Dragon Lords 4-Warrior Prince (16 page)

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. Zoran’s body tensed, wanting its release desperately. In his fervor he forgot that he should slow. He forgot that she needed him gentle. The way her hands pulled at him, it didn’t appear as if she wanted him gentle.

"Argh," he growled passionately, painfully. He came over her once more. Onslaughting her throat with his kisses, he groaned, "I want you. I want inside of you. I’ve got to 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 couldn’t hold back. His body was desperate to end the pain of his suffering.

His mouth dipped to taste the wetness of her center fire, making sure she was ready for him. She was and Zoran growled at the sweet taste of her. Her hips bucked against his hot mouth and his warrior’s body took it as an invitation to conquer. Everything about this woman drove him to madness. He lost all control with her.

"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 looked as if he was in agony.

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

"Ah, you’re so hot," he moaned in pleasure and approval. "You’re so tight. Oh, Pia."

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

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

Zoran groaned to feel her squeezing him. She was like nothing he’d ever felt before. The brazen whores who visited the planet had never felt so good, so tight, so hot, so achingly moist. He growled and pushed a little more, his hips beginning to work in shallow strokes as he drove persistently forward.

"Ugh," Pia quivered in pain. Suddenly, she pushed at him, her caresses becoming resistance, as she was frightened by his uncontrolled claiming. Her legs flailed by his head, trying to knock him out of her.

Zoran felt her body jerking and thought she urged him on. 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 manly 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.

One of Zoran’s hands reached for her in his confusion. He stopped as he witnessed the abused horror on her face.

Petrified with fear, she shook. Pia jerked into action. Taking off across the room, she ran naked into the bathroom, knowing the paper thin door wouldn’t be able to stop him if he wanted to come through.

Zoran watched her run, his head beginning to clear of the pleasurable fog she’d worked around him. He could still feel the wetness of her on his body. But, he could also detect her fear of him and was mortified by it. The bathroom door shut and he heard her scurrying across the 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 viciousness glared at him from his still risen member. What had he done? It wasn’t lost on him that he who’d sworn to protect her, had been the one who’d 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, aching to go after her, to protect and comfort her.

Pia 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 cool headed commander she was used to. 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. She shivered, stumbling to 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 snorted to herself with a look of utter disgust. You’re no more a Princess than a toad is a Prince.

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

With angry jerks, she cried--cursing herself for what she was. She pulled at her hair in anger, 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 threw herself 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.

* * * *

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 swallowed, wanting to run away from the torture of it. He didn’t run. He stood, moving to a chair and opening himself up to the torment of it. He sat, making himself take in her suffering. Then, he heard her cry, a soft sob she tried to muffle to silence. He cursed himself for a monster, truly hating himself for the first time in his life.

* * * *

Pia awoke the next morning on the bathroom floor, curled in the vague warmth of Zoran’s overlarge robe. Her body was so stiff from the hard stone that it took a moment before she could even move. Her eyes opened, automatically going to the bathroom door. She’d stayed up most of the night, watching to see if Zoran would come after her. He didn’t and Pia wasn’t sure what she felt was relief.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed to standing. Her stomach twinged slightly and she remembered all too vividly what had caused the ache. Going to the bathroom door, she lightly slid it open. Hesitantly, she poked her head outside.

"Pia?"

Pia jumped to hear her name. Glancing over, she saw Zoran was sitting on the couch. Her first reaction was to slam the door and continue hiding out like a coward. But Pia wasn’t a coward. She stood tall, regally wrapping his robe around her trembling body as she looked boldly at him. Her confidence wavered as she saw his handsome face, and she had to look away.

Zoran looked as if had waited there all night for her. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin and stepped out of the bathroom.

Zoran watched his wife. He’d sent word to the field that he would be late. He wanted to wait for her to come out on her own. Leaning forward, he looked at his hands, not knowing what to say to her. He’d seen her fear, felt her rejection, and it hurt him deeply. He still wanted her so badly, and she could barely bring herself to look him in the eye.

There was an awkward silence. Pia’s hand tapped along the outside of her upper thigh. When he didn’t speak, she glanced up.

"Pia...?" he began, his voice full of question. There was a rift between them and neither one knew how to cross it.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She hesitantly walked toward him. Zoran didn’t move.

Stopping several paces away, she said the only thing she could think of, "Shouldn’t you be at work?"

To Zoran the words sounded bitter and hard. She didn’t want him there. He couldn’t blame her. Slowly, he stood and said, "All right, I’ll go, Pia."

When he turned from her, Pia had the strangest urge to run to him. Her eyes devoured him now that he walked away. Zoran disappeared into the bedroom. When he came out, she hadn’t moved. He’d changed his tunic, donning another black one.

He looked at her wan features from across their home. There was nothing he could say to appease her. How could he even begin to say he was sorry? "You’re free to leave. I’ll reprogram the door for you."

Pia nodded weakly. She wanted to run to him, but her fear of rejection and ridicule held her back.

Zoran said a few commands and then turned to her.

Pia repeated the words, "open" and "shut" at his signals. Her voice was hoarse and strained but the door obeyed her.

Before he left, he nodded his head once at her and said, "I’m sorry, Pia. I never meant to hurt you."

Pia’s legs weakened as the door shut behind him. She sunk wearily to the floor. Her heart poured out of her and she cried anew.

* * * *

Zoran didn’t come home that day. Pia went only as far as the outer halls, stopping to look for him, debating whether or not she should try and find him. She wanted to say she was sorry too. That she shouldn’t have run away. That she could now remember the pleasure of his touch and wanted to be a wife to him, if he could still bring himself to have her. She turned around each time, too much of a coward to make it to the end of the hall.

Zoran also didn’t come home that night. Pia waited up for him, falling asleep on the couch sometime during the early morning hours. When she awoke the next morning, she was still alone.

* * * *

Zoran took the soldiers through night drills, letting them rest in hour-long shifts. The war games were normally great fun, though Zoran’s heart wasn’t in it. He watched with a melancholy the men could easily see on their leader’s stern face. As dawn approached, Agro, who was always one of the first to volunteer for the night games, drew near him.

"I’ll finish up here," Agro said quietly. They’d all seen the way their leader was pushing himself. "Why don’t you go to your wife?"

Zoran’s expression said it all. Agro stepped back from the man, gulping to see the warrior’s raw pain and self-loathing. Zoran shook his head in denial, continuing to yell out his orders.

* * * *

Pia lifted her hands in the air, slowly falling back to arch her stomach before her legs moved over into a leisurely back flip. The exercise was helping her sore insides to relax, though it did nothing for her downtrodden spirits. She watched the exercise room ceiling go past as she fluidly repeated the process. On the third try, she froze, stomach arched. Someone was at the door.

She flipped herself around to her feet. Brushing her hands, as she rushed through the living room to the front hall, she yelled, "Open."

Even though she should’ve known it wouldn’t be Zoran, she was still disappointed. Soon, her disappointment turned to surprise.

"Nadja?" Pia asked, blinking to see the woman she’d known from the ship.

"Hello, Pia," Nadja said, her voice soft. Her light brown hair was pulled neatly back and her blue eyes shone pleasantly from her porcelain skin. She held a small bag in her nervously twisting hands. When Pia only looked at her, Nadja asked, "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh, yeah," Pia said. "I’m sorry. It’s just I’ve been cooped up in here for so long, I feel as if I’ve forgotten my manners."

Nadja smiled, her nervous stance seeming to relax. Pia ordered the door shut behind her.

"Can I get you anything?" Pia asked, beginning to move toward the kitchen. "I think we have juice."

"No, I’m fine," Nadja said. She looked around the Japanese style home and smiled to herself, "I see you got the Princess suite, too."

Pia laughed, almost feeling relief to learn that someone as tolerable as Nadja was a Princess. She’d been worried she’d have to spend the rest of her life surrounded by women like the brassy Gena. "You too?"

Nadja nodded and an instant camaraderie was struck up between the women.

"It’s just so nice to see one of the other women from the ship," Nadja said as Pia led her in. "This planet has entirely too many men, which wouldn’t be so bad except they are all so mannish."

Pia laughed, instantly understanding. "So which Prince did you get?"

"Olek."

"Ah, the ambassador." Pia nodded wisely.

"What about you?" Nadja asked, though she’d already been told by her husband.

"Zoran."

Nadja noticed the woman’s eyes clouded slightly as she said the name.

"What do you have there?" Pia asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Oh!" Nadja lifted the bag. "Before I show you, I have to apologize in advance."

Pia frowned.

"It was my husband’s request," Nadja said. She reached into the bag and pulled out a hair extender. "He said your husband cut off your hair and asked if I could...."

Nadja hesitated, swallowing in embarrassment.

"Grow it back for me," Pia said with a wry grin when Nadja didn’t finish. The woman nodded. "Zoran didn’t cut my hair, I did."

"Oh," Nadja exclaimed. "I didn’t mean to insult you. I like your hair short."

"It’s all right," Pia laughed. Nadja had been quiet on the ship but she found she liked the agreeable woman. "I guess its called disfigurement. It means I shamed myself or something. You should see the looks the people gave me when I went outside. It was like an evil spirit came into their midst. I was waiting for mothers to rush their children away screaming."

Nadja giggled. "Well, it’s a planet of men. Go figure they’d come up with a tradition to keep their woman looking soft."

"The Queen stopped by just to look at it," Pia continued with a look of vast amusement. "I thought she was going to throw up on me."

"Mede was probably mad at her son. She says they are a handful," Nadja admitted. "The Queen isn’t so bad."

Pia looked at her in disbelief.