Not the Man She Thought Read online

  Laken lifted her chin defiantly. “Or you’ll spank me again, I suppose?”

  Rade’s eyes were hard as he studied her. “No. The next time, I won’t come to your rescue.”

  Chapter Four

  Laken watched Rade, his parting shot still echoing in her ears. Don’t go wandering off on the next planet we dock on because I won’t come to your rescue. Arrogant bastard. He thought he was oh-so-heroic, saving her from evil villains, but he was no better than the thugs he had rescued her from. She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to kiss her. And after he spanked her, too. Like he had expected her to swoon into his arms in gratitude for rescuing her. Well, that was never going to happen.

  Then why had she kissed him back? Maybe she had simply been surprised by the fact that he’d done it. Or maybe she just hadn’t been thinking clearly. He had just spanked her again, after all. But just because she had an excuse didn’t mean that Rade did. He had clearly tried to take advantage of her. It obviously didn’t to matter to him that she was engaged to another man. If anything, that just showed how low he really was.

  She reached back to massage her stinging bottom, frowning at how tender it was. She didn’t know if she was more furious at him for kissing her or for pulling down her panties. Her gaze went to the tiny scrap of material on the floor and her face colored. As mad as she at him for kissing her, she was definitely more angry at him for spanking her on the bare bottom. It had been humiliating. Not to mention stung like hell.

  A knock sounded on the door suddenly, and she jerked her head up, startled. What if it was Rade? What if he had come back to give her another spanking? As rude as Karsten was, she doubted he would actually bother to knock on her door anyway, but it couldn’t hurt to be sure.

  “Who is it?” she called.

  “It’s Dev.”

  Letting out a sigh of relief, Laken opened her mouth to tell the other girl to come in when she suddenly remembered her panties were still on the floor.

  “Just a minute.”

  Blushing furiously, she bent down and snatched her panties off the floor, then stuffed them in one of the dresser drawers.

  “Okay,” she called. “You can come in now.”

  The door slid open and Dev walked in. “I just wanted to see how you were. I saw the captain a minute ago and he looked pretty mad. That usually means he’s been yelling, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. He can be kind of a bear when he’s upset.”

  Laken’s mouth tightened. “He seems to think that he can boss around everybody on this ship.”

  Dev gave her a wry smile. “Well, he is the captain,” she said, as if that should explain everything. When Laken frowned, she added, “Giving orders is what he does.”

  Laken folded her arms, her frown deepening into a scowl. “Well, following them isn’t something I do.”

  The other woman laughed. “I’m figuring that out about you. Unless you enjoy butting heads with the captain, though, you might want to consider changing the way you do things.”

  Laken surreptitiously reached a hand back to rub her bottom again. “I don’t like butting heads with him, but I’m not going to back down, either.”

  “That’s up to you, but even you have to admit that walking into town wasn’t a very good idea. Seguu is a pretty dangerous place.”

  “Tell me about it. Why would you even go to a planet like Seguu anyway? The place is a complete hellhole.”

  The dark-haired woman shrugged. “We go where the business is. We have to make our money wherever we can.”

  “What kind of business would you have on a backwater place like that? It didn’t look like anyone there had much money.”

  “It’s not always about the money,” Dev said. “Captain’s really good at bartering for stuff that we can sell on other worlds.”

  Laken considered that. Her father talked about interplanetary trade all the time, but she had never heard him mention bartering for goods. “What kind of stuff?”

  Dev looked away. “This and that. Whatever we can get.”

  Laken had a feeling the woman was hiding something, but she didn’t feel like pressing her for more information. Dev was one of the only friends she had on this ship and Laken wanted to stay on her good side.

  “Well, I hope that all the planets you stop at aren’t like that one because I need to do some shopping. According to your captain, it’s going to be six or seven days before we get to Marlon Prime, and these are the only clothes I brought with me.”

  Dev smiled. “You can borrow some of my things. I’m a little taller than you are, but we look like we’re close to the same size, so I’m sure I’ll have something that’ll fit you. Why don’t you come to my cabin and pick some things out?”

  Laken was grateful for the offer, but hesitated. “Are you sure?”

  The other girl laughed. “Of course I’m sure. It’ll give us a chance to talk about girl stuff. I live on a ship full of men, remember? Not much opportunity for that.”

  Laken laughed with her. As it turned out, Dev’s clothes fit her better than either of them would have thought, and she ended up borrowing a pair of pants, a couple of sleeveless tops, and a dress. Dev only had two dresses, so Laken knew it was a pretty big deal when the other girl offered to let her borrow one.

  Laken wouldn’t normally have been so modest when it came to changing in front of another woman, but since she wasn’t sure if her bottom would still be red or not, she ducked into the bathroom to try everything on. Which turned out to be a smart move because her ass cheeks were still very red.

  “Brute,” she muttered.

  * * * * *

  Rade hadn’t been in his cabin for more than a few minutes when someone knocked on the door. Not in the mood for company, he ignored it. Walking over to the sideboard, he splashed whiskey into a glass. The knock came again, more insistently this time, and he swore under his breath.

  “Enter,” he growled.

  The door slid open and he glanced over to see Kellen come into the room. His first officer eyed the glass in Rade’s hand, but made no comment about it.

  “Keir told me things on Seguu got a little heated,” Kellen said.

  Rade threw back his head and downed the whiskey in one swallow. “A little. They thought they could renegotiate the deal. I had to disabuse them of that notion.”

  The other man folded his arms and studied Rade thoughtfully for a moment. “In our line of work, it’s hardly surprising that our customers attempt to renegotiate. It’s not like we had a contract for those generator parts, after all. I don’t remember you ever losing your cool during a deal like that before.”

  Rade’s hand tightened around the glass. “Did Keir say I lost my cool?”

  His first officer sighed. “Of course not. He’s in the mess now, telling everyone who will listen how you backed that guy down just by staring at him. But I know you, and you normally wouldn’t quibble about a few credits one way or another. So, what’s really bothering you?”

  Rade turned back to the sideboard and poured himself another drink. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  The other man was silent for so long that Rade thought he’ left. He should have know better.

  “Are you sure it’s not this job coming up on Marlon Prime?” Kellen asked. “We’ve made blockade runs before, but never on a planet this tightly guarded. Do you think the profit is worth the risk this time?”

  Rade turn to look at Kellen. “The profit is good, but there’s more involved. You know that.”

  Kellen nodded. “I know. It’s just that I’m not used to you getting involved in something like this.”

  Rade shrugged. “Everyone gets involved sooner or later. I’m just doing my part.”

  Kellen sighed. “Well, at least you were able to get the girl back safely.”

  Rade let out a derisive snort. “Do you know where she was when I found her? She was in the saloon fending off two of the locals. The little fool almost got herself raped back there. You think she’d be grat
eful I came to her rescue. But no. Instead, she spent the whole time telling me how she could take care of herself. Hell, she didn’t even want to come back to the ship with me. I practically had to drag her out of there.” He shook his head, his mouth tightening. “I should have left the ungrateful brat.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think you could have done that,” Kellen said. “She may act like a spoiled brat, but we both know that deep down, she’s just a naïve girl who ran away from a controlling father to be with her boyfriend.”

  The old man was right. After the episode in the cargo bay, Rade had been suspicious Laken might be a Federation spy, but after seeing how naïve she had been back in the saloon, he was convinced she was simply the spoiled, rich girl she appeared to be.

  Kellen was also right about him not leaving her to fend for herself on a planet like Seguu, either. Even though she irritated the hell out of him, it was hard not to be protective of her. Even so, he’d been surprised at his reaction when he had walked into that bar and found those bastards groping her. He had wanted to beat the shit out of each and every one of them, and it had taken more effort than he cared to admit to get himself under control. That wasn’t like him. This job on Marlon Prime had him on edge.

  “Yeah, well, she sure has a way of getting herself into trouble,” he said in reply to Kellen’s comment. “That worries me. I don’t want the crew getting distracted with the job we have coming up.”

  Kellen shrugged. “ I suppose we could confine her to her cabin the rest of the time she’s on board. I’m sure we could rig up a lock on her door.”

  Rade looked at him in surprise. “I think that’s a bit extreme. Besides, it won’t be necessary. I had a talk with Ms. Andara when we got back. She’ll behave herself from now on.”

  Of course, Rade didn’t mention to his first officer that the entire conversation with Laken had taken place with her over his knee. Though with all the fuss the girl had been making while he’d spanked her, he wouldn’t be surprised if the entire crew knew exactly what kind of conversation they had been having. He hoped not. While Laken Andara had deserved every stinging smack he’d given her for risking herself so foolishly, he didn’t want to embarrass her in front of his crew. They could be a bit rough around the edges when it came to their sense of humor and they would be quick to tease her if they knew about the spankings. Besides, he liked to think that after that most recent spanking, she had learned her lesson.

  Part of him hoped she hadn’t so he would have an excuse to spank her again. While he had originally put her over his knee to punish her for being such a spoiled brat when, the moment he’d yanked down her panties, all thoughts of correcting her bad behavior had disappeared. The moment he’d seen those gorgeous ass cheeks of hers, all he had wanted to do was run his hand over her reddened skin before sliding it between her legs to touch her pussy.

  Maybe that explained why he had kissed her. He thought of how she had looked standing before him, her long hair a wild tumble around her shoulders, her full lips parted as she’d glared up at him. What man wouldn’t have kissed her? And she had returned his kiss, at least for a moment.

  On the other side of the cabin, his first officer cleared his throat. Rade forced his attention back to Kellen, who was looking at him as if he knew way too much.

  “You’re sure about not wanting her confined to her cabin?” the older man asked. “It would certainly keep her out of trouble.”

  Rade shook his head. “Like I said, I don’t think that will be necessary. I’m sure she’s learned her lesson.”

  The old man looked at him with an expression that said he that was highly unlikely, and Rade couldn’t help but silently wonder if his first officer was right.

  * * * * *

  Laken found herself settling into a routine over the next couple of days, and though she didn’t go out of her way to avoid Rade, she didn’t seek him out, either. And when she did run into him, they made a point of ignoring each other. It helped that the rest of the crew had started to warm up to her a little bit more. With them acting as a buffer between her and the captain, even mealtimes were tolerable.

  She spent most of the time in the communications room with Dev. She and the other woman were becoming very good friends, and Laken knew she would miss Dev when she left.

  Even so, Laken couldn’t deny she would be glad when they finally got to Marlon Prime. Living on board a ship was definitely not for her. Not only was it confining, but with little to do except wander the passageways, she found it extremely boring as well, and she didn’t know how Dev could stand it. She said as much to the other woman when they were sitting in the mess one night after dinner.

  Dev shrugged. “It’s not so bad once you get used to it.”

  Laken sipped her tea. “Maybe not for you. But I’d go out of my mind if I had to live on a ship. I can’t wait to get back to civilization.” She gave Dev a smile. “No offense.”

  The other woman laughed. “None taken. So, if you were back on Tellune, what would you be doing right now?”

  Laken propped her chin on her hand and thought a moment. “Hmmm...something relaxing. Like getting a spa treatment or soaking in a nice hot tub.”

  Dev grinned. “I can’t help with the spa treatment, but I think I might be able to help you with the tub.”

  Laken blinked. Since coming on board, she’d had to use the strange waterless, sonic shower that was in her cabin, and she couldn’t stand it. Relaxing in a hot bath was something she’d been dreaming about ever since coming back from Seguu. “Are you saying you have a real, honest-to-goodness tub on board?”

  The dark-haired woman nodded. “You’re welcome to use it, if you want.”

  Laken chewed on her lower lip. “Are you sure the rest of the crew won’t mind?”

  Dev waved her hand. “They won’t care.” She pushed back her chair and got to her feet. “Most of them never use it anyway. They think it’s a waste of water. Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

  Still unable to believe there was actually a tub on board, Laken followed Dev out of the mess and down a few sets of stairs to a hallway she hadn’t seen before. At the far end, was a frosted glass door. Dev opened it to reveal a small bathroom with a free-standing tub.

  “The captain had it installed to entice me to join the crew. I would have done it even without the tub, but it was a nice gesture,” Dev explained. “I have some bubble bath you can use if you’d like.”

  Laken couldn’t help but smile. She wouldn’t have thought Dev was the bubble bath type. She gave the other woman a smile.

  “I’d love it,” she said. “Dev, this is perfect.”

  Dev smiled and opened up a small wall locker. “The bubble bath is in here, and there are some towels up there, too,” she said, pointing at another locker. “Take as long as you want.”

  As Laken sunk down into the tub several minutes later, she wondered if Dev had realized just how much she’d needed this. Sinking down even further into the bubbles, she rested her head back and closed her eyes. After four days on the ship and three run-ins with its ill-mannered captain, she wanted nothing more than to forget about everything else and focus on Mallin. She let herself relax into the water, fantasizing about her fiancé leading her through one of the complex dance steps back on Tellune, playing with the idea of how he would grab her hand in the middle of it and run off somewhere private with her. Then he would lean in to kiss her and...

  Suddenly, Mallin’s face was replaced by Rade’s. She frowned and replayed the scene in her head, but to her annoyance, every time she got to the part where Mallin kissed her, Rade’s image intruded.

  Laken groaned in frustration. Dammit, she couldn’t even get through something as pleasurable as a bath without thinking of that arrogant bastard.

  * * * * *

  Rade strode down the passageway to find his crew gathered around the door to the bath. The only other time he’d seen them like that had been shortly after Dev had come aboard. She’d been soaking in the tub,
oblivious to the male members of the crew watching her. When she had found out about it afterward, she’d given them such hell that none of them had ever dared done it again. So, why were they hanging around the bath now? Then he knew, and his mouth tightened.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded sharply.

  At the sound of his deep voice, Keir, Jorn, Vance, Finn and Kamran all turned around. To a man, they flushed, obviously embarrassed at being caught spying.

  They all began to babble at once, until Kam cleared his throat, silencing the others. “Captain. We were...just checking to make sure that everything was okay...” he began, but Rade’s hard look silence him.