Page 7 of Black Star

When she blushed again, he knew he’d hit close to the mark. Still, she took a deep breath and stood straighter. “What do I have to do?”

Chapter Four

Nadira stood smartly at attention. Her heart threatened to beat through her chest, so hard was its pounding. She was a prisoner. There would be no rescue. There never was. Anyone captured by the Asalians was simply listed as “missing” and never seen or heard from again. There were whispers that even those who managed to escape were denied entry back into Vok’nair space. The Empire didn’t deal well with those who failed it.

“I think you need some time to think about what you need to do to best serve this ship. This is your new life, Nadira. Adapt.”

He turned and headed out the door and down the corridor. Nadira fell into step behind him. No way was she going to make him tell her twice. He was right. She had to adapt and do so quickly. She wasn’t convinced by all his assurances about the way his society functioned, but if she could at least keep out of trouble and in his good graces, so much the better.

As she followed him, she couldn’t help but admire the layout of the vessel. Had she not known this was a ship of war, she might have mistaken it for a luxury ship. Unlike the corridors in the section leading from the air locks, the halls in the main crew area were brightly lit. Lightly cushioned, beige carpet covered the floors, muffling their steps. The walls held various display panels every few meters, but were otherwise decorated with unobtrusive artwork.

Then there was the commander himself. Harsh didn’t begin to describe him. His whole body was hard angles and raw power. The heavy body armor masked his true contours, but it couldn’t alter the sheer size of him. He was big. Damned big. And she had no difficulty imagining powerful musculature underneath all that armor. He was not a man to let his body go soft and risk making himself vulnerable.

He frightened her, but she couldn’t help but be curious as to the flesh and blood man beneath the commander’s armor. It was enough to send a sexual thrill shooting through her.

She was so lost in thought she almost ran into Mikiel when he stopped and turned toward her. In fact, she would have had he not caught her upper arms. When her gaze snapped to his, his eyes commanded her to focus on what she was doing. He was too intense, his presence too overwhelming. Worse, she could see her own sexual hunger mirrored in his eyes.

His grip tightened on her arms and she thought he might pull her to him, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned her toward the door. When Mikiel pressed a hand to the wall scanner the door slid open and he directed her inside.

“This is my chamber. You’ll stay here until I get you someplace else to live. There should be everything you need, including suitable clothing.” That rankled somewhat, but she didn’t have time to say anything even if she’d had the nerve to. Mikiel was already turning to leave. With a sharphissthe door slid shut, locking Nadira inside.

For several minutes, she just stood there. This couldn’t be happening. This couldnotbe happening! There was no way she had what it took to take on a man the likes of this one.

Worse, Mikiel was right to assume she didn’t have many sexual skills. In fact, she didn’t have any. Nadira was one of only a handful of females the Empire had deemed capable of completing military training, and she had started her career as a star pilot before she’d started her monthly cycles. As a result, it had been drilled into her not to have physical relationships. Such would undermine her position among the men on her ship as well as create unnecessary strife. As far as everyone there was concerned, she was untouchable. The fact was, Nadira was a virgin and had assumed she would stay that way for a very long time.

Not anymore. There was simply no way she could be sure he hadn’t lied to her, or that she wouldn’t do something to make him change his mind.

She sighed. Since she was going to be here a while, she decided to look around, explore her temporary home. There were three separate rooms. The main room and bedchamber were combined, the large inviting bed the only thing that didn’t reflect the occupant. The rest of the room was stark, harsh, with only necessities decorating the space. A smaller room served as a work area, with computers and graphic map screens.

But the chamber that interested her most was the bathing chamber. When she walked into the spacious room, lights automatically came up and the bathing pool began to fill with water. Steam rose gently from the surface as it filled.Real water!It was a luxury she hadn’t had on theBlack Star. After months in space, she was finally going to get a real bath.

There were mirrors all around the bath, and it was impossible not to catch her reflection. She’d never given thought to her body before, but now it was foremost on her mind. Mikiel had said she wouldn’t be a sex slave, but it was hard not to think about that type of life. This whole situation was terrifying enough as it was, but to think that she might have to spend her time on this ship being ridiculed because her form wasn’t pleasing was something else altogether. She eyed herself now with a critical eye.

Her hair was probably her best feature. Long and lustrous, its thick tresses flowed down her back and tickled her ass -- her worst feature -- when she moved. While she had a small waist, her butt and thighs, though strong and firm, were round and fleshy. Not at all attractive. When she turned back around, she noticed her breasts rising and falling with each breath she took. They were too big, but still firm and high. As she pinned her hair back up, her arms grabbed her attention. She flexed and extended them, but there was no denying the extra flesh she carried on her upper arms.

No. She definitely wouldn’t make a good sex slave. Her only hope was that the commander would hold to his promise that she could still be a pilot if she proved good enough.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she stepped into the bath and immediately the sting of the hot water gave way to a pleasant warmth that seeped its way into her tense muscles. The groan that slipped past her lips couldn’t be helped. It felt lovely to be submerged in warm water again. When the jets started to gently but firmly pummel her back, legs and feet with water deep within the pool, she knew she’d found heaven.

She sat back in an indentation built into the wall of the pool and relaxed. This might be the only time she’d have the opportunity to do so, and she fully intended to take advantage of it.

Thinking back on her time in the commanding presence of her new “boss,” there was something about the way he looked at her that made her feel different than she’d ever felt before. Not beautiful, or sexy, but sensual. He looked at her as if he’d like nothing more than to explore her body for his own pleasure. His hot gaze also promised he’d give as good as he got, but Nadira instinctively knew it wouldn’t be as simple as that. He looked at her as if her sole purpose in the universe was to please him in every way he wanted. Any pleasure she received would happen only if it pleased him to do so.

The idea gave her a perverse surge of lust. To be used as a plaything for a man to take his pleasure from. To exist only to please him lest he move on to another. It should have made her feel degraded, like she was no more important as a person than the artificially intelligent androids that did most of the heavy labor throughout the Empire, but instead, it made her feel…

Powerful. She could have power over the pleasure of such a dominant man and make himwantto return to her -- and only her -- because she did things to him that felt better than anything done by any other man or woman at his disposal.

Ifshe was good enough. Pure fantasy, but what a heady thought! It made her cunt tingle.

The jets continued their delicious massage, and it wasn’t long before she shifted her position so that one of them pointed between her legs. She gasped when the stream of water brushed her clit. Jumping with the unaccustomed contact, she moved out of the jet’s path, only to readjust her position so that it shot straight at her once again. It didn’t take long for the persistent stream to create very pleasant sensations within her core. Pleasure shot through her, so intense she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. In a sudden burst of energy, her world exploded. Her sight narrowed and spots of light pricked her vision as she reached her orgasm.

Breathing hard, Nadira let the sensations fade away and slumped in the water. She sat there for several moments before realizing she might not have long before Mikiel returned.

“Was that your first climax?” The familiar deep, rumbling voice from the doorway made her jump, and it took a moment for the question to penetrate the pleasurable haze fogging her brain.

When she found her voice, all she could manage was a shaky, “No.”

“Have you cleansed yourself?”

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