The Space Marshal's Captive Read online

  She tried to ignore the wobble in her knees as she sat, bunching her shaking fingers into fists on her lap. He leaned over her to reach the touch screen, grazing his shoulder against hers, and she bristled with goosebumps. What should feel like fear was more like trepidation—she smelled his warmth, the masculine flavors she’d chosen to forget, and her senses battled to contain their excitement. It had been a while since a man had laid his finger on her.

  The image of her face on the screen alongside the formal warrant appeared genuine, re-enforcing his role as a marshal. There was also a brief summary of his service record—she glimpsed the words ‘exemplary’ and ‘committed,’ amongst his decorations for valor.

  Stepping away from the desk, he activated a hidden panel and the sliding door exposed his wardrobe. He tugged on a uniform, flashing the crimson fabric and epaulets on the shoulders.

  “Rank of marshal. This is my dress uniform, which I’ll wear in court when you’re indicted for your crimes. Satisfied?” He closed the door.

  Jade had little choice but to agree that he was who he claimed to be and that his authority was unquestionable. The confirmation meant she had to comply or face some kind of sanction, but what would that be? She hated the idea of being chemically hypnotized, especially if she couldn’t respond or offer resistance.

  “Yes. For now,” she added haughtily.

  He claimed her elbow and drew her up. “I’ve given you slack, young lady, you’ll not get any more. If you resist my authority, you’ll have to deal with the consequences. Let’s find out what you’re carrying.” He propelled her toward the door, back into the corridor.

  “I’m not carrying anything,” she retorted. The hold of her ship was packed with contraband, none of it narcotics or gems. “You saw my charge sheet; I’m not part of the drug scene.”

  “That warrant was based on last known activities. It’s out of date. I have to ensure you’re not branching out.” He punched the key code on the door and it opened to reveal a medical room.

  “Here?” Unlike the gray metallic walls of the corridors, this room had white paneling and floors. It also had a few cabinets, a mirror, and a trolley bed. She noted the straps for restraining limbs.

  “Yep. Cavity search protocols require a clean room and I need to use the internal medical scanners.”

  She swallowed hard, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up—cavity? Internal? “I thought this was a strip search.”

  He sealed the door behind them. “I’m required to be thorough.”

  She laughed nervously, trying to pretend she wasn’t concerned. “You can skip over the internal part, can’t you?”

  “I’ve skipped enough on protocols just letting you walk in here unrestrained. No more circumventing, Jade. It’s time to accept you’ve been mixing with rebels and criminals. If you want to play with the big kids, you’re going to have to take the repercussions. Now, I’m deactivating the gun. Only my palm print can reactivate it. If you misbehave, I have other ways to keep you in line. Understood?” He holstered his weapon.

  She nodded.

  “Jade, yes or no? Do you understand?”

  “Yes. I get it, okay?” she snapped.

  He frowned. “We’ll work on that disrespectful attitude later.” He folded his arms across his broad chest. A hint of his tattoos poked out from under the sleeves of his shirt. “The easiest one first. Open your mouth wide.”

  Jade parted her lips a fraction.

  Mason took a step forward. “Wider, Jade. I need to see that you haven’t hidden anything between your teeth. Lift your tongue. Good. Now clench your teeth hard. False teeth are often used to hide drugs.”

  “My teeth are all mine,” she glowered.

  “Pretty teeth, too.” He leaned down, peering into her mouth. She smelled his breath—sweet and pleasant. “This guy, a bit of an idiot, had no teeth. He wore dentures and each tooth was hollow, and filled with a class A sedative drug. He snapped his teeth together so hard, the dentures shattered and he nearly choked on the lot. Fell asleep for a long time after that.”

  Jade clenched her teeth into a gritted sneer and spoke through them. “See,” she mumbled.

  “Look after them,” he remarked, before taking a couple of steps back. “Start undressing. You’ll hand me one item at a time so I can check the seams and pockets.” He held out his hand.

  She couldn’t move; her mouth now hung in a gape. Every muscle in her body had stiffened. She’d only her pants and tunic to remove, and under those were her panties and low-cut bra. Hardly a great amount to hide anything. If she fought over her clothes, what happened when it came to the cavity search? He’d change his mind, wouldn’t he? Once he examined her clothing, he’d relent and let her off the rest.

  She slipped off the tunic and let it drop into his awaiting hand. “There,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll find the stitching in good order.”

  He smiled as he ran his fingers along the lower hem. “You’d be surprised at how good drug smugglers get at sewing new hems into shirts. I’ve found a quite a few grams of resin stitched into clothes.” He held it up and shook out the shirt. “Clean.”

  “Of course it is.” She wrapped her arms over her covered breasts.

  “Boots.” He pointed at her footwear and she kicked them off, then watched as he removed the inner soles and rooted around the toe caps. “I’ll scan these later. The heels are thick and might be harboring secret compartments.”

  She rolled her eyes in disbelief. “If you ruin them—”

  “Pants,” he interrupted.

  She slithered out of the pants, keeping her legs as close together as possible.

  Another brisk examination ensued as he laid them out on the nearby table and checked the pockets and seams.

  “There,” she exclaimed, glaring at him. “I’m clean, so give me them back and I’ll get—”

  “Hold it there, sweetheart. It might not be pleasant for you, but it’s going to happen. Your underwear off. Don’t make this any harder than it is. I’m only following regulations.”

  “I’m going to be naked,” she whispered, leaning forward as if somebody might hear her.

  “Bare, yes,” he agreed. “Which do you want to do first, bra or panties?”

  “Turn away!” she demanded.

  “Sorry, Jade. That’s a no. While my back is turned, you could shake something out.”

  “I’m not a junkie.”

  “I don’t think you are, but you are a smuggler and it makes no odds to me what it is you carry, I have to search you. Thoroughly. Let’s go with the bra, shall we?”

  She hunted his face for some sign of amusement—a smirk or twitch of his lips. Instead, she saw his features were set in a neutral expression. It only made it harder for her. If he was ghastly and unpleasant, she might find the situation less humiliating, as if his ugliness might offset her embarrassment. Stripping naked in the presence of a cool marshal with a relaxed stance and breathtaking good looks proved almost impossible.

  “Go on,” he urged softly.

  Did he mean strip or fight back? She couldn’t really tell from the tone of his voice. The long pause of inactivity continued. Her trembling muscles refused to move and her palms had gone clammy.

  “I don’t rape, if that’s what is worrying you. You’re going to have to trust me on that.” He stared into her eyes, unblinking. Didn’t liars look away when they fibbed? That’s what she had been told.

  She reached behind and unclasped the hook. Draping her arm across her bosom and hiding her nipples, she handed him the bra with her other hand.

  “Thank you,” he said without a trace of mock sincerity.

  Dammit. She pressed her lips together. Why couldn’t he be rude and obnoxious, something that would rile her into action?

  He felt along the strap and under the cups before laying the bra on top of the rest of her clothes.

  The waistband of her panties sat below her hipbones. “There’s nothing—”

  “You’d
be surprised,” he trampled into her sentence. “The tiniest microchip embedded, sending out a distress signal. I’ve read plenty of reports by my comrades about such things. Some regret not following protocols, having found themselves in life-threatening situations, all because they didn’t do a proper search. Don’t make me regret not stupefying you.”

  She wriggled them off, managing to keep her thighs squished together. Bending over, she scooped the panties up and tossed them in his direction. “There,” she declared. “Satisfied?”

  She appropriated both of her arms to curtain her private parts, wishing she was a mouse and able to scurry into the smallest gap and disappear. But she wasn’t and Mason wasn’t going to shirk his duties just because he’d made her cheeks flush bright red and her heart pound against her chest.

  The inspection of her panties was thankfully swift.

  “Good,” he said, laying them to one side. “Now, the rest of your cavities—”

  “No,” she interrupted. “Scan me or something.” She looked around the room, hoping some kind of sophisticated scanner was hidden out of sight.

  Mason laughed. “This is a troop ship, not a hospital one. This room is pretty basic. Now I can scan small objects in the engineering bay, like your shoes, but a whole person, sorry, no can do.”

  “Can’t you make it up in your report?” she pleaded, giving him her best pity eyes.

  He shook his head and tut-tutted. “Falsify my report? It’s not that bad, Jade. You’re going to spread your legs and I’ll insert a probe, which will sense any foreign body present in your vagina. Same procedure for your rectum. The data is recorded and will be submitted to the courts. Simple.”

  “Both… no, surely, you’re joking. How big a probe?”

  He briefly hesitated. “Oh, that’s a point. You’re not a virgin, are you? Because it shouldn’t interfere—”

  “My sex life is none of your business—”

  He continued over her shrill protest. “As for the anal insertion, there’ll be plenty of lube to aid—”

  “Forget it. You are not putting anything inside me.”

  The room went quiet, only the sounds of her anxious breathing filled the air.

  “Jade,” he said gently. “I can understand if you’re a virgin that this is very scary and I will be careful.”

  She nearly lied. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her sexual past, only that if he believed her to be so vulnerable, he might forgo the whole cavity search. “I… I…”

  Mason raised his eyebrows and waited.

  Dammit, she groaned inwardly. Lying to him was tough. He seemed to exude some mysterious authority over her. “No,” she whispered. “I’m not a virgin.”

  “So, you should be fine with this probe. It’s slender and—”

  The suppressed anger boiled to the surface. He didn’t get it at all. Letting a man make love to her was one thing, having a stranger poke an object into her pussy was a different matter entirely.

  “You’re not laying a finger on me,” she snarled.

  “Are you defying me, Jade?”

  “I’m refusing to cooperate. So, since you’ll have to force me, and as you just told me you don’t rape, I’d like to see you try to search me.” Forgetting her nudity, she folded her arms across her chest and jutted her chin into the air.

  It was a blessing he couldn’t read her mind or hear her heartbeats. Here she was, naked, in the presence of an enforcer whose manner was nothing but polite and unwavering in purpose, yet she almost wanted him to snap and show her his absolute authority. Bizarrely, as her teachers and parents had often drawn to her attention, Jade bent toward those in charge. She liked to argue and make her case, but ultimately if she heard the right tone of voice, the kind that made her feel secure and taken care of, she followed that leader. However, her willingness to comply had to be due to the encouragement of the best leaders, not just anyone. Stupidity and crassness didn’t wash with her—Jade didn’t waste time with fools.

  For the moment, Mason had the upper hand and there was little she could do to escape him.

  He sighed. “I guess there is another way, but you must do it or else I’ll be required to punish you or worse, stupefy you and have you comply without your awareness. So, this is your one alternative. I give you the probe and you insert it into yourself. You’ll have to crouch here, over this mirror, which is linked to a camera, that way I can watch from the neighboring observation room. Hold the crouch while you insert the probe into your vagina, then anus. If you deviate from my instructions, then I will step in and take over.”

  She stared wide-eyed at the circular mirror embedded into the tiled floor. “Is that what you use…” She didn’t want to picture the scene in her head.

  “Yes,” Mason nodded. “A stupefied prisoner is very cooperative.” He opened a nearby drawer and retrieved a metallic object with a rounded end and a curved tail, which acted as a stopper. From a cupboard he picked out a bottle. “Lubricant, because you might find it tight going in. Try to hold the squat with your legs spread wide, so that—”

  “I get it,” she said through gritted teeth.

  Mason placed the objects on the table. “I’m watching through that mirror. It’s two-way. I can see everything you do and hear you, too. You can do this, Jade.”

  He walked through the adjoining door, disappearing out of sight, but she knew he was there, watching her every move.

  She would have to squat over the mirror with shaking legs. It seemed an impossible task. A few hours ago, she was on her little ship and happy, and even if the droning computer annoyed her, she had a sense of purpose to her life. Her capture had shattered that dream. Once the others heard of her miserable failure, she’d not be entrusted with such a precious cargo again. However, she might stand a chance of escape by gaining Mason’s trust and that meant going through with the cavity search.

  The device, which was longer than she expected and as thick as her thumb, should easily slide inside her pussy, especially with a dab of lubricant to ease its passage. Holding the bottle, she squeezed out the oil along the length of the shiny metal. Somewhere inside the probe was a sensor relaying information to the onboard computer. The shaking of her hands worsened, and the smooth surface of the probe nearly slipped through her fingers.

  “Crouch over the mirror, Jade.” Mason spoke through the intercom.

  She bent her knees in slow motion, achingly slow. Even if Mason wasn’t in the room with her, he was witnessing it from his viewpoint. She hovered, the soles of her feet flattened onto the mirror—did Mason usually stand next to his prisoner and see the reflection? She didn’t look down. The idea of watching her own base examination was galling. Lowering herself, she attempted to squat and keep her balance. Somehow, she had to stay in position, insert the probe, and hold still—for how long?

  Jade froze, unable to carry out his instructions.

  What exactly was he going to do if she refused? Punish her? With what? How bad could it get if she denied him his peepshow?

  Jade stretched her legs and rose. She placed the device on the table and squared off her shoulders. With her lips firmly pressed together, she waited for him to charge into the room.

  “Jade. Are you refusing to do this?”

  “I am,” she replied. “It’s just too damn humiliating. What do you expect?”

  “I expect your compliance. I demand it as your captor. This is your last chance to comply or else I’ll bend you over the table and spank your ass for disobeying me. If you cooperate after that, I might forgo the stupefaction while I do the cavity search myself. I can promise you it will be extensive and thorough.” The intercom clicked off.

  Jade stared in disbelief at the mirror. Spank her! The man was a degenerate or something. What planet did he come from—not hers, that was certain. He had to be calling her bluff.

  She guffawed. “Spank me then, if that is how you do things.”

  The door buzzed and in walked a calm Mason, his eyes darkening under the brigh
t lights. “Under the authority invested in me by the Federation, I deem you to be subversive. So, kindly bend over the table for your punishment.”

  She blinked, several times. A rush of adrenaline had struck her belly so hard, it had created a twist of nervous knots. He had the look of a determined man. If he wasn’t hell-bent on spanking her, she might come to like the expression.

  “I didn’t mean,” she started to say, trying to think of a suitable retraction. No amount of arguing would dissuade him, she guessed. “I mean, it’s all a misunderstanding. If you have to search me, please don’t drug me first.”

  “I won’t, but only if you show me some faith by bending over. A few hard swats on your ass will teach you my word is sacrosanct on this ship. I might be the sole member of the crew, but I am the captain and take full jurisdiction over you as my captive.” He pointed at the padded table. “Over. Now.”

  Jade crept on tiptoes, trying hard to make her butt as small as possible by clenching her ass cheeks together. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on the surface and buried her face in her hands.

  “Right down.” He nudged her forward, ensuring her nose touched the table and her breasts were flattened, too. He left one hand weighing her down, placing it on the lowest part of her spine, right where it curved into her lobes.

  With her eyes squeezed shut, she tensed. The smack swiped upward, stinging instantly. She winced, and immediately Mason cracked his palm against her other cheek. A searing heat erupted in the wake of his blow.

  “Ow,” she hollered.

  Mason snorted. “This wouldn’t be necessary if you did as you were told. Now, unfortunately, I’m having to humble you with this punishment. Consider that!” He added another two smacks in rapid succession and she drummed her feet on the floor in response. His hand had to be made of steel.

  “I am, you bast…” She cut the expletive short, realizing it would do her no favors. He was right, of course, dammit. She had moved from one demeaning situation into another one. And, it wasn’t going to end there. A few inches from her nose lay the probe. “All right, all right. I’ll do it. You can poke away, I don’t care.” She sniveled. Tears might not be falling, but her pride was badly damaged.