by Ella Frank
She focused on it for a second and then peered up at him, dreading what he would say next.
“I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”
Yep, that’s what she’d feared.
* * *
Bastian had found a small alcove at the foot of a Redwood and moved to sit inside it while they waited. Opening his eyes, he felt Kai reach out to his mind.
Bastian…
Kai, where are you?
Across the river. Won’t be long now. I have the other two sisters. One is injured.
Naeve?
No, the other.
The redhead. Siobhan. How bad?
Looks like a head wound, and it appears she's been infected. She hasn’t woken since we reached her.
Bastian squeezed his eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening. His father's instructions had been that all four of the women were to be brought back to L’Mere alive and well.
What happened?
I don’t know. She was this way when we found her.
Your men, do you think?
There was a pause in the link, and then Kai was back.
No. I thought so at first, but when I saw the marking...
Bastian knew Kai to be right. The mark of infection was only caused by one.
You suspect the Empress? Bastian asked.
That would be my first guess. The kleptors are stirring. She’s regaining strength, Bastian. I think this sister was the first to encounter Seraphine. But she left her alive, so I assume she needs them that way—at least for now. Have everyone ready to leave as soon as we arrive. We can’t afford to wait.
Bastian agreed quickly.
Bastian?
Yes? He waited on the man who’d become an odd sort of companion to himself over the years.
These four women are very different from us, yes?
What do you mean ‘us’? Bastian thought. I'm not like you, Kai.
How well I know it. Fine. Are they like…
Yes? Bastian questioned, knowing what was coming.
Are they like you? Sensualeers?
Bastian managed a small chuckle and felt Kai’s immediate irritation at being the brunt of his humor. No, they are not. Why do you ask?
He sensed Kai’s confusion, but instead of answering his question, Kai merely reiterated, We’ll be there soon. Tell Ry’Ker to be ready to move.
Bastian acknowledged the request, not pushing any further before shutting down the link.
Kai watched the woman pace back and forth as he climbed down from the tree. He’d secured the rope to the trunk with several swings of his ax and now had to decide how to get the unconscious woman safely across the stream.
As his boots hit the ground, the rabbit looked up—startled.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” she told him, “but you need to stop thinking it.”
Marching past her, he made his way over to the woman on the ground. How am I going to—
“Did you hear me?”
Without turning to face her, he replied, “Yes.”
“And what? You’re just going to ignore me?”
This time, he glanced over his shoulder and told her, “Yes.”
She placed her hands on her hips and strode over to where he stood. “I’m not climbing across a river.”
Kai swiveled on his heels until they were face to face and then bent down until his nose was only inches from hers. “Then I guess you will stay behind.”
He didn’t avert his gaze as she continued to glare at him, and he found it unimaginable that he could enjoy anything while they were stuck in such a predicament—but enjoying her he was.
“Why can’t we just walk around it?” she asked.
“That would take several days.”
“Then why can’t we look for a bridge?”
“Because there are no bridges.”
“Then—”
“Stop talking!” he thundered out, and she flinched as though he’d struck her. “You need to stop talking.”
She clamped her bottom lip behind her teeth, and if he hadn’t been preoccupied with the fact that he needed these women alive, he might have found the move humorous. It was as if she couldn’t be sure of her silence unless she physically held it back.
“We need to get across the water,” he explained. “I have to take your sister. You have to take yourself. Do you understand?”
She looked past him to where the water was rapidly flowing, and then with a skeptical arch to her brow, she raised her head to look at the rope stretching across the two banks. He’d made sure it was secured on a downward diagonal so it would be easier for her to make the distance. He knew that this was something she’d never done in her life, and judging by the look on her face, that was exactly the way she wanted to keep it.
“How?” she finally whispered.
“The easiest way will be with your hands and legs.”
The expression on her face told him that she thought his comment was less than amusing. But in all fairness, he’d been telling the truth.
“You're wearing boots, so that will at least protect your calves. You’ll grip the rope with both hands and cross your ankles over it.”
Her blue eyes became so large they took up most of her face.
“You’re serious?” she asked.
“Of course. How else would you get across?”
She glanced up once more and said, “Oh, I don’t know. I was hoping you’d have an attachment for a zip line in your cape.”
He had no idea what she was talking about, and when she turned back to him, she shrugged.
“Forget it.”
“I'm going to make a sling for your sister and attach one end to my boot and the rope. As I climb, it should pull her along with me. Any questions?”
She looked as though she had a million, but before she could voice any, he nodded.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
Naeve had no idea how she was supposed to do this.
Kai carefully picked up Siobhan and made his way back over to the tree she was supposed to climb. When she reached his side, she wondered exactly how in the hell he expected her to get up there. She’d never climbed a tree in her life.
“Umm…”
“Come here,” he instructed gruffly.
There was no way she was about to disobey, so she walked over to where he stood.
As he entwined his fingers and cupped his gloved hands, he said, “Climb up and take a hold of the first branch. Once you pull yourself up, you can use my shoulders to stand on, and then climb to the second branch, which is much closer.”
Sure. Simple as that.
She tried to swallow past the lump of nerves in her throat, but as she stared into his face, she heard herself admitting, “I’m scared.” She didn’t expect much, maybe some kind of reassurance to let her know he’d look after her, but he quickly crushed that hope.
“You don’t have time to be scared, and I don’t have the patience to make you be otherwise. Move.”
Feeling as though he’d slapped her, Naeve let her anger push her forward and moved to firmly place her hands on his chest. Before she made contact, however, he jerked away from her in an abrupt move that had her stumbling over her feet.
“Shit,” she muttered, and when she got her footing, she turned her fury on him. “What the hell was that?”
“Don’t touch me. Not unless I tell you to,” he said in the same voice he’d used when he’d threatened her life that first time they’d met.
“What?” she asked, completely confused. How was she supposed to use his hands as a boost if she wasn’t allowed to balance on him?
“Do. Not. Touch. Me. Unless you ask.”
Wow. Clearly someone has personal space issues.
“How else am I going to get up the tree, genius?” she asked.
Kai walked back to her and said in a soft but menacing voice, “You are trying my patience.”
“And you are being an asshole.”
/> He frowned at her as though she’d once again said something foreign, and then he instructed, “Turn around.”
Deciding it was probably best to shut the hell up considering she knew how good he was with a knife, an arrow, and—oh yeah—an ax, she slowly turned away from him.
“Place your hands on the tree and use it to balance as I lift you.”
Rolling her eyes, Naeve looked ahead and muttered, “Well, why didn’t you just say that to begin with?”
She did as she’d been told, her dignity slowly being squashed with every order she gave in to, and as she lifted her right foot to put it in his hands, she remembered what she was wearing.
As he propelled her up with long, strong arms, Naeve reached for the branch above her and realized that wasn’t the worst of it. She had a sudden flash of what was under her dress right around the time she was ass to eye level with this man.
Any dignity she’d hoped to hang on to disappeared from existence.
* * *
Kai angled his head up as he lifted his hands, and the sight that greeted him almost made him lose his balance. Right in front of him were the sweetest-looking thighs he’d seen in a long time.
The woman balancing on his hands was reaching up above herself for the branch, and this time when he lifted her farther up the tree, what was under that flimsy scrap of material came into view. Or what wasn’t.
As he stood beneath her, his eyes took the visual journey his occupied hands wished to. At first glance, it appeared that she wasn’t wearing a single thing beneath that shift she had on. But the more he looked—and he was doing a whole lot of looking—the clearer it became that there was something there. A thin strip of material was nestled between her—
“Hey?” His angry companion shouted.
Kai’s eyes moved away from what they were fixed on and shifted up to meet eyes that were throwing daggers at him.
“When you’re done looking up my dress, do you want to maybe finish getting me up the tree?”
Gods above. He hadn’t come here for this. He hadn’t agreed to entertain some waif of a woman who was barely wearing a stitch of clothing. He also hadn’t agreed to behave like a gentleman, because the fact was that he wasn’t one. And it was about time she knew it.
With their eyes still firmly locked, Kai took one of his hands out from under her feet. She wobbled slightly but then gripped the branch above her tighter as she regained her balance. Then he brought his gloved fingers to her ankle and slowly started to slide them up her calf. With nowhere to go, she merely had to stand there as he continued to run his hand farther up her leg.
“Stop it,” she ordered, her voice almost as wobbly as she’d been seconds before.
“Stop what?”
“Touching me,” she stated much more adamantly this time.
He trailed his fingers higher on her leg, stopping at the back of her knee, and told her, “Fair’s fair, no? You touched me without permission. Now, I'm merely returning the gesture.”
“I didn't touch you, and it was your clothed chest. Not your legs,” she bristled.
Even though it wasn’t the best time to notice, Kai found himself enjoying her agitation. “I would be more than happy to touch you there. If you’d prefer.”
“I’d prefer you not touch me at all,” she retorted as the wind gusted, whipping her skirt around. Unable to let go of the branch, she had no choice but to let the material shift where it would, and luckily for him, it shifted up.
“What kind of…undergarments are those you wear?”
Fuming at him, she made a soft sort of growl that, Gods almighty, got him hard as stone.
“There isn’t much to them.” He paused as if thinking about that for a second and then added, “I thought you said you were not a whore.”
Before he knew what she was doing, she used one of her legs to kick back at him. He removed his hand from the back of her knee and took her ankle in a firm grasp. Keeping it still, he drew it back to rest against her other leg, holding her in place.
“Be careful, little rabbit,” he advised as he smoothed his fingers up the outside of her leg. “I suddenly feel very hungry.”
Looking back at him, she snapped, “And what are you? Some kind of animal?”
He gave her a grin he knew was menacing. “No. But men get hungry too.”
“Funny,” she muttered. “You don’t seem to be lacking food to me.”
Her insult fell short as he leaned forward so his mouth was brushing the material covering her ass.
“Who said I was hungry for food?”
She turned away to face the tree, and he waited to hear what snippy little reply she’d hurl back at him.
So when she whispered, “Please…don’t…” Kai felt his grin slowly dissipate.
“Don’t what?”
The silence felt as though it lasted forever until she answered, “Don’t rape me.”
Any enjoyment he’d been having disappeared in an instant.
* * *
Naeve stood completely still as Kai’s warm breath seeped through the material of her dress. She didn’t know what to expect from him. She’d kept telling herself that he wouldn’t hurt her, but then she remembered how they’d first met.
A knife to the throat isn’t something to just forget.
She also had a clear memory of the way he’d chased her through the forest and pinned her to the ground. There was no mistaking that, if he wanted her, there’d be no way for her to stop him.
“I am many things,” he said behind her. “But a savage animal is not one of them. I meant what I said. I will not hurt you.”
She didn’t think it was possible to feel anything other than the fear that was thrumming through her, but as his words met her ears, she felt a slight twinge of guilt.
Shaking it off, she reminded herself that she had good reason to feel the way she was, and there was no reason she should be ashamed for voicing it.
Before she could think anything else, she was hefted up the tree with no further communication. And when he shifted beneath her, she remembered what he’d told her—feet on shoulders.
Wrapping her fingers tight around the bark, she pulled up and placed her feet as gently as she could on his broad shoulders. Once she was in place, she lifted up onto the bough and balanced herself.
Looking down at him, she felt a pang of sympathy for the expression on his face.
Longing.
Yes, that’s what it was—right before he blinked and marched back to where Siobhan laid on the ground.
One minute, he was helpful, telling her that he would get them back to their sisters, and the next, he was controlling and overbearing.
Compelling in a, I-can-kill-you-or-protect-you kind of way.
She stood up, determined to be in place before he came back and got another good view up her dress. When she settled beside the secured rope and saw him slinging Siobhan over his back, all she could think was, Who the hell is this guy?
Because, no matter how crazy it seemed, this was starting to feel very real and a lot less like a dream.
* * *
Bastian wandered down to the bank of the river, where he’d decided to wait until Kai arrived. He wished he would hurry, because if it were true and Seraphine was getting stronger, Bastian knew they didn't have long before she’d appear.
He also couldn’t risk casting the glamour shield until Kai had reached them, or it would likely send them in the opposite direction.
Sitting down, he closed his eyes as he crossed his legs and stretched his neck. The fog, which had rolled in earlier, was troublesome. It made the kleptors that much harder to spot, and it meant the Empress was that much more of a threat.
I'm so glad you think so…although you seem to have me at a disadvantage, boy.
Tensing at the sudden and harsh invasion, Bastian struggled to shut down the link. But before he could succeed, the Empress, a stranger to him personally, finally clawed her way inside his mind. It felt as though she
were scraping the walls of his brain.
My, my… Who are you?
Knowing his best chance of survival was to remain silent, he didn’t respond. He did, however, try to block her once more, but the weight of her presence was like an iron fist.
Oh, yes. I do like a good fight. It makes it so much more satisfying when you finally submit. Don’t you know who you're dealing with, boy? I am your Empress, and you will answer me.
Bastian squeezed his eyes shut, trying his hardest to block her from him, but all he felt were her talon-like nails hooking in. Then his entire body stiffened as she tapped deeper into his subconscious.
How is it that my pathetic brother has managed to keep you such a secret…hmm?
As her seductive voice echoed through his mind, Bastian was unable to do anything. He was paralyzed by the older and much more skilled sensualeer.
I can see why. You’re special, aren’t you?
His heart pounded in his useless body as he felt a slight pressure on his chest, pushing him back against the ground.
Beautiful too…but that’s to be expected when one is marked such as we are.
The violation continued as he felt the pressure increase and trail down his body while he remained powerless against it.
What is your name?
He felt something sharp circle around his navel, and for a moment, he dropped his guard. Then her broken, evil laugh echoed through his mind.
Oh, there it is. Come to me, Si’Bastian. I will teach you…everything.
She finally allowed him the use of his mind, and the minute he had it, he slammed back against her invasion.
And what could you possibly teach me? he questioned. Then he cursed as four angry marks appeared up the side of his ribs—the biting scrape of nails marring his flesh.
I will teach you respect first. And then, my beautiful boy, I will teach you how to use this complex mind of yours.