For a moment, the softly spoken question confused her. What difference did it make? She hadn't damaged them.
"Answer me."
"Yes."
"You slept in my bed?"
"Yes."
He glared at her then strode to the door. "I'll be back tonight and I want you in that bed," he pointed towards the larger bed chamber, "and willing. If you fight me I'll hurt you and I'll enjoy doing it."
Chapter Four
Daria spent the day pacing from one empty room to another, and watching the stars and planets as they traveled by them. When that grew tiresome, she filled the deep tub in the bathing chamber with hot water and lowered herself into it. Exhausted, she fell asleep and only woke when the water cooled.
She climbed out, dried off then washed the gown. It had two new tears on the shoulder seams. She could ask Thorn to bring her something to wear but she didn't think he would. She hung the dress to dry, wrapped herself in a sheet toga-style and went into the kitchen.
The food she prepared grew cold while she thought about Dane and Dev. Experiencing the Zarronian form of torture made her wonder if that was how they treated their wives and children. Were the bands on the boys' arms used for the same purpose as the ones on her ankles? She'd never felt anything so horrible! It had been like the sensation she'd had when she was little and played too long in the snow. Like icy, frozen nerves warming up and coming back to life. Except worse, she thought, much worse. The bands had sent that horrible burning and tingling sensation rush to every nerve in her body.
At least now she knew the purpose of the armbands although that was something she'd just as soon forget. She just had to stay alive until she could tell Ambassador Eirikson about the Witvians and their corrupt human conspirators, especially the Martins. Emma had been killed because of them and before this was over the people of Earth would know the truth about the missing women.
She sat down on the arm of a couch, dropped back and let her legs hang over the side then swung them back and forth in an effort to burn off the anxiety filling her. She had two hurdles ahead of her. First she had to make sure the truth was told and the missing women were rescued. Then, she had to find a way to get the Zarronians let her return to Earth. Perhaps, if she promised not to write anything else about them they'd let her return.
Yawning, Daria fanned herself as she rose and began searching for the thermostat. The room had grown uncomfortably warm. She searched every room then began to wonder if the heating system on the starship was malfunctioning or if this was a new kind of torture. When the heat increased she stumbled to the bathroom, stepped into the shower and adjusted the temperature until it felt cool on her skin. She shivered as the cool water flowed over her then turned off the hot water completely and let the cold water run down her body.
Leaning against the wall, she sighed with relief, and cursed Thorn. The least he could do was make sure she was able to contact someone when something like this happened. What if she became ill? What would she do then? She had no way of letting anyone know she needed help. Even Dane and Dev no longer knew where she was located. What would they do when they went to the fourth level and found her gone?
Daria didn't think Thorn intended to punish them as he'd placed all of the blame on her—exactly where it should be. She shouldn't have let the boys help her. She should have insisted that they tell their father about her the day they found her. Feeling guilty, she turned the water off and wrapped a towel around herself. She returned to the living area and paced from one window to the next. It was growing late and it was time to face the issue she'd spent the day avoiding—Thorn's demand that she act as his mistress.
He'd said he'd be back tonight and she knew he meant it. She had to decide what she was going to do about him. She was as highly sexed and well-informed as anyone but she'd never met a man like him before. She was drawn to him in a way she didn't understand. When they were together they fought and she wanted him to leave then when he did she missed him.
He may be the sexiest man she'd ever met but he was also a pain in the butt. If they'd met under other circumstances and gotten to know each other she knew they would've ended up in bed together. In fact, she wasn't against going to bed with him now but she objected to his demand that she earn her keep as his mistress.
She'd grown up an army brat and had been around men all of her life. The times she'd heard them talking about their sexual conquests were too numerous to count. Their bragging had taught her at a young age that she never wanted to become the object of some man's boastful locker-room bragging. But, no man had ever had her in his power before.
He had her backed into a corner and she didn't like it. He'd ordered her to be in bed and willingly waiting for him to join her. The bands on her ankles assured him of her cooperation unless she was willing to take the punishment she'd earn if she fought him. At this point she wasn’t sure she could face that again although if she was careful she could walk that fine line between objection and punishment. She laughed and decided to meet him in the living area. It probably wouldn't do any good but she'd tell him how she felt about the situation before she gave in.
# # #
After dinner, Thorn sat Dane and Dev down on one of the couches in the living area, then sat across from them. For a moment, he examined them as they squirmed and looked around the room avoiding his eyes. When they finally looked at him, he relaxed and smiled at them.
They looked so tiny sitting across from him. Their faces wore the same anxious expression, although Dane bravely tried to meet his eyes. They were so small that their legs stuck straight out from the cushions, and he could clearly see the bottoms of their boots. Both pairs were beginning to show signs of wear and they'd need new pairs soon.
He'd never really looked at his sons before and he was astonished at what he saw. They looked exactly like him! They even had his gray eyes. A grin curved his lips. They were his. His sons and it no longer mattered to him who their mother had been. He would never forget the lesson in betrayal she'd taught him, but he knew that never again would he think of them as hers.
"Dane? Dev?"
"Yes, Father," they answered him at the same time, as they always did.
"Do you remember the cycle when I brought you to these quarters and told you to lock yourselves in?"
"Yes, Father."
"Do you know why I did that?"
They nodded, then Dane said, "You wanted us to be safe while you searched the starship."
"Yes, Dane, that's right. And, that's why I've had you keep the door locked since then. We were searching for a spy who snuck on board."
Silently, they nodded.
"But, now, we've caught her." He wanted to see how badly Daria had brainwashed them with her manipulation. Would they admit to him that they knew her? Tor, he hoped so.
Their eyes fell to their boots, then Dev asked, shakily, "Have you killed her?"
"No, son, I haven't killed her. She's locked up."
Dane and Dev looked at each other and a silent message flew between them. Thorn waited to see what they would do.
"Her name is Daria, and she belongs to us," Dane said as they climbed off the couch. "We want her back."
Thorn saw the determination on his sons' faces and groaned. It was worse than he ever could have imagined. She'd beguiled them, callously using their hunger for a female's affection to ensnare them in her plot.
"Father, we want her back," Dev demanded.
"Sit down, boys." They hesitated, then slowly climbed onto the couch and turned to face him. "Daria, has broken one of our laws."
"No, she hasn't," Dev said. "We told her she had to belong to a warrior and she agreed to belong to us."
Dane nodded. "She's ours"
Thorn leaned toward them. "Only warriors can claim a female."
"Daria calls us her little warriors," Dane said.
Hearing that Thorn wanted to make her suffer for what she'd done to them. "Someday you'll both be strong warriors but right now yo
u're too young to claim a female. She is being confined until we reach Zarronia where she'll be turned over to the Council. They will decide what to do with her."
"Are they going to hurt her?" Dane asked. His voice trembled and his eyes teared up.
"I don't know what they'll decide to do with her, Dane." Thorn couldn't tell them that she would probably be executed much less what would happen to him if she died. At this age, they weren't aware of the fever that lay dormant in their bodies, or how it would someday flare out of control, forcing them to seek out a female and share it with her. He wasn't even sure if they understood the reproduction process, yet.
When tears began rolling down their cheeks and Dane reached out and took his brother's hand Thorn couldn't stand it anymore. He went to them and lifted them into his arms, holding them tightly. Their heads fell to his shoulder as they cried out their misery.
Tears glistened in his eyes as he held them. Regret flooded him for all the annuals he'd missed with them. Their arms curled his neck as they cried and he cursed Daria for doing this to them.
Gradually, their crying stopped but he still held them. He'd never known how good it would be to hold his sons. The last time he'd done so had been on the day they'd been born. He'd taken them to his mother and left them with her. Then, he'd gone to the Invincible and left for the Almar Galaxy. He hadn't returned to Zarronia for over three annuals and during the last two annuals he'd rarely visited them. If his family had wanted to see him they'd been forced to come to him, where ever he was at the time. Tor, it was a wonder his sons didn't hate him.
Thorn felt Dane snuggle his face into the side of his neck and relax. Dev's arm slid down from his shoulder and hung at his side. Their breathing softened and he realized that they'd fallen asleep. Moving quietly, he carried them to their room and laid them down.
He undressed Dane, slid him under the covers, then turned to Dev and did the same for him. Standing at the end of their beds he gazed down at them, strangely reluctant to leave them. While he watched them sleep he decided he'd spend the next cycle with them and keep their minds off of Daria. Together they would explore his ship and he might even take them to engineering. Dev had been wildly curious about the engines and had begged to be allowed to see them, but tonight he had somewhere else to be.
Determined to make Daria suffer for hurting his sons he left his quarters and went to hers. His anger grew when he saw her in the living area instead of in the bed where he'd ordered her to be. "Get into the bed chamber now."
"I want to talk to you."
He removed the controller from his vest and saw her shudder before she rose from the couch. He waited to see if she would obey his order. The moment he'd stepped into the room, he'd been able to tell that her fever was rising. Her cheeks were flushed, her breasts swollen, and her nipples hard and begging for his touch. Her scent filled the room, arousing him. She needed him even if she didn't know it yet.
"I want you to know that I'm not willing to do this. I know you can make me. That you can use these," she indicated the bands, "to force me to do anything you want."
Apparently she didn't know that on Zarronia the position of a pleasure-giver or a kourtisan was highly respected by the warriors. Her lack of knowledge suited his purpose. He'd give her what she needed to survive and she wouldn't have to know about the bonding or the fever they shared. Thank Tor he didn't have to worry about impregnating her as Zarronians only reproduced one time and always with twin sons.
He wondered if she was bothered at all by what she'd done to his sons. Before they reached Zarronia he'd make sure she felt nothing but shame for what she'd done to him and his sons. "Drop the drying cloth. I want to look at you."
Shaking, with fear or arousal, or a combination of both, she loosened the towel and let it fall to the floor. His eyes swept over her. "You can have my body, Commander, but that's all I'll give you."
"Your body is all I want." Thorn shrugged out of his vest. She watched as he removed his boots and unlaced his pants and let them drop to the floor. He was fully aroused. He approached her, stopping with only a few inches between them. He slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders, then down to her breasts and scraped his palms over her nipples. She shivered and stepped back.
"Be still." He stepped closer and ran his hands over her belly then down her hips and thighs. Her hard-tipped breasts rose and fell with her rapidly increased breaths. Waves of heat rose from her and the air around them shimmered with a blue mist. He slid his hands around to her buttocks, massaged them for a moment then pulled her against him. "Touch me."
Hesitantly, she obeyed his command and felt the muscles of his chest and belly ripple everywhere she touched him. She lifted her eyes to his and Thorn lowered his head and nibbled on the side of her neck. She shivered and tried to draw away but he curled an arm around her waist and held her until she pressed herself against him.
He grasped her wrist and pulled her hand down his body to his cock. She curled her fingers around his shaft and let him show her how to stroke him.
Daria swayed side to side, scraping her nipples across his chest. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth to hers, licking his lips until he opened and let her explore his mouth with her tongue. His fingers slid between her legs and stroked her. A gasp of pleasure left her lips. She moaned into his mouth, mindlessly rocking her hips against his hand demanding he touch her.
He picked her up, carried her to the bed and ran his fingers over her slick pussy, up and down, gradually working his way between the swollen lips. Two fingers slid into her. She moaned and tightened around them as she raised her hips, urging him on as she tightened around them.
"I have to taste you." He pushed her legs apart, slid between them and lashed her clit with his tongue. She grasped his head and held him to her while she watched him lick her.
"Oh, yes, Thorn, yes."
He planted an open-mouthed kiss over her clit then sucked it into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it. She gasped, released his head, threw her arms out to the sides and screamed his name as she came.
He slid up her body, grasped her hands and held them as he thrust into her. She was hot and tight around him. He pressed deeper and groaned with pleasure as he thrust into her. He licked her nipple then drew it into his mouth. She arched her hips upward, drawing him deeper, urging him to increase his thrusts.
Thorn tried to be gentle but the fever blazed through their bodies pushing him to claim her. He grasped her knees, wrapped her legs around his back and buried his cock in her pussy as deep as he could and stayed there. She contracted around him, drawing another groan of pleasure from him.
"Oh, yes, yes."
Daria's scent surrounded him and her violet eyes pleaded for release. He balanced his weight on his forearms, tunneled his fingers into her hair and held her still as he kissed her, devouring the sweetness of her mouth while increasing the rhythm of his thrusts.
She screamed her pleasure into his mouth as she came, pulsing around him, tightening and releasing, pulling him closer to her womb. He rocked his hips against hers as his seed filled her. Groaning, he collapsed onto her, crushing her beneath him.
His heart pounded in perfect sync with hers. A shiver rushed through her when he nuzzled her neck, tickling her with his tongue. His fingers were still buried in her hair, holding her as their hearts slowed. She nuzzled him, slid a line of kisses over his neck to his cheek. He tightened his hands in her hair as his cock hardened inside her.
He breathed in her scent then looked into her eyes. Holding her focus, he stretched his body, pushing deeper into her before he pulled out, flipped her over onto her belly and pulled her to her knees. He ran his hand from her lower back to her neck then grasped her nape, forcing her head down as he pulled her hips back and thrust into her. "Yes, Tor, yes." He pulled back then pushed forward again, and began a deep and fast rhythm. She pushed back against him, following his movements. The air around them shimmered with the blue mist. Her moans
of pleasure reached him as each thrust pushed him closer to an explosive orgasm. He released her neck and slid his hand to her belly and strummed her clit, once then again.
"Thorn!"
The pulsing of her tight channel triggered his orgasm. He thrust again then lost the ability to move as it exploded through him. He managed to keep most of his weight off her but where they touched he felt heat radiating from her still.
He rolled away and lay on his back next to her. He wanted her again. He wanted to pull her beneath him, sink into her and lose himself in her forever. Angrily, he cursed her and the fever they shared.
Daria drew his attention when she shivered then covered herself with the sheet. Without a word he left the bed and walked into the living area.
She watched through the open door as he picked up his clothes, stepped into his pants and shrugged into his vest then grabbed his boots.
"I'll be back tomorrow night. Enjoy your new quarters, Daria. You've earned them."
She rolled over, turning her back to him and heard him leave. His scent lingered on the pillow. She grabbed it and threw it against the wall but his scent remained. It was everywhere. On the bed and on her. Jumping up, she ran to the shower in the smaller bed chamber and angrily scrubbed his scent from her skin. Then, she leaned against the wall and cried while she cursed him until her throat was hoarse and her eyes red and puffy.
Somehow, someday, she'd make him pay for this. She was angry at him for ordering Aulunson to torture the truth out of her although she understood why he'd done it. After all, she had snuck onto his ship and he believed she was a spy. He had no way of knowing that she didn't intend them any harm and she figured she'd been lucky he hadn't executed her. But this…making her act as his kourtisan wasn't political. It was personal and she hated him for doing this to her.
She shut off the water and dried herself. After crawling into bed, she stared into the darkness and waited for sleep to overtake her. The longer she waited, the more anxious she became. She closed her eyes and forced herself to think of something pleasant. An image of a pristine beach appeared in her mind. Beyond it, she created a glistening ocean of blue water. She slowed her breathing, keeping count as each foamy wave rolled onto the beach. Then, starting at her toes, she worked up her body, tensing then relaxing her muscles until she reached her cheeks. Her eyes sprang open and she groaned. It wasn't working.
Thorn's Bondmate (Zarronian Warriors Book 2) Page 7