And, he hadn’t even commented about the dress— “I’ll be damned if I ask him about it!”
She lifted his bag onto the chair and hesitantly pulled out the black lingerie—this was what truly troubled her. “The honeymoon gown,” she whispered, running her hand carefully across the fragile mesh. “Tolly Kay had said that the style was all the rage.”
Sarra knew how she would look in the dark outfit, for she had seen it on her image in the clothier’s hologram. Still, she wondered how it would feel. It seemed like ages ago when she had shuddered to think that Taylor Gray would find pleasure with this kind of lingerie. So much had happened since then; she was no longer a virgin or a girl. She wanted to wear it for a true man, to have his powerful, large hands rip it off her …
“No!” she whispered vehemently. “I’m going home!”
She deposited the garment on the floor and went to the port. As she watched the lights of space, the more unpleasant consequences of her freedom invaded her head. Lord Gray was still her betrothed … Raine’s fate … How could she imprison him for forever but keep herself away? How could she bear locking him up, when even now, with him all bound and defenseless, she yearned to go to him, and …
Simply, she would have to be strong. She was the princess royal and she had her responsibilities. He was her prisoner now and she would treat him as such. But, she couldn’t leave him like that all the way to Adriel!
“Careful, Sarra, careful!”
She took up the gun, his travel bag, and the handcuff’s remote, and strode with purpose to his cell. He was staring off at the stars, and his green eyes lit up when he saw her. She ignored how the brilliance affected her heartbeat and dropped his bag onto the bed. Cautiously, she freed his wrist, keeping the tie in her grip while moving backward.
“Never let it be said that the Princess Sarra is not humane. You may dine and bathe—here are your clothes. It may be a long while before I feel this generous again. I warn you—don’t make me angry. Try nothing unless you want to feel the laser again. And remember, this M-5 can just as easily kill.”
He shrugged, easily. “Your wish is my command.”
Satisfied, she touched the remote, and the electronic signal snapped the shackle apart. She kept the gun level on him, refusing to dwell on his nakedness while he took his bag and sauntered off to the bath.
Sarra sat fidgeting in her chair. She nervously eyed the door, recalling all the ways that he had tricked her before. This time, she felt confident that she was in control. But, even so …
When he entered the cabin, she jumped onto her feet. He was fresh and showered, and he wore a pale-blue half-sleeve shirt and black leggings, looking incredibly grand as he nonchalantly went about finding a meal in the galley.
“Care to join me?” he asked pleasantly.
She sank down to her chair. “No,” she said, miffed that he could be so at ease with a weapon set on him.
He sat on the lounge and took a bite from his tray.
Sarra had presumed that it wouldn’t be too difficult to keep him under guard, but she was finding that she was wrong. Although she was in command, it seemed like he believed that he was. He was trying to intimidate her, scrutinizing her, chewing slowly and scarcely glancing down when he took his next mouthful. She soon found herself in a stare down, and she narrowed her eyes, determined. But, when he absently rubbed the sore bruise that marred his cheek, she felt a twinge of guilt and had to look away.
He chuckled quietly. “That gown. You are so dazzling—like fire.”
“Stop it!” she protested breathlessly. “I bet this wasn’t even intended for me!”
“It was. I planned on giving you the gifts to remember me by—mementos of our time together. But I notice that the black lingerie is missing.”
Sarra had an image of it, discarded on the bridge’s floor. She didn’t know why, but she began blushing.
“I wanted you to wear it when I was gone, to ache for me to free you from the threads. You would send a call into the winds and I would hear, and come—to kiss your sweet lips, feel your silken skin, your hair … Your breast would be my haven, and your arms, my passion. Spreading your wings, we’d ride the stars.”
She swallowed hard, desperate to stop the stirring within her.
His rich, deep voice grew even huskier. “I want you, Sarra. Don’t deny me my last days. Wear it for me, now?”
She shot up, brandishing her gun. “Enough! You would trick me with your charm, would you? Back! Back to the bed!”
He put his tray down and obeyed, and an expression not unlike genuine hurt crossed his face, as if he had bared his private soul and she had heartlessly scorned his emotion. He slipped his wrist into the handcuff and waited patiently for her to lock him in. She did, and then quickly roped his other wrist, lest the gentler voice inside of her defeated her resolve.
“So, my lovely captor’s heart has turned to stone. What am I to do here? Stare like a blind man at the suns—tormented by visions of you? Spend my final hours yearning?”
“You forget that I haven’t decided your fate. You may have a lifetime of torment ahead!”
She moved for the bridge, but his voice made her stop, reluctantly.
“Won’t you give me something to ease my pain? Music? A computer?”
Without another word, she left him.
Sarra reconsidered after her conscience reprimanded her—what would be the harm? Raine smiled wryly when she gave him the voice-activated game computer. She was certain that he couldn’t send out any messages with the simple toy—it would provide no means of escape. She returned to the bridge, feeling gracious about her kindness.
Still, she was being selfish. With his mind occupied, she didn’t have to worry so much about being summoned to him by his mystic powers.
Would she always want to answer?
Staring out at the candescent heavens, for an insane moment she was nearly overwhelmed by the desire to turn the ship around and search for some distant planet where lovers can live in peace.
The royal had her duty. It was too late.
“My message must have reached Father, by now.”
***
“Princess Sarra hailing King Ellis of Adriel. Father, I am safe. I’ve stolen a ship! I’m coming home!”
“She did it!” Ellis cried. “My little girl did it!”
He could scarcely believe his ears and his eyes. Her healthy face filled the viewer, the divine sight lifting a great weight from him. Before, when he had learned that she was being held captive on Myrrh, and that the ship she was on had crashed, he prepared to die. Yet, when the revolutionists sent word, insisting that she hadn’t been aboard, he knew that they spoke the truth. He knew it in his heart that she still lived.
He had fallen ill worrying about her, his child all frightened and alone, but he had underestimated her courage. She had slipped away from her abductors and had stolen a ship. He felt confident that she would have a safe journey home, for she had a knowledge and zest for space flight that surpassed his own.
“Take her last coordinates and the ship’s signature code,” he commanded of Groves, an advisor. “Find the zone that she is taking, and send a FAS squadron out to meet her!”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Groves said, bowing before he left the Royal Apartments.
“Glorious day!” Ellis beamed. “Zenno, call Alma to me.”
While the man obeyed, Ellis moved to the large window. His spirit was alive while he looked down on the sparkle on the Aurora Sea.
In but a few days he would have his beloved daughter beside him again!
***
A nightmare startled Sarra from her sleep, and she stirred, confused about where she was; she was in the bridge’s command chair. Relieved, she adjusted the seat to come into an upright position. She intensified the room’s lighting and went about checking the automated controls.
The dream had started out grand—she had been floating effortlessly within the tranquil heavens, weightless and hav
ing no need for air. Raine had appeared. He was a presence without form but he was handsome, a misty phantom against the night. He had beckoned her to him, wooing and whispering her name. Although she followed, she couldn’t reach him. Suddenly, his face was there—becoming brilliant, drawing all the radiance out of the heavens until his eyes shone like two massive green stars. Fearful and in awe, she rolled and tumbled across the dark, losing her balance, groping for him. There was a blinding flash and then he was gone, leaving her alone in the blackness—terrified, lost, desolate …
Sarra shivered. She stared out the main port to take her mind off the haunting images. She found no comfort in the celestial sky.
“How simple it is to command a ship,” she whispered aloud, and sighed. This was her fantasy come true—to pilot a spacecraft. Where was her elation? She had never flown one alone in her life, and she had conquered the challenge. She knew just what to do. Shouldn’t there be triumph and ecstasy? Perhaps, the reason why she felt so little was because she was of little use. A Human’s reflexes couldn’t even be compared with the precision of the automated helm. And, the vessel had easily battled a fierce cosmic dust storm with no help needed from her.
“It isn’t that,” she considered. “I govern the machine’s course. I rule it. It is my own destination that I can’t control.”
How she had wanted to explore! She longed to fly—to satisfy her spirit with the wonders of the universe and locate her place of happiness within it. But somehow, the stars now all looked the same. What did she hope to find, anyway?
“Is it myself that I search for? I want … I want …”
Sarra feared that she might have already found her adventure, infinite within a man, leaving her with nothing but a dismal future.
“I hate him. He stole away my illusions and filled me with … himself.”
Her tears came, and she angrily brushed them away.
She felt an odd, rushing surge within her belly, slid her hands to her waist, and sternly said, “No.”
“The anticipation with the mere thought of him! Once more with him—this time, of revenge. It is I who will be the blinding flash, leaving him lost in the darkness.”
***
Raine wasn’t certain what woke him. He glanced around the dim cabin and believed that he was alone. When she stepped out from a shadow, he wondered if he was still dreaming.
The princess gazed at him with her sensual dark-blue eyes. She wore the black lingerie outfit, looking as ethereal as a goddess. Her golden hair was in a three-tiered coiffure and her high cheeks blushed with her excitement. Her crimson lips parted slightly in a pout—like she was eager for lovemaking but she didn’t want him to know.
She raised the glass she held and took a sip. “Would you like some wine?” she asked, silkily.
Raine wasn’t about to refuse. “Please.”
She aimed the M-5 at him and backed a safe distance away, freeing the handcuffs with the remote. Then he unfastened the cloth rope, and he rose, moving in a non-threatening manner, immensely curious. He took his glass from the table and sampled the red, tangy spirit. She let him visit the bath, and when he returned she waved him back to the bed. He put his hand in the shackle and was locked in, silent in his anticipation while she slunk near, the ebony robe flowing about her like a thundercloud.
She secured his other wrist with the tie, leaving him helpless. After propping a pillow beneath his head, she sat beside him and slid her hand behind his nape, holding the glass to his lips.
“Drink.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Demanding one, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
He obeyed. When he had had enough, she herself took a draught and placed the glass down on the floor. She closed her eyes and deliberately ran her tongue pointedly across her top lip, savoring the wine’s essence. His mouth watered while he watched, wondering if this would be pleasure or pain.
His heart beat faster when she straddled him, languidly pressing her loins against his. Her long sooty lashes dropped over her mischievous eyes as she leaned forward to kiss him, long and thoroughly. Already maddened with desire, he tried to crush her to him, but he was powerless.
Beauty was in her hands while she unbuttoned his pale-blue shirt … She rolled off him and she was gone. He hadn’t long to guess, for she came back, holding a very ominous looking knife. As she contemplated its sharpness, a cold sweat broke out on his skin. Clearly, she wanted revenge for all the times he had wronged her. He fought the urge to cringe when his unpredictable captor sat upon him. He decided to trust in his Maker …
Levelly, she said, “You are at my mercy. I can do anything I want to you. But, for now …”
The siren took his collar and drove the blade from there down the sleeve. She did the same to the other side and then pulled the torn garment out from behind him, tossing it aside. She threw the knife away, and he exhaled.
“How does it feel to have the clothes ripped from your back?”
Raine relaxed. “A new experience, I must confess.”
“I should have guessed,” she softly retorted.
Hesitantly, she touched his bruised cheek. “Does this hurt?”
“Not now.”
Sarra took a moment to marvel about his wide shoulders, caressing the strength of his arms until she met his bonds. She bent, placing her hot tongue on the tip of his breast and leisurely worked her way down to his lean waist. Raine clenched his teeth, disoriented by her sexuality while her fingertips teased his erogenous zones that she knew all too well. She unfastened his black leggings and began pulling them off … down passed his toes, leaving him with nothing but his undergarment. Taking his foot in hand, she kissed the top of it, placing her endearments from one calf to the other, relishing his masculinity and paying special attention to his muscular thighs. He was unsuccessful in stopping a groan, one broken and hoarse, while she glided her nose and chin across his hard, scantily clad loins, using the utmost tenderness that was physical torture to him. It was a long while before she quit her exquisite cruelty, but then she punished him with his vision.
She turned up the lights until the dim became a diffused glow. Aimlessly she moved about the cabin, tasting her wine. He knew that she was not as unaffected as she acted; he saw her rosy flush and the dampness upon her brow. He tried, but he couldn’t look away, catching glimpses of her shapely legs, her charms hidden beneath the sheer robe.
Finally, she stopped before him. He tensed from his eagerness. Slowly, with a bewitching smile, she guided the raiment off of her, to show what was beneath.
He shivered, overwhelmed by her beauty. The dark mesh scarcely shrouded her womanliness and the threads tightened slightly with her breathing, seeming to beg for the brutality of his hand. The enchantress reached up and artfully plucked the pins from her coiffure, discarding them until her golden tresses fell down like waves. He became aware that he fought with his restraints like a chained animal. He fell back and grimaced, hoping that he wouldn’t plead.
She crawled atop him and made a playful point of tickling him with her hair. When she rammed herself against his firmness, he heard how she gasped, and resolved to be patient …
Boldly, she dropped one round breast onto his lips, leaving him no choice but to agonize himself by desperately working to find her. He bit at the fragile strands and managed to cut a few, but when he was almost victorious, she gave him her other breast and made him start again. When he moaned in his vulnerably, she had compassion and helped him rip one free. He found the stiff point and sucked its sweetness like a starved man. She didn’t indulge him long …
She straightened and smoothly began drawing his undergarment down, tormenting him with her laziness. When he was naked, she lie down beside him and ran her warm palms over his narrow hips, and for the briefest instants she lightly stoked his hard length, making him certain that he would plead. He heard her break a number of threads and almost shouted in his relief, reasoning that she would have him then. But, as she straddled him a
gain, he realized that the sound was meant only to taunt him.
Defenseless, he watched while she plucked the décolleté from her, one string at a time.
“Sarra,” he rasped. “Free me. I need to touch you.”
She kept silent, but did hasten her destruction, tearing the garment until both round and gorgeous orbs graced his view. He ravished their ripeness like one demented …
Raine knew that he wouldn’t have to wait for her much longer. She was weakening and could no longer contain her whimpering. He became shrewd, using calculated jabs to make her surrender … but when the sensations became too much for her to withstand, she resisted and resumed the battle. He scowled and flexed his entire body in frustration. She began using her whole front, imploring herself across him with such wantonness that it would make a whore blush. He panted harshly and his heartbeat pounded wildly in his ears. His sweat trickled down his thighs. Never before had he been here …
Huskily, she said, “So you get a dose of your own medicine. So how do you like it?”
“I love it.”
She froze. “That isn’t fair.”
“It is,” he croaked out. “I’m a man. Difference is, I know when to quit. Anything you want—ask.”
“Apologize. Say you’re sorry for all that you’ve done to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t mean it.”
“Woman, finish what you started.”
Sarra shook her head and bit her bottom lip. She then endeavored to move her hands everywhere on him except for how he needed them to be. Desperately, she wanted to be with him—this was almost more than she could bear. He was more than ready, and she ached for the magic of his touch. Her desire was threatening to sweep her off …
But, that isn’t what she had set out to do. This man would make her miserable for the rest of her life and he must pay—
“Sarra!” he growled. “That’s enough!”
“Enough—for Raine Nicks?”
Queen of the Stars (The Royals of Adriel Book 1) Page 23
