It didn’t matter that I tasted blood, most likely from a broken nose. I was dead. He’d promised to kill me when he turned around, and if there was one thing that was true, an Aeropite officer lived by his word.
As he grabbed the back of my shirt, it shredded from my body. “Shit,” he snarled. “You’re bleeding.”
The world began to fade. I embraced the darkness, certain I’d never see the light again. It was better that way.
4
A damp cloth moved over my forehead. The cushion under me gave as someone sat down. Where? The smell of incense filled the air, and the room felt cool. I opened my eyes and looked at him. I always managed to wake up in these predicaments with the enemy watching me, except this time I didn’t know whose room I rested in and why he hadn’t made good on his threat.
My gaze roved over him, causing me to suck in a breath. Oh, but he was glorious. His shirt was off. He had a cloth in his hand and a bowl of water in his lap. Light poured over his naked flesh, showcasing his dusky skin, shadowing every ridge and hard plane.
I swallowed and grabbed the bedding, resisting the urge to reach out and touch. Would I still feel the connection I’d felt when he’d cupped my face in the abandoned plaza?
“I told you I didn’t want to clean up. You’ve gotten blood all over my uniform and house.” He set the bowl on a stand next to the bed.
“Well, that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t brought me here.” I tightened my abs to sit, and he shoved me back down.
“Stay put. I need to bandage that wound.”
”I can’t stay here.” I eyed the darkness outside the window. I needed to go back immediately. I would not have another mass killing on my conscience. Axel would come for me, and people would die on both sides. “Where exactly is your house and how long have I been here?”
“You can’t go out there. This is the safest place for you. It’s a small outbuilding I come to when I need peace and quiet. No one will bother us here, even if we are in the city.” He finished wrapping my head and drew his hand back. “It’s not morning yet, but soon. Not enough time to get out of here without being seen.”
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t you kill me?” Panic speared into my belly. “It’s almost morning?”
“I told you, I didn’t feel like killing. Yes, the sun will rise in about fifteen minutes. Quit asking so many questions.”
I glanced down. “Where are my clothes?” The sheet came up barely over my breasts; the dusky pink of my nipples showed in an indecent manner. I tugged the crisp fabric up, restoring some modesty, but not enough to stop the full body blush. My face heated, replacing the chill I’d felt before. Had he touched me while I slept? Like Axel touched me? My stomach knotted and fluttered at the thought. I waited for him to answer, but he didn’t. His face remained stoic as he watched me. I couldn’t even begin to read him. “My clothes?”
“I burned the filthy rags.”
“You can’t do that. My clothes may have been worn, but they were clean.” And did I need mention they were about all I owned? Biting my nail, I looked away. He didn’t seem the least bit shy about stripping me, so it led to other questions. “What else did you do?” I lifted my chin and reclaimed his gaze. I needed to see his reaction to my question to know if he spoke the truth, no matter how much the answer terrified me and made me want to do the opposite.
He narrowed his eyes. “I bathed you while you were unconscious, but don’t worry. Your virtue is intact. I don’t rape women.”
“You what?” I shot up, landing on my feet. He might as well have committed the deed. I couldn’t feel any more violated. The sheet dropped. Dizziness assaulted, and I pressed my hand to my forehead, taking a deep breath to steady my mind and body.
The Butcher raised a brow. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Your nakedness doesn’t seem to bother you now.”
I shrieked and yanked the sheet up, trying my best to wrap it around my body. I wanted to crawl away and hide from that piercing gaze. I eyed his hands and shivered. He’d touched me everywhere. Everywhere. “I want clothes.” I needed to control the situation, and couldn’t until I showed less skin.
“You’re in a fine position to make demands.”
“You had no right to remove my clothing.”
“I had every right. I could have shot you and didn’t. Therefore, I own you.”
“I am not yours to own. I am not a clone, and in case you didn’t know, they’re no longer your slaves. If anyone sees me here, they’ll kill me. I’m not exactly inconspicuous.” I pointed at the red glowing serpent on my face.
“And I told you that no one would see you here.” He grinned. “Except me. After all this, I’ve decided to keep you, have that hideous implant removed, and I intend to show you how desirable you are, what a real man could do with your body.”
“You can’t.” He might have saved me, but he had no stewardship over me. I glanced around, looking for something I could throw at him. Distance would be best. “I’m not a pet, and to have someone remove it would mean they would know you brought an enemy soldier into the city. Secrets never stay a secret. It’s not as simple to get rid of as the old blue chips. We made sure of it. Besides, how do you know I don’t carry the plague?”
“Do you?”
“No.” I hadn’t a clue for my honesty, but somehow I doubted he’d believe me if I lied.
“As I thought. You are not the kind of person who would spread an illness around like that. As for how I could get away with keeping you a secret… I have access to doctors who are discreet.” He shrugged. “I never said you were a pet.” His gaze traveled up and down. “Far from it.” He grabbed the tail of the sheet and yanked. “I kind of like having the enemy soldier around. Fringe benefits.”
I lost my balance and fell into his lap, nothing but blushing flesh and fury. His arms shot around me and locked down. “Let me go!” I thrashed, but made little ground in my attempt to get free. I might as well have had bands of iron around me.
“Well, this is interesting. You keep wiggling like that and we’re going to have another problem.” His lips pressed to my ear and his breath stroked the tender flesh of my lobe, turning my insides out.
I froze. Oh, we already had a problem. I didn’t need another, especially that one.
“Tell me your name.”
An order I wasn’t inclined to follow. I turned my face away. Under different circumstances, I would have told him. But we were at war, and sharing information with the enemy wouldn’t be advisable. “Let me go and I’ll tell you.” I had no intent to do so, but he didn’t know that. At this point, I’d say anything to put space between us. We’d already wandered deep into dangerous territory. Freedom and lives were now at stake.
“Fair enough.” He loosened his grip and I dropped to the floor on my rear. I grabbed the linen sheet and tugged.
“Well?”
“Queen Elizabeth.”
He stepped on the sheet, stopping me from getting under cover. “Liar.”
“Get off it, you bastard.”
“You didn’t ask nicely, and bastard is not my name, though it is true.”
“So, what is it?” I narrowed my eyes. “Why do I have to tell you mine, and you don’t have to give me yours?” I only knew him as the Butcher. What kind of a name would a man like that possess?
“Try calling me enemy, or friend. You can choose which you want it to be.”
“Can I please leave?” I waded deeper with each passing second. If he’d known my identity, it might have gone a different way. There was still no guarantee things wouldn’t click together, the lights come on, and he’d know who he had in his custody.
He studied me for a minute, as if he weighed his options. When he finally spoke, I jumped. His voice hit like high voltage, shocking me to the core. “I’ll take you out after the soldiers change shifts.”
“You weren’t serious? You’re not keeping me? A friend, then.” Relief. I slowed my breathing.
“I
couldn’t leave you. Someone would have found you, and you’d be a pile of ash. I merely teased about keeping you. And I wouldn’t exactly call me your friend. There is more to it than you know.”
“Teasing?” I eyed him. Right. The Butcher was ice, not friendly and not someone who’d tease. But he did. “I didn’t think the Butcher had a sense of humor.” I yanked the sheet from under his boot and gave him a wry smile. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Ah, so you do know my name, or the nickname your people have given me. Not deserved, I assure you. But…” He stepped on the sheet again and dragged it back, pulling it from my chest. He gave me a lecherous grin. “Being your knight in shining armor wasn’t without its rewards.”
“You’re not a knight in shining armor. I’m capable of taking care of myself and if you think I’m going to give you my body as a reward, you’ve got another think coming.” Arrogant bastard. A quick shove of the hand and I knocked his boot off. I rose, tugging the covering around me. “Could I get my clothes returned?”
“No.”
“Look, I get that you think this is funny, but I don’t. Please, give my clothes back. Friends don’t strip friends naked.”
“Can’t. I really burned them, and I would like to do more than strip you naked, but as you can see, I’m being friendly.”
Friendly? Not exactly what I pictured. Intimate images washed across my vision. I closed my eyes and rubbed the space between them. My head hurt, and the conflicting emotions he brought to the surface didn’t help. This conversation shouldn’t be happening. Both of us in the same room without one of us being dead. Unheard of. I blew out a breath and opted to appeal to his softer side—if he had one. Everything he’d done thus far said he did. “Those garments were all I had.”
He rose from where he sat, walked over to a chest, and threw the lid open. He glanced back before returning his attention to the contents. “I have something in your size. I had them made for my wife before our handfasting, and I’m sorry about the patch as its kind of gruesome symbol for a military unit, but it’s a family crest and part of the uniform. I’m not overly fond of it, but my men are and expect to see me don it as their leader. I’d remove it from your top if I could, but it’s fused into the fabric and a hole on the sleeve would garner more attention than we want. I already have to figure out what to do about that implant on your face.”
Who cared about the patch? I had another question much more pressing. “How could you possibly know they’d fit? Oh.” My cheeks ignited. Then what else he’d said sank in. Wife. He was married. I looked up at him horrified. Who was this man? More importantly, what was I getting myself into? “What’s your name—besides Butcher?”
“What do you want it to be?” He spun around and came face-to-face with me. His breath tickled my skin, and my body hummed in response. They aren’t supposed to be so appealing, but then again, the Braun women always had shitty taste in men. Without thinking, I licked my lips. His gaze was instantly drawn to my mouth. Too little too late to take it back.
The next sound from him wasn’t a word, more a growl. Low, barely perceptible.
“Friend.” I squeaked and backpedaled. I raised my hand. “You’re married. So am I. What would your wife think of that?”
“I don’t think she’d object.” He stepped forward, eating up the distance between us. He wanted to kiss me. I could see it clearly in his eyes, written all over his face, and hear it in the primitive sound rumbling from his chest. In my experience, kisses led to more intimate contact. I so wasn’t going there, not with this man, no matter how appealing. My father inflicted a lifetime of damage with his infidelity, destroying several marriages with his indiscretions. I already had a relationship with a man not my legal husband. I held no regard for my handfasting, but I would not be the reason another marriage fractured. I wasn’t some whore who spread her legs for every male around, and I needed to make it clear. Quick. Especially a married man. It reminded me too much of my father. I would not become him.
“Never mistake me for a friend. Do I look like one, Elizabeth, or should I call you Olivia? And your husband would be Marcus Axis?”
I swallowed and nodded. Everything in my universe froze at the sound of my name. I could swear even the birds outside his window stopped singing. I lifted my gaze to his. Invisible sparks of energy danced between us. “How…”
“Do you think I don’t know the face of my enemy?” He ran a finger down my breastbone. “Or the scars she wears?” He gave me a soft smile, the kind a man would bestow on someone before he pulled the trigger on his blaster. “How could I forget the face of such a beautiful killer? And to think you call me the Butcher.”
I shook my head. No. He knew who I was, and yet he’d saved me. I opened my mouth, but my throat constricted. What next? Public execution, or a private one?
“If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you the moment I saw you.”
Clearly, I wore my emotions for everyone to see. He’d no problem figuring out what I’d been thinking. “Why?” I whispered.
“Because you believed what you were doing was right. The results were not what you expected. That holo recording, I’ve seen it hundreds of times. I survive by knowing how to read faces.” He reached up and cupped my chin. “You expected to die, not escape, yet you went through with it anyway. That took courage.” He leaned closer, until our lips nearly touched. “That took heart.”
I snorted. Heart? He had no clue.
“You are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Do you have any idea how much I want you?”
Bolts of lust slammed into me so hard I could barely breathe. My body trembled. My hands shook. I could not tear my gaze from his. Trouble. I was in deep shit. Run! I drew on my last bit of self-control and backed up again, putting a safe space between us. “The only heart I have belongs to my mother.”
“Not anymore.” He raised a brow. “She obviously saw something in you to give it to you, something I couldn’t help but notice. You are fire. Passion. You believe in what you do.”
I shook my head. “Not anymore.” Please don’t kiss me. Please. I knew if his lips found mine, I’d be lost. I couldn’t go through this again. I couldn’t cheat on Axel, even if I didn’t feel the way I used to about him. He’d saved me.
But so had this man.
“Beautiful, treasonous—L. I. A. R.” His thumb brushed across my cheek. “You are who you were born to be. I want you. It’s not complicated.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “You deny this attraction? So strong, I couldn’t shoot you. I want you like I’ve wanted no other, although you are the enemy. Don’t you feel it?”
Truth or dare?
Truth.
“No, I don’t deny it, but, unlike you, I could never act on it.” I took several steps back this time. Except the sheet didn’t go with me. I looked down, and he’d planted his boot on it again, pinning it to the floor. When I lifted my chin, a smug look covered his face, making it clear it had been no accident. “This can never happen between us—will never happen.”
“Liar.” He stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders, yanking me tight to his body. “I’m not going to rape you, but don’t mistake me for a saint. I plan to seduce you, bring you to my bed, and before I’m done, you’ll beg me to take you there.” His mouth lowered, capturing my lips.
I wanted to tell him I wouldn’t be around long enough for him to seduce, but then again, I didn’t think it would take much with the way my body acted. My knees gave way, and I clung to his shoulders, desperate to maintain my strength. Hunger moved through his lips and raced through my blood. The second man I’d ever kissed and I was a goner.
* * *
“Let’s just get to the big old elephant in the room, Olivia,” Pilot said.
Elephants? I’d only seen the beasts in books and photographs, looming animals that at one time dwarfed any other land mammal. I knew what he’d referred to before he said it.
“The reason we’re both sitting here.” He confirmed my thoughts.<
br />
“What do you know of it?”
“That you were with Marcus when the killing all went down, a decoy.”
“I met him by accident. Didn’t go to that sector to find him, or with any intent to serve as a distraction.”
“What a perfect coincidence. Did you know your boyfriend would slaughter all those people?”
“Axel?” I shifted on the bunk, lying on my side and curling into a ball. “No.”
“But you said yourself, he’d changed—became monstrous. You had no inkling he intended to strike?”
“If I had, do you not think I would’ve tried to stop it?”
“If you love Axel so much, why were you with my brother? You’re not a very good liar, Olivia.”
“I don’t know. He made me feel…”
“Wanted?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“My brother is going to execute you. Do you still long to belong to him?”
Yes. I closed my eyes. If Marcus had felt the slightest bit of that spark between us, I still stood a chance, regardless what Pilot had to say on the matter.
“He’s going to screw you, seal the contract. Then he will have full rights to your seat of power. When he does that… have you ever seen a head severed from a body?”
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say.” I clamped my hands over my ears as Pilot laughed.
“Sometimes they have to take several whacks to decapitate you. I’ve heard that even as the head rolls away, the brain is alive and you feel those last moments of pain—are cognizant of it. Imagine lying there, looking at your body as your mind slowly shuts down. You ever wonder what that might be like?”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“There’s my girl, all fire and violence.”
I began to hum to myself to kill the sound of Pilot’s voice. Was it true? Did Marcus only want me for the power I could bring him? I let my mind drift to that day and what Axel told me had happened before he’d driven me out of his life.
The Book of Olivia Page 6