He dressed in fresh clothes and sat at his desk, ready to record his daily log. He went about the routine update as quickly as possible. He made no mention of Jade’s role on his ship. It was completely against protocol not to report such an unusual breach of procedure. As far as the log was concerned, Jade was locked up all the time in her cell.
Lying wasn’t something Mason considered acceptable, other than when it was necessary to capture a fugitive. He was in deep trouble if she interfered with his job, because then the truth would be revealed. The only thing to do was keep her on a tight leash, strictly controlled and unable to put a foot wrong.
Mason liked discipline, not punishing. If necessary he would spank her ass and punish her in ways she’d not imagined, but what he truly wanted to do was something else: reward her with the most amazing orgasms. Have her beg for them, each and every one of those climaxes. Then, he would take her completely for his pleasure, exhausting her sweet, delicious body. That was what he wanted to do.
Again, why did he feel so strongly toward her?
He could take her and she’d probably let him; he knew he could because he was damn sure she felt the same way about him. She’d stripped naked for him, come on his hand, and withstood his punishments, even if she
considered them utterly humiliating. Her acquiescence had to be a demonstration of some degree of compatibility.
What next? Days and days of dancing around the issue of sexual frustration. If he put her into stasis, forced her to comply with his demand, it would be over and done. He could let his libido rest and concentrate on the real reason he was racing across space to a distant outpost.
She wouldn’t like it. She’d fight back.
He’d made a promise to her and to himself: no violence, not like that. The cuffs were okay as the restraints wouldn’t harm her. Spanking, too, but hauling her into the stasis chamber was out of the question—she clearly feared the cryotube.
He finished his report and lay on the bed. Sleep might come if he closed his eyes and relaxed.
A few minutes later, he gave up. The next best option was a run around the cargo bay.
Mason halted just inside the entrance. He’d constructed a small running circle by moving any crates or boxes into the middle of the space and freeing up the perimeter of the large compartment. However, the makeshift track was in use. Jade, dressed in short pants and a sleeveless vest, was jogging around the circuit.
If she expected him to show mercy this time, she was wrong.
“I didn’t give you permission to be here,” he shouted across the open space.
Jade halted, turning to face him, and her flushed cheeks slowly drained of color. “I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Regardless, you’re here and not in your cell.” Reaching into his pocket, he located the small device and pressed a button. Her wrists snapped together, then when he hit the button again, her ankles were dragged across the floor until her heels met. She was shackled.
Chapter Six
The restraints didn’t hurt, not physically. What they did brilliantly was add to the embarrassment of being caught out of her cell. She’d not considered he might want to exercise at the same time as her. What harm could running around in circles do? She opened her mouth to voice her opinion and shut it quickly as he strode toward her. She hopped slightly, shuffled on her toes, but failed to retreat. Her wrists, crisscrossed against each other, were bound tight and rendered her arms useless. The bands were effective—he’d snared her.
As he towered over her, his height so superior, she ducked her head down and winced as if he’d struck her. “Okay,” she muttered. “Sorry. I guess I crept out and hoped you’d be asleep. I just fancied stretching my legs.”
“So did I. And now, I’m going to stretch you over that crate there.” He pointed to a black box as high as her waist.
She held up her hands. “Can’t move. You could—”
He answered her by picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder. Depositing her by the crate, he pushed her over and without any ceremony proceeded to pull down her joggers and panties. With her bent, bottom raised, it was quite apparent what he had in mind.
“Now, let me make this clear.” He pinned her down and brought his hand sweeping across her bare bottom with a crack.
“Ow!” she wailed. Each time he spanked her, he managed to make his hand feel harder, more rigid and painfully accurate as he targeted the same spots over and over. She couldn’t move her feet or hop about, or stretch out her arms to hold the rim of the crate. He spanked her without pausing or giving her any kind of warmup.
He lectured, too. Emphasizing each rule again with a cluster of bracing slaps, ending his list with a decisively delivered remark. “I make the decisions around here. You are a criminal—”
“I am not!” she shrieked, forgetting her place. “Innocent until—”
“Do not interrupt me.” He continued his onslaught of stinging smacks, each one adding to the burning fire he’d lit across her ass. “I won’t have you wandering around. I have to know where you are so I can justify keeping you out of stasis. I know you don’t want to go in there. I see the fear on your face. I don’t want you in there if you are afraid.”
The reason why she hated those things was too hard to articulate in her emotional state. “I don’t get you… you spank me… then… say these other things…” She gulped air between words, unable to speak clearly or express what she felt. Nothing made sense with Mason. She lusted after him, enjoyed his company, but she couldn’t cross over to where he wanted her—slavishly obeying him.
He eased off and rubbed her buttocks in small circles, spreading the heat into a warm glow. “Shh, Jade. I like you, but I have to stay in charge. This is how it has to be, out here.”
Mason wasn’t speaking like a marshal any longer. Something had happened during the spanking and it wasn’t about punishing her. It dawned on her she’d not refused, fought back, or done anything to resist him. She knew, in her heart, if he caught her out of the cell, he’d spank her and not hold back from making it count.