Well, hello! I recently restarted Hearts or Diamonds, and promised a chapter every weekend. Well, although this is for Tokens, it's STILL a new chapter!!! Lol.... Anyways, please review, give constructive criticism, I'd be sooo happy...... DISCLAIMER: I own none of the Ranma characters. I only borrowed them for a time. ****************************************************************

Ukyou sat hip deep in a hot bath in the women's apartments, her hands bound tightly behind her as a slender, dark-haired, blue-eyed serving woman scrubbed her fiercely with sweet-smelling soap. The girl had introduced herself as Sikri, trying to make conversation but Ukyou wasn't really interested. Her entire concentration was focused on the upcoming appointment with her captor, Tarou.

Five eunuchs with gold torques encircling their thick necks and gold bands encircling their massive folded arms stood in a circle around the tub, showing not an iota of masculine interest as the serving woman hauled Ukyou dripping out of the tub. They watched her carefully only to make sure she didn't escape.

"I don't have time for this!" Ukyou protested for the umpteenth time. "I'm a <i>prisoner<i>. What does that mean to you people? Just take me to Tarou!"

The eunuchs stared at her with gimlet eyes, nary a twitch of their faces showing their thoughts. Sikri the serving woman simply smiled nervously at Ukyou (having such a well guarded lady in her care was making her worry).

"You'll be taken to Lord Tarou directly," she said, and Ukyou had to content herself with that. She sighed and looked around her blankly, not focusing on the richly appointed interior of the apartments, but seeing in her mind's eye a fight on a dusty road. Had Akane and Ranma got away safely? She had seen them disappearing before some enthusiastic guardsman had clubbed her with the hilt of his sword.

Ukyou shrugged mentally. They were on their own, and so was she. She came back to earth to see Sikri holding up a scrap of green. It looked like a bunch of translucent scarves. The serving woman motioned to her.

"You want me to wear <i>that<i>?" Ukyou demanded. "Where's the rest of the outfit?"

"This is the chauri, the garment we wear," the serving woman said, walking towards Ukyou with a measuring eye. "It will be beautiful on you, my lady. You are very well proportioned, perhaps slightly slender, yet you will be highly pleasing to Lord Tarou when he sees..."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Ukyou shrieked, aghast. "Do you honestly.....?" Before she could protest properly, two of the eunuchs strode forward and grabbed her under her bound arms, lifting her off the ground. Two more came forward to hold her legs.

Sikri came forward holding out the chauri with a determined expression on her pretty face. "Really, my lady, you'll like it......."

Five minutes later, Ukyou stared into a mirror that the woman held out to her. The outfit still looked like a collection of scarves, gauzy, translucent as hell, in reality covering everything important but looking like it didn't. Ukyou was so furious she couldn't breathe. The dress skimmed her figure prettily, and tied in a knot at one shoulder, leaving one creamy shoulder bare. It made her look ultra feminine, delicate, fragile, weak. Worse, wearing the thing made her FEEL weak. She could feel the softness of the material, the cool air whispering up her bare legs under the filmy length. The hem skimmed her ankles, restricting her movement.

As Ukyou stared unbelieving into the mirror, another serving girl approached and began to comb out the tangle in her hair.

"You have such lovely hair, my lady," the girl breathed, her comb gently working through Ukyou's shining brown locks.

Ukyou frowned as she remembered the day of her wedding, the last time maids had ever fussed over her like this, dressing her, powdering her, applying sweet scents, brushing her hair and setting jewels into it. She shut her eyes when she remembered the jewels falling from her hair as Tarou curled her locks around his arm and bared her throat to his pleasure. Her eyes felt hot. Without her spatula, she was weaponless. But in this outfit, this getup, she felt......defenseless.

She wondered if Tarou knew that he had been Genma's pawn. It was very convenient indeed that her brother and her fiancé had found Tarou and his sister in the desert, capturing them and forcing Tarou to seek revenge by killing Tsubasa, who had married Ukyou by then, and by raping Ukyou, his virgin bride, on her wedding bed. It had been very easy for Genma to claim Tsubasa's father's land, now that the heir was dead.

The serving women stepped back, smiling at the great change they had wrought in the dusty wretch the guards had dragged in earlier. The eunuchs didn't release Ukyou. They set her on a nearby bed and pried her legs apart. Outraged, Ukyou tried to fight. What was going on? Were they assaulting her already?

Sikri appeared with a small wooden box. She opened it and took out two small silver colored balls, which she deftly inserted into Ukyou, who stared round-eyed, shocked at the invasion.

"Something to help you," the girl winked at Ukyou, who grimaced. This whole process was making her uncomfortable. Why on earth couldn't she simply challenge Tarou to a dual and fight it out with him?

The eunuchs then hauled her upright and away, out of the room and down a silent, richly carpeted hallway. Ukyou didn't fight them at first, glad to get to where she wanted to be. She was feeling slightly apprehensive at the thought of seeing Tarou again, but that was outweighed by the sense of completion of the goal she had set herself. Finally, she would prove her family wrong; show the world that she, a woman, could claim vengeance as easily as a man.

As they walked, she became more and more aware of the sensation of the metal balls rubbing together deep within her. They caused an nearly uncomfortably wet warmth to pool between her legs, and Ukyou began to walk unsteadily as the balls made her more and more sensitive. She wanted to stop and retrieve the balls, but reaching into herself with guards was unthinkable. Finally the eunuchs brought her into a large, spacious room. The room held a huge four-poster bed, and a copper tub filled with steaming water. One wall had doors leading outside to a garden.

The eunuchs untied her wrists and retied them separately to an iron bar set high in one wall. They left her legs loose, which Ukyou thought was a mistake. Nevertheless, here she was again, bound and in Tarou's power. Ukyou clenched her hands around her bonds. No, it couldn't happen this way. Not AGAIN. She twisted, but the lightest movement brought the balls to rub against her already sensitive flesh, and Ukyou let out a strangled squeak.

The room was quiet after the men left. Ukyou struggled futilely with the wrist ties, but the ropes were strong. Next she tried pulling at the bar. She pushed against the wall with her feet and wrenched, doing her best to ignore the little balls, her muscles standing out in slim definition. No way was she going to wait around here for Tarou to put his large, callused hands on her again. Those hands were so strong, she remembered with a quiver of fear.

"That bar has held stronger men than you, my sweet."

A frisson of fear went through Ukyou unexpectedly. She turned her head to see Tarou closing the door behind him. She watched with mounting fear and rage as he approached her slowly, admiration plain in his silver-green eyes. He looked like some predator on the prowl, his muscles sliding smoothly as he walked, his eyes intent on his prey.

"You!" she breathed. She had expected him, but why couldn't Khaitan cut her a break just this once? Why couldn't someone else torture her for a change?

Because you walked willingly, even eagerly into the mouth of the dragon, you fool, an inner voice berated her. You thought you were strong enough....

Tarou allowed his gaze to rake Ukyou from the creamy swell of her bosom, linger on the green draped curves of her waist, and stop finally at her bare toes poking shyly out of the swirling hem. Approaching the bound princess, his eyes took in her hair swirling in silky locks to her hips. Desire slammed into him. His body hardened as he watched the playing out of a thousand fantasies come true. Oh, yes. He'd imagined her like this, especially after seeing her at Genma's palace. Had imagined her bound, helpless, her femininity and vulnerability obvious in the soft, clinging material that draped her. Had imagined her hair unbound again, as it had been that night of revenge, when it had flowed around him in shimmering waves as he'd ravished her innocence in an act of savagery, ignoring her pleas.

Seeing her whirling weapon, her obvious skill in the fight at the palace, he had been unable to believe it was the same weeping girl he'd left in Cantos over a year ago. But Ukyou it certainly was.

"You were expecting me, weren't you?" he said, pleased by the look of fear in her eyes. Yes, she'd fought like a demon in the marketplace, but here he had stripped away her weapons and she was his to tame as he chose. Tarou grinned wider at the thought. "I knew you would come looking for me, for revenge." He walked closer until less than a foot separated them and quirked a haughty eyebrow. "I knew you would look lovely in green."

Ukyou swung her legs up in a kick, but he nimbly caught her ankles, pulling them up, sliding them about his waist in an unbreakable grip. In rising horror, Ukyou saw her skirt ride up to her thighs, watched as Tarou clamped hard fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs to keep her legs up. The feel of his large hands on her made the princess shiver inwardly. Her position was getting more and more uncomfortable. Tied to the bar as she was, gravity pulled at her arms, straining her shoulders painfully.

"Ah ah ah," Tarou shook his head, smiling. "These tricks won't work on me, Ukyou."

"Tell me, my lord, did you ever think about who betrayed your position that night to my brother and my fiancé?" she demanded. "Do you really think it was an ACCIDENT that they came upon you both?"

Tarou frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"When Tsubasa died, he left no heir, and he was his father's only heir. His land was without a lord!" Ukyou tried to explain. "Genma, Ranma's father, found it very easy to take control of the land once YOU had cleared the way for him......."

Tarou crooked a skeptical eyebrow. "Did you cook up this fantastic story on the way here, Ukyou? No one knew my sister and I were on the road that night........No one but my father, and he would NEVER betray me. Leave off this foolery and take your punishment like a woman."

"You're the vilest creature to ever walk this world, Tarou!" Ukyou cried. "You've ruined my life, my honour and my womanhood, and I'm here to extract my vengeance from your hide!"

Tarou threw his head back and laughed. When he looked at Ukyou again, she saw genuine amusement shining in his eyes.

"And how are you going to do that, little one?" he asked. He moved forward and released her legs, allowing them to fall back but standing so close she couldn't do anything with them. They were wobbly anyway, and she was relieved to ease the strain on her arms.

"You can't fight me the way you are, sweet Ukyou," he pointed out, laughter dancing in his dragon eyes. Damn him. Ukyou wished she were free for only a minute. That would be enough to show this arrogant horse-herder that she was no mere girl to be abused and tossed aside. Tarou's eyes captured Ukyou's gaze as his hands caressed her arms from shoulders to wrists. Ukyou trembled, and cursed her traitorous body. "It's too bad that your revenge didn't succeed, dear Ukyou. Now you pay the price of even trying."

Ukyou gasped as he pressed against her. Her sensitive nostrils caught the Arun prince's scent as he leaned in, a musk of leather and spices and the tang of cold steel. His arms imprisoned her ribcage, his lips descending to skim her collarbone. She was caught in a prison of Tarou.

The prince's fingers caressed her jaw, tilting it so he could access the soft skin beneath her ear. She shivered again as his lips sent electric currents through her. His fingers glided up her waist, and closed around her breast, feeling the soft weight.

"It's going to happen, Ukyou," Tarou growled against her neck. Tension thrummed through him. He wanted to lift the princess' skirts and take her there, up against the wall. Well, what was stopping him? "It's going to happen, and you can make it hard, or you can make it harder. It's your choice."

He reached for the hem of her skirt and slid his hand up her thigh, intending to part her folds and perhaps ease the pain just a little. In astonishment, he touched her folds and discovered them wet. Now that he was paying attention, he could smell her desire perfuming the air. Imagine that. She wanted him as well. Tarou could not have been more astonished if Ukyou had smiled and flirted with him. He slid a finger into her all the up to the first knuckle. Ukyou gasped and tensed, but Tarou's attention had turned to the two silver balls his finger had encountered enclosed within her. The explanation for Ukyou's readiness became apparent to him. The balls were a little toy used to stimulate some of his women when he pleased. He hadn't thought to use it on Ukyou, a captive.

Slowly, a devilish grin curled his lips. Bless that Sikri! This could be fun. Knowing what he now knew would make things more interesting. As he thought about it, he allowed another finger to slide into his captive, making her shriek and jump. He stroked her softly, then boldly, and Ukyou began to squirm in his arms. Oh, this was too good for words. The Cantonian princess he had raped and abandoned had followed him up here for revenge, all the while never guessing that her body would betray her so cruelly at such a crucial moment.

"Ukyou," he murmured, slanting a glance down at her. His captive gazed up at him blankly, unseeing, her pupils enlarged with desire. Then her gaze focused and she glared at him, obviously ready to let loose another barrage of insults. He forestalled her.

"I'm not going to take you unwilling, Ukyou," he said, hiding a grin. Ukyou stared, confused. Oh, what an innocent she still was, his pretty princess. "I'm going to make you beg me to take you."

Ukyou stared at him openmouthed. Then her foot caught him in the shin, and she yelled, "Beg? I beg you? You're insane!! I will never, never......." Tarou grinned and inserted a third finger into her, grazing the soft flesh erotically with his callused fingers. Ukyou moaned.

Tarou brought his other hand up to her shoulder and deftly undid the knot, allowing the loose material of the chauri to collapse and pool at her hips, leaving her naked to the waist. Ukyou tugged at her bonds in an instinctive attempt to cover herself and then glared at Tarou from eyes like emeralds, bright with anger.

Oh, she was so tempting, Tarou mused in delight. And so tidy of her to deliver herself practically at his door. He teased her nipple with his thumb, plucking it softly, watching it pucker in expectation. Unable to help himself, he bent his head and began to suckle at it.

Ukyou couldn't stand it. All sorts of electric feelings ran through her body, her traitorous body that was even now betraying her into this monster's hands. Her breasts begged for his touch even as his mouth brought alive red-hot wires that connected her breasts to something low in her body, making her stomach clench in anticipation.

She whipped her head back and forth, thrashing Tarou softly with long locks of mahogany brown hair. The prince growled in satisfaction as the silky strands slid softly down his upper arms. She felt his fingers work at her center, touching her intimately, stroking her in a way that set her on fire that she didn't know how to put out. She wanted, needed something.......

"Tell me, Ukyou, tell me what you want. Beg me," Tarou murmured against her ribcage. Ukyou shook her head wildly. Tarou's teeth lightly grazed one sweetly begging peak rising for his attention.

"Tarou! "Ukyou screamed, tears springing to her eyes at the intensity of her conflicting emotions. She had never felt such things before, had never felt her body burn in this white fire. And only Tarou knew how to put it out. Only Tarou......

"Dammit! No!" she screamed, "Please!"

Tarou grinned in triumph, watching Ukyou's lashes quiver, wet and spiky with her tears, as he slowly removed his fingers. Ukyou felt immediately bereft and sighed as his fingers slid back into her so slowly that she tried to clench around him, eliciting soft laughter from him.

"Please, what?" he asked insistently.

"Please.........help me," Ukyou murmured, her eyes closed, her face turned away in defeat. She wanted to faint, to die, anything to end this humiliation. Tarou stroked her softly, not pleased with her wording. She screamed, enflamed past bearing. She felt hot and feverish, and a sheen of sweat glistened on her brow. She thought she was going mad.

"Look at me, Ukyou," he said, squelching down a moment's pity for her. "Tell me what you want."

She opened her eyes and looked straight into his, the confusion and desire plain in their emerald depths, the conflict between pride and passion evident. Then something in her eyes dimmed, leaving her eyes smoky with desperate need.

"I want.........I'm begging you........I want you to take me," she said softly. She let her gaze drop and her head hang. Tarou felt lightheaded with desire as he watched his proud princess, broken and utterly defeated, beg him so humbly. He placed his hand under her chin and drew her head up. He leaned in and kissed her as he'd wanted to ever since he'd seen her. The first time, forcing himself on her, he hadn't been able to concentrate on any niceties. She would have bitten his lips off if he'd tried. Now, here was the perfect opportunity. Tarou slanted his lips across hers, the shock of her soft lips trembling and melting before his driving him to greater frenzy. He kissed her savagely, thoroughly, his lips and tongue exploring and claiming their moist virgin depths, running a hand through her long, soft hair. Groaning when she kissed him back, for she found some relief in even this exchange.

Tarou crooked his fingers inside Ukyou and removed the tiny balls, placing them in the pocket of his vest. Swiftly, he undid the ties of his riding trousers and pulling his stiff shaft out, rubbed the head slowly against Ukyou's wet opening. Ukyou screamed, the sensations so intense and the motion so utterly sexual that she wanted to collapse. Her fists were clenched so hard that her nails made deep crescent indentations in her palms. She shook her head helplessly, fighting to stay sane.

Finally he couldn't stand it any more. Tarou pushed deep into her with a single thrust, and Ukyou's vision went black. The most intense feeling of completion she had ever experienced in her life rushed through her. Tarou shuddered as Ukyou's hot flesh enclosed him like a glove, surrounded him tightly, gripping him. He pulled out and slammed into her again, making her rise to tiptoe, battering her body. She reveled in every single moment, the intoxication in her head clouding her senses as Tarou slammed into her with increasing force, Ukyou urging him on with her, wrapping her legs about him to bring him closer, and her mind began to unravel, the sensations spiralling within her as they got closer and closer to orgasm. Tarou now had one hand curled around her waist, supporting her weight. He splayed his fingers against the small of her back, forcing her closer. Ukyou felt a great tide of pleasure rising within her, growing in force and power, until it raged through her body like a tsunami, crashing against the walls of her mind and sending her screaming into velvet darkness. She was dimly aware of Tarou, his hoarse shout as he came, sending his seed deep within her. And then mercifully, she fainted.

************************************* Ukyou woke slowly, feeling drained in every cell of her body. She tried to remember why, felt the wonderful soreness at the juncture of her thighs, and groaned when everything came rushing back with clarity. Oh, no. Had she really begged Tarou to take her?

She heard a deep chuckle and opened her eyes slowly, knowing who it had to be. Being proved right when Tarou's complacent visage swam into view did not make her feel better at all. Why was she supine? Oh, she was lying on the four-poster bed she had seen. Tarou lay next to her, an arm slung possessively around her waist, a leg flung over hers to keep her from moving.

"Ukyou, my sweet," Tarou purred, satisfaction oozing from every pore, his fingers drawing small circles on her arm. "That was magnificent. You really outdid yourself. Well, to be fair of course last time I didn't give you much of you chance to demonstrate any skills you might possess."

He flipped so that he now lay on top of her, forcing her to bear the brunt of his weight. His hands began to roam as he studied her.

Ukyou stared at Tarou furiously, allowing angry tears to form in her eyes. "You insult me by suggesting I might have any such skills before I was properly wed!"

Tarou grinned unrepentantly as his fingers drew perilously close to Ukyou's right breast, stroking all the while. He noticed she hadn't made any moves to remove his hand.

"It doesn't matter," he said, palming Ukyou's breast and caressing it expertly. "You'll gain those skills soon enough, after a month or so in my harem. I can teach you..." Here, he skimmed her stomach with his other hand and tweaked her nipple, making her twitch, ".....a lot." He saw the helpless look in her eyes and gloated as his hands moved over her at will. She looked beaten, her eyelids slipping closed in shame. He was more off guard than he had ever been in that moment, and when Ukyou's hand shot out and hit a pressure point in Tarou's throat, although his speed was greater, surprise stopped his reaction, and he fell choking to the bed.

Ukyou sat up swiftly, triumph gleaming in her eyes. She knew she only had moments, and even now Tarou's hand was reaching for her. His superior strength and speed would capture her easily, and she refused to allow that to happen again. Her fury grew as she considered the man who had abused her repeatedly till now. To think she had ever had any pity for him.

"My brother should have killed you when he met you, and left your headless corpse in the desert," she hissed as she looked around for a weapon. The glint of a small dagger at Tarou's hip caught her eyes just as his arm flexed and his hand came up, imprisoning one wrist. With a cry of rage, Ukyou pulled out the dagger with her free hand and plunged it into Tarou's side.

"This is my revenge, you bastard!" She screamed. He didn't release her so she pulled the dagger out and stabbed him again. He twitched slightly, and released her arm, glaring weakly at her.

"You should have believed me about Genma," said Ukyou with mixed hatred and regret, scrambling off the bed. "I am the only person who never meant you harm. I am the last person you should have hurt. It doesn't matter. I'll make sure I kill him myself." She ran for the doors to the garden, leaving Tarou's motionless body in a growing pool of blood.

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Well, whatcha think? Tell me tell me!!! :D