Read Outlander (Borealis) for Free Online Page B

whack came down on my behind. It was even harder
than the first. It seared my ass and turned it pink. My punishment for not
calling him Dominus or for affronting him, maybe both.
    “That was a warning. Disrespect me a third time and I will
use a riding crop.” His expression was impenetrable and I wasn’t sure I liked
this side of him.
    Though I couldn’t classify this as abuse, I wasn’t happy
about it. He warned me, I challenged him and I was punished for it.
    A female sub at a nearby bathing station widened her eyes at
me, motioning almost imperceptibly to Marcus.
    Ego and sensibility warred against each other. Finally, I
swallowed my pride and lowered my gaze. “I’m sorry, Dominus.”
    After a long pause, his shoulders relaxed a fraction. He
leaned into me. “Don’t make me do that again.”
    I had to remember that although I wasn’t playing by
Borealian rules, Marcus was, and on this planet, disobedience had consequences.
The smacks wouldn’t even leave a mark. In the end my only real wound was my
pride.
    What ticked me off the most was not the heat on my ass, but
the throbbing between my legs. I took a deep breath. Focus, I told myself. I
had to get us back on good terms. I decided to divert him with some comic
relief.
    “Can I ask you something else, Dominus? ” I emphasized
his title as my eyes enlarged melodramatically. I was hoping he had a good
sense of humor.
    He only partially succeeded in fighting off a smile. “Of
course.”
    “Why all the bondage, the restraints, Dominus?”
    “It is how we worship.” Seizing both of my wrists in one
hand, he backed me to the wall, pressing his body against mine. My nipples
tightened as they brushed past the hard planes of his chest. He raised my arms
above my head until I was stretched out and trapped, barely standing on my
tippy toes. There was no mistaking who was in charge.
    After staring at me for what seemed like an eternity, he
pulled himself away and shackled me.
    The metal cuffs were attached to a thick rusty chain which
was attached to solid rock. I tested them and found them holding me firmly in
place. I wasn’t going anywhere.
    With his hands on my hips, he moved me a couple of feet away
from the rock wall.
    Red clay pitchers, baskets filled with soaps and bottles of
oil lined the edge of the walls. Towels hung on hooks by each bathing station.
Marcus knelt in front of me and my vulva reacted by contracting.
    Taking his time, he spread my legs shoulder-width apart and
secured my ankles with the shackles.
    Oh, God.
    I was a nervous wreck, but Marcus remained calm as he filled
a pitcher with water and set it down on the rocky floor. He poured oil from a
small bottle into his palm and rubbed his hands together.
    The trembling returned. I kept rambling to keep from having
a heart attack. “Why do you worship like this, Dominus?”
    Marcus stood up and eyed me sensuously. Without warning, he
kissed me. It was a long, languid kiss that sent all sorts of erotic messages
through my body.
    After he had me completely under his spell, he let my mouth
go. I was disappointed and a bit irritated.
    Using his large, oiled hands, he softly massaged my neck. “A
long time ago, God lived on a higher plane beyond the clouds with his Goddess.
They were perfectly equal and this caused discord because no two beings can
ever be equal.”
    I used all the self-control I had to keep from making a
face.
    “God set out to repair this flaw in their relationship. One
day when they were making love, God tied the Goddess to their bed and slid his
Light over her bare skin—” he said, running his finger along the length of my
arm.
    I shivered. “His Light, Dominus?”
    “Yes, it’s the same Light that heals, classifies and calms,
but God—and only God—can use it to cause pain. It’s also the same Light the
guards and Galen used on you. His Light can inhabit any object he pleases.”
    I tried to absorb that, but his fingers were traveling under
my clavicle and it was