Mastered By Love (25 page)

“
Listen to me. You’re not a
worm. You’re not a coward. You’re a brave soldier trapped in enemy
territory. Do you understand me?”

A tiny light seemed to come
on in Miri’s eyes. “Yes.”

“
We’ll get through this
somehow. Things will get better. I swear it.”

How she was to
keep that promise, she had no idea.

***

In a second-floor feasting
hall, Tariza sat on a plush carpet with the other slaves, her knees
folded demurely – docilely – beneath her, head bowed, hands folded
in her lap. They couldn’t criticize her, couldn’t possibly find
anything wrong with her form. She’d perfected it through many hours
of training with Dario. She was a slave.

Around them, the men
lounged on chairs upholstered in red velvet, laughing, talking,
drinking. Soon they’d begin choosing women, fondling them, fucking
them. She’d seen it before at gatherings like this, although she’d
never participated. Since Dario wasn’t here, she wouldn’t
participate tonight, either. No-one would choose her. They didn’t
dare offend Dario by taking his woman.

His voice came to her. He
was here! Her head jerked infinitesimally in reaction to the sound
of him talking. Her hands tightened in her lap. Yet she didn’t turn
her head to look at him. She did nothing to spoil her perfect slave
posture.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw
Lola glaring at her. What was the matter with that woman? They were
both slaves; they should be on the same side.

Tariza’s heart tripped as
the sound of Dario’s voice moved more deeply into the room. Was he
coming to her? No. He spoke to a second man and then a third,
wandered over to the drinks, then paused, laughing at something one
of his friends said.

Perhaps he wouldn’t come at
all. Maybe he was tired of her. Or maybe he was testing her, seeing
how well she could hold her form and mind her training.

Or maybe he just didn’t
care.

Enough
fretting.

She took a deep breath
through her nose and let it out with careful slowness, so it
wouldn’t show or be heard. Another. Her body relaxed just a
little.

Booted male feet arrived in
her line of vision. “Tariza,” Dario said, his voice
warm.

She began to tremble. Her head wanted
to lift, her gaze to rise so she could look at him. But in public
it was forbidden unless he gave permission.

He extended a hand.
“Come.”

She placed her hand in his,
the warmth of his skin sending a jolt of lust through her, and rose
to her feet – carefully so as not to reveal her trembling. Still,
she didn’t look at him.

“
You look entirely
fuckable,” he murmured.

She blushed all over her body as her
pussy throbbed in pure want.

Dario’s long fingers curled
around hers. He tugged on her hand. She followed him, obediently,
feeling the furtive glances of the other slaves on her as she left
their little group.

He led her to an overstuffed armchair
on the side of the room and sat down in it, still holding her hand.
Tariza waited for orders. Her body burned all over with the fierce
blush of knowing he wanted her.

Behind her came the sounds
of breathy moans and soft giggles. The men had begun choosing
women. But she’d been first. Dario had come to her and claimed her
before any of the other women had been chosen. She fought down a
smile.

He tugged her hand again.
“Sit.”

She began to drop to her
knees.

“
With me,
sweetheart.”

Tariza paused and glanced warily at
him. He smiled and opened his arms to her. Her heart zoomed; her
trembling worsened. She climbed onto his lap.

“
That’s better.” He put an
arm around her naked waist, settling her against him. “You’re
shaking. Are you all right?”

I am now.
“Yes,” she whispered.

He tipped up her chin and
kissed her mouth. “I’m glad to see you.”

“
I – I’m glad
also.”

“
You are, are
you?”

She nodded.
“Yes.”

“
Show me, then, sweet. Show
me how glad you are to see me.”

He gave her permission to touch him in
public, to kiss him? Her breath stopped. She blushed again as she
looped an arm around his neck.

Dario still had her other hand clasped
in his. She lifted their hands together and kissed his knuckles.
His gaze took on a glow both heated and tender. Tariza rubbed her
cheek over the back of his hand. Her body relaxed into his embrace
as she moved her attentions from his hand to the side of his
neck.

His skin was warm and smooth beneath
her lips. He smelled of cold winter air, and horse leather, and
man. He smelled of Dario, her favorite scent in the
world.

She kissed his neck above his collar,
the roughness of his unshaved jaw, his lips. Dario turned his head
to capture her mouth in an open kiss. He tasted like
wine.

They both moaned at the same time.
Dario released her hand to cup the side of her face as he
devastated her mouth, his tongue plunging into her, taking her the
same way his cock would later.

With his other hand, he stroked her
back, her thighs, her bare ass. His fingers gripped her flesh,
massaging. She rolled her hips against him.

Somewhere nearby, a woman
cried out loudly and a man groaned. The sounds only served to
excite Tariza more, to make her grip Dario’s hair and thrust her
tongue against his and pant.

His fingers slipped between her
thighs, teasing her dripping pussy. With a shudder of delight, she
moaned into his kiss. Clever fingers explored her folds before
sliding inside her. He crooked them and she gave a muffled
cry.

All around them, people
were coupling. She could smell the sex in the air. If she opened
her eyes and turned her head, she’d see a room full of men sexually
dominating women. The sound of an open palm slapping a bare buttock
reminded her of what that meant.

And she didn’t care. What
mattered now was that Dario was here, with his arms around her, his
mouth on hers, his body preparing to take her.

“
Ride me, Tariza,” Dario
said in a husky voice.

She grasped his throbbing cock. He
moaned. Tariza guided it to her cunt and sank down on him. His head
fell back on another moan, his fingers digging into her
hips.

“
You feel so good,” he
said, eyes half shuttered, thick black lashes stark against his
pale skin.

You’re so
beautiful.
But she still didn’t say the
words.

Dario flexed his hips, at the same
time lifting her and then pushing her back down on him. She cried
out.

“
Tell me how it feels,” he
said.

“
Big.”

He laughed softly. “Hot.
Tight. Wet. Like heaven.”

She rose and fell over him, taking him
into her body and then slowly withdrawing. He groaned encouragement
to her.

“
Yes. Yes, Tariza. Like
that. God, yes.”

She panted, riding him, the pleasure
nearly blinding. The other people in the room faded from her
consciousness. They were on their own tiny island of lust and
delight. She loved it here, with him.

If only they could stay
here, apart from the other Saturnians, she’d never want to leave.
This was where she belonged, where she’d always belonged. She just
hadn’t known it until now.

Dario swore as he picked up the pace.
The spearing pleasure drew cry after cry from her throat. Her hair
fell around them in a golden curtain. He stared up at her, his eyes
so dark they looked black, his beautiful mouth open, gasping for
breath.

Climax roared through her. Tariza
shuddered and moaned as she fell apart, as Dario threw his head
back and joined her in release. His come filled her, seared her.
She quivered in his arms.

He pulled her tightly
against him, their bodies still joined. “Tariza. My sweet
Tariza.”

She could do nothing but
pant and shiver in the aftermath of what they’d done. He was taming
her and at the moment she couldn’t seem to care. The only thing
that mattered was the way they made each other feel.

It seemed like a very long
time later when Tariza’s mind returned to the room their bodies
occupied. She glanced around looking for Miri and Shadow. They were
nowhere to be seen. “Where is the Demon Kin prince?”

“
He took Miri back to his
chambers.”

Tariza frowned as her
Concordian sensibilities reasserted themselves. “I hope she’s all
right.”

“
He’ll treat her
well.”

They were speaking in low tones so as
not to be overheard.

“
Do you think so? She was
afraid of him when I spoke to her.”

“
He’s not like her other
master. We had a talk about that today. I think Miri is very
lucky.”

“
I’m so glad.” She hoped it
was true and that Miri would someday recover.

“
Me too.”

She gave him a quizzical
look. “You are?”

“
Yes; I was worried about
her. She didn’t deserve the treatment she got.”

He was so ... unexpected.
Not the brutish, unfeeling pig of a Saturnian she’d believed him to
be. She didn’t accept the notion of enslaved women; they would
never agree on that point. But in his own way, he was a good man,
an honorable man. She ... cared for him.

You lust for him. That’s
all.

No, that wasn’t true. Yes,
she desired him, more than she’d ever wanted any other. But it was
more than lust. There was affection between them.

Why couldn’t she tell
him?

He hasn’t said it to
me.
Perhaps he didn’t feel the same way.
And why should he? He was the master. In Saturnios, affection and
devotion seemed to go mostly one way – from the women toward the
men. She didn’t see much of it returned, except in the case of
Dario’s parents, and she had to take his word for that. But maybe
she simply didn’t know how to look.

We rarely had devotion in
Concordia.

What a stupid world they’d
made. Why shouldn’t there be devotion between men and women? Where
had these ideas of slavery come from in the first place? She
suddenly wished she could be free of all of it – Saturnios and
Concordia too. Just walk away from it and live someplace where she
could be free alongside free men. But that would never happen. She
had to make the best of the world she’d been given.

“
I’m going to bring Shadow
and the ambassador to my country estate,” Dario said. “We’ll be
leaving soon. I’m going to bring you too.”

“
Really? We can leave the
city?” She smiled.

“
Yes. Don’t get any ideas
about running away, though. You’d freeze to death before you got
far.”

She hadn’t been thinking
that at all. Her face must have shown her hurt, because he frowned
a little and caressed the side of her cheek.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to insult you.”

“
I would never run from
you.” She could no longer imagine living without him. Sad, that
slavery sounded better than life without Dario, but there it was.
She was addicted to him.

He studied her face, still
caressing her. “Truly? You wouldn’t run?”

“
No.” She shook her head
for emphasis. “Not anymore.”

He folded her in his arms.
“Sweet girl. I thought I’d never hear those words from
you.”

Tariza buried her face in his chest
and wrapped her arms around his waist. As long as she had him, life
in Saturnios was bearable.

Tariza’s body
felt warm and tingly from the sex she and Dario
had shared. If only she could continue sharing the aftermath with
him, but he’d been required in a meeting with his uncle and
brother, so she was on her own for a while.

She glanced around his quarters. How
would she spend her time? She was unaccustomed to waiting for a
man. Usually they waited for her.

The guitar he’d given her
was propped against one of the chairs by the hearth. Tariza got out
of bed and slipped into a loose robe before picking up the
instrument and sitting down with it. Playing was always a good way
to pass time while improving her skills. Besides, she’d promised
Dario a new song.

Was this the way she’d
spend the rest of her life? She adored him, but she feared what
would happen to her if he tired of her or – Goddess forbid – he
died. She had no standing other than the protection he offered her
and that wasn’t enough to set her mind at ease.

What if something should happen to
him? For that matter, what if he should need protection? If he were
injured or sick, she would have no authority in his treatment and
no way to stop predatory and jealous courtiers from hurrying along
his demise.

You’re worrying about
nothing.