The Commander's Slave by K. S. Augustin

opened easily, swinging out on heavy hinges and
tripping some internal illumination.
    “ It’s now or never,” Asha
told herself, and levered herself in, closing the hatch behind her.
A red light still shone dimly.
    Somehow she wasn’t expecting something
quite so basic. The obviously one-person pod was roughly circular
inside. There was just enough space for her to stand, bent over,
next to a seat that resembled a cross between a recliner and a
chair. She eased into the chair and looked for the attachments. She
knew she didn’t have much time to come up to speed with the
systems. She had the feeling that the battle was coming to an end
and wanted to be well away before Tangus began looking for
her.
    The toilet attachment was unisex, and
to her surprise, the combat pants unzipped along the crotch seam to
accommodate the plumbing. She ripped the seam of her underpants,
and once secure, she strapped herself into the harness and powered
up the primitive navigation and propulsion systems.
    If she didn’t think too hard about
things, Asha realized, knowledge just flowed into her, and she
wondered again at the kind of person she was to be familiar with
both first aid and basic spaceship operations.
    Gods only knew exactly where she was, so Asha set the pod’s
search parameters to target and head for the nearest
humanoid-habitable planet and turned the oxygen mix to just above
minimum to maximize her search time. But before she could eject
from the Strike , it was done
for her. A last shudder hit the ship, she heard clamps releasing
and found herself tumbling over and over at high
velocity.
    Asha tried to reach the controls but
the spinning made her nauseous. She tried to fire one of the small
propulsion jets but her fingers only scraped the switch and she
passed out.
    * * * *
    Lips were kissing her.
    Asha opened her eyes to an intricately
arabesque-like ceiling soaring meters above her. She was in bed,
cool luxurious sheets beneath her body. To her right, tall narrow
windows looked out beyond an ivory balcony to an idyllic lake scene
shrouded in morning mist. One window was open, and she breathed in
the scent of greenery carried on a light breeze.
    She blinked. Something wasn’t
right.
    Lips were getting
insistent.
    She felt another’s wet warmth envelop
her breast, hardening the soft peak with nibbles, and instinctively
protested by pushing with her hands.
    They met a familiar resistance, her
fingertips recognizing the corded muscle they touched.
    “ Tangus.”
    He reared above her, his usually grim
expression softened, his dark eyes dancing.
    “ I thought you’d sleep all
day. In fact, I could only think of one way to wake you
up.”
    She tried to catch him, but he was too
quick, ducking her grasp and continuing his exploration of her
body.
    He bit gently at her ribs, tickling
and arousing her at the same time, while his hands stroked her
legs. First the outside, then the inside, moving further up with
each stroke.
    “ Your aunt sent a tray,” he
commented, his voice muffled as he buried his mouth against the
smooth skin of her belly.
    “ My ... aunt?” That sounded
so familiar in a way and yet so unfamiliar in another.
    “ Mmmmm. Which means we can
stay here all day.”
    “ But--oh!”
    “ Exactly,” he purred and
Asha could hear the satisfaction in his voice.
    Gently, he parted the lips of her
labia, breathing in her musky scent before nuzzling her with his
lips.
    “ Oh, Tangus.”
    “ I was hoping you’d say
that.”
    But she was past hearing, spreading
her legs and lifting her hips towards him in a blatant invitation.
She felt his hands accept the offer, slipping under her buttocks
and holding her in place while he invaded her with his tongue,
lapping at her until she gripped the bed sheets tightly, her breath
quickening.
    She could feel the orgasm coiling
within her, taking her as high as the ceiling in her bedroom before
she exploded in delight, bucking and shuddering beneath his
mouth.
    Tangus moved