Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition

by Michelle M. Pillow

  “Pia?” he insisted.

  “That remains to be seen,” Pia answered after a moment, not giving an inch. She looked at the fur, glad her voice didn’t waver. Tears entered unbidden into her eyes.

  “We will have strong sons. I’ll give you a strong family, one that will make you proud.”

  She watched his powerful fingers rippling the water, tempted to reach her foot to them so she could feel his light touch on her leg. She refused to move, content to stare at him. Her eyes became mesmerized by the undulation he caused on the water.

  “I don’t know that I want children,” Pia said truthfully. The idea made her heart nearly explode in her chest with panic. “I’m not the nurturing type, Zoran. I have nothing to offer a child.”

  Zoran drew his fingers back, flicking the water off of them as his arm once again disappeared behind the curtain.

  Pia’s hair was pulled back in the bun and she left it, refusing to wash the locks. Twirling a wayward piece thoughtfully, she asked, “Do you have a sharp knife?”

  “I have several.”

  “I meant here, now, with you.”

  “No, why?” It almost sounded like he chuckled.

  “No reason, really. I just wanted to cut off this hair. The corporation made me grow it and it’s too heavy.”

  Zoran pulled at the fur, to see if she was serious.

  “Get out,” Pia screamed at him, trying to cover her body with her hands. Curling into a ball, she glared at him.

  Zoran ignored her. He looked at her hair and, like a typical male, declared, “You are not cutting your hair!”

  Pia’s eyebrow shot up. Oh, she was definitely shaving her head now, if only to aggravate him.

  “You have no say in it.” She laughed to irritate him further. “I’ll do whatever I please. It’s my hair.”

  “Why would you purposefully disfigure yourself?” he asked in surprise. “Do you seek to shame yourself, shame us?”

  “It’s just hair, Zoran,” she drawled. “Now go away so I can get dressed.”

  In aggravation he dropped the fur back down and said, “We will discuss your hair later.”

  Pia heard him stand and stalk away. She smiled. He was definitely upset. It might only be hair, but she’d take the victory however it came.

  “There’s nothing to discuss,” she answered, her tone flippant. “I’ll do whatever I wish.”

  A low grumble in the Qurilixian tongue was her only reply.

  Chapter 8

  The torches had begun to dim when Pia took the fur coverlet from the sconces and pulled it around her naked body. Zoran lay on the bed, his ankles crossed and his hands threaded behind his head. He looked thoughtfully at her and gave her a slight, interested smile.

  “Any chance you are planning on spending the night outside this tent?” she asked dryly.

  Zoran’s grin widened. He clearly wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Any chance you’re going to share that blanket with me?” he questioned instead. His eyes lit with meaning as they dipped over the fur.

  “Not on your life.” She lay down next to him, though far enough away that he couldn’t touch her without making an effort.

  “What if I said I was cold?”

  “Sorry,” she answered without a moment’s consideration. She turned her back on him, snuggling into the warmth. Giving a contented sigh, she said, “I’d have to tell you to quit being a baby.”

  “I’d share with you.”

  Pia stiffened. His voice had drifted closer though she hadn’t felt him move. The bed hadn’t shifted under his weight. She closed her eyes, concentrating on him while pretending to fall asleep.

  Gradually, she felt the light caress of a hand on her hip, running softly up her side over the fur. Her arms were buried beneath the blanket so he didn’t meet with flesh. Slowly, he worked his fingers into the bun in her hair, loosening the strands and combing them out with his fingers. Pia shivered, starting not to mind her hair for the first time since growing it. When she didn’t scream, Zoran grew bolder, edging closer so his body curved along hers.

  She felt a tender kiss on her neck as his face buried into her locks. He breathed deeply.

  “I want to make love to you,” he whispered boldly. “I’ve wanted to since the moment I first saw you.”

  Pia scrunched up her nose in disbelief. Some men would say anything for sexual release.

  Zoran discovered an opening in the fur and dipped his hand in to find her bare stomach. He kissed her again, nudging the fur down over her arm. Pia couldn’t move, could barely breathe. She tensed against his expertly searching caress. Since first walking into his tent, she’d felt a wondrous fog tempting her. It now threatened her tired mind, and she didn’t fight him as hard as she should have.

  Zoran’s fingers bumped the long scar on her ribs. He trailed down it and found her navel buried in her flat belly. He dipped his hand lower only to pause on her stomach. She tensed beneath his fingers.

  “Turn around,” he urged against her long neck. “Let me kiss you.”

  Pia didn’t move. His kisses dotted insistently behind her ear.

  “I want to look at you,” he said, his voice husky with desire.

  Skeptically, she asked, “Why?”

  “Because it would give me pleasure.” He massaged her stomach in little agonizing circles. His callused palm felt so good against her skin.

  Pia did turn, but it wasn’t to receive his kisses. “Do you think you’re funny?”

  She grabbed his hand and threw it back. What had she been thinking, marrying a complete stranger? Oh, right, it was either this man or being skinned alive.

  At least being skinned has a definite ending, she thought, wondering what it was going to be like living out the rest of her days with this gigantic frustration next to her.

  “Pia—?” Zoran asked, confused.

  “You want to see?” Pia fumed, tearing and kicking out of her blanket. She was completely naked except for her underwear. “Now will you leave me the hell alone? Huh?”

  Zoran’s eyes unabashedly roamed her skin

  “Have you had enough of a laugh, Zoran? Or do you want more?” Pia grabbed her underwear, tugged them down and kicked them off. They flew off the end of her foot. Outrage blazed in her heated gaze. “Is that enough? Have you seen enough?”

  Pia didn’t stop there. She tore up from the bed, holding her hands out to the side before twirling in one angry circle. Her hair whipped around her shoulders.

  Zoran’s eyes swept to the part between her thighs. Unconsciously, he sat up, a smile beginning to line his mouth.

  Her lips trembled and her eyes pooled with moisture. Quivering, she snatched up the fur and wrapped it around her arms. With jerky movements, she stomped around the bed and lay down on the opposite side.

  The way he had looked at her and the smile on his face, had torn at her soul. He was so handsome. Even if he seemed pleased with her now, even if she could believe his touch wasn’t meant in ridicule, in the morning it would be different. He would be ashamed of her. How could he not be? She was ashamed of herself.

  * * *

  Zoran frowned. Rolling over, his hand lifted to touch her, only to hesitate. His wife was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Aside from the long gash down her ribs, she was smooth and tanned. He itched to explore her. His mouth longed to taste every inch of her. She was gorgeous.

  He had been enjoying her twirling performance. The hair between her thighs was trimmed short and instantly drew his attention. How could Pia mistake his look of desire for amusement?

  “Pia,” he began, undaunted as he reached to touch her. She jerked her arm away and moved to the outermost edge of the low bed, so far she nearly fell off. Zoran lurched forward and grabbed her hip, holding her up. He forcibly dragged her into his embrace and turned her face to his. He stroked her cheek. Her wide hazel eyes stared back at him. They were the loveliest shade of brown and green, perfectly combined.

  The crystal glowed s
oftly between them, urging his lips forward to kiss her pain away. His mouth was gentle. His hands were searching, as he slowly peeled the fur aside to find her flesh.

  Zoran wouldn’t make the mistake of calling her beautiful again. But she was beautiful. So beautiful that it was inconceivable she didn’t know it. So, he just assumed she did know and had been hurt because of it.

  He stroked along her neck, happily feeling her racing pulse. He glided through the valley of her breasts and down her stomach. When he turned his fingers, moving to cup her between the thighs, she jolted.

  “Ah,” she moaned, trying to close her legs. It was too late. He had his hand pressed to her sex and had no intention of moving it away.

  “Shh,” he whispered into her mouth, keeping her dazed with his soft kiss. “Don’t think, Pia. Just feel me. Just feel my hand. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  To his relief, her fingers lifted to his shoulder and lay still, tentatively holding him to her, but poised so she could push at any moment.

  His words were soothing, as if taming a wild animal. “Close your eyes.”

  She obeyed.

  “You are my wife,” he stated, so there would be no mistake. “I’ll look at you. I’ll have you look at me. Do you understand?”

  Weakly, she nodded.

  “I’ll kiss you, Pia,” he murmured, deepening his kiss slightly before pulling back. He lifted his hand from her thighs to touch her neck. “And I’ll touch you.”

  Pia moaned when he moved his hand over to her breasts, circling his thumb around a sensitive nipple.

  “I’ll touch you here.” Zoran caressed the other breast in his palm, taking his time.

  She kept her eyes closed.

  “And I’ll most definitely,” he continued, trailing his hand once again to her thighs, “be touching you here.”

  As Zoran said the word “here”, he let his finger slip into her moistened folds. Pia’s hips jerked. Inside he groaned with satisfaction, outside he kept his voice calm. It wouldn’t do for this wild mare to buck him off quite yet. He had every intention of taming her.

  “Zoran,” she whispered as his stroke deepened.

  He took the sound into him, relishing it.

  “Do you understand what I have told you?” Zoran’s voice left no doubt that he was in control of their situation and that he was in control of her. He stroked a little deeper, staying on the outer rim of her sex. Her hips tentatively moved against him.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “Yes, what?” he insisted, not wanting to mistake her pleasure for an honest answer.

  “Yes, I understand.” She moaned loudly, biting her lip.

  Zoran’s cock begged for freedom. Pia’s sex convulsed tightly around him. The warrior in him couldn’t resist as he explored her, probing deep. She was so snug, as if it had been a long time since she’d been with a man.

  “Take the fur from my hips,” Zoran instructed her. Again he stroked her, dipping ever so slightly deeper inside her moist pussy. “Look at me, Pia. Look at your husband. I want you to touch me, feel me.”

  Pia pulled the fur loincloth. It fell to the side. She hesitated, her hand stopping near his stomach.

  “Touch me,” Zoran demanded, needing more than anything to feel her hands on him. He closed his eyes so she couldn’t see the golden evidence of his dragon-shift coloring his gaze. He growled. “Lower.”

  Pia dipped her hand lower.

  “Lower,” he insisted. “Take me in your hand.”

  Her hand journeyed down at the heated request. He tensed in anticipation. When her hand bumped the tip of his hot erection, she jerked back in surprise.

  “Argh,” Zoran growled. Removing his hand from her, he guided her fingers to wrap him. All the time he continued to ply kisses to her face. “Just like that. Oh yeah, just like that.”

  Zoran resumed stroking her and his mind became numb to everything but release. He slid his finger inside her.

  “You’re so tight,” he said. “Have you been with a man?”

  Pia innocently shook her head, evidently past the point of lying or caring.

  The admission was more than he could take. The conqueror in him needed to lay claim to her. The sweet smell of her, the taste of her mouth, it was all blessed insanity. Maybe she’d been right, maybe he was insane. He didn’t care.

  Before Zoran could stop himself, he was above her, opening her thighs, poising to drive into her. A moan escaped her followed by a ragged pant. She wanted him. She wanted his touch. He knew she did.

  Zoran brought himself to her, felt her moist fire calling to him. Suddenly, he got a hard jolt to his chest. The crystal was fading fast. He looked at Pia’s face.

  Pia’s wide eyes stared at him. Her chest heaved. She’d felt the sensation, too.

  With a grimace, Zoran pulled away from her. He couldn’t take her. Not tonight. The crystal’s strange reaction had to be a sign. If he took her, the council elders would know. She would be sent away and he would have to live out his many years all alone.

  Pia’s body was poised, open to him.

  “I can’t.” Zoran was nearly mindless with the agony of his body’s denial. “Not yet.”

  “It’s fine,” she said softly. “I know.”

  She rolled away from him, giving him her back.

  Zoran took the fur and put it tenderly over her shoulders. His hand actually trembled as he drew it away. The sight of her naked back was pure torture.

  * * *

  Pia curled into a humiliated ball. He couldn’t pretend. He couldn’t force himself to have sex with her. Silent tears poured bitterly down her cheeks but she held perfectly still.

  She understood perfectly what was happening. He’d given it a valiant effort, but could she really blame him? Even as she hurt, she forgave him. She knew what she was. She wasn’t pretty. She wasn’t anything. She felt Zoran wasn’t a mean man, she saw it in the tender way he’d looked at her. He’d tried. She would give him that.

  Pia took a deep breath, knowing he couldn’t look at her anymore. She lay quietly for a long time, barely drawing breath as she tried not to move. Even when she finally felt his even breathing, Pia didn’t turn around to look at him. She was unable to sleep throughout the long night. Her body ached too badly. Never had being ugly hurt so much. Her tears were silent and she sucked them inside, burying her pain. Even in his sleep, Zoran didn’t touch her again.

  Chapter 9

  Morning came slow to the planet of Qurilixen and Pia was awake to watch the sunlight as it crept under the tent flap. Slowly, she stretched her arms, pushing quietly upright as she suppressed a yawn.

  Her tired eyes glanced over Zoran and she felt a little resentful at him for the ache in her loins that wouldn’t go away. Taking the fur coverlet with her, she walked over to the table. Her stomach churned with hunger and she picked out a couple pieces of fruit and ate them. Eyeing the feast, she wished there was something else besides chocolate and cream sauce and, lest she forget, the disgusting wine.

  Suddenly, she heard a quiet shuffling at the door. Her arms stiffened. Was this it? Were his friends coming after all to have their peek at her? She swallowed, angrily crossing over to the tent flap.

  The servant on the other side jolted in surprise to see her irritated face. Pia forced her expression to go blank as the young man recoiled from her.

  “My lady,” he mumbled to Pia with an awkward bow. “Your clothes for the ceremony today. King Llyr and Queen Mede request your presence.”

  “Ah, thanks,” she answered, taking the bundle from him. The man bowed his head, but scurried away from her. Pia glanced down at the black and red clothing she’d been given. The dark material was of a fine quality with red stitching that suspiciously matched the tent walls.

  Frowning, she carried them inside. Zoran still slept, so she went back to the table and laid the clothes out on a cushion seat. She found a tunic shirt and breeches, obviously made to fit Zoran. There was a pair of leather boots in the stack, als
o his. On his tunic shirt, a red dragon was embroidered with fine hand-stitching.

  The second outfit was a long dress. Pia frowned. If she was going to stay, it was time for their little custom of women in dresses to change. The gown was finely made, but very heavy. The black material would fit tightly to her body. Red trim parted the front to show more red beneath the split in the floor length skirt, and a red dragon was embroidered on the center of the chest to match his. There was also a hairpiece. Looking at its ribbons and straps, Pia frowned. She had no way of knowing how to work such a contraption.

  Eyeing Zoran, she grinned. The servant handed her the clothes, so it was only right she got first pick. Dropping the fur around her ankles, she slipped his tunic shirt over her head. It was fairly large, but with a roll of the sleeves, it worked just fine. Next, she pulled on his breeches and tucked the waist, before making herself a belt out of the hair piece. She rolled the legs up and smiled. There, much better than a dress. His boots were too large so she decided to go barefoot.

  Now, didn’t the servant say something about her presence being requested by royalty? Oh, that’s right. She had to go before them with Zoran to proclaim her marriage. The imaginary gremlin on her shoulder did a little jig of mischievous pleasure.

  Going over to Zoran, she kneeled down and touched his shoulder to shake him awake. He was so commanding, everything about him whispering of power and strength. Pia had never been a woman who could be easily controlled, but this warrior had done something to her the evening before. She didn’t like it. She wanted her control back.