Kerraine’s
legs trembled and she was glad to fall to her knees before him. Nevertheless,
she kept her head high. Astalio had sold her body to him, but her own wild plan
had brought her to this moment. It was her choice to experience this, to know
what it meant to belong to a man…an untamed, passionate man, not some bloodless
Servant. Not Astalio. She’d gone to the glade to dance naked before him hoping
this would be the outcome.
Would she
suffer pain and feel debased when he touched her? Or would the fire his mere presence
always kindled inside her burn fiercer, brighter? Already the flesh between her
legs ached just as it had the night before in the glade. She could smell his
masculine scent, hot and spicy, and it made her stomach clench with
something—what? Was this dark and forbidden desire? And where would it take
her? In another moment, she would know.
His gaze
wandered slowly over her until she began to tremble again, sure he could see
what was hidden by the rortari. “Undress.”
She wiped her
suddenly damp hands over the linen fabric covering her thighs. “I want to ask
you about Shen first.”
Displeasure
made his mouth go hard. “You’d had best learn quickly, Kerraine, to do as I
say. Undress at once or I will send for your brother and let him watch while I
strip you and examine your body.”
Kerraine’s
heart squeezed into a cold ball in her breast. “No! He’s an innocent boy. I
don’t want him to know anything about what you do to me.”
“Nor do I. I
will see that your brother is well cared for.” Treyor sat up straighter, his
face set in serious lines. “Provided you please me.”
The awful
reality of her situation struck Kerraine like a blow. Her choice left her
without any escape. Dancing in the moonlight, she possessed a sense of power as
if she were one with the wind and the sky, shrouded in shadow, mysterious and
free. It was totally different to kneel before her master in the light, to
disrobe at his command.
Her hands
shaking, she reached for the first of the long row of buttons that ran from her
throat down to her navel. Her fingers fumbled them open one by one. Although
she didn’t look up, she knew with every fiber of her being that his gaze followed
her agonizingly slow progress. As the last button came undone, she bit down on
her lip and braced her shoulders. Her body tensed inside the rortari. She could
feel the fabric all around her, covering her like an impenetrable shield, could
feel his eyes burning into her.
“What are you
waiting for?” His voice had taken on a hoarse edge. “Open your rortari. Show yourself
to me.”
He was her
master, the owner of her body. She had no choice. Her future—Shen’s future—lay
in pleasing him. Slowly, she pulled the fabric apart, revealing the creamy skin
beneath. The linen fell away from her breasts, exposing them. Cool air slid
over her heated skin. Her breasts seemed to grow heavier and her nipples
pebbled.
