Page 278 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“You didn’t think. You just reacted, and out here that will get you killed.” There was no emotion in the words, but she could almost feel his anger underneath them anyway.

“I didn’t want to be forced into something. It’s unfair,” she said. Then she sighed and her shoulders slumped.

“You keep using that word fair like it means something. Maybe ‘fair’ mattered in civilized society but out here it’s just a matter of survival, and you do what you have to do to keep living. It might not be fair that females have to go through heat cycles, but biology doesn’t care about what you want.”

She was reminded again about how protected she’d been in the dome, and how different things were out here. She wouldn’t say fairness had much to do with the colony; being drugged into obedience was proof of that. But the unfairness had been hidden under manners and smiles.

“I’m sorry I ran.”

“I am too; unfortunately we still have a problem.” He regarded her for a moment, looking thoughtful, and then shook his head. “Honestly the sickness is probably punishment enough, but . . .”

She’d forgotten about his earlier threats, but now she swallowed hard and looked up at him anxiously as she waited for him to continue.

“I can’t have you thinking you can disobey me again, Mara. Going to have to give you a lesson that sticks,” he said. He paused for a few seconds. “But not yet. You need time to recover first. I suggest you work really hard on obeying me until then. You don’t want to make it worse.”

There were so many things she wanted to say. What gave him the right to think he could punish her was at the top of the list. But she bit back the words because it was obvious what gave him the right. He was experienced in living wild, and he’d saved her life. She was his by some obscure claiming law that she didn’t fully understand but was forced to accept.

What made it hard was that she genuinely liked him. He was an attractive male. He had a sense of humor and he’d cared for her with gentle hands as she worked through the worst of the sickness. It was the situation she didn’t like.

It was almost two weeks before she started to feel strong again, but it coincided with certain symptoms she strongly suspected were signs that her heat was coming. Her nipples felt hard and tight all the time, almost painfully so. Her dreams, when she could sleep, were filled with sexual images that left her feeling needy and raw when she woke up.

She found herself being hyperaware of his body whenever he was near. He smelled good, like woodsmoke and outdoors. His eyes were a beautiful vivid green and when the slit pupils retracted to a thin vertical line and she could see the whole iris, she found that there were tiny amber flecks scattered there. It was hard to force herself to look away before she lost herself in them.

But the return of her strength, and the change in her body led to rebellion when it came to obeying him, and she soon discovered he had no patience for it. The second time he caught her outside instead of resting, he got out the rope.

A half-dozen different ideas of why he might need rope flashed through her head. All of them were terrible. All of them were wrong. What he did was worse.

Chapter Eight

“In,” he said, pulling her back into the cave by her hair.

She found tying her long mane back behind her head was the only way to keep it from getting tangled in things, but he seemed to think it was a useful handle for dragging her around whenever he caught her out of place. She hadn’t tried to run again; she’d learned her lesson on that, but she was curious and liked to poke around and explore as far as her slowly recovering body would allow.

It was the second time he’d told her to go rest that day, and then found her up and around. Apparently, that was once too many.

“Strip.” The order was delivered in a sharp tone that demanded obedience.

She gaped at him. “What?”

“Strip. Out of your clothes now,” he said.

Nudity had never been a big thing with her people. Having a permanent layer of fur to cover themselves probably helped. And she’d lost what little body modesty she’d had with him. There had been no choice with him being her caregiver when she was too weak to do things for herself. But everything was feeling sexually charged to her right now. Even the order to strip had caused certain reactions in her body. She could feel the low pulse of need between her thighs, but that didn’t mean she was looking to mate with him.

“Why?” she asked.

“Take them off, or I’ll do it for you, and I can’t promise they’ll still be wearable after that.”

That got her moving, but she stripped off her tunic and the loose-legged trousers as slowly as she could, sneaking worried glances at him constantly. “Are you going to make me stay naked because I wouldn’t obey?”

“Not a bad idea, but not exactly what I’m going for.” He pulled her over to the stump he used as a seat and positioned her in front of him. “Stay,” he ordered as he wrapped the rope around her waist.

She watched with wide eyes, wondering if he was just planning to tie her up so she couldn’t move, though why she’d need to be naked for that she didn’t know. Still there were worse things he could do if he had a mind to, and she decided just to keep her mouth closed.

But his plan was more insidious than that. After looping the rope around her waist once, he tied a knot in the back just above her tailbone and then before she knew what was happening, he’d brought both ends down between her legs. He tugged them up tight, gathering the extra lengths in front so that they parted her swollen labia and pressed into her most intimate places. She made a panicked squeaking sound, but he wasn’t done yet.

He fiddled with the placement, sawing it back and forth against her overly sensitive flesh until she squirmed and tried to pull away desperately. “Stay still.” The order came out distracted as if he were too busy getting things right to really pay attention to her.

“What are you doing? I don’t like this,” she said. The words trailed off into a whimper, but she’d lied. Some part of her liked what he was doing very much. Her clit was tight and throbbed with need. The rope kept grazing it when she moved, but never enough to push her over the edge into climax.

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