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  That didn't bode well, she decided.

  She didn't particularly like the assessing gaze he bent on her either as he looked her up and down thoroughly, stroking his chin. She had a very bad feeling he was thinking in terms of punishment, not a dignified, adult, discussion.

  There was something about that look that reminded her forcefully of the way her father had looked at her just before he'd paddled her ass for something she'd done—except this wasn't her father and she had a feeling the violence he was contemplating might be something worse than a paddling.

  She was inclined to think, now, that it hadn't been one of her better ideas. It just showed how upset she'd been that it hadn't occurred to her that there was no way for anybody to come to rescue them even if she had managed to contact anybody.

  More likely, the military would've just shot them out of space.

  She squirmed nervously on the bed under his perusal, a slight blush suffusing her cheeks as she deliberated what could have happened to everyone if it hadn't been for the aliens’ lightning reflexes.

  She looked contrite ... and scared, and Vincent felt his anger abate ... somewhat, mostly because the moment the fear driven anger had dissipated it dawned on him that the woman had not only very nearly wrecked the craft, she'd stolen his suit.

  Not that his suit had never looked anything like that on him. On her, it faithfully followed every curve and the moment he began to notice the way the material caressed her body, his own body began to hum with desire.

  Uneasy with the effect the woman had on him and the trend of his thoughts, Vincent began to pace back and forth across the cabin. By Methusala, the woman needed to be punished! He couldn't ignore the problem simply because she'd been abused and starved her on her own planet. She'd nearly killed them all and if he didn't make it perfectly clear that he would not tolerate her fiddling with the ship's controls ... well, he couldn't sleep. He'd have to watch her constantly.

  And watching her constantly was not a good idea at all. Every time she looked at him with those wide innocent eyes of hers he was reminded of the things she'd done to him while she was under the influence of the Slephlurr and remembering that only made him want to do it again.

  He certainly didn't want to hurt her.

  So how was he to go about punishing her?

  Still pacing, he looked up at a self on the wall and spotted a feather amidst an assortment of other strange little treasures that he had collected from various planets and an image instantly formed in his mind. Striding to the shelf, he plucked the feather from its place among the other things and stroked it, a wickedly smile spreading across his face as it occurred to him that pleasure could be just as effective a method of punishment as pain—depending of course on how one went about it.

  Jody decided right then and there that she didn't like that smile.

  Vincent returned to the sertese and laid the feather down next to Jody, leaning over her, his face mere inches from her own.

  Startled by the move and distrustful at first, as he slowly closed the distance between their bodies and kissed her tenderly on the lips, all thoughts of what he was going to do to vanished from Jody's mind. She hadn't imagined how good his lips felt, how exhilarating his kiss was, Jody thought dimly as he pushed her back on the bed and settled on top of her. In fact, she was inclined to think she'd done him a disservice because it felt a lot better than her dim memories of it.

  His body was hard all over—all over if the hard rod digging into her belly was any indication at all. She shivered in delight as he slipped her further up the bed without breaking the exhilarating contact of their lips and settled more fully against her until he was pressing her down into the soft folds of the bed beneath them. Uttering a sound of surrender, she lifted her arms, looping them around his neck. He slipped his hands beneath them, gently disentangling her, and dragged her arms above her head. The submissive, mastered pose sent heat spiraling through her body. The fire licked higher as he lifted his lips from hers and began to trace a path along her cheek to her ear and then down her neck, his lips leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

  Securing both of her wrists in one hand, Vincent pulled his loincloth free with the other, sat up astride her hips, and quickly bound her wrists together.

  Not quite realizing what had happened, Jody emerged from her sex drugged stupor with an effort, tried to move her arms, and discovered that he had bound her hands above her head.

  Certain she had to be wrong, that her arms had somehow gotten tangled, Jody jerked on them again, feeling uneasiness douse her desire abruptly when she discovered she was well and truly trapped. “What the hell's going on here?"

  Vincent pointedly ignored her question and turned to pick up the feather that he'd left laying on the edge of the bed. The wicked grin returned as he studied her, stroking the feather length once more.

  The look of intent of his face sent a tremor coursing through Jody's body. Wave after wave of goose bumps rippled over her. She gasped when he grabbed the front opening of the suit and, in one motion, peeled it open from neck to crotch. Thoroughly stunned by the move, he'd levered himself off of her and ripped the thing from crotch to ankle before she could even drag in a second gasp of surprise.

  As he stared down at her now almost completely naked body, however, horror washed over her. Bastard! He can see every fat roll!

  Just as Jody was on the verge of getting seriously pissed, he took the feather and playfully stroked one of her exposed nipples. Despite her tumultuous feelings, or maybe because she felt so vulnerable and completely at his mercy, heat washed through her at the light touch. Realizing, finally, his intent, she sucked in a deep breath between gritted teeth and struggled harder against her bonds.

  Her nipples hardened almost painfully in answer to his attentions as he continued to stoke the feather almost idly back and forth, round and around her nipples, and then up and down her quivering belly and inner thighs. Slowly but surely the heat of her embarrassment was edged out by the rising heat of desire within her and her struggles to free herself became the fevered movements of restless need.

  Watching her eyes slowly cloud with desire, her face grow taut with need, Vincent felt the heady sexual power of his situation unraveling the control he'd been certain he had firmly within his grasp. He hesitated after several moments, fighting the urge to lean down an take one pouting nipple into his mouth. Finally, he dragged his gaze from her nipples and danced the feather lightly down her sides and across her lower belly, making her moan and writhe beneath him. Her undulating hips against his buttocks, the movements of her body against his cock where it rested against her belly, sent a painful rush of need through him. It took all he could do to keep from groaning aloud.

  He'd resolved to punish her, however, and he was determined to do so, and pleasure was only punishment when surcease from the delicious torment was denied.

  But it hadn't occurred to him before that the punishment was something they would share, because it was sheer torture to torment her and deny the need building inside himself.

  As much as she enjoyed it to begin with, Jody began to feel more and more desperate as his sweet caresses went on for what seemed like forever. Her sex was swollen to the point of it being almost painful, and the muscles all over her body were sore from her straining against the bindings. Breathless and exhausted from trying to evade the damned feather this crazy man held so purposefully in his hand, Jody realized finally that she couldn't take anymore. “Please, please...” she gasped out. “I'm going to die if you don't stop,” she said desperately.

  Relieved beyond measure, Vincent halted his administrations. “Give me your promise that you will never do anything this dangerous ever again and I will punish you no more."

  Jody looked at him as if he wasn't speaking her language. This has to be the most insane man I have ever met. He thinks he's punishing me by teasing me? She uttered a chuckle of disbelief.

  Vincent's eyes narrowed. Leaning down, he began his assa
ult on her body again.

  Breathlessly, Jody whimpered, “No.... No. Never again.” The fright, actually, was punishment enough, but as loathe as Jody was to admit it, the teasing was punishment. She just didn't realize it was until he untied her, wrapped the loincloth around his hips, and abandoned her with all her stirred up juices.

  Stunned surprise held her for several moments after he'd left. Slowly, as it settled in her mind that he had no intention of finishing what he'd started, irritation replaced the surprise and indignation.

  "Prick!” Jody muttered, sitting up finally and massaging her arms. Her hands and arms didn't ache any worse than the rest of her body, though. Her breasts and her pussy were aching like a throbbing tooth.

  It was with a mixture of relief and irritation that she discovered the suit wasn't ruined after all. It had been designed to open from the neck to the crotch and then down along the inseams of the legs. She felt almost as cheated about that. The masterful way he'd ripped her clothes off had been almost as exciting as it was unnerving and stirred her up even more, and now she found he hadn't ‘lost control’ and torn her clothes off!

  He hadn't come off the exercise completely unscathed, though, she realized with a touch of satisfaction. He'd been hard as a rock when he'd stalked out.

  That thought sent a fresh wave of need through her, but she firmly tamped it. Adjusting the suit, she lay down on the bed and focused on relaxation chants to calm her stirred body, hoping vindictively that he was more miserable than she was.

  * * * *

  Sitting vigilantly at the helm, Miroc turned to look at Vincent as he entered the control room, a smile on his face as he took in Vincent's scowl.

  "Punishment going well?” Miroc asked, his all too jubilant expression fading from his face as he feigned innocence.

  Vincent glared at him. “Quite well, thank you! She has promised never to touch any of the controls again,” he informed his friend with more confidence than he actually felt. Truth be told, he wasn't nearly as certain now as he had been before that his brand of punishment had been half as difficult for her as it was for him. He'd certainly aroused her, but he nursed a dim uneasiness that he'd aroused himself more.

  "What? You mean she didn't appreciate your advances?” Miroc asked, trying unsuccessfully to keep the laughter out of his voice.

  "Listen here, asshole. It was not an attempt to seduce her! I had to punish her for that foolhardy stunt she pulled. She could've killed us all,” Vincent growled. “I suppose I could have tried to reason with her, but.... “He stopped. “I do not have as firm a grasp on her language as I had thought. I was too angry to think of the right words to talk to her. And what good would it have done to simply lock her in the cabin for a few hours?

  "It was the right thing to do,” he assured himself as he threw himself down on the control chair adjacent to Miroc's, wincing and adjusting himself when the movement jarred his aching balls. “Now she will know that I can be as barbaric as her own kind and am quite willing to torture her ... in a way that will not actually harm her, of course. She is only uncomfortable. It will pass."

  "As uncomfortable as you?” Miroc murmured, striving without success to keep the amusement out of his voice since he knew full-well that Vincent's aroused member meant that he hadn't gotten any, and that Vincent had mostly succeeded in punishing himself.

  Vincent sent him a resentful glare. “She's a beautiful woman, and I am a man,” Vincent said, scrubbing a hand over the bristle of hair on his head in frustration. “Naturally I didn't expect to come off completely unscathed. I'll live."

  Miroc's amusement faded. He wouldn't have admitted it for anything, but he wasn't in much better condition. Of course, he hadn't been stupid enough to tease Berny so he wasn't nearly as bad off as Vincent, but he was still having a hard time taming the beast between his legs knowing she was in his cabin, lying on his sertese. He'd spent have his time since she'd arrived wondering if, without the modified Slephlurr, she would have been anywhere near as desirous of him, and half his time trying to figure out a way to ‘accidentally’ drug her again. He would've liked to think, once she got over her fright, she would have found him as attractive as he did her, but he was never going to know.

  And what difference did it make anyway? It wasn't as if they could keep the Earth women. At this point, he wasn't sure what they were going to do about their predicament, but keeping them was definitely not an option. “I think we should put them in one cabin—avoid temptation, you know. One of us needs to stand post while one sleeps anyway."

  Vincent was reluctant to do that. He'd had a vague idea that one session of punishment was just not going to do it. At the moment she was feeling much more resentful than contrite. He was fairly certain that he couldn't handle another session, however, and he was afraid his reluctance to give her up was a strong warning sign he shouldn't ignore. “Sounds like a good idea to me,” he muttered dolefully. “I think I'll stand watch for awhile. I don't think I could sleep right now anyway.” Getting to his feet stiffly, he took his place at the helm as Miroc left the room to take care of the sleeping arrangements and head back to bed himself, staring out at the peaceful beauty of space.

  The peaceful scene failed to bring him the sense of calm it generally did, though, because he found he didn't really see the endless blanket of darkness. His mind's eye was fixed firmly on an image of Jody.

  * * * *

  Berny, bed hog that she was, pushed Jody out of the sertese they had been sharing since Vincent, coward that he was, had decided she'd been ‘punished’ enough and banished her from his cabin. Jody picked herself up off the floor and looked at her friend splayed out across the entire bed. If she wasn't so tired she probably would've laughed at the whole situation. Not that there was any real humor in it, she reminded herself. They were stuck in space. They couldn't get home.

  It occurred to her that she wasn't actually scared. She had been at first, but it was impossible to be around Vincent and Miroc for any length of time and still see either of them as a threat. As fierce and dangerous as they looked with all those hulking muscles, and sounded when they were blustering angrily, they were like—teddy bears.

  As absurd as she'd thought it was, she'd finally come to realize that they thought they'd rescued her and Berny, not captured them. The problem was, their minds were made up and any attempt she'd made—Berny hadn't made any such attempts—to try to make Vincent understand she'd paid to be tortured like that only earned her a pitying look that annoyed the hell out of her and at the same time made her want to kiss him for being so sweet. He was convinced the ‘torture’ had turned her mind and he wasn't budging an inch.

  She had to convince him, somehow, that that just wasn't the case.

  She had to convince him to take them home before she and Berny both lost any interest in going back. Bernie, she suspected, was already a lost cause. It didn't seem to have occurred to her that there was no future in staying with the alien men, because they couldn't.

  She might not understand their language, but she knew they were in serious trouble for rescuing her and Bernie. However determined they were to stick to their guns, they were worried.

  Now awake, she decided, since her previous ‘punishment’ wasn't that bad, that maybe she could reason with Vincent to take them home. On the way to the other room, though, she saw him lying back in the chair at the helm, his head resting on one broad shoulder. He had obviously fallen asleep keeping an eye on things. She smiled at the sight.

  Vincent, woke up the moment he heard the patter of Jody's bare feet in the corridor. Immediately suspicious of what she had in mind, he pretended to be asleep as she approached him.

  "Vincent, are you awake?” Jody whispered when she'd reached him. He didn't stir. Obviously, he was deeply asleep.

  She straightened away from him, debating over whether to wake him or not. It didn't actually seem like a good idea. Disoriented with sleep, she doubted he'd be alert enough to listen to her argument and even if he wa
s his grumpiness from being awakened was bound to make him less inclined to be agreeable.

  As she stared at him, still debating, she got caught up in studying him.

  He was so handsome she found it hard to believe that he always looked at her as if she was ... beautiful. It had been a long, long time since she'd felt attractive. She'd felt ‘unworthy’ of attention because men had made her feel unworthy of it. She'd felt as if a few extra pounds made her completely undesirable, and yet she felt beautiful and desirable when he looked at her.

  Maybe it wasn't something wrong with her, she thought, surprised by the concept. Maybe it was something wrong with the men who looked at her?

  Looking at him, it was hard to accept that he wasn't human. He certainly didn't look alien. But, she decided after a moment that he looked way too good to be human. Men on Earth rarely took this much pride in their bodies, and the ones that did were much too in love with themselves to pay any attention to women.

  Unable to resist the temptation as she felt herself go all warm and tingly just from looking at him and remembering the things he'd done to her, Jody settled her hand very lightly on the bulging muscle of his upper arm nearest her, something she had been wanting to do.

  Holding her breath, Jody stilled, waited for a long moment, but Vincent didn't move. Convinced he must be in a deep sleep, she let her hand venture further, goosebumps of excitement thrilling her skin as she stroked his upper arm. Feeling her way to his wide expanse of hairless chest, she traced his hard pecs and then moved her fingers delicately over both of his nipples. They responded immediately, tightening into little pebbles. She bit her lip, highly aroused by the feel of him, by the unknowing response of his body to her touch. And then she remembered what he had looked like when she had first met him, this incredible tall, dark, handsomely naked stranger in the woods.

  She kept her gaze fixed on his face for any sign that he was waking as she went to find what lay beneath his loincloth, the desire to hold it in her hand almost unbearable now. Slowly, agonizingly, she ran her hands down the rippling abs of his stomach until they met the soft material of his loincloth, then she slipped the cloth off to the side and wrapped both hands around the length of him and marveled at the sheer size of it. She looked down at her newfound treasure as she realized it was growing hard in her hands. Stunned, she looked up to find Vincent smiling, but it wasn't an amused smile. It was almost feral. His eyes glittered, stormy with emotion..