The room’s table held dishes and a pot of tea, and Elissia waited only long enough to sit down and pour herself a cup of the tea before she glanced at the savage.

  “I meant to say this last night, but I stupidly fell asleep instead,” she got out without looking directly at him, the words square and blocky and difficult to manage. “I -had no idea you would feel like that, and I owe you a deeply sincere apology for -making it happen. I’m obviously not bright enough to understand and notice other people’s feelings, so I - hope you’ll find it possible to forgive me.”

  “Since I never asked for an apology, you have no idea how happy this one makes me,” the savage said, and then his hand came to cover one of hers. “Everyone makes mistakes, but the telling point is whether or not they learn from those mistakes. I knew you were someone who would do the right thing if you could, and I thank you for proving the point in a way that was obviously difficult for you. Now let’s have breakfast before the food gets too cold.”

  He took his hand away and began to serve himself from the food on the table, and Elissia sipped her tea as she watched him. This man spent his time doing outrageous things to her and then, when she was certain she really did hate him, he suddenly did something that rekindled her love. Confusion surrounded her again, the way it had been doing much too often lately, and there didn’t seem to be a permanent way out of the state. Maybe once a little more time had passed?

  The savage put food on her plate as well, and then he applied himself to making his helpings disappear.

  Elissia hadn’t eaten much the night before, but after only a few bites her faint appetite disappeared. She wondered if she ought to mention now that she didn’t really want to go to Arvin, or wait until they were in her father’s palace. The savage wasn’t likely to enjoy hearing what she had to say, so Elissia decided to play the coward and put off saying it. There had been few enough pleasant moments between them that the one they now shared was worth preserving.

  Once the savage finished eating he helped Elissia into the fresh clothes. He himself was already fully dressed, so when everything was properly closed she turned to him.

  “Well, it looks like we’re ready to go,” she said, having glanced around the room to make sure nothing had been accidentally left behind. “Is there any chance of finding a decent book here, do you think?

  Having something to read will make the travel time go much faster.”

  “Do you really think you’ll be able to concentrate on a book?” the savage answered with raised brows.

  “If not, there’s no sense in spending time looking for one.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be able to concentrate on a book?” Elissia returned, her own brows low. “The coach doesn’t bounce so badly that - ” Then a terrible thought came to her and she looked at the savage and said, “No, you wouldn’t. Not again.”

  “Seea, try to understand,” he answered with a sigh, and there wasn’t a single sign that he might be teasing her. “Half a day of punishment won’t mean a thing to you, and the lesson you need to learn in order to survive in the world will be lost. If I let you off easy you’ll think you can do exactly as you please, you know you will. You need a solid reason for obeying me completely and never lying again, and that’s what you’ll have.”

  Babbling out shocked protests did nothing to keep the savage from taking her arm and pulling her over to a chair and then across his knees. He stuffed a cloth in her mouth before pulling up her skirts, a cloth that was certainly meant to help her keep from making so much noise that it would be heard outside the room. How lovely that he was so concerned about keeping embarrassment from her and protecting her life?

  Elissia shouted into the cloth when the bead was put in her bottom again, then the shouts turned to screams when the spanking started. The beast’s hand was so hard when it smacked her bottom, bringing her pain and flashing, flaring desire both at the same time. Elissia fought to struggle against what was being done to her, but her skirts were draped over her head and arms, and her drawers were down around her knees. Struggle proved to be completely useless as the beast’s hand kept hitting her bottom, each solid smack adding to the growing ache in her seat.

  Tears had started to run down Elissia’s face by the time the beast stopped spanking her and began to pull her drawers back to where they belonged. He tied the ties snugly before pulling her skirts down over them, and then he helped her to her feet. Once again she couldn’t stop squirming and crying, and the miserable savage held her a moment before removing the cloth from her mouth and wiping at her tears with a fresh cloth.

  “The day will come when you finally understand how much good this treatment has done for you,” the savage said gently as he wiped at her eyes. “When that day arrives I know you’ll thank me, so let’s leave discussion about this until then, all right? We’ll get your face washed and then we’ll leave.”

  He filled the room’s basin with fresh water and brought it over to her, helped her wash and gently dry her face, and then they left the room. Walking was the same horrible experience it had been yesterday, especially with her bottom aching the way it was, and Elissia knew there was an even more horrible experience waiting for her. The savage was taking her to the coach where she would have to sit down again, and there was nothing she could do to stop what was being done.

  Sometimes an anticipated terrible experience turns out to be less terrible than imagined, but every now and then the time turns out to be worse. Elissia discovered that sitting in the coach on an aching bottom with a horrible bead inside was worse than she remembered, and keeping herself from crying was harder than it had been the day before. But fighting against the tears gave her something to do besides suffer and squirm, so she spent her time fighting.

  Most of the ache was gone from her bottom by the time the coach pulled into an inn’s yard at noon, but the need inside her had grown higher as the ache receded. The savage came to the coach to hand her down and lead her into the inn, and again there was a private dining room waiting for them. It came as no surprise when Elissia was made to sit in a chair at the table, and the food and tea was brought even more quickly than the night before.

  As soon as the food was served to them the savage began to eat, but Elissia found she still had almost nothing of an appetite. She picked at the food until a servant came to take the plates away, dreading the time when she would have to go back to the coach and its jouncing progress along the road. She had to let herself squirm whenever no one was looking at her, and the heat had built so high that she felt like ripping open her clothing. The idea of having to wait until dark before she could be eased was devastating, and so sunk into her thoughts was she that when the savage spoke he startled her.

  “I’m delighted to say, Seea, that it looks like you’ve already learned part of your lesson,” he said, causing Elissia to look at him across the table. “If you’d demanded or even begged to be eased I would have made you wait until tonight, but showing that you understand the choice to be mine has earned you easing right now.”

  “Is there a room we can go to?” Elissia asked at once, helpless to keep the pitiful words inside as she rose to her feet. Her body had flashed even hotter at the thought of having him, the only thought that meant anything to her right now.

  “Taking you to a room right now would be embarrassing for you, so we’ll make do in this room,” he answered as he stood more slowly. “Come over here and I’ll show you what I mean.”

  Walking hadn’t become less difficult, but Elissia ignored the feelings as she moved the few steps to the other side of the table. She stared at the savage with desperate eyes, and he smiled gently as he produced another of those cloths.

  “I think you’ll need this to keep our private doings private,” he said, holding out the cloth. “But that’s just a suggestion, so don’t use it if you think you don’t need it.”

  Elissia hesitated only a moment before taking the cloth and putting it in her mouth. Screaming in delight had become a good part of her relationship with this man, almost as much a part as screaming in protest

  ?

  Once the cloth was in Elissia’s mouth, the savage had her lean down to the seat of his chair with her forearms flat on the seat. Elissia had no idea what was going on until the savage threw her skirts over her head again, then began to untie the ties of her drawers. For a moment she was afraid that he would spank her again, but once the drawers were down around her knees and he’d spread her legs as far as possible she was shown the truth.

  A moan tried to escape from Elissia’s throat as his rod touched the heat of her womanhood, then a scream came as he thrust completely inside her. At first the scream was one of protest because he felt so much bigger than usual, but then he began to stroke hard and fast and all thoughts but those of pleasure flew out of her head. In no time at all her body was spasming with delightful release again and again, making it difficult to stay on her feet.

  But somehow Elissia did manage to keep standing, even though mists of pleasure clouded her mind and awareness. When her skirts were pulled down and she was urged by the savage to straight up, it came as a surprise to realize that her drawers had already been replaced and retied. But just as surprising and a lot less pleasant was the realization that the bead hadn’t been taken out of her bottom.

  “Tonight we’ll do that again but in the right way,” the savage murmured after taking the cloth out of her mouth and briefly touching her lips with his own. “The dessert you so kindly provided was delightful, but now we have to be on our way again.”

  Before Elissia knew it she’d been returned to the coach, and the trip was immediately resumed. She moved a very small bit on the coach seat, feeling the need begin to build again after being so thoroughly seen to. The savage had thanked her for what he called dessert, just as if she’d had a choice in the matter, but he hadn’t been thankful enough to take that bead away. He’d made it perfectly clear that he intended to keep on with this punishment, and Elissia had only one question: Just how long would he keep on with it?

  By the time evening came and they stopped at another inn, Elissia was back to being terribly in need. She ate only a little of the food put in front of her, all her thoughts and attention on the time when she and the savage would go to their room. That time finally came, and unlike the night before they shared what the savage called lovemaking. Elissia felt completely satisfied, and once the bead was pulled out of her she fell into an exhausted sleep. Her last thought was that she’d ask tomorrow about how long?

  Chapter 6

  The next morning there was another traveling gown and shoes waiting when she awoke, this time in dark gold. She ate some of the breakfast that was also waiting, and then let the savage help her dress. She’d wanted to question him during the meal but hadn’t had the nerve, and so simply spent her time hoping that the punishment would be over. Once she was dressed, though, the savage began to lead her to a chair again.

  “Wait!” she begged, trying to pull back against that large, square hand on her arm. “I - need to know how long this is going to continue. I give you my word that I’ll never forget what’s been done to me - or why it was done - so you don’t really have to - “

  “Seea, please,” he said, the sigh he voiced actually looking real. “How long the punishment continues depends on you, and although you’ve been modestly quiet the last day or so I can still tell that you haven’t really made up your mind to obey me the way I want you to. When I see that you have come around to the proper way of thinking, that’s when the punishment will end.”

  Elissia was too shocked to say anything more, which meant that she was quickly over the savage’s knees with a cloth in her mouth, her dress up, and her drawers down to her knees. The bead was put into her and then the spanking began, and as usual Elissia wasn’t able to keep from trying to scream. But this time she didn’t cry, and that fact seemed to please the savage once she was put back on her feet with an aching, throbbing bottom.

  “See, that’s a step in the right direction,” the savage said as he took the cloth out of her mouth, at the same time showing a smile. “You’re starting to realize that crying isn’t getting you anywhere, that you have to change your attitudes instead to show real remorse. If you keep moving forward in a positive way like this, the punishment will end even before we reach Arvin.”

  He touched his lips to hers then led the way out to the coach, and they were back on the road before Elissia let herself think again. She was more than aware of how it hurt to sit on that seat and how her aching bottom made her squirm and cause the bead to send shudders of need through her body, but that wasn’t what she thought about. They would reach her father’s palace in just a couple of hours, and once there she would not talk to the savage about not continuing on to Arvin with him. She would just disappear and let her lack of presence tell him what he needed to know.

  “And that will be the end of the threat of having to go to Arvin,” Elissia murmured as she looked down at her hands. “I was right to hesitate over the idea of living in the midst of a bunch of savages, a place I know nothing about and where I never wanted to go. And I was even more right to hate the idea of marriage, where a man can do as he likes to you in the name of caring. If this is an example of caring, I’d rather be hated.”

  Elissia spent the next two hours or so staring out the window, pretending that she wasn’t beginning to burn up on the inside as familiar landmarks began to appear. They were almost to the road that led to her father’s palace, and once they turned left onto that road -

  “No!” Elissia choked out as the road was simply passed by. No one had turned onto that road, and a wagon waiting there seemed to be ready to join their procession at the end. A man in black leather drove the wagon, with a horse tied on at the back.

  “Ah, I see you’ve noticed the arrival of your wardrobe and other possessions,” the savage’s voice came, and Elissia turned her head to see him riding on the other side of the coach. “I sent word to your father with Gardal when your brother went home a couple of days ago, asking that all your possessions be packed in a wagon and readied to join us when we came by. I also sent my apologies for not being able to stop, but I’ve been gone from Arvin much too long already. You’ll see your mother, father, and brother again when they come to attend the new marriage ceremony and festivities. We’ll stop for lunch at noon as usual, and tonight you’ll be able to pick out what you want to wear for tomorrow.”

  He gave her a smile before riding toward the head of the column again, and Elissia felt too numb to stop staring at the place he’d been. Her last hope of escape was gone, snatched away by the savage who held her captive even though he’d had no idea what she meant to do. She’d been put into that box she’d once told Gardal about, the box he’d been rescued from but she never would be.

  Pulling into an inn yard at noon came as a surprise to Elissia. She’d been so deeply sunk into depression that she’d barely been aware of the nagging need of her body, and she continued to feel distant even when she was led into the usual private dining room. She had no idea what food was put in front of her, and she certainly didn’t eat any of it. When, after the meal, the savage “eased” her, she had no real need of the cloth in her mouth. Her body spasmed with release automatically, nothing in the way of pleasure appearing to make her want to scream.

  When she was back in the coach and they were on the road again, Elissia felt a small, distant hint of satisfaction. There was more than one way to escape capture, and the only way left to her was probably best. There would be no regrets afterward, no tears, and no condemnation. And no yearning for someone to love her in the same way she loved?

  When the next inn came into view, Derand almost wished that he hadn’t sent one of his fighters ahead to make arrangements there for the night. Seea had been more than just silent during lunch, she’d been almost like the ghost of a stranger. Or someone not enough of a stranger. He remembered what she’d been like when depression held her, not long after she’d been told she was his wife and during their trip to Ramsond. The punishment was obviously weighing heavily on her, but he couldn’t afford to stop it before she’d learned her lesson. The punishment would teach her that lesson? Unless it taught her something else entirely and something he didn’t want her to learn? She wasn’t acting at all the way she had in his dream?

  “I’ll have to talk to her tonight,” Derand decided in a mutter, the words too soft to reach the men around him. What he would say he still didn’t know, but he definitely had to talk to the woman. He had to make her understand somehow that he really was acting for her own good?

  “Tomorrow we cross over into Arvin, my king,” Listan said from Derand’s right, satisfaction in his friend’s voice. “We’ll have to be more alert then, but it feels good to be getting home.”

  “Yes, it will feel good to get home,” Derand agreed as they rode into the inn’s yard. “I wonder if one or two of my ‘loyal kings’ will try to take advantage of the situation when it looks like I’m settling down.”

  “Since they probably will, we’ll just have to be ready for whatever they try,” Listan said with something of a smile. “If Arvin itself ever settles down to a peaceful existence, we probably won’t know what to do with ourselves.”

  “I think I’ll be able to find one or two things to occupy my time,” Derand answered dryly, then pulled his stallion to a stop and dismounted. “Have a good night, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow, my king,” Listan agreed as he took the rein of Derand’s mount. Listan would see to the horses and the men while Derand looked after Seea, and for a brief moment Derand wished he could trade jobs. But even if Listan had been up to handling Seea, Derand would never have really traded. He had to make sure personally that the woman he loved was all right and would also stay that way.