He took two steps with his long legs to a simple, short bench. It appeared to be made of wood, but I had no idea if that was true. Did they even have trees on Trion?
When he sat down, he held out his hand. “Come.”
I looked at his fingers, long and blunt, but did not move. “Why?”
“I will give you your first lesson about Trion.”
That seemed reasonable considering I had only been on the planet for about five minutes. I closed the distance between us. Before I knew what had happened, he grabbed me about the waist and placed me over his lap. I was not a small woman and he did the m
aneuvering as if I were a petite waif.
My hips were over his hard thighs, my upper body bent toward the gray flooring, my breasts hanging down. The chain that dangled between them brushed against the floor. My toes touched the floor and I tried to push up.
“What are you doing?” I cried, the blood rushing to my head. “Let me up!”
Tark placed a warm hand at the small of my back to hold me on his lap and as I tried to kick, he hooked my ankles with one of his legs.
“Settle, gara. I expected you to have a punishment lesson soon enough, but not this quickly.”
“Punishment?” I shouted. “I thought you said you were going to teach me about Trion!”
“I am. Starting with this.”
I heard the crack of his hand against my bottom before I felt it. The sharp sting of it sizzled across my bare flesh.
“Tark! Cut it out, you overbearing… jerk!”
He spanked me again. And again. Each time his large palm struck, it was in a new spot. Soon enough my skin felt as if it were on fire, stinging and hot.
I was breathing hard, my hair falling down over my face and I swiped to get it out of the way. On one decidedly hard smack of his hand, I reached back and tried to cover my bottom. Instead of deterring him, he only circled my wrists in his free hand and continued.
“Are you ready to listen… with your mouth closed?” he asked, stroking over my heated skin. Surely it was bright red and swollen.
Afraid to say a word, I just nodded my head, then slumped down across his lap.
“Ah, gara. Your submission is a pleasure to see.” Before I could even begin to think about that statement, he continued. “We speak with deference here on Trion. I believe it is also referred to as manners.”
I tugged a strand of hair out of my mouth as I realized Tark considered me mannerless. What did he think, that Earth was full of heathens?
“It is not for you to argue with the doctor. It is my job to do so in your stead. He was impertinent, as you said, but it was my job as your mate to defend your honor. To defend your position as a woman in this society. To protect you. When you spoke out of turn, you took that from me, thus dishonoring me as well.”
It was a tad antiquated, but I could understand the logic. I stroked my fingers over the smooth flooring. Having a conversation with my face near the floor was odd, but so was being spanked. Well, so was being on Trion for that matter. “You mean that I am to defer to you?”
“Are you familiar with the ways and customs of Trion?”
I shook my head.
“Are you familiar with me?”
I shook my head again.
“Doctor Bron or the examination he was going to give?”
“No,” I replied.
“If I were to appear on Earth, wouldn’t you wish to speak for me, to help guide me as I learned my way?”
I clenched my teeth again and hated that his reasoning was not unfounded.