DarykRogue (11 page)

Suteras cleared his throat, something he seemed to do an
awful lot. “I introduce you formally as Rayder and Xandra Tyrus.”

Shocked that her name had been changed, she frowned. That
just wasn’t done on Magonia. Women kept their last names, even though children
used their father’s last name. Before she could question it, Rayder took her
hand and lead her out of the canopy into the center of the room. The magic
she’d felt standing under the canopy with him had diminished in an instant.

“Congratulations,” the admiral said as he shook Rayder’s
hand.

Rayder kept a straight face and said nothing. Aramus frowned
at him but spoke no rebuke. Instead, he turned to Xandra and lifted her left
hand. “Congratulations to the new bride.” He eyeballed the ring. “A most lovely
present he’s bestowed upon you. And valuable to from the looks of it.” He pressed
a swift, cold kiss to her fingers.

Her skin crawled as she withdrew her hand, wanting to
immediately wash her skin. “Thank you.”

She didn’t want to thank him for being so crass about the
ring, but what else could she do?

Yoanda smiled. “I’m pleased you’re married and safe.”

“Thank you,” Xandra said automatically, finding the entire
exchange awkward.

Phili stood near the door like a sentinel with boredom
etched into her features. She approached and it was all Xandra could do not to
run from the room.

Phili came to Rayder first, reached up and grabbed his head
in both her palms. “Such a shame ladies will no longer have the pleasure of
your flesh.”

With a shameless smile, Phili drew his head down and planted
a huge kiss on his lips. Xandra’s blood came up, an unaccountable anger surging
so high she almost reached out to yank the impertinent chit away from her
husband. To his credit, Rayder grabbed Phili’s wrists and pried loose.

He reached for Xandra’s hand. “If you’d excuse us, we’re
eager to begin married life.”

Phili, looking put out, stepped away as Rayder started for
the door.

“Why, I never,” Phili said in a bored tone. “He didn’t even
thank you for the hospitality.”

“Shut up, Phili,” the admiral said. “He’s just hungry to bed
his mate. It’s natural.”

Xandra hurried to keep up with Rayder’s stride as they left
the admiral’s quarters and crossed the huge deck back toward Rayder’s cabin.
Men lined the deck, and she half expected them to jeer or cheer, but they
stayed quiet. Most kept blank expressions and continued their work, but here
and there she caught their quick glances as they leered. Her stomach tossed and
turned, and she almost felt ill. How humiliating to have them staring at her,
but it could have worse.

Her foot caught on the hem of her dress and she tripped. As
she gasped in surprise and started to fall, Rayder snatched her back and lifted
her full into his arms.

She gasped again, totally surprised. “What—”

“Are you all right?” The soft concern in his eyes and voice
as he held her sent a new, disturbing sensation into her belly. This one was
hot and filled with pleasure.

“Yes.”

He didn’t reply, just walked swiftly toward the cabin.

“Is it really necessary to rush?”

“Yes. I won’t have these bastards staring at you any more
than I can help.”

A smidgen of humor made it past her nervousness. “Ah, so
you’re troubled for my modesty.”

He threw her a quick look as they approached the cabin. “Yes
and no.”

His confusing agreement and contradiction kept her off guard
until they reached the cabin and he set her down long enough to unlock the
door. She stepped in ahead of him as new trepidation rose inside her. What
would happen next? He didn’t honestly expect sex right now, did he?

The click of the door shutting and locking gave her a voice.
“Listen, Rayder, we don’t have to—”

He moved so quickly she barely saw it. He buried his fingers
in her hair, tilted her head and kissed her. His mouth ravaged hers with heady
intensity, his tongue sinking deep and caressing hers with wild, luscious
strokes. She moaned and arched into him, caught up in his sudden passion.
Instinct flared, and she responded. Her tongue moved, tasted him with feral
intent. His cock pressed solid against her belly and excitement fluttered
through her stomach. Breathless, she flung her arms around his neck and dove
into the sensations rocking her. He tore his mouth from hers and peeled her
arms from around his neck.

“Wait.” His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, his eyes
red and lips parted. “Not like this. I won’t fuck you like a brute. Not your
first time.”

Amazed, she stared at him.

He stalked away, going to a small cabinet and opening it. He
gathered two tankards and a large flask. While she recovered her breath, her
body still throbbing with glorious sensations, he uncorked the flask and poured
an amber liquid into both tankards. He lifted one tankard to his mouth and
drank a copious amount without stopping then poured more amber liquid within. A
warmth spread over her she didn’t understand as he walked toward her with both
tankards in hand. His erection still pressed thick and long against his
trousers, but she tried to avoid noticing it. That
wasn’t
going to be
easy to do.

As he handed her one tankard, he said, “To our marriage,
however long it lasts.”

“As long as it takes for me to return to Magonia.”

“You aren’t ever going back there.”

The finality in his low voice shocked her. Anger followed
quickly. “You won’t command me like that. I won’t allow it.”

He laughed, soft and certain. “Oh? A few days from Magonia
and already you’re a true Dragonian woman. I like that.”

She started to speak, but when he threw back his drink then
wiped his mouth, she did the same. The fiery liquid burned her throat, but she
barely choked on it.

Rayder’s deep, hearty laugh caught her off guard. “You’ve
had liquor before?”

“Do not be so surprised.” She returned his smile. “I’m only
twenty and three, but I’ve managed to sneak in a few drinks when my parents
weren’t looking.” When his eyebrows lifted in disbelief, she jumped on it. “You
doubt me?”

He laughed again, and the accepting quality of his chuckle
made worries dissolve. “I suppose I’ve judged you unfairly, just as you’ve
judged me.”

Not sure she wanted to admit she could have been partially
wrong about him, she asked. “How do you see me?”

“You’ve been sheltered and repressed. Given few options in
life. Men have tried to control you and sometimes succeeded.” His gaze
glittered, but the red had disappeared. “You’ve been good about following the
rules until recently. Something changed all that.”

Afraid he could look inside her and somehow extract the
truth, she frowned. “I believe in many of the things the Chronicles of Magon
say.”

He snorted softly. “Are you sure? Women are allowed to drink
liquor?”

“No.”

“Yet here you are. Breaking the rules. How does that work?
How can you believe in a book that is full of shite about a woman’s place?”

She’d never heard such passion in a man’s voice,
particularly when it came to defending a woman. She certainly hadn’t expected
it from him. “I’ve loosened my beliefs over the last year considerably, but
that doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned all propriety.”

“Last night you allowed me to stroke you between the legs,
to touch you where no man has ever touched you. To suck your nipple. Is that
allowed in your Chronicles of Magon?”

Challenged, her blood heated and her face flamed. “No.”

“Then own up to it, my beauty.” His voice was liquid soft
and rumbling deep. “You’re breaking the rules with me. What does that say about
you?”

“That I’m…” Shame washed through her. “Sinful.”

“I think it says you’re learning the truth. That women are
equal to men. That women deserve freedom and happiness. On Dragonia, women have
that.”

Astonished, her brows knitted as she thought about what he’d
said. She held out the tankard. “I think I’ll need another.” He grinned and
returned to the table to pour. Curiosity turned her in another direction. “I
thought the ceremony was to be on deck.”

“I told the admiral I wouldn’t subject you to other men’s
stares. At first he balked, but he gave in soon enough.”

He came back with her tankard and this time she sipped the
liquor and allowed the heat to flow downward slowly. Something that resembled
admiration started inside her. “Thank you. I didn’t expect…”

“You didn’t expect me to care for your feelings.”

“No.”

He tossed back the reminder of his drink and returned it to
the cabinet where he set it down. “Don’t admire me too much, Xandra. My
feelings for you are temporary. Born of lust.”

He gripped the side of the cabinet with both hands, his
knuckles showing white as he lowered his head and closed his eyes for a moment.
He returned to her, his eyes flaming, his cock looking even harder and thicker.
He took her tankard from her and slid it onto a table nearby.

Anger flared under her skin at his words. She wanted to lash
out. “How can you be a slave trader and believe about women what you just told
me?”

He drew her into his arms. “Because I’m not the man you
think I am. Let’s leave it at that. It’s safer.”

“For whom? You or me?”

He leaned nearer, his hands caressing up and down her back.
“I’m not going to take you tonight. When and if you decide to give me your
virginity, it has to be on your terms.”

His hands rucked up the back of her dress and cupped the
globes of her ass. He squeezed and she gasped in surprise and arousal. Her
palms spread over his chest, taking in the uncompromising hardness beneath her
fingers. Thick desire swirled in her stomach—she recognized it from last night,
the same slow and inevitable craving.

“What if I don’t ever want more…sex with you.”

He kissed her forehead then her nose then her mouth. His
lips trailed to her ear where he swirled his tongue and caused a soft gasp to
leave her throat. “I never said no sex. I just won’t fuck you.”

His harsh word, which she’d heard even in Magonia and knew
what it meant, didn’t offend her. No, it caused a new flame to burn low and
catch fire between her legs. “I’m your wife. Aren’t we supposed to have sex?”

His breath whispered over her earlobe. “Oh yeah. That’s what
everyone outside this cabin thinks we’re going to do.” Rayder pressed his hips
to hers. “I want you. I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you. What I
feel for you isn’t sweet or pretty or neat. It’s hot. It’s dirty. It’s the most
animal feeling I’ve ever had. I’ve never wanted to fuck a woman more than I
want to fuck you. And I’m afraid of that.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s obsessing me. Stalking me like a
bastia
in the jungle.”

“Bastia?”

“A nasty lizard several yards long. Has a horrible bite.”

She shivered, but not from fear as his lips traveled over
her neck with soft attention. “I’m like a lizard? How flattering.” He slapped
her butt and she yelped in surprise at the small sting. “What are you—”

“You’re mine.” His statement was rough and uncompromising.

“What?”

“Now that we’re married, no man would dare touch you or harm
you. He knows if he did I have license to kill him.”

A little perturbed, she came back with, “How barbaric. I
thought you said women in Dragonia are free.”

“They’re free. You don’t understand my meaning. The people
on this ship claim to be Dragonian, but they don’t follow the general rules of
society.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Obviously not.”

“Women are precious in Dragonia. The people are going
sterile and few have babies any longer. That’s one of the reasons why Drakus
Fina buys slaves from Magonia and gives them to Dragonian men. He believes that
if we breed with Magonian women, we’ll repopulate our continent again.”

Shocked, she asked, “Do you believe that?”

“I think it makes sense. Our continent and yours have been
too isolated from each other for many hundreds of years. Perhaps we need to mix
our bloods.”

“So you condone this Drakus Fina, whoever he is, taking
women as slaves?”

Conflict simmered in his eyes, but his desire for her was
overwhelming it. “I’m trying to explain while you’ll need to act a part while
on this ship. Admiral Aramus isn’t like most Dragonian men. He’s like Drakus
Fina and has little or no regard for women as equals. As my wife, you’ll have
less trouble from him. Don’t let him know what you really think and feel. Be
subservient. Keep your mouth shut around him. Do as I say.” He slipped his hand
behind her neck and held her steady, eyes fierce and hot. “If he thinks at any
time you’re not subservient enough, he may try to have you thrown overboard or
instantly sold. Perhaps even sold to someone as odious as Farcam. He won’t care
that you’re my wife if you piss him off enough.”

Silence drowned the room as she shivered at the implication.
Emotions boiled up inside her. Fear. Defiance. Mostly defiance. “But—”

He smothered her protest with a kiss, cupped her ass and
dipped down to line up his cock with her pussy. She groaned as he lifted and
instinctively her legs wrapped around his waist. His cock rubbed and stroked
along her folds as he walked to the bed and released her.

“Sit on the edge of the bed,” he said.

“Why?”

“Wait and see.”

He reached down, removed her shoes and tossed them aside.
Before she could muster one word he snatched her dress up over her head and
off. She was naked just that quickly. A flush covered her body as he examined
her with flaming eyes. He’d take her now. He seemed too aroused to do
otherwise, and she realized that she didn’t care.

Yes, she did. This beast of a man, a slave trader, did
things to her she couldn’t comprehend. She’d heard of women falling to urges
forbidden in the Chronicles of Magon. Yet Ketera had explained to her that on
Dragonia these thoughts and inclinations were even encouraged. The words of the
wedding ceremony helped confirm that. And Daryk Ones, like this man, well, that
was something all together different. She didn’t know if Daryk Ones were
different from other men on Dragonia and Magon. Perhaps now she’d find out.