A Short Leash (11 page)

Squirming in his grasp, Sierra tried to escape, but it was not possible to do so. Kade hauled her into the living room and pressed her forward over the back of the couch.

“Stay.” He ground the order out in such dire tones that Sierra didn’t dare move. Play time was most certainly over. With her palms on the cushions, her toes inches away from the floor and her bottom displayed high over the padded back, she began to think she might have made a mistake somewhere along the line.

Kade’s hand settled on her lower back, grabbing her tunic to hold her in place as he brought the fearful implement swishing through the air.

When it made contact with her flesh it bit hard, like a wild animal. Sierra turned and snapped her teeth at it more out of reflex than anything. Her reaction did nothing to stop the second stroke landing just as hard as the first, but about an inch below it. She yowled in response, pure instinct taking over as she began squirming for escape. There was none. The cane landed a third time as she wriggled about, complaining loudly and incoherently.

“I know this burns,” Kade rumbled. “But you have earned each and every stroke you get many times over.”

With that less than comforting statement, he slapped the cane against her bottom again. This time it cut across lines already laid, producing an intense hellfire sting and a screech from Sierra. How many times was he going to subject her to this unbelievable welting pain?

A fifth time, evidently, and then a sixth, until Sierra’s bottom was not just hot and sore, but completely ablaze. She gasped and writhed beneath his hand, which still held her in place though the caning appeared to have ceased for the moment. It didn’t matter. Her bottom burned on without the need for further strokes. Her entire nervous system was alight with the rushing consequences of the vicious thing, which had hurt far more than any of Seraphine’s bites.

“Deep breaths,” Kade said, his voice intruding on her pain as he released her.

Sierra popped up from the couch and onto her feet like a jackrabbit. She turned to him, her face contorted with outrage and disbelief.

“I hate you!”

She meant the words. They erupted from her in a torrent of loathing propelled by the blaze in her behind. There was no point in rubbing it; even getting her fingers near it made things much worse. Her bottom reacted to the proximity of her hand, the muscles of her cheeks pulsing and quivering of their own accord. “How could you do that!” Hot tears stung her eyes in outrage.

“I did it because the consequences of you disobeying me can be deadly,” Kade said, gently brushing the hair out of her eyes. “If you think this hurts, I assure you that being lost, or caught by another hunter, or accidentally killed is much worse. I need to know that when I tell you to do something, you do it. What if you’d run into a trap or a snare? You didn’t know what was out there. You ran off blindly.”

“You did it because you’re mean and cruel and awful,” Sierra said, using all the words she knew. “You’re a bad man.”

“And you’re a spoiled, upset girl who doesn’t like experiencing the consequences of your actions,” Kade replied. “Go to your room and go to bed.”

More orders. “Will I die if I don’t go to bed right now? Is it important I go to sleep right now, otherwise my arms will fall off?” She spat the questions at him sarcastically. “Everything is a reason for you to beat me, isn’t it?”

Kade did not engage in any further argument. He took her by the arm, bent down, and scooped her up under her knees, lifting her bare-bottomed, squirming, spitting body into his arms.

“I never punish when it isn’t deserved,” he informed her as he carried her to her room with long strides. “You went out of your way to deserve this.”

He deposited her on her feet in her room and gave her a look that was not soft or regretful or sorry in any way. The tight lines of his cheeks and jaws spoke to ongoing displeasure with her. Sierra didn’t care about that. She wasn’t exactly pleased with him either.

“I’m locking this door,” he informed her. “Stay away from the window. It’s going to be electrified tonight. If you open it, your bottom won’t be your only problem.”

“So you’re imprisoning me,” she said.

“I’m preventing you from doing something more stupid than you already have. Good night, Sierra.”

With that he left her. She kicked the door then collapsed on the bed and erupted into floods of tears. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. Her bottom hurt like hell and all he could do was tell her she deserved it. Why? Because she was really a danger to herself? Because he thought she couldn’t take care of herself? No. Because he wouldn’t tolerate disobedience. That was the real reason. He couldn’t handle someone who didn’t lick his boots every time he made an appearance.

It was a long time before Sierra slept; when she did it was only because exhaustion insisted upon it.

* * *

The next day Sierra slept late. When she awoke the sun was high in the sky and the day was half gone. She didn’t care. When she tried the door, she found that it was unlocked. Apparently she was to be allowed to leave and get something to eat. Wasn’t she lucky.

In a thoroughly foul mood, Sierra scuffed her way to the kitchen. Her bottom bore welts and aches from the punishment hours before. She could not make a move without being reminded of what Kade had done.

Kade had obviously heard her get up, for he came into the kitchen as she drank water and greeted her. She ignored him.

“Sierra…”

Sierra put the glass down on the counter and continued to act as though he was not there. He was not worthy of her attention. Unfortunately, Kade could not be dissuaded so easily.

“Come here,” he said, hooking a finger in the back of her pants. He drew her backwards and used his grip to lower the garment. Looking over her shoulder at the mirrored surface behind them, Sierra saw what he saw: six lines drawn across her skin in shades of red with light bruising and blushing in between. She was marked in a way that would take days to abate.

“If you had been less of a brat last night, I would have put a cream on that prevented those bruises,” he said. “But you were on one hell of a tear.”

Sierra did not reply. She had decided that she was not going to speak to him. If he wanted to beat her like a dumb animal then that was how she was going to act.

“Sulking?” He snorted. “You really are trying every single trick in the book, aren’t you.” He released the waistband gently and patted an unblemished part of her bottom. “None of them work with me, Sierra.”

“You only liked me when I was weak,” she said, resorting to speech. “Now I’m strong and you want to beat me to make me weak again.”

A brief flash of something like hurt passed through his eyes. “Is that what you think? You think I spent all this time helping you regain your strength just to beat you?”

When he said it, it sounded ridiculous. Sierra bit her lower lip and lifted her shoulders in a little shrug.

“Do you think that I should just let you run away whenever you feel like it? Do you think we can hunt effectively if I have no control over you?”

He had his hands on her hips, locking her in position so she could not avoid the questions.

“No,” she admitted softly.

“I know that cane hurts,” Kade said. “That’s why I reserve it for truly serious occasions. Your running away was bad enough, but your defiance and hiding was worse. You had several opportunities to avoid that cane, Sierra, but you didn’t take them. You thought that if you were bad enough for long enough, I might just let you get away with it.”

How on earth had he known what she was thinking? “How…”

“I know how pets think,” Kade reminded her. “I’ve told you many times…”

“You’ve seen every trick in the book,” Sierra replied, rolling her eyes. “We’re all the same to you.”

“I did not say you were all the same,” he corrected her. “In fact, no two of you are the same.”

“Oh, we’re all different,” she said, not at all mollified by his statement. “We’re all so different it’s almost like we’re exactly the same.”

“You must be well into your cycle,” Kade said, shaking his head. “Usually a girl settles down after a caning and behaves herself. You’re hell-bent on getting yourself back into trouble again, aren’t you.”

“Don’t talk about my cycle,” Sierra said. “You don’t know anything about my cycle.”

Frustratingly, he was right. She was feeling a certain amount of tension that had absolutely nothing to do with anything besides her own internal chemistry. The residual effects of the caning weren’t helping though, nor was the fact that all her anger seemed to be misplaced.

“Watch your tone,” Kade replied sternly. She tried to pull away, but he held her firm. He was going to make her stay in his presence and he was obviously going to force her to behave as he wanted. A little whine escaped Sierra’s lips as his hands stayed clamped on her hips. “We are going to have visitors soon. I don’t want you misbehaving while they’re here.”

“Visitors? What visitors?”

“Seraphine and Roman,” Kade informed her.

Sierra’s face immediately twisted into annoyance. “Seraphine? Why? She’s awful. She bit me!”

“She did bite you,” Kade agreed, “which is why she’s coming.”

Sierra scowled. “No.”

“What do you mean, no, pet?”

“I don’t want her here.”

“Territorial, aren’t you. You need to watch yourself. I decide who comes here and who doesn’t, not you, my pet.”

Sierra had no intention of watching herself. It was bad enough watching Seraphine simper in the wilds. She couldn’t imagine how insufferable the woman would be in Kade’s home, sitting on the same seats Sierra sat on, eating at Kade’s table. The very thought made a growl rise in her throat.

“Roman will be here with her,” Kade said, his lips twisting as he watched her. “He could use some supervision as well.”

A small smile passed over Sierra’s lips. “How do you supervise a citizen? Will you put a collar on him to teach him the error of his ways?”

“I will not,” Kade drawled. “A citizen doesn’t need to be disciplined into behaving, because he wants to learn. Only pets make things harder for themselves than they need to be.”

“Only pets have to do things they don’t want to do, you mean, so only pets need to be coerced and punished.”

“Citizens have to do plenty of things they don’t want to do too,” Kade replied. “Roman doesn’t want to have to discipline his pet. He’s going to have to learn how to do that before Seraphine bites half the city and is taken away from him.”

“He could just gag her,” Sierra suggested. “That way he wouldn’t have to listen to her talk either. Or! He could release her back into the wilds.”

“Once a pet is captured and trained, she is never released.”

“Never?”

“Never,” Kade confirmed. “Training changes a pet, civilizes her. A trained pet can never be a wild one again.”

Sierra narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t want to be civilized. I want to be wild. You should release me before I get trained.”

“I’m not going to do that, Sierra.”

“Why? You don’t want me to ever be free? You didn’t capture me. You never wanted me. I was dumped on you. Why don’t you just let me go?”

“Because you’re my responsibility now,” Kade said. “And when I have a pet in my care, I train her.”

“What if you can’t train her?”

“All pets are trainable.”

“What if she doesn’t want to be trained? What if she won’t let you train her?”

“It’s not her decision,” he said firmly. “You can leave those rebellious thoughts behind, Sierra. You’re going to be a perfect pet one day, and you’re going to have a good life and that’s all there is to it. If you want to make things painful and difficult in the meantime, that’s your decision. You are not the first rebellious young woman I have taken in hand.”

Not the first and probably not the last either.

Sierra was now in a thoroughly foul mood. Her bruised cheeks and ego, and her frustrated desire for freedom, not to mention the news that Seraphine was going to be in her presence soon, were almost enough to send her into a fit.

“I think you should go back to your room,” Kade said. “Some quiet time will be good for you.”

Quiet time. Alone time. Time away from him. Sierra took his suggestion and went back to her room, her spirits so low she felt as though they’d been trampled by a herd of wild cows. She did not want to be around when Seraphine came anyway.

She spent the day in her room, refusing meals and avoiding all contact until Kade came for her later that evening.

“Come and have dinner,” he said. “And be sure to dress for dinner. Seraphine and Roman are here.”

Dressing for dinner, another stupid citizen custom. Sierra was certainly not going to try to impress Kade’s guests, nor was she in the mood to obey him. What was the opposite of dressing for dinner? An idea came to her, one that put a smile on her face for the first time that day.

She prepared herself with all due care, then returned to Kade and his guests. “Hello,” she said with a little smile as she entered the room.

“Sierra,” Kade said. “Nice to…” His voice trailed off as he caught sight of her. Sierra’s lithe naked body was on full display from her neat round breasts tipped with pink nipples to the violet-hued curls at the apex of her thighs.

“I didn’t want to dress for dinner,” she said as all three stared at her. “So I undressed.”

Kade’s expression became thunderous as he fathomed the extent of her rebellion. Behind him, the steaks were beginning to overcook, but nobody was paying attention to the state of the steak. All eyes were on Sierra with mixed expressions of shock, appreciation, and, in Seraphine’s case, naked jealousy.

“Sierra, go and put some clothes on.”

“Of course, Master Kade,” Sierra replied. “Your command is my wish.” She turned and left the room before he could respond. She dressed, then returned ten minutes later. Unfortunately, Kade was not any more pleased with her second appearance than her first.

“Not those clothes! Not my clothes!”

Standing in Kade’s shirt, which fell all the way to her knees and billowed out around her waist like a sack, Sierra gave him a helpless look as she shrugged. “I am just a simple uncivilized pet,” she said. “What do I know of clothing?”