Monday, November 14, 2011

The Jade Runner, Part 24

Quinn released his hold on Tara. She pushed herself up until she could wrap her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder and the tears on her cheeks soaked into the cloth of his shirt.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
He wrapped his arms around her back and squeezed her shaking, naked body to him. His fingers found their way up her back and into her hair. “I know,” he said. Her eyes sparkled beneath him and his lips quivered anticipating the kiss demanded by the intimacy of the moment.
A clanking on the bars of their cell interrupted the tenderness leaving an unfulfilled void of tension in its wake. Together they twisted toward the source of the interruption and boiled with a mix of embarrassment and anger upon seeing Rex. His face openly displayed the pride he felt in himself and the amusement their predicament provided him.
“How touching,” Rex said, punctuating his words with a chortle.
Quinn stood placing his body in the path of Rex’s view of Tara. She rose to her feet and pressed her body to Quinn’s back, gazing over his shoulder at Rex with a disgusted frown on her lips.
“What do you want?” Quinn asked.
Rex grinned and tipped his hat away from his forehead. “Kit has a stash of money aboard. Tell me where it is.”
“What have you done to her?” Tara demanded.
“Nothing at all,” Rex said, “but if I don’t find her money and bring a replacement load of the drugs you dumped, she’ll be dead.”
Quinn said, “Now why would you use that money to bring a replacement load back here when you could just take it and run?”
“That’s not good business, especially in my line of work,” Rex said.
Tara said, “And betraying your shipmates is?”
Rex shrugged. “We all do what we have to do. I wanted my ship back and I’m not going to apologize for doing what was necessary to get it.”
“So how do you see this playing out?” Quinn asked. “We help you find Kit’s stash and we all go our separate ways, no hard feelings?”
“I could live with that,” Rex said. “I not opposed to the Doc sticking around. Her skills could come in handy and she’s kind of cute being all embarrassed about not having her clothes on.”
“If you expect our help,” Quinn said, reaching a protective hand back to rest on the side of Tara’s naked upper thigh, “you’ll have to make room for both of us aboard and I’m afraid the Doc is going to be wearing clothes too.”
“You’re not in a position to be making demands,” Rex said.
“If you’re serious about using the money to buy the stuff you owe these people and getting Kit out of the trouble you’ve put her in, I’ll tell you where the money is,” Quinn said.
Tara took a step back from Quinn. “You can’t trust him,” she said.
Quinn looked at her over his shoulder. “We don’t have much of a choice, but I’m not going to just trust him,” he said and looked back toward Rex. “We stay on board with you and when it’s time to pay for the cargo, I’ll deliver the money myself.”
Rex shook his head. “And how do I know the two of you won’t just turn on me? Neither of you has shown much loyalty to Kit as it is and I’m sure you won’t show any to me.”
“What choice do you have?” Quinn asked. “I’m betting without out that money you’re as dead as we are.”
“I’ll find the money with or without your help,” Rex said.
“If you were so certain of that, you wouldn’t be here asking for our help,” Tara said.
Quinn nodded. “You need us and that means you are taking us with you.”
Rex smiled. “I have a better idea. I’ll take the Doc with me and you’ll wait here with Kit until we get back.”
“I’m not leaving her alone with you,” Quinn said.
Tara said, “I don’t even know where the stash is anyway.”
Rex shook his head. “Well then I guess the Doc stays behind and you come with me. You’re obviously protective of her so her well being should be enough insurance for me to trust you to do the right thing.”
“She comes with us or I’m not helping,” Quinn said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Rex shrugged. “Then you’ll both stay and I’ll take my chances of finding the money on the way.”
Tara rested a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Go with him. I’ll be fine as long as you promise to come back for me and Kit.”
Rex rolled his eyes. “How sweet. Do we have a deal or not?”
Quinn looked over his shoulder at Tara. Their eyes shared a moment of mutual understanding and commitment before he turned back to Rex. “Fine, but if I even get the hint of betrayal from you, it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
Rex turned toward the exit and the guards. “You can take her with you, but leave him in the cell.”
The guards moved to the cell door with their weapons drawn. Tara leaned down collecting her clothing with the obvious intention getting dressed. Quinn raised his arms and kept his body between the guards and Tara. The guards opened the door.
The guard on the left said, “Drop the clothes, turn around with your hands behind your back and walk back to us slowly.”
“At least let her get dressed,” Quinn said.
The guard chuckled. “She won’t be needing clothes where she’s going.”
Tara did as instructed and when she reached the guards the attached shackles to her wrists, binding her arms behind her back. The silent guard grabbed her forcibly by the arms and pulled her from the cell while his partner secured the cell door. They led Tara past a grinning Rex who clearly enjoyed the unobstructed view of Tara’s nudity. She blushed long after his leering expression was nothing more than memory. The ship left the hangar with a thunderous and roar and she was all alone with the guards walking the dirt path toward an uncertain future.

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Jade Runner, Part 23

Two guards grabbed Kit by the shoulder, holding her in place despite her best intention to follow Wudwerth. Zeller pulled a knife from a sheath on his belt and stepped up, directly behind Kit. He pulled the collar of her top and jacket away from her neck and slipped the knife inside. The cold metal sent a chill down her spine. Zeller slashed the knife downward, cutting open Kit’s clothing from behind.
Zeller walked around to the front of Kit and slipped his knife down the front collar of her top. He sliced downward again, opening her top in front. The guards on either side of her pulled the tattered remains of her top and jacket down her arms until only the restraints keeping her hands bound behind her, kept the clothing on any part of her body. The white lace of her bra kept Kit’s breast covered until Zeller reached out and sliced it in half as well. He stared into her eyes enjoying the blush on her cheeks as he reached out with his free hand and pinched her pink nipples until they stood pointed and hard.
Kit spit in his face.
He didn’t bother to wipe it way. Zeller walked around behind her again. He unbound her hands and yanked her upper body’s clothing free, leaving it lay useless on the ground. Kit struggled to break free of the guards grasped, but the three men pushed her forward and bent her over the wooden contraption. Zeller used the leather restraints to fasten her wrists and upper body to the device. The guards removed her pants, panties, boots and socks, leaving her completely naked. Zeller finished fastening the restraints to her knees and ankles. Kit strained against the leather to no avail. She was exposed to their mercy and Zeller had none.
Zeller walked to the wall and lifted a paddle off its hook. He carried it over to Kit and held it in front of her forward staring face. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.
Kit smiled at him. “A replacement for your dick?”
He shook his head. “You are feisty.”
“And you’re a dick-less coward,” Kit said.
Zeller laughed and brushed the strands of Kit’s hair out of her eyes. “You do know I’m going to spank you with this?”
She spat in his face. “Right and I’m not dumb enough to think you’ll not if I’m all sweet and sugary.”
He wiped the saliva off his cheek and stood up straight. With his thumb, he pressed a button on the handle of the paddle and a sound like running water filled the room. The surface of the paddle glistened in the torchlight and ripples appeared as he moved it through the air in Kit’s view.
“The surface of the paddle is kept continually wet,” Zeller said, “which improves the surface contact between the paddle and your flesh. I’m told it has a fierce sting. The effect gets worse the longer the spanking because the cold of the water cause skin contraction while the heat of the spanking causes skin expansion immediately after impact.”
Kit said, “If you let me up, I promise to give you some firsthand experience so you can know for yourself.”
Zeller laughed. “Slaves receive punishment. They do not dish it out.”
“I’m no slave,” Kit said.
He moved around behind her with the paddle. “Oh, but you are,” he said and slapped the paddle hard against her jutting buttocks.
Kit grunted and strained against the restraints holding her down. Zeller swung the paddle another four times. Each time the impact wobbled her buttocks with a muffled crack. Kit fought to move, to free herself, but the leather and wood held her tight. Her butt turned pink. The sting stung from her bottom to her eyes.
Zeller said, “As a slave to Count Wudwerth, you’ll be expected to perform tasks without hesitation or question. Failure will result in a spanking.”
The paddle cracked down ten more times. Kit vocalized her discomfort with noise of pain. She continued to struggle against her restraints to no avail. On the last two swats her legs tried to kick. The guards laughed at her display. A single tear dripped from Kit’s eye and splashed onto the hay covered floor.
“Slaves,” Zeller said, “have no possessions, no property of any kind and most importantly, no clothing. If you attempt to cover yourself in anyway, you will be punished.”
He swung the paddle, reddening her buttocks another twenty times. The fiery pain consumed Kit. She tried to kick and wiggle free. The wood and leather kept her in place. She howled in response to each of the last ten swats. Tears ran freely down her cheeks. Her butt glowed red with warmth and glistened with water droplets the paddle left behind.
Zeller scratched his fingers over her jutting, red buttocks. “If you’d like to serve my guards their evening meal say, Thank you Master Zeller. If you’d like to be spanked more, say anything you like or nothing at all.”
Jade’s voice echoed in Kit head, You can’t fight a storm, you either ride it or get buried by it. Don’t get buried by it.
Kit swallowed her tears and cleared her throat while blinking back the tears still threatening to fall. Her butt burned as hot as the torches lighting the room. She hated Zeller and his guards. Serving them was unthinkable, but Jade was right; There was no true option.
“Thank you, Master Zeller,” she said and closed her eyes.

Monday, October 31, 2011

The Jade Runner, Part 22

Tara paced the small room along the bars holding them inside. Quinn sat on the small white bench at the back of the room.  Outside the cell, the guards stood with their backs to them. They knew Kit and Rex had left the ship and that Rex was in the process of executing a plan that would likely have dire consequences for Kit as well as themselves. From the Griffinscape’s brig, they also knew there was nothing they could do about it.
Tara wrung her hands together , purposefully not looking at Quinn. “This is all my fault.”
“There’s enough blame to go around,” Quinn said.
“If only I hadn’t dumped the cargo,” Tara said, still pacing.
Quinn shook his head. “We’d still have problems, maybe more than we have now and we’d be directly responsible for everything that happened to the people who ended up taking those drugs.”
“I didn’t trust her,” Tara said. “She’s barely more than a kid and it just made sense that she’d be taken in by the lure of fast, easy money.”
“Trust comes with time,” Quinn said. “You haven’t known her or me for very long.”
Tara stopped pacing and faced Quinn. “All the more reason not to rush to judgment. I should have known better than to trust a man like Rex.”
Quinn looked up at her. “He’s a master manipulator. You did what you thought was right.”
“I didn’t think things through,” Tara said.
Quinn said, “There would have been consequences for inaction as well.”
Tara’s hands landed on her hips. “Are you saying I was right to betray Kit?”
Quinn studied her face. He recognized the torment of guilt straining her eyes and cheeks. “No,” he said. “What I’m saying is everybody makes mistakes. It is what we do to correct them that matters.”
Tara nodded. “Spank me.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow at her.
“If not for Kit,” Tara said, “I’d be naked and on the streets of Centora City. A spanking is the least of what I deserve for betray the person who saved me from that.”
Quinn said, “A spanking won’t fix anything right now.”
Tara said, “Perhaps not, but it will ease my conscience long enough that we might find a way to help her.”
Quinn nodded. “Alright, I’ll spank you, but it will be done my way.”
Tara dropped her hands from her waist to dangle free at her side. “Deal.”
He sat up straight, pushing his back against the wall. “I want you to get undressed and lay yourself over my lap.”
“Undressed?” Tara bit at her lip, eyes flickering between the floor and Quinn’s face.
Quinn nodded. “Undressed,” he said. “You said it yourself, without Kit you’d be naked and so it’s only fitting that you be naked when punished for betraying her.”
Tara didn’t bother responding. Instead, she shed her clothes into a pile on the floor. There was no pause or hesitation in her fingers and she did not bother trying to hide her nakedness from Quinn’s piercing gaze. If he hadn’t seen her naked in the square on Centora, enough others had that the embarrassment of being naked no longer even colored her cheeks red. But Tara knew he’d seen her. She remembered his face, on the other side of the door leading into the casino. He had looked away when he noticed she was looking at him.
Not this time. He looked and made no attempt to hide his wandering eyes. She walked the short distance between them, keeping her hands out of the way and leaving herself open to his inspection. His expression yielded no signs of appreciation or lack of it. Only a faint twinkle in his blue eyes suggested he enjoyed the view and the moment. She laid herself over his lap, resting her upper half on the bench beside him and keeping her toes on the ground.
Quinn touched her buttocks with his right hand and wrapped her body to his with his left arm. She offered no resistance at all, not even tensing her muscles. The ointment he’d previously applied to her buttocks had done its job. The bruising and redness from her time in the pillory were all but gone. Only the faintest of tinge of a pink blush remained. He slipped his fingers in the tight space between her thighs and she responded by moving her legs apart.
Patting the center of her bottom, he said, “That’s a good girl. Now, stay in position.”
Tara held her breath and closed her eyes. Quinn raised his open palm, high above her buttocks. He waited, hand hovering in the air and then, without warning, he brought it crashing down into the center of her naked cheeks. Her butt bounced beneath his hand. She snapped her eyes open and let out her held breath in an explosive puff. Quinn allowed his hand to bounce up off her buttocks only to bring it back down again and again. Her bottom turned pink decorated with the fading white prints of his hand.
He continued the spanking until Tara cried freely without restraint. Her buttocks felt warm beneath his hand and they glowed a soft, vibrant red. Through it all she kept herself still and avoided the clenching, squirming, and kicking that the rising sting in her posterior demanded. Over and over, she told herself she deserved nothing more, and certainly nothing less, than she was getting. The spanking bared no comparison to the spanking she received in the pillory. This one had been deserved and despite its clearly lesser severity, it affected her much more deeply.

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Jade Runner, Part 21

A pair of guards led Quinn and Tara away from Kit and the conference room. They were confined together in a small cell in the Griffinscape’s brig under the watchful eyes of their guards. The man in the red trimmed helmet bound Kit’s hands behind her back and prodded her into the elevator with the remainder of his guards and Rex accompanying them.
Kit led the way on the dirt road leading to the castle seen in the distance. They kept a quick pace. The air hung heavy with humidity and dark clouds closed in overhead. On the horizon above the treetops of surrounding forest, lightning scorched across the sky followed by rolling thunder that shook the dirt beneath Kit’s feet. She kept moving forward, annoyed by the bonds keeping her arms from moving freely at her sides.
At the castle gates, Kit stopped. The man in the red trimmed helmet conferred quietly with a man in a blue trimmed helmet. When their conversation ended, the gate was raised and Kit was prodded forward. They passed through the interior courtyard and entered a building on the west side through a large wooden door. Inside, a wide staircase led them down into the underground depths, lit by torches flickering on the walls. The putrid aroma of wet hay and human sweat wafted its way up and tickled Kit’s nose.
A pair of wooden doors, double the thickness and weight of those above, awaited them at the bottom. Kit stepped through the doors and stopped near the center of the large open room. At its center was a wooden contraption with conspicuously placed leather restraints. She didn’t fancy the idea, but there existed little doubt to its purpose; Punishment, torture, or both.
From a concealed passage on the far side of the room, a man entered and stopped on the opposite side of the wooden contraption. He wore wealthier clothing than his guards. His trousers were black silk and his shirt was a scarlet variation of the same. Jewelry adorned his fingers and a medallion hung around his neck. The black of his hair seemed almost blue in the torchlight.
He stared into Kit’s eyes. “We had a deal.”
“I don’t even know you,” Kit said, meeting his gaze.
“I’m Count Wudwerth,” he said.
“I still don’t know you,” Kit said.
Wudwerth nodded. “And yet you came all this way to deliver me you.”
Kit twisted to look back at Rex. He appeared just as confused. Kit turned back to Wudwerth and said, “What are you talking about?”
Wudwerth took a step closer to her, smiling. “Yes, I was hoping to get my medical shipment as well, but Captain Rex will be correcting that situation for us,” Wudwerth said and looked past Kit to Rex, “won’t you?”
Rex cleared his throat and said, “It’ll just take three days and you’ll have double what you ordered.”
Wudwerth kept smiling at Rex. “You have two.”
Turning his attention back to Kit, Wudwerth reached inside Kit’s jacket. His fingers probed against her body giving no heed to her private space. He found what he was looking for in her jacket pocket and pulled it out. The remote for the Griffinscape passed from Wudwerth to man with red trimmed helmet and he in turned pressed the panel against Kit’s still bound thumb before handing it over to Rex.
“You’ve got your ship back as promised,” Wudwerth said. “Now I suggest you get going because if you aren’t back with my shipment in two days, you’ll lose a lot more than your ship.”
“No worries,” Rex said and left the room with an escort of guards.
Kit stared into the black of Wudwerth’s eyes. Jade’s voice echoed in her head, cautioning her, Don’t be reckless.
“You’re feisty,” Wudwerth said, “but I was expecting that.”
“What do you want from me?” Kit asked.
Wudwerth reached out toward her again. This time his fingers snatched the thin chain around her neck and pulled the jade stone from its hiding place beneath her top. He studies the green jewel in his open palm and then closed his fist around it, yanking the necklace free from Kit.
Rage boiled behind Kit’s eyes. “Give it back!”
He ticked his index finger in the space between them. “I own you and that means everything that was yours is now mine. Get used to it.”
“The stone is mine,” Kit said. Her defiant stare said even more; She belonged to no one.
Wudwerth merely smiled wider before turning his gaze to the man in the red trimmed helmet. “Commander Zeller,” he said, “strip her and teach the Jade Princess what it means to be a slave.”
“With pleasure,” Zeller said.
Wudwerth turned and left the room the way he had entered, taking with him Kit’s necklace.

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Jade Runner, Part 20

Guards surrounded the Griffinscape inside the landing dock. They wore black armor with a matte, leather finish that covered them from their necks down to their ankles. On their heads they wore black leather helmets with open faces. The helmets were trimmed along the face with silver, except for two that were trimmed in blue and one that was trimmed in a dark red. The two blue were stationed on opposite side of the ship. They appeared to be in command of the guards on their respective sides. The man with the dark red trimmed helmet, stood near the center of the landing dock only a few feet from where the Griffinscape’s passenger ramp would descend. He was in charge.
Kit watched her ship being surrounded from the conference room, adjacent to the helm and navigation center. Rex stood against the wall near the door enjoying Kit’s frustration and barely contained panic. Quinn and Tara arrived from the engineering room. Kit knew her problems were bigger than she thought when she noticed Quinn’s firm grip on Tara’s upper arm. He placed her in chair and stood between her and the exit.
“When they find out we don’t have the cargo, they’re going to kill us,” Kit said.
Tara stared at Kit. “I’m not sorry,” she said. “I became a doctor to save lives and by getting rid of all that Zumena, I’ve saved hundreds.”
“You deliberately dumped the cargo?” Kit asked.
Tara smiled. “I did.”
Kit closed her eyes to contain her anger and frustration. A moment later, she opened them and fixed on Tara. “Why?”
“Have you ever seen someone on Zumena?” Tara asked. “Sure it makes them faster and stronger for a while, but at the same time it erodes their minds, clouds their judgment until they’re nothing more than a slave to their need for more. And eventually, all that speed and strength takes it toll on the body and they die looking like they lived an entire lifetime, but in reality they barely even lived at all.”
“I know all too well what it does,” Kit said.
“Then why,” Tara asked, “would even think of delivering it here? No amount of money is worth what this stuff does to people’s lives.”
“Delivering it was the only thing that was going to keep these people from killing us,” Kit said. She spun the monitor showing the guards outside for Tara to see.
Tara looked up from the monitor into Kit’s eyes. “I’m not afraid to die.”
Quinn said, “Neither am I, but I would prefer to die for something that matters.”
Tara looked back at him. “Keeping Zumena from these people matters.”
“Of course it matters.” Quinn nodded. “The only problem is we’re not keeping it from them like this. Our one small shipment will mean nothing in the long run because someone else will just step in and deliver more to replace what we destroyed.”
Kit nodded. “If we’re going to keep Zumena from these people we’re going to have to make sure the market for it is closed down for good.”
Tara swiveled her head from Kit to Quinn and back again. “I don’t understand.”
Kit laughed without humor. “I’ve seen what LX’s narcotics can do firsthand. I was never going to just deliver the drugs and leave.”
“I gather you have a plan,” Quinn said, looking at Kit.
Kit nodded. “We’re going to have to surrender to them.”
Tara said, “They’ll kill us.”
“I’m going to strike a bargain with them,” Kit said.
Tara said, “The only thing they’ll bargain for is Zumena.”
“Or cash,” Quinn said.
Kit smiled at her companions. “I’m going to offer them both and when they accept, I’m going to bring the authorities down on them at our next meeting.”
Quinn said, “It could also be trouble for us.”
“Maybe,” Kit said, “but if it comes to that I’ll do my best to keep it contained to just me and our new friends outside.”
Tara nodded and looked around the conference room. “Where’s Rex?”
Kit looked to the wall behind Quinn where Rex had been standing. Rex was gone and only the wall remained. Quinn spun around and took a step closer to the door when it opened. Rex walked inside the conference room. He was accompanied by a small group of the guards from outside the ship, led by the man in the red trimmed helmet.
Rex pointed at Kit. “She’s the one,” he said. “She dumped the crates in the ocean.”
Tara looked up at Rex, anger boiling in her eyes. “You lying bastard,” she said.
The man in the red trimmed helmet stepped forward, his gaze locked on Kit. “You are under arrest,” he said. “If you surrender your weapons and come peacefully now, you won’t be harmed.”
Kit opened her jacket, exposing the hilts of her two pistols. One at a time she removed them from her belt and laid them on the table. “If you’ll give me a chance to explain, I’m sure you’ll agree this all just a big misunderstanding.”
The man in the red trimmed helmet asked, “Do you have the crates you agreed to deliver?”
Kit said, “Well no, but—
The man said, “Then there is no misunderstanding. You will come with us now.”