SurrendersMischief (21 page)

“I’m not going to kiss and tell,” Riana said primly.

“Since when? You told me about the lieutenant. About Cragor
on Altair Eight and what about—”

“Stop. You know perfectly well I didn’t have to tell you a
thing. You were there!”

She just grinned. “Darias, Riana. I want to know about
Darias.”

Riana glared at her. “You and he have one thing in common.
You’re both as persistent as Antarian cargo leeches. All right, I’ll tell you
about Darias. And, no, I’m not going to tell you if he is well hung!”

“If you’re not going to tell me if he’s well hung, then at
least answer one question for me.”

“What?” she asked suspiciously. It wasn’t like Sharri to
give up so easily.

“How do you use the Punishment Stone?”

Although it wasn’t easy, Riana managed to ignore her
friend’s teasing, knowing that Sharri was using humor to help her get through
this. “Darias is stubborn, smart and strong. He is also wrong-headed about the
place of women. Did I mention stubborn? Anyway, Nexar is, or rather, was
completely male dominated. Men held all the power and didn’t hesitate to punish
a woman if she was even perceived as stepping out of line. You would not
believe the rules they set in place for women. And they added more any time
they felt like it,” she grumbled.

“Punished? How?”

Heat flooded her cheeks and she turned her face away from
her friend’s gentle gaze and toward the last glow of light on the horizon. When
had it grown so late? A fragrant night breeze caressed her hot cheeks. Even
though the sun had set, the breeze still carried the warmth of the day. How to
explain to Sharri? How to tell her that sex was used to keep a woman in line,
not by merely asserting dominance over her, but by using her very sexuality
against her? How to explain the utter humiliation of wanting a man to the point
of madness while he remained detached?

Abruptly, a hoarse cry of rage shattered the night.

“For Krel’s sake, Bryta, please!”

Sharri spun about, her eyes searching the garden alcove.
“What in the name of the Zethra was that?”

“Punishment,” Riana replied succinctly as another cry of
fury and need echoed in the night.

“Bryta, don’t stop! No! Damn you! I’m begging you to let me
come!”

In the light of the huge, newly risen moon, her friend’s
eyes were shocked. “That is the punishment? And you were Darias’ slave for
several weeks?”

Riana gave a slow nod of her head. Her throat tightened and
her eyes burned when Sharri held her in a silent hug of sympathy.

“So how is it that the roles were reversed and you became
Supreme Chief and Darias your slave?”

“For all their faults, Darias and the men of Nexar hold
their honor dear. I learned that he could not refuse a Battle of Honor.”

“Even from a female slave?”

“Well, from a female slave who practically accused him of
being a coward.”

“You didn’t! Riana, the chance you took! He could have
killed you.”

A wry grin tugged at the corner of her lips. “No, I knew he
wouldn’t kill me. After all, that would deny him the opportunity to rub my face
in his superiority. Not to mention taking me down a peg by public punishment.”

“Public punish— No, don’t tell me. I don’t think I want to
know. So what are you going to do now? You can’t stay here and play Supreme
Chief forever.”

“I can’t leave. Not yet. The women need me.”

“I can understand that.” Sharri spoke slowly. “After what
you’ve told me, I realize they need guidance. I even understand why you wanted
to take revenge on Darias, but it’s been several weeks now and he’s still your
slave. That is so not like you, Riana.”

Riana bit her lip, unable to meet the other woman’s eyes.
“At one time I would have agreed.” She stared down at her locked fingers. “I’m
not the same person you once knew. I’ve changed.” She pushed aside the vague
sense of hollowness that was sneaking up on her more and more often lately.
Darias and she were locked in a contest of wills. Showing him the slightest
sign of weakness would be disastrous for the women of Nexar. Oh sure, she could
fly the
Midnight Mischief
from this planet, forget that Nexar or Darias
ever existed, but the women would pay for her actions.

No, the only thing her conscience would allow her to do was
to stay and make sure they were never again enslaved. And the only way to do
that was to force the men of Nexar into admitting they were wrong to totally
dominate women.

Her friend’s gaze was searching. “Are you sure?”

An inexplicable sadness filled Riana. “Oh yes,” she
whispered, “I’m sure.” Of that she didn’t have the slightest doubt.

What she wasn’t sure about was how to change the men’s
attitudes. Each day was a struggle to keep ahead of Darias’ and the other men’s
plan to retake power. At one time, she had half hoped that things were changed
between her and Darias. The way they had once fallen asleep in each other’s
arms, a sense of peace between them, had made her believe that Darias was at
last beginning to understand.

Now everything was turned about. Yeah, they still had sex,
but something was missing. She pushed until he submitted, but even the joy in
that was gone. And spanking? She pushed both hands into her hair and gripped
the strands. Never for play anymore. Never for pleasure.

And even if she was successful in changing the mindset here
in Nexar, the damage between Darias and herself was done. An ache deep inside
started at that knowledge. Standing, she cradled a crystal ice blossom in the
palm of her hand. Even that gentle touch caused a delicate chiming. So much
beauty in Nexar. Would she ever be able to forget?

There was a heartbeat of silence. To her relief, Sharri
didn’t pursue the topic any further. “What can I do to help?”

Shaking off the wistful yearning that things could be
different, Riana turned her thoughts toward business. “Saria, the leader of the
Far Islands, has agreed to meet with a trade representative from Nexar. I can’t
go. Things are still too unsettled here for me to leave. I can’t send any of
the women. For one thing, they don’t have the skill or experience to deal with
such a delicate issue yet. For another, if the warriors learn that Darias kept
from them the fact that a woman rules the Far Islands, they might well decide
that since he deceived them on a matter of such importance, they don’t have to
abide by the wager he made with me. It’s a fine line to walk. I can’t keep the
women in ignorance forever, but sharing the news that another country-state has
long had women rulers might well lead to the women of Nexar again being reduced
to the rank of slave. Also, there is another issue, one that requires the
utmost diplomacy, that I haven’t gone into yet. That, more than anything, is
why I trust only you to negotiate on the behalf of Nexar. Will you?”

“For you, not for Nexar, I’ll go.” Typical Sharri that she
hadn’t even asked what the biggest problem was. She’d just agreed. Zethra,
she’d missed her.

Sharri started to leave then turned back. “So when are you
going to tell them?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, “I just don’t know.”

Again, Sharri started to leave only to stop. “Riana?”

“Yes?”

“Have you truly changed or are you just still angry?” Her
words hovered on the air as she left before Riana could find a response.

Chapter Twelve

Riana propped her elbows on the desk, fingertips against her
brow, and regarded Darias. He stood before her, a relaxed arrogance in his
stance.

“What did you do with them?” A faint headache throbbed in
her temples.

His face was expressionless. “Do with what?”

“Don’t play the innocent with me.” She shoved the chair back
and got to her feet. “The trade and service agreements between the houses and
the Supreme Chief. All of the hard copies are gone. So are the guild
agreements.”

He lifted one black brow. “You believe I took them all?”

Riana moved until there was only a hand’s breadth of space
between them. She was a tall woman, but still she had to tilt her head back to
meet his gaze. This close, she could smell his unique scent, wild like that of
a
panthra
and all male. Between her legs, she could feel moisture
gathering.

It wasn’t fair the way he could make her respond even when
she was furious with him. But, fair or not, it was undeniable. Riana wet her
lips with the tip of her tongue as she sought to counter his pull on her
senses.

Darias’ eyes darkened to tarnished gold.

Her mind went blank. What had she asked him? Oh yes, the
trade agreements. “Not personally. However, I do believe you coordinated the
timing of their disappearance.” Her ire returned. “You knew, because of the
damage done by your stealth program, that we’d need this hard-copy information
when a deal between the Far Islands and Nexar is signed. You hoped to sow
discord among the houses. The men are already whispering that I’m showing favoritism
to certain houses and that without the agreements, who’s to say whether I’m
abiding by what’s already been decided.”

Riana had to admire his cleverness. He’d waited until the
negotiations were well underway and couldn’t be postponed or called off without
weakening their position. By choosing this moment, he could stir internal
conflict, jeopardizing not only the trade summit but the stability of her rule
itself.

“Where are the trade agreements and who took them?”

“If I knew where they were and if I knew those involved, do
you truly believe I would tell you?”

She didn’t argue with him. It’d be useless, she knew.
Instead, she placed her hand on his chest, directly over his heart. “This
deserves punishment in the Great Hall. You understand that.” Beneath her palm,
his muscle tightened.

He stared over her head. A muscle jerked in his jaw. “You
are Supreme Chief.”

Riana felt like shaking him. Why couldn’t he see he was
forcing her to punish him? If he would just admit who all was behind the
documents’ disappearance, maybe she wouldn’t have to punish him as severely.

She glanced up at his set face.

No. He would never yield. Her dragon would rather face
punishment than give up trying to get Nexar back. Darias felt it was his duty
to return Nexar to the men’s rule. And, Zethra only knew, the man held true to
what he considered his duty. Riana rubbed her chest with her free hand, trying
to get rid of the heavy lump that had formed in the vicinity of her heart.

“Don’t make me do this. Don’t make me punish you.” Dammit,
he put her in this position. Unless he gave her something to work with, she
couldn’t mitigate the consequences. Not this time.

“You are Supreme Chief,” he repeated.

She closed her eyes briefly. So be it. Riana opened her
mouth to order him to wait in their chamber until she called him to the Great
Hall.

Have you truly changed or are you still angry?

Sharri’s question popped into her head from out of nowhere.
Her hand, still on Darias’ chest, curled slightly. Oh Zethra, she was using the
same arguments to punish Darias that he had used to justify his behavior to
her. Except in her case she didn’t even have the excuse of tradition to blame.

Shocked, she realized her fury at her treatment hadn’t died
with time. Instead, it had simply disguised itself behind such euphemisms as
teaching him a lesson when, in reality, she was looking for a way to gain
revenge and to force Darias into conceding complete defeat.

But Darias wasn’t a one-dimensional man, concerned only with
enslaving women. His journals and concern over his people proved that. Other
small snippets came to mind, information she’d dismissed. Such as Bryta telling
her that hardly before his father’s body was cold, Darias’ had ordered the
women’s cells closed. His first command as new Supreme Chief. But, her hands
full of negotiating a trade dispute between the laborers’ guild and the
carpenters’ guild, she’d dismissed significance of the revelation. Just as
she’d dismissed her earlier impression he was a man of hidden layers because
that made it easier for her.

No, Darias wasn’t one-dimensional, he was a man fighting to
hold on to a way of life in the only way he knew how. Change meant tearing down
the fabric of structure that held his society together. Darias didn’t think he
was capable of change, but he was. Look at his defense of Jayna, his former
personal guardsman’s woman. And look at his leniency—by Nexarian standards—with
her.

That hollow feeling that was with her all the time now
swelled until it almost swallowed her.

She had allowed her anger and humiliation to reshape her
into someone she abhorred. Okay, so maybe her behavior at first had been
justified. The only way Darias was ever going to truly learn Nexar needed to
change was to experience life as a slave himself, but it was inexcusable to
continue to look for reasons to treat him thus. This, though… This had gone far
beyond dominance and submission between a woman and a man. For all her silent
assurances to herself to the contrary, she had tried to compel Darias into
total submission, both in and out of the bedchamber. Look at the way she had
made him present himself to her in the office.

She swallowed a bitter taste.

That had been about humiliation and control, not about
mutual pleasure.

Truth was she had used it to punish him for not backing off
the battle between them. For playing the game just that bit better than she
had. Gall burned the back of her throat as she admitted the rest of the truth.
It was about hurting him as he had hurt her by—after all they’d done
together—still refusing to acknowledge her skills and strengths as worthy of
his respect.

It was a hell of a time to realize she didn’t want to
subjugate Darias. At least not outside of sex, she qualified with a spurt of
honesty. In that, his submission suited her just fine. As it did Darias, if
only he was willing to admit it. Outside of their private relationship,
however, she wanted them to be partners. Equal partners.