The Commander's Mate (8 page)

Izzy missed the library so very much and was growing increasingly frustrated with Grayson’s inability to understand her need to work with the children there. Actually what made the situation so frustrating wasn’t his inability to understand, but more his refusal to even try.

She was trying very hard to keep her cool and not display her anger in a disrespectful way, but he just ignored her attempts to discuss things in a rational manner. It felt like he just gave her a pat on the head and sent her on her way without hearing a word she said.

“Isabella, you should listen to the conversation and contribute. These are your people we are talking about developing educational programs for and you could give valuable input,” Grayson said, a slight rebuke in his tone.

“Why should I bother contributing, you wouldn’t listen to anything I said,” Izzy said, not bothering to hide her irritation.

“Isabella.” The warning in his tone was implicit.

“On the contrary, Lia Treenan, you have much of value to contribute regarding the best way to provide the education your people need. The best way to provide the programs so they are received positively,” Dr. Pimel said earnestly.

“Well, don’t threaten to spank anyone and you’ll have a much higher success rate,” she said snarkily.

The words were barely completely out of her mouth and Grayson had her tossed over his hip, her skirts flipped above her head, baring her completely to him and the good doctor.

“No, Grayson! I’m sorry!” Izzy was mortified to be in such a position in front of a guest to her home.

“You were warned, young lady, and still you pushed me,” Grayson said firmly as he began to pepper her bottom with fast, hard swats.

She rocked her bottom helplessly in an effort to avoid his punishing palm, yelping loudly when he applied it with vigor to her sit spot. “Oooh… owwww… Grayson, please, I’m sorry!”

Then her world was upright again as he stood her on her feet in front of him. Izzy was thankful her skirt fell back down around her feet hiding her flaming bottom from view.

The doctor had watched the whole time and now looked at her with barely concealed amusement.

She wanted desperately to rub her stinging backside, but refused to do it in front of them. With a delicate sniff, Izzy turned to the doctor. “I apologize for my behavior, Dr. Pimel.”

When she turned to Grayson, he simply raised his brow at her again. “And?”

Izzy sighed. “I would be happy to discuss an education program with you and the best way to see it is well received.”

She felt bad when the doctor positively beamed in response to her words; he obviously was very excited about implementing an educational program. Izzy shouldn’t have been snarky because she was irritated about the library. The program would, after all, benefit her people.

“I will gather the information and come back to meet with you about the best way to present it to your people,” the doctor said with a grin.

“Now I need to meet with Dr. Pimel about some other matters, little fire. Perhaps it would be best if you retired to our rooms and took a nap,” Grayson said firmly.

Izzy gaped at him for a moment. Grayson was sending her to her room! She felt her face getting red; he was treating her like a child.

As she opened her mouth to blast him, Grayson forestalled her by holding up a hand to stop her from speaking. “Think well before you speak, Isabella.”

She closed her mouth and walked swiftly from the room without speaking. It went against the grain to leave without speaking her mind regarding being treated like a five-year-old, but knew this particular battle was already lost.

Izzy made it to their room and managed to shut the door with a quiet click rather than slamming it like she wanted.

She frowned when she spotted a large wrapped box on the bed that seemed to be vibrating. A plaintive little cry came from the box and she’d rushed over to lift the lid.

The wriggling puppy inside the box melted her heart in an instant. It was a little lemon basset hound with ears that seemed way too big for its tiny head. Izzy scooped the little dog to her breast and was rewarded instantly with ecstatic puppy kisses.

She shook her head ruefully. Just when she was ready to spit nails, her alien did something so incredibly sweet she wanted to cry.

* * *

Grayson smiled from the doorway, pleased with Isabella’s reaction to the puppy.

“I know you’ve been lonely here at home during the day and I thought a dog might give you a little company,” Grayson said carefully. He didn’t want to do anything to set off the argument they’d rehashed repeatedly over the last several weeks. It was pointless; Isabella would not be leaving their home under any circumstances until Dr. Pimel gave him the all-clear. Afterward, he wouldn’t risk her safety by letting her traipse around outside the protective dome without an escort. He also didn’t want her working.

Isabella took a deep breath; he watched as she seemed to be struggling with whether or not to continue their argument.

“Is she not a risk to my immune system?” she asked with a raised brow.

“The mother was isolated while still carrying her pups and given shots to enhance her health while being kept in a clean air environment. The puppy will continue with the weekly shots until she is about four months old. Dr. Pimel said it’s probable the puppies will all be larger than expected previously for this breed,” he said with a smile, enjoying the sight of her sitting on the floor with the rambunctious puppy in her arms.

Isabella grinned down at the puppy snuggled against her chest. “What shall we call you, little girl?” She laughed when the pup gave an exuberant yip and licked her chin. “I think Sassy will suit you. Come, Sassy, let’s go find you some dinner.”

Grayson was relieved Isabella had decided not to argue further with him. He hoped it was a sign she was growing to love him as deeply as he loved her.

* * *

Izzy put Sassy on the floor and then walked to the kitchen with the puppy close on her heels. Grayson followed them into the room and showed Izzy the food the doctor had formulated for the puppy’s needs.

Sassy scarfed down the bowl of food laid down for her, then dropped to the floor for a nap. Izzy smiled, giving her a little pat before pulling a ladder from the broom closet. She’d been keeping the house clean and preparing meals since it was just her and Grayson in the house.

“What is the purpose of that?” Grayson asked Izzy.

She smiled. “The chandeliers need cleaning.”

Grayson stiffened. “Absolutely not.”

Izzy frowned questioningly. “Absolutely not what?”

“You are under no circumstances to climb that ladder,” was his firm reply.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Grayson. The chandeliers are filthy and I’m the only one here,” Izzy told him and continued on her way into the entry hall with the large ladder balanced over her shoulder. She gasped in outrage when the ladder was removed from her grasp and returned to the closet.

“You will not climb the ladder,” Grayson told her sternly.

“Bossy jerk,” Izzy muttered as she marched past him, only to be swung around when he grabbed her by the arm.

Grayson used her forward momentum to propel her across his thigh as he placed his foot on the lower rung of a kitchen stool.

Izzy shrieked, grasping his ankle reflexively when she found herself dangling upside down over his leg for the second time that day. “Don’t you dare!”

He ignored her, tossing the skirt of her caftan up over her back to bare her bottom to his paddle-like hand. Grayson clapped his hand off her bottom over and over again until the entire surface of her bottom was hot and throbbing, then lifted her to stand before him.

“You will not climb that ladder or any others you find around this house. You will not speak disrespectfully to me, with or without an audience. You may not call me names. If you try to defy me over this, little fire, you will not like the results and will likely find sitting impossible in the near future.”

Izzy glared daggers at him as she rubbed her stinging bottom. “How else are the chandeliers and the upper windows going to get cleaned?”

“I will find a way but you will not be doing it,” Grayson told her succinctly.

Izzy needed to get away from the infuriating man before she committed murder. With another glare she scooped Sassy into her arms and stomped from the room, determined to get as much distance between them as possible.

* * *

Grayson smiled as his defiant little mate stomped from the room; though he wouldn’t allow her disobedience, he found he really enjoyed her continued defiance. A woman of his world would never have talked back or argued an instruction from her mate. Punishments usually occurred for foolish or risky behavior, never outright defiance.

He wondered if he was the only Ramelian thoroughly enjoying the differences in his human mate.

Chapter Five

It was the next day that Grayson joined her in their room with a warm smile lighting his features.

“The good doctor reports you have developed an immunity to the toxins of this planet. You may now spend small amounts of time outside our protective dome. Come, I will take you into town. We will lunch at a restaurant,” Grayson told her.

Izzy glanced in the mirror to make sure her braids were all still in place. Grayson continued to braid her hair first thing in the morning. It never ceased to amaze her how quickly he managed to arrange her unruly hair in the intricate design.

She quickly pulled on her boots and made a face; Izzy hadn’t realized how used to being barefoot she’d gotten. The shoes now felt restrictive and uncomfortable on her feet. “I need some sandals,” she announced as she joined her mate in the front hall.

“Sandals?” he asked with his brow raised questioningly.

“Flip-flops, special footwear that leaves the majority of your foot bare. They’re much more comfortable,” Izzy told him as she followed him out the door.

“No sandals then,” Grayson said firmly. “Only I will see your bare little toes. Since shoes are only necessary when we leave the comfort of our home, I see no reason for you to have more than one pair.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Izzy exclaimed in disbelief. “You wouldn’t think twice about baring my bottom to spank me in public but no one else can see my hair down or, horror of horrors, look upon my naked toes?” She was incredulous at the logic of this alien race.

“You would do well to take heed of your own words, little fire,” he said sternly.

Izzy rolled her eyes. “For goodness’ sake, I wasn’t being disrespectful or defiant. I was expressing an opinion. A very valid one too! There is nothing at all sexual about my bare feet.”

“Unless someone is invited into our home as a guest, they will not see your naked feet. This you need to reconcile yourself to.” Then he leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I find your toes very sexy.”

“You find everything sexy,” Izzy muttered with a roll of her eyes and continued to mutter to herself about the stubbornness of aliens. But when Grayson led her outside the dome covering their home for the first time in six weeks, she gasped in pleasure. The feel of the sun on her face was a wonderful thing.

Too happy to be outside to hang onto her irritation, Izzy grabbed his hand and tugged him after her into town.

* * *

Grayson found himself caught up in her joy of the moment. His heart panged to realize just how much his little mate had missed being outside, though it had been necessary to improve her health.

They walked hand in hand through the town, Isabella pointing out different buildings of historical value and waving to people she knew. When they passed the library, she sighed sadly and continued into the small café in the center of the town square.

“Izzy?” A woman gasped in disbelief before grabbing his mate from him and hugging her close. “No one knew what happened to you! We’ve all been so worried.” The woman looked at Grayson suspiciously.

Isabella smiled. “I’m mated to Grayson here; apparently Ramelians have a penchant for fat, middle-aged women. Who knew?”

She and Madge both gasped when Grayson’s large hand clapped off her bottom in warning. “What have I told you about that word, Isabella?”

Izzy blushed hotly. “Sorry, curvy women. Grayson, this is Madge. Madge, my overbearing mate Grayson.”

Madge frowned up at the tall alien. “You better treat her well if you know what’s good for you.”

Grayson blinked down at the fiercely protective old one, pleased she felt so strongly for his little mate, but shocked a woman of any age would speak to him thusly. “I will always care for her. I provide for her every need, even those she does not yet recognize, old one. I appreciate your care for her,” he told the woman formally.

Both women gaped at him in shock, Isabella recovering first. “I’m sorry, Madge, he doesn’t know how rude he’s being. In Grayson speak, he was being respectful,” she assured the other woman while glaring daggers at her mate.

“How did I cause offense?” he asked in confusion.

“Madge, we’ll be over at the corner table. Two number sixes. I can’t wait to get my grease on,” she called over her shoulder as she tugged the large man behind her and pushed him down into a booth. “Grayson, in our culture it is very rude to refer in any way to a woman’s age.”

“You called yourself middle-aged,” Grayson pointed out.

“Yes, but I was talking about myself, that’s different. You can’t say it!”

“This makes no sense, little fire, is she not an old one?” he asked in consternation. Why would it be a problem to point out the age of a person?

“Stop saying that! She’ll hear you!”

“I do not understand this. In Ramel it is a great honor to be considered an old one. It means you’ve gained the wisdom and insight of age, which is something that cannot be taught,” Grayson told her, still in his formal speak.