Unconditional Dominance

Pants Are More Practical

Keeley's POV

It felt as if my soul was floating away from my body. While I stood in front of him in a shirt that was too big for me, I felt funny. My body felt buzzy like a bee, and my heart hammered wildly in my chest. It had been doing that since he caught me in the river, and stormed over to bend me over and spank my bottom...

Just thinking about it again made me squirm in place, but only until his eyes dashed to my lips. I knew what people did when they liked each other. I had seen kissing before—between my parents mostly. There hadn't been as many girls since then, and kissing seemed to be reserved for only the especially affectionate men and women...which there weren't many of in my camp. Liam paved the example of men and how they treated their women, and he wasn't the kind of man who would make a girl feel any special way.

When I was little, I had a crush on one of the boys in my camp. He wasn't very kind to me, but I remember laying in my tent at night, and imagining how someday he might hold me, if he ever decided to give me a chance. I pictured how I might become stunningly beautiful as I got older, and he would just look at me for no other reason except that he thought I was pretty to look at.

Standing in front of Dawson, while his eyes looked into mine, I felt like that little girl from my past would be pleased to see how this man looked at me; how his hands held me, how he spoke to me, how he cared about me enough to... make me better.

I liked it... I really liked all of it. So when his eyes looked at my lips before his head dipped to kiss me, I closed my eyes and tipped my chin up.

It was sweet, and gentle. His mouth lingered on mine, pulling back just enough to angle his head and kiss me again. One soft kiss after another. The hand on my hip tugged me closer, as did the hand on my jaw. He pulled my body flush against his, my hands pressed into his chest between us. I had to crane my neck so far back to reach—he was so much bigger than I was. His size was such a difference to the way Berkelium men were built... He was tall, and strong with muscle... It appealed to me.

I enjoyed feeling so small in comparison.

The sound of voices thrust us apart. We stood close, our eyes locked, both perplexed with what had just occurred. Dawson took the first step back, just as Ivar and seven other men came through the trees. There were even a few women in tow.

"What is going on?" Ivar asked, taking in the picture of a shirtless Ruthenium with a half dressed Berkelium. The fog cleared from my head, releasing me from the spell that was Dawson.

I took another step back, feeling terribly guilty for my behavior. We were so close to being caught, and if any of my people had seen me kissing a Ruthenium... What was I doing? I shouldn't have allowed that, I shouldn't have been OK with it. And he spanked me... On top of everything else, he had seen me naked and he had spanked me.

Feeling suddenly repulsed with myself, and uncomfortable with my lack of clothing, I wrapped my arms around myself and lowered my head.

Clearing his throat, Dawson busied himself by collecting my clothing from near the bank of the river.

"Keeley was bathing in the river," he explained. "She wanted privacy, that is why she didn't mention her whereabouts."

With a grand sigh, Ivar shook his head at me. "Foolish, girl, you scared everyone to death."

Blood pooled into my cheeks, but I didn't say anything. I looked towards Dawson, eager for my clothing. With my things collected in his arms, he made his way back to my side.

"The women would like to tend to Keeley," Ivar addressed Dawson who was just slowly passing my clothes over. As I accepted them, I looked at Dawson's face, and his expression hardened. "They want to clothe her, and tend to her hair," Ivar explained. "And you and I can talk."