“So you left your world to fight for the Cause.”
“Aye. I take it you never knew Gaius?”
I shook my head.
“He was a true leader. A brave warrior and a fine man. The finest I’ve ever known.”
“Who were the men that surrounded us on the way here?”
“More rebels. That’s the dirty secret Starn and Nye are keeping. Zibaru wasn’t built just to house dangerous criminals sentenced to rot in prison. There’s a passel of us rebels here. Some captured in battle. Others seized for the crime of daring to speak out against the Federation. They say we’re being held here to await trial, but the trials never happen. They dump us in this hellhole and forget about us.”
He rose and rummaged through a small stack of garments near Ree’s feet. Came back clutching another gray hooded cloak, one that was carefully folded. “This belonged to my Elise. It’s all I have left of her.”
I started to protest but he cut me off. “She’d have wanted your woman to have it.” He bent and spread the cloak gently over Ree’s sleeping form. “This one is a lot like her father,” he declared. “The harder Starn tries to break her, the stronger she’ll get.”
Harald stood up with a groan, massaging the small of his back, and glanced around the shanty. “It’s not much but you’re welcome to stay here. Both of you. I can bunk with Eldon.”
“Thank you. I’m grateful for your help.”
“Sleep now,” he said. “We’ll stand guard. You need your rest. The condemned will come after you soon. They’ll all be hungering to take you down and get a piece of your woman.”
He headed for the door, then turned back. “I hope he was right.”
“Who?”
“Starn. He said you fight like ten warriors.” The old man laid a hand gently on my shoulder, like a blessing. “May the gods be with you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ree
I woke to his scent.
Male sweat, under-laid with the aromas of raw sex. I could smell his cum where it had dried on my body, and the unmistakable odor of my own arousal wafted up from his hand cupping my bare breast as he slept.
I remembered the fingers of that hand deep inside my pussy yesterday, making sure I was wet before he rammed his cock into me in front of the other prisoners. Fucked me long and hard, then used my slick fluids to coat his thick cock before he worked it into my ass. He needn’t have worried. My juices had started flowing with his first harsh whack on my bottom. And they did so again as I replayed the scene in my mind.
How had this happened? How had I, a strong independent woman, turned into a subservient slut, pussy creaming at the memory of being tied up, spanked hard, and then fucked in front of a lecherous crowd of spectators? The very thought filled Aria DiMello with shame.
But Kaal had stripped away all my pretenses. From the first time he bared my bottom, every stinging whack he’d delivered rocketed straight to my core. Awakened Ree, the primal female who wanted,needed, a strong dominant male to free her from the boundaries modern civilization had placed on her. Allowed her to stop thinking, weighing, judging—and simply feel. Feel the scorching heat of every whack, the searing pain. The shocking thrill when pain morphed into pleasure.
Aria and all her shame disappeared at that moment. I became insatiable. I wanted more. More stern punishment, then his hard cock rammed into my pussy, my ass. Shoved down my throat to suck until he exploded. I wanted to be drenched in his cum. Marked by his scent and taste.
I could explain away my response with clinical terms the way I always did. Once the pain of a spanking escalated to a certain level, my body automatically produced endorphins to override it. I became intoxicated by them. Addicted to the high.