CHAPTER 17
Beta
I watched Jendra kneel, her naked body trembling, her green eyes wide with evident fear. Of course she was afraid; I could tell that Sala had just explained the use of the cunt paddle to the poor wayward girl. Alongside her obvious terror of the stern discipline I knew I had to impose, though, I could see more in the lovely eyes, though: an irrepressible curiosity, and even more affectingly a basic trust that made my heart clench in my chest. I had never expected to feel this way again, I suddenly realized. Not after losing my wife.
But there it was, undeniable and growing stronger with each moment I spent in Jendra’s presence: I was falling in love with this strong-minded but fundamentally submissive young woman.
The realization should perhaps have troubled me. Jendra was young, confused, and still entangled with a malevolent entity of her own creation. The wisdom of an existence so ancient I knew Jendra’s human mind couldn’t even grasp my true age shouldhave made me maintain a distance. I should treat her simply as a problem to solve.
Instead, I found that I wanted desperately to protect her. To guide her. To claim her as mine in ways that went far beyond the basic therapeutic intervention Alpha and Dr. Nagalan and I had discussed as the framework for training her to my cock.
I took a step forward, until only half a meter separated her face from the front of my tunic. I could see the tear tracks on her cheeks, the way her small breasts rose and fell with rapid breaths.
Jendra kept her eyes downcast, her dark hair falling forward to partially obscure her face. Her hands rested on her thighs, palms up in a gesture of surrender that she couldn’t have learned from anyone. It came from within her, from that place she’d tried so hard to deny.
I moved a little closer, studying her. Even kneeling in submission, even after everything she’d endured, something truly magnificent remained fully present in her face. An intelligence that couldn’t be dimmed, a spirit that refused to break completely. She wasn’t like my late wife, who had been gentle and yielding from the start. Jendra would require careful handling, a firm but patient approach. Severity to begin with, certainly—but then steady, consistent training in pleasing her master’s hard penis.
“Look at me,” I said quietly.
Her green eyes lifted slowly, filled with tears and fear and something else—something that made my cock harden despite my determination to remain in control. Need. Raw, desperate need for exactly what I was about to give her.
“Do you understand why you’re here?” I asked.
“Yes…”
I watched her search for the next word, her face reflecting a struggle with the memory of Omega’s cruelty.
“You will call meMaster, just as you called Omega by that title. I am your master now, Jendra.” I spoke slowly, holding her gaze with mine so that I could make certain the words had the proper effect.
“Yes, Master,” she whispered, and I heard how the title caught in her throat. She wasn’t used to it yet, applied to a man who would request it as much as I would compel it. This was different from Omega’s terrifying brutality. This was a choice, even if she didn’t fully realize it yet.
“Tell me why you’re here, given to me for discipline and training as a sexual servant.”
Her breath hitched. “Because I summoned Omega. Because I created a threat to the galaxy. Because I… because I submitted to him in the most degrading ways, and part of me loved it.”
“And?” I prompted.
Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “Because I need to be punished. Because I need someone to show me the difference between cruelty and discipline. Because my cunt belongs to you now, and you need to teach me what that means.”
The words clearly cost her everything to speak. I felt my resolve strengthen even as my arousal intensified. This girl—this brilliant, conflicted, fascinating girl—was about to become mine in ways she couldn’t yet comprehend.
“Alpha, Dr. Nagalan, and I have conferred,” I told her, watching her face carefully. “We’ve concluded that the best chance of disengaging you from Omega and sending him back into the void is to create a formal bond that supersedes the one you share with him.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” I said slowly, “that I’m going to make you my concubine formally. A true concubinage, with vows and ceremony, so that your lovely body belongs to me according to Federation law. That will send your psyche a decisive message that an informal training arrangement couldn’t accomplish.”
Jendra
My heart felt ready to pound its way out of my chest.
“Your concubine?” I whispered, the word barely audible. “But I… I thought this was just training…”
“It is training,” Beta said, his voice gentle but firm. “But the bond needs to be formalized. The ceremony will help anchor you to me instead of to Omega.”
Sala moved to my side, her hand resting lightly on my shoulder. “The concubinage ceremony is very similar to the marriage ceremony,” she explained softly. “Only the vows are different. A wife pledges partnership and equality within submission. A concubine pledges service and obedience.”
I felt dizzy. This was happening so fast. Just days ago I’d been a Hippolytan student, proud of my independence. Now I was kneeling naked before a man who planned to make me his formal sexual property.
