Not the Man She Thought (31 page)

Rade considered closing the door between him and Enak and go
back the way he’d come, but quickly scrapped the idea. That would leave a lot
of ship left unsearched, and from the way Enak was talking, Laken must still be
on board. He had no choice.  He was going to have to charge Enak and just
hope for the best.

Rade was just getting ready to launch himself out the door
when someone suddenly dropped out of the overhead vent to land on the floor in
the passageway in front of him.  He was half a second away from shooting
whoever it was when he abruptly realized it was Laken.  She jumped up and
darted through the door, hitting the button to close it as she did so.

“Shoot the door panel,” she ordered.  “Quick!”

Rade had already lifted his gun and was squeezing the
trigger even as she spoke.  Outside in the passageway, Enak roared in
frustration. Satisfied the man wouldn’t be able to get through the door any
time soon, Rade turned to Laken.  She rushed into his arms, hugging him
tightly.

“You came for me,” she breathed.  “I knew you would.”

Rade wrapped his arms around her.  “Of course I did,
sweetheart.” 

He held her close, never wanting to let her go.  But
the ship was already starting to lean so far over that it was getting harder
and harder to keep their feet under them.  They needed to get out of
there.  Holding onto Laken’s shoulders, he took a step back and gazed down
at her.  Other than being covered in dirt, he was relieved to see she
looked unharmed.  Even so, he had to know for sure.

“Did that bastard hurt you?”

She shook her head.  “No, I’m fine.”

Thanks God. “The ship is going into the planet’s
atmosphere.  We need to get out of here before it starts to break up.”

Laken nodded.  “Which way do we go?”

He took her hand and led her down the passageway. 
“This way.”

Chapter Fourteen

Laken reached out to brace herself with a hand against the
wall to keep from falling as the floor pitched from one side to the other
underneath her feet.

“We need to get to the airlock, but I came from that
direction.”  Rade gestured behind him at the door that now separated them
from Enak.  “Do you know another way to get there?”

She nodded.  Thanks to all the time she’d spent in the
air ducts, she’d gotten familiar with the ship’s layout.  “Yes, but it’s
going to take us longer.  We have to hurry.”

Laken quickened her step even as she said the words, but it
was difficult to run and keep her balance at the same time. Around them,
the ship’s steel plating groaned as it started to succumb to the force of the
planet’s gravity. The hull was going to split open and depressurize at any
second.  Her heart raced as they hurried down one passageway, then
another.  They weren’t going to make it.

“How much farther?” Rade asked from behind her.

“Not far,” she told him.

At least she hoped it wasn’t.  The ship looked a lot
different than it had when she’d been crawling around in the ducts.  From
what she remembered, the airlock for the shuttle bay should be at the far end
of the passageway, just past the next junction.

Laken picked up her pace as she passed the junction, sure
she was right, when she heard Rade let out a grunt.  Skidding to a stop,
she whirled around just in time to see him hit the floor with Enak on top of
him.  Her eyes went wide. The bastard must have been waiting for them.

Rade’s gun slid across the floor and out of his reach. 
Enak, however, managed to hold onto his own weapon, and Rade had to grab the
other man’s wrist to keep from being shot.  That didn’t stop Enak from
pulling the trigger, though, and Laken ducked as laser fire pinged off the wall
dangerously close to her head.

“Laken, run!” Rade shouted, the words strained as he
struggled with Enak.  “Get to the airlock!”

Like hell.  There was no way she was going anywhere
without Rade.

She pressed herself against the wall as the ship pitched at
a sharp angle.  Rade’s gun slid across the floor a few feet in front of
her, and her gaze locked on it. Keeping one eye on the two men as they
fought, Laken dropped to the floor and crawled on her hands and knees toward
the gun just as the ship tilted again, this time in the opposite direction. 
Bracing herself against the floor to keep from tumbling across it, she reached
out and grabbed the gun as it went sliding past her.

Gripping it tightly in her hands, she pointed at Enak’s back
and squeezed the trigger.  The moving ship threw off her aim way off, though,
and laser fire pinged off the floor right beside Rade’s head, leaving a deep
gouge in the metal.

“Dammit, Laken! What the hell are you doing?” Rade demanded
as he fought to control Enak’s weapon.  “I told you to get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving without you!”

Bracing herself against the wall, Laken lifted the gun to
take another shot, but then hesitated.  The two men were moving around so
much that she had just as much chance of hitting Rade as she did Enak. 
She couldn’t risk that.

Not knowing what else to do, she sat there and watched
helplessly as Rade struggled to get Enak’s weapon away from him. 
Suddenly, the ship leaned sharply, causing the two men to roll across the
floor.  As they did so, Rade managed to slam Enak’s hand against the
floor, knocking the gun out of it.  Rade made a grab for the weapon, but
it slid out of his reach before he could get to it.

Laken held her breath, wondering if she could somehow get
her gun to Rade.  But he didn’t need it.  Drawing back his fist, he
punched Enak squarely in the face.  Though the force of the blow would
have been enough to knock the man down on its own, the ship chose that moment
to tip on its side, which sent Enak tumbling and rolling halfway down the
corridor away from them.

Rade didn’t waste any time.  Scrambling to his feet, he
ran over to her, then grabbed her hand and raced down the passageway toward the
airlock.  Opening the hatch, he shoved her through, then slammed the door
closed behind them.  Glancing over her shoulder, Laken looked out the
small window and saw Enak getting to his feet.  Her already pounding heart
started to hammer in her chest.

“He’s coming after us!”

“Like hell he is,” Rade muttered. 

Taking the gun from her hand, he aimed it at the control
panel for the hatch and fired.  Sparks and metal went flying everywhere,
but Rade accomplished his goal.  Enak hammered at the controls on the
other side of the door to no avail.  The hatch wouldn’t budge.

Inside the shuttle, Dev was sitting at the controls, her
hand hovering over the airlock disengage button.  Relief crossed her face
at the sight of them.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it,” the woman said as
she punched the button.

“We almost didn’t,” Rade said.  “Get us out of here.”

Dev didn’t wait for either of them to sit down and belt
themselves in before she jerked the shuttle away from the airlock. 
Grabbing the back of the nearest seat, Laken half fell into it.  Across
the aisle from her, Rade did the same.  They both watched as Dev fought
the controls, doing everything she could to get the small shuttle back up into
orbit.

Through the shuttle’s front vis-screen, Laken watched as the
evil bastard’s ship tumbled through the planet’s atmosphere.  First, it
began to glow red, then large pieces of it started to tear away from the
hull.  A moment later, there was a huge explosion.  She let out a
shudder.  If she and Rade hadn’t gotten off there when they had...

Across from her, Rade reached out and took her hand, giving
it a reassuring squeeze.  “It’s over, sweetheart.  We’re safe. 
That bastard can’t hurt us anymore.”

She could only nod.

He leaned close, lowering his voice so Dev couldn’t
hear.  “But when we get back to the ship, you and I are going to have a
serious talk about this habit you have of not doing as you’re told.”

Laken had the feeling they would be having that talk with
her draped over his knee while he reddened her bottom.  But right then,
she was so relieved they were both safe she wasn’t about to protest.

* * * * *

“I don’t know why I have to get another spanking,” Laken
said, giving Rade a pout over her shoulder as he sat down on the couch in their
cabin and guided her over his knee.  “You already spanked me for not
listening to you on Enak’s ship.  And for going off the main street when I
went shopping with Pammay after you told me not to.”  She wiggled into a
more comfortable position as Rade placed his hand on her back.  “You even
spanked me on our wedding night for being late to the ceremony.”

Rade chuckled.  “That was over two weeks ago.  I’m
sure you’ve done something to earn yourself a spanking since then. 
Besides giving you a spanking makes your pussy wet.”

Laken felt her face color.  After all the times he had
put her over his knee, she still blushed hotly whenever Rade said something
like that. Which he did on a daily basis since making her his wife.  Her
lips curved into a smile at the word.  If someone had told her that first
day on board Rade’s ship she would end up marrying him, she would have told
them they were crazy, but she couldn’t be happier.  She loved Rade more
than anything.  Even if he did like to put her over his knee and spank her
at every opportunity.  Then again, she thought as he began to caress her
bare bottom, maybe the reason she loved him so much was because he did put her
over his knee.  One of the reasons, anyway.

She was so busy enjoying the massage Rade was giving her
that she didn’t realize he had even stopped until he lifted his hand and
brought it down on her bottom with a loud smack.

“Owwww!” She lifted her head to look over her shoulder at
him.  “Aren’t you at least going to give me a warm up first?”

His mouth quirked.  “Your bottom will be warm by the
time I’m done.  Trust me.”

Laken stuck out her tongue at him, but turned back around to
rest her head on her arms again.  As much as she might like to protest,
she loved getting spanked, and Rade knew it.

No sooner had she settled back into a comfortable position
again than she felt Rade deliver a sharp slap to her other cheek.  She bit
her lip to stifle a little yelp, but still squirmed on his lap.  That
earned her another smack, and another.  He moved back and forth from one
side to the other until her bottom felt warm and tingly all over.

Between her thighs, her pussy purred, and she let out a
little moan as Rade stopped to gently caress her cheeks.  While his hand
felt wonderful on her stinging skin, she knew from experience that it would
feel even more exquisite on her red-hot ass after he had spanked her good and
hard.

As if reading her mind, Rade lifted his hand and brought it
down sharply on her upturned ass. Her squeal of protest barely escaped her lips
before her husband’s hand connected with her bottom again.  He applied
firm smacks to both cheeks with a slow, steady rhythm that had her gasping for
breath.  Even though she loved every minute of it, Laken couldn’t help but
squirm and kick her feet all the same.  The spanks stung.

Then all at once, he stopped.  Laken held her breath,
waiting for Rade to caress her burning cheeks like he’d done before, but he
surprised her by leaning over to press a kiss to her freshly spanked ass
instead.  His mouth felt deliciously cool on her hot skin, and she let out
a moan of pleasure when she felt the stubble on his jaw scrape against her
tender skin as he kissed and nibbled his way up and down her bottom. She could
have him do that all night.

Rade clearly had other ideas. Lifting his head, he went back
to spanking her again.  Laken moaned and squirmed around on his lap even
more in an attempt to grind her pussy against his muscular thigh.

She lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder. 
“Touch me,” she begged.  “Please.”

He obeyed, immediately sliding his hand between her thighs
and running his finger along the slick folds of her pussy.  Laken let out
a moan and spread her legs.

“I guess you liked that spanking,” he said softly. 
“Despite your protests.”

“You know I always do.”

He found her clit among the downy curls and began to make
lazy, little circles around the plump nub.  She let out a sigh and ground
against his hand.

“Would you like me to make you come like this?” he asked,
his voice husky.

Her clit throbbed under his finger.  She nodded her
head.

“Say it.”

She blushed, hesitating for a moment.  When she finally
did manage to get the words out, it was in a soft, breathless
voice.   “Make me come, Rade.  Please!”

At her words, Rade’s finger immediately began to move
faster.  She wiggled on his lap, undulating her hips as he made quick
little circles on her clit.  He brought her to orgasm faster than she
would have thought possible, and she let out one long, continuous moan as
ripples of pleasure coursed through her body, making her tremble.