stealth.
She dived forward, using any available surface to propel herself forward. Keeping her body flat and streamlined, she navigated the corridors. She’d a good memory for the layout of different ships, including the interceptor. Her friends thought her fascination for spacecraft and mechanics was crazy. However, Jade had ignored their sniggers and concentrated on learning what she needed to know.
One last corner and she’d be there. Her jaw dropped in horror as she flew into the docking area. Waiting for her was Mason. He bobbed up and down, one hand gripping part of the ceiling, the other pinching his hipbone in a display of displeasure. He’d beaten her to it. How?
“Ventilation shaft,” he answered her silent question. He’d crawled in a direct line from where they’d parted company and removed the cover panel, which was floating nearby.
Jade cursed. She’d forgotten about the network of tubes infiltrating the walls. Mason, even with his bulk, had used them effectively to reach the docking bay first. She tried to pivot but inertia had drained her mobility. The effort to regain momentum had been lost and Mason had the advantage. He easily grabbed her ankle and dragged her back toward him.
“I thought you understood the arrangement, Jade,” he said. “You are a captured fugitive. There is nowhere for you to run.”
“Get off me, you… you… jumped-up bounty hunter,” she snarled.
His eyes narrowed into slits. “Don’t compare me to those scumbags. This is my job. I’m not a hunter.”
“It’s what you are.”
Mason gathered her around the waist and drew her closer. In the rush to escape, she’d forgotten her nudity, but not any longer. She was conscious of her skin brushing against his jacket, the closeness of his breath on her back and the loose strands of her hair fl
oating past her face. He tipped her over his bent knee, which he’d drawn up, and held her fast with a giant loop of his arm. The pair of them slowly spun as she waved her arms around, swimming unproductively in the weightless air.
“Keep still,” he barked.
“Why?”
“I’m teaching you about respect.”
The smack, rather than striking her buttock, skated against it in a failed attempt at a slap. Mason delivered another one on the other cheek and it collided with her more than struck her. In any other situation, she might have laughed. However, humiliated by her nakedness and his desire to chastise her in such an intimate way, she balked as best she could by flailing her limbs and screeching.
“Let me go!”
Mason’s efforts at spanking her continued, but almost in slow motion and the pair of them rolled down the corridor, knocking against the walls and ceiling.
“This wouldn’t be necessary if you did as you were told.” Mason spoke breathlessly. His latest slap sent them spiraling along and to her surprise, it hurt given the apparent lack of force. Probably because in the absence of a gravity field he could smack her upside down and it made no difference to the energy needed. What caused him problems was his aim. Every smack batted them into a new location.
“Damn, this isn’t working.” He halted his wayward spanking; some of the smacks had landed on her thighs or on the side of her ass cheeks. “I’m going to have to postpone this punishment. I’ll have to lock you in a cell until I can fix the gravity system.”
“You have cells?” She twisted on his knee, peering up at his annoyed expression. It hadn’t crossed her mind he would have an alternative method for holding her incarcerated. If she could convince him… “I’ll fix the gravity system for you,” she blurted.
He propped his broad shoulders against a wall, and keeping a grip on her arms, lifted her to face him. “Why would you do that?”
“Promise to keep me out of stasis and I’ll restore it. I’m a Class B mechanic. That’s why they recruited me to run solo trips to Kalamar. I can make my own repairs.” She stared into his opaque eyes, while behind her back she crossed her fingers.
“No stasis,” he repeated. “Lock you up for the duration of the trip? The cells are hardly comfortable. If you slept the whole way, you’d not know a thing.”
She gritted her teeth. “I just don’t like the idea of being frozen, okay?”
“Where I come from feeling cold is the norm,” he smirked slightly, then wiped away the expression when she frowned. “It’s quite painless and—”
Masking her irritation, she opted for courtesy. “Please, Marshal, I know how to fix this and I’d be grateful if you take my offer into consideration.”
He loosened his grip on her arms, but didn’t soften his expression. “If you make mischief for me, young lady, your ass will be punished. You’re already owed one spanking for tricking me back there.”
She glanced down at her naked body and grimaced. “Probably not the best plan of escape. I’d rather be dressed.”