Hers to Command (9 page)

S
omething about the way his eyes explored her body sent heat up and down her spine then straight to her lady-parts. She remembered the weight of him as he lay atop her. She remembered looking up into his gold-flecked eyes, feeling his mobile lips caressing her cheeks, feeling the rough brush of his beard on her tender inner skin as he—
mind on present business, Fleur!

“
Ahem,” she cleared her throat. “So, have you given this contract any further thought? Do you still find it so distasteful?”
Oh, by the gods, Fleur, show
some
subtlety. What is wrong with you?

“
Why? Are you going to ask me to marry you?” He eyed her dispassionately.

She
held his gaze steadily.
How did this conversation get away from me?
“Not today.”

“
Good.” He looked at the timekeeper on her table. “Your Highness, I am very short on time. I will continue this discussion with you another day.” He started toward her door.

“
You haven’t answered my question, sir!”

“
Yes. No,” he tossed over his shoulder as he left the room.

Arggg
h!
She slumped back onto the couch.
Yes? No?
What?
She replayed their conversation.

Have you given this contract further thought?
“Yes.” Do you still find it so distasteful? “No.”

Her mouth
gradually developed a delighted smile.

She wondered if her unabated arousal was
cinnagin’s
nasty side effect. Her warlord need only be in her vicinity and need flooded her. Her response was immediate, visceral and involuntary. But the most intolerable aspect of all was that, no matter how aroused, no matter how she teased or tormented herself, she could not find relief. Unwilling to confess her dilemma to a soul, she spent several intensely uncomfortable days in a vicious state of continual arousal. It came to a head when certain portions of the lower city started to lose their heat and light. To renew the heat and light source would require a working of the
Lesser Rite for Renewal of Small Flame
.

He is angry with me
, again.
Fleur had asked Ari to partner her in the
Lesser Rite
. Her polite request rapidly degenerated into confrontation.

“
I will not cooperate with this,” he said coolly. “I have given you my reasons. Resign yourself to waiting.”

“
You mean, until the
cinnagin
clears my body.” Fleur rearranged the figurine on the display shelf for the hundredth time. “According to you, I can’t orgasm without your semen in me. Do you
really
expect me to believe that? Elder Patricio would certainly have mentioned that side-effect.” She challenged him with her disbelief.

“
Yes. He certainly should have mentioned that side effect. He should also have told you if you were exposed to me too often with
cinnagin
in your system, I would control your orgasm permanently. Imagine how pleasant
that
would be.” Ari crossed his arms, his voice scathing. “This inexcusable ignorance of yours is another example of Elder Patricio’s inadequate preparation of you. You are exceedingly fortunate to suffer no further side effects resulting from our encounter.”

And
he was exceedingly fortunate she was controlling her temper. His arrogance was stunning.

“
Even if I did believe you, it is difficult to condense seven years of study into three without skipping something,” she shot back, defending Patricio. “This Lesser Rite is part of my obligation to our people. It would be irresponsible to neglect them. Certain portions of our city are already without heat and light. If you refuse to partner me, I will find someone else.
”
She straightened and held Ari’s gaze.

He returned her stare for a long moment.
“A
reasonable
woman would heed my words. You will not succeed without my cooperation.”

Fleur
raised her jaw in an obstinate gesture
. Arrogant ass.
“That remains to be seen.”

His head jerked in a silent nod.
He turned and left the small antechamber to her apartments.

The breath she let out was almost a sob.
Well, at least he left the door on its hinges. That is an improvement.
Her shoulders slumped in dejection. She wondered if Patricio was wrong in his assertion Ari cared for her.

She summoned a
palace page. “Summon
Magister
Fortunay, Tell him I need him.” Peregrine would help her.

* * * * *

Ari’s long legs made short work of the distance to the library he commandeered for his personal use.
Obstinate, pig-headed woman.
A slow satisfied smile crossed his face.
How it will irritate her to acknowledge I’m right.
With a lingering smile, he pulled out the leather desk chair and slouched into it, slinging one long booted leg over the wooden arm and resting his forearm on the desktop.

Admiration for her independence snuck into his
irritation at her ignorant stubbornness. Fleur was strong minded and tenacious with a solid sense of responsibility for her people.
Excellent qualities.
But he couldn’t cooperate for long. The consequences would be disastrous.

Courier bags
from the mobile command center arrived for him every day. Doral’s requests for his return were becoming urgent.
Well, his exceptionally competent second-in-command would handle it. It would be difficult to leave Fleur now. She needed him.

The subtle pleasure accompanying that thought irritated him.
I am only doing my duty to my future queen and my planet.
The young princess was exquisite, intelligent and astonishingly brave. She would make an amazing queen but he had no desire to be reduced to her consort.
I will tell Patricio to dissolve the marriage contract. When this war ends, I am going home to raise horses
.

With an audible thump, his head fell back.
No, I won’t.
He must find out what the Senzienza meant. He needed time to research why the princess pulled him so strongly. There must be some precedent, some explanation. And who is the ‘other’?

There was only one person to ask.

* * * * *

Ari
stood in Elder Patricio’s private apartments, a supplicant. His lips tightened into a straight line. He crossed his arms on his chest and stared at the ceiling.
I fucking hate this.
The muscles in his jaw clenched then released.

“I have a request.
”

The old man
regarded him cautiously. “Yes?”

“At the end of
the
Great Rite
, I felt the presence of
Her
, the
Senzienza
. I have felt the
Senzienza
before, but never so clearly.
She
left me with a maddeningly obscure directive.”

The elder sat back in his chair, his hands steepled in front of his mouth
, tapping his fingertips and thumbs. “Indeed.”

“
She
expressed—I can only describe it as a ‘push’ of urgency—then, ‘find the other’. I must know what
She
means.”

“Why do you think
the
L’anziano
can answer your question, Conte DeTano? You are the last
magister
alive to whom Verdantia speaks. DeGreggio and DeFlores are aware of
Her
but
She
does not speak to them. Who is the
L’anziano
supposed to ask?”

Ari paced back and forth in frustration. “
Something should be recorded in the thousands of tomes lining the Great Library—some reference to this happening in the past. You have hundreds of researchers and resources I cannot begin to match. I want them at my disposal. I want them looking for answers.”

Patricio was quiet for many long minutes, tapping his fingers together
once more. “All right, Conte. Consider your request granted.”

Ari nodded
, folding his arms across his chest. His sense of fairness prodded him sharply. “Thank you, Elder. I appreciate your cooperation.”

Behind Patricio’s steepled fingers
, a wry smile slowly distorted one side of his mouth. A glint of humor bloomed in his steady eyes.

Pain lanced through
Ari’s jaw as his teeth ground together. “The irony of that statement does not escape me.”

* * * * *

Seated at his commandeered desk, Ari turned another page fruitlessly scanning for the words
The Tetriarch, A Rule of the Three
. Slamming the book closed, he tossed it to the floor and reached for another on the teetering stacks randomly dotting the area around his desk. A light knock interrupted his research.

“
Conte DeTano, Your Lordship, please, if you would, Her Royal Highness has urgent need of you.”

At his raised eyebrows, Fleur’s chamber attendant
, Camilla, stammered, “Yes, I know. I know, Your Lordship. You warned her. We warned her. But she insisted she must try and, well…” The agitated and flustered Camilla flushed with color. “Oh sir, please, just come. You will see how it is.”

With a sardonic
, self-satisfied smile, he laid the book down and rose to his feet. “Of course I will come.”

It was only a short walk down the hall to the royal apartments.
He entered the bedroom to find a gloriously nude Fleur writhing on her bed in great distress. A highly aroused and very miserable young
magister
lay between her legs, propped on his elbows. A low growl began in Ari’s chest.

The young man was pleading with
Fleur. “Please, tell me what to do, Princess! Goddess, I can’t stand seeing you like this. Help me! What should I do? What do you need?”

“
Magister
Fortunay.”

Hearing
Ari’s low, murderous snarl, the wide-eyed
magister
gasped and scrambled off the bed, wincing as his rigid erection caught the bedding.

“
Sir! High Lord!
Magister
DeTano! Please, help her. I don’t understand. We have worked this
Lesser Rite
many times. We know it well, but…” The young fifth-level gestured at Fleur helplessly. “She cannot finish. She hangs just on the edge, tortured. I know it is my fault, it must be, but, oh goddess, just help her.” The young
magister
’s voice trailed off in abject confusion.

Ruthlessly smashing his homicidal fury at seeing another male intimate wi
th Fleur, Ari responded flatly. “Peregrine, you are not at fault here. Her Royal Highness is suffering from her own
pig-headed
stubbornness.” Disrobing as he walked to the side of her bed, Ari asked, “What rite were you attempting to complete?”

“
The Renewal of Small Flame
, sir.”

“
And where in the rite did you stop?”

“
At the end of the fourth quatrain, sir.”

“
Stand over there, Peregrine. Make yourself inconspicuous and shut up.”

Ari
moved on to the bed, pulled the princess close to his nude body, then snuggled between her unresisting legs. Propped on his elbows, Ari stroked her face. “Open your eyes, Princess. Your Royal Highness, look at me.”

She flung her arm over to hide her face.
“No. I don’t want your help. I
told
Camilla not to go for you.” She sniffed delicately. “I
don’t
need you and I am
not
pig-headed.” A small tear leaked out to trickle down her cheek.

“
Ah, sweet lady, I am afraid you do need me. But I stand corrected. You are not pig-headed. You are far too beautiful.” Ari considered for a moment. “Mule-headed? Hmm. Yes, I think mule-headed. There are some very lovely mules.”

“
Oh! You! You! Argggh!” Fleur stuttered to a stop. She struck out angrily, pounding at his shoulders—with no effect.

“
Come now, Fleur, let’s complete this small rite,” he coaxed, impervious to her flailing hands. “You distressed yourself and young Peregrine quite enough.”

“
Oh! Perry, are you…” She pulled back her arms and attempted to sit up. His chest bounced her right back into the feather pillows. She stiffened, then snarled at him. She looked as threatening as a hissing kitten. Ari bit back his laughter.