Cecilia's Mate Read online

  “I am. Thank you.” She was sitting up in the bed with the blankets pulled around her body. “I hate sleeping in clothes. Will this be okay?”

  “Uh, sure that will be fine,” he said. She could hear him swallow as he got closer to the bed. Holding out the pad and one of the bottles of water to her, Draven set the other on the side table. “Give me a minute and I’ll be right with you.” He spun away and walked into what she guessed was the closet given the hangers she could see.

  She took a drink of the water and simply smiled. Life was going to be interesting she was sure and to be honest, she couldn’t wait. She looked forward to every moment in time with him.

  This time when Draven came back into the room he was only wearing a pair of loose pants low on his hips. The first thing she noticed was the tattoo over his heart. Her name in an elaborate design that vaguely resembled a heart. Slipping onto the bed next to her, he sat facing her, his knees bumping her leg as he crossed them and leaned his elbows to his thighs.

  She moved so that she could reach out and touch the tattoo over his heart. She tugged at the blanket so that she could bare her skin to his eyes, and said, “I had this done to remind me that I could be loved. To remind me that there was happiness waiting for me.”

  His fingers traced over her tattoo. “No more waiting, Cecilia. Now we live.” He cupped her cheek, leaned in, and kissed her lightly. “We can do whatever you want now, little one. But first let’s get our contract started, okay?”

  She nodded, then pulled the blanket back up and watched him. Before she could even stop herself, she said, “Never ask me to dominate you in bed, please. After what I saw in my mother’s vid diary I know I never could do that. I want to have you be the stronger partner. The one that will lead our sex lives. Please? I also never want to share or be shared. I couldn’t do that.”

  Frowning at her, he nodded. After a moment he shifted around so they were sitting side by side. He took the data pad from her and looped an arm around her shoulders to bring her in closer. “I’m naturally dominant anyway, little one. That you never have to worry about. But this doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun too. I will always be fully in charge, Cecilia. But I like the idea of you being able to touch, to learn, and to have a little time to learn your own power. Doesn’t mean you’ll be dominating me in the least. It just means that I’m giving you a chance to explore at your own speed instead of whatever I decide. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. That I understand but what that woman did I will never understand.” She leaned into his touch and sighed. “I never want to sleep alone again. If you have to go out, can I come with you?” She didn’t want to be left alone.

  “Of course you can. You are always welcome to come with me wherever you’d like. The only place you may not want to be for any length of time is the command deck. It’s normally very loud, very chaotic, and I’m always on the move. But you can always sit in my office where I can come visit you, or you can pop onto the command deck.” Tipping her chin up, he smiled at her, then dropped a kiss to her nose. He laughed when she wrinkled it up. “All right, so we have our Dominant and submissive guidelines laid out. What all are you interested in, Cecilia? Here,” he muttered. He pressed a few options on the screen and handed her the pad. “This is a list of various things we can try. They all have descriptions and if you touch your finger to the item it expands to let you read it. If you like it hit accept, or consider. If you don’t like it hit decline and it will be a no on our list of things to do.”

  She carefully viewed the items he had selected and by the end was panting slightly. “Is it bad that I want to try all of them? Especially the ones where I’m bound and wearing a blindfold while you swat me with a hand or soft crop.”

  “Not a bad thing. But pick carefully because they get a lot more intense from there.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “The next few pages are more intensive than this first one. Page one is pretty mild in comparison to page four, let alone what’s on page six.”

  “Can we try them all and then whatever I can’t do or don’t like we will strike it off of the contract? I want to try everything with you, at least once. You’ll always know just how hard you can push me, or when I might need a break, right?”

  He gave her a squeeze. “I know you, Cecilia, so it won’t be that hard to gauge what you can and can’t take. But read the list. As I said, there are some very extreme items on the last page that might even make you wary.”

  She began to read through the list and finally said, “Okay, the ones with the blood, and the stuff with urine and feces, I can’t and won’t do. Same with being humiliated and used as furniture. I think that’s about it, though. Honestly.” She was for the most part open to all of this.

  “Mark them off,” he said. “Those are what we call hard no’s. We’ll add in anything else as we come across them. Now I’ll take this from you for a moment.” He pulled the pad from her hand and propped it against one of his legs. He put a few more in as hard no’s, she saw. One that involved fire and another that involved knives. He also ticked off the one with a vicious-looking whip as a no. Next, Draven went to another page at which point he handed the pad back to her. “Put in our names, add in the date, and we’ll each sign it. Since we’re leaving it open for now we don’t need to worry about anything else right now.”

  She nodded and did as he instructed. She signed her name to the document and passed it back to him with a grin. “Your turn. Then I guess that you are mine and I am yours?” She liked that idea, a lot. That she might just belong in some fashion to him and he to her.

  He scrawled his signature on the document, then pressed his thumb to it. “That’s it,” he told her. Setting the pad aside, he turned back to her. “Now you are mine. I should warn you, I fully intend to marry you one day soon, Cecilia Kauller. Don’t worry, I will ask you properly after getting your brother’s blessing. Which I may need to do prior to him coming on board and discovering you’re not logged into one of the guest quarters. Which also reminds me I need to put you on my door’s security scan otherwise you’ll never get back in here without me.”

  That had her snickering and she nodded. “You know what my answer will be time and time again. As for Bracken.” She shrugged. “He might be a little upset that I’ve moved right on in with you but if anyone should understand, it’s him. Right?”

  “One would think so, yes. But he is your big brother so who knows how he’ll actually react. I’m not too worried. After all, what’s the worst he could do to me?” Groaning, he dropped his forehead to her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have put that out in the universe. Now I’m a goner.”

  “No, you aren’t. Like I told you, he loves me and as long as I’m happy he will be too.” She would be well loved with Draven. Everything about their relationship to date made her ecstatic and now that he was acknowledging her and she him it would only get better.

  “I want you to be pleased with me, Cecilia. And I’ll do everything in my power to make and keep you that way. But you also have to let me know when I’m not doing so well so I can make it better. Deal?”

  “Now that I know I can discuss anything with you at any time, yes, we have a deal. Just don’t be surprised when I tell you absolutely everything there is to know about everything. I want you to be a part of my life, all of it.”

  “Cecilia, little one, you can tell me anything you want at any time. I want you to talk to me.” He planted a kiss to her temple. “Drink some more of your water, and then settle down in the bed. You need to get some real sleep. No more little catnaps for you. Lots of rest, plenty of food, and all the loving you can handle.”

  “I like how you think.” She finished off her water and passed it back to him. Once he had disposed of both bottles she yawned and shrank down into the bedding. “Stay with me? I feel safest in your arms.”

  “Of course.” He slid under the sheets with her. Reaching over their heads, he pressed a button to turn the lights off in the room, leaving only a sof
t glow around the perimeter. Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight to his body as he curled around her. “Sleep well, Cecilia.”

  “I will,” she whispered. Then, with a yawn, she was sound asleep for the first time in far, far too long.

  Chapter Five

  Draven looked up when she wandered out of the bedroom, but held a hand up to stall her. “Anything else?” he asked. He nodded a couple of times, then sighed. “Keep us updated. No, it went smoothly. We’re not at three-quarters ready. There’s another two deliveries coming out today. The perishables will be tomorrow and then we’re set to leave. The crew will begin returning to the ship tomorrow morning so that we can leave the following day on schedule. I will, you too.” Pulling the device from his ear, he dropped it on the table before standing and coming toward her. “Hey, you. Did you sleep well?” he asked softly, wrapping her up in his arms to hug her close.

  “Fabulously.” She closed her eyes as she leaned into him. “I have never, ever slept so well in all of my life. You utterly amaze me, you know.”

  “I didn’t do all that much,” he said. Laughing, he squeezed her close and she could feel him rubbing his cheek to her hair. “Just held you while you slept. I am sorry I wasn’t there when you woke, but I had promised your brother I’d report in by the end of the day on things here. Plus I wanted to find out what was going on planetside.”

  “That’s okay.” She rubbed her cheek to his and sighed. “And what is going on planetside? What has my mother done now?” It was probably something horrendous. She was so bad and that made her hurt that she came from that woman’s womb.

  “She tried to start a fight at the marshal’s office when she was told that you were no longer her or your father’s concern. That all guardianship rights had been suspended pending a full investigation into serious allegations of flesh trafficking, prostitution, and a few other things I won’t even mention. They tossed her out on her ass, so she headed off to find Bracken.” Draven stopped there, just plain stopped. There was more, she knew there was, but he wasn’t giving her anything.

  “Okay, what happened when she found Bracken? And don’t say nothing because I see on your face already that there was something and whatever it was, it was big. What did that woman do to him?”

  “She went off on Sadie, and Bracken popped her one on the nose. Broke it, from what I heard, but considering the things she was screaming he was actually very restrained. He then had the local authorities haul her away and had her tossed in lockup for the night. She’s still in there until the bail hearing that, given Bracken cut off all monies to the family, they can’t actually afford.” He said it all in bursts, really fast and only pausing long enough to take a couple of breaths.

  “Oh my. Well, I’m very glad she never knew that I made money too or she would be into that. And I’m sorry but with the way they kept Sadie and Bracken apart, they deserve everything that was heaped upon them and so much more.”

  “Thank the stars,” he muttered. “Bracken wasn’t so sure I should tell you. He was worried you’d be upset by it all. Oh, and there is just one more little thing I should likely mention. Your oldest sister got herself arrested, too. Unrelated matter, but she’s going to be in a spot if your father decides to forgo his guardianship over her. It then becomes a matter for the state to punish her directly instead of him. And given the way your mother has apparently set things in motion, at least according to what Bracken’s discovered on the diaries, she’s in serious trouble. The same with your sister when they can’t come up with the funds for bail for her. It appears your family is falling apart at that end. I’m sorry, little one.”

  “You have no idea what I’ve suffered at their hands over the years. I hate to admit it, but truthfully it couldn’t happen to a better group of people. My real family is here, in my arms. Bracken and Sadie are my family. As long as they are okay, I’m okay.”

  He stared at her for a long time before wrapping his arms around her again. “I’m glad you don’t seem overly upset by the news. I’m also mildly terrified that you aren’t overly upset at the same time. But as long as you’re okay with it, then that’s all that matters. I wanted you to know, and now you can inform your brother that he’s an idiot as I told him he was for even suggesting I don’t tell you. Not that I told him why I was planning on sharing the news with you. I only said you had the right to know that your family was finally getting exactly as they deserved.”

  “Thank you for that. Please never keep secrets from me. No matter what the truth is, always share it with me? I’d rather know and be prepared than not know and be surprised. Bracken still sees me as his baby sister.”

  “I will always tell you everything, Cecilia. You are my other half. Bracken will always see you as his baby sister, someone he must protect no matter how old you get. Apparently it’s one of those eldest-child problems. He loves you, though, little one. Never doubt that. He doesn’t want you to be hurt by any of this. And I agree. I just happen to believe you’re strong enough to handle any and all truths.”

  “I am. As I said, I’m happy they’re finally getting what they deserve. For far too long they’ve gotten away with doing anything and everything. I’m relieved to hear that finally someone is taking action against them.”

  “I agree. Now, enough of this. You need to eat. Luckily for you I have some basic skills in the kitchen. Nowhere near as impressive as your brother, but I won’t poison you. Promise.” He smiled down at her. “Take a seat and I’ll get your meal.”

  She moved away from him and took the seat he offered. She settled down with a napkin in her lap. “I am fairly good with cooking. I learned a lot watching Bracken but I’m sure that you won’t make me ill.”

  “Who do you think taught me?” he asked. Winking, he went into the little kitchenette and returned with a couple of plates. He put one before her and the other in front of the chair next to hers. He disappeared into the kitchenette again before returning with a couple of glasses. “If I remember correctly this is your favorite juice,” he said, placing the glass before her plate.

  She was stunned. She looked up at him with wide eyes. “And my favorite first meal of the day. How did you know?” she asked, pulling the plate closer. “I don’t think even Bracken knows what my favorite first meal is.” She couldn’t believe he’d watched her enough to realize what she liked.

  “Bracken is your brother. They don’t tend to notice such things. I’m your bond mate. We do notice things like that. Now I’m guessing it’s acceptable for the start of the day? I’ve practiced it more than a few times to make sure I got it just right.”

  “Yes, this is more than acceptable.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Sit. Eat with me? When you have to go off to do whatever it is you need to do I will come with you while I can. Then I might have to send off for supplies from my studio so that I can paint. In fact since I won’t be living planetside I can have that packed up and shipped up here, right?” The small studio was where she escaped to paint. She couldn’t live there, of course, but she did spend many long hours there painting.

  “We can have Bracken go over to pick everything up. Between him and Sadie I’m sure we can get you everything you’ll need.” He settled down into the chair and moved his napkin to his knee. “Don’t wait on me, dig in. We don’t want it getting cold after I went to all that work on it.”

  That had her laughing, something she’d done far too little of lately. Without a word she was digging into the food and let out an appreciative sigh.

  He nodded finally and dug into his own plate of food. They enjoyed the meal together in comforting quiet. When he was done Draven wiped his lips and looked to her. “There’s more if you’d like some.”

  “Oh no. I’m completely full but thank you.” She rubbed her belly as she leaned back and sighed. “That was so good. And made even better because of the company. It was fabulous to be able to eat without having to worry about who was going to say what next and make who angry.”
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  “Definitely not something you need to worry about with me,” he said. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, though. Finish up your juice, and then we should get cleaned up for the day. I have a few things I need to attend to before the crew starts to return tomorrow.”

  She took another drink of her juice and rose with her dishes in hand. “Let’s get stuff cleaned up and then we’ll go and harass what little crew that you have on board.”

  He laughed at her words and shook his head. “They have their own tasks to attend to, little one. I only need to check in with them and make sure they have what they need for the day. We, on the other hand, have a couple of shipments due in of food supplies and all the other supplies that keep a ship this size running when we’re out of port for any length of time. On the up side, the kitchen staff will be coming back up today to start prep for tomorrow’s first official meal when Bracken returns.”

  “That should be a very interesting meal,” she told him as she got herself ready to go along with him. “All right, Draven, where are we off to now?” she asked with a grin and waited for him to get them started.

  Grabbing up a data pad, he pressed his thumb to the screen and waited. “All right, first up is a stop in engineering to find out if they need any more supplies given the fix they had to do on the fly for us the last time out. Then we have a shipment arriving in bay forty-two that I have to sign for. After that we need to check the dining hall refrigeration to make sure the freezer was properly cleaned, and then turn it back on before this afternoon’s delivery. Up to the command deck after that so I can start up the mainframes and let them go through their system’s checks so that Sadie can do our updates remotely. Some paperwork after that, and it will be lunch time. After lunch more paperwork and the afternoon shipment. Then we can do anything you want until dinner.”