Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition (82 page)

Zoran stumbled in amazement that she actually tried to attack him in public, though he shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d warned him she was a fighter. Her long legs wound around his waist. Zoran jerked, throwing her over his body.

Pia flipped over his shoulder, through the air, and landed hard on the ground. She grunted as she fell forward, bruising her knees. Zoran descended upon her. Wrenching her arm behind her back, he hauled her to her feet.

Pia struggled against him, moaning slightly when he pulled her arm higher. She refused to scream. Her body tensed waiting for any opening to escape. Her lungs heaved for air.

“Behave,” Zoran ordered, giving her a hard shake. He pulled her back into his chest. Pia tensed. His mouth came close to her throat and she felt his teeth on her neck, biting lightly.

“Let me go,” she ordered.

“Do you concede the fight?”

“Never,” she said. “I’ll never concede to you, you lying bastard.”

Zoran pulled back from her throat. With a swift jerk, he twirled her into the air. Pia screamed in surprise. He caught her easily over his shoulder and stormed into the castle.

“
Draea Anwealda
,” the guard said at the front gate. His eyes were wide as he saw the struggling, screaming woman over the commander’s shoulder. Zoran nodded at him as if nothing was amiss.

Pia glared at the soldier as she was carted away. Suddenly, she dug her nails into Zoran’s back, clawing him.

Zoran flinched, arching as he loosened his hold. Pia kneed him in the chest and pushed up, falling over his back to the floor. Hitting the ground in a summersault, she rolled, hopped instantly to her feet, and ran for the castle entrance.

“Stop her,” Zoran ordered the guard, striding after his wife.

The guard instantly moved in her way, blocking her. Pia smiled cruelly. This man was obviously underestimating his prey. She ran faster. His arms widened as if to catch her. Pia ducked at the last possible second, kicking his legs out from under him. The surprised soldier landed on his back but sprang forward to grab her ankle as she tried to rush past.

Pia fell to the ground, bumping her chin on the hard earth. Her teeth jarred in her head and she kicked at the soldier’s head, barely missing.

Suddenly, Zoran’s hand was on the back of her hair, hauling her up. Pia moaned loudly, more in outrage than in pain.

“On your feet,” Zoran bellowed to the soldier, who instantly obeyed and stood back up.

This time Zoran wasn’t so pleasant in his restraint. He hooked a large arm around her neck and dragged her before him. When Pia tried to bite at his arm, he flexed his muscles and cut off her air. She struggled for breath, clawing at his arm to be free. Her head spun and her arms weakened. When her scratches lightened, Zoran loosened his hold. Pia gasped, clutching at his arm. He marched her down the long hall, dragging her when her feet stumbled at the awkward angle. He turned the corner to his home.

The door was still wide open and he frowned. He threw Pia inside, automatically noticing the hole in the wall and the panel that had been tampered with.

“Shut,” he hollered. The door slid closed. He seemed momentarily relieved that it still worked.

Pia stumbled forward but didn’t fall. Panting, she glared at Zoran. Bitter hatred shone in her gaze. She wiped her sore chin. There was blood when she drew her hand away.

They stood for a long time, staring at the other. Slowly, Zoran took a deep breath.

“What am I to do with you, Pia?” he asked softly.

The gentleness of his tone took her by surprise, but she quickly recovered. Her jaw throbbed, as she said, “You tell me,
Draea Anwealda
. That’s your title is it not, oh prison guard.”

“It means Dragon Lord,” Zoran answered, as if not liking the way the title came out of her snarling lips. It wasn’t respect in her voice. “I’m a guard. My official title is Captain of the Guard. I control all the Draig armies. It was you who assumed I was of lower ranking.”

“You let me assume.”

“You never asked.”

Pia’s mouth tightened.

Zoran relaxed. He took in her bloodied face and seemed almost sorry for it. “How’s your jaw?”

Her answer was a stubborn scowl.

“Gods’ bones, Pia,” Zoran said in frustration. “I’m not trying to be a tyrant. I’m trying to protect you. It’s not safe for you out at the training ground. Accidents happen all the time. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Have you ever thought that I don’t want your protection,” Pia said. “And if it’s the men you’re afraid of, don’t be. I can handle them. It’s not like they see me for anything more than one of the guys.”

“What, then, what do you want from me, Pia?”

Pia hesitated. As she looked at him, she didn’t know how to answer. A myriad of emotions flooded her. She wanted his respect. She wanted his...

She took a deep, trembling breath. She wanted him to look at her with longing. She wanted him to think her beautiful—even when she knew she was not. She wanted him to touch her, to kiss her.

“Freedom,” she answered simply.

Mistaking her request, he turned his tortured gaze to her. “I can’t give you a divorce. I told you that already.”

“I meant freedom to leave this house, to be myself, and do what I want to do. If you want me as your wife, Zoran, then treat me as a wife, not one of your men. Respect me as your wife. Respect that I’m not some simple woman who is content to cook and clean and stay home all day. That’s not who I am. I was raised on a military training base. I was taught to fight and defend myself. That’s who I am. It’s what I do. It’s all I know how to do.”

“You wish me to treat you as a wife,” Zoran murmured. He braved a step forward. She didn’t run. He watched her carefully, as if ready for her to strike at him. She didn’t. He stopped before her, not touching her, as he said in a low tone that gave her whole body chills, “Yet, you do not act as a wife.”

Pia knew he meant that she didn’t go to him as a wife goes to a husband. She stiffened, too afraid to answer. What could she say?

“You do not kiss me when I ask for it,” Zoran continued. His eyes bore into her, as intimate as a caress of his hand, though he didn’t move to touch her. “You do not look at me with pleasure or desire. You don’t ask me to touch you. You don’t come to touch me.”

With each sentence, his words became softer.

“There’s more to marriage than...” Pia frowned, looking at the floor. She couldn’t say it.

Zoran brooded in silence, waiting for her to speak.

“You ask that of me, yet there’s no honesty between us. I didn’t even know what you do all day until I sneaked out and discovered if for myself. We’re strangers, Zoran. Don’t you see? How can I...? How can we...?”

“All right,” Zoran said, lifting his finger to her shoulder. He trailed his touch lightly down her arm, not pressing forward with his whole hand. “Here’s the deal. You want something. I want something. You give me what I want. I’ll let you have what you want. You’ll be given full freedom to roam outside these walls, so long as you let me know where you are, and so long as you listen to me and heed me. This is my world, Pia. I know the dangers in it.”

Pia froze, instantly rejecting the deal in her head, but agreeing to it in her body.

“What do you want?” she asked, shaking.

“I want you,” Zoran said seriously. Pia gasped at the bold statement. He drew his hand down her side to her quivering ribs. “I want you to answer two questions for me.”

Pia’s expression fell. She wondered at the disappointment curling in her limbs. “Is that your only stipulation?”

Zoran edged closer, letting his hand fall full on her side. Taking his free hand, he brushed at her bloodied chin, wiping it partially clean. “Do you want there to be more?”

“No.” Pia shook her head. It was a lie.

“You’re sure?” he persisted. He worked his hand beneath her black shirt to her waist.

Pia tried not to tremble. Was it just her or did his mouth draw closer? She stared at it, wishing he’d force another kiss on her. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Do we have a deal then?” Zoran asked. “You’ll answer two questions—fully and honestly?”

Pia thought of her freedom. Slowly, she nodded her head. Her voice was weak, as she answered, “Deal.”

“Tell me how you got this scar.”

Pia blinked. The question took her by surprise and she jerked away from his searching hand. She said simply, “It was a knife. Next question?”

Zoran’s arms fell to his sides, away from her. He tried to hide his disappointment. He wouldn’t be put off. “Whose?”

“Is that your second question?”

“No, it’s part of the first.”

Pia would’ve sworn his eyes again changed to a golden hue. The genetic anomaly made it hard for her to think straight.

“The deal was for fully and honestly,” Zoran said. “Whose knife?”

“My father’s,” Pia answered. Her jaw and her eyes hardened against him.

“Your father,” he repeated, somewhat awed. “Why did you call it a gift?”

“It was the last thing he ever gave me,” Pia said. Her short hair had come loose in their fight and she nervously pushed it back behind her ears.

“Why?” Zoran’s hand reached to touch her again but she barely noticed it. Her mind drifted into deeper thoughts.

“I answered your question,” Pia’s voice wavered and her eyes cleared. “What is the second?”

“How did you come to owe so much money to Galaxy Brides? Was it gambling debts?”

Pia’s lips tightened and her eyes watered. She looked at him for a long time. When her mouth finally opened to speak, she clipped, “I’ve changed my mind. Keep your freedom. I don’t want it. If you won’t let me out, I’ll just have to try and find a way to escape again.”

She tried to pull away. Zoran tightened his hold on her waist. “Why won’t you trust me?”

“Could it be because you don’t trust me?” Pia asked. “You keep me prisoner in this house all day. I honestly have no idea why you wanted to marry me. You won’t tell me who you are or what I am—”

“You’re a princess. I’m a prince. We live in a castle with the royal family,” he stated bluntly.

Pia blinked, waiting for his face to break into a teasing grin. It never came.

“Are you serious?”

“Extremely,” Zoran mused with a dry smile that held little pleasure. “You are a princess of the House of Draig. The queen is your mother, the king your father, your husband a prince. This fortress we live in is a palace. I’m the second oldest which makes me the leader of the military and in charge of security and defense.”

“Second?” she asked, listening very intently to everything he said. She could see the truth in his eyes. She was a princess.

“You also have three new brothers,” Zoran continued. His face gave nothing away. It had been his request for honesty and he would seem he could be true to his own word. “Ualan, the oldest will be king when my father dies. Yusef, beneath me in age, is the Captain of the Outlands. Olek, the youngest brother, is ambassador.”

“That’s why the queen was so concerned with my hair,” Pia said. “I didn’t understand it earlier, but she was afraid I was going to embarrass the royal family. That’s why you don’t take me anywhere, isn’t it? You’re ashamed of me.”

Zoran didn’t answer as she rushed on.

“Prince Zoran,” Pia said, shaking her head. “I should’ve known. That’s why you don’t want to divorce me. You’re a prince and it would disrupt your precious family honor and reputation. You’d much rather hide your hideous, ugly wife away from view.”

“That’s not true. I’m not ashamed of you. I just don’t know if I can trust you. You don’t seem to care about my family’s honor or your own. You have no concern about how your actions will reflect on our reputations. You just do whatever you want, never listening to what I say.”

“That’s because you haven’t said anything to me,” Pia said. “You didn’t tell me I was a princess and that my actions affected a kingdom.”

“Would you have cared?” Zoran eyed her hair. “I asked you not to cut your hair, and you did anyway.”

“No, you ordered me not to do it. Everything you’ve said to me has been an order not a request. There’s a difference, Zoran. If you would’ve spoken to me reasonably, I might have listened to you. I might not have done it.”

“I told you it would be considered a disfigurement,” Zoran defended. “I told you it would shame both of us.”

“Can we get over the hair already?” Pia asked in despair. “I know it’s ugly. I’m ugly. I get it. There’s nothing I can do about it. It will grow back. Now let the matter drop!” Pia lost some of her fight. She shook her head at him, turning to walk away. “Just leave me alone, tyrant.”

Z
oran watched his wife go
. Her dejected expression tore at his chest and an unfamiliar anguish overcame him. No one had ever dared to stand up to him like she had. She aggravated him, made him mad with lust, and taunted him to the point of explosion. She was bold, cunning, smart and strong.

When he’d seen her on the field, openly defying him in the place he commanded, he’d never wanted to kiss anyone as badly in his life. At that thought, he frowned. He’d seen the look on Hume’s face as well as the others. They were all smitten. And why wouldn’t they be? She was absolutely ravishing.

Zoran lowered his head, sighing. He could tell she really believed what she said. She truly didn’t know the effect she had on his men, on him. She had no clue as to her own feminine power. She had no idea what her bright, open smiles could lead men to believe. He’d been young once. He knew the hormones that raged within the younger soldiers. If they thought they had a chance with such a woman, married or not, they would take it without thinking.

Zoran began to follow her. He had to touch her, needed to, even if it was the barest of caresses. But, remembering her parting expression, he stopped. Perhaps it would be best if he left her alone like she asked, at least for the moment. Their tempers were too hot and they’d best cool before attempting, yet again, to figure out how to communicate.

Who was he fooling?

Zoran moved to follow her. He would not leave things unsaid.

“
P
ia
, wait,” Zoran demanded.

Pia stiffened. For once his words sounded more like a request than a command and so she didn’t deny him. She stopped, her head hanging down, and refused to look at him. She was too embarrassed.

“There’s more I have to tell you.” he said, as if needing to come clean.

“Oh, there’s more?” Pia sighed, weary from their verbal battles. She would much rather use her fists. Sarcastically, she added, “What? Do you have another wife somewhere? Some children hiding out in the next room? Oh, don’t tell me, there’s some evil monster on the loose and I got voted as the sacrificial offering.”

Zoran spun her around into his arms. She stiffened in surprise, but he didn’t back down. His eyes flashed with liquid fire.

“Quit saying things like that. I would never let harm befall you. You’re my only wife. It’s my duty to protect you,” Zoran said, tenderly brushing back a strand of her hair.

“I don’t need your protection, Zoran. I can take care of myself. I have always taken care of myself.”

“Then take something else from me,” he urged. Emboldened when she didn’t struggle to be free of his hold, he pulled her closer.

Pia shivered. Her eyes closed as he claimed her mouth with his. The kiss was soft, taking his time as he moved his mouth over hers. Slowly, she tried to respond. Her lips parted, offering herself to him.

Zoran growled, deepening the kiss. He found her hair, crushing her mouth to his. Pia moaned lightly. She lifted her hands to nestle against his strong, protecting arms. Maybe being protected wouldn’t be so bad.

To her surprise, Zoran tore his lips away with a frustrated growl. Her body ached, begging him on. She lifted her hand to stop him but then pulled it back to her side.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you’re trying.”

He looked at her, confusion tapering through his gaze.

Pia pulled out of his arms, pushing at his forearms until he let her go. “You don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to. It’s fine. I understand and—”

Zoran pulled her back into his fierce embrace. Pia moaned in surprise of the suddenness of it. This time, when he kissed her, he was none too gentle, letting her feel his slashing teeth, his hungry mouth, the onslaught of his uncontrolled desire.

He readily found her breasts, tearing at her shirt to get to them. Her scent was in his head, drugging him until he was trapped in a web of mindless obsession. He pulled away, only long enough to find a place to lay her down. Sweeping her up into his arms, he carried her to the couch. Pia trembled, as he immediately came over her.

His lips were on her neck, eagerly licking and biting at her tender flesh. He found her waistband, pulling away long enough to strip her pants from her body in one swift movement. Then, when she lay naked beneath him, he devoured her breasts—teasing the tips with this tongue and teeth.

Pia gasped, her hands weakly falling back in surprise at his onslaught of kisses. Zoran groaned, a truly animalistic sound, against her. She didn’t hold back for long. Her fingers sought to fulfill an adventure of their own. Trailing over hard muscles and sinewy flesh covered in his thick tunic, she urged him to her.

Zoran’s hands found her scar. He followed it with his mouth. Licking it, he trailed down her side. Pia’s stomach tightened and arched.

“Argh,” he growled passionately, as if in pain. He came over her once more. “I want you. I want to be inside of you. I must have you, now.”

Pia shivered at the hoarse admission. Suddenly, his hands were at his waist, freeing his all too potent arousal. His arm mindlessly pushed her leg over his shoulder to open her up fully to him. Now that she didn’t fight him, he didn’t hold back.

His mouth dipped to taste the wetness of her center fire, making sure she was ready for him. Her hips bucked against his hot mouth and his warrior’s body took it as an invitation to conquer. “Pia,” he moaned into her panting lips. “I can’t hold back...
ah
. I need to be inside you. I need to feel you.”

Pia tensed. Excitement and fear flooded her blood, sped faster by her racing heart. She didn’t understand him. He sounded as if he was in agony but looked like he enjoyed the suffering.

Zoran lifted up, guiding himself to her moist opening. He tested her depths. The tight muscles of her body squeezed the tip of his erection.

“So hot,” he said in approval. “So tight.”

She gasped. He was a big man and, though her body sought his, his size hurt.

“Zoran?” she asked, confused by the pain where need had so readily been. Her sex tightened, making it worse.

He pushed a little more, his hips working in shallow strokes as he drove persistently deeper.

Pia quivered in pain. She pushed at him, her caresses becoming resistant, as she was frightened by his uncontrolled claiming. Her legs flailed against his side, trying to knock him out of her.

With a flex of his hips, he embedded himself deeply into her. And, though she didn’t accept his full length, it was enough to cause a conquering yell of satisfaction to escape Zoran’s lips.

Pia’s eyes widened. Her body burned with liquid fire, a white hot pain that tore her apart. His body withdrew. Reacting on instinct more than reason, she swung viciously for his head. Zoran grunted in surprise, poised to thrust again. Pia smacked him another time, slamming his face with her fist so hard that he fell off the couch.

O
ne of Zoran’s
hands reached for her in his confusion as the other braced his weight against the floor. His body tensed, wanting its release desperately. In his fervor he forgot that he should slow down. He forgot he’d told himself that she needed him to be gentle. The way her hands pulled at him, it didn’t appear as if she wanted him to be gentle. He had felt her body jerk beneath him and thought she urged him on.

Zoran wanted her badly, always wanted her, and had tried to hold back from her. But when she moaned against his mouth, it was like a siren’s song calling him to his death. He knew he should stop, but he couldn’t refuse the passionate link between them. His body was on fire, taking over his mind until he couldn’t think to slow his assault on her body.

Everything about this woman drove him to madness. He lost all control.

When she squeezed him, it was like nothing he’d ever felt before. He wanted to feel her again. He pushed up, ready to rejoin her on the couch. But then he witnessed the look on her face. She was terrified of him.

Pia jerked into action. Taking off across the room, she ran naked into the bathroom. The paper thin door wouldn’t be able to stop him if he wanted to go after her.

Zoran watched her run, his head clearing of the pleasurable fog she’d worked around him. He felt the wetness of her on his body. But, he could also detect her fear of him and was mortified by it. He heard her scurrying across the bathroom floor to get away from him. Looking down, he froze. What had he done? The wetness he felt was her blood.

“Pia,” he groaned hoarsely. The evidence of his deeds glared at him from his still risen shaft. What had he done? It wasn’t lost on him that he, who’d sworn to protect her, had been the one to hurt her. Never had any of the women he’d been with bled. Remembering how unusually tight she had been, the desire drained from his limbs. His body burned and he ached to go after her, to protect and comfort her. He walked toward the bathroom, unsure what to say.

Zoran stood outside the bathroom door for a long time, feeling the rush of her agony wash over him and believing it was his doing. He wanted to run away from the torture of it. He didn’t run. He stayed, moving to a chair and opening himself up to the torment of it. He made himself take in her suffering. Then, he heard her cry, a soft sob she tried to muffle. He cursed himself for a monster, truly hating himself for the first time in his life.

P
ia cowered
on the bathroom floor, panting in apprehension. Her stomach throbbed and twitched with each movement, but she ignored it. She’d been in worse pain. What scared her was the look on his face when he’d done it. He hadn’t been the commander she was used to dealing with. His face had contorted in bittersweet agony. His eyes had glowed pure gold with an intent she didn’t understand. He’d wanted to control her, to conquer her and claim her. Pia couldn’t relinquish that kind of control. Staring at the door, she waited to see if he would come for her. He didn’t.

As she relaxed, she realized her body didn’t hurt as badly as before. There had been pleasure before the pain, a sweetness that stirred in her limbs anew. Looking down at her body, she saw blood on her thighs. The doctors had said something about stimulating her internal tissues, of the medicines affecting all her underlying structures. Had they done something to her sex? Is that what they’d been trying to say as she drifted in the twilight of drugged sleep? She stumbled toward the hot spring. Catching her reflection in the mirror, she saw her ugly face staring back at her. She saw the blood on her chin from the fight.

Princess Pia,
she thought with a look of utter disgust.
You’re no more a princess than a batidae is a prince.

How could he have looked at her like he had? She could barely bring herself to look at her reflection.

With angry jerks, she cursed herself for what she was. She pulled at her hair, hating herself for cutting it, for disfiguring herself more in his eyes. How could he look at her? How could he need her? She didn’t deserve it.

Pia stepped into the bath, scrubbing angrily at her skin to wash the blood away. And when the blood was gone, she kept scrubbing, trying to wash the pain from her aching heart.