Masters of Eden Read online

  Eden took a few more sound swats before protesting again. “What’s it like out there? Why are you naked?”

  “You’ll see for yourself soon enough,” Mixer said, patting her bottom. “There’s no need to keep you captive now, is there?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean if you run on a planet like this, you won’t survive a day,” Mixer said. “There are some strange creatures here. Predators that look like plants, who knows what else. If you want to survive, you’ll stay close to the ship and you’ll do as you’re told.”

  “Harsh,” Eden muttered.

  “But true.” Mixer swatted her bottom soundly. “The rules of the game have changed. You changed them when you messed with our navigation.”

  He was right. She’d changed everything. The burning in her bottom was the only thing that remained the same. Eden stopped resisting as Mixer spanked her, instead lifting her hips so that his hand made full contact with her cheeks. There was comfort to be had in the spanking, relief in the discipline. Mixer’s hand imparted sting, but it also brought warmth, and a trickling pleasure that started deep within her nether lips and soon spread to the outer reaches of her pussy.

  Mixer’s snort of amusement told her he had seen her glistening need. “You are insatiable,” he said, letting one thick finger trail along the wet seam of her lips. “You might have enjoyed colony life.”

  He pressed his finger forward, dipping inside her honeyed chalice. She bit her lower lip and lifted her hips, aiding his digital descent into her tight, clasping pussy. One finger did not satisfy of course, but it gave her a little taste of the pleasure she so craved. Slowly he let his finger dip in and out of her, caressing her pussy with a deliberately restrained touch.

  “Position three,” he drawled. “Hands and knees, but put your head down against the bed.”

  Eden obeyed, finding the position more like a canine play bow than anything else. She wiggled her cheeks back and forth, inviting Mixer in. His response was to slap her bottom sharply and tell her to push her legs further apart.

  Thighs spread, buttocks pointing skyward, Eden held the position as he fed his cock inside her. There was nothing hurried about the way he took her. He was not desperate to rut. He was calm, composed, savoring her delights with considered care.

  Eden’s moans were less inhibited as he pushed the full length of his manhood inside her, the bare hot flesh of his cock penetrating to her very core.

  “This is where you need to be,” he growled down at her. “Legs spread, pussy filled, and out of trouble. This is the only time you can be trusted.”

  She might have been offended, but given that they were facing the challenges of survival on an alien planet because of her actions, she couldn’t very well muster such a response. When she was being fucked, she wasn’t plotting or planning, she wasn’t maneuvering for some goal. She was in the moment, giving herself to the man who claimed her.

  Mixer understood that. He’d understood exactly what she was and what she needed from the day they’d met. He knew that his cock gave her more than mere physical pleasure; it soothed her in troubled times, it sated desires for closeness, for care, for tenderness.

  As he thrust in and out, clamping his strong hands around her upturned hips, she relaxed into her native, but rare, state of submission. There was no need to think when he had command of her body. She could simply be his.

  “We were the first people to ever have sex on this planet,” she grinned when climax had claimed them both. Quite exhausted, Mixer lay flat on his back, which allowed her to crawl atop his hard frame and look down into his handsome face. “I want to go out and see it.”

  “Later,” Mixer said. “I need a little nap, and you’re not to go anywhere without me, understand?”

  Eden pouted down at him. He palmed her bottom and she stopped pouting. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll stay here with you. Promise.”

  “I hope that promise means something,” Mixer said, gently sliding her off of him.

  Biting back a hurt retort, she settled in next to his warmth. It was going to take time to repair the damage her subterfuge had done, but she still wasn’t sorry for it. They’d done what they’d had to do, and she’d done what she had to do.

  When his deep breathing told her that he had succumbed to the temptation of post-orgasmic sleep, she went looking for her other mate, the one whose ire could not be so easily mollified. She found Ghost on the bridge, staring at the reactivated monitors that revealed a landscape of such unimaginable beauty that she almost thought it was another simulation.

  “Hello?”

  He made no reply. He stayed stock still, staring out at the new world with an expression that was both reverent and grim.

  “You’re not talking to me?”

  Ghost did not so much as look at her, let alone speak to her. He was still as a statue, his handsome features more attractive than ever. Twin pangs of regret and guilt assailed her stomach. He looked so… lonely.

  “Hey.” She walked around in front of him, putting herself between him and the monitor. “I’m talking to you.”

  His eyes focused on her, but he said nothing. He looked at her, and the look made her feel far worse than the silence had.

  “I never thought you’d be a sore loser.”

  Her taunt did nothing to get a response. He just looked at her, those crystalline eyes holding deep disappointment, which made her feel guiltier than any of his spankings ever had.

  “Beat me,” she said. “Lecture me. Tie me up. Do whatever you want. Just talk to me.”

  “Eden!” Mixer’s growl penetrated the icy silence. “Leave the captain alone.”

  She turned to see him standing shirtless on the bridge. He must not have been quite as sound asleep as she had supposed. “But…”

  “No buts,” he said, advancing toward her. “If you want a thrashing so badly, I’ll give you one.”

  “But…” she tried again, but the ‘but’ only resulted in her butt being swatted hard by Mixer.

  “I gave you an order,” he growled down at her. “Get back to my quarters now, wench, and take those pants off. You’re not going to need clothes for a long time.”

  A thrill of excitement chased some of Eden’s sadness away as Mixer took her back to his quarters and fucked her again. His ardor seemed limitless; they had made love not an hour earlier and he was not only hard, but eager and passionate. With her legs spread around his thick, muscular waist, Eden could think of nothing else besides the rod of flesh penetrating her dripping pussy.

  She was splayed on her back, her legs spread out and over his shoulders to allow unfettered access to her womanhood. Mixer’s thrusts began hard, but soon slowed to a slower rhythm. She looked down and saw his cock glistening with her juices. They were flowing freely, a testament to their shared arousal. Landing on a new planet had made them both very horny. The fact she’d behaved badly was a bonus where Mixer was concerned. He disciplined her by slapping just above her clit; quick, sharp taps of his fingers that made the skin tingle and redden and made her pussy dance around his cock.

  “You’re going to pay for what you did with this sweet little cunt,” Mixer growled, sliding her legs off his shoulders and leaning over her body so they were almost nose to nose with his cock deep inside her. “You’re going to learn to obey.”

  “What makes you think I’m going to learn obedience?” Eden asked the question against his lips, then nipped his nose.

  Mixer drew all the way out until just the tip of his thick cock was inside her. She felt its loss keenly.

  “You’re going to learn to obey because we’ve got nothing but time now, nothing but time to train our little fuck pet.”

  Eden felt her pussy contract excitedly at his words. He knew precisely what he was doing, tormenting her with the depths of her own desire. All her life she had craved someone strong enough to handle her, but none had come close, certainly not as close as Mixer was at that moment, with her pussy crying out with d
esire and supplication.

  “Ghost doesn’t want me anymore,” she reminded him.

  “He’ll take you when he’s ready,” Mixer replied, sliding himself back into her with a torturously slow stroke that made every pleasure sense in her body cry out. “Until then, your sweet cunt will have to wait.”

  Chapter Seven

  In spite of Mixer’s most vigorous and frequent lovemaking, Eden could not dismiss Ghost from her mind. They’d bonded and she felt his loss very keenly. Mixer’s love was satisfying and comforting and she knew she was safe with him, but they had bonded as a threesome. Missing Ghost was like missing an emotional limb.

  Sadly, Ghost did not seem to feel the same way. He removed himself from her presence whenever he was able, and when he was unable, he paid less attention to her than he did the mud on his boots. She had become an irrelevance, and as much as that hurt, she knew she deserved it.

  After seven days, Eden could stand it no more. Cornering him, she planted herself between Ghost and the outside world. In his uniform he looked like part of the ship, quite separate from the verdant green plain and the natural majesty that rose all around him. He made a grunt of irritation and looked down at her.

  “What do you need?”

  “I need you to talk to me,” she said honestly. “I need you to stop ignoring me.”

  “I’m not ignoring you,” he lied flatly. “If you need something, report to Mixer.”

  “Will you ever forgive me?” She looked deep into his eyes, but could not see so much as a spark of emotion. He’d gone flat on her. Cold. She hated it.

  “You should eat,” he said. Not a word on the subject of forgiveness, not even a little tenderness in his gaze.

  “You’re going to have to forgive me eventually,” she declared.

  “Why is that?”

  She smiled. “Because I’m going to make it up to you. Whatever it takes. However long it takes. I’m going to make you forgive me.”

  For a second she thought she saw a glimmer of an answering smile just at the corners of his lips, but it never manifested.

  “Not today,” she acknowledged. “That’s okay. Maybe tomorrow.”

  *

  Three weeks passed. The first twenty-one days had been critical to their survival. It had been a time of stringent work, cataloging various plant and animal species, and running samples through a spectrograph that revealed the chemical contents of their makeup. The planet turned out to be rich in food. Water too. The tendril creatures living in the pond near the ship were eliminated early on. The waterfall provided all they needed to drink. The pond was an excellent place to bathe. Eden spent a great deal of time prancing about half naked beside the warm waters like a naughty nymph, and her provocative behavior was becoming harder and harder for Ghost to ignore.

  He watched her emerge from the water, pink-tipped breasts bouncing pleasingly. She did not look in his direction, but he was sure she knew he was there. There had been many such displays over the past weeks, all designed to get his attention. The more he ignored her, the more shameless she became. Even now she was flipping her long dark hair back in an arc, the round of her bottom thrust out with the movement.

  Ghost tore his eyes away with some difficulty, returning to the task of fortifying a barrier around the perimeter of the clearing. There were all manner of creatures on the planet, some of them more dangerous than others. Keeping them out of the ship’s immediate vicinity was a priority.

  “You need to fuck her already.”

  Ghost looked up and gave Mixer a dark look.

  “If for no other reason that she has the only vagina on this planet,” Mixer joked. Ghost didn’t respond. Mixer tried a more serious approach. “She misses you,” he said. “And my dick can’t keep up with her. She’s a two-man kind of woman.”

  “Take some of this wood and carve a dildo for her,” Ghost deadpanned.

  “Seriously,” Mixer said. “Punish her if you must, but this total disconnection is not going to work. We need each other out here.”

  “How am I supposed to forgive her actions?”

  “By making her pay for them. By whipping her little ass until she knows if she ever pulls one over on you again she won’t sit for a year. The sulking has gone on long enough.”

  “It’s not sulking,” Ghost informed him. “It’s a consequence.”

  “The consequence being that one third of the human population of this planet isn’t talking to another third, using the remaining third as a middleman. I’m not your great-aunt Mary. Grow some balls and deal with her yourself.”

  “Great-aunt what…” Ghost didn’t get a chance to finish the question. Mixer had already departed, impatient with the conversation.

  As he stood and thought on what his comrade had said, Ghost began to realize that Mixer was correct in many respects. This was not a fully crewed ship where a misbehaving ensign could be put under the stringent command of a direct superior. There were only three of them and Eden was his responsibility, no matter what she had done.

  It was time to take proper and full control of the situation. His personal feelings, positive or negative, could not be allowed to compromise the safety of those under his command. It was time to address Eden.

  Making his way back to the ship, Ghost spotted her wandering around in the undergrowth near the engine. She should not have been there, of course. It was almost guaranteed that wherever one found Eden, it would be somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. The woman didn’t seem to pay a whit of attention to her surroundings, a fault that could be fatal on an alien planet that still held so many unknown dangers.

  “Inside,” he ordered as he came up on her.

  She looked up, surprised. “You’re talking to me.”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m talking to you. I’m telling you to get your butt inside. Now.”

  She quirked a brow at him, then obeyed. He followed after her, certain that Mixer was right. He couldn’t separate himself from Eden, no matter how sore his feelings. He wasn’t acting from a place of strength. He was acting from a place of hurt, and that would get them all hurt in the end. It was time to deal with Miss Eden the way a captain should.

  “To your quarters,” he ordered.

  *

  Eden was not sure what was happening, but she knew it made her feel happy and a little bit scared and tingly all over.

  She went to her quarters, which were much like Ghost’s and Mixer’s. The ship had room for more than the skeleton crew it had been carrying, so though her room was quite bare, it was much more comfortable than a cell. She had decorated it with bits and pieces from around the planet; shiny rocks with rainbow hues were laid out across the head of the bed. They gleamed in the light that entered through the windows, which had been sealed shut while in space. The Preceptor had been designed with two modes in mind: cruiser and prison ship. Thick plates had covered the windows in space, but Mixer had removed most of them now that they were on the ground, so sunlight filtered into her quarters through a canopy of green vines and fronds.

  “I don’t need to tell you what our problem is,” Ghost said, coming to a stop with his feet planted square with his shoulders. “I don’t need to tell you why I assigned Mixer to you as primary contact.”

  “No,” she said. “It’s because you hate me now, I get it.”

  “Hate is a strong word. And an inappropriate one. I have never hated you.”

  “It felt like it.”

  Ghost looked at her silently, his piercing blue eyes gleaming in the shafts of light hitting his face. She noticed his hair had been allowed to grow out a little so it hung in an attractive, swept back shag. She wanted to run her fingers through it. She wanted to feel his strong arms around her in an embrace. She wanted something, anything other than the coldness that parted them.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly, sitting on the bed. “I know you’ll probably never forgive me for this. I know you think I used you. But I didn’t.”

  “We used each oth
er,” Ghost said.

  “No, we didn’t. We liked each other, at least I liked you,” Eden said, her voice cracking with emotion. “You didn’t have any feelings for me at all?”

  “I had feelings. I still do,” he admitted. “Those feelings are what made me question my judgment. You would never have been able to do what you did if I hadn’t been distracted by feelings. Which leads me to the conclusion that feelings are dangerous, especially so where you’re concerned.”

  Hot tears pricked at Eden’s eyes. “I had to have my freedom.”

  “And now you have it, in a manner of speaking. Congratulations.”

  He didn’t sound bitter. He didn’t sound angry. He just sounded flat. Eden hated that. Ghost had always been the one who understood her feelings, who connected with her on a deeper level. And now he was the one pulling away from her, because she’d betrayed him in a way she hadn’t betrayed Mixer. It seemed as though both men had gone through the same thing, but they hadn’t. Mixer had never been as tuned in to her as Ghost. Mixer had not been betrayed so much as tricked. But Ghost… she’d hurt him.

  “I’m going to make it up to you,” she said, looking up at him and finding him blurry because of the tears that were obscuring her vision.

  “Some things can’t be fixed,” Ghost said grimly. “Sometimes we just have to accept that things are broken.”

  He could have lashed her a hundred times and not created the surge of pain that accompanied the statement.

  “Ghost… please…” she broke into a sob. “Tell me what I have to do.”

  “I should not have trusted you,” he said. “You were my prisoner. You declared your intention to escape, and I ignored it because I was distracted. That was my mistake, not yours. But I will not make the same mistake twice.”

  “You can trust me,” she said. “I promise I’ll never lie to you again. I promise I’ll never trick you again.”

  “Trust isn’t built with words,” he said. “It’s built with actions.”

  Eden nodded and wiped her eyes. It wasn’t the time for crying. She could cry later. “Then I’ll prove you can trust me.”