Riana didn’t have the answer, but she knew she ached to spank his ass before fucking his brains out.
Anger had dictated her actions this afternoon. That, and the need to knock Darias off balance.
She couldn’t just command him to strip and lie down over her lap.
Could she?
* * * * *
“Sit, Darias. You need to eat.”
He looked uncomfortable. There was a long silence. “I would rather not.”
It was the dark color highlighting his cheekbones that clued Riana in to the problem. “Oh.”
“I will eat later.”
He kept his voice low so that no one else at the table could hear. She did the same. “Sit. Once we return to our chamber, I will put a cool cloth on you.”
“No.”
Riana could tell the words were torn from him and he hated the fact he had to confess to a weakness. She hardened her heart. He needed to learn he was no longer in control. She was.
“You will.”
Shooting her a dark glare, Darias sat. His discomfort was obvious to her. A quick glance around the table made it clear that others were also aware of his problem.
Riana sighed. She should have realized Bryta would have told the women what she planned.
She would have to have a talk with her First. Bryta needed to learn that it was not necessary to spread tales of her every act.
Still, it wasn’t a bad lesson for Darias to digest. He started this public tug-of-war. Let him feel its consequences.
A hint of color stayed under his skin as one of his former guards placed a plate in front of him.
From the man’s dark scowl, he too was aware of the nature of Darias’ punishment. And was embarrassed by it.
Good. Let the men have second thoughts about following Darias’ lead.
Though Darias didn’t shift a muscle throughout the dinner, Riana sensed his continued discomfort as she and the women hashed out what they wanted from a trade contract. Finally, she decided to take mercy on him.
She stood.
“We will continue this conversation in the morning.” She held out her hand. “Come, Darias. It is time we retired.” There were a few knowing titters as Darias rose.
A muscle flexing in his jaw, he managed a polite nod to the women.
Behind his back, Riana grinned. If the man’s spine became any straighter, it was going to snap in two. Oh, he hated that others knew of his unconventional punishment.
Perhaps he would think twice before challenging her in public.
Back in their chamber, Darias stood by the bed, his hands clenched into fists.
Riana sighed.
“Undress, Darias, so I can access the damage.”
“I am unhurt.” He glared at the wall, refusing to meet her gaze.
“I will check. Your spanking was over hours ago and it still hurts for you to sit.”
His gaze slid to hers then away. “I am fine.”
“I want to make sure I didn’t injure you.”
“I am fine,” he repeated stubbornly.
Riana sighed loudly. “You will remove your clothes and lie across the bed. Either you do it willingly or I will have you stripped and restrained.”
A mask of arrogance fell over his face. He looked directly at her as he stripped. Darias lay facedown across the huge bed, resistance in every long line of his body.
The man wouldn’t give the slightest millimeter.
Riana’s gaze dropped to his bottom. She barely restrained a gasp.
His ass was still red and blotchy from the blows of the hairbrush. She hurriedly crossed to his side. Faint bruising was clearly visible.
Sitting beside him, she touched one mark with a gentle finger.
“I did not mean to hit you so hard.” Regret formed a nasty knot in her throat. No one had ever roused her rage to the point she lost control. No one except Darias.
“Didn’t you?”
She placed her hand over one cheek, unable to believe the heat that still radiated from it.
“No.”
“You wanted to punish me. You did.”
Riana tenderly stroked the abused flesh. “Yes, I wanted to punish you. I never intended to injure you.”
He shifted beneath her hand. Riana traced the outline of a bruise forming on the tender flesh where thigh joined buttock.
“Stay there. I will be right back.” Riana hurried into the bathing chamber and soaked a cloth in cold water.
She glanced in the mirror, not liking the person she saw there.
Never again would she let rage control her to the point she didn’t realize the damage she was doing.
There was little comfort in the promise.
Wringing out the cloth, she returned to Darias. Placing it over his abused rear, she smoothed a wrinkle from the wet material, grateful Darias couldn’t see her face. It was hard to look at him while the evidence of her rage was under her hand.
“Why did you tell everyone what you did to me?” His words were muffled as he rested his face on his crossed arms.
Riana was appalled that he would think she would do such a thing. She opened her mouth to defend herself when common sense stilled her tongue. Of course he would believe she had deliberately made his punishment known. It was tradition in Nexar to make it public knowledge to reinforce the effect of the punishment.
Even if that punishment was untraditional.
She took a deep breath. Perhaps it might be better to let Darias think she told everyone, but she wasn’t going to do so. “I didn’t. Bryta overheard me muttering to myself.”
“Are you telling me the truth?” He turned his head so that his eyes glinted from beneath his arm.
“Yes,” she said simply.
After a long moment, he said, “Thank you.”
* * * * *
She hadn’t bragged about what she did to him.
Although his pride stung just as fiercely as his flesh with humiliation at having it common knowledge that he’d had his ass spanked like a child, he found his anger with Riana lessened by the fact she hadn’t intentionally disclosed the punishment.
The woman was addling his brains.
How else to explain the fact that he had to constantly remind himself that she was in the wrong. Or to explain the way she made him forget the teachings of a lifetime.
He felt the wet cloth lift then return, the cooler side against his hot skin.
Darias buried his face in his arms again, so that Riana couldn’t see his expression.
Or be forced to explain to her why the spanking had aroused him.
Still aroused him for that matter.
The bed moved slightly as Riana left. He heard running water and knew she was refreshing the cloth with cold water.
He almost moaned when the cold cloth settled over his ass.
Damn, that woman packed almost as much power in her arm as he did. He would never have believed it if he hadn’t experienced it firsthand.
He found the thought unexpectedly appealing.
Women were weaker than men.
Women needed to be guided.
Women needed to be protected from themselves.
Women needed men to protect them from the harsher realities of life.
Riana had defeated him in ritual combat.
Riana had introduced him to pleasures he hadn’t known existed.
Riana refused to accept his protection.
Riana refused to play by the rules.
Riana had whipped his ass.
Darias shook his head, confused. He couldn’t figure her out. How was he supposed to return things to normal if she made him want the forbidden?
An unbidden groan broke from his throat as her soft hands started rubbing his sore ass in slow, soothing circles.
“What are you doing?” he managed, swallowing another groan.
“Putting a salve on you to ease the pain.” She rubbed some more. “Is it working?”
“Umm. Don’t stop.” The wor
ds were out before he could stop them. He tensed, expecting her to take advantage of his weakness.
He should have known better. Riana never did what he expected.
“Good.” She leaned down and brushed a soft kiss on one cheek of his ass.
Darias nearly swallowed his tongue.
“Shh. Don’t say anything. Just lie there and let me make it feel better.”
Darias’ last thought before he fell asleep was that a spanking might be tolerable if this was the end result.
Chapter Nine
Riana placed one finger on the line to hold her place. She had shut the door to her office and decided she deserved a little peace and quiet after the hectic morning. She’d decided to reward herself with The Damsel and the Dragon, the ancient text she’d bought from Mrs. Gorganos.
She was at her favorite part. She’d already read the book so many times that she had the passage memorized.
Danella’s heart beat faster in fear.
The dragon was approaching.
He would kill her.
Ranuld laughed mockingly as he turned in the doorway of the tower room.
“You should have accepted me in your bed, my lady. Is your virginity worth the price of your life? As my wife you would at least live. As the dragon’s whore your fate is death once he tires of you. Perhaps, come morning you will not be so defiant. Unless, of course, you kill the dragon.” He tossed a jewel-encrusted dagger on the floor, at her feet.
His laughter rolled over her as she heard the door close and the turn of the key.
The whoosh of wings filled her ears and nearly stilled her heart. One moment the room was empty save for herself, the next a huge beast settled in front of her.
The creature was beautiful, in a terrifying way. Its scales were iridescent blues, greens and purples. Its wings a shimmering, almost gossamer, wash of silver, gold and bronze.
But it was the creature’s eyes that held her attention. They were pure silver.
If Danella didn’t know better, she would almost say they were filled with sorrow.
The urge to stroke his muzzle, to erase that look of intense sadness, had her taking one step toward the creature.
The dragon’s head snaked forward. Its tongue flickered out, tasting her cheek.
She screamed.
The great, gaping jaw moved, working awkwardly.
Frantic, Danella bent down, her eyes never leaving the beast as she scrambled for the dagger. She had to kill him before he killed her.
The dragon watched her with almost intelligent eyes, its gaze following her every movement. In the silver depths of its eyes, Danella saw acceptance.
The dragon lowered its head, presenting the vulnerable spot where spine joined skull.
It waited.
Riana fingered the Badge of Rank around her neck. Lifting the emblem of Darias’ house, she studied it closely for the first time. The dragon, carved in precious fireice, was an exact duplicate of the illustration in her book.
Was it possible? Could Tarbos actually be the mystery planet she’d contemplated searching for? If so, life here had been much different in those days. Nothing in the book hinted that women were without rights, considered little more than property.
All at once the sense of missing something important she’d had when she first accessed Nexar’s computer system, clicked into place. The similarities between Nexar’s written language and that in the book were striking. Although…it could mean nothing more than Nexar had the same ancestral planet as those in the other sector. Just as the identical rendering of the dragons could be nothing more than coincidence. Ah, well, that was a mystery she didn’t have time to solve now.
She smoothed the tip of her finger over the words, lingering on the description of the dragon. In some ways, Darias reminded her of the dragon. He too was trapped. Oh, not in the body of a beast, but by tradition. But at least the dragon had wanted to return to the form of the man. Darias enjoyed being the beast. He liked having the power to punish, to rule.
A frown creased her brow. In the last five sennights alone, she’d had to reprimand Darias in the Nexarian way several times. Oh, he’d been careful not to push so hard that she took him into the garden or spanked his ass in the Great Hall as she’d threatened.
Still, he’d managed to organize the men and headed the effort to undermine the women’s attempt to function as heads-of-household. He was just sneakier about it.
Darias seemed incapable of accepting change.
Riana shut the book and leaned back in the chair.
But was that strictly the truth? While it was true that Darias was dedicated to toppling her from the position of Supreme Chief and setting about the roles of men and women as he felt they should be, Riana had noticed a few changes.
For one, Darias no longer automatically dismissed her observations. He’d even agreed with a few of her ideas on restarting the economy. Not, Riana thought with a wry twist to her mouth, her decision to contact the Far Islands, however. He was still dead set on preventing that from taking place.
For another, he wasn’t so quick to throw tradition in her face during sex. If she didn’t know better, Riana would think Darias was rethinking his position on what was and wasn’t allowed.
She grinned.
If she wasn’t afraid it would give him heart failure, she’d introduce him to a couple of the more exotic toys in her hold.
There was this one paddle that…
Riana wriggled in the chair as she grew warm between her legs. Why couldn’t she get the thought of spanking Darias out of her mind? So it made her hot. She’d be a fool to think he’d want to go over her knee after the way she’d blistered his butt.
Although…
He had gotten an erection when she brushed his cock right after the spanking. Surely that had to mean something. Riana licked her lips. Did she dare try? What if she was mistaken and he hated her spanking him?
And what if he didn’t?
* * * * *
The lights in the bedchamber were dim. Darias paused before shutting the door behind him, suddenly uneasy. Had Riana found out about his little sabotage with the computer system? Did she know that he’d tucked the trade agreements away in hidden files?
He hoped not. She might make good on her threat and beat him in the Great Hall. At the very least, it would mean a punishment in the garden.
Worse than that, it might mean she knew how to undo the damage.
“Riana?”
No answer.
“Riana?” Where was she?
Soft cloth suddenly covered his eyes. Instinctively, his hands went up to remove it.
“No. Hold still.” Her voice was soft in his ear. Her breath warmed the side of his neck. Her scent surrounded him.
“Riana, what are you doing?” His mouth went dry and his body tautened.
“Hush, slave. You must obey my every command.” Her tone was stern, but her hands were gentle as they knotted the piece of silk behind his head.
Excitement rushed through Darias’ blood.
He felt her hands on the leather harness on his chest, felt the tug on the buckles as she worked each one. A muted thump, and it was on the floor. Her thumbs brushed his nipples, once, twice, three times. Light touches, never long enough, never hard enough. His nipples pulled tight into hard nubs.
The hot heat of her breath bathed the puckered flesh through the sheer silk of his tunic.
Darias thought he’d go out of his mind. He waited, breath bated, for her to move that final fraction and cover his nipple with her mouth.
She grabbed the hem of the tunic and pushed it up, dragging the material with delicate roughness across the muscles of his stomach, to his chest.
“Yes,” he murmured, wanting nothing more than to take her head in his hands and guide her mouth to his chest. But Darias didn’t move. She hadn’t told him she could use his hands. Mayhap she wouldn’t care, but Darias was in no mind to have her stop now. Not before he saw where she was taking him.
Sex with Riana since she became Supreme Chief had been an eye opener. Things that had heretofore been reserved for punishment became an intrinsic part of sex. Darias had never realized that having a woman use her mouth on him could be so pleasurable.
His breath came faster as he felt the warm brush of her breath against his stomach. His muscles contracted sharply.
The tip of her tongue traced the outline of the shallow indent in his stomach before dipping inside. His hands came up without thought, holding her head between his palms.
“Hands at your sides.”
His fingers tightened at the sharp command before, with a frustrated groan, he complied. He could feel her smile against his stomach. The urge to ignore her, to take what he wanted, was stayed by the even stronger urge to see how far she’d take him this time.
He was embarrassed by his need to submit, to give up all control to Riana. Darias soothed his pride by telling himself he was honor-bound to obey. He’d given his word.
His word was his honor.
She licked a delicate path up his stomach, tiny, wet touches that ruffled the line of hair that led to his groin.
He forgot about why he was standing there obeying her commands, forgot about his honor. All he wanted was for her to trace that line of hair down, down to where his erection was swelling, to where his balls ached with anticipation.
Almost as if she could read his mind, Riana went the opposite direction.
“Contrary wench.” He didn’t realize he’d spoke aloud until soft laughter washed over his rib cage.
“Do you want more?”
Her lips moved on his skin as she spoke. Darias stifled another groan. If he said yes, would she drive him crazy?
Her tongue skipped up and down the ladder of his ribs.
“Yes. I want your mouth on my cock.” The words burst out of him. Krel. Had he actually said that? Had he really asked for that?
He stiffened, mentally trying to pull back, to regain control.
Her teeth closed about one distended masculine nub, nipping daintily.
Air hissed from between his teeth.
As if that were a signal, Riana began a concentrated assault on his senses, licking, nipping and sucking at his chest.
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