Punished, Tana Stone [top reads .txt] 📗

I released her and stepped back. “You remember how the Vandar kicked me from the training after he found out I was a female, and Donal made a big stink about it?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Yes.”

“You know I never take no for an answer. Not when I really want something. So, I made a deal with Corvak. He’s been teaching me privately.”

Her jaw dropped but she didn’t say anything.

“I’ve been sneaking out at night so no one would know.”

Juliette managed to close her mouth. “And all those bruises are from…?”

I shrugged. “He’s training me just like he trains the males. It’s hard work, and I end up on the ground a lot.”

A glint flashed in her eyes. “So, that’s why he was so familiar around you.”

“I guess, but I promise you we’re only training.” I didn’t want to admit that I’d touched more of the Vandar warrior than anyone on my planet would consider appropriate, or that he’d ended up on top of me with my hands pinned over my head more than a few times. If anyone knew how hot and heavy our training sessions got, they’d probably insist we marry. That thought made my stomach flutter then become a hard knot as I remembered how eager the Vandar was to get away from my planet.

Juliette absently flicked her fingers through her pale hair. “What if you get caught, Sienna?”

I sighed, reaching over and turning on the water for the shower. “We won’t get caught. I’ve been extremely careful. We only meet after everyone is tucked away in their dwellings and fast asleep, and we go so far away that no one would ever stumble upon us. No one would even think to tramp out into the woods after dark.”

My sister nibbled the corner of her thumbnail as she shook her head. “You know what would happen if someone found out, don’t you?”

Actually, I didn’t. There had never been an alien warrior exiled on our planet who’d been secretly training a woman in the dead of night. I could be pretty sure the ministers wouldn’t be happy about it, but I suspected Corvak would face fewer consequences than I would. I flinched at the thought of our father’s reaction.

I rounded on my sister. “Which is why you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Corvak is doing this because he thinks I can help defend our planet. It would be unfair for him to get punished for it.”

I didn’t say that the real reason he was training me was because of our deal and my agreement to help him escape. That was something I wasn’t willing to reveal to anyone, even my sister. And I didn’t need to tell her that the punishment for my secret training would fall much heavier on me and even on her. My aberrant behavior would make our entire family the object of even more curious glances and whispers than we already were.

She cut her eyes to me. “Of course I won’t tell anyone. I’m not a fool.” She clutched my hands in hers. “But promise me you’ll be careful, Sienna. Donal isn’t stupid, and neither are the rest of the villagers.”

I pulled my hands from hers. “What does that mean?”

She cocked her head at me and pursed her lips. “You might be clever about sneaking around, but you aren’t clever enough to hide your connection. It’s obvious from the way you two look at each other that you aren’t the strangers you should be.”

I huffed out an indignant breath as I darted a hand beneath the streaming water and determined that it was warm enough. “I told you. The only thing that’s going on is battle training.”

Juliette crossed her arms over her chest and eyed me, looking older than her years and so much like our mother that my heart squeezed. “That may be so, but there is something between you, whether you can admit it or not. Especially on his part.”

I gaped at her, ready to argue that she was off base, but she waved a hand at me.

“You may not see it. You’ve never been great at noticing the way males look at you, and for some reason, you’ve never been aware of how pretty you are, but trust me when I say that the Vandar notices. The way he looked at you after defending you from Donal, was not the way a teacher looks at a student, Sienna.”

I was not accustomed to my kid sister being the one to give me advice and watch out for me. I was also not used to her being so savvy when it came to males. “And how did he look at me, little sister?”

She turned to leave, looking back over her shoulder. “Like a predator defending his prey from other hunters.”

I shook off her words, peeling away my underwear and stepping under the warm cascade of water. Corvak was training me to be a warrior. He didn’t see me as his prey.

I closed my eyes, letting the water stream down my back as I thought about his dark gaze tracking me during our sessions and the dominant flash of satisfaction when he pinned me beneath him. I swallowed hard. Or did he?

Chapter Sixteen

Ch 16

Corvak

I entered the hall, finally able to pass through a doorway without bending my head and paused on the threshold as my eyes adjusted to the lower light.

“Join us!” The voice from the far end of the cavernous space beckoned me forward, the sound echoing off the arched stone walls and ceiling.

This was my first visit to the gathering hall, which was also used for the meetings of the planet’s ministers. Many long tables extended the length of the hall, but only one was occupied. Fewer than a dozen humans and Kimitherians clustered at one end, all clad in light-colored cloaks, as the warm light from massive chandeliers made from bone-colored shells glowed down on them.

The cool air was a