By the evening, my stomach was growling and my throat was parched from thirst, and still we rode. I couldfeelKragorn’s tension, the way his muscles tightened and flexed each time he needed to turn the horse in a different direction to avoid human civilization. He was riding toward a deadline, one I didn’t understand, and his worry was infecting me.
But we finally reached an unspoiled wood and Kragorn released a breath to fog the air around me. I peeked out. Shadows surrounded us.
“Are we safe?”
“Ye’ve always been safe,” he grunted without looking down at me, instead focusing on pulling the horse to a halt. “But aye, we are close now.”
“Close?” I meant to ask, but the word became a small yelp when he swung down from the saddle, taking me with him. Still holding me in his shackled arms, the chain pressing against my back, Kragorn turned to smack the horse’s withers.
We both watched the animal gallop back the way we came, then Kragorn began walking.
“We’re near enough to the stones to make it by midnight, thank fook. We’ll be back in my world in a few hours, hopefully before yer father’s men—the ones who’ve been following us all day—catch up.”
I craned my head to look over his shoulder, to peer into the shadows of the wood, looking for attackers.
Nay, they’d be your saviors, would they not?
I found myself curling around Kragorn, afraid again.
“The horse…” I whispered, uncertain what I was asking.
“Was no’ mine to steal. This cloak, on the other hand, I will take as recompense for months of misery.”
I waited for him to say something else. Something about what my father had objected to. When Kragorn didn’t, I realized this heat in my chest wasanger. Imagine daring to beangryat a moment like this, when I was completely at the mercy of the huge beast carrying me through the snow?
Mayhap he felt it, because Kragon glanced down at me, the brow over his good eye rising in challenge.
That gesture gave me courage.
“And me?”
He suddenly veered to the left, heading toward a large pile of boulders.
“What about ye, Lady Lillian?” he asked, his tone mild.
“I am no lady,” I whispered. Not here and now. I was his captive. But I swallowed and continued. “You would not steal my father’s horse, but his fur was payment for the horrors you endured. What aboutme? His daughter?”
I was speaking to his chin. Kragorn slowly lowered me to my feet, holding me as I got my balance, then placed one finger below my chin to lift my gaze.
“Ye’re no’ his daughter any longer, Lillian,” he murmured, his gaze sweeping my face. “Ye belong to me now.”
I swallowed hard, the fear making my knees weak as the awful truth was confirmed.
“And…and I will be going with you? To your world?”
His fingers were warm against my skin.
“Aye, Lillian,” he drawled. “Ye’re going wherever I go, from now on.”
Oh God. My eyes fluttered shut.
Iwashis prisoner.
In the same way my father had kept him locked up for months, I would becomehis. I would pay for my father’s actions and sins. I would follow Kragorn to his world and accept whatever punishment he meted out.
Except…
“Do ye understand, Lillian?” His mouth was near my jaw, his words in my ear, his warm breath against my skin. “Ye’re mine.”
