Chapter 11
Talyn
Even though I was supposed to be focusing on my men and our plans for the sacking of the old city of New York, I found myself looking at the small naked bundle sleeping on my couch.
The red marks of my belt were stark against her pale skin.
When she started trembling, I stopped what I was doing and sent one of my men to fetch a blanket.
I draped it over her carefully. When she stopped shivering, I finally allowed myself to move away from her and get back to work.
I wanted to hold her. I wanted to wipe away the remains of her tears on her cheeks and tell her it was all going to be okay, but my world didn’t allow me that.
My men would think me weak if I showed too much attachment to one particular human.
I’d already pushed the limits by kissing her forehead and probably by offering her the blanket, but she deserved at least a little comfort after she’d been punished like that.
She most certainly didn’t deserve to be cold.
I found my mind wandering to her again and again. I worried that I’d been too harsh with her at first. Her convictions had been clear in her eyes. She was defending the remnants of her species and that I could understand.
I had a suspicion that she’d known about this group of humans all along and had never said anything about it to me. She didn’t trust me with that knowledge.
It irritated me, but I understood that too.
I glanced over at my men, watching their excitement build at the prospect of battle. We were a warrior species, specifically designed for war so much so that we hungered for it. I felt the need for it too, but it seemed oddly tempered by the naked little bundle sleeping on the couch.
When I’d been through with her, her gaze had been soft. She hadn’t been angry anymore. Would that be enough to keep her happy? Would she accept her place in my world now?
The human species was in its decline. They would be able to survive, but only if they succumbed to our rule. If they fought against us, they would die. If it wasn’t me who eliminated the rebels, it would be someone else.
I shook my head. Raiza was going to have to accept that this was just how the world was now. She wouldn’t be able to save them all. I answered to the people of my city, to my soldiers and to those that ruled over other territories.
If I didn’t take New York for myself, they would.
There were alien warlords out there that were far more savage than I. They wouldn’t hesitate to wipe out an entire colony with a bomb or worse, a biologic weapon meant to kill them where they slept. I’d seen the effects of such barbaric weapons firsthand, and it had not been pleasant.
With a sigh, I sat back and stared at the maps that plotted out the city subterranean landscape.
The tunnels went on for miles. It was clear that much of the records had been lost over time.
Some of it was based off educated guesses and others through ground-penetrating radar, but those were only so reliable.
Much of the layout was going to be discovered when we were on the ground.
That was a dangerous gamble.
From our understanding, it appeared that the humans had been surviving there from the time the city fell.
They used the solar power likely to light certain areas.
It was likely that they were used to living in darkness, which was something that my men most certainly were not.
Our sight was perceptive, especially in low light, but I wasn’t sure how it would compare to humans who were living in the dark for more than one hundred years.
I didn’t want to rush into this. I wanted to be fully prepared. I hadn’t risen to my position based off rash decisions and I wasn’t about to start.
The hour grew late, and my men looked to me for direction. They wanted to hit the ground running tomorrow, but I didn’t feel right about it. Not yet anyway.
Raiza moved a bit on the couch. She was waking up and the sudden urge to take her upstairs overwhelmed me.
“Keep gathering all the intel that you can. Send a few men to scout out the areas we have no information on. Track their location and send them in pairs, fully equipped with whatever weapons they need. If anyone is hurt, I want to know when and where,” I commanded.
“I will see to it that your command is done,” Kathar replied.
I nodded once, giving my soldiers a cursory glance over before I shuffled over to the small human bundle on the couch. I took her into my arms and surrounded her with my warmth. She hummed quietly, but I was quite certain it was with contentment rather than alarm.
I carried her up to my quarters and locked the door behind me. When I was finally free from the watchful eyes of my men, I sat down and gathered her in my lap with the blanket still wrapped around her small body.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
“I forgive you. Know that you may speak freely when it is you and I together, my little pet, but if you disobey me in front of those I command, I will be forced to punish you. Do you understand me?” I said softly.
“I do understand,” she replied quietly.
I hugged her closer, holding her for as long as she needed. I don’t know why I felt the need to comfort her in such a way, but I just did it anyway because a part of me wanted to.
After a significant amount of time had passed, I carried her into the bedroom and placed her face down on my bed. She tensed and I shook my head.
“I told you that your punishment was over. I’m going to take care of you now,” I chided her and she hesitantly relaxed. I strode into the master bathroom and grasped a bottle of lotion before returning to her.
I stopped, looking at the vision of her naked form in the fading light. The backs of her legs and her bottom were welted from my belt. My seed was still visible on her flesh.
She was positively radiant. My cocks stirred.
If I hadn’t already taken her as hard as I did today, I would mount her again without a second thought.
That wasn’t what she needed right now, though.
She needed to know that she was mine. She needed to know I would cherish her, especially after a punishment as harsh as the one I’d given her today.
This was what it meant to keep something precious.
You were hard with it when it needed hardness.
And then you were gentle, because the gentleness was needed sometimes too.
I climbed onto the bed and lightly touched her marks. She shivered, lifting her hips absentmindedly. She spread her thighs and I was rewarded with the glistening sight of her arousal fresh on her skin.
I stared down at her naked flesh, knowing I needed to distract myself before I ended up sliding my cocks inside the warm, tight sheaths of her pretty holes.
I poured a bit of lotion into my palm and started massaging her shoulders.
She groaned as I worked down her back. When I got to her bottom, she whimpered a bit and pulled away.
I lightly slapped her bottom, not hard enough to hurt.
She pouted a bit at the admonishment, but she laid her hips back down.
I massaged her bottom thoroughly, enjoying the sounds of her pleasure.
I knew she’d likely be sore, and this was a gentle way to remind her what would happen should she disobey me again.
I continued down her legs, taking extra care on her thighs and calves. I’d punished her there too, but not as hard as her naughty backside. The marks would remain for several days, but I’d needed to show her that that kind of behavior wasn’t acceptable in front of my men.
By the time I was finished, the air was thick with the scent of her arousal.
“Spread your thighs,” I instructed. She didn’t hesitate.
She was soaked.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked her. She blushed and her legs twitched. She wanted to hide from me, and I wasn’t going to let her.
I ran my fingers between her cheeks, causing her to gasp.
For several moments, I rubbed additional lotion there and when she refused to answer, I forcefully pressed a single finger into her bottom hole.
She whimpered, but I didn’t relent. Her tiny little asshole was still pink from being used so roughly by my cock that I knew a single finger was more than enough to make her sore.
She tightened around that single digit hard enough to make my cocks throb.
“I was thinking about your belt,” she finally confessed. Her bottom hole clenched around my finger once more and I started to pump it in and out of her.
“Were you now?” I pressed.
“Yes, sir,” she murmured. She was embarrassed, yet the heady scent of her need had just grown that much thicker.
I slid my other hand beneath her pussy, cupping it gently as I positioned my fingers directly on top of her clit.
“I am going to make you dinner, but I’m going to give you a choice, my sweet Raiza.
You may ride my fingers to orgasm right now.
You should know that if you do, you will ride my fingers again for a second orgasm right before bed.
If you choose not to come for me now, you may not be given the chance to come at all,” I explained.
Her hips bucked just the slightest bit.
“This time, you’ll have a single finger in your bottom. Before bed, you will have two,” I continued, and she clenched so very beautifully around me.
“What if I want your cocks?” she asked, a feisty tone to her voice that hadn’t been there before. I found that I quite liked it.
“Then I’ll have to remind you who’s in charge, won’t I?” I replied.