“Come on, Kitten, be reasonable for once,” Killen urged when Tain didn’t say anything for a moment. “We have no real choice here, so why fight the inevitable? And this will be the first time we’ve ever worked together. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been curious about how we’d do if we teamed up.”

Sure, teamed up. With him being the owner and her being the slave. But even beyond that there was a reason she’d never agreed to work with the man, and that reason hadn’t changed.

“I won’t let you take advantage of this foul-up to treat me like a slave,” Tain finally stated, wanting him to know how firm the decision was. “It isn’t ‘reasonable’ to let people walk all over you, especially when the mess you’re in was caused by someone else. But if you don’t like what I’m saying, you don’t have to go along with it. Just untie me and turn your back for a minute, and I’ll take care of getting myself home.”

“And run the risk of getting caught as an escaped slave?” Killen countered at once with a snort of scorn. “I don’t think so. You seem to believe that your not being in charge will mean the end of the world, and it’s time you learned that that isn’t so. If you want to do it the hard way, then that’s the way we’ll do it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tain demanded, finding it impossible not to react to his belligerent tone, but the fool didn’t answer in words. A gasp escaped her when she felt his hands on her body, hands that caressed her breasts and then moved to the place between her legs.

“These are my orders to you, slave, and you’ll obey them completely and absolutely,” he said in that very hard voice as Tain lost the fight not to squirm. “To begin with, you won’t obey anyone else’s orders but mine unless I tell you to. If I’m not there and someone tries to command you, you’ll humbly explain that you’re not allowed to obey anyone without my permission. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Tain gasped out, agreement forced on her by the damned drug she’d been given. And with the louse’s hands all over her, she couldn’t even control her thoughts well enough to make mental loopholes she could take advantage of later.

“My second order is that you’ll obey me completely and absolutely any time I address you as slave,” Killen went on without taking his hands away. “If I call you by some other name, the decision about whether or not you’ll obey is yours—with the firm awareness that if you don’t obey me you’ll be punished. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Tain repeated, writhing and pulling at the leather on her wrists. The insane need she’d felt earlier was back, and his every touch made the fire burn hotter.

“The third thing you need to be told is that you’re not to take off on your own unless something happens to me,” Killen said, giving her no rest. “No matter how unhappy you are, you’ll stay with me until we get where we’re going. Do you understand?”

This time Tain’s answer was more of a grunt than a word. If he didn’t ease her soon she would die, and she wanted to die!

“And lastly, for the moment at least, you’re to tell me every time that insertion dissolves,” he said, his voice sounding kind of far away. “The thing takes a while to dissolve, but as soon as you feel that it isn’t influencing you any longer you’re to let me know. Do you understand?”

Tain wasn’t capable of anything but mewling as she tried to nod in answer, but that response seemed to satisfy him. The next thing she knew he was between her knees again and entering her, and then there was nothing for her but sensation. Explosions wracked her body again and again, and when the very last release came, exhaustion took her down into blackness.

Jake lay still on the blanket for a few minutes, unwilling to lose the feeling of satisfaction too quickly. Making love to this woman was something he’d wanted to do since the first time he’d seen her, but her own reaction to meeting him hadn’t been the same. She was the department’s fair-haired girl despite having dark-brown hair, their top agent, and most of the people she worked with were intimidated by her in one way or another. Either they tried to be as good as she was or, failing that, they tried to be invisible.

But I never did the same, and wouldn’t have even if we’d worked together, Jake thought, getting up on one elbow to look down at the woman who was lost to exhausted sleep and stroke her hair. I don’t need to prove how good I am at everyone else’s expense, and if she’d wanted to be in charge, as she usually was, I wouldn’t have minded. But Coleson would never give us the same assignment, and even though he refused to say why I had the definite feeling the refusal was her doing.

Even though Jake didn’t know why she’d refused to work with him. The refusal might have something to do with her nickname, Tain, a less-than-usual shortening of “captain.” Her unofficial rank was captain, but he’d earned the rank of major before he’d left the armed forces to work for the department. Could she resent him for something as petty as that? He didn’t like to think so, but it was always possible.

Jake sighed as he reached for his body cloth, stood, and began to put it back on. Only the upper classes wore more than the scantiest of clothes on this world, and even they stripped down when they weren’t in public. His role as a mercenary let him be as comfortable as possible in the heat, and Tain would be even more comfortable as a slave. At least as far as clothing went. As far as the rest of it was concerned, this woman would get exactly what she’d asked for.

Annoyance got a good grip on Jake as he crouched next to the sleeping girl, removed the short strip of leather from her arm and the bush, then began to untie the leather holding her wrists behind her. Anyone else in her place would have seen the need to be reasonable, but not the mighty Tain. She had to have everything done her way, even if her way put her life in more danger than usual. Any slave caught pretending to be free or proving to be a runaway was tortured to death slowly and horribly, but that was not going to happen to this woman. No matter how unhappy the restrictions he’d put on her made her.

And the time just might teach you a needed lesson, Jake thought as he stood straight again to look down at the sleeping woman. In your own way you’re as much of a brat as that girl Ennie, and Ennie will definitely be taught better before this is over. And who knows? Maybe the time we spend together will make something grow between us in spite of your unhappiness. As soon as you learn to relax and let someone else be in charge…

Tain made a sound of unhappiness as she moved just a little on the blanket, then she sank back into sleep. As soon as Jake was certain of that he left her and went to the pack horses he’d hidden in these trees before going into the slavers’ compound. One of the horses had been carrying his possessions and the other had had Tandro’s things, but both horses had been unburdened and put on a grazing line before he and Tandro had left.

The pack horses had pretty much grazed as far as they could by now, so Jake shifted their positions before carrying his tent and stuff into the clearing. He’d already taken care of his saddle horse, so he put up the small tent and then went to gather wood for a fire. It was somewhere around noon right now and his stomach told him it could do with a meal, and Tain would certainly be hungry when she woke up. Not that she was likely to enjoy what she was given, but that was just too bad about her. If she’d been reasonable…

But she hadn’t been reasonable, and Jake had decided to make her regret that choice. Maybe someday the lesson would help to save her life…

Tain woke up feeling confused, most especially since she couldn’t see anything. For a minute she didn’t understand, and then she realized that although her wrists weren’t tied any longer she still wore that blindfold. It took only a minute to push the cloth up before pulling it off, and then she was able to see again.