A Short Leash (8 page)

“I’m going to forgo the leather this time because you’ve already been spanked today, but you will obey me,” Kade growled down at her. “Especially when it comes to matters of the wilds. Your senses are still quite dulled. You will be in danger if you do not listen, understand me?”

“Yes,” Sierra sniffed sadly.

“I know you’re feeling strong,” he added, “but you are nowhere near full strength, Sierra. Even when you are, I need to know you will obey me.” He rubbed her bottom, soothing some of the sting away. “And every time you disobey me, you can expect to be punished even more thoroughly. This was just a warning, Sierra. It can and it will be worse if you do not learn your lesson.”

As tears fell, Sierra promised that she had learned her lesson and was finally rewarded when Kade picked her up in his arms and held her close, kissing her cheeks and cuddling her close. “You can be a good girl, I know you can,” he murmured.

Sierra wasn’t so sure.

Chapter Five

Discipline was not the only thing on Kade’s agenda. Sierra was quickly gaining weight and she felt some of her wild senses returning, but Kade was not satisfied with that alone. He told her as much one morning after breakfast. “I think it’s time you got out of the house,” he said. “You need a little socializing.”

Socializing didn’t really sound like fun to Sierra. Kade was all she needed in terms of company. “With who? Your citizen friends?”

“I don’t just train pets,” Kade said. “I also advise hunters. Some of them are meeting in the wilds today.”

Sierra perked up at that, a smile crossing her face. “We’re going into the wilds?”

“We are,” he said. “And I’m taking a risk on you, Sierra. If you go running off, I will not be happy. If you misbehave, I will not be happy. If you…”

Sierra grazed her teeth lightly over his arm. She knew that would not make him happy either, but it might stop the lecturing for a moment.

“Sierra…” His tone dipped warningly. “You know better than to put your teeth on me, don’t you?”

“Not hard,” Sierra said, offering a little lick.

“Mm-hmm. Are you going to be able to behave yourself today? Or do you need a tune-up before we leave?”

“That is not a question I can answer,” Sierra said truthfully. “I do not have the power of future sight. Is that something citizens have?”

“You know very well what I mean,” Kade said, running his fingers through her hair. “These men look to me as their mentor.”

“Oh, so you don’t want me to embarrass you?”

“You won’t embarrass me,” he replied. “But if you get out of hand, I will not hesitate to correct you. You might find that even more unpleasant in front of others. Now promise you’ll be good.”

“I’ll be good.”

“If you’re not, you’ll find out what it feels like to be caned. That collar of yours is capable of disciplining you at a distance, so mind yourself.”

“I will,” Sierra promised.

* * *

Sierra forgot all about the warnings and her promises once they entered the wilds. Kade kept her on a short leash, allowing her no more than five feet from him at any time, but the sights and the scents rushing her senses more than made up for that. This was the world as it truly was, soft earth beneath her feet, creeping between her toes with every step, the radiation-tinged breeze making her skin tingle ever so slightly. The air in the city was sterile and still, scented with nothing but the perfumes and flatus from the citizenry.

She had never been in that particular part of the wilds before; her homelands were many miles off. The area she found herself in was more verdant and flower-filled than the wilds surrounding her village, which were mountainous, rocky, and often cold.

She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and froze.

“What is it?” Kade asked.

“Rabbit.”

“We’re not hunting yet,” Kade said. “Leave it be.”

Sierra ignored him. A rabbit, plump and juicy and fresh for the cooking made her mouth water and completely overrode any obedient impulse. She dived into the bushes, missed the rabbit completely and screamed as the collar sent a shock arcing through her rear cheeks. She did not know how the damn thing worked, but it was very effective. She felt as though a cane had just been laid hard across her bare behind.

“Let that be a lesson to you,” Kade said. “You do not hunt unless I give the order.”

Gritting her teeth, Sierra clutched at her bottom. It did little good, because there hadn’t really been any cane and there wasn’t actually any sensation to abate, just the message of it still lingering in her mind.

“That wasn’t fair.”

“That was perfectly fair. Stay with me and do as you’re told. That’s not so hard, is it?”

“But the whole world is here,” Sierra complained. “And I just want to chase a little bit of it.”

“Time for that later,” Kade said. “Today is for you to get used to the wilds again. A year is a long time to be away, your instincts are dulled, and what you do sense, your body isn’t ready to act on. Give it time.”

“Time. Time, always talking about time,” Sierra said. “What if there isn’t any such thing as time? What if there’s only now and now I don’t get any rabbit?”

Kade gave her his sternest expression, his scarred face taking on an almost fearsome aspect. “We’re not having one of these discussions. We need to keep going. There are others waiting for us, remember.”

She did remember; there were going to be other pets and other hunters. Citizens and wild ones all together in a happy meeting. Sierra was looking forward to meeting the other pets. Maybe she and they could come up with some kind of plan to break free. The other pets must also be missing their wild lives.

A few minutes later, some of her questions were answered in a clearing where four people—two citizens and two pets—were waiting for her and Kade. Two women around Sierra’s age were lounging at their masters’ feet. One had long green tresses, the other was blessed with much more rare hair of a pink hue. Sierra noticed that they did not look at one another and at first they also avoided making any kind of eye contact with her. They were far too busy gazing adorably up at the men standing over them. That changed when Kade made an appearance. Then they turned their eyes to him, ecstatic expressions appearing simultaneously on their pretty faces.

“Gentlemen,” Kade nodded. “And ladies, of course.”

All sorts of greetings passed between the men, but Sierra did not pay any attention to them. She was much more interested in the pets. They were very well dressed in short brightly colored tunics that barely covered the tops of their thighs, dark panties that gave them some measure of modesty, and long fur boots that came all the way up to their knees. Their hair was braided and tied back so that it would not catch on trees or brambles during the hunt. The pink-haired pet wore a tunic matching her hair color; the green-haired one wore a royal blue tunic with a silvered sheen that seemed quite impractical for hunting. Both of them had belts at their waist with small pockets and compartments, but they were otherwise completely unarmed.

Their attire was quite similar to Sierra’s, except for the fact that she was wearing what amounted to very short overalls instead of a tunic and short pants. Kade had given her the one-piece blue outfit, which sat high across the front of her thighs and just barely covered her cheeks at the rear, leaving her stocking-clad legs free to move. Both stockings and clothing were marked intermittently with bright orange slashes designed to make her visible to the hunter she accompanied, but not reveal her as a threat to the animals they might stalk.

“This is Kara and Seraphine…”

Kade introduced her, gesturing to each of them as he said their names. Kara was the pink-haired pet; she had a pleasant round face and a snub nose, which gave her an air of perpetual innocence. Seraphine was a different matter. Her features were narrow, her cheekbones high and prominent. Her lips were stained with color, her glittering emerald eyes defined by dark slashing brows. She was beautiful and elegant, her hair the color of spring leaves wound about her head in intricate braids in a fashion that made her look as botanical as the surrounding flora. She locked eyes with Sierra and winked, long lashes batting against alabaster cheeks. Sierra did not sense any camaraderie in the gesture,; the woman’s expression was far too calculating.

“…and their masters, Hadrian and Roman.”

All four names went in one of Sierra’s ears and out the other. The way the other pets were looking at Kade was giving her a very uneasy feeling. Though their expressions were sweet, there was a certain predatory glint in their eyes. Even at a distance she could sense their desire for him. Their scents had changed the moment he entered the clearing. The citizens standing over them could not detect it, but Sierra’s senses were attuned to such signals. The two pets coiled before Kade had all but ovulated the moment he appeared.

“How are you girls?” Kade asked the question, which prompted giggling.

“Very well, Master Kade,” they all but chorused.

“I trained both Kara and Seraphine,” he explained to Sierra.

The uneasy feeling inside Sierra grew to a recognizable emotion. Jealousy was flowering inside her. What had Kade done to these two? Had he bared them? Almost certainly. Had he… touched them as he had touched her? The thought made her recoil with anger. Kade had never made any secret of what he was and what he did, but somehow he had always made Sierra feel as though she were the only woman in his life. Being confronted with the evidence of others was not pleasant, especially with the way they were looking at him with barely disguised lust.

“Say hello,” Kade nudged her. Sierra refused, taking a step back behind him.

“Aw, she’s shy.” Hadrian said, or maybe Roman did. They were both dark-haired citizen men with dark eyes and pale skin. Sierra wasn’t surprised their pets were more interested in Kade. Kade had a magnetism the citizens just did not have. His scent alone was more powerful and alluring than theirs, and he was far more handsome. His jaw was stronger, his eyes were brighter, his shoulders broader… Sierra peeked out from behind him and curled her lip in a silent snarl at the two pets who looked as though they wanted to throw themselves at him.

In the end, it was Kade who went to them, greeting them both affectionately. It was a relatively innocent touch, but it drove Sierra wild in an instant. If Kade was not hers and she was just another in a very long line of women, then she would not stay. Thoughts came swiftly, only barely predicting action.

She wanted to leave.

They were already in the wilds.

Sierra ran.

There was a shout, and then the awful whacking began to pulse against her backside thanks to the infernal collar. She persevered through it, running as more than a dozen strokes of that unseen cane rained down on her bottom. With tears in her eyes, she kept moving. Though she was not back at full strength just yet, she was far faster than any hunter ever could be. Her lithe form and superior agility allowed her to flit through the forest in a way Kade’s large bulk could not.

After several miles the smacking stopped. Sierra did not know why at first, but she stopped and listened and realized she could not hear any form of pursuit. She must have gotten out of range. Of course Kade had never mentioned that the device only worked within a certain range, that would have encouraged her to do what she’d done, but right away instead of five minutes into the meeting.

A sound in the distance got Sierra’s attention. Footfalls, moving cautiously through the undergrowth. They did not belong to a hunter, and they certainly didn’t belong to Kade. Her collar was not whacking her again, so he must still be at a distance. Or perhaps he had turned it off so as to sneak up on her unawares, or not drive her further still. Sierra did not think much of the collar. It inflicted a certain level of discomfort, but it was not enough to stop a determined woman.

As the footfalls drew closer, Sierra decided to take her escape vertical. She was glad for Kade’s careful rehabilitation as she scaled a tree, taking refuge a third of the way up where the branches and leaves were thickest. She was high enough to see a much greater distance and sure enough she could soon see her pursuers.

Two sybaritic female forms were slinking through the trees. The hunters had set their pets on her. Sierra’s upper lip curled back in preparation for a bite. She was not going to allow herself to be caught by those women, not that they seemed to be looking for her terribly hard. It occurred to Sierra that they probably didn’t like her any more than she liked them.

Perched high above them, she stayed very still, averting her gaze. Best not to stare, lest they sensed her gaze and found her. Sierra kept them in her peripheral vision as they began casting around in circles. They had lost her trail, which made sense as it had in fact ended. She tensed, waiting for one of them to look up at her. There was really only one place she could have gone, and yet somehow they didn’t seem to think of it. They just wandered around in circles for a bit, then sat down and waited for the hunters to arrive.

It took several minutes for that to happen. Sierra found herself trapped by the lazy pets, unable to make an effective escape for their presence. It was annoying to be cornered by them, but she did not want to give her position away by making some mad dash that would certainly get their attention.

As the hunters drew near, Sierra heard them talking about her.

“She’s very wild,” one of the citizens said.

“She’s never been trained, but she spent a year with a man I’d like to choke,” Kade replied. “The asshole starved her half to death and didn’t teach her a single thing but how to bite.”

Sierra frowned. Although Kade was speaking more about her previous owner than her, it was strange to be talked about at all—especially when the other women could hear.

“How did you break her of the biting?”

“Wasn’t that difficult,” Kade replied. “A happy, secure pet doesn’t usually bite.”