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A mischievous smile washed over Briar’s pale face. “Oh, I would take great pleasure in doing so.” She laughed loudly as she made her way to Sigmun. “I may have to toy with this one a bit for wounding me. What great fun we could have.”
Oh yes. What great fun I would have with these men. I planned on enjoying every single, wicked moment of it.
CHAPTER 13
“Well, well. Isn’t this positively cozy?”
The small room echoed with the bang and clatter of chains as each of the men strained against their bonds. They had been stripped down to only their leather breeches. Pressed standing against the hard stone wall, their arms were raised and shackled above their heads. Their tanned skin glistened with sweat from their exertions to be free. Their faces streaked with dirt. All their bodies showed signs of battle. A deep red scrape across the chest of Gripir. A bandaged shoulder gash on Sigmun. A cut above Troylus’ eye. A purple bruise along Regin’s jaw.
It was probably wrong, but I felt a surge of awareness with such obvious displays of masculine strength and vigor barely restrained in front of me. As I observed before, none of my men were the typical puny mortals of the kingdom. Their vitality and fight set them apart.
All of them stayed stubbornly silent.
“No witty rejoinder? Not even from you, Sigmun?” I looked from man to man. Their eyes sparked with bright fury, one and all.
I sighed…just a tad dramatically. “Fine! You win. I suppose I owe all of you an explanation and perhaps….an apology.”
I was still met with the silent treatment.
“You all are now aware that King Basil is an odious toad who never cared a whit for his daughter beyond what she could do for him,” I began as I started to pace in front of their stretched and bound forms. “Thank you by the way for tossing that man out on his considerable ass when he insulted me. It really was terribly sweet and noble of you all.”
I peeked at them from under my lashes.
Still nothing.
“So you must understand, when Briar Rose came to me asking for help, I couldn’t possibly refuse her. In order for her to have time to sneak away from her father’s clutches and marry the man she loved, I had to make him believe she was dead so he wouldn’t search the kingdom for her. Now I know you are all probably angry with me for not trusting you with the truth about Briar Rose’s death, but…well…I was having such a terribly good time playing our little game that I didn’t want to.”
This finally got a rise out of them. “This wasn’t a game, Zelladine,” responded Troylus. His brow lowered and jaw tightened as he admonished me.
“Unshackle me and I will show you just how serious we were,” threatened Gripir.
“Yes…I don’t think I’m going to be doing that just yet,” I said as I wrinkled my nose and shook my head.
“You should have entrusted us with your secret, Zella,” sighed Regin as he uncomfortably shifted on his feet and rolled his shoulders.
“I know that…now…but you have to admit we all had a rather inauspicious start,” I explained.
“Well, now you do know, so get us out of these damn chains,” chimed in Sigmun. “The jest is over, Zell.”
Shaking my head side to side, I said, “Not till you forgive me.”
“Fine. We forgive you,” sighed Regin.
“See…I’m not feeling the trust or forgiveness,” I teased as each of their features remained hard and implacable.
There was a low, dull rumble around the chamber when, to a man, they seemed to growl at me.
Clapping my hands, I cried out, “How about another game?”
“It was never a game. She’s impossible,” said Gripir as he turned to address the others.
“When we get free of these chains, you will pay for this, Zelladine,” warned Troylus.
His warning sent a special thrill down my back to my toes knowing they would be making me pay in the most painfully pleasurable way possible. I bit my lip in anticipation. I hoped it was imaginative. I did so enjoy the creative imagination these men put into their punishments.
Yet, for now, they were not in control. I was.
“Tut, tut. You better be nice to me, after all, you are chained to the wall right now, and I do have my powers back.”
“For now,” said Sigmun.
I just smiled.
Tapping my fingertip to my lips, I observed each one of them. There was the unmistakable hard ridge pressing against their leather breeches. No doubt they were already thinking of ways to punish me for my insolence. Perhaps there was a way I could show them I was apologetic.
“I think all of your dispositions would become much sweeter if you were a little more comfortable.”
Striding up to Troylus, I gave him a saucy wink before reaching for the laces of his breeches. His arms jerked against his chains, but he stayed bound. As the laces loosened, I reached in and pulled his thick cock free.
