CHAPTER 1
Serina took a deep breath and stretched out on the soft, deep fur rug that had become her bed that night. Since her submission the night before, he had left her alone. Well, why wouldn't he? She'd done what he wanted and nothing else seemed to be of importance to him at that time. Oh, he'd slept in the same room and yet not said another word to her. She wasn't worth his attention unless he desired to torment her a little more. For that she was both grateful, and angry.
How dare he treat me like this! I did nothing to deserve this! I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him. No, not death. I'll make him a slave. A complete and utter slave. I'll strip the skin from his back with a whip. One shred at a time until he begs for my forgiveness.
He had every right, per the laws of this world, to do with her as he wished. If that included reducing her to a pretty piece of sexual property, then there was nothing under the law that she could do about it. Nothing at all.
She'd never dreamed of living a life where she was such a thing. A beast of pleasure. Without rights or the ability to defend herself from unwanted touches. She'd had such plans and they had never included being humbled at the feet of a man.
No ... more than humbled. Humbled she could have lived with. She might have found means to turn the tables with a quick, or clever word--but he had humiliated her, not just humbled her. He'd used her in such cruel ways in front of others. It hadn't just been in private, that might have been easier to bear. But no, he'd done so in public.
Her own thoughts and desires had mattered not at all, nor would they ever while she was in his hands. Serina tried not to remember the feel of his hands on her body. The way he had treated her. The soft moans and shrieks of pain he had torn from her body as his cock had driven deeply into her time and again. She'd been helpless, unable to defend herself from his touch. Should he want that again she'd have no choice but to submit to his desires.
She was trapped.
The image of him stripped and begging amused her. It drove away the darkness that had threatened to take over her life. No, she could think of such things. Savor the screams he would make. No matter what he did to her, she'd make his life ten times worse when she had the chance to do so. Yes, she would survive and she would turn the tables on him.
She would win. She was stronger than the slave he had forced her to become. She would find the weakness, the moment when she could break free. Then he would pay ... a thousand times over.
There was no escape now. Not with the chain on her ankle, a long chain that connected her to a metal ring in the middle of the room. It was long enough that she could move around the room, and serve him as he wished, but not leave. She hated the chain and the way he used it to control her.
It was all about control. His control of her body.
Bastard.
She nibbled on her bottom lip as she replayed the events of the past few days. The way she had been grabbed from her mother's care, then brought to this world. She'd been beaten, used, and abused at the hands of her master, then had betrayed everything she believed in. Yes, she'd had a good reason, but she couldn't ignore the fact she had, indeed, betrayed her beliefs and her people.
She'd had no choice. Oh, she knew that. Dear heavens above she knew her only chance had been to submit and accept him as her master. She hadn't wanted to be forced to endure more pain. She'd learned well that he was capable of destroying her, a piece at a time.
A deep shudder played through her body. If she hadn't obeyed him then what else would he have done? Staked her out for the world to abuse her?
Sold her?
No, that would have been a kindness. If she had been sold she might have found one she could manipulate. No, he wouldn't take a chance with a woman such as her. He hated the Amazons. Yes, she'd seen that in him. He hated her people. Something deep within pushed and pressed at him to cause her harm. Pain. Humiliation and worse.
She'd had no real choice but to submit and she had to accept that. It was the only sane choice. She'd have to push past her decision and find the strength to carry on.
I won't give up. No matter what, I won't give up. He doesn't have the ability to destroy me. I won't let it happen.
What would her mother think of her when the news reached her royal ears? And it would reach her mother. There would be those who would eagerly carry it to the older woman and look for a means to use the information to their best interests.
Politics. Such things could be used in the battle of words. She had seen that before now. When favorites had fallen from grace and others had stepped into their places, destroying the past to create something new.
Her mother wouldn't be pleased by the news. She'd curse and...
No, she didn't want to think about that. She knew how her mother would react. She would disown her or worse.
Her eyes watered, and she swallowed trying to fight back the tears. She didn't want to cry. That would only give her master even more pleasure. He liked to see her in distress. It humiliated her, and he derived pleasure from that, more than she wanted to think about.
Had he sent word to her mother himself?
It would be just like him.
She cast a hateful glance over her shoulder at the bed, and bit back the urge to scream at him. It wouldn't do any good and she wanted to live long enough to see her mother again.
Serina groaned at the thought of her mother. Serina hadn't done this lightly. She'd been given no choice. Between fear, and pain, she'd been reduced to nothing more than a shivering, fearful wreck of a human being. All traces of the bold, warrior princess had been destroyed, or had they?
No, of course they haven't. I'm still there. I'm still a warrior, an Amazon. I can find a way out of this. All I have to do is play the role, that's all. Look and wait for a moment when I can break away from him, escape, and lead my mother back to this world.
The Amazons would destroy this damn world and every hateful person on it. The men would be enslaved, the women freed, and the wrongs corrected. The natural order of the universe would once again be returned. Women were meant to be in charge, as all knew men were pawns to their lust, incapable of anything more than base desires.
Serina shuddered and bit back a low moan of fear. She wasn't going to give up, despite her submission to him. No, that was an act. She kept repeating the words to herself. An act. Nothing more, nothing less. She'd never debase herself in truth. She'd been taught to be strong, learned how to fight, how to defend herself, and how to lead. Oh, the Goddess would teach him a lesson. It wouldn't be long before he made a mistake, then...
She tensed. A sound catching her attention from the bed where he still slept. Was he waking? Moving? Did he know she plotted against him even now?
Cold sweat beaded across her body as she listened, and waited to hear something more. A creak, a step, something that would hint or would tell her what was going on, but there was nothing. Nothing more at all. Good. She wasn't ready to see him again, or face him with her fears, her lies. What if he pressed the matter a little more?
She swallowed hard, her inner walls clenching at the memory of what he had done to her, and would do again given the chance. He'd do far more, she knew. She'd seen it in his eyes, the way he looked at her, the way he treated her without a thought, or care. Nothing but his own desires mattered to that man.
Goddess have mercy.
She couldn't live this way.
Yes, I can, but only as long as I have to.
Serina brushed her fingers over the fur that caressed her body. Under different circumstances she would have enjoyed the feeling of the fur, but now it was a reminder of what she was to him. A sexual being to be tormented at every turn, be it with the soft touch of fur, or the harsh touch of his hand.
Her nipples hardened as she moved on the fur. Each brush of the soft strands felt like a dozen strokes of sheer sensuality. Serina closed her eyes and tried not to let the play of sensuality take control of her body. She wasn't a slave, no matter what had been said, or what he had done. Only slaves, or men, were ruled by their base desires. She was neither. She was stronger than either and she would prove that.
No matter what it took.
Yet her body had other ideas. Her nipples ached with the need to be touched. Her breasts taut, belly tightening with each breath she took. There was no way she could ignore what was happening.
The bed creaked behind her. His breathing had changed and she closed her eyes, determined he would not realize she was awake. She wasn't ready to face him again. She needed time to recover, to come to terms with the role she must play if she wished to live and survive the days ahead.
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