Mason smiled, a strangely warming smile. “Let’s make sure you don’t change your mind again. You can fix the grav system, but, no clothes.”
“What!”
“Once you’ve repaired the system, you can dress. This way, I can make sure you’re not hiding anything from me.”
“What exactly would I hide from you?”
“Small tools in deep pockets. The kind that come in handy for escaping. Wouldn’t you find a decoder useful for decrypting the docking lock?” He tapped her nose, infuriating her, because he was right on all counts. She’d hoped to sneak off with something she might use later. “Since I’ve searched you once, it would save you the embarrassment of stripping again for another one. Let’s go, shall we?”
“And afterwards, you’ll let me stay in a cell?”
He pursed his lips. “Okay. It’s against protocols, but, I’m thinking you’re the kind of girl who always goes against protocols.”
She smiled, proud of her reputation. “Damn right,” she muttered.
Once in the engineering hub, she wedged herself beneath a console and removed a panel. Throughout her inspection, she muttered to herself, grizzling at her situation, especially the ongoing nudity clause he’d enacted. Mason, who hadn’t given her any privacy, watched from the other side of the room, his leg hooked around a stool. Like on all spaceships, furniture was bolted to the floor.
The lack of gravity hampered her efforts. Tools kept floating away and she felt uncoordinated. Finally, she removed the damaged circuit. It would have to be replaced, and fortunately there was a spare one. She slotted the new one in, and instantly she felt the tickle of static creep down her spine. Then she dropped to the floor like a stone.
“Ow!”
Mason dashed across the room. “Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling next to her.
His concern came out of nowhere, or had it? Apart from the spanking, he hadn’t done anything to harm her and he had taken special care not to hurt her during the strip search. A rise of hot blood flushed her cheeks. Thinking about the exam wasn’t a good idea. It led her into a network of confused emotions.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, a little too rudely. She swallowed. “I meant to say…” It was too late. She’d offended him again with her curtness.
Mason’s eyebrows furrowed in an obvious display of displeasure and he rose. “Good. Let’s get this over with then.”
Jade stood. “What?”
“The rest of your punishment.”
“But… but, I fixed the problem,” she said, astounded.
He took her hand, enveloping her slender digits in his, and led her toward the same stool he’d used to anchor his leg. She could try to pull away, claw at his arm and hit him, punch him, but she didn’t. A peculiar sensation of meekness followed in his footsteps. He led, she followed. It was crazy, feeling like this for no obvious reason.
“And I’m very pleased you did. However, the other problems, the escape attempt and your rudeness haven’t been fixed.” He sat, his lap wide and supportive, and tugged on her arm.
Her lower lip trembled with indignation. “You’re going to put me in stasis, aren’t you?”
Directing her head first over his lap with an uncompromising firmness, he answered. “No. You’re going to a cell. I don’t go back on my word about anything, including this spanking.”
She practically slumped over his knees, resigned to his demand. Given the choice between being frozen or spanked, the latter was preferable.
The first smack reverberated around the room, aided by the metallic walls. Immediately it stung, leaving a hot imprint of his palm spread across the span of her buttock. She wriggled, unable to hold still as he proceeded to rattle off a number of slaps, alternating between her cheeks.
“I’m sure you appreciate that escaping is an offense,” he said without pausing between ricocheting spanks. “One I should report and add to your charge sheet.”
“Oh, please don’t,” she wailed, fighting back the tears. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I have to try.”
He maintained the momentum, focusing on the same two spots on each buttock, cascading swats one after the other, using his other arm to hug her to his waist, preventing her from slipping off his lap.
“And if you do, the next time I’ll more than spank you,” he warned.
What did he mean by that? She’d rather not find out, but at the same time, she was determined to remain loyal to her cause, keep up her end of the bargain. Escaping was a necessity if she was to prove to her friends that she’d made the right decision in going solo.
He clutched an ass cheek and squeezed. She winced; the heat had risen to the surface and inflamed what felt like the entire surface of her bottom. She refused to weep out loud, instead, she wept quietly. The predicament was humiliating. Mason wasn’t a bounty hunter, he was worse—a dedicated follower of procedures, who was unlikely to give up and find another quarry, unlike a mercenary who was motivated by money rather than a civic sense of duty. Until he captured the rest of his fugitives and delivered them, and her, to the authorities, she was stuck on the ship.