SurrendersMischief (26 page)

Feather? What could she do with a feather?

Darias exploded off the bench, determined to find out.

* * * * *

Riana was just rounding the last curve in the garden path
when Darias came racing up behind her. Sending a provocative glance over her
shoulder, she took off. In less than three strides, Darias was upon her,
sweeping her up in his powerful arms.

Laughing, she wound one arm around his neck and cradled the
black bag to her abdomen with the other. “I thought you were worn out.”

“I recovered.”

“Um, so I see. Does this mean my little bag interests you
after all?” Beneath her bottom, she could feel his staff stirring.

“It means you interest me.” Darias buried his head between
her neck and shoulder and nipped sharply before laving the small wound with his
tongue.

Something inside Riana melted. To her amazement, the heat
from his mouth seemed to have a direct connection to her sex. She grew moist.

Darias sucked, using his teeth and the tip of his tongue to
worry the sensitive skin over the pulse thrumming in the side of her neck.

Wriggling in his arms, trusting that he wouldn’t drop her,
Riana turned until she could nuzzle the spot where arm and chest met, drawing
the tender flesh between her teeth.

The arm holding her trembled and hot air gusted just below
her ear. Clutching her tighter against his chest, Darias hurried into the
bedchamber, tossing her onto the bed.

Riana giggled, giddy with how her plans had been fulfilled
beyond what she’d imagined.

“Laugh now, wench, we’ll see who is left smiling and who
will be too tired for even such a small movement,” Darias growled, one knee on
the mattress, his hands splayed on each side of her head.

“Promises, promises,” she taunted, loving this playful side
of Darias. For a minute, regret at the time they’d wasted, each trying to
conquer the other, washed over her. Riana shoved it away. She couldn’t change
the past, but she could change the present. She reached for him. Her hip nudged
the black sample bag, reminding her of her plans for the items inside. She
rolled quickly from between Darias’ caging arms. He straightened, one knee
still on the bed.

Facing him, she unlatched the bag.

Instantly, his face tightened.

Something inside her chest clutched and ached. Despite his
surrender earlier, it was obvious he still didn’t fully trust her.

“Even after last night,” she said quietly, unable to keep
the hurt out of her voice. “Even after everything we shared, you still can’t
bring yourself to trust me, can you?”

Her hands shook, and she gripped the smooth
moika
leather of the bag to still them, waiting for an answer she already knew.

His golden gaze was turbulent.

He opened his mouth then closed it. A muscle in his jaw
worked. His need to give himself over to her, to experience everything she
could show him, vying with his inbred modesty and his hard-learned lessons in
obedience and punishment. Slowly his eyes lowered to her hands as they rested
on the sample bag.

“I believe you were going to show me why the feather is your
favorite.”

His lashes lifted, meeting her eyes. Darias shifted and
settled onto his back on the soft mattress, keeping her mesmerized with nothing
more than his molten-gold gaze. He lifted his arms over his head, gripping the
carved wooden spindles of the headboard and spread his legs, his eyes never
wavering from hers.

Her breath stilled, caught in her throat. He’d given her the
ultimate gesture of trust a Nexarian male could offer a woman. Tears burned her
eyes even as a trembling smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

“I think it only fair that you get the chance to decide for
yourself if the feather will be your favorite.”

His eyes heated as he understood her unspoken message. That,
although he had made himself completely vulnerable to her of his own free will,
the decision whether to continue would remain his.

An utterly masculine smile, full of hunger and sex, curved
his lips. “Then, by all means, let us see what is in your bag of tricks.”

Feeling incredibly light and happy inside, she turned a
decidedly wicked grin on the man splayed so openly for her pleasure. “Are you
sure you’re strong enough? I mean, after last night, are you sure you’re not
too…exhausted?”

He frowned, an affronted expression crossing his face.

She smiled. Teasing Darias when he was serious was fun, but
teasing Darias when he was in a playful mood just might be addicting.

“Woman, it would take more than one night of unbridled sex
and two black bags to exhaust me!”

Riana giggled. Actually giggled. Pushing the black bag ahead
of her, Riana crawled up the bed until she was between his legs. Her breath
snagged in her throat. His shaft was full and hard and as she watched, it
swelled further.

Perhaps the man wasn’t exaggerating. Perhaps, despite her
best efforts, last night hadn’t tired him out, after all.

Sitting back on her heels, she studied the man sprawled
before her.

His eyes glinted from between thick, black lashes as he
stared back. Arms above his head, the silky, dark hair under his arms was revealed.

Heat pooled low in Riana’s belly. The sight of the dark
tufts was unbearably erotic—and utterly vulnerable.

She swallowed, trying to ease her dry throat.

Zethra, the man was gorgeous.

The urge to taste him, to take his cock between her lips
until he was arching and pleading with her to take him deep inside her body,
was overwhelming. She licked her lips and tamped down her desire. First play,
and then they could get down to some serious fucking.

Riana cleared her throat and wrenched her gaze from the temptation
before her, focusing on the contents of her bag.

What to choose, what to choose? Ah, yes, the aforementioned
feather. She couldn’t ignore that. Taking the half-a-meter-long iridescent
feather from the bag, she set it to one side.

Darias’ gaze followed her every movement. She suppressed a
grin as she tried to picture his reaction to some of the more exotic items
residing in her sample case. No, better not. Not yet, at least. Best to start
slow. Her brow creased before it cleared. Her hand closed about a short, squat
jar. Ah, just the thing.

She hoisted the
goldjel
like a victor hoisting a
banner.

“What is that?” There was a catch in his deep voice. Was it
worry or curiosity?

“This,” she twisted off the lid and dipped a forefinger
inside, “this is
goldjel
.” She watched him closely for his reaction and
gave a tiny, silent sigh of relief when confused amusement slid into that
golden gaze.

“I can see the gel is gold, what I want to know is what it
is used for?” He frowned.

Riana couldn’t restrain another giggle.

Her hand flew to her mouth. A giggle! She never giggled.
Then again, she couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy. That in this, at
least, Darias was willing to put aside their fight and put his trust in her. If
that wasn’t worth a little giddiness, then nothing was.

Crooking her finger, she scooped some of the viscous gel out
of the jar and let it ooze back down. “No,
goldjel
. It is from the Beta
Epsilon system.”

He eyed it suspiciously. “What does it do?”

She widened her eyes in feigned innocence. “Why, how would I
know? After all, I’m just a poor female.” She scooped up more of the gel, this
time letting it slide down her finger toward her wrist.

“Riana,” he drawled in warning, his hands squeezing the
spindles harder, as if he had in mind something else he’d rather wrap his hands
around.

She scooted closer. “Rather than trying to explain, let me
demonstrate instead.”

A small puddle of
goldjel
pooled in her palm. Riana
took his straining cock in her free hand and held it steady while she dribbled the
thick gel over the head. Immediately, the gel hugged the hard male flesh,
coating the entire flared cap.

Darias’ hips jerked. His eyes widened and his mouth worked
around words that wouldn’t form.

She smiled wickedly as she upended the small jar and let the
goldjel
slide out. With a seeming mind of its own, it shaped itself to
Darias’ cock and balls.

“
Shevet
, it acts as if it is alive!”

“It is.”

“What?” he bellowed, his hands turning loose of the
spindles.

“Easy,” she soothed, putting a hand on his muscled abdomen
and patting him. “It won’t hurt you.” She glanced from his hands to the
spindles.

With obvious reluctance, he renewed his grip on the thick,
polished wood.

“
Goldjel
has a natural affinity for male pleasure,
instinctively knowing a man’s threshold of pleasure and holding him there.” She
arched an eyebrow as something occurred to her. “Darias?”

“W-what?” A subtle tremor went through his strong limbs as
the
goldjel
vibrated with a low-level intensity.

“You do know why I was in this sector when the ion storm
caused me to crash on this planet, don’t you?” Odd, but despite weeks in Nexar
and the intimacy between them, Riana wasn’t sure if he knew such a basic thing
about her.

His head arched back and his throat worked. Finally, he
gritted out from between teeth clenched with pleasure, “No. It didn’t matter. I
had you. What you did in the past, was in the past.”

Riana didn’t know whether to kiss him or smack him.

Exasperated, she put her hands on her hips. “The past was
the past? Darias, you are an arrogant dragon.” Laughter bubbled up. “But you
are my dragon. Well, whether you want to know or not, I’m going to tell you.”

“Could we talk about this later?” His hips pumped and the
goldjel
pulsed. He sounded strangled. “You were going to teach me about the feather.”

“I still am.” She picked up the feather and ran her hand up
it, ruffling the soft edges of the vane. “I’m a trader. I go from sector to
sector looking for new goods to sell and offering what I have to anyone who is
interested.” She brushed the tip of the feather over his lips.

His eyes shot open, surprised at the tingle the feather left
in its wake.

He wet his lips. “What does that have to do with the
feather?”

“Guess what I trade?”

“Feathers?” His gaze went unfocused as she trailed the tip
of the feather down over his chin and throat, to the point between his
masculine nipples.

She could tell he wasn’t really interested in her answer. He
was intent on the so-light touch.

She tapped it against his breastbone to garner his full
attention. “Feathers,
goldjel
, Wa’Shin balls, sonic nipple clamps, stim
paddles.” Riana shrugged. “Whatever I think I can find a market for.”

He looked up, myriad expressions crossing his face.
Disbelief, curiosity, arousal.

Riana wondered if he even remembered to breathe. “You have a
business selling such things? To men?”

“And women. Not everyone is like Nexarians. Most people
think of sex as something mutually pleasurable and are not afraid to
experiment.”

Abruptly, he pinned her with a hard gaze.

Even though he still gripped the headboard, she had the
sudden impression of danger.

She went perfectly still.

“Have you experimented?”

She licked her lips and tried to think of a way to explain.
“I’ve never experimented with anyone who means as much to me as you do.” She
suddenly realized it was true. The other men had been fun, but that was all.
Whenever she moved on, she looked back with no regrets. Leaving Darias, on the
other hand, would wrench something from her soul that couldn’t be replaced.

He must have read the truth in her eyes for the battle-ready
tension left his muscles. His mouth quirked up in a self-deprecating smile. “My
body is yours.”

She wanted more.

Riana felt like she had been slammed by a piece of space
junk. Why hadn’t she seen that before? She wanted more than his body, more than
his willing cooperation to experiment. She wanted his heart. It was only fair
seeing as how he had hers.

When had love crept up on her? Was it when she realized that
Darias truly cared for his people—men and women? Or was it when he broke the
traditions of a lifetime to please her?

Her lips firmed as the stubbornness and determination that
Sharri had often lamented would get her in trouble rose to the forefront. No
matter. She would work on his emotions with the persistence of an Antarian
cargo leech sucking energy from a ship. The man was already drawn to her
against his will. She would build on that until he realized he loved her.

And she knew just how to start.

Dragging the edges of the feather across his skin, she
circled the flat disk of his nipple.

It hardened under the light torment.

“Krel! What is that thing? It feels like small jolts of
energy brushing my skin.”

“Don’t you like it?” But she already knew the answer. He
couldn’t hide his response to the twin assault of feather and
goldjel
.
“Do you want me to stop?”

“Krel, no!” he gasped as she brushed the feather over the
other hard nub.

“Then you don’t mind if I do this?” As if she were painting
a masterpiece, Riana drew intricate patterns over the tight muscles of his
abdomen. “Or this?” She tickled his inner thigh before moving the feather to
the sensitive area behind his knee. Each touch, she knew, teased his nerve
endings to a higher level of arousal. The
goldjel
began to glow as it
too increased its energy.

Fascinated, she watched as Darias’ balls tightened and drew
closer to his shaft.

Hard breaths escaped his lips. He sounded as if he had
fought an army as he gasped out, “I wouldn’t want to hamper your
experimentation.” His back bowed.