“Are there happy memories that you cherish? How was life with your uncle when you were young?”
His question warmed her. “My uncle provided for me as he promised my parents he would,” she replied. Despite his sometimes cold and detached demeanor Ryken had never been unkind. She had an inkling that it pained him, not having children of his own. And while Sedrak could do as he pleased she wanted to make it known that she did not care to hear him speak ill of Ryken.
A silence fell between them with Sedrak watching her as she stared out over the gently burbling stream.
“I would not have killed him,” Sedrak finally said, his voice almost a whisper.
The memory of that night shot through her like a lightning bolt. She stiffened as she remembered racing down the stairs, knowing Ryken’s life was in her hands and that she might not make it in time to save him. “That is… kind of you to say, Master.”
“He needed to be taught a lesson, Leola. I know your people think we are barbarians…”
She shook her head and was about to protest what he’d said.
He gripped her arm. “No lies, remember?”
Her eyes fell and she nodded. His presence was unsettling. As if he knew what she meant to say even before she said it.
“You think we are barbarians for the ways in which we hunt and gather instead of tilling our lands the way you do. But we are people, too. We want to live in peace. We want to know love and joy and feel the warmth of our hearths in the winter. Your uncle’s lesson was a long time coming. I hope he heeds it.”
It touched her, what he’d said. Standing with him at the water’s edge, she began to understand that he was right, as scared as she’d been when he first took her from her home. “Perhaps…” she began, then thought better of it.
He raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Forgive me. I did not mean to speak out of turn.”
“I welcome what you have to say.”
Leola chided herself for speaking before the thought had fully formed. How would he take what she had to say? Would it anger him? His hard stare made her realize there was no retreating. “Perhaps one day there might be peace between our people?” she asked softly.
He eyed her for a long time before replying. “Perhaps,” he finally said, his voice almost wistful as he looked off into the distance. He shook his head. “Let us not waste this beautiful day on diplomacy,” he said, his hand falling from her shoulder. “We’ve taken some sun and some fresh air. A feast awaits us in the evening. In the meantime I intend to deliver the corrections that you’ve earned.” The way he glowered at her this time was different. There was something almost playful in his eyes. “And if you take them like a good plaything there might be some reward in it for you, too.”
A shiver of excitement raced down her spine. Days ago she would have responded to what he’d said with fear and trepidation. Now it held the promise of excitement. And the shame she felt for wanting it paled in comparison to the anticipation that caused thatneedto blossom in her sex. “Of course, Master,” she said, lowering her eyes and obediently nodding.
She took his offered hand and together they headed up the hill, anticipation coursing through her at his promise of a reward after her corrections.
Chapter 10
Walking back through the village, then up toward the camp, Leola couldn’t help but notice the sly and knowing smiles of onlookers.
Sedrak seemed to ignore the whispers and giggling that followed them but she could not.
“There he goes with her.”
“Taking her into the tent to show her who her master is, no doubt.”
“She’ll be limping after he’s through with her.”
Each of them caused fresh humiliation to swell through her. Knowing that the townsfolk and soldiers they passed knew exactly what would transpire inside the canvas walls, that she would be bared to him and made to accept him in any way he chose, was a shameful thing.
She was puzzled as to why she didn’t care. Or, rather, why it didn’t make her want to crawl into a hole and never see the light of day again the way she had just days ago.
Now as they walked she was filled with anticipation at the ways Sedrak might use her. It was a horrible, vulgar thing for a young woman to think, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t stop herself.
When they walked into the tent and Sedrak reached for the leash hanging by the entrance, a bolt of excitement shot through her that caused her sex to wet.
Turning to face her he attached the leash onto the collar she was still wearing. Then, with his big fingers fumbling with the buttons at the back of her dress, he undid them from their loops one by one. Placing his rough hands on her shoulders he slipped off the soft fabric of her dress until it fell into a green puddle at her feet.
Leola’s skin prickled at the way his finger glanced against her shoulder blade. She felt him lower his face and press his lips against the nape of her neck. Her nipples hardened as he drew in a breath and held it, as if scenting her.
