Mastered By Love (7 page)

“
No. You don’t. You’re a
prisoner, a slave, and a female. You have very few rights and they
don’t extend to questioning your master.”

She glared at him with
mutiny in her eyes. Of course, he hadn’t seen much else from her
from the moment he’d snatched her from her tent. Tariza Concordia
was going to challenge him at every turn. She had a face and body
that called to every male instinct in him – possess, protect,
cherish – and a mouth that made him cringe every time she
spoke.

“
Don’t expect me to abide
by your grotesque and barbaric customs,” she said.

“
I don’t expect it. I
demand it. If you cannot or will not comply, you will suffer. Even
I won’t be able to protect you if you continue in this
manner.”

She laughed. “You? Protect
me? That’s a good one.”

“
If you need proof, I can
reverse my order and turn you over to another man. There are many
here in this camp who would welcome the chance to discipline a
Concordian bitch.”

Her face lost its color,
but her chin rose. “I am a warrior. I’m prepared to suffer and die
for my country.”

Dario sighed and shook his
head. “You’re going to make this as difficult as possible, aren’t
you?”

“
Yes.”

“
All right. In that case,
you’ll need –”

“
Not a collar,” she
interrupted.

“
No. Not a collar.” He
picked up the brown leather harness he’d left on the table in
preparation for her arrival. “These are much more effective than
collars.”

“
No.” She shook her head
and tried to pull away from him. “No. I won’t wear that.
No.”

“
Tariza –”

“
Don’t you
dare.”

He yanked her hard against
him, the finely woven wool of her dress billowing around their
legs. “You can cooperate with me, or I’ll call Paolo and Baso in to
help me. I’m afraid you’re outnumbered, little girl.”

“
I
am
not
a
little girl.”

“
In Saturnios, you are. Now
what’s it going to be? Me alone or me plus a handful of other men
who are probably waiting eagerly outside this tent for me to call
upon them?”

Her shoulders slumped.
“I’ll cooperate.”

He could almost hear her
unspoken words –
for now.
She didn’t fool him in the least – she wasn’t done
fighting him.

That was acceptable. At
this point, he’d take whatever he could get from her.

Dario unbuckled the belt
that circled her tiny waist. “Remove the dress.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you can’t wear the
harness over it. Are you going to obey or shall I call
Baso?”

She swallowed hard and for
an instant he thought her lower lip trembled. Then she tightened
her jaw and stripped off the dress in one defiant motion. The full
breasts he’d so admired earlier jiggled enticingly as she tossed
the garment to the floor.

“
Good girl.”

Tariza sneered. “Fuck
off.”

“
Perhaps later. Raise your
arms.”

He arranged the straps around her
shoulders and waist. The harness had a d-ring between the shoulder
blades, one at the back of the waist and another at the front of
the collar.

As he settled the soft brown leather
on her body, she began to quiver. Her nipples tightened to hard
little buds; her breath quickened, drawing in on a gasp when he
brushed his fingers along her waist. She wanted him as much as he
wanted her.

Her gaze would be hot with lust. His
cock twitched eagerly at the thought. Dario fastened the last
buckle and tipped her chin up to reward her with a kiss.

Her eyes glistened with unshed
tears.

His heart thumped painfully in his
chest. How could he have been so stupid? His own desire had blinded
him.

She was a feral creature,
as untamed as the horses that ran wild in the mountains of Argelia,
brought to the Galactic outpost untold generations ago by Dario’s
own ancestors. Like those horses, she wouldn’t take easily to the
saddle and bridle. She’d fight and rage and cry until he managed to
earn her trust.

“
Don’t fret, sweetheart.
You’re safe with me.” He brushed his lips across hers.

Hot color stained her face
and throat. She tightened her lips. “I’m not fretting,” she said in
a hard voice.

His thumb caressed her
chin, almost unconsciously. She might be unwilling to admit to her
fears, but he could see them in her eyes. He would have to find
just the right touch, the right balance of gentle reassurance and
firm guidance – tempered with plenty of the sexual passion that
flared between them – to tame her.

The tent
flap opened, startling Dario and causing Tariza to
jump in his embrace.

Baso entered. “Your bath,
milord.”

A long line of soldiers
paraded in and out of his tent, first with the tub and then pail
after pail of hot water. Damn. He’d forgotten all about the bath in
his eagerness to get Tariza into harness. The water would do the
leather no favors – but he’d chosen an old and worn piece anyway,
knowing it would be subjected to hard use on the trail.

When they got home, he’d
find her a better one. Or perhaps by then she wouldn’t need one at
all.

At last the tub was full
and the last water-bearer left the tent. He nodded toward the bath.
“Get in.”

Tariza shook her head. “No,
thank you.”

“
That was an order, not a
request. Get in.”

“
I don’t take orders from
you.”

He glowered at her. “You’re
not in a position to argue. Get in or I’ll put you in.”

She lifted her shoulders
and let them drop. “No.”

Gritting his teeth, Dario picked her
up and set her in the hot water, keeping a grip on her arm to
prevent her from climbing out again. Unfortunately this left him
fully clothed and unable to let go of her without risking loss of
control. He muttered a curse as he fumbled, one-handed, with the
lacing of his leather breastplate. Poor planning, this.

If he’d possessed any
sense, he’d have ordered Paolo to help him with the armor, but
common sense seemed to desert him every time his gaze fell on
Tariza Concordia.

He jerked again at the
laces. The knots had tightened and his large fingers couldn’t seem
to get any purchase on them.

“
Need some help?” she said
dryly.

“
Yes. Are you
offering?”

She smirked.
“No.”

“
Luckily, I don’t need the
consent of a slave. Unlace me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What if
I say no?”

“
I would take great
pleasure in spanking you.”

For a moment, her mouth
hung open. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“
Indeed I do. Better get
started before I decide to chastise that lovely ass of yours
regardless.”

A crimson flush spread from
her cheekbones downward across her throat and upper chest. She’d
been doing a lot of blushing. Was that usual for her?

With her jaw clenched
tight, she reached for his laces. Although he couldn’t feel her
fingers through the leather armor, the mere fact she was touching
him made his cock stand at attention as she tugged at the knots. A
few moments later, she had the lacing undone.

“
Good work.” He shrugged
out of the breastplate and let it fall to the floor.

“
I’m overcome with
gratitude for your praise, Master.”

He grinned. “I’ll bet you
are.”

His shirt laces were easily
undone singlehandedly, as was the waistband of his trousers. He
made quick work of them. The boots, though. Why hadn’t he
remembered the boots?

She’s turning your brain
to mush.

He glanced down at his footwear, then
looked at her with a raised brow.

Tariza crossed her arms over her bare
chest, her expression as stony as ever. The woman had no sense of
humor. Dario lifted one booted foot and propped it on the edge of
the tub.

“
Again.”

With an aggrieved sigh, she
bent to the task. A thick lock of hair, gleaming gold in a stray
shaft of sunlight, fell over her forehead. He stuck his hand behind
his back to prevent himself from brushing that hair off her face.
She was the enemy. She didn’t deserve tenderness.

Yet hadn’t he just planned
to gentle her as if she were a wild horse? She really must be
turning his brain to mush. He couldn’t decide which tack to take
with her, whether to humiliate her as a cast-down enemy or lovingly
coax her into submission as a beloved pet.

Concordia and Saturnios
were busily trying to tear each other apart while the rest of
Argelia watched, eager to pick at the corpse of the loser. He
should be focused on the war, on defeating Tariza’s crazy society
of man-women. Instead he stood in his tent, naked except for a pair
of dusty boots, lost in lustful fascination for the worst man-woman
of them all.

The man-woman in question
yanked his boot-laces as loose as they would go. “I live to obey
your every wish.”

“
Your sarcasm is
inappropriate.”

“
Sarcasm? I didn’t think
you knew the meaning of such a big word.”

He gave her arm a sharp
shake. “The next disrespectful word out of your mouth gets you the
spanking you deserve.”

“
You really think I should
respect you after what you did to me?”

The hard look in her eyes,
the proud tilt of her chin irritated him beyond reason. “It’s no
more than you and your girl-soldiers would have done to me if you’d
had the chance,” he growled as his grip tightened on her arm. “You
should thank that Goddess of yours that I got to you first, instead
of –” He broke off, scowling.

“
Instead of
whom?”

Anyone who’d deliver her to
his uncle. “Never mind. Just know there are many worse masters than
I.”

Tariza stared at him, her gaze
uncomfortably perceptive. No woman had ever looked at him that way,
boldly, shamelessly, as if she had as much right to think and
examine as any man did. He opened his mouth to order her to look
modestly down, and thought of the wild horses. He shut his
mouth.

“
Shall I unlace your other
boot?” she said, her voice dripping with silky
sweetness.

Dario took his foot off the
tub rim and replaced it with the other. When she bent over it, the
same lock of hair fell, this time even farther over her eyes. He
gave in to temptation and lifted his hand to tuck the hair behind
her ear. For all her un-feminine demeanor, her skin felt as silky
smooth as any woman he’d ever touched.

She stilled when his fingertips
brushed her face. Her fingers paused in their work. Her lips
parted, soft and pink. His cock stirred and his mouth went
dry.

Dario swallowed. “Finish
the boot, Tariza.”

She undid the knots, yanked at the
laces. He kicked the boots off, along with his trousers, and
stepped into the water. His rampant cock brushed against her naked
belly and his breath caught.

Tariza gave him a startled glance. Her
dark eyes darkened further and her lips parted, her breath
quickening.

He took her head in his hands and
captured her mouth with a groan of pleasure at the hot, sweet taste
of her. For an instant, she remained rigid against him, straining
away from him. He persisted in kissing her, pleasuring her mouth
with soft bites and caresses of his lips and tongue.

She gave a little, sobbing
moan. Her body melted against his, skin to skin – the first time
he’d been in full unclothed contact with her. She opened her mouth
and met his tongue with her own. Slender arms looped around his
neck. Lush breasts crushed against his naked belly, making his cock
jump.

God, the feel of her against him.
Dario slipped one hand between them to toy with a breast. She
whimpered as he plucked at the eager point of her nipple and rolled
it between finger and thumb.

He lifted her with both
hands, cupping her tight little ass. “Put your legs around my
waist.”

She complied, her eyes dilated and
heavy-lidded with desire. Dario positioned himself at the opening
of her cunt, rubbed his cock head along her wet folds. She gave
another little moan. He brought her down, shoving her, impaling her
on his cock.

Her head fell back with a loud cry.
Another groan escaped him at the hot, slick tightness of her
sheath. He clasped her hips, working his cock in and out of her,
groaning again at the perfect grip of her on his sex.

Tariza’s eyes rolled up,
lashes fluttering. The rhythmic waves of her orgasm began almost
instantly. He bucked wildly against her. His hair fell into his
eyes. She wailed, her nails digging in to the skin on his
shoulders.

Ecstasy broke over him in a blinding
wave. He shouted and shook as he spilled himself inside her, as he
lost himself in her. Tariza clung to him with arms and legs,
holding him through his climax.