Mastered By Love (17 page)

“
And what price is that,
Uncle?”

“
I haven’t decided yet.”
Grasos grinned, but there was no real humor in it.

“
Is it true?” Tariza said
in a hoarse voice.

“
You aren’t to speak,”
Dario said.

She was staring at the other
Concordian. Another fine tremor went through her body.

“
She is a Concordian like
you,” Grasos said with a broad grin. This time it looked all too
real. “She’s one of your mother’s bitches, but I’ve brought her to
heel. There’s no more fight left in her. Would you like to
see?”

Tariza shook her head.

“
No? You disappoint me.” He
grabbed the other woman by the hair, yanking her head back. One eye
was blackened, and so swollen she probably couldn’t see out of it.
Her lips were swollen and split. She stared with dull eyes as
Grasos displayed her. “You see? She no longer resists doing
anything I tell her to do. You will be the same way, Tariza
Concordia.”

“
If she doesn’t resist,
then why did you beat her?” Tariza said.

The king’s black eyes
glittered as he stared at her. “You are even more forward and
impertinent than she was.”

“
Why did you beat her?” She
spoke through gritted teeth.

“
Because it gives me joy!”
he roared in her face.

She never flinched, staring
up at him like an avenging goddess rising from the earth to destroy
him. But she was no goddess; she’d get herself killed if she
continued in this fashion.

Dario laid a hand on her
shoulder. “Stop this now.”

She lunged for the king and
slapped him in the face. “You, Grasos, don’t deserve the name king.
You are nothing but a rotting piece of shit.”

Privately, Dario agreed. Publicly, he
had to silence her. He clapped a hand over her mouth and dragged
her backward into his lap. She struggled in his arms and he clamped
down even harder to keep her in place.

The king jumped to his
feet. “I want the skin stripped from her back.”

“
No.”

The king’s lips nearly
disappeared. “What did you say to me?”

“
I said no. She’s new and
untrained. I won’t hold her to the same standard as one of the
fully trained slaves.”

Tariza made a protesting sound under
his hand.

“
She must be punished,
Dario. If you won’t do it, I will.”

“
Oh, I’ll punish her, never
fear. In my own way.”

“
I want to see it. Now.”

***

Tariza continued
to struggle in Dario’s arms. She couldn’t seem to
stop herself, even though it did no good and she had no idea what
she’d do if she succeeded in getting away from him. She had no
weapon. Killing the king for his heinous treatment of her
countrywoman would be impossible without a weapon.

Grasos stared down at her, his black
eyes hard, his nostrils flaring. At his sides, his fingers flexed
as if he wanted to put them around her neck and strangle
her.

“
Guards!” the king
bellowed. “Get in here!”

The doors burst open and
boots pounded on the floor as three uniformed men ran into the
room. Where had the extra come from? There had been only two when
she and Dario had entered.

“
Take this woman.” Grasos
pointed at her.

The men’s faces loomed over
her, grim and ugly, as they bent to wrest her from Dario. His hold
on her tightened until she could hardly breathe.

“
She’s mine,” Dario
snarled. “Don’t touch her.”

“
I’m sorry, Your Highness,”
one of the guards said.

Two of the men grabbed
Dario’s upper arms, pulling them sharply backward.

Their cohort took her around the waist
and yanked her from the prince. She threw herself back. He almost
dropped her. His meaty hand clamped painfully around her upper arm.
Tariza dangled in his grip, her feet scudding on the
floor.

“
What would you have me do
with her, Your Majesty?” Her captor bent to grab her other
arm.

“
Hold her while I beat her.
She attacked me.”

“
No!” Dario
yelled.

Grasos bared his teeth at
his nephew, an expression that looked more like a grimace than a
smile. “You can’t control her. I will.”

He removed his belt and
slapped the leather against his palm as he turned his gaze on her.
“Turn her around.”

The guard turned her so her face was
pressed against his chest. He smelled of stale sweat.

“
Sit down and get her over
your knee,” the king said.

The guard dragged her
backward to an empty chair. Sweat bloomed all over her body. The
guard sat and forced her face down across his lap, with her legs
and buttocks dangling on one side, her head on the other. She
couldn’t move, couldn’t free herself with the guard’s heavy arms
pinning her to his knees. Someone – probably the king – grabbed her
skirt and tore it all the way up the back, exposing her to everyone
in the room.

“
If that buckle touches her
skin,” Dario said in a deadly voice, “I’ll –”

“
You’ll what?” Grasos
sneered. “I’m the king. I can do what I like with her.”

“
Even kings have
limits.”

“
Are you threatening me,
Nephew?”

There was a pause from
Dario. “I will not allow a slave of mine to be so abused. She has
my name on her. Even the king may not damage another man’s slave
without that man’s leave. And I do not give you leave. We have
three witnesses to this.”

“
I have no intention of
damaging her, dear boy. Just teaching her a lesson.”

The first blow hit with no
warning. Pain seared her naked ass. She jerked against the guard’s
knees, her lips pinched hard together to prevent herself from
crying out.

“
It seems she’s going to
try to be brave,” the king said in an amused tone.

Another strike landed right over the
first one. She jerked again. Tears blurred her vision. He struck
her on the other side. A cry tried to escape her throat and she
clenched her teeth to keep it in.

The blows came fast and hard, sending
explosions of pain through her. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She
bit her lip and tasted blood.

Dario made a strangled sound. The king
laughed.

He struck her thighs – more
blistering pain – then her ass again and back to her thighs. The
guard’s fingers dug into her back. Tariza bit down on her lip,
tasted more blood. The belt landed square on the first place he’d
hit her and this time she couldn’t keep herself from
screaming.

“
Finally,” Grasos said. His
fingers burrowed rudely between her legs, drawing another cry from
her. “Dry as a bone. I knew you bitches were all
frigid.”

The sound of a scuffle drew
her attention to the watching men. One of the guards had dropped
Dario’s arm and was on the floor, groaning, his hand pressed to his
head. Dario head-butted the other guard. The man released him. He
leaped toward her and Grasos.

“
Stop!” Dario’s big, warm
hand came between her and the king’s depredation. “No
more.”

How had he gotten away from the two
guards holding him down?

“
I’m finished anyway,” the
king said. “Have you learned your lesson, Concordian?”

“
Yes.” She forced the word
out through clenched teeth.

Dario lifted her from the
guard’s lap and cradled her against his chest. She closed her eyes,
turning her face into his body so she wouldn’t see the other people
in the room.

“
I
expect you to teach her correct behavior,” Grasos said. “Now get
out.”

Without another
word, Dario turned and carried her out of the
room. He said nothing as he descended the stairs and walked the
long, grand hallway to his chambers. He took her inside and
deposited her gently, face down, on the bed.

Her body wouldn’t stop
shaking. She’d never been beaten in her life. Until now. She’d
never known anything so painful or humiliating as that. It made her
want to claw at herself, to rip the images out of her brain so she
wouldn’t have to look at them ever again.

The bed dipped slightly as
Dario climbed up and stretched his body next to hers. “Look at
me.”

“
Please –”

“
Look at me,
Tariza.”

She forced herself to meet his somber
gaze.

“
Why did you hit the king?
Do you not understand your place here? You could have been executed
for it.”

“
I don’t know,” she
whispered. “I wasn’t thinking. I was just so angry.”

“
I was angry
too.”

Her brows came together.
“You were?”

“
Yes. But I didn’t hit him.
Even I could be executed for striking the king. I think the only
reason he didn’t insist on killing you is because you’re worth more
to him alive and enslaved than dead.”

Enslaved. The word seemed to repeat
over and over in her mind. This, more than anything else that had
happened since Dario had kidnapped her, brought the destruction of
her life home to her.

The sobs came without warning, rocking
her body with their force. Dario made a low sound and drew her
against him and she let him do it. She let her enemy comfort her
because she had no-one else.

He felt warm and solid against her.
His arms cradled her, made her feel protected, not imprisoned. It
was wrong. She ought to despise him. But at this moment, he was all
she had and she let her own arms creep around his narrow
waist.

“
It’s going to be all
right,” he murmured. “I know it doesn’t seem possible, but it will
get better.”

Tariza shook her head.

“
Yes, it will. I’ll teach
you. It will get easier.”

She couldn’t answer with
the tears still flowing. Goddess, she was being such a baby. Her
mother would be ashamed to see her weeping like a little
child.

“
He provoked you
deliberately,” Dario said. “That’s why he had Miri there. To make
you angry. He was looking for an excuse to beat you.”

“
W-why?”

“
You’re Concordian. He
loathes your people. He planned to have you kidnapped for himself,
so he could use you the way he uses Miri. I didn’t want to see that
happen to you, so I got to you first.”

Is that how he justified
his actions? He’d been protecting her?

“
I h-hate him.”

“
You must never say that
aloud. It isn’t safe. Not even here in my quarters.
Understand?”

She nodded.

“
We all have to do what we
can to survive,” he said. “Even me. Even Mateo. We all must be
careful.”

Was he saying that he and
his brother weren’t safe here? That made no sense. The king was his
uncle, for pity’s sake, and Mateo was the heir to the throne. Why
would they be in danger?

Grasos was an evil man.
Maybe that’s what Dario meant. He was so evil, perhaps, that even
his nephews weren’t safe from him.

He’d touched her. Goddess,
he’d touched her pussy. She could still feel the roughness of his
fingers digging into her most vulnerable flesh. Tariza shuddered.
Would she ever be able to tolerate the intimate touch of a male
again?

Dario’s arms around her,
his body pressed against hers – this didn’t bother her. His
presence, the heat of his body, his scent, all were strangely
comforting. It must be an illusion. It wouldn’t last. He’d punish
her again and the sense of safety she’d found with him tonight
would vanish.

He used the hem of his
shirt to dry her eyes. “We’ll have a hot bath and some dinner.
You’ll feel better.”

“
Why are you being so
kind?”

Some emotion flickered in
those dark eyes of his. “You’re mine. I care for what’s
mine.”

He could have abandoned her
to his uncle’s abuse. He’d risked his own safety to defend her.
Tenderness welled up in her, surprising her with its
force.

Tariza lifted her hand to
his face. “Thank you.”

There was something almost
sad in his expression. “For what?”

“
Defending me from your
uncle.”

“
I should have kept him
from beating you.”

“
No. It was my fault. I
lost control of myself and I know better.”

He cupped the side of her
face and brushed his thumb gently back and forth across her lower
lip. “You’re not like any woman I’ve ever met.”

Her lips curled up a
fraction. “Is that a compliment?”

“
I’m not sure.”

“
Well, if it makes you feel
any better, I’ve never met a man like you either.”

Dario bent his head and
kissed her on the mouth. “It’s time for a shower.”