Page 7 of Kenan's Mate
It’s not a hard slap by any means, but still I cry out. More from the shock than from the pain.
My cheek smarts and tears burn in my eyes. Though I should’ve expected such brutality from him—he did put me in a cage, after all—I’m still shocked. No one has ever struck me before.
“You will never run from me.” His quiet tone contrasts with the rage in his eyes, as if he’s holding himself back from hurting me worse. He yanks on my hair. “Do you understand?”
“O-okay. I-I’m so-sorry,” I reply, my voice shaking.
He leans down until his face is level with mine and settles a fierce glare on me. He looks positively deranged. My stomach clenches tighter the longer he stares. Gradually, his grip in my hair lessens as the fire in his eyes dims, until he finally lets me go.
I rub the back of my head and wince when he raises his hand. But he doesn’t slap me again. Instead, he gestures to the massive bed.
“Lie down atop the covers, on your back.”
Out of options, I move toward the bed, though it’s all I can do to force one foot in front of the other. When I finally reach the bed, it’s so high I must place my hands on the mattress and jump to make it up. I slide away from the edge and lie on my back, my insides twisting as my pulse beats faster.
I’ve never been so terrified.
He joins me on the bed, still fully clothed—for which I am thankful—and proceeds to gather my hands above my head. Reaching for his waist with his free hand, he unclasps his belt and pulls it off his pants.
Oh no.
I start to struggle, but his weight restricts my legs and he has no difficulty keeping my wrists bound together.
Folding the belt in half, he stares down at me. Beneath his sternness, another brief flash of compassion softens in his dark purple eyes, but the caring gleam fades as quickly as it appears, once again leaving me confounded.
“I warned you not to test my patience.” He wastes no time in delivering the first blow.
Whoosh.Crack.
I cry out as the thick leather strikes my right breast. Before I can catch my breath, he slaps my left breast and continues on in this fashion, alternating sides and hitting my tender flesh.Whoosh.Crack.Whoosh.Crack.
“When you disobey, little human, you get punished.”
I twist around, but there’s no escape. No reprieve from the constant sting of lashes. I sob and beg him to please stop, but I’m completely at his mercy and he seems to have no intention of ceasing anytime soon.
All this because I tried to escape him? I can’t fathom it.
His face remains impassive and his gaze riveted to my breasts, as if he’s concentrating on each searing blow. He doesn’t care that I’m in agony.
I can’t believe he’s whipping my breasts as punishment.
He’s a ruthless, sadistic barbarian. And he claims I now belong to him.
He pauses and glowers at me. Tension radiates from his massive form, as if he’s a second away from snapping and whipping me to death in a blind rage driven by his hatred of humans, never mind that human blood also runs through his veins.
If it’s true humans experimented on his people here on Tallia, and true his mother was mistreated by his father, I could empathize with his disdain for humans. But I’m an eighteen-year-old girl from Florida who’s supposed attend college in the fall. I’m harmless to him and his entire race. I have no part in the tragedies that have befallen his kind.
My breasts throb, so swollen and tender. The tips of my nipples are on fire. I swallow hard and take a deep breath. “Is-is it over?” My lower lip quivers and I feel like the biggest coward.
As a child, I’d loved action movies and books with kickass heroines who saved the day, and I’d always thought I was as brave as those characters I’d grown up admiring. But I’m not. Not at all. This huge alien has reduced me to a sniffling mess of a girl who’ll agree to anything if only the big scary bad man doesn’t bring the belt down across my breasts again.
“What is your name, human?”
“Laylah.”
“Laylah.” His eyes glitter darker. “I am called Kenan.”
Kenan. His name bounces around inside my head as his molten stare intensifies. His eyes hold mine captive. Not even an explosion outside the window could make me look away.
