Stallion’s Accord by Silvia Violet

Raya leaned forward, tangling her hands in Obsidian’s mane, relishing the feel of his strength beneath her. She was thankful her lover needed to return home quickly after their tryst by the stream. Riding his alternate form exhilarated her. Discussing the fact that a confession of love had escaped her — as Calder worked her into a frenzy — would make her cringe.

She didn’t want to be in love. She couldn’t live on Oriana, and Calder wouldn’t leave. No matter how good the sex was, their lifestyles were incompatible. That’s why she’d run from what she felt months ago. She’d tried to deny what he meant to her, but seeing him again had brought all her feelings to the surface. Then he’d touched her, and she was lost.

But she wasn’t a coward. She wouldn’t deny what she’d blurted out in a fit of passion. She was in love with Calder, and she had to face the consequences of those feelings. But the longer she could put it off, the better. Perhaps Calder would give her one night to revel in their need for each other before questioning her intentions.

All too soon, the stable came in sight, and Obsidian slowed to a trot. Finlay, the stable master, was there to greet them. He gave Raya a sly wink. “I see you’ve returned, and you’re riding Obsidian as well as ever.”

She smiled and ignored the heat that crept into her cheeks. “Damn right I am.”

Obsidian snorted as they both laughed.

“I’ll see to him,” Raya said, sliding from her lover’s back and grabbing a currycomb from the wall, ready to give Obsidian a loving brush down.

“He’d certainly love that, Miss Varvara, but his guests have already begun to arrive.”

Obsidian whinnied loudly and gestured toward the door with his nose.

Finlay nodded. “I’ll take care of it, sir.”

Raya raised her brows in question.

“He needs privacy to shift, ma’am. Not all of tonight’s guests are aware that Obsidian and Lord Brinkley are one and the same.” Calder was an unregistered shapeshifter. His mother belonged to a centaur-like race known as the Canterini, but as a half-blood, he could shift between human and horse form.

“Ah,” she nodded. Guests. Ugh. The last thing she wanted to do was stuff herself into one of the fancy dresses she’d been forced to purchase for her business on Oriana and socialize with Calder’s guests. Maybe she could feign fatigue from the long journey. Or better yet from the thorough fucking he’d given her.

Finlay closed the stable doors and locked them. Obsidian shimmered briefly, and Calder stood where he’d been, naked and obviously ready to go another round with her. Finlay tossed him some clothes and boots, and he dressed quickly. He looked damn fine in the tight tan riding pants and tall polished boots. His black shirt strained across his powerful shoulders and muscular chest. He left the top two buttons open in a manner considered rakish on Oriana.

“Lord Partington has arrived with his daughter,” Finlay said as he unlocked the doors. The stable master looked pointedly at Raya. “Miss Varvara’s arrival will be of interest to them, I’m sure.”

Calder’s eyes brightened, and he smiled wickedly. “I do believe it will.”

Raya didn’t like the sound of that. “Who is Lord Partington?”

“An idiot who thinks I’d pay his debts in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage.”

“Fuck that.” Raya’s stomach churned. Calder was hers. She didn’t want to be in love, and she didn’t want to live on Oriana, but… damn it, he was hers.

Calder chuckled. “Try to keep your claws in.”

Raya glared at him. “Why are they here?”

“I’m hosting a party tonight to celebrate the conclusion of the legislative session.”

Raya pondered his words. “Is that customary?”

Calder nodded. “When the session ends, most of the regional governors return to their own lands, and life in and around the capital slows down for several months.”

Raya tried to imagine the pace of life being any slower than it already was and failed. She’d originally met Calder when her job at Intergalactic Investors Bank brought her to Oriana to broker a deal for a client. She’d hated everything about the backwater planet except for the fine horseflesh Calder owned and Calder himself.

She’d never let herself get involved with a client before, but she loved beautiful horses and beautiful men, and Calder literally brought all the untamed strength of a stallion into his human form. He’d been impossible to resist, but when he suggested she stay, she refused. No way could an urban girl from New Earth be happy here, not even with a stud of a man like Calder.

She’d ignored him for the intervening months just like she’d ignored the terrifying mix of hot and cold that raced through her when she thought of him. She had no place in her life for romance.

When she’d received the paperwork confirming her client’s purchase of Calder’s horses, she’d chosen to surprise Calder rather than be forced to explain why she’d failed to contact him for months. She caught a flight to Oriana that afternoon, barely taking time to comm her supervisor and let her know she’d be out of the office for the next week. Now here she was, admitting to feelings she’d didn’t want to have, confused and longing to ignore the world and spend the night making love to Calder. But he had a house full of overdressed, stuffy Orianians who would find her exotic if not downright crude.

As if hearing her thoughts, he glanced down pointedly, looking at her nipples standing out against the damp cloth of her dress. Between the heat and the dip she’d taken in the stream her dress looked rather disreputable.

“You’re going to scandalize my guests.”

Raya snorted. “Fucking prudes.”

Calder laughed. “My guests include some of the biggest gossips on Oriana. When we appear at the house together with you in that ensemble, rumors will spread like wildfire. By tomorrow everyone who’s anyone in Oriana’s capital will know we’re lovers. The only way I’ll be able to save your reputation is by marrying you.”

Marry me? Marry me? He has to be kidding. Raya forced herself to smile even as her chest tightened in panic.

Raya thought about how he’d do wonders for her reputation on New Earth. Everyone there thought she was so cold that even a man like Calder couldn’t touch her heart. “Who says I care about my reputation here?”

“You should if you intend to conduct business here. People will accept that you’re a techno snob, but flouting our customs so openly won’t win you any contracts.”

“If I have my way, your contract will be my last on Oriana.”

Calder stared at her for a few moments, his eyes full of something she hoped wasn’t pain. She swallowed past a lump in her throat. Had she really meant what she said?

Before she could retract her words, his usual grin returned. “As a gentleman, I can’t be responsible for ruining a woman even if she is insensible to the insult. Allow me to announce our engagement. You can throw me over in a few days if you choose, but at least I’ll have given you proper protection.”

She almost said yes without a second thought. Did she actually want to marry Calder? No, this was a game, playing along with the social conventions. That’s all. Then she remembered his rough voice saying he loved her as he thrust into her in the grass by the stream.

Her heart pounded with a combination of fear and excitement. “People would truly expect us to get engaged, because we’ve been for a ride together.”

Calder grinned. “And quite a ride it was.”

His words sent shivers of pleasure racing through her body. Heat pooled between her legs. “Damn right. Are you sure you can’t send these guests away?”

Calder raised his brows. “Hardly. An unmarried Orianian lady does not go out alone with a man nor does she wear such thin garments or worse yet, damp them down. Such behavior would label her fast.”

Raya laughed. “Fast?”

Calder’s grin widened. He was clearly enjoying himself. “Indeed, such a woman would be the worst sort of flirt. She might even go so far as to allow a man to sample her wares before an offer of marriage was on the table.”

“Ha! As if I’d agree to marry a man I’d never fucked.”

Calder laughed. “I can’t say I’d want to marry a woman I’d never bedded either, but such is what’s expected here.”

“Utterly insane. Worse than your lack of a decent comm satellite.”

Calder snorted, sounding suspiciously like Obsidian.

“How many guests?” Raya feared she didn’t want to know the answer.

“Hundreds. All the regional governors and representatives are invited as well as various members of Oriana’s upper class. Some I consider friends. A few might push my powers of hospitality to the limit.”

“Is Lady Partington among the latter group?”

Calder grinned. “Would you like her to be?”

Raya’s cheeks heated, but she ignored her silly reaction. “No proper Orianian lady can give you what I can.”

“That’s for damn sure. Some improper ones on the other hand…”

She shoved him away. “Fuck off.”

“Raya. I want you like I’ve never wanted anyone else. We’re going to have to deal with our feelings for each other but not tonight. As regional governor, I’m expected to honor the End of Session with a large dose of pomp and circumstance no matter how much I’d prefer to take you to my bedchamber and fuck your brains out.”

His hot words made Raya’s nipples tighten and her pussy clench. Damn this man and the ease with which he made her want him.

Calder’s gaze dropped to her breasts. He licked his lips as he watched them rise and fall. Then he closed the distance between them and cupped them, brushing her nipples with his thumbs.

She shivered, and a low moan escaped her. His touch threatened to short-circuit her brain.

“We’ve got to get going.” His words didn’t match his actions. He bent to kiss and lick her neck while his thumbs continued to tease her nipples. She arched into his touch, wanting to drag him to the stable floor, not even giving a damn if Finlay watched.

Calder licked her ear. “Miss Varvara, will you do me the honor of accepting my offer of engagement?”

Fuck! Was he really asking that now? He said he wouldn’t hold her to it, not that he actually could. She was from New Earth where such things as betrothal contracts didn’t exist. “Yesssss.” The word came out as a hiss when he tugged on her nipples.

“Good.” He licked her neck then shuddered and released her. His brown eyes were nearly black with passion. And his tight pants did nothing to hide the hard ridge of his cock.

He caressed her neck, rubbing his thumb up and down the corded muscle. “If you weren’t attending a ball tonight, I’d mark you. It’s all I can do to resist.”

His words made her shiver. Damn, she wanted him to bite her, to use her hard and rough. She remembered him biting the back of her neck as he fucked her like he would a mare. Wait a minute. What did he mean going to a ball? “You expect me to attend this party?”

“I can hardly announce that we’re engaged with my fiancée not in attendance.”

Raya’s stomach knotted. She’d studied basic Orianian social customs, but she’d not expected to attend a ball. “That’s not possible.”

Calder’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened, a sure sign he was pissed. “Do you really think you can show up unannounced, insinuate yourself back into my life after two months of silence, and then dictate the terms of your stay with me?”

Raya’s heart pounded. His words came out angry, but need and passion sizzled in the look he gave her. He might not be done punishing her for being a bitch, but everything he had in store would elicit as much pleasure as it did pain.

“You’re still angry that I didn’t call. I get it, but I’m sure you can think of more creative ways to torment me for my transgressions.”

He took a slow breath and backed away. “Believe me, I am far from done with you. I have a list a mile long of ways to torment you physically, but I’m afraid you’ll like them all. Attending a party, on the other hand, that’s true punishment.”

Raya’s stomach knotted. She was going to make a fool of herself at the party in more ways than one. “Calder, I… I’ll have to dance.”

His expression softened. “Only with me. Let me lead and you’ll do fine. You waltzed beautifully when you were here before.”

Raya shook her head. “We were alone then, and I’m not very good at letting someone else lead.”

He snorted. “I’m very aware of your need for control. I’ve broken you of the habit before, and I’ll do it again. Hopefully the same intense methods won’t be necessary on the dance floor. Otherwise, we’ll have to get married tonight.”

He was trying to make her laugh, but she couldn’t, not with her world imploding. She was in love with a man who lived on a low-tech planet, a man she couldn’t control, and he expected her to prance around in a fancy dress, making an impression on his high society guests. She hadn’t become a bank officer to play fancy lady. “I don’t understand enough of your customs to attend a ball. I didn’t study –”

His eyes narrowed. “You understand them. You just don’t like them. There’s no way a woman as serious about her work as you would fail to find out everything she needed to know to succeed here.”

“Calder, I’m –”

His expression softened. “Scared?”

No other man could see through her armor so easily. “No! I just –”

“Don’t want to come to this party, but you will. You owe me this.”

Raya nodded, unable to trust her voice to be steady.