A Most Unsuitable Mate Read online

  He shrugged. Shrugged! She was positively furious, for no real reason, but she was .

  "As I said before, Princess. My world is a man's world. Some women are quite tightly controlled by their husbands—or fathers until they get married—some are given quite a bit of freedom, but when it comes down to it, their husbands will hold them to account for any behavior they do not like, with the state's complete approval. Men are the dominant sex. They're stronger and faster and tougher, and they make the rules by which their women live, most of them, as I've said, in my experience, very happily ."

  Cika snorted softly. "I don't suggest you say anything of the sort around my sister ."

  "I shall not, Princess," he responded gravely .

  She shook herself to dispel the intoxicating web of obvious lies he'd woven around her. "That's quite a fantasy kingdom you've created for yourself. You should be a scribe—you have quite the imagination ."

  He said nothing—not rising to her bait, but smiling almost benevolently down at her, as if he knew a huge secret .

  Standing about two feet in front of him, Cika asked, "What is your name, slave ?"

  "I am called Vallon ."

  "Prince Vallon, I'm sure," she mocked, but he merely nodded, with a look on his face as if he was silently laughing at her. "Well then, Prince, we have wandered far from our original topic and into your flight of fantasy. But I am still interested in the answer to my original question. Why should we not simply get on with it ?"

  "Because you would be missing out on the delights that can be achieved between a man and a woman during the mating process ."

  "Delights?" she repeated, her tone dripping with doubt. "No one mentioned any such thing to me. Males are mounted and used for impregnation. That's it ."

  "If you will again forgive me, I'm not absolutely certain that everyone around you has your best interests in their hearts, and, also, I'm not sure that the average male here—if the ones I've had around me recently are the usual caliber—would be capable of such things ."

  She raised her eyebrow at him. "But you, of course, Prince Vallon, are ."

  He wasn't blushing, nor was he looking away from her, as he should have been when he replied deeply, and with great conviction, "Yes, Princess, I most definitely am ."

  "And I suppose that you would only be able to perform such wondrous feats if you were unchained ?"

  "Well…" He managed to look a bit bashful. "It certainly would help to be able to touch you more than I could at the moment. And allowing me to do so would help you avoid discomfort when we couple ."

  "Couple?" Cika was unfamiliar with the term .

  "When we mate," he supplied .

  Her face went blank then her expression turned more than slightly towards panic. "No one ever mentioned discomfort !"

  Vallon sighed softly. "They never do. If you thought it was going to hurt, would you do it ?"

  "Probably not ."

  He, then, very carefully, didn't mention what childbirth was like .

  "And if I told you that I can probably make it so that you feel very little, if any, pain at all, and in fact, I can almost guarantee that you'll find an ecstasy beyond your wildest dreams, would that tip the balance towards you releasing me from my bonds ?"

  Cika stood there considering him for a moment. She knew that none of what was happening should be happening. One did not converse with one's mate—usually because they had very little to say, if anything, but still. The fact that this one slave could use words of more than one syllable with ease did not mitigate that fact, and part of her really wished that she'd just done as she knew she was supposed to, bound him to the bed and gotten on top of him to do whatever it was that came next .

  But she wasn't much interested in experiencing any discomfort. And he didn't sound as if he was lying. But then, he'd just told her a fantastical story about a planet where men spanked their wives and ruled over them in what should have sounded—to her—like an altogether unsatisfactory arrangement, when in reality it sounded like something she'd love to see in action—without committing herself to anything, of course. She'd just dearly love to visit his little dream world, just once, to see how that kind of society might work .

  Not that she believed what he'd said in the least, which called into question everything else he was saying to her, too, of course .

  But he sounded so convincing—about everything .

  And she did have a way to bring him back into line, if she needed to use it against him .

  She stood there, looking at him, for the longest time, unable to make up her mind .

  "I give you my word that you will come to no harm in my presence, Princess," he added, just in case .

  She chuckled. "The solemn vow of a delusional slave prince, who seems—surprise, surprise—quite desperate to be set free ?"

  "Something like that. But on my planet, a man's word means something, man to man, or man to woman. A wife might vow to submit to him during the commitment ceremony, but he vows in return to care for her and keep her safe by the sweat of his brow and the edge of his sword. My father taught me at his knee not to give my word to anyone unless I intended to honor it ."

  Wondering why she was doing so the entire time, Cika touched her index finger to the inside of her wrist for a second, and his chains fell to the floor .

  For a long moment, he simply stood there, stretching, and Cika found her breath catching in her throat at the sight of him doing so, even fully clothed, as he was. He seemed in absolutely no hurry to get to her, and indeed, was quite absorbed in what he was doing to and for himself—and that, whether it should have or not, made her feel a bit better about her decision .

  Then, Vallon took the few steps necessary to get closer to her than he ever had before, reaching out and pulling her against him, dipping his head to seal his mouth tightly over hers and holding her still for a few seconds past the point that she began to struggle, then letting her go, making sure she was steady on her feet—with a badly concealed smile of triumph—before he took a step away from her .

  "Forgive me, Princess, but I have wanted to kiss you since I first saw you in the market ."

  Her finger hovered above that spot on her wrist that he knew would leave him in agonizing pain if she pushed it, but it was more than worth it, as far as he was concerned .

  Princess Cika was his woman. He was absolutely certain of it .

  Vallon was relatively confident that—despite the device that had been implanted in his body—he could leave this place pretty much any time he wanted to. But he wasn't about to leave without her in his possession, in more ways than one .

  Her team had been secretively invading the same planet as the team he was to lead for exactly the same reason, but in search of the opposite sex. They had crash landed and were caught off guard. Three of their other team members had died, and it was just himself and his copilot, Hawl, that were thrown into chains and brought here, to this crazy place where women ruled and men were used for little more than semen donors and donkey labor .

  He'd spotted her from afar across the market—along with her sister, with whom he was eventually going to have a confrontation of some sort—and had instantly recognized that they were not the usual customers there. She, in particular, was something special, and his opinion had only been confirmed when she had interceded with the slave trader in order to get her to stop beating him, although he hadn't been all that happy to have been compared to a dog, he was glad that she had such a soft heart, which seemed to be missing entirely in most of the women on this planet that he had encountered so far .

  She was much too fine for this rough place, and he had vowed to himself—right then and there—that he would have her for his own, if it was the last thing he did.
He intended to make his escape and bring her back with him to Juqar, where he intended to marry her. Whether she wanted to or not. In fact, he greatly looked forward to the task of taming her. She might have been small and soft, but he had a feeling that she had a wonderful backbone and a strong will, neither of which would he seek to stifle, but rather bend them, gently but firmly, to his own not inconsiderable will .

  She would submit herself to him—and he intended to plant that seed—one of many this evening—beginning as soon as possible .

  "Don't do it again. At least not without asking permission," she quickly revised, her lips still tingling from his possession, so much so that she was having to school herself not to reach up and brush her fingertips over them .

  "Yes, Princess." It was a very interesting position for a man who was used to giving the orders to be put in—to even have to play act that he was submissive, and asking permission to do things was harder for him to do than getting her out of here would be eventually. It did not come at all naturally for him to defer to a woman—except perhaps his mother, whom he adored and respected. And he anticipated that he was likely to find himself in trouble—and on the receiving end of many jolts of pure agony from that insidious weapon they all used to keep the males in line—before he had shed this planet forever, with her in his arms. Or unconscious over his shoulder, he cared not how he got her home, as long as he did .

  "Well?" she interrupted his train of thought. "I do not see you doing anything that's making me feel any better ."

  "If I might kiss you again?" Vallon asked, hoping he sounded subservient enough, because it was all he could do not to simply grab her and have his way with her right then and there, which, of course, was not the point of all of this .

  He wanted—needed—to make her want him. She was so innocent—so pure—but he felt as if he could sense a current of sensuality—one that jibed with his own—within her that he intended to tap. He would not—could not—live on this planet. But he would do his best—before he ended up having to simply kidnap her against her will—to try to make her want to go with him. It would be quite a feat to convince a woman—a princess royale, no less—to give up her freedom and submit herself to him for the rest of her life, to his will and his body and his punishments .

  But he'd seen what she'd hoped he'd missed when she'd been questioning him about his planet—despite the fact that he knew she still thought he was making it up. She had begun to breathe more erratically the longer they spoke, and he had snuck several looks at her eyes and her pupils were dilated. She had fidgeted nervously when he spoke of spankings and discipline, and he felt that those were things he could build on—and would work on—for as long as he could, before he took the decision out of her hands completely .

  For now, though, this was the first time she would have a man inside her, and even if he hadn't chosen her as he had, he would have felt obligated to make it good for her, in return for her kindness at the market .

  She cleared her throat, trying to steel herself against feeling what she'd felt before—that weakness, the unfamiliar throbbing and aching in places she barely recognized on her body, and the sheer enjoyment of being cradled against his strength, essentially helpless yet not really feeling so, her every area of softness forced to conform to his hardness .

  And it was no easier this time than it had been last time—in fact, it was much worse .

  After kissing her again in the dominant way he had, he began to tease her a bit, nibbling at her lips, careful not to hurt her. "Open your mouth, Princess," he whispered, and she was so surprised by his command that she forgot to correct him for his high handedness .

  She was appalled .

  She was horrified that he should want her to do that .

  It was an utterly outrageous demand .

  And yet, when his mouth claimed hers again—and it was claiming, there was no doubt about the way he handled her—she yielded to him, letting his tongue slip past her teeth, touching hers and slipping over the tops of her front teeth as he slanted his mouth across hers, holding her face in his impossibly big hands, not allowing her to step away from him until he ended the kiss, almost abruptly, and again had to help her find her balance as he, reluctantly, moved a bit away .

  "That is a very good start," he pronounced, being so bold as to tip her chin so that she was looking up into his eyes. "But it is just the very beginning, Princess." He waited a beat, then said, "Please take your clothes off." He smiled broadly at how quickly he found himself standing there alone while she glared at him from across the room .

  Chapter 3

  "I most certainly will not!" she stated unequivocally, clutching her clothes around her as if they had some sort of magical powers against him. "There can't possibly be nudity involved. It would be highly improper. You're supposed to wear what you're wearing—the only thing I need to remove is the pouch. And I'm supposed to wear what I've been wearing ."

  Vallon grinned down at her. "Coupling is meant to be highly improper." He did a fair imitation of her, simply continuing to smile at her deep scowl. "It's meant to be hot and hard and fun and sweaty and absolutely, unbelievably blissful. And that can't happen while we're wearing clothes ."

  Deliberately not looking at him any longer, and still holding the collar of her shirt up against her throat protectively, she said, "Well, then, I'm sorry, but I can't possibly ."

  And then she turned back towards him to see that he had shed all of his clothing, including the beautiful, expensive pouch. None of it seemed to be missing—it was all just pooled on the floor to one side of his feet .

  Cika had never seen a man naked before. In truth, she hadn't seen a lot of men really at all, as she hadn't had one of her own and was therefore kept more judiciously away from them .

  She was dumbstruck at the sheer beauty of his form. He wasn't quite as beefy but was just as broad as the other men around him in the lineup had been—in fact, he was several inches taller than all of them. He was lean, but powerful looking, with well-formed muscles in all of the most enticing places—clearly defined pectorals and arms, hands that were large and had the look of hard work about them, but she knew they could still achieve a very tender touch, a flat tummy with distinct ripples, and clearly cut devil's shoulders that led to that part of him that had seemed so mysterious, and that she could barely avoid staring right at. Instead, she forced herself to continue down his body, noting the heavily muscled thighs, prominent calves, and large, long feet .

  But then her gaze returned—automatically, it seemed—to that place on his person where the two of them were so strikingly different .

  Cika knew she shouldn't have been staring at it, not that he seemed to mind in the least. He even seemed more than a bit proud of himself, straightening a bit and adjusting his stance to be a bit wider. This was where her innate curiosity overwhelmed her natural reticence .

  "What is it?" she asked, wanting desperately to get closer to it—to him, perhaps even to touch it ?

  She wondered what would it feel like beneath her fingertips. It looked awfully hard and was almost an angry red in some places, bulging with veins in others, and was nearly purple near the strangely shaped end .

  Frankly stunned at the depth of her innocence, he answered, "My cock ."

  She gave him a very studious look. "A cock is a male chicken ."

  Suppressing a grin because he really didn't want to laugh at her, he said, "It's also a part of the male anatomy and the way we join our bodies to mate ."

  "Oh."

  She found herself drifting slowly towards him, no matter how much she tried to convince herself not to. Vallon remained quite still as she did so, not wanting to frighten her, but the intensity of her stare nearly had him unmanning himself right then and there .

  "Does it…hurt?" she asked, s
topping not far from him and still gazing down at it in stark wonder .

  She was doing amazing things for his ego .

  "Why do you think it does?" he countered .

  "It's red and hard and it just looks…angry ."

  "Absolutely not," he answered emphatically. "It doesn't hurt. In fact, just the opposite. It aches in a wonderful way because I want you. This is what happens to a man when he wants to couple with a woman—this part of him swells—it's not usually this size—so that he can take her." Vallon used that verb very deliberately, knowing how she'd react .

  There was the expected frown, right on cue, but he'd also just heard her breath hitch when he'd said it, too. "Oh ."

  "And I very definitely want to with you, Princess ."

  Cika's eyes found his face for the first time in a while. "You do ?"

  "Oh, yes! I can't describe properly—because I'm not a bard—just how utterly amazing the sensations are, but once you've done it, you'll want to do it again and again ."

  Her look was rife with doubt .

  "Would you like to touch it?" he asked, hoping he could control himself if she did .

  Cika nodded slowly before she thought too much about it .

  "It's quite sensitive, so treat it as you would like me to treat you when I touch you ."

  That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because she skittered several feet away from him. "You're going to touch me ?"

  "Yes, of course, I am. That's how it's done ."

  He thought she'd done really well so far, considering how completely she had been kept in the dark as to what would happen between them, how much he'd thrown at her about what he wanted to do, but this was apparently too much for her .

  "I'm not sure that I want you to touch me ."

  "All right, then," he said calmly and quietly, taking a few steps towards her. "For the moment, why don't you just touch me?" Vallon reached out and gently captured her hand, curving her soft little fingers around his hardness then just leaving them there .