Nearly an hour later,as the pack was getting ready to tear down the rest of the tents and get moving, I stood outside of my tent with Aurelia’s attire. I’d washed myself off and changed clothes so that the scent of her body wouldn’t linger on my skin. Doing so had cleared my head enough to get my affairs in order and would hopefully keep me steady during this meeting.
She lay on the bed with her wrists bound to the frame, the rope just under the marks she’d caused from last night. Her eyes were closed and the sheets rested just above those luscious breasts. Her pert nipples stuck up through the material. My mouth started to salivate with an overpowering urge to rip off that sheet, take one of those taut nipples into my mouth, and tease a moan out of her.
Struggling for control, I approached the bed. I could just barkwake upat her, but the memory of how she’d been treated in that village still rubbed my heart raw. She might be on the road to her death, but the least I could do was make it a decent journey.
“Hey.” I stopped beside her, shaking her hip gently. “Wake?—”
She flipped to her side and a foot came out of nowhere, fluttering the bedsheet and kicking me in the balls.
“Fucking—” I bent and backed up, cupping my dick. “Fuck!”
She adjusted and kicked out again, for my head this time, faster than she should’ve been without the help of her animal.
I dodged, the movement eliciting a fresh stab of agony in my groin.
“I was trying . . . to be . . . fuckingnice,” I grit out, standing with effort.
“Tying me to a bed is very nice, yes.” Her sunburst eyes, beautiful with their flare of golden yellows, fiery oranges and soft browns, were brilliant and brimming with violence. “I kicked you in the balls as a thank you. Now we’re both fuckingnice.”
“I tied you to the bed to keep you from running off.” I flung the clothes at her face. “You’re a captive, remember?”
She shook her head to get them off. “The epitome of nice, yes.” She quirked an eyebrow at me. “What a gentleman you are.”
I moved around to the frame and untied the rope. “There. Freed. Run and you’ll be punished. I hear you’re familiar with that.”
“Are you going to punish me with your fists or your dick?” She pulled her wrists apart and threw the rope away before yanking the sheet back over her breasts with a glare. Too late. The picture of her nudity was re-burned into my brain. My cock was painfully hard.
“You made it pretty clear last night and into this morning that my dick was not a punishment. Come on, get dressed. They need to pack this tent up and get everything stowed away. We’re due to head out.”
Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “You have zero guilt that you are tearing me away from my home, huh?”
My chest tightened but I didn’t show it. I had a lot of guilt, yes, but duty and justice didn’t give a shit about her feelings or mine.
“None.” I lied smoothly, and then couldn’t help a little dig as retaliation for my aching balls. “Especially since removing you means the people of this village can go free. Their cage has been pried open. I’m a hero.”
“You’re delusional, is what you are.” Her fists balled. “A hero doesn’t murder villagers.”
“We left all the innocents alive, darling. We only killed or captured the poison in this place.”
Her eyes narrowed. “This village is anything but a cage. Is that how you sleep at night? By inventing your own reality? The people here stayed because they have food and shelter anda good life for their children. If not for Granny, they’d still live in poverty, their children uneducated. Now they’re obviously going to have to leave because you killed their provider and are abducting the one person who could still find a way to keep them in their lifestyle.”
I stared at her incredulously. “Do you seriously believe that? Granny’s people wouldn’t let anyone leave without an escort.”
“I know. A couple months ago I was punished because they thought I’d tried to leave—it was a misunderstanding. We’re in a dangerous line of work. We need protection when we venture out, me most of all. We can’t risk anyone knowing our location because they’d invade and do exactly what you did—kill Granny, take me, and steal the product. Congratulations, you proved her right and validated the rules we live by.”
I held up a hand, the surge of rage taking me unexpectedly. “You were punished?Youwere?”
Her chin tilted up a fraction. “Yes. I live by the same rules as everyone else. I’m not special.”
“They punished you even though it was a misunderstanding?”
“Yes. I did something stupid, and to keep the peace, I accepted the punishment.”
“To keep the peace...” I huffed out a sardonic laugh and turned away for a moment, the rage still pumping strongly. I couldn’t seem to make my way around it. “Who did it?” I asked softly. I turned back to her. “Who hurt you?”
Her eyes widened a little and a flush crept into her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter.”
I stepped toward her, each word clipped. “Who. Hurt. You?”
