Hers To Cherish (Verdantia Book 3) by Patricia A. Knight Page A

him.”
    Steffania chuckled. “Perhaps you could cut it off? I think he’d appreciate that right now.”
    “The Vxloncians brew especially potent drink. I’ll go rub his head. It will make him feel better.”
    Steffania nodded ruefully as Pansy unfolded from the couch and left the room. She clicked on the vid-viewer and scanned through the offerings, looking for some light entertainment – some distraction for the weighty thoughts plaguing her. It had been days since she’d had any free time to herself. It had been years since she been on a world with modern conveniences. She was going to make the most of Ramsey’s temporary disability. She settled happily into the cushions to watch a diverti vid about two star-crossed lovers.
    Pansy came out some time later. “Steffania, he wants you.”
    With a heavy sigh, she handed the controller to Pansy. “Tell me how this ends, will you?” she asked and went to the master bedroom. Ram stood by the bed, barefoot and shirtless in a pair of his synth-leather pants. A soft, fresh hint of aftershave hung in the room. Wet hair slicked back from his clean-shaven face. The only hint of yesterday’s dissipation dwelt in his cautious movements and in his eyes, his half-lidded and bloodshot eyes. He dug methodically through the familiar black satchel. Multiple pieces of red and black rope lay on the bedding arranged according to length. He looked up as she entered.
    “ Day two of your ‘challenge’.” Ram pointed to the center of the room. “Stand there. Nude. Legs apart, shoulder width. Leave your hands at your sides.”
    Steffania’s heart thudded in her chest like a trapped bird. She hadn’t anticipated this. She unpinned the sheer material wrapping her hips, folded it and then slipped out of her panties. Ram was waiting for her, rope held in one hand. With a hard swallow, she stepped in front of him and assumed the position he required. Ram studied her face then rubbed his forehead.
    “ Again, I will not ask you to do the impossible.” He gazed at her for long moments before a ghost of a smile flickered. “I’m not interested in breaking you. Remember, you can stop everything with two words, Estrella Racha .”
    “ But you will send me back to Verdantia.”
    “ Yes,” he said.
    Steffania closed her eyes. If Ram looked into them now, he would see the craving that filled her to surrender everything to him. Quiet enclosed their small space for several moments. “If breaking me doesn’t interest you, what do you want?” she murmured.
    “I want you to know where your limits are. And then I want you to give the control to push you past those limits to me.”
    Her eyes flew open. “That requires a great deal of trust.”
    “ Dominance and submission is an intimate binding. Those who submit must trust that those who dominate will never take more than they can give.” A sardonic smile twisted Ram’s lips. “Those who dominate must give those who submit everything they need but never more than they can endure.”
    “ By your definition, the dominus has the harder role,” she whispered.
    “ Perhaps. What is more difficult? To trust another so completely? Or to honor the responsibility to never betray such a trust once given?”
    “I guess that would depend on how much the dominus cared for his slaaf .”
    Ram shrugged . “I suppose it would.” Steffania saw a bleak pain in his eyes quickly masked. “Enough talking,” he said gruffly.
    Steffania stood silently for at least an hour while Ram again covered her body in an intricate pattern of interlocked ropes. When he finished, bands of rope began at each thigh then joined in a network up the middle of her abdomen to another band that wrapped her ribs just underneath her breasts. The network continued up her sternum to a vee’d collar that stopped just beneath the heavy gold links she wore always on this planet, on this mission. Just as before, her body heated with arousal.
    “Your beauty is stunning.” His eyes