Before he had chance to gain even a semblance of composure, Riana feathered his body with light, expert caresses.
Words of need, begging even, sprang to his lips. He closed his eyes, his entire being on fire with the need to spew himself inside her.
He was a warrior.
He would be victorious.
The struggle inside Darias became an outright war.
“I will get even,” he promised as he realized this was one battle he was going to lose.
She laughed softly.
Darias squeezed his eyelids tighter, hating Riana and hating himself for the words that broke involuntarily from his throat.
“Please, Riana. Let me come. Damn you, let me come.”
Her tongue swirled around and dipped inside his navel, simulating the rhythm of lovemaking.
The small action pushed him over an invisible edge.
“Please, Riana. Let me come!” he roared, the demand echoing into the night. “You can’t do this to me.” His voice dropped to a guttural whisper. “You are driving me mad.”
Her answer was to deliver a little bite to his inner thigh. Immediately, her tongue soothed the small sting.
Desperation welled up in him. Nothing he could say would sway her. Riana was intent on keeping him on the pinnacle of sensation and refused to let him fall.
She tongued his nipples and then blew on them. The icy touch of air after the warmth of her mouth drew his nipple into a bead so tight that it was painful.
He groaned.
She raked the edge of her teeth over the tight nub.
The muscles in his stomach clenched in need.
Latching on to the vulnerable skin next to his armpit with her mouth, she pulled strongly.
He jumped. His balls tightened and drew up as if they were connected on a chain. Chills chased across every centimeter of exposed flesh. Shevet! Where had she learned to do that?
She feathered kisses just above his hip.
A muscle jumped under her delicate touch. His mouth went dry and Darias strained against the need to shout. He would not give in again.
“Have you ever been fucked in the ass, Darias?”
Shocked at the blunt question, he met her cool gaze. He wet his lips and struggled past his need to explode to shape an answer. “No.”
“Did you know there is a set of nerves there that can bring a man to orgasm?” Her fingers, those slender, nimble fingers, tapped out a tattoo on the rock-hard muscle of his upper thigh.
“Do not,” he warned thickly.
“Ah, but that is the joy of being the one with the power. I can do whatever I want.” Deep, abiding anger burned in her ice-green eyes. “All you have to do is obey.”
“Do not,” he croaked again, scandalized at the thought she would actually fuck him in the ass. Surely it was only a threat. She wouldn’t really, not there. Tease him with the possibility, but not actually carry it out…
She grasped both of his knees and pushed the stirrups higher until his knees were drawn back toward his chest. The Punishment Stone, designed for just such maneuvers, locked automatically into place the moment she let go. Moving from between his legs, she went to her cloak and removed something from its pocket.
She was trying to break his will. Even with that knowledge, he couldn’t help feeling extremely vulnerable with his legs up and his ass exposed completely to her. He wasn’t a particularly modest man, but Darias found that with the choice out of his hands, he was exceedingly uncomfortable with his nakedness.
She walked back between his legs and held up a small bottle for his inspection before pouring a small amount of oil into her hand. Her hand encircled his cock and smoothed the oil up and down, from base to tip.
His cock hardened even more from the oil-slick stroking.
She wasn’t going to follow through with the implied threat! He relaxed even as his sexual tension went up another notch.
She paused and poured some more oil into her palm.
A groan worked itself up from his depths. Krel, a couple more strokes and he’d come. He’d have the last laugh, after all. Prove he was the stronger, the more determined.
Her hands, soft and slick, slipped down and massaged his balls instead, cupping and weighing them, paying particular attention to the spot right behind his scrotum.
His heart pounded in his chest and stars shot behind his closed lids.
He was going to win. Whether she wanted him to or not, he was going to come.
She released him. His eyes shot open an instinctive protest on his lips.
“Don’t stop.”
A bead of pre-come leaked from the tip of his cock.
She caught it on the tip of her tongue.
It was one of the most erotic sights he’d ever seen. Why had he not let her suck his cock before? Maybe later, once he’d regained control of Nexar from Riana, they’d explore some of the things she’d done to him tonight more fully. Perhaps some things in Nexar should change. Maybe some things didn’t have to be confined to punishment.
Every muscle in his body was so tight he ached. Again, she tipped oil into her palm.
“Yesss,” he growled, more than ready to spew his seed.
She let the oil trickle from her palm, down over his balls, lower, to the tight sphincter between his cheeks.
His breath snarled in his throat. He waited in an agony of suspense for her to take his cock in her hand again.
Her finger circled that forbidden part of his body. Light, teasing pressure that woke nerve endings he didn’t know existed.
His cock jerked. Drops of pre-come dripped onto his stomach.
She worked the oil past the tight muscles and into his body.
Darias fought the restraints with all of his strength, acute embarrassment flooding his senses. It was futile. He was hers to do with as she pleased.
’Round and ’round, she circled the tight hole, slowly exerting ever more pressure. Her finger slipped inside to the first knuckle, and then deeper.
A shaft of pure pleasure took him by surprise as she found a certain spot and rubbed.
Nestling her face against his inner thigh, she grinned at him as she worked another finger into the tight passage. “Ah, you like that, I see. I thought you would.” Her fingers began moving rhythmically in and out. He closed his eyes as the pleasure grew more intense.
“Look at me.”
She had to repeat it several times before he was able to obey.
“What do you want?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Was that his voice, thick and hoarse with desire?
“Tell me what you want.” She prodded that bundle of nerves again. “Do you want me to let you come?”
Her fingers began moving faster. He was so close. “Yes! Don’t stop. Fuck me, Riana!”
Her fingers slipped out completely. He tightened his muscles, trying to pull her back inside.
“You only get to come if I allow it. And I am not going to allow it. Tonight is not about your satisfaction. Tonight you get a taste of your punishment.”
* * * * *
Night reluctantly began to give way to morning. Pale pink touched the wisps of clouds floating across the predawn sky. Riana trailed one finger up his abdomen and between his pecs, not stopping until she touched his lips.
Even the light caress was almost too much for Darias to bear.
He turned his face away.
He didn’t escape that easily, however. She tapped his lips to get his attention then stroked his cheek in slow, soothing motions. Darias rolled his head back, the very effort causing a small moan to slip out.
Riana leaned over him until her mouth was beside his ear. Her warm, moist breath heated the inside of his ear as she spoke.
“I am Riana, your Mistress.”
* * * * *
Darias became aware of sunlight and a gentle breeze that swirled around his nipples and ran the length of his penis. His nipples, ultrasensitive, puckered painfully. His cock, still erect, qui
vered as nerve endings jangled unpleasantly. He slammed his thighs shut.
And groaned at the fierce rush of sensation.
Even if it wasn’t forbidden for a warrior to seek self-relief, Darias knew he could not have borne even the lightest brush of his hand against his over-sensitized flesh. A cold shower. Maybe a cold shower would help. He staggered to his feet.
Each step a study in concentration, Darias slowly made his way from the alcove into the chamber. All around him was silence. Only then did he realize how late it was. He glanced about to make sure he was alone. He was. Thank Quaral he didn’t have to face Riana yet. He’d kill her if she gloated at his condition.
He might kill her anyway, for shaming him.
The shower didn’t help at all. By the time he reentered the chamber, Darias was considering lowering himself to ask for an analgesic. Anything to stop the flood of sensation snaking through his blood.
The door to the chamber opened without warning. Darias didn’t have time to cover himself. He flushed as Gaith, his former first-in-command, entered.
“Darias, Riana commands that you attend her immediately in the Great Hall.”
Gaith kept his gaze locked onto the floor. Oddly enough, his consideration embarrassed Darias all the more.
Darias thought about refusing, but the memory of punishment changed his mind. He shuddered to think of the effect of another session so soon on his overstimulated body.
He cleared his throat, the taste of capitulation bitter on his tongue. “I need a few minutes to dress.”
Gaith nodded and quietly shut the door.
Darias looked around for his breeches and tunic, dreading the thought of leather against his hypersensitive nerves. A scrap of gold cloth on the bed caught his eye.
He picked it up. The gold and leather thong was unmistakably an undergarment. The cloth, barely big enough to cover him, was formed to cup and accentuate his genitals. Darias dropped it as if it burned. He turned to the rest of the outfit, a black spidersilk tunic and breeches. Against the dark blue bedspread, the outfit looked exotic.
Folded neatly beside them was his warrior’s outfit.
Riana was taunting him with a choice.
Darias seriously considered donning his old outfit. He’d feel like a fool, trussed up in that bit of nothing.
And Riana knew it.
She wanted him to choose the leather and give her another reason to punish him.
Slowly, he reached for the thong. She’d have to do better than this. If she wanted war, he’d show her war. Not only would he win at her game, he’d give her a defeat from which she’d never recover.
His breath hissed between his teeth as he slid the confining material over his erection. The back of the thong slid into the cleft separating his buttocks, each movement recalling the erotic glide of slender fingers.
He stepped into the black breeches, hoping the dark material was cut full enough to conceal his erection. To his shock, the front was cut so that his balls and shaft were outside. Clothed in gold, his erection stood proudly and publicly at attention.
Darias set his mouth in a grim line and reached for the tunic. Beneath it was a leather harness. A mocking imitation of the clothing he’d forced her to don.
She would allow him no modesty. She intended one and all should know his shame.
Riana would pay. Both for last night and for the indignity she was forcing upon him in this excuse for clothing.
Darias was studying his reflection in the mirror when Gaith poked his head back inside.
“You were right, Gaith. I should have made her rue her impertinence in challenging her position. I underestimated her resolve.”
“It is too late for regrets. The honor of Nexar must not be tarnished.”
“Tarnished? No, I will not tarnish it, but I will find a way to recapture it.”
“You have a plan?”
Darias smiled into the mirror at Gaith, a wolfish showing of teeth that revealed the ruthless warrior. “Do I not always have a plan? They are women. What do they know of running an estate, much less a country-state? Faced with the enormous tasks involved, they will naturally turn toward the men.” He shrugged with patently insincere regret. “Unfortunately, we are but slaves, unable to advise.”
Gaith began smiling back.
“At first, our refusal to help could mean repercussions,” Darias warned. “We must all be prepared for the consequences.” His glance flickered down his own body, making clear his meaning. “But sooner or later they will see the folly in their actions and beg us for help. Then we will set our terms. We must stand firm, as one, otherwise, the plan will fail. See to it that word is passed to all the men.” He turned, his arm held out to Gaith.
Gaith clasped it, sealing the pledge.
Darias stepped into the hall, still burning with rage, but a controlled rage with purpose now. He refused to be dragged before Riana like a recalcitrant servant.
Each step became an agony of arousal. The combination of gold silk sliding across his erection and the tug and pull of the breeches kept his desire at a fever pitch.
They were almost to the first set of stairs when, to his discomfiture, he saw Gaith’s woman advancing toward him, with her was a brunette Darias didn’t recognize.
The women didn’t even have the decency to look elsewhere but boldly lowered their gazes to his groin. When they looked up, both wore identically amused expressions.
Darias cursed beneath his breath as a furious blush heated his cheeks. Never in his entire life had he been so publicly humiliated. He felt a muscle in his jaw pulse.
The women stopped in front of them, forcing them to halt. They were beginning to draw attention of several servants and people who slowed to watch, sensing a spectacle.
They were about to be disappointed. “My ladies.” He inclined his head at both women but refused to look directly at them.
“Why are you not in the Great Hall?” Bryta directed her question toward Gaith.
Beside Darias, Gaith stiffened. “We are on our way there now, my lady.” Darias noticed that Gaith also kept his gaze directed over the tops of the women’s heads.
“You are late.” Bryta’s gray eyes were hard. “We will discuss this too tonight.” She swept past them, her chin haughtily in the air.
“I take it you are not in her best graces?” Darias asked as they continued downstairs.
Gaith’s hands clenched and unclenched by his sides. “I am to wait in our garden. It seems gardens have become a popular place of late.” He lifted a wry brow.
“What did you do?”
“Somehow she found out that my badge contained a sexual suppressant. She was furious,” he admitted.
Darias didn’t have to wonder how Bryta found out. He knew. Riana. For a moment he wondered how she had found out then realized in order to change the voice command on the force field, she had to have bypassed his password. His curiosity swelled. Did she have the technical skill to hack such an intricate system or had she somehow used her ship? Then he brushed his curiosity aside. No matter. The salient detail was she now had access to all of Nexar’s secrets—and his.
But it was a massive database, he reminded himself. It’d take time to learn everything. Time they could not afford to waste.
By now, probably all the women in the keep knew of the suppressant the men took before administering punishment. As well as the stimulant. That left him and the other men with one less method of manipulation.
He recalled Riana’s anger. “Do not discount the depth of your woman’s fury,” he advised. “Nor the effect of detachment during punishment, even though you know it is artificial.” For the first time, Darias began to question that aspect of punishment. Nothing had prepared him for the profundity of his shame when Riana had remained indifferent to his uncontrolled desire.
Nothing.
“Do not worry. By the time evening approaches, her fury will have died. Bryta is a gentle soul. She is not like your Riana.”
Gai
th’s confidence worried Darias. “I think we have all underestimated the women’s resentment. It would be dangerous to continue to do so.”
Their conversation came to halt as they stood in the archway of the Great Hall. Women jammed the huge room, and he realized Council was in session. It seemed to Darias that all eyes turned toward him as Gaith escorted him forward to Riana.
The first step of his plan was to push her off guard by not giving her any reason to punish him.
He stopped in front of her and knelt without being prompted.
She ignored him for several seconds. When she finally deigned to look at him, her green gaze was impassive.
The explicit memory of Riana remaining completely unaffected as she caressed his body slammed into him. Right then and there, he made a vow. When Nexar was once again in his hands, he would see that the suppressant and its mate destroyed. It was obvious now that the harm they did was more powerful than the point made.
“I see you decided not to shame me today.”
His ears burned at the public rebuke.
“No, Lady.”
“Good. Stand up and face the Council members.”
Darias’ head shot up, a protest on his lips.
Riana watched him, a faint smile on hers.
Grinding his back teeth together, he did as commanded, feeling totally exposed. He stood rigid, his hands at his sides closed into fists.
“Tell the Council you regret your impudence and have learned your lesson.”
“I have learned my lesson and regret that you think I was impudent.” Fury roughened his voice and, despite his best intentions, he couldn’t resist the jab.
“Stand beside me until business is concluded.” She let the small defiance go.
What she meant was stand there for all to see his shame. Be a lesson to the other males of the world. If the former Supreme Chief was not above chastisement, then neither were they. It was, he admitted silently, a masterful statement of power.
The day wore on. Darias found he had trouble concentrating as, every once in a while, Riana would brush the backs of her fingers against his still painfully erect cock or press her shoulder against his hips. Subtle but effective reminders of last night.
At last she seemed to lose interest in taunting him, allowing his arousal to fade until he was only semi-erect. Late in the afternoon, he finally relaxed, his muscles no longer tightening against unexpected jolts of pleasure.
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