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“Great!” Relief flooded my veins as I hurried to where she was mounting my—wait! Why was she on my horse? How had she even gotten her hands on it? I stopped in my tracks, gaping at her, then shook my head.
I’d round back to that in a second. For now…
I lifted my wrists for her to free them. “Could you unlock these for me, then?”
“Oh...” She backed the horse away from me, already shaking her head. “No. I’m afraid not.”
Um, what?
“What do you mean, no?” I shook my head, confused. “Why the hell not?”
“I find men infinitely more attractive when they’re tied up.”
Yeah, I honestly had no answer for that.
Reaching down, she ruffled my hair. “Don’t worry, darling. It’s for your own benefit. Not only is your sex appeal high right now, but being in such a harmless, submissive position will garner you more sympathy and trust from Quilla and help you get into her good graces more quickly. And that is the end game for you here, correct? Coaxing her into loving you back?”
I frowned down at my chains. If keeping them on made me less intimidating to Quilla, then, of course, I’d keep them where they were. But when I glanced up to admit Melaina might possibly have a small point, she’d already started to leave as well.
“Hey!” I stepped after her. “Where are you going? And how did you get my horse?”
“Oh, is this yours?” She paused and smirked my way as she stroked the horse’s neck. “Why, I just found this beauty here all alone in the woods, and I liked it better than my own gelding. So I sold old Charlie to a traveler on the road for some much-needed coin, and I claimed this girl as my new ride.” Waving her fingers over her shoulder at me, she grinned. “So sorry, but finders keepers.”
I gaped, unable to believe what I was hearing. “But you can’t just steal my horse. And all the possessions in those saddlebags are mine.”
“Not anymore.” Her laugh floated back to me, telling me she was taking my horse regardless.
I scowled.
“So what, then? Do you expect me to just walk to—” I didn’t even know where they were going. “What’s your destination anyway? We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. Our next stop could be days away.”
“Mmm. About four or five days, I’d wager,” she called back.
What the fuck?
That’s it. I refused to move another step. How dare they put chains on me and then just expect me to follow them like some kind of loyal dog? Either they made me a full prisoner and forced me along every step of the way, or they took off my shackles and freed me completely, riding on my own horse, of course.
Those were my conditions.
Because I was not willingly going to just trail along behind them on foot like this as if there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
Even though there really was nowhere else I’d rather be. That was totally beside the point.
Huffing moodily, I climbed the rock Quilla had been sunning herself on when she’d first come out of the water, and I plopped down, waiting with my arms crossed stubbornly over my chest.
Surely, they wouldn’t leave me behind. I was their prisoner. People usually bullied their prisoners into moving and going where they went. So yeah, they’d be back for me. They had to come back.
But the more the seconds ticked by, the antsier I grew. I began to tap my fingers impatiently on my knee. No one was returning. And Quilla was beginning to move out of the immediate radar of my mark from where I could still detect her feelings. I’d lose my true love again if I just stayed here. And we’d have to start our chase all over from the beginning again.
Dammit! They weren’t going to come back. They honestly had no problem with simply leaving me behind.
I scrambled off the rock,
grumbling moodily.
I hope no one ever learned I was doing this. Chasing after your captors who were so blatantly leaving without you was beyond humiliating.
I jogged, cursing the constraints on my wrists the whole time because they seemed to impede my speed. The trusty cat who’d been following me since I’d woken up in the alley in Pinsky, appeared, winding its way between my legs as if excited about going on another adventure, and it tripped me up in the process.
