Chapter Seven
Brande woke in a strangebed. Then she realized that her arm was in a cushioned cuff and chained to a rail above the headboard. Her heart beat quicker, and her breath caught. She turned her head and found she wasn’t alone. She could breathe again.
Evston’s usually well-groomed dark blond hair was tousled, and there was a light dusting of stubble on his face, but he was as handsome as ever. She twisted, pushing the linens down, exposing a muscled chest that was perfectly formed.
“Evston?” she said softly, resting her free hand on his arm. She wanted to touch his face, but that seemed so intimate. She thought of their time in the woods, the way he’d pushed her over the fallen tree and spanked her. How it had drained away her frustration and anxiety and made her focus on his hand and his strength. Then he’d touched her and made her want him, before he’d filled her. She closed her eyes, recalling the sensation of him pushing into her, stretching her, sliding in and out, touching that spot that ached. It had felt good and right in a way she’d never imagined it could.
He had the power to change the course of her mood and her thoughts, and now apparently even her life.
A small shiver of fear ran through her. She didn’t really know or understand the side of him that would carry her back to the transport car naked when the commander sat across from them. She swallowed.
While she’d been half asleep she’d heard them talking.We’d never take her anywhere like that, the commander had said. As though it would be partly his decision where she went. That concerned her deeply. She’d had so many choices taken away from her. Her formerly indulgent father had seemed like a complete stranger as he ordered her first to prepare herself to become engaged to a Ketturan, then his cold fury over the fact that he believed she’d been compromised, then his delighted announcement that Lord Calex had made an acceptable offer and would thankfully be taking her away. Each time the king had talked to her over the past day and night, she’d felt herself worth less than a single token.
Tears filled her eyes. She thought of the king’s plan to say she’d run away again. To avoid the scandal of having to explain why she couldn’t marry the barbarian. Her father insisted that Brande and Evston would have a formal wedding, but not until much later. For now, she would secretly reside with the Calexes who were better equipped to handle or retrieve promiscuous and wayward girls.
They certainly had handled her. She’d been angry and frightened and as a result had been churlish and accusatory. Within moments of her sharp-tongued defiance emerging, she’d been punished and stripped of everything. Was Evston really so different from her father?
I will not be held prisoner, she thought furiously.
She rolled onto her side, searching for the release for the cuff. She sat up and dragged the contents of the bedside table toward her.
“What are you doing?” Evston asked.
“Where is the key?”
“Lie back down, and we’ll talk.”
“Release me first. This instant,” she said.
“For what purpose?”
That stopped her for a moment. “I need the facilities,” she said, which wasn’t a lie.
He rolled from the bed and strode to a far cabinet. He opened the top, which held a jumble of cuffs, chains, and other things she couldn’t identify.
“I don’t normally keep these things in here,” he said, walking to her. “The room was outfitted to accommodate play, but I’ve never had cause to make use of restraints in here.”
“Yes, this is a part of the Calex castle I’ve never seen. You have a lot of secrets, Evston.”
