Steel Dominance (27 page)

“Good,” she whispered.

Must get up and clean myself
. But not too soon. This was heaven. He’d pledged himself to her. They’d have some sorting out to do, but her future, at least her near future, lay with Dankyo, her man. The details could wait.

“I think, to show you my side of the trust coin, I’ll tell you what I’d never admit to anyone else.” His rough voice sifted warm through her hair.

“Oh?” What was this?

“The reason I felt wrong about you staying with me is because I don’t want to ever see you hurt. The nightmares… I’ve figured out it’s connected to those. That was the last woman who trusted me to protect her, who I was close to. Don’t ask me how it works, but it’s a gut feeling and hard to shake. Though I want to protect you, I am, I was, afraid.”

”You, afraid?”

“Yes. I’m afraid that I’ll fail. I may never lose that fear, Sofia, but it will not stop me loving you or keeping you by my side.”

It was strange to hear that, and yet comforting that he would admit it to her. “Thank you.” She found his hand, brought it to her mouth, and kissed it.

“Now tell me your deep dark secret. I know you have one.”

She froze. “I can’t.”

“Can’t? No. Not good enough, dear. You will tell me. Think on it. Remember, we trust each other.”

Those last words rendered her silent.
I know I have to say
. But fear clutched her too.
I have to. But what if he acts on it?

Chapter Twenty-Four

“There’s no hurry. I can see it worries you.” The baritone of Dankyo’s voice so near to her seemed to vibrate straight into her mind. She loved that rumbly sound.

Lying here, cuddling against him on the sofa after making love, made her wonder how anything could ever be so perfect again. But… Tell him her deepest, darkest secret?

She frowned, took his hand, and manipulated his big manly fingers, pressing the flesh of her fingertip along his square nails while she thought.
He’s waiting. Like he trusts me to tell him eventually. Oh God. Trust again. He trusts me, and here I am balking at the first hurdle
. Her eyes grew wet.
Here goes.

“I…” She wiggled. This was excruciating. How ridiculous. Why did she find this like straining solid rock through a sieve? “I have this fantasy. That I…um…am raped.” Then she stumbled on, talking fast, not wanting to hear him tell her it was silly, and also wanting to confess it all in one big lump. “Like I have no choice. The idea turns me on. I used to dream about it.” She paused.
Though not as much lately, not since I’ve been here in Byzantium, with you
. “But I don’t really want to be raped. It’s pure fantasy.”

She cringed inside and waited.

As calmly as if she’d just recited a shopping list, Dankyo said, “I can do fantasies.”

What? What did that mean? “I didn’t—”

“You said it’s a fantasy of yours. Well, I can do it.”

The air seemed ready to combust with the wrong word. Her words came out squeaky. “You can do rape?”

“If you want to. Not real. Safe. Pretend. No injuries, of course. You take care not to claw my eyes out, and I do the same. You need a word to use in case you want to stop. Not
no
, something else. I won’t tell you when, just that I will do it. Does that sound good?”

Good? Holy
… The silence stretched while her mind clawed through the possibilities.
Should I do this? Do I want to?
But already her body stirred with heat. Her groin throbbed. “Yes.” She found she was holding his hand tightly and lessened the pressure. “That sounds good.”

“Your secret was better than mine.”

“Uh—”

“Wait! Shh.” He sat up and held up his hand, then wormed out from behind her and padded toward the bedroom. From the pile of his clothes, he retrieved a small knife.

Had he heard something? She vaguely recalled some small noise. Sofia peered over the top of the sofa and watched him step through the opening into the bedroom. Someone slowly arose from beyond the bed. Even before the woman had fully straightened, the glimpse of her dark hair allowed Sofia to recognize her. Tansu.

“I’m so sorry, sir.” She bowed and then went to her knees and bowed again. “I’m so sorry!”

Dankyo had paused, knife pointed toward the floor—still naked, and though familiar, the solid breadth of his shoulders still took away Sofia’s breath.

Whatever was Tansu doing here? Now? Had she seen them have sex? It seemed likely.

“Why are you here? Or better yet, why did you not leave earlier?” Dankyo’s voice boomed out.

Hurriedly, Sofia clambered off the sofa, ran to the pile, and picked up his shirt. She slipped it on as she ran indoors. Tansu was a friend and with Dankyo bearing down on her, she’d be terrified.

“Wait, I know her! Tansu, what are you doing in here?”

“I’m sorry, my lady. I came to find out if you needed me.” Though red-faced, at least Tansu wasn’t crying—a relief considering the depth of Dankyo’s scowl as he stood over her with that dreadfully sharp-looking knife. “I didn’t notice what was happening at first, and when I saw, I was afraid to…disturb you.”

“Ah.” She had seen them having sex, then, and Dankyo tying her up. Heat flared across Sofia’s cheeks.

Then Tansu raised her head, and her gaze centered on Sofia’s chest. The shirt had swung open. She clutched it closer. Her blush seemed to grow hotter.

“You know her well, Sofia?” Dankyo glanced over, eyebrows raised. “Shall we let her go?”

“Of course. Yes. You may go, Tansu. Next time be more discreet and leave the room.”

“I will, my lady. Thank you for being so kind.” Gracefully, Tansu climbed to her feet and headed for the door, her long blue skirt swishing over the rug, her slipper-clad feet quiet. The door closed behind her.

“A curious woman.” Dankyo placed the knife on the long chest at the end of the bed, then came to her.

With his arms around her, she felt serenity return. With her cheek on his chest, she couldn’t resist inhaling his scent.

“Did you notice how she stared at you, my lady? She seemed attracted. Whereas I didn’t get more than a fleeting look.”

“Oh. Um. Yes, she has shown some tendencies that way. She kissed me, once.”

“Did she?” Slowly he pushed the shirt from her shoulders until it slid to the floor. He cupped her breasts, and weighed them a moment, before slowly swirling his thumbs around her areolae. She hummed her approval and put her hands lightly over his.
So nice
. “And did you like it?”

The question bothered her. She screwed up her mouth. “A little. Maybe.”

“Interesting. Did I tell you, my lady, that your fantasy was to my approval?”

“I got that impression, yes,” she said drily. Funny, but now she’d told him her secret, it no longer made her so uncomfortable, just hot with anticipation. Especially with what he was doing to her nipples. A man’s rough calloused thumbs touching her there was enough to make her want to grind herself against something…him preferably. She eyed him.

“If I do your fantasy, expect me to incorporate mine. What will be your word for stopping everything?”

His fantasy?
And so technical with all the details? But she guessed it had to be. This seemed odd, though, to arrange a rape like it was some sort of theater play. “Mermaid? No. Something more hard-hitting, like…crocodile? Yes, crocodile.”

He released one of her breasts, and his hand slid over her hip, then her buttocks. “I’ll remember. Crocodile. Now, for my requirements. Today and tomorrow, for several hours, you will wear a special plug up here.” He pressed the tip of his finger into her anus—she gasped at the suddenness—then wriggled his finger around in a circle. “A small one. I want to see what you can take.”

She held her breath. Odd, but Dankyo had that curious look on his face—expectant, almost as if he dared her to protest. Like always, having that part of her prodded was strange, yet enticing too. Sensations tickled to life. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I suppose.” Besides, she liked letting him do to her what he wanted to. That alone made it exciting.

His kiss on her neck while he kept playing down there made her clit stir to life. She wriggled.

“Good. And tomorrow, you will take a larger one. When will you be ready to unveil the Clockwork Warrior’s secret?”

“What?” She jerked her thoughts back from the fog of arousal. “Um. Day after, I guess. Can you stop doing that? Please.”

“No. You’re still so slippery all over down here.” He poked his finger in a half inch and slid his other hand down over her belly. When his finger and thumb clasped her clit, she sucked back a groan. “Ahh. This here says you like what I’m doing.” The fingertip in her nether hole slipped in and out. “Yes?”

“A little,” she choked out. “But, not now. I need to start work.”

“I’ll let you go, I suppose. I’ll decide on the day. I may take you down here.” He jiggled his finger. “And there’s another possibility that I may try.”

What did that mean? While she stood disconcerted and speechless, he slapped her bottom.

“I don’t know if I want this ‘possibility’ done to me.”

“Don’t forget your word.”

She couldn’t help frowning. Any mystery that involved unknown things being done to her body worried her.

Then he casually picked up his shirt and stalked outside to retrieve the rest of his clothes. When he returned, she’d still not moved. Question him more and try to dig up what he intended, or not? A week ago she’d have been taken in, and totally oblivious, but she could see he was amused by her reaction. The bastard. He was teasing her. And yet, she knew he meant it too.

No use asking him; he’d only get more amusement from that.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sofia sighed.

Sitting at the desk working on the calculations for the warrior puzzle wasn’t easy with a plug stuck into her back hole. Though she’d grown used to it, every so often her nerves would tweak back to life, and she’d find herself thinking of her body, and of how wet the towel she sat on was getting.

When Dankyo had insisted she be naked when she wasn’t working, she’d protested. It had made zero difference of course. Then he’d put the collar back on and said it looked sexy.

She ran her finger around the edge of the leather. This seemed to make her simply
his
—different, and so much better than being a slave.

She wasn’t supposed to be working right now. She’d stopped because of the headache coming on, and he’d told her not to try again, but she figured a little bit of discomfort was worth it if she got this done faster. His lifted eyebrow and mild glare weren’t going to stop her either.

So…no clothes and the plug, and damn, she was going to get this done anyway.

Though it wasn’t just the plug. Sometimes he wandered past and fondled a random part of her body. She recalled where he’d touched—her lips, her breasts, her clit… She let out a long breath. The last time he’d just massaged her shoulders. But not enough. Not anywhere near enough. She ached so much down below. Masturbating was not allowed either. Insufferable. Maddening. She’d self-combust any minute.

Luckily she’d had the idea to sit on a towel, or the chair would be wet. Hours yesterday with that little plug inside, and she wriggled just thinking of the size of the one she wore now. When she’d paused for that break, he’d made her bend over, then eased it in. Had he bought them at the bazaar? The thing had been nearly as big as his cock. Though, she guessed, that would be the whole point.

Damn
. She sighed again and stared at the page. Her fingers ached where they clutched the pen.
Concentrate!
She held her head as if to squeeze some thoughts out, rubbed her throbbing temples, and sighed again. Was he really going to do this? If he did anything stupid she was going to say
crocodile
so fast Dankyo’s eyes would spin.

The huge sheet of paper rustled as her elbow slid on it.

Okay. The verses written on the plinth around him had been sorted out. To her surprise, they’d held a substitution code. That had led to unscrambling some of the references to the moveable joints on the warrior. She’d most of the color code worked out also. The one reliable text detailing the actual battles had led to yet another code. Now all she had to do was fit the measurements into the codes, though of course the measurements had a code embedded too.

And then, her all too reliable brain insisted, the final solution should fall into her lap. Intuition had told her the first manipulations she needed to make on the warrior, and this…this would show her the rest.

She stared at the color lithograph before her.

“I have you in my sights, Mr. Warrior.” With two fingers, she spun a pencil around in a circle.

Someone threw a cloth bag over her head, and she shrieked. They drew in the drawstring, then grabbed her wrists when she instinctively went to pull off the bag. Sucking in a breath proved that her mouth wasn’t covered—there must be a hole in the bag there.

Dankyo?
It must be. Her heart pounded. He wrestled her hands behind her back, and held them firm in a grip of iron. Then the familiar slickly smooth feel of something cold slithered around her wrists. The clockwork bonds—it
was
him.
Thank God.

She needed it to be him. Pretending it was a stranger had suddenly become wrong. Here and now, it was too frightening to contemplate another man. But if she knew it was him…how could it be her fantasy? The thoughts crammed into her head.

She was hoisted onto his shoulder and carried a few yards only to be lowered to the rug-covered floor, belly down. Her legs were straightened, but she could barely wriggle as his weight pinned them again. Fingers searched and made sure her mouth and nose were still clear of the bag.

A voice growled at her ear. “Now, I’m going to fuck your ass, whore.”

Dankyo
never
said fuck. Or whore. Amusement sneaked in and wouldn’t leave. Her mouth ached from trying not to grin, her lips quivered. She snorted, then giggled. The giggles shook her body.