* * *
Pia was livid to discover Zoran had left to retrieve Yusef’s bride without telling her. She had to learn about it from the queen. Her anger was only made worse by the severe rejection she felt. She’d fallen asleep only after crying her heart out for hours. Her eyes were still puffy and her nose red, but she didn’t care.
Queen Mede offered to stay and keep her company. Pia refused, stating she was going to exercise and take a shower. The queen almost appeared disappointed.
The workout had done little to expend her frustrations. The cool shower did nothing to ease the tension in her body. Late in the afternoon word came around that Zoran and the men were back, carting one very alive Princess Olena. It was the first time anyone had told her Yusef’s wife’s name, because apparently they’d only recently discovered it.
Pia smiled, remembering the redhead who had sat next to her at the Breeding Festival. She liked Olena and was glad she was unharmed. Besides, any woman who could aggravate a husband by not telling him her name was all right by her. Right now, anyone who could aggravate their husband, period, was all right by her.
* * *
Zoran didn’t go home until late that evening. After taking Olena to her unconscious husband, he had visited with the doctors. To his relief, Yusef’s condition seemed to have turned around. His brother still hadn’t opened his eyes, but his coloring was better. They didn’t know what caused the change, but Zoran wasn’t about to question the good fortune.
Looking at his front door slide over his head, he thought, I need all the good fortune I can get.
Pia came into the room from the kitchen at the sound of the door. Her eyes hardened as she saw his blood-soaked clothes.
“So much for mutual honesty,” Pia ground out.
“Thanks, wife,” Zoran said bitterly. “It’s good to be home. Your sweet concern for my life and my health overwhelm.”
“Oh,” Pia sighed in mock gratitude, “and thanks so much for telling me about going off to fetch Olena from the Var. I’m so glad we had that talk last night about honesty and answering questions. Your forthcoming nature has overwhelmed me. For a while there I thought I was the only one honoring the bargain.”
Zoran’s eyes darkened. He was in no mood for this.
Pia clearly didn’t care, as she stated sarcastically, “Oh, wait, that’s right. I was the only one being honest last night.”
“Honest?” Zoran snarled, barking the word at her like a wild animal. “You want honest, wife?”
Pia trembled as he stalked across the room to her. His bloodied hands gripped her light cotton shirt and he nearly lifted her off the ground in his irritation. Her angry, defiant face excited him.
“Then tell me honestly to my face that you don’t want me,” he said.
Pia’s chest heaved, drawing his eyes down.
“Tell me the truth. Tell me that you only offered yourself to me last night to pay off a debt. Tell me you truly didn’t want to marry me and you are only toying with me,” Zoran demanded. He wanted the torment to end. He wished she’d just reach in and grab out his heart. He wanted her to stomp it beneath her boot—anything to kill its painful beating.
“Oh, yeah?” Pia thundered back. “Then you admit that all I am to you is a bought and paid for whore that you are duty bound to sleep with for the sake of producing your sons.”
“Fine whore you are,” Zoran said. Taking her hand, he roughly pulled it to his erect shaft. “A whore will usually slake a man’s desires, not boil them to erupting and never follow through. If you are a whore, you’re a lousy one, wife.”
Pia snatched her hand away. “Don’t you blame your condition on me. I offered to be a wife to you last night. You rejected me, not the other way around. I can’t help it if you aren’t attracted to me. I turned off the lights. I tried to make it easy on you. Any suffering you have is now your own doing. I wash my hands of it.”
“Reject you?” Zoran fumed, coming closer. By all that was sacred, she was a beautiful temptress. “You were acting like a sacrifice. There’s no passion in you for me. Do you think I relish the idea of forcing you to my bed?”
“I know you don’t relish the idea of taking me to it!”
“By all the gods, woman,” Zoran roared in disbelief. “Are you truly so stupid?”
Pia backed up, hurt. Her injured hazel eyes stared silently at him.
Zoran stalked her, not letting her get away. “I have done nothing but try to get you into my bed since the first moment I met you.”
Pia gulped.
Zoran motioned to the couch. “Gods’ bones, to my everlasting shame, I even practically forced you into it.” He thought of her blood on him. When she was backed against a wall, he stopped before her. “It’s you who wants none of me.”
Pia trembled.
Softly, he reached a hand to her cheek and continued in an agonizing whisper, “You pushed me out of you, Pia, when I wouldn’t leave your silken depths. You ran from me screaming. Is that how you would have me take you? Would you have me ravish you? Take you unwillingly? Force you to my bed until you tremble in fear at the very thought of my presence?”
Pia did tremble, but it wasn’t with fear.
“Is that what you want from me?” Zoran insisted. “Because even now I could do it. My body is on fire all the time for you. You’re distracting me. All I think about is touching you. I can’t even work anymore without seeing your beautiful face taunting me.”
Pia’s mouth opened to protest.
“Argh, no!” he yelled, shaking his head. “Do not yell at me for calling you beautiful. I don’t know what happened to you to make you so damned unaware of your power over men, and may the gods help me, I don’t really care. All I know is that you are exquisite and I would have you.”
Pia’s mouth closed.
“I know I cannot conquer your unfeeling heart toward me, Pia,” he whispered, tormented by his obsession for her. “But, please, tell me how to win you. What do I have to do to make you want me as I want you?”
Pia hands hesitated, lifting to touch his chest. A ragged breath left her. “Zoran, please, I...I never meant to hurt you.”
“Then you don’t want me?”
“No,” she sighed. He tensed about to walk away. “Wait.”
He stopped, turning to bore his eyes into her, searching.
“Let me finish,” Pia said. “No, it’s not that I don’t want you. It’s...I never meant to act like a sacrifice. I never meant to torture you.”
His heart skipped with a thin trail of hope.
“Before I met you, no man but one even approached me,” she whispered. Tears came to her and she pushed past him, as if needing the distance. “Oh, I don’t want to tell you. I should’ve just stayed away from this whole mess. I never should’ve allowed you to marry me. You don’t deserve this.”
Zoran turned.
“Urgh,” Pia began, taking a steadying breath to keep from crying. “Fine. I don’t know where to begin.”
“Why did you come here?” Zoran didn’t move, listening carefully for her words. They were soft but she didn’t turn to him.
“I told you that I was an assassin and a spy. I had unique qualifications that, ah, allowed me to get into some very seedy places. It’s not like we targeted good people. We targeted slave traders, mass murderers, cannibals, torture artists—some of them so horrific it makes my head swim to remember what they were capable of.” She turned to him, her eyes pleading. “I know it may not matter to you, seeing how I’ve taken many lives, but I never killed an innocent person. It’s important you understand that.”
Zoran nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.
“My last assignment ended about two months before I arrived here. I was sent to Rayvik. It’s in the Ice Galaxy. My target ended up being a rival to the mayor of one of the biggest industrial cities. He’d hired us to wipe out the competition. But, when I saw what sort of man the mayor was, I retreated and didn’t finish my mission. I reported back and
was waiting for my orders when...”
Pia’s eye narrowed.
“What?” Zoran urged.
“I got drunk. It was stupid. The mayor’s son thought it would be fun to drag me out into the alley and rape me. I killed him and ran away. The Rayvikian mayor owns a torture club and there’s a hefty price on my head to get me there alive. I contacted Galaxy Brides and here I am.” Pia’s voice was cold as she quickly finished the story. “He was the only other man to ever...try to...be...”
Pia waved her hand, dismissing the statement. Zoran already knew the man hadn’t been successful in completing his task.
“What unique qualifications did you have?” he asked quietly.
“Last night I didn’t tell you everything. After my father cut me, and the droid was hauling me away, there was an explosion. I was hit.” Pia turned to study his reaction. “I was burnt over sixty percent of my body. Since the Rayvikians were looking for a scarred woman, and the surgeries to correct it would be exceptionally expensive, I had no choice but to become a bride. It took the Galaxy Brides’ doctors two weeks of constant surgery just to smooth the scarring out.”
“So it was either me or terrible death,” he concluded.
“I’m sorry, Zoran,” Pia whispered. “I know it wasn’t what you wanted to hear, but now you know everything. I understand if you want to send me away.”
“Where would you go?”
“I don’t know. I have some contacts. I could feel around for a job. As long as the doctors didn’t take my picture, I’ll manage to disappear. Not too many people have seen this new face of mine, and even though the doctors said this is how I would have looked if I hadn’t been scarred, I don’t think anyone from my childhood would recognize me.”
“Is that what you want?” he asked, carefully studying her.
“No,” she whispered.
“What do you want?” Zoran asked, taking another step forward.
“I don’t know.”
Zoran easily sensed that she was lying.
“Take off your clothes,” he ordered her.
Pia blinked, meeting his bold gaze. When she didn’t act, he went to her.
“Take them off,” Zoran stated more firmly.
“Why—?”
“Do not question me,” he broke in. “Just do it.”
Pia stiffened but obeyed. Slowly lifting her cotton shirt over her shoulders, she then pushed off her pants. She kicked them aside.
“Don’t move,” he demanded in a whisper. “I want to examine you.”
Pia stood tall. Zoran didn’t touch her as he inspected her with the exactness of a commander to his very lovely female soldier. He took steps around her, his eyes devouring every curve. When Pia tried to turn and see what he was doing behind her, he snapped, “Eyes straight.”
Pia’s breathing deepened. Zoran took a hand to her backside, cupping it in his palm. She tensed.
“Very nice,” he murmured in a low, possessive tone. Giving the fleshy mound a squeeze, he said, “Firm.”
Pia jumped, trying to move. Suddenly, teeth were on her neck, biting lightly. Zoran let his fangs grow slightly to press in warning on her soft skin.
“I ordered you not to move,” he whispered. “If you give me reason to, I can rip your throat from your neck.”
Pia held still. Leisurely, his lips took the place of his teeth, and kissed her before pulling away.
“What are you—?” Pia tried to ask, her voice weak.
“Silence,” Zoran demanded. He’d heard enough of her words. It was his turn. If it killed him, he was going to make her realize that she desired him as badly as he did her—even if that meant ordering her about to do it.
“Zora—?”
“Silence!” Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “For someone who was raised on a military base, you certainly lack discipline. Speak again without permission and I’ll have to reprimand you.”
“Zoran, what are y—?”
Zoran growled, smacking her hard on her backside with the flat of his palm. Pia jumped in surprise even as she almost moaned in pleasure. She bit her tongue. Her knees tried to buckle, but she didn’t let them.
“That’s better,” he urged after some time had passed and she didn’t move or speak again. He kneeled behind her and lightly kissed where his hand imprinted red on her flesh. Coming back up to her ear, he stated, “I don’t want to have to punish you, but I will. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she gasped.
Zoran smacked her firmly on her other cheek. This time his hand stayed boldly planted on her heated flesh.
“Yes, what?” he challenged.
“Yes, sir.” Pia sucked in a fast breath. Her eyes closed.
Zoran firmly hit her again, feeling her tremble beneath his hand. He smelled desire pooling between her thighs to tempt him. He smiled so she couldn’t see. Maybe Agro had been wrong. Maybe Pia didn’t need to be conquered, but commanded. He was just the commander to do it. Perhaps if he took her will away from her and told her what to do, her brain would stop getting in the way, and she would give them what they both wanted.
“Yes, sir, I understand,” she answered.
“Good.” Zoran rubbed his hand teasingly over her hip. “Very nice.”
Zoran came around. Pia’s eyes were closed and her lips were firmly pressed together. He took his time watching her with his sultry gaze, waiting until she looked at him before he moved.
When Pia finally peeked at him through her lashes, his mouth curled at the corner as he purposefully made a show of looking at every naked inch of her. When his gaze stopped at the hair between her thighs, he licked his lips in anticipation.
He lifted his hand, just as high as her breasts. Turning his palm to her, he ordered, “Step forward.”
She did.
“Put your breast in my hand. Let me feel it,” he ordered. She stepped up to him and pressed her chest forward, not moving her arms. “Rub it. Make your nipple pucker into my palm.”
Pia closed her eyes and obeyed. Raising her chest with ever increasing pants for air, she caressed herself with his hands.
“Now, the other,” he commanded when the nipple became almost instantly erect.
Pia moved. She let her other breast get the same torturous treatment.
“You like that, don’t you,” he growled. “Tell me you like it.”
“I like it.”
Zoran reached around and spanked her hard. Pia’s hips bucked.
“I like it, sir,” she corrected instantly.
“Oh,” he murmured in a low tone. “You like it when I spank you?”
He spanked her again. Her breast pressed harder into his unmoving palm.
“Yes, sir,” she cried. She was rewarded with another slap.
“You’re a disobedient woman, aren’t you, Pia?” he whispered, though there was no disapproval in his tone.
“Yes, sir.”
“You need to be taught to obey me, don’t you?” he probed.
“Yes, sir.” Pia groaned.
Zoran pulled his hand away. Pia blinked in surprise.
“Undress me,” he ordered.
Pia instantly went to him, no hesitation. She grabbed his battle-stained tunic and pulled it over his head. Then, with the same urgency, she pulled the pants from his hips. She gasped at his hard erection. He lifted his feet to help her with his boots. When she finished, she moved to touch him.
“I didn’t give you permission,” he said quietly, though he was pleased with her willingness.
Pia drew back.
“I’m sore from fighting,” he said, bringing to mind one of his most predominant fantasies of her wet body in the shower. “You will wash me and massage me. Come.”
Without giving her time to respond, Zoran turned and marched straight for the shower, turned it on, and stepped in. His body strained painfully, but he didn’t hide his arousal from her. He wanted her to see it. He wanted her to feel and explore him. Sitting on the seat, he placed his arms to the sid
e. It would be sweet torture, but he would let her get used to his body. He watched as she dutifully followed him in. Her nipples, still straining, were instantly moistened with droplets from the shower.
His motioned his fingers to the soap, and said simply, “Wash.”
* * *
Pia’s body ached with need and very significant places within her throbbed for Zoran’s touch. Her backside still stung with the pleasure-pain of his slaps and she didn’t think to disobey the command to follow him into the bathroom.
She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to stay here and have him tell her she was beautiful for the rest of her life. She wanted him to love her as she undeniably loved him. Her whole body shook with the torrent of emotions flooding between them. It was as if she felt every fiber of his body calling to her.
Water sprayed all around her as she stepped into the shower, wetting her hair. She pushed the locks away from her face and reached for soap. Eyeing him, she didn’t know where to begin. Seeing her dilemma, he lifted a foot. Pia dropped to her knees and began gliding her fingers over his flesh.
Zoran’s gaze narrowed as he watched her. She gripped firmly, massaging his calf muscles with her strong fingers.
Pia felt him tense as she worked her way up to his thighs. He was so strong—pure muscle. She rose on her knees, massaging his legs. Her eyes stayed focused on his arousal and the two soft globes beneath it as she worked her way over his large thighs. It quivered as she neared it.
Pia didn’t dare touch his erection as she worked over his hips to his stomach and chest. She rubbed and cleaned all the battle sweat from his glorious skin. Zoran watched her with eyes of liquid fire. She explored his arms and neck. She slid her fingers between his stronger ones as she lifted and washed his hands.
“Stand,” she whispered, unable to get his back.
Zoran’s brow lifted.
Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition Page 96
