A Short Leash (12 page)

Seraphine’s expression was particularly priceless. She was surprised, yes. Shocked, perhaps. More important, she was learning new ways to rebel.

Chapter Seven

“I will give you credit for one thing,” Kade said as he wrangled her over his thighs in the relative privacy of her room where she had been sent once more. “You have managed to do something no other pet has ever done.”

“Not so predictable after all?” Sierra smirked. Her bottom was already in a sore state, but she was completely unrepentant. He had laid down a challenge and she had done nothing more than meet it.

“I never said you were predictable,” Kade replied, smoothing his palm over her poor welted bottom. “I said I was capable of dealing with whatever you decide to do.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Sierra threw the words back over her shoulder. “Seems to me you’re just capable of smacking my ass no matter what I do.”

A rough blond brow was lifted at her. “You think I should be more inventive with you?” He patted her bottom lightly. “Do you know what? I think you’re right. If you can find new ways to misbehave, I can find new ways to discipline you.”

He slapped her bottom hard and let her up. “You will perform the duties of a house pet until further notice,” he said. “You will sweep, clean, dust, shine, cook, launder—whatever needs doing, you will do it.”

“I don’t know how to do half of that,” Sierra said, rubbing her bottom.

Kade’s smile grew devious. “That’s the best part of this punishment. Seraphine knows how to do all those things. You and she will work together.”

“No!” Sierra shook her head rapidly. “Please, just thrash me.”

“Oh, no,” Kade replied. “That is over too quickly and clearly you’re becoming desensitized to it. This might actually make you think twice before you decide to make a defiant scene in front of guests.”

* * *

The next day was one of the most tedious Sierra had ever spent, even more than the long days alone in the little courtyard. At least she was free to pursue her own imaginings there. With Seraphine she had to hear about the details of the most mind-numbing series of household pursuits she could ever imagine.

“It’s not difficult cleaning up around the house,” Seraphine said after they had lunch and cleaned it up. “They have machines for most things. It’s not like in the wilds where you have to scrub and scrape and spend all day just to clean a shirt. You just take the clothes and throw them in this.”

She opened a small metal cupboard and tossed the soiled laundry inside. “And if you don’t want to do it, then you can take something expensive and wash it and you won’t have to do it for a while,” she grinned naughtily. “Once I put Roman’s brand new watch into the washing machine. I didn’t have to do laundry for a month.”

Seraphine was an underhanded little wretch, that much was certain. Sierra didn’t blame her for that. Pets had so few opportunities to exert control, it made sense that Seraphine would find something somewhere upon which to exert her will.

“Aren’t you worried he’s going to punish you?”

Seraphine sniffed. “Roman loves me,” she said. “I don’t have to worry. As soon as we go home I will do as I like again. I run our home.”

Sierra smirked, not because she thought what Seraphine was saying was funny necessarily, or because she believed it, but because Seraphine was blissfully unaware that both Roman and Kade were standing behind her, and neither of them seemed pleased to hear what she had to say.

“Is that so?” Roman asked the question in deep, not at all pleased tones.

Seraphine froze.

“Come here,” he continued, his words clipped.

Sierra watched, thoroughly entranced as Seraphine made her way to her owner looking completely guilty.

“I do love you,” he said, looking down at her. “That’s the only thing you said that wasn’t completely ridiculous.”

“Yes, sir.” Seraphine lowered her head in a show of submission. “I didn’t mean what I said. It was just the idle chatter of women.”

“Was it now.” Roman did not sound mollified. “You know Sierra is fresh to her training. I expressly told you to set a good example for her, and what do you do? Fill her head with notions that will only lead to pain. I expected better from you, Seraphine.”

“I am sorry, sir.”

“Are you.” It was not a question. It was a flat statement of disbelief. “We are here because you have continually disobeyed, usually while telling me how good you want to be. You tell me what I want to hear and then you do whatever you want to do. It is not good enough, Seraphine. I do not believe in harsh punishments, but it is becoming obvious that Master Kade’s methods are the only ones that work with you. Go and wait for me in our room.”

Seraphine let out a sad little sigh and did as she was told, slinking off toward the room she and Roman were sharing with her shoulders bowed as if the weight of the world were upon them. Sierra had to give her credit; she was a very fine actress.

The moment Seraphine closed the door behind her, Roman’s features crumpled into what Sierra could only interpret as sadness. He seemed genuinely distressed by her behavior, which surprised Sierra to no end.

“This is what she’s like,” he said. “My kindness is mistaken for weakness. She really does think she runs the house.”

“Pets take advantage when advantage is given,” Kade said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Kindness is always a good thing, but not before discipline has been established.”

“She’s just…” Roman shook his head and sighed in plain frustration. “When I chose her, I promised myself I would never lay a finger on her. She was so sweet, and playful like a kitten. I don’t know what I’ve done to make her act this way.”

“Every hunter learns sooner or later that his pet sometimes needs physical correction at first at least,” Kade explained. “As time goes on that need decreases, and in some cases, goes away completely as a pet bonds with her master. When your pet is fully dedicated to you, the slightest expression of disappointment will be painful to her. Seraphine is not there yet, and she will not get there until she knows you are capable of and willing to exert your will when necessary.”

Sierra listened curiously. She seemed to have almost been forgotten by Roman, if not Kade. She was fascinated by the exchange. It had never occurred to her that a citizen might be distressed by his pet’s disobedience, and it had certainly never occurred to her that a citizen might genuinely love his pet either. Roman did not see Seraphine as a servant or a tool. She was much more than that to him. Sierra felt a pang of pity for the citizen who was trying so hard and failing because of his love.

“Go spank her ass red,” Kade said firmly. “And put her in her crate for the night.”

Roman opened his mouth. “Perhaps you…” He stopped talking as Kade cut him off with shake of his head.

“I cannot handle Seraphine any longer,” Kade said. “If I discipline her, she will bond with me and not you. It will make matters much, much worse.”

A great wash of relief passed over Sierra. If he wasn’t going to handle Seraphine anymore, she had nothing to worry about. She watched as Roman went to tend to Seraphine and Kade took himself off to the kitchen.

“Um, Kade?” Sierra peeked around the corner of the cabinet to look at the man who was her master.

“What is the matter, pet? Come here.” He took her by the hand and led her over to the couch, where he sat and she knelt on the carpet at his feet.

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry,” she said, looking up at him under her lashes.

“You are?” He did not hide his surprise. In all their time together, Sierra had never made an honest and unprovoked apology.

“I was jealous,” she said. “When Seraphine came.”

“You’ve been jealous since you laid eyes on her, haven’t you,” he said, letting his fingers drift through her hair as she rested her cheek against his thigh and gazed up at him. “But you know now that I do not tolerate jealousy—and there is no need for it.”

A question was bubbling inside Sierra. It had been in her mind since the early days, lurking behind many other thoughts. Now it had claimed her mind and would not allow any other thought to take its place until it had been asked. “Do you find new masters for all the pets you train?”

An unfathomable expression passed over his face as he stroked her head. “I am a trainer,” he said. “I have not taken a pet for my own in a very long time.”

Pangs of pain assailed Sierra. He might not have taken a pet for his own, but he had certainly taken the hearts of many. “So you mate with women and pass them on? A steady stream of whores for your entertainment?

“Well,” Kade said, his tone measured. “You managed to be good for all of two minutes; that might be some kind of record.” He leaned forward, the hand that had been stroking her hair clutching at the back of her neck as he drew her up on her knees until they were face to face. “I don’t usually mate with the pets I train,” he informed her, his lips less than an inch from hers. “Your pretty pussy demanded my attention from the outset and I see it continues to do so. Display yourself, pet.”

He wanted her to turn about, throw her tunic up, and lift her hips so he could see her pussy and bottom bared to his gaze. Sierra was not in the mood to obey, but his energy had become intense and masterful to a point she did not want to test.

With frustrated tears in her eyes, she obeyed, presenting herself as he had asked. For long moments she felt his gaze on her reluctantly offered sex. Against all common sense, she felt the petals of her pussy beginning to flower, nectar welling up to him. In the distance, she could hear the yelps and yowls of Seraphine being spanked. Two pets were being brought to justice.

“You respond to me like no other,” Kade purred behind her. “I wonder if you would respond to any man this way. Is it just the yearning of your cunt, Sierra? Or do you question me about my motives because this wetness belongs to me and me alone?”

He was cutting to the quick of the matter with carnal mastery, demanding an answer Sierra could not bear to give lest the sentiment were not returned. Master Kade handled pets regularly in the most intimate of ways. Even if he was not mating with them, he was plying his hand across their bottoms, seeing their pussies, baring their bodies for his discipline.

She felt his fingers brushing lightly under her mound, where her curling down was thick, in a soft caress that teased near her clit but did not make contact with it or any other part of her pussy.

“It is natural to feel close to me,” he said. “It is normal for a pet to bond with the one who tames her. That bond is never truly broken, but it usually doesn’t mean she cannot serve another. Do you like the idea of that, Sierra? Do you like the notion of another man putting his hands on you? Plunging himself deep inside you?”

His words made her cunt tingle. The way he was touching her was erotically enchanting as he coaxed her into the idea.

“No,” she moaned.

“No?” His fingers danced around her clit and dipped into the pool of moisture between her tender lips. “Are you absolutely certain about that, sweet pet of mine?”

Sierra let out a long shivering moan. No other man had ever touched her as Kade did, and she could not imagine one doing so. But she was responding to the idea, her juices coating her lips ever more wetly as Kade teased her with not just his touch but carnal notions that made her clit throb.

“Come here.”

Kade beckoned her up onto his lap where his cock had been freed from the confines of his pants. Sierra straddled him, rose above the thick rod and slowly settled herself upon it, filling herself inch by inch as Kade looked deep into her eyes with his aquamarine gaze and held her hips, easing her up and down.

“You feel so sweet, my pet,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her neck and biting lightly, leaving her with a little sting. “And you are going to be even sweeter when I watch you being filled twice over.”

Sierra shivered, the walls of her pussy clenching tight around his cock as he murmured those combustible promises into her ear, pulling her down hard as he did. She did not know if he meant what he was saying, or if it was simply the fact that he could tell how wet it made her.

“Who?” She whispered the question against his lips as she kissed him. “Who would you share me with?”

Kade slapped her bottom, urging her to rise faster and fall harder. “I think you might already know the answer to that, my horny little pet,” he said, spanking her over and over again.

Sierra did not know, but she did not care. She could almost feel the ghost of another nearby, another set of hands, another set of lips, another hard cock filling her tightest holes as Kade held her in place and thrust his cock deep up inside her, his pubic bone grinding against her clit until orgasm detonated between them, catching them both in its blast.

Chapter Eight

Content and sexually sated, Sierra was not anticipating any troubles come dinnertime. She did not reckon on Seraphine being in a foul mood thanks to the fact that Roman had taken her to task. She was not sitting comfortably, that much was obvious by the way she kept shifting back and forth in her seat. Roman did not seem overly pleased either. Obviously their disciplinary session had not been pleasant for either of them.

Kade picked up on their concern and was not pleased by it.

“Roman, we need to talk.”

Sierra and Seraphine watched as Roman followed Kade out of their earshot, but where they could still easily see both men, and vice versa.

Sierra didn’t say anything, but Seraphine could not control her tongue.

“He’s not yours.”

“What?”

“Kade,” she said. “He’s not yours.”

“Well, he’s not yours either,” Sierra pointed out. How Seraphine had managed to hone in on the sorest spot in her psyche with almost surgical precision, she had no idea. “And he already got rid of you.”

“Got rid of me?” Seraphine cut her eyes to two narrow spitting shards. “I sold for a thousand gold pieces. Not citizen credits. Real gold.”