Read Online SurrendersMischief by Alvania Scarborough - Free Book Online Page B

and his release
poured forth.
    He collapsed, spent.
    Head next to hers on the pillow, he drew labored breaths
into his lungs. Hot puffs of air heated his ear.
    She wriggled.
    Darias realized he was too heavy for her and rolled to one
side, a forearm over his eyes.
    A niggling awareness of having failed somehow jarred his
contentment. He frowned. He’d just had the best sex of his life, what could be
wrong? A yawn cracked his jaw. Tomorrow. He’d work it out tomorrow.
    * * * * *
    Riana awoke after a restless night. For a while last night,
she’d been certain she’d seen more of Darias’ layers at last. Sleepy as she’d
been, the thought had flitted through her mind that if she peeled them back far
enough, she’d find something she could use, or even find the man beneath the
barbarian. For a moment, before lust had scattered her wits, she thought she’d
succeeded. He seemed…she didn’t know…so vulnerable.
    She snorted silently. As if there were anything vulnerable
about the man. All he cared about was his own pleasure. Look at the way he
turned over when he was finished, leaving her unfulfilled. For the first time,
she’d truly felt like his slave.
    Staring at the carved ceiling, Riana went over her plan to
goad Darias into accepting a challenge. It was risky, but she was counting on
his belief that all women were intrinsically weak.
    He stirred beside her.
    Riana closed her eyes, feigning sleep. She waited until he
was out of bed and almost dressed before she spoke.
    “Why are the men of Nexar so afraid of women?”
    His head shot up and Darias pinned her with a molten-gold
gaze.
    “You asked that during your punishment. Where did you get
such a ridiculous notion?” He finished buckling his weapons belt around his
waist.
    “It’s obvious. Why else would you reduce women to slaves?”
    “All women are not slaves,” he refuted, staring down at her
from his great height. “You,” he pointed out, “are a slave. Bryta is not.”
    Riana lowered her lashes so he wouldn’t see the barb had
gotten under her skin. “Explain the difference between my position and
Bryta’s.” She traced a fold in the blue, almost black, spidersilk sheet. The
silk retained the warmth of his body and smelled of sex, evoking memories of
him. Inside her. Hot. Hard. Moving. Her stomach muscles clenched and she
resisted the temptation to throw her plans aside for the moment and jump his
bones. It wasn’t as if she had to worry about consequences. With her five-year
implant, not a chance existed of her getting pregnant.
    A good thing since she didn’t know if she could deny a child
his father.
    “Bryta belongs to Gaith. She is above you in rank.” Darias
seemed to think that finished the conversation. He sat down and tugged on his
boots.
    “I belong to you. You’re above him in rank. And what good is
rank without the power to back it up? Bryta may not issue even the smallest
command to a male, any male. All she is allowed to do is relay her master’s
orders.”
    “She is a woman. It is not her place to issue commands.” He
bent and laced the left boot.
    Riana got the impression he was avoiding her gaze. She
almost laughed aloud at that thought. Darias was too arrogant, too certain that
his way, Nexar’s way, was the only way.
    “I ask again, if the men of Nexar are not afraid of women,
why do they keep them enslaved?”
    Darias stood up, his hands on his hips. “The men of Nexar
fear nothing.” A muscle in his jaw jumped. “Don’t push your luck, Riana. I have
been patient with you.”
    Riana looked down and subdued a quick flare of anger.
    “I have no wish to punish you. Keep fighting and you’ll
force me to act.”
    “Prove Nexarian men are not afraid of women,” she taunted,
glancing up and snagging his eyes with her own direct gaze. She let the sheet
slip lower, revealing her naked chest. She felt a surge of triumph as his gaze
lingered on her breasts. “I challenge you to a Battle of Honor.”
    “I don’t