Free Her Tender Tyrant by Elizabeth Lennox Page A

change, only the power symbols, but the basic, sociological undercurrents are still there. The man with the most money, or the most information that could destroy another person, has the power. With women, it could be the same, just translated by others through her marriage, or it could be more subtle, depending on the group. The woman with the biggest diamond on her hand, or whatever status symbol she’s wearing, becomes her sign of power. Or she could be the most powerful woman with the money and knowledge, just like a man. It all depends on the social group.”
    He was intrigued. Impressed actually. “You don’t think that men and women start to refine and move away from the power struggles?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “On the contrary. The symbols might be more subtle, but they are still there. But in some cases, the symbols aren’t so subtle.”
    “Explain,” he commanded, crossing his arms over his massive chest.
    Juliette stopped for a moment, absorbing the irony of is command. “Yes, well,” she hid her smile, “think about the last time you shook another man’s hand.”
    “What about it?” he asked. He knew where she was going with this and was impressed that she’d made the parallels between humans and other species.
    She leaned forward, eager to make a point. “The harder a man’s grip, the more he is trying to intimidate the other person. If it is too weak, the recipient has no respect for the man.”
    “True.”
    She was so surprised that he agreed with her that she was speechless for a long moment. But she rallied quickly. “A horse is exactly the same way. The one that shows the most dominance is the king of the herd. The same dynamics apply to social groups, no matter how long they’ve been organized, even loosely organized.” She stopped and waited for his comment but when he simply raised an eyebrow, indicating she should continue, she went on. “So anyway, my point is that if teachers or administrators could identify these symbols of power, understand them and see which of the students don’t have these power symbols, then the weaker students, those that are unable to deal with or gain those symbols of power, have to figure out a different way to survive.”
    She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the window, really into her argument now. “See? Look at the herd. The king is Diablo, right?”
    Marcus looked down at her lovely, auburn hair, more interested in the way she was voluntarily touching him than in her argument now. “Yes,” he finally confirmed.
    “Now Diablo is the king because he’s the biggest and most likely to kick the other horses when they get out of line.”
    “Isn’t that what men are supposed to do?”
    Juliette laughed even as she rolled her eyes. “But look at the two mares out there, standing next to Diablo. They are standing close to him for protection.”
    “A man is supposed to protect his woman.” It suddenly occurred to him that he wanted to protect this woman. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her so that no one could hurt her. He could sense her fear over her argument and, although he could see the holes, she had a valid point.
    She dropped his hand and he was instantly irritated by the loss of that connection. “Even when car drivers are on the road, the driver with the more expensive car thinks she or he has the right of way and old clunkers have to yield, even when, legally, they don’t have the right of way. A four way stop or a merge area, despite laws governing those traffic patterns, still turns into a power struggle, a demonstration of power where the most expensive car goes first.”
    Marcus pushed her soft hair off of her face, feeling her resentment towards the bigger, more expensive cars. “Do you have that problem a lot?” he asked. He thought about calling up his assistant and telling her to get Juliette a nicer car. One with power symbols on it so no one would try and intimidate her on the road. She