Meadows of Heaven (11/23)
Chapter 11
"Have you been reading this?" Lieutenant Chikezie held out her tablet.
Maggie pulled off her goggles, curious about whatever it was that Chikezie found so important that she had interrupted Maggie's work on comparing the engine room circuits to the ones displayed in the ship schematics. "Reading what?"
"The diary we found. Harmony Ventura."
She shook her head. "I haven't had time."
Chikezie frowned and looked around. She seemed frustrated by the other techs in the engine room, all working off of carefully copied schematics. "Have you had lunch yet?"
What the hell was in that diary? Maggie felt torn between her devotion to her work and finding out exactly what had the normally unflappable Chikezie so concerned. "You know, I think I'm due for a lunch break."
"In fact Corporal, I think it's essential you take a lunch break." Chikezie nodded solemnly, though her dark eyes sparkled. "Let's go."
She waited until they'd cleared the ship before beginning to speak. "I started at the beginning at first, which was a mistake. Nothing is as self-absorbed as a teenage girl's diary."
Maggie smirked, remembering her own scrawlings at that age. Although, growing up on war-torn Sienna, she hardly resembled the typical thirteen-year-old girl.
"And then I skipped to the end, thinking perhaps I'd get a clue as to why they abandoned the colony and how they found the city."
"And? Did you?" Maggie asked, heart beating with excitement.
"Well, maybe yes, maybe no." Chikezie shook her head.
"That doesn't sound certain."
"I had to backtrack to when she first met Matteo. Otherwise it didn't make much sense."
Maggie shook her head. "Who's Matteo?"
Chikezie handed over the tablet. "He was her dom."
"As in?" Maggie grabbed the tablet and stopped in mid-step.
"As in exactly the same dom/sub arrangement in the city, yes!"
She had left the diary up on the tablet's screen and Maggie started to read the first entry, her curiosity more than piqued.
Matteo used the crop on me today. I told him I wanted something heavier than the flogger, but I didn't feel ready for the whip.
We began like we did every session - with the collar. I'd stripped and knelt before him, waiting for him to lock it around my throat. Sometimes I wish I could wear it all the time, let everyone know who I belong to. But I can't give father another reason to hate Matteo.
If he knew what we did together, he'd never understand. One time I think father saw the bruises on my wrist - Matteo had tied the ropes too tight only the once, but I didn't mind. I liked how all I needed to do was press on the mark and I'd remember everything he'd done to me that night.
The crop left such wonderful bruises.
He bound me to the bed with strips of leather he'd gotten from last month's shipment. I wonder if anyone ever gives his purchases a second glance sometimes. I picture the inventory crew, checking off items on a list: "dildo? Check! Nipple clamps? Check!"
Matteo says I need to learn to focus. I've lost the thread again.
Maggie felt sweat trickle down her back, the temperature having gone up a few degrees. "Is it all like that?"
"For the most part. After she met Matteo that is."
"What happened to them?" Maggie began to page through the entries.
"The wormhole collapsed, and the shipments stopped coming. And then he died."
"What?" Maggie looked up in shock. "How?" she had a sudden vivid image of Harmony's father taking a laser rifle to the man beating his daughter.
"A bad winter. The food started to run out. The last entry is where she writes of his death."
Maggie shook her head. "The link between Harmony and the city seems obvious. But how did they go from here to there?"
"I have to leave something for you to figure out Corporal."
***
When Jeff entered the conference room for his meeting with the queen, he was very conscious of the lack of Jensen at this side. For the first time he would have to go it alone on 328, and he found he missed the other man's insight. He worried how this meeting would go without Jensen to nudge him in the right direction.
"Commander," the queen greeted him. She sat at the opposite end of the round table, Sub Fredric at her feet.
He bowed. "I'm sorry I'm late. I had to leave Jensen at the infirmary, er, or whatever you call where your healers are."
She looked up from the slate she had been perusing when he walked in. "Is he all right?"
"He's fine." Jeff rushed to reassure her. Otherwise, it would look very bad for a dutiful master to leave his sub alone. "Broke his arm falling off the ledge of a fountain in the gardens. He just had a rather interesting reaction to the pain medication the healer gave him."
"Ah." She smiled. "Yes, it does that to some subs. I've seen it used in other ways of course."
Jeff didn't even want to explore that thought. However, the thought of sleepy, snuggly Jensen had a blush rising to his cheeks. Why the hell did Jensen want to be punished? Was it some sort of reaction to what Adrian had said before Claudia had dismissed the subs? It was more than just liking how it felt to be flogged, he thought, Jensen hadn't asked for that. He'd asked for punishment, specifically.
"I'll see if he can be released after our meeting. I think it's best if he sleeps it off." Jeff took his seat, placing his slate on the wide round table.
The door shimmered open and Lady Verona entered. She nodded at Jeff before taking a seat of her own at the table.
Jeff cleared his throat. "I would like to ask again that my experts be allowed to attend these meetings."
"You may send them the text of the contract for review," Verona noted.
"I don't know if your technology will talk to our technology," Jeff protested.
"It will," the queen said, as if her words could make it so by decree. "If it doesn't, I will have one of my guards deliver a slate outside of the city."
Jeff didn't know they left the city, the way everything was closed up here. The city was filled with walls and towers, and barriers. "I see," he said, not wanting to press the point, especially with Jensen back in the infirmary, and Jeff trying to maneuver his way alone.
"I know there are many points to discuss," the queen began.
That was an understatement. Jeff had been sent the text of the proposed contract and it had covered everything from how far they could build to how the garbage was disposed. He knew every possible detail needed to be uncovered, but really, he didn't want to be the person to do it.
"But I believe we need to start out with personnel. Especially regarding the events of yesterday."
"I don't understand," Jeff said slowly, knowing it was better to admit ignorance here than to fake knowledge.
"I will send you the updated version." She touched her slate absently. "I ask that your Major Tappen be allowed to serve in the city as part of his military contract. You'll have a fully staffed base, won't you?"
Jeff looked at the slate as it updated, then slid to the section on personnel. The last iteration he remembered the only thing the queen had asked for was that a dom/sub team would always be assigned to the planet to interface with the citizens of Harmony, to keep any more misunderstandings from occurring. Now it put in a very specific request for Major Tappen. "You want him to be assigned as Ian's sub?" Jeff blurted.
"We can arrange for one of our citizens to serve at your base, in exchange," Lady Verona pointed out. "It's a fair trade."
Jeff shook his head, about ready to deny the request out of hand. They didn't sell their people like this. He swallowed his words. "I need to run this through my captain," he said. "As well as the other provisions concerning construction and trade and access to your technology."
Michelle nodded. "That is to be expected. We'll convene again when you have her answer to our current terms. Understand, Commander Morgan, I am very serious about Major Tappen being assigned here. He will be given every right as a sub of Harmony."
But not, Jeff thought, as a citizen of the UP.
***
When Jeff arrived back at the healers', he found Claudia waiting in the general area, before the long hallway of rooms. She sat on one of the benches against the wall, her hands clasped in her lap. Jeff walked over to her, relieved when she smiled at his approach.
"Misha is in with Jensen," she explained. "I thought it best to give them some time alone."
Jeff dropped into the seat next to her, feeling the weight of the day heavy on his shoulders. Claudia had spoken to him about responsibility, and Jeff thought he had understood, he'd spent more than twenty years in the service, after all. But he'd never been responsible for one man's freedom before.
"Has he slept off the drugs yet?"
Claudia laughed. "Hopefully. I'm sure now that his arm has been healed, you can take him back to your suite to finish recovering."
Jeff wondered how common these kinds of injuries were. They seemed to be able to heal almost anything, including Peter's whip stripped back. Well, examining this technology would be the task of the team assigned here.
"I'm sure he will be well," Claudia said softly. "I know how you must feel, to have quarreled with him before."
He turned to look at her, astonished. "How could you tell that?"
"Sub Jensen was not himself this morning."
That was an understatement. He wished he could ask Claudia for advice, stars above, she'd been the most helpful person in Harmony. "How do you stand it? When Misha fucks others?" He was crude on purpose. It almost expressed the mass of emotion whirling in his belly, how much it disturbed him that Jensen slept with him only out of duty. Jeff couldn't explain why it upset him now, after they'd shared so much together, he'd known from the beginning what Jensen was.
What had changed? Jeff looked down at his hands, remembering how his fingers had bound Jensen, how he'd carried the younger man twice now, helplessly dependent on Jeff.
"I knew he was a red band when I claimed him," Claudia said softly. "His desire to be used is a gift, how he subsumes himself into nothing. I feel pride, watching him. Because, you see, he always comes back to me."
"Is that enough?"
"He comes back to me, because his heart is with me, Commander."
"Please," Jeff sighed. "Call me Jeff." After sharing so much with someone, he'd at least offer his first name, something he couldn't offer Jensen, for completely different reasons in Harmony than in the stars.
Claudia smiled at him. "Well, then Jeff. I'm not certain what you argued about. But I find sometimes a dom needs to reassure his sub. Remind him that he is owned. And loved."
Loved? Jeff had not heard that word used here before, had not even considered it between dom and sub, although now, it was so apparent, at least with some pairs. As Misha came down the hallway, his face lighting up at the sight of his mistress, Jeff wondered. It seemed love here might be just as rare as anywhere else. He thought of Adrian and Peter, no love there, but bound by something else. Jeff decided he would never understand these people. But he wished he could understand Jensen.
***
Jensen rubbed at his arm, feeling nothing but smooth skin and a bit of soreness. Healer Nicci had cautioned him to avoid being suspended by his arms for two weeks, and it had made him smile, that he'd found a place where that kind of thing was standard information for a doctor to hand out after a bad injury. He'd broken bones before, but it usually took longer than a few hours for the accelerated healing to kick in. Once again he'd been faced with some amazing technology, he just wished he could remember it.
"Does it hurt?" Jeff asked, coming out of the bathroom of their quarters. He'd ordered Jensen to bed as soon as they had returned to finish sleeping off the drugs.
Jensen shook his head. "It aches, like a sore muscle."
"I think the drugs threw you more than the compound fracture." Jeff sat on the end of the bed. "You missed dinner, want me to get you anything?"
His stomach twisted at the thought. "No. I think the drugs have another side effect. I, I didn't say anything stupid, while I was doped up?"
Jeff threw him one of his amazing grins, the smile that went straight to Jensen's groin. "Well, you sure did giggle a lot."
"Ah." Jensen leaned against the pillows; relieved it hadn't been anything worse.
"And you asked me to punish you."
Jensen could feel the flush rising in his cheeks. They'd been getting along so well, too, since leaving the healers', no trace of the awkwardness from this morning. If Jensen had known that all he needed to do to fix that was getting injured he might have tried that earlier. "Oh. Can I blame Misha? It was his idea."
"And Claudia said I needed to remind you that you are owned."
The covers suddenly seemed fascinating to him, Jensen traced the embroidery at the edges, he hadn't noticed the tiny roses before, in silvery white thread. "But I'm not . . ."
"Jensen, what do you need?" Jeff shifted forward on the bed, one hand raised. For a moment, it seemed like he didn't know what to do with it, and then, finally, he placed it on Jensen's cheek, stroking with his thumb. "Tell me how to fix this."
Jeff couldn’t fix this, Jensen thought, not unless he started returning Jensen's feelings. And since Jeff thought Jensen only submitted to him because of the mission, he knew the odds of that were slim to none. Damn it, Jensen was a professional, he should be able to push past this, focus on completing the mission, no matter how he felt. "You think a scene would fix it?" If that's what Jeff believed, then Jensen would go with it.
"Well, not right now. You need to rest."
"I've been sleeping all day," Jensen protested, not that he wanted a go in the playroom just yet. "Oh, you never told me what happened in your meeting with the queen?"
Jeff chuckled, although the sound lacked any joy to it. "Are you sure you want to get into this now? It may take all night."
"I want to know what she decided about Major Tappen at least."
All amusement disappeared from Jeff's face. "They put it in the contract. She wants Tappen to finish out his tour of duty here, as a liaison to the city, as Ian's sub."
"Well, fuck," Jensen muttered. So much for that tactic. "How are we going to get him out of this?"
"We're not." Jeff's dark eyes grew stormy. "I spoke to the captain. She thinks the admirals might very well agree to it, as long as they get their hands on that damn technology."
Jensen's belly roiled, and he swallowed hard against the sudden nausea. "That . . . that would be slavery. That doesn't sound like something the queen would condone at all. Do you think Tappen agreed to it? Did you speak to him?"
"Not yet." Jeff shook his head. "Sometimes, I'm not sure if all the fighting is worth it, you know, if it's all going to fucking go down like this."
"It is worth it," Jensen said, grasping Jeff's hand in his. "I've lived in the Confed, I know. We can't stop fighting."
"And who knows," Jeff said weakly. "This might be the thing that lets us win."
Jensen smiled, his lips pressed together. "Get some sleep. Sometimes that helps with perspective."
As Jeff slid beside him, Jensen slid back into the folds of his embrace, willing to pretend, for a moment, that this was real, that he was owned, at least for tonight.
***
Jensen looked so peaceful as he slept, curled around one of the large pillows, his naked body oddly dark against the pale sheets. His collar stood out in stark relief, a bright contrast to everything else. Jeff sat on the edge of the bed, not used to waking up before Jensen, although he had done so on purpose this morning. If Jensen needed this - be it discipline or punishment, or whatever - it was Jeff's duty to provide it.
He touched Jensen's shoulder, stroking the smooth skin gently until Jensen sniffed and opened his eyes. "Are you all right this morning?"
Jensen blinked, his eyes still hazy with sleep. "What?"
"Do you feel strong enough to scene?" Jeff clarified.
"Oh!" Jensen's face brightened, but he frowned for a moment. "I need to eat. I feel all right, but I need to see if I can keep food down."
"Have breakfast." He nodded over to the tray he'd placed on his side of the bed. "Shower and prepare yourself, then meet me in the playroom. If you are nude, I'll know it's all right. If you don't feel strong enough, put on some form of clothing. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
Jeff paced the length of the playroom, his mind racing. This would be the first time he had planned a true scene of his own. Even what they'd done on the ship to prepare for the mission had been done by instinct, without forethought, Jeff just doing what felt natural. Before he'd had Jensen or Claudia to help him, and he'd merely followed their lead before moving forward.
Now, though, now could make or break everything.
Although Jeff knew he didn't understand this world or its people, Jensen had tried to get him to understand the nature of this kind of sex. Jeff had done the readings, although none of that could have prepared him for the reality. But in his research Jeff had read that some individuals needed this, and he figured Jensen for one of them. If a drugged and doped up Jensen had pleaded for punishment, then he'd needed it, had asked when a normally sober Jensen wouldn't.
The door shimmered open, and Jensen walked in, head bowed, arms behind his back and nude as the day he was born. Jeff felt part of the knot in his belly release.
"Sir, if I may speak?"
"Go ahead."
"The healer said I may not be suspended from my arms for two weeks."
Jeff nodded, it only made sense after all. "Is there anything else the healer said that I should know about?"
"No, sir."
"Anything else that you need to say to me?"
Again: "No, sir."
"Good. Atten-tion!"
Jensen snapped into formation, although his eyes widened in surprise at the sudden command. His back straightened, shoulders squared, belly tucked in, arms stilled, heels snapped together, and his gaze moved straight ahead, even when Jeff came around to circle him, as if for inspection.
"From now on, you will not speak until spoken to, is that understood, slut?" Jeff said the word like he would say cadet, like it was a title, and one Jensen had earned.
"Sir, yes sir!"
Jeff circled him again, considering. "Look at you, standing there, getting hard just at the sound of my voice. Do you know why you're here, slut?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Tell me why you are here, slut!" Jeff got into Jensen's face, trying to be as intimidating as his drill sergeant from basic.
"To be punished, sir," Jensen's voice cracked on the last word. He kept his eyes straight ahead, not deterred by Jeff's actions.
"And why are you being punished?"
Jensen apparently had to think about that for a moment, before he stuttered out, "For not being more careful in the garden, sir."
"And?" It was interesting to find out what else Jensen thought he should be punished for.
He could see Jensen swallow, his throat working before he opened his mouth to speak, his eyes flickering away. "For not being 100% focused on the mission, sir."
Jeff nodded and stepped away, as if he knew exactly what Jensen was talking about. As far as he was concerned, Jensen had been focused, playing his part brilliantly. Then again, maybe that was the problem, Jensen had gone too far into his sub persona, unable to do his job without it. That didn't seem quite right, but Jeff couldn't think of anything better.
"Here's what we're gonna do, slut. This is punishment, this isn't supposed to be fun." Jeff took a deep breath, feeling slightly guilty about his next actions, but knowing they were necessary. He reached out and slapped Jensen's balls, hard.
Jensen hissed, and nearly lost his footing.
"Get yourself under control," Jeff snapped. "That cock had better be soft by the time I get back." Then he walked over to one of the trunks, lifting the lid slowly. He had put the thing on top earlier, but he stalled for time, giving Jensen a chance to compose himself.
When he turned back to Jensen, hiding the device behind his back, Jensen was trembling slightly, so slight Jeff wouldn't have noticed if he weren't checking for it carefully. Jensen's dick hung soft between his legs, though it looked as if the younger man were still battling for control. It didn't matter; Jeff had things well in hand.
Jensen opened his mouth, perhaps to speak, but apparently remembered the rules, snapping his jaw shut with a loud snap. Jeff ignored the infraction, just raised an eyebrow. "Hold still," he told him, before bending to close the metal sheath around Jensen's cock, locking it closed with a click. Now Jensen couldn't get hard, not until Jeff released him from the cage.
When he straightened, Jeff took a moment to savor the expression on the other man's face. Jensen looked surprised, pained, and confused all at once. That adorable flush rose in his cheeks, and Jeff wondered if it was embarrassment, since it couldn't exactly be arousal. His own dick stirred, heat rising in him at the sight of Jensen so thoroughly at his mercy. Jensen could not even get hard, unless Jeff let him. The power of that went straight to his groin.
"Get the chair from the corner there." Jeff pointed. "And put it in the center of the room."
He had meant to tie Jensen to the giant X, wanting to see him spread-eagled and open, unable to do anything but writhe against the ropes around his wrists and ankles. But he'd thought better of it after the doctor's warning. It wasn't exactly suspension, but Jensen liked to struggle and Jeff didn't want him to pull too hard and injure his arm again. No, bending Jensen over the chair would be nearly as nice. He'd save the X for another time.
And Jeff wanted there to be another time, he looked forward to it, to having Jensen bound for his pleasure. When the hell had this happened? He'd always gotten off on the sex, when one had a partner as beautiful and sensual as Jensen, that was bound to happen. But to actively look forward to more, to desiring to control Jensen? Jeff couldn't blame it on familiarity exactly.
Jensen obeyed him, dragging the armchair to the center of the playroom. Like the ones in the sitting room, this chair would serve his purposes perfectly. Jeff moved behind him and pushed Jensen down and over the back of the chair, so his arms caught on the seat. "Spread your legs," he said as slid his knee between Jensen's thighs.
Jeff gave in to his desire to run his hands over Jensen's taut buttocks. He squeezed and pulled the cheeks apart. When Jensen squirmed at his actions, Jeff smacked him hard, leaving a pink handprint that faded almost immediately. "Stay still."
"Yes, sir."
Jeff buried his fingers in Jensen's hair and pulled him up by it. "Was that a direct question, slut?"
"No, sir," Jensen choked out.
Jeff pushed him back down. "I see someone doesn't know how to follow orders." He moved back over to the trunk and pulled out one of the gags, a strip of leather attached to a black rubber ball. He tied it around Jesnen's mouth, admiring the way his full lips stretched around the ball, looking like he was perpetually sucking a very large cock. Jeff ran his finger around those lips, slick with saliva.
Jensen looked up at him from under his lashes, his gaze sensual and submissive, and yet he looked curious, as if wondering exactly what Jeff would do next. Jeff hoped to surprise him.
Along one wall a selection of implements hung, and Jeff had been fascinated by the row of paddles since he saw them. He didn't imagine there could be such a variety in sizes or material, from leather covered to plain wood. Jeff picked one, as long as his forearm, flat and straight, with a cloth covered handle. Jensen could see this from where he stood, and so Jeff took his time, measuring the weight of the paddle, taking a few practice swings, and gauging its weight. It would do.
When he circled back around, behind Jensen, Jeff caught the flinch, the way Jensen tensed in anticipation. But Jeff wouldn't strike him just yet. No, he wanted that ass, to have it tingling from a fresh fucking, his come deep inside Jensen and sliding down his thighs while Jeff beat him so Jensen remembered exactly who owned him.
He slid a finger inside Jensen, checking to make sure he'd obeyed and prepared himself beforehand. Although he slid inside with little difficulty, Jensen still seemed so tight. "Relax," Jeff growled out, knowing if he plunged inside now, he could hurt Jensen.
Jensen made a whimpering sound behind his gag, but Jeff could see the conscious effort to relax, the way the tension leeched from his muscles.
Jeff pushed Jensen's thighs open even further, giving him room to work inside that tight little hole. He had to make this quick, Jeff didn't actually want to hurt Jensen, and the lube was just barely enough. How odd that this was becoming familiar, the way Jensen's body welcomed him in, as if he were made for Jeff to fuck.
And fuck he did, a smooth rhythm, guaranteed to bring him to climax quickly. This wasn't really about his pleasure, it was about marking and ownership, and all those things that Jensen apparently needed. Jeff could only give it to him now. His orgasm coiled in his belly, taking him almost by surprise as he came deep inside the other man. Jeff slid out before he was quite done, watching as his come trailed down Jensen's thighs.
"Feel that, slut?" Jeff said, his voice hoarse. He slid his hands in the mess, smearing it more over Jensen's skin. "How I marked your pretty little ass with my cock?"
Jensen only whimpered in reply.
Jeff picked up the paddle. "Shh, you've been so good so far. You just have to take it. Twenty strokes, slut."
He stepped back, touched the paddle to Jensen's backside, reminding him of its existence. Once again he waited for the tenseness to leave Jensen's muscles, for him to relax into the touch. And then Jeff lifted the paddle, swung and counted "One," as he struck Jensen's ass.
Jensen mewled in reply, his body rising up off the chair. Red bloomed where Jeff had struck. Soon, that entire ass would be flushed and red. Jeff found himself looking forward to it, lifting the paddle for number two. Each stroke came faster and harder, building in intensity. Jensen's body writhed beneath Jeff's hand, his breath coming in heavy gasps and pants.
It was as he called out twenty, the very last stroke that he realized those hitched sounds coming from Jensen's throats were sobs. Jeff dropped the paddle and fell to his knees on the other side of the chair, so he was face to face with Jensen. Tears streamed down the other man's face. "Oh, Jensen," Jeff murmured, pulling off the gag. "C'mon, easy."
He helped Jensen off of the chair, catching him before Jensen lost his footing. Perhaps he'd gone too far? Jensen hadn't fully recovered, after all.
Jensen wound his arms around Jeff's neck, so it seemed only natural to scoop him up in his arms, careful not to touch his bruised ass. As Jensen tucked his face against Jeff's neck, he whispered softly, "Thank you."
Jeff didn't quite know how to feel about that.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Epilogue