Mastered By Love (40 page)

Tariza wrapped her legs around his
waist. He shuddered, his breath growing rough. With trembling
hands, he positioned himself at her entrance and plunged home in
one stroke. They both moaned at the same time.

Their coupling was fast and
hard. Desperate. Then, after an unmarked interlude of dozing in
each other’s arms, they came together again, tenderly this time,
stroking and tasting until they both collapsed with the ecstasy of
joining.

He propped himself on one elbow,
gazing down at her, just drinking her in as his hand stroked
circles on her belly, sending warm waves of pleasure through her.
He was even more beautiful than she remembered.

Tariza gazed up at him with
somber eyes. “I’m going to have to make a show of keeping you as my
slave for the next few days. I want everyone to believe I’m
punishing you.”

He kissed her forehead.
“It’s all right. You do what you have to.”

“
You may not think that
tomorrow.”

“
As long as it’s just a
game between us,” he said, kissing her lips. “As long as I know it
isn’t real, it’ll be all right.”

A shadow moved across her
soul. “It was real when you were the master.”

“
Yes. It was.” He kissed
her again. “Are you having second thoughts about leaving with
me?”

“
No. Never. I’m just
worried.” She clutched at his hands. “What if I hurt you? What if I
can’t control myself?”

“
Have you ever hurt a slave
in the past?”

“
No.”

“
Then I don’t think you
have anything to worry about. I trust you.”

She bit her lip. “I was so
angry with you, Dario. When you first took me. I really thought I
hated you.”

“
And you think part of you
still does?”

“
I don’t think so.” Her
gaze met his, worry for him making her stomach hurt. “But what if
there’s something in me I’m not aware of?”

“
Darling, you won’t hurt
me. Anyway, we don’t have much choice. We have to make it look real
until we can get away.”

She wrapped her arms around
him, hoping he was right. “I wish we’d been born someplace else.
Someplace without slavery. I don’t know how to be the woman you
need.”

“
Neither do I,” he said
promptly.

Tariza looked up at him,
her lips curling into a mischievous smile. “You don’t know how to
be the woman you need?”

He shook his head. “Not at
all. I worry about it, late at night when I can’t
sleep.”

They both laughed.

Two days
later, Dario wasn’t sure their deception would
work. Tariza had him kneeling on the floor next to her feet while
she sat in the great hall, talking to her sister, Princess Lenora,
and another friend, a brunette named Anata. He wore no clothes,
just the collar and chains. It was cold in the room.

The other two women gave
him the same kind of glances as the slaves had, except theirs had
covetousness mixed in with the anxiety. He could see them out of
the corners of his eyes, although he couldn’t look directly at any
of the women. Every few minutes, one of them would sneak a look at
him.

Lenora had summoned him to
a sex room more than once. She had reddish blond hair and hazel
eyes. She was a pretty young woman and would have been much in
demand in Saturnios. That hadn’t comforted him in the least while
she’d used him, however.

And she’d kept the
knowledge of his whereabouts from Tariza. Did his mistress know her
sister had been part of the deception?

Lenora leaned over and put
a hand on Tariza’s knee. “Are you sure you’re safe with him?” She
gave Dario another secretive glance.

“
Quite safe,” Tariza said.
“Why?”

Her sister shrugged. “He
just seems so wild.”

“
I don’t know what you
mean. He’s kneeling quietly enough.”

“
But he ...
growls.”

Tariza frowned at her.
“Growls?”

The redhead blushed
fiercely. “Never mind.”

“
No, I want to know what
that means. When have you heard him growl?”

Dario continued to watch their
exchange from beneath his lashes.

Lenora’s blush deepened
until it looked almost painful. “Just ... sometimes. Before. You
know.”

Tariza’s mouth opened. “You
used him. Didn’t you?”

“
I –” She gave Tariza a
glance of alarm. “I didn’t know you wanted him for
yourself.”

“
I told you.” Tariza’s
voice turned hard and cold. “I told you that I missed him. And
still you didn’t let me know where he was.”

“
You were upset, injured. I
didn’t take it seriously. I’m sorry, Tariza.”

He flicked a sidelong
glance at Anata. The woman sat as if frozen in her chair, watching
the two sisters with a carefully blank expression. Dario nudged
Tariza’s leg.

Not now. Don’t reveal
yourself,
he thought at her.

She looked down at him. Her hand fell
on his shoulder, her skin warm against his, and she took a deep
breath.

“
Yes, I can see how
confusing it must have been,” she said in a neutral tone. “It’s
confusing for me too.”

“
Well,” their friend said,
“I’m not sure why you wanted him as your personal slave. He’s
beautiful, but he’s such a disgusting barbarian.”

Tariza looked at her. “Did
you use him, too?”

“
No.” The woman colored.
“No, I didn’t. I was too afraid of him.”

Tariza looked down at him.
“Dario, is that true?”

He closed his eyes. She was
giving herself, both of them, away. “Yes, Mistress. It’s
true.”

She’d been so worried about
hurting him, but the real danger was her inability to hide her
affection for him. Her possessiveness. Every woman in the palace
seemed to be stepping carefully, avoiding confrontation with the
princess whose slave they’d used without permission.

Someone was bound to guess
at their true relationship, probably within the next day or so. And
then the queen would order him removed from her, tossed back in
that hole of a cell, and they’d never get free. He might never see
her again if that happened.

He had to do something to make the
courtiers believe she was willing to punish him. Something to make
them believe he and she were enemies, not lovers.

“
She did laugh while they
raped me, though,” he said, putting all of his resentment in his
voice.

The brunette stilled. Her eyes went
round. She looked from him to Tariza and seemed to shrink back into
her chair.

“
I haven’t heard this
story,” Tariza said, spearing her friend with a glare sharp enough
to draw blood. “Tell me about it.”

“
It was nothing. Really.”
Anata gave a forced laugh. “Everyone was here. I don’t know how he
could tell one of us from another. He must have confused me with
someone else.”

“
You should tell her the
story,” he said. “She’ll enjoy it. She’s been hoping to get back at
me for months.”

“
Dario, stop it,” Tariza
said.

“
Why? So you can pretend
you rescued me from prison? We both know the real reason you
dragged me up here.”

“
Slaves don’t speak until
given an order to do so. Now be quiet.”

He looked directly at her,
a forbidden thing. “I’m not a slave. I’m a prisoner of
war.”

Lenora and Anata laughed
nervously.

Tariza glowered at him. “If
you don’t shut up, you’re going to force me to punish
you.”

“
How can I force you to do
anything if I’m just a slave? You’re the mistress. You make the
rules,” he said with an insolent stare.

Punish me.

“
Shut your mouth,” she said
through tight lips.

“
They kept me a secret from
you because they knew you couldn’t handle me.” He got to his feet
and loomed over her. By now, the rest of the courtiers in the hall
had stopped what they were doing to listen in horrified
fascination.

Tariza jumped up. Even on
her feet, she looked tiny next to him. She pulled a whip from her
belt. “Get back on your knees. Now.”

“
You know you don’t really
want me to do that. You know what you really like – my collar
around your neck. Maybe you should get on your knees.”

Her face went white, her jaw rigid.
Lenora and the brunette jumped out of their chairs and backed away
from the two of them as Tariza lifted her whip. She cracked it in
the air.

“
On your knees.
Now.”

“
No.”
Make me.

She snapped the whip again,
this time licking his calves with the tip. “Down.”

He gritted his teeth
against the sharp pain, then forced a grin. “You can’t do it, can
you? You’re the one meant to be a slave, Tariza.”

His technique seemed to be working. A
crowd of slaves emerged from the crowd and hemmed him in, nearly
making a circle around him. Two of them grabbed him by the
elbows.

“
Good,” Tariza said. “Chain
him to the wall. He needs to be taught a lesson.”

They dragged him into the
audience chamber, to the same spot where they’d whipped him weeks
earlier. She followed, her boots ringing against the flagstone
floor. Dario made no attempt to fight the slaves. There were too
many of them, and he didn’t want to die today. He only wanted to
make her punish him.

As they lifted his arms and clipped
his shackles to the ring in the wall, he began to sweat. This was
going to hurt. But it was necessary.

“
Stand back,” Tariza
said.

The slaves backed away from
him. He could see nothing but the azure wall in front of his face.
If he turned his head to the side, he could take in the length of
the wall, but the women were gathered behind him, out of his range
of vision. Tariza was at his back, where he couldn’t meet her eyes
and let her know it was all right. That he wanted her to do
this.

The first strike came
without a warning except for the swift whistle of the whip through
the air. It hit his skin and left a trail of fire across his back.
He jerked in his bonds. Damn, she hadn’t held anything
back.

“
You are a slave, Dario,”
she said grimly.

The whip struck again. Over
and over again, until blood began to run down his back.
Good girl,
he
thought.
Keep going; don’t let them see
you flinch.

“
What are you?” she
said.

“
Prince of Saturnios,” he
rasped.

“
Wrong. You are a slave.”
She hit him again. “What are you?”

The strikes and the
question repeated endlessly until it seemed he was nothing but
fiery pain. He couldn’t give in too soon, had to make this look
real. But there were spots in front of his eyes and he wasn’t sure
he could continue. His feet didn’t want to hold him up
anymore.

“
What are you?” she said
again.

“
A slave.” His voice didn’t
sound like it belonged to him.

“
Who is your
mistress?”

“
You – you are.”

“
You are not to speak
again, unless given an order. If you speak out of turn, I’ll muzzle
you.”

His head sagged against the wall. It
was too heavy to hold up anymore.

“
Did you hear me,
slave?”

“
Yes, Mistress,” he
whispered.

“
Take him down and bring
him to my chambers,” she said.

The next few minutes were a blur of
pain. The two slaves released him from the wall and hauled him, an
arm over the shoulder of each man, through the palace and up stairs
that seemed to go on forever. They lugged him through her door and
let him fall face down onto the cold, hard floor.

“
Is it your desire that we
should chain him to the floor, Your Highness?” one of the slaves
said.

“
Yes.”

He allowed himself to groan. The
slaves pulled his arms out over his head, clipping his wrist
shackles to a bolt embedded in the floor. They did the same with
his feet.

“
You may go,” Tariza
said.

They shuffled out of the room. The
door clicked shut. Tariza knelt beside him.

“
You did well,” he said
hoarsely, his face pressed to the cold, hard floor.

“
You provoked me on
purpose, didn’t you?”

“
Yes.”

“
Goddess, Dario. I’ve hurt
you. Really hurt you.” She sounded like she might cry.

He licked his lips. “I’ll
live.”

“
But how are we going to
leave with you like this? You can’t run or fight.”

“
Leave?” What was she
talking about? This was the first time she’d mentioned an active
attempt to leave the country.