The Commander's Slave by K. S. Augustin Page A

stepped aside, breathing in her
scent as she brushed past him.
    * * * *
    Tangus was suddenly full of unexpected
surprises and Asha couldn’t refuse his latest offer. Would she like
to see his quarters? And get an insight into this enigmatic man? Of
course!
    What had she been expecting, she asked
herself as she entered? Of course he was neat, although the scatter
of book-rods on the desk indicated someone who followed several
ideas simultaneously. And the space was well-appointed although
sparser than she was expecting. No velvet anywhere, a wide but not
extravagant bed. One wall was dominated by a large star chart
display but there was nothing of any personal value. She saw no
little mementos, no pictures of friends or family, just his
unmistakable personal scent filling the room.
    “ Disappointed?” he asked,
coming up behind her.
    She turned, her lips quirking and she
saw him narrow in on them, his dark eyes clouding into opacity. A
jolt of power shot through her.
    “ Certainly it’s not as
sybaritic as I was expecting,” she half-whispered, licking her
lips. As if mesmerized, he watched the moist tip of her tongue
emerge, then retreat.
    Did she dare act on her impetuous plan? Did she have enough
courage to finally take him to bed? Taking a
breath, she lifted her hands, locking them behind his neck. “Thank
you.”
    “ For what?” Automatically,
he moved to stroke her back, grazing her with his rough
hands.
    “ For the tour. For the
clothes. For proving that you’re not such a callous brute after
all.”
    “ You’ll find,” he replied, kissing one side of her mouth,
“that I am,” then the other side, “a very callous
brute.”
    But she wasn’t listening. Tightening
her hold, she pulled his mouth down on hers, opening her lips so he
could taste her while coyly toying with his tongue at the same
time.
    There was a moment when he hesitated,
when she was afraid he would reject an advance that he had not
initiated, before he tightened his grip. Swiftly, he captured her
tongue in his mouth and sucked on it, the gentle pulling action
starting a heat in her groin.
    “ You don’t know what you do
to me,” he grated against her ear when he drew back for breath. He
kissed her earlobe, then followed it with another kiss to the side
of her neck. “When you’re around, I stop thinking.”
    Asha arched her neck, gasping when he
bit at the sensitive skin between neck and shoulder. With eyes
closed, she reached for one of his hands, bringing it around from
behind her back to grasp a burgeoning breast.
    Tangus didn’t need any more
encouragement. Still kissing her neck, he slipped his hand under
her tunic so he could stroke her bare breast and tug at a
fast-hardening nipple.
    They kissed again, all hands and hot
tongues, before Tangus picked her up and carried her to his bed. It
creaked beneath their combined weight.
    “ I would like to pleasure
you,” Asha whispered. Quickly, before he could grab her, she got
off the bed and began disrobing, pausing every little while to
watch his reaction. A smile curved her lips when she saw his
hardening penis strain against the material of his
trousers.
    Her top discarded, Asha bent and
stepped out of her pants then, still out of reach, she began
running her hands up and over her breasts, plucking at her own
nipples and moaning with pleasure.
    Tangus’ response was electric. He
jackknifed into a sitting position, reaching for her, but she
danced out of range.
    “ Tell me what you want me
to do ... master,” she teased.
    “ Come here,” he
growled.
    She shook her head. “Not yet. Perhaps
you should take your shirt off while I ... touch
myself.”
    Tangus’ eyes, already dark, blacked in
an instant, glittering like volcanic glass, but he did as he was
told. In front of him, tantalizingly out of reach, Asha sank to her
knees and spread her thighs. Watching her lover, she licked her
finger then trailed it down her body, between her breasts, leaving
a glistening trail that he