Not the Man She Thought Page 21

  “Not quite,” he said. “How did you come up with that idea to deceive the Federation’s combat systems like you did? Getting them to think the New Ashanti ships were firing at them was pure brilliance. How did you pull it off?”

  She gave him a small smile. “Remember the security codes I found in the computer when we were on the Federation ship?” He nodded. “Well, I had a hunch they would come in handy someday, and I was right. When I fed them into the computer, I was able to completely control everything their sensors told them was happening. From there, it wasn’t too hard to make them think the good guys were the bad guys and vice versa.”

  He shook his head. “Wasn’t too hard? You’ve got to be kidding me. I don’t know anyone who could have done that, but you. And then you shut down the cooling generators on the Federation ships? How the heck did you think to do that?”

  She shrugged again. “I don’t know. It just came to me.”

  He chuckled. “You’re absolutely amazing, you know that?”

  Laken blushed at the compliment. “Well, I think you’re pretty amazing yourself,” she said, leaning close to kiss him gently on the mouth.

  Rade slid his hand in her hair, his tongue finding hers as he ran his other hand down her back and over the curve of her bottom.

  “Mmm, I love it when you touch me there,” she said softly.

  He lifted a brow, clearly amused. “Oh really? That’s not the impression I got when I spanked you all those times.”

  Her face colored again. “Well, since we’re being totally honest here, I guess I should confess that I don’t dislike them as much as I let on. I mean, I’m not crazy about the spankings you give me when I do something you don’t like. But I have to admit, that spanking you gave me in the barn back on Marlon Prime was very arousing.”

  His mouth quirked. “Is that right? What made that one different from the others?”

  Laken snuggled up against his chest again, finding it easier to talk about spanking if she wasn’t actually looking at him. “Well, for one, you weren’t mad at me. That’s a big help. But the spanking you gave me in the barn was slow, sensual, and very sexual. It still stung, of course, but the way you caressed my bottom in between the spanks made it extremely enjoyable. In fact,” she added, glad he couldn’t see her face, “when you spanked me like that, I got very turned on.”

  “You were very wet and hot, I remember. When I slid inside you back in that barn, it took all the control I had not to explode right then.” He ran his fingers up and down her arm, making goose bumps pop up on her skin. “So, would you like me to spank you like that again sometime?”

  Laken’s pulse quickened, her pussy tingling at his question. All she could do was nod her head.

  “Would you like me to spank you like that now?”

  She thought a moment, then started to nod again, but before she could, he slipped his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him.

  “Would you?

  Laken lifted her gaze to meet his, and her breath hitched at the smoldering look in his dark eyes. “Yes,” she said without hesitation.

  Sitting up so that he had his back to the headboard, Rade took her hand and slowly guided her over his lap. The other times he had spanked her, she’d either been draped over his knee or bent over something, but Laken decided that being stretched out over his lap like this was much more comfortable. Not to mention very intimate, she thought as he lightly ran his hand over her upturned bottom.

  “Do you like that?” he asked softly.

  She sighed. “Mmm-hmmm.”

  He slid his hand between her legs to glide his fingers along her slick folds. “How about this?”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “But what you really want me to do is redden this gorgeous ass of yours, isn’t it?”

  Her pussy spasmed at the words, and she nodded.

  “Say it,” he ordered softly.

  Laken felt her face color. Regardless of the fact that she’d already told him she wanted a spanking, there was something so embarrassing about saying the actual words. But from the way Rade’s hand was resting on her bottom, he was clearly waiting for her to say it before he began.

  Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head to look over her shoulder at him. “Spank me, Rade. Please.”

  His mouth twitching at her words, he lifted his hand and brought it down on her bare bottom. He spanked her lightly a few times, just hard enough to feel it, but not hard enough to sting. Even so, Laken couldn’t help but gasp each time his hand connected with her ass cheeks.

  As he moved back and forth from one cheek to the other, the spanks gradually got harder and harder. The smacks seemed to echo in the cabin, and Laken found herself letting out a little yelp after each one. It seemed unbelievable that she liked getting spanked now, considering how much she’d hated it the first time, but there was no mistaking how wet her pussy was getting. The more he spanked her, the more aroused she became until she was wiggling as much from the throbbing in her clit as from the spanks. It was all she could do not to touch herself.

  Laken was just about to beg Rade to slide his hand between her legs and touch her when he suddenly changed things up and began giving her stinging bottom firm little squeezes in between each spank. The combined sensation was incredible, and she moaned as she felt her pussy spasm with excitement. If he did much more of this, she might just come without him even touching her.

  Apparently Rade wasn’t going to leave that to chance because a moment later, he slid his hand between her legs to run his fingers along the wet folds of her pussy. Laken automatically lifted her bottom higher in the air to give him easier access to her clit, only to let out a startled little gasp when he began spanking her with his free hand. The combination of his hand smacking against her already tingling ass and his finger making little circles on her clit was delicious.

  Laken found herself wanting to grind against his fingers, but at the same time, she also wanted to push her ass back to meet his hand. Figuring his hand was going to connect with her bottom no matter what she did, she decided to give into the demands of her pussy and pressed herself against his magical fingers as hard as she could. That was enough to push her the rest of the way over the edge and she screamed out his name as she came. Rade kept spanking her throughout her entire orgasm, making it seem as if there was a direct connection between her throbbing clit and her red-hot ass, and her climax went on and on, climbing to new heights every time she thought it was about to subside.

  When it finally did subside, she lay there draped over Rade’s lap while he gently rubbed her bottom.

  “So, was that the kind of spanking you were looking for?” he asked softly.

  A smile curving her lips, Laken pushed herself up from his lap and hooking her arms around his neck, straddled his legs. “That’s exactly the kind of spanking I was looking for,” she said, sinking down onto his hard cock.

  Rade’s groan of pleasure was muffled against her mouth as she kissed him. One hand slid into her hair while the other moved up her stomach to cup a breast, and Laken moaned.

  “Ride me,” he commanded hoarsely against her mouth.

  Laken obeyed, slowly moving up and down on his shaft as he pulled her close for another kiss. As his tongue tangled with hers, his hands roamed over her body before he finally cupped her freshly spanked ass cheeks. Tightening his hold, he urged her to ride him faster and faster until she was bouncing up and down on him wildly. His hands on her bottom only made his cock feel that much more amazing inside her.

  She squeezed his shaft with her pussy, wanting to give him as much pleasure as he was giving her. His groans told her she was succeeding, and she felt a surge of pride coursed through her at knowing how good she was making him feel.

  Each time she came down on him, she rotated her hips so that she could feel his balls rub against her tender bottom. Apparently, Rade like it just as much because he groaned even louder. Tightening his hold on her ass, he thrust his hips
up to meet her. He was getting close.

  Laken was getting close herself, but she held back, wanting to wait until she felt his hot cum explode inside her. She ground down on him even more forcefully, clenching her pussy around his shaft with everything in her.

  A moment later, Rade threw back his head and came with roar. The second she felt him burst inside her, Laken let herself go. Her orgasm spiraled through her and she tossed back her own head and let out a scream of pure pleasure. Wrapping his arms around her, Rade buried his face in her neck and they rode out their release together.

  Afterward, Laken collapsed against him, her head on his shoulder, her breathing ragged.

  “Marry me.”

  Laken’s already rapidly beating pulse skipped a beat at Rade’s softly spoken words and she lifted her head to look at him. Had she heard right? “What did you say?”

  Rade’s face was serious as he gently brushed her hair back from her face. “Marry me.”

  Tears stung her eyes. Just being with him made her happier than she could ever imagine being, and she’d truly never given any thought to marriage. But now that Rade had asked her to become his wife, she realized some secret part of her had been yearning to hear him say the words. And now that he had, it seemed like her heart might burst with joy.

  Laken abruptly noticed that Rade was looking at her expectantly and she realized she hadn’t said anything in reply yet. She’d been so wrapped up in how his proposal had made her feel that’d totally forgotten to give him her answer.

  “Yes,” she said in a rush. Laughing, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Yes, yes, a million times, yes!”

  Laken would gladly have spent the next week in Rade’s cabin, but after her stomach growled for a fourth time, they both reluctantly decided to get out of bed and go down to the mess to get something to eat. Since it was dinnertime, the whole crew was there, and they greeted Laken and Rade with warm smiles.

  “We were wondering when you were going to come up for air,” Dev teased. “We were just talking about sending in a recon droid to make sure you two were still up and kicking.”

  Though Laken laughed along with everyone else, she couldn’t help but blush as she and Rade sat down at the table. While they ate, Kellen filled Rade in on what had been happening with Marlon Prime and the Federation. As much as they’d hated to do it, the Federation had been forced to sign a formal partnership agreement with Marlon Prime. That was as close as anyone was ever going to come to getting the Federation to admit defeat. Regardless of what it was called, though, the agreement meant the people of Marlon Prime were now free to trade with anyone and everyone they pleased.

  As Laken and Rade were finishing lunch, Kamran pushed back his chair, saying he needed to get back to the bridge. Vance and Finn echoed the sentiment, saying they had to get back to work, too.

  “Hang on a minute,” Rade said when they made to leave. “Laken and I have an announcement to make.” He gave her a grin as he slipped an arm around her waist. “We’re getting married.”

  There were grins, cheers and congratulations from every member of the crew. Laken felt warmed by their genuine happiness over the announcement. She knew they wanted their captain to be happy, and she was pleased they thought she could do that for him.

  “That’s so wonderful!” Pammay reached out to cover Laken’s hand with her own. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “We all are,” Dev agreed.

  Pammay leaned forward in her chair, her eyes bright with excitement. “Have you decided where you’re going to get married?

  Laken thought a moment. “Rade just proposed a little while ago, so we haven’t talked about it yet.”

  Rade shrugged. “I just assumed you would want to get married on Tellune.”

  “And have my father show up and make a mess out of everything?” Laken asked. “No, thanks. We’ll tell my parents after we get married.”

  “What about getting married on Alphalon 7, then?” Pammay suggested.

  Laken had heard of Alphalon 7, of course. It was one of the most popular resort planets in the galaxy, and while she had always thought of it more as a honeymoon spot, many people did go there to get married. It was no secret the marriage paperwork on Alphalon 7 was held to an absolute minimum, too, which sounded great to her. She looked at Rade. “What do you think?”

  He grinned. “I think wherever you want to get married is fine with me.”

  She smiled. “Then Alphalon 7 sounds like perfect place to become your wife.”

  As eager as Laken was to get married, however, she was actually a little relieved when he told her it would take several days to get to Alphalon 7. She needed time to plan the wedding, after all. Though four days still wasn’t much time to get everything together, with both Pammay’s help and the ship’s computer, she managed to not only find the perfect location for the ceremony, but also a gorgeous gown. She would still have to pay a visit to the bridal shop when they got to Alphalon 7 so the seamstress could make any alterations, but the woman she’d spoken to assured her they could be done quickly.

  Laken had asked both Dev and Pammay to act as attendants, so when they docked on Alphalon 7, the three of them went to the bridal shop while Rade and Kellen went to the administrative offices to take care of the marriage paperwork.

  While Dev loved the dress Laken had suggested, she hated having to stand still while the seamstress made the alterations. But though she grumbled about it the whole time, Laken could tell the dark-haired woman liked the way she looked in the light blue gown. Pammay, on the other hand, absolutely loved the whole fitting process, and actually spent more time with the seamstress than Laken did.

  “Do you think that Keir will like it?” she asked Laken and Dev as she surveyed her reflection in the full-length mirror.

  Laken blinked in surprise. “I didn’t realize you had a thing for Keir. Are you two seeing each other?”

  The blond-haired woman blushed and shook her head. “No. But I catch him looking at me all the time. I certainly wouldn’t mind if he courted me, but I think he’s too shy to ask me.”

  Shy? That definitely didn’t sound like the Keir she knew. Could it be that the ship’s resident playboy had finally fallen for someone? She shared a look with Dev, who grinned.

  Laken gave Pammay a smile. “Well, once he sees you in that gown, he’s bound to work up his courage and ask you out.”

  “She’s right,” Dev agreed, then added, “And he won’t be the only one looking like a slack-jaw idiot. When the captain sees you, Laken, he’s going to have a hard time saying his vows.”

  Laken laughed as she regarded her reflection. Though simple in style, the white, sleeveless gown she’d chosen flattered her slender figure and accentuated her curves.

  It was almost noon by the time they left the bridal shop, so Laken suggested having lunch at one of the outdoor cafés before they did the rest of their shopping. Though Dev was all for getting something to eat, she wasn’t too keen on shopping, so she decided to head back to the ship after they’d finished lunch.

  “Remember to stay on the main thoroughfare,” Dev said as they walked out of the restaurant. “This is a tourist planet, so there’s always someone looking for easy pickings.”

  Laken stifled a groan. It was the same warning Rade had given her before she’d left. “We will.”

  Since Laken wanted to get some sexy, new lingerie for her wedding night, she and Pammay went shopping for that first. They spent the next two hours “oohing,” and “aahing,” not to mention blushing and giggling over the provocative bras, skimpy panties and flirty negligees. Unable to pick from so many gorgeous underthings, Laken decided on several matching bras and panties, as well as a few of the negligees. Pammay even talked her into getting a bottle of flavored massage oil. Not that it took much convincing on the blonds woman’s part. Just the thought of Rade rubbing her naked body down with the delectable oil, then licking it off had her pussy purring.

  Taking advantage of the s
tore’s delivery service, Laken and Pammay didn’t have to be bothered carrying around shopping bags, which was nice, especially when they had to pull out the holo-map they’d brought with them. On the ship’s computer, Laken had read about a jewelry store that specialized in heirloom pieces. There was a particular pair of earrings she’d seen in their catalog that would go perfect with her gown. It had seemed simple to find while looking on the computer, but now that they were actually there, the city seemed much more confusing. She and Pammay searched the map for it.