The Commander's Slave by K. S. Augustin

she to convince Tangus that she herself desired something
more than the heated magic they shared in the dark chamber
together? That she was an intelligent woman who would go crazy
constantly locked in the confines of a pleasure chamber and that
she valued his conversation and consideration as much as his sexual
prowess?
    Maybe a good place to start would be
to show that she was not immune to his touch. That she was willing
to fully participate in their lustful encounters.
    Maybe it would show him something if she was
prepared to initiate their next encounter?
    A wicked smile spread slowly across
Asha’s face.
    * * * *
    Damn Daurent and his come-hither eyes,
Tangus thought in fury as he stalked into his quarters. Who did he
think he was, staring at Asha so lasciviously? He was entranced by
her body, the grace with which she walked, her regal, sculpted
features.
    But what did his first officer know of the real Asha? The firebrand who cried out her passion with such
abandon, the ... the ....
    Tangus abandoned his search for an
object to hurl at the wall and collapsed at his desk
chair.
    If truth be known, he didn’t know much
more about the captive himself. Even her name was manufactured. He
didn’t know where she was from, where she was going, or how she had
ended up on Helson V. In fact, he could only be sure of two things:
one, she had been a virgin the first time he mounted her, and two,
she was the only woman he had ever known who could drive him to
ecstasy with not much more than a look.
    Three things.
    There were hints of course. The quiet
while he related a quick history of the Seti’s last, calamitous,
conflict suggested patience and reserve. And he certainly couldn’t
deny her passion, he thought with a quirk of his lips.
    The way….
    Under other circumstances, he would be
honored to be noticed by a female as magnificent as Asha. There
were always difficulties with cross-species courtships, but nothing
he was sure he couldn’t handle. He had already established they
were physically compatible and wasn’t that the greatest
hurdle?
    And what man didn’t think of leaving
his legacy through future generations? He was sure she would make a
strong, loving mother, fiercely defensive of her children but
gently wanton with her mate.
    I feel….
    Tangus shut his eyes tightly against
the visions intruding into his brain. No, he couldn’t keep thinking
that way. Perhaps if the home world still existed, if he could
still harbor some hope for the future, then he could afford to
indulge himself. But he had to keep remembering that Asha was
merely a means to an end. That was the reason he had purchased her.
She was to be the first in a line of Fusion women who kept the Seti
name alive, and he couldn’t afford to be distracted by useless
monopolistic fantasies. In fact ….
    He pressed the intercom button.
“Daurent?”
    “ Yes,
commander?”
    “ Let Doctor Zehnda know he
has an upcoming appointment. Tell him to bring his xenogenetics
sampling kit to my quarters tomorrow morning.”
    Tangus could hear Daurent’s questions
in the hesitation that followed. “Yes, commander.”
    “ Tangus out.”
    He exhaled and leaned back in his
chair. Now, if he was thinking as clearly as he’d hoped, he’d grab
a bite to eat himself, go over the latest tactical reports and get
some sleep.
    ...about
her....
    And there were still some elements of
the classic Rheni Gambit he wanted to research, the weather
conditions at the time and how that had played into the master
strategy. Those were the good old days, he thought with a grim
twist of his lips, before the advent of interplanetary war and
massive vacuum-muted killing.
    In fact, there were many other things
to concern himself with--future developments of their moon base,
cheaper female acquisitions, crop grafting. So he was surprised to
find control again taken out of his hands, after he opened the door
to the adjoining chamber, and asked, “Would you like to see my
quarters?”
    He