“Oh, Sir!” I threw my arms around his neck impulsively and breathed in his spicy, familiar scent. I might have known it was him just by smelling him earlier, if I’d let myself get close enough to sniff his neck. But I had been trying to hold myself away from him as much as possible, back when I had thought he was a stranger.
Behind his back, I could see hiscandallawaving at me eagerly. I smiled and waved back at it—it was like seeing an old friend.
“Little one,” Sir murmured, his big, warm hands caressing my bare back. “Gods, it’s so good to see you again!”
“I missed you so much!” I whispered brokenly, pressing my face into the side of his neck and blinking back tears. “How did you find me?”
“The Commercians put a tracking device in your heel,” he informed me. “A practice I normally don’t approve of, but in this case I was thankful they did so. It enabled me to find you before some other male could buy you.”
“And now we’ll be together forever?” I asked hopefully. I couldn’t imagine any other outcome. After all, he’d just spent fifty million credits for me—surely he wouldn’t let me go now that he’d paid such an astronomical fee, right?
But Sir sighed and pushed me gently away from him. Unwinding my arms from around his neck, he gave me a serious look.
“You know we can’t be together, little one and you knowwhy. It’s still against the law for me to keep you as my pet.”
“But Sir—” I began to protest, but he cut me off.
“I’ll have to take you back to Earth—though I promise this time you’ll be much better protected. Whoever kidnapped you is going to be hunted down and punished to the full extent of the law, I promise you that.”
“It was Shadrack—the Pet Finder who tried to take me from the F’too’sh Beta spaceport,” I told him.
“What?” Sir’s eyes widened. “That bastard! I thought surely the males from your galaxy would finish him off! If I’d known that he would come after you again, I would have crushed his head like a ripefringaberry!”
“He was put up to it by Gra’multh,” I told him. “He gave Shadrack a Folding Drive—like the kind you have on your ship, I think. Anyway, he hooked it up to a gravity-safe room so he can kidnap women from other worlds and galaxies and bring them directly to Korrigon Four.”
“That son of a bitch!” Sir growled, and for a moment his full-black eyes flashed white with rage. “How dare Gra’multh come after you again—especially after the Sovereign specifically protected you?”
“He seemed to think he was in the clear since he only directed Shadrack to get me and he was in the Southern Continent when I was snatched,” I said. “But that didn’t stop him from making a special vid-call to gloat once I was captured.”
“There is going to be a reckoning for this,” Sir said, his voice deep and angry. “I’ll make both of them pay for trying to hurt you, little one!”
“Butyou’rehurting me most of all,” I said in a small voice. “Sir please don’t send me back to Earth. Please say we can stay together!”
He shook his head, a look of regret coming into his full-black eyes.
“I told you—the only way would be to sign a single year long contract and that would only be extended if I bred you—which I gave you my word I wouldn’t.”
I could see he was set on being stubborn, even though it was clear he wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with him. But I would have to find another way to get him to see it, because talking wasn’t working.
The stinging pain I suddenly felt in my nipples gave me an idea.
“Sir!” I gasped, writhing on the big, black box where he had placed me. “I know you’re determined to take me home but before you do, would you please get this eroticizing stuff off of me? It’s driving mecrazy!”
He frowned and looked down at my nipples, which were swollen and at least two shades darker than usual.
“Hmm…I’m sorry about that, little one. Your little peaksdolook awfully tight and achy.”
“Theyare,”I moaned. Thrusting my breasts out for him, I gave him my most appealing look. “Please, Sir—help me get this stuff off of me. If you drop me off on Earth while I’m still in this state, I don’t know what I’ll do!”
“What about your prospective mate?” he asked, though there was reluctance in his voice. “Can he not…help you?”
“I broke things off with Don,” I told him. “He just couldn’t compare to you—no onecan. Besides, do youreallywant me to let some other man suck my nipples? I don’t think you do, or you wouldn’t have paid fifty million credits for me,” I pointed out.
Sir’s big hands curled into fists.
“No,” he growled. “No, of course I don’t want any other male near you! The very thought makes me want tokillsomeone!”
“Don’t get mad—I don’t want anyone but you,” I soothed. Reaching up, I began caressing his curling horns, tugging lightly to bring his face down to my chest. “Don’t get mad,” I repeated. “Just help me. Please, Sir…”