A hand covers my mouth from behind.
Not hurried. Not agitated. Measured.
As if he’d been silently waiting for me. The scream pulled from my throat is effectively muffled by leather and armor. I desperately pull at his forearm, only for his other gloved hand to wrap around my midsection, holding me firmly in place.
I know exactly which Noctryn found me.
He moves like the shadows he controls, silent and with purpose. I didn’t hear the metallic clinking of his armor or anything. A silent tear slips down my cheek. There’s nowhere to go from here.
He brings his helmet closer to my ear. “Still can’t follow directions, I see. I thought I told you not to get caught,” he says, a warning note to his voice as he pulls his hand away from my mouth slightly.
“F-fuck off,” I say, shivers now wracking my entire body.
He makes a tsking sound with his tongue. “It wasn’t a bad idea. Upstream through a river to prevent tracks. Thinking like a soldier,” he advises. “The only issue is how you’re thinking, it’s so fucking loud you give away everything.”
FUCK YOU! I think as loudly as possible.
“That’s the general idea,” he says in my ear with a chilling, taunting calm.
Despite my shitty circumstances, I throw my head back as hard as I can into the center of his helmet. Pain immediately erupts across the back of my skull. He releases me and takes a step back. I’m in no shape to run, and to attempt it would be a waste of time.
Instead, I slowly turn around, wincing from the radiating pain.
He reaches up and pulls off his helmet, throwing it to the side. He spits blood from a split lip and looks at me, a menacing grin appearing across his face.
I smirk, unable to help myself.
“I like a little fight in my women. Even if they do look like a frozen, drowned rat,” he says icily.
His words are sharper and crueler than any weapon.
“Where are all your little friends?” I ask, purposely ignoring him. I’m shivering so hard that my teeth are clanking together
“Why? Were you looking forward to more than just one of us?” he asks, flashing me a cold smile.
Bile rises in my throat. This can’t be happening. Things like this don’t happen to me. I’m looked after, protected. Ambrose would kill someone for just thinking of touching me.
Ambrose. Gods, how I wish he were here.
One moment I’m contemplating my life, and the next, I’m slammed into a tree mid-thought, my back pressing into the rough bark. There’s a crack in his icy facade as his black-rimmed eyes are filled with something other than indifference. He runs a thumb along the side of my neck. The same place he bit me. His lips pull into a snarl. “It’s ill-advised to think of another man when you’re about to be fucked by the one standing in front of you,” he says while dragging his dark eyes across my face.
I let out a mocking laugh. “He’ll kill you.”
“He can try.”
I turn my face away, refusing to look at him a second longer.
His rough hands grab my leg, lifting it and wrapping it around his waist. I squeeze my eyes shut. goose bumps scatter across my exposed calf as he pushes the wet fabric up. My breath hitches when he starts rubbing small circles along the back of my leg.
I whip my head back toward him, ready to plead for the insanity to stop. Instead, I’m met with an unflinching stare. Itholds my internal plea hostage with unforgiving eyes. “Why do you hate me?” I ask in a broken tone.
His dark hair, wet from sweat, hangs loosely over his brow, giving him an effortlessly defiant look. “Hate isn’t the word I would use,” he says, while using his other hand to rub his fingers over the side of my neck. His eyes linger on the spot he’s rubbing. “He kissed you,” he says coldly. “Here.”
His thumb hovers over the exact spot Ambrose kissed.
I press my lips together and don’t move.
His hand slides higher up my leg, toward my thigh. I can feel my throat thicken. No one, not even Ambrose, has dared to touch me this familiarly. He’s taking things I haven’t offered to give. Unfortunately, that’s not even the most unhinged thing happening. No, that would be my traitorous body. Shallow breaths. Racing pulse. I’ve never had control taken from me. To lose it would cause a level of anxiety that isn’t healthy. Right now, nothing is in my control.
