by Sue Lyndon
A few steps forward and Jaxon heard the voices of the crowd more clearly, and his curiosity was piqued further to learn the girl was a slave who’d displeased her master. Now she was on the auction block, and the highest bidder would become her new master.
“She’s yet to be bred!” a man standing at the back of the crowd said to his companion. “Ah, a sweet virgin. If only I had enough coin to make a proper bid. She wouldn’t have to wait long to have a cock between her thighs!” The pair erupted into bawdy laughter, and Jaxon struggled to fight down an abrupt, murderous urge to punish the men for the crass way they spoke of the girl. He settled on glaring at them intently as he passed, taking pleasure in how white their faces grew when they noticed him.
After a deep breath, he turned and strode to the center of the crowd. He listened to the bidding as the odd emotion in his chest tightened further. Why did he care so much about the fate of a lone human girl? Why hadn’t he been able to keep walking past the village? These thoughts left him unsettled, but he couldn’t force himself to leave. Everything inside him demanded that he ensure no harm came to the trembling young female.
An elderly man stood at the front of the throng, holding a coin purse and yelling out what appeared to be the final bid. The young woman’s bottom lip trembled harder and a tear trickled down her cheek. Then another. A sudden breeze sent her long golden locks momentarily in front of her face, causing some of her hair to become matted to her cheeks.
“Going once, going twice…” a tall robed man standing next to the block roared.
“I double the bidding amount,” Jaxon suddenly yelled, surprising himself. For a reason he couldn’t fathom, the idea of this pretty blonde human being given to the wrinkled old man at the front of the crowd made his stomach turn. Furthermore, her tears had affected him, caused his heart to squeeze involuntarily.
He told himself it was nothing. He told himself he wasn’t attracted to this human girl, and that he would simply bring her back to the home he shared with his brother and keep her. Likely not as a slave, but instead as a paid servant.
All eyes turned to Jaxon, and the crowd rippled with gasps. He doubted any of them had ever laid eyes on a Banded man before, as his kind typically kept out of view of humans. The Banded people lived in the sprawling forests that had grown up to surround the villages long ago.
He moved through the parting crowd and came to stand before the auctioneer. “I will triple the bidding amount if need be. The girl is mine.”
More gasps rose from the horde behind him. The elderly man who’d almost won the auction clanged his coins together in a fit of rage, his face turning beet red.
“Surely you won’t accept the money of a Banded. He’s not human. He’s a violent beast and should be run out of the village!”
The auctioneer looked at another old man, who was seated on a bench next to a younger man who was clearly his son, as the pair bore a stark resemblance to one another. Both had cruel glints in their dark eyes. The father said, “I’ll take the Banded man’s offer, if he indeed triples the bidding.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke.
“You’re the girl’s former master?” Jaxon asked, his gaze on the old man on the bench.
“Aye. Now, let me see your money.”
Jaxon tossed him a small but heavy pouch. It was filled with silver and gold coins, as well as a few jewels. The Banded typically traded amongst themselves, but when Jaxon traveled, he kept money in a pouch in case he had need of it. There was an old abandoned castle near his home that had been filled with coins and jewels, left behind by the human kings and queens who’d once lived there. He and his brother, Wolfe, had been given their fair share after helping Trent and Gavin, a pair of Banded brothers who’d claimed the castle for themselves, to renovate the large structure.
The old man’s eyes widened and he showed the treasures to his son.
“It’s a deal,” they both said in unison.
“No no no!” the girl screamed, twisting in her bonds.
Jaxon glanced up to see she’d gone deathly pale as she stared down at him, her lips parted and her eyes growing wider and wider. She had probably heard stories about his kind and thought his people to be barbarians for living in the dangerous woods. But at least the Banded didn’t keep their own kind as slaves.
Once he got her away from the village, he would explain her new situation to her and hopefully calm her fears. She would belong to him and his brother, but they wouldn’t abuse her or treat her cruelly. They would keep her as a servant and pay her a fair wage. Until she had become accustomed to life among the Banded men, she wouldn’t be free to leave their home—the forest was no place for a lone human girl—but she would have a fresh start away from this backward village.
Jaxon climbed the steps to the platform and held the girl’s chin in place, forcing her to meet his eyes. He gave her a compassionate look and gentled his voice. “You have nothing to fear, little human. Tell me, what is your name?”
She swallowed hard, tears glittering on her eyelashes. “A-Ava. My na-name is Ava.” She sniffled and gave him a pleading stare. “Please, don’t buy me. Please.”
“Would you rather that old man in the front take you?”
“But you’re not human,” she said with a note of disbelief. “Where did you come from?”
He stroked his thumb along her cheek and reached around her to unfasten her bonds. “I came from the forest. There’s a settlement of Banded a three-day journey from here, at the bottom of the mountains near the Eurot River.”
“What do you want with me?” She rubbed her chafed wrists once he freed her from the post.
“My brother and I could use a good, obedient servant.”
She quivered in his hold. “Surely you’ve heard the crowd talking about me. You must know I displeased my master and that’s why he’s selling me.”
Jaxon grabbed ahold of her leash and gave it a tug, though not overly hard. “Enough talking. You will follow me back to my campsite. If you put up a fuss or attempt escape, I will simply toss you over my shoulder and carry you off, and upon our arrival at my campsite, I will bare your bottom and give you a sound thrashing. Do you understand, Ava?”
Despite her continued shaking, she looked him directly in the eye and said, “Yes, Master,” with a boldness that bordered on rude. His palm twitched with the urge to teach her a lesson in manners. But oh, Goddess, hearing her call him Master made his cock twitch too.
He’d planned to allow her to call him by his given name, but now he was seriously rethinking his plans for the pretty girl. He longed to carry her back to his campsite and spank her bottom bright red, until she begged him to stop and promised to be a good girl, promised to serve him and his twin. He longed to comfort her and wipe her tears away, and then reach between her thighs and stroke her to wetness before claiming her roughly.
No. He couldn’t. His twin, Wolfe, didn’t want a human girl as a mate. For as long as he could remember, his brother had talked about finding a sweet Banded woman to claim as their own. A group of Banded was set to migrate down the mountain soon, and they’d both talked of searching for the mate they would share from amongst the new group of Banded settlers due to arrive in two moon cycles.
Jaxon guided his little human slave through the lingering crowd, anxious to leave the village. The entire place reeked of misery. Most of the houses were in poor repair, the booths in the market were not well-stocked with useable goods, especially decent-looking food, and many of the people appeared gaunt and sickly. He wondered if all human villages were as poor as this one.
He picked up his speed and tugged on the leash, leading the girl across the flower-covered meadow. With his back to the village, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowed his pace a little. When he glanced over his shoulder, he was stunned to see his new acquisition gathering up daisies as she hurried behind him. He paused and turned, gently pulling her to him by the leash.
“What are you doing?”
She held the ti
ny bouquet to her face and sniffed, then gave him a brief smile. “The daisies in the center of this meadow are the largest. I’ve always wanted to pick them myself, but it’s forbidden to walk this far outside the village.”
It stunned him that after having just been sold to a complete stranger from another race, she would take the time to pick flowers on her way out of the village. She clutched the daisies to her chest, as if afraid he would tear them from her hands. The afternoon sun beamed down upon her wavy golden locks. He took a moment to admire her beauty more fully, appreciating the spark of life in her bottomless blue depths, and noticing a scattering of freckles on her cheeks and nose that begged to be kissed. He imagined holding her in his arms and stroking her hair, staring into her eyes, and promising to keep her safe and take care of her always.
His throat burned suddenly, catching him off guard. He didn’t want to have tender feelings for the girl. She was a human. Banded men were typically expected to choose a mate from among their own people. She would be his servant and nothing more. He hardened his heart to her charms and gave her leash a yank.
“Hurry up, girl. If you keep slowing me down, I won’t hesitate to punish you.”
The brightness left her face, and she lowered her head and murmured, “I’m sorry, Master,” in a tone so crestfallen he immediately regretted his harshness.
But he couldn’t take it back. If he showed weakness, she would likely take advantage of him. He needed to get her back to the campsite and discover exactly why her master had sold her. He didn’t know a thing about her yet. Only her name.
When her steps slowed, he turned to see what was wrong. A pained expression crossed her face and she lifted one of her feet. Her bare feet. She wasn’t wearing shoes, and he felt like a bastard for not noticing her lack of footwear sooner.
“Come here,” he said, dropping her leash. He held out his arms.
“Please, don’t hurt me.” Those pretty blue eyes glimmered with fear. “I promise I’ll walk faster.”
“You won’t be walking through the woods on bare feet. You’ll hurt yourself. Come here, and I’ll carry you.”
She took a step back, but he lunged forward and grabbed her, scooping her protesting form up in his arms.
“Settle down,” he said. “I won’t punish you unless you give me cause to, Ava,” he said, using her name for the first time. Goddess, having her in his arms felt so fucking perfect, he didn’t ever want to put her down.
She stilled in his hold and he set off, soon entering the thickness of the forest. She cradled the daisies to her chest as if they were the sweetest treasure in the world, but once the meadow was out of view, she started trembling anew.
“Do I truly frighten you so?” he asked.
“I don’t know anything about you, not even your name. Of course I am frightened of you, but I am also afraid of the forest. It’s said there are beasts as large as houses that roam outside the safety of the villages.”
He held her tighter, reveling in her sweet, feminine scent. A surge of protectiveness for his little slave spread through his chest. “You have nothing to fear from the forest, so long as you stay with me. I will keep you safe. I give you my word.”
Chapter Two
I will keep you safe. I give you my word.
The Banded man’s promise to keep her safe touched a secret place in Ava’s soul that hadn’t been touched in a long, long time. His words kept repeating in her head, over and over again. Her throat clogged with emotion and her eyes burned with tears, but not from fear this time.
Beyond his promise to keep her safe, his gentleness stunned her. Rather than drag her roughly by the leash and force her to walk barefoot through the woods, he’d picked her up and saved her from hurting her feet. She wondered if he would give her shoes. To keep the one pair of boots she owned in good condition, she only wore them during the cold months. Most slaves did the same and went barefoot all spring and summer. But the few belongings she’d had, including her boots, had been left behind in the village.
She traced the petals on the daisies and inhaled the fresh scent of the flowers. In all the times she’d imagined crossing the meadow, she hadn’t thought it would be after she’d been sold to a Banded man. What was his name? What was his brother’s name?
She searched her memory for stories of Banded men, and a slight shudder ran through her. Goosebumps rose on her arms, and an urgent, hot pulse settled between her thighs. It was said that Banded men were born in pairs, one of the light and one of the night, and they shared one female between them. The brother of the light was awake during the daytime and had silvery blond hair and blue eyes, while the brother of the night was nocturnal and possessed darker hair and eyes. The stories claimed the Goddess created the Banded men in pairs, with opposite sleeping schedules, so the mate they shared, and any children they had, would always remain protected.
What a beautiful arrangement, she thought, compared to the way women were treated in the village. Even free women weren’t exactly free. They usually had to endure a forced or arranged marriage, and wealthy men often had multiple spouses, the arrangements usually coming about for less than noble reasons, such as paying off debts or gaining a political advantage. In stark contrast, it was said that Banded men claimed a female mate not for wealth or power, but simply when they found the woman they believed to be their chosen mate. Were the stories true?
She further pondered the differences between human men and Banded men, or at least the Banded man who now held her in his arms. In the village, errant wives were physically punished by their husbands, often cruelly, and it wasn’t unusual to see a woman with bruises on her face in the market, like Monrock’s poor wives. In comparison, her new master had promised he wouldn’t punish her unless she gave him reason to, and while the bare bottom spanking he’d threatened her with earlier sounded like a humiliating prospect, she took comfort in the fact that he hadn’t threatened her with a brutal beating.
Ava peered around the woods, finding the lush greenery of the trees comforted her in a strange way. It also wasn’t as dark as she’d imagined it would be. There were no houses. No people. She spotted only a few small forest creatures scampering through the underbrush. Birds flitted through the trees too, their happy chirping lifting her spirits and giving her hope that maybe, just maybe, her new master wouldn’t treat her with malice.
Except she would have more than one master, she thought, with her face heating. Two masters—two Banded brothers—she would have to obey. She wondered if they already had a mate.
Taking a deep breath, she peered at the huge man who was carrying her. The stories all claimed the Banded men were barbarians, quick to anger and dangerous to cross in battle. But so far, this man’s actions didn’t entirely confirm all she’d heard in the tales about his kind.
“Master, may I please ask a question?”
“You may,” he said, ducking them under a low branch and momentarily holding her closer to his solid, muscular chest. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that clung to him like a second skin and revealed his huge biceps.
“What-what is your name?”
“I am called Jaxon, and my twin brother is called Wolfe.”
“Is it true, then? About one Banded twin being nocturnal and the other twin being of the light?”
“Yes, it is true.” He stared down at her, his blue eyes filled with curiosity, as if he longed to know more about her.
She felt small but protected in his arms, and she had to resist the urge to snuggle against him in a familiar manner. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had held her. Another slave, an old man who’d served a master on the same street as hers, had given her a hug when her mother died.
Years. It had been years since someone had given her a tender touch or showed her any amount of regard.
She closed her eyes and pretended Jaxon was her husband, holding her and comforting her as they set off on some journey through the woods, perhaps escaping the harshness of the village t
ogether. A soft, dreamy sigh left her lips before she could stop it, and she ducked her head and felt herself blushing profusely.
“What are you thinking about, Ava?”
Her eyes shot open and collided with his inquisitive gaze. He was devastatingly handsome, and her mouth went as dry as it had when she’d first glimpsed him standing in the crowd, calling out a bid. He’d paid an exorbitant amount of money for her, and she couldn’t fathom why. Surely he could’ve found another slave cheaper, if he’d waited another day or two. Slaves were sold in the market quite frequently.
“I’m wondering why you bought me,” she confessed. It was better than admitting she’d been fantasizing he was her husband, or wondering if he and his brother already had a mate.
His gaze hardened, his eyes becoming cold as his jaw clenched.
“I’m sorry, Master. Forgive me.” Obviously, her question had touched a nerve, and she had no wish to anger him.
After a few moments of silence, the tension seemed to drain from him, his muscles relaxing and his expression taking an introspective, but calm, turn. Ava breathed an inward sigh of relief, glad she hadn’t overly upset him.
“We’re almost there.” Jaxon’s warm breath caressed her cheek. There was something absolutely intoxicating about him, and her heart thudded faster at the thought of being all alone with him in the woods during the three-day journey to his home. And after that, being all alone—assuming they didn’t yet have a mate—in a house with Banded twin males, serving them and trying her best to please them, lest they decide to punish her.
Pulses of heat besieged her center. Jaxon’s threat to bare her bottom and give her a sound thrashing rested on the forefront of her mind, making her damp between her thighs. She resisted the urge to clamp her legs tight together and squirm in his arms. She didn’t understand her lustful reaction to his dominance and his nearness. The prospect of punishment had never left her aroused before, and she tried to turn her thoughts off and taper down the delicious heat that was steadily unfurling within her.