He smiled but knew it was a cynical tip of his lips. “I've heard men compliment women on their dresses when the fabric was so ugly, there was no way they were speaking the truth. That kind of social nicety is cut off from us. So we learn to step around the truth with other truths.” Stroking her hand with his thumb, he said gently, “So why are you really here?"
"My best friend fell in love.” She slumped onto her back and studied the ceiling. “And she saved her lover's life by sacrificing mine.” Her voice was expressionless.
It still didn't make sense. “Her lover had done something wrong, and she said you did it?"
"Brianna was supposed to be given away in a political marriage, but someone told the King she was no long pure."
"Useph is involved with this?” A chill ran over his skin at the mention of the King. He had the reputation of being an unpredictable tyrant. Staying away from those who had angered him would be wise, but Garron knew it was too late to separate himself from Caelan.
"I'm his Speaker.” She rolled her head to stare at him. “And he loves Brianna, has since we were children. He'll take her punishment out on her lover, not her. Unfortunately no one knows where Radley is.” She paused, then let out a breath. “But me. In the face of Useph's wrath, Brianna let slip that I'm the only one who knows where Radley is, so now I have the choice of either revealing Brianna's lover, which would lead to his death, or rotting here in the dungeons."
Anger at Useph's treatment of his Speaker filled Garron's gut. “And he throws a small, innocent woman into The Abyss?” That behavior smacked of evil madness. Although why would the King not do as he pleased?
Frustration crawled down his spine. Was it too much to ask that the people of this country weren't killed or imprisoned on a whim? That the people were allowed basic freedoms? He'd dedicated his life to upholding the crown. But since Sneed killed his family, he wasn't sure the King was worthy of his allegiance.
"He wasn't always so ruthless."
"Who?"
"The King. When Useph was a child, he was shy and sweet. It was only after his father told him he could never marry Brianna that things changed. Although he's gotten worse since Sneed became his most trusted advisor."
"Sneed,” he growled, then stopped himself from saying anything further. Just saying Sneed's name made the old fury return. Garron had given up his plans for revenge, though. His freedom and life were worth more than justice. He'd learned that here in The Abyss. Besides, his escape would leave Sneed seething and looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, wondering if Garron would ever expose him. Not as good a revenge as death, it was true, but good enough.
"So that's why I'm here, Garron.” She tipped her chin up. “Why are you here?"
"I was caught stealing from Sneed's office."
Her mouth dropped open. “I don't believe it. You'd never steal!"
He laughed, the sound bitter even to his own ears. “It's been a day since we met, and you know me better than my closest friends.” He jumped to his feet and paced naked across the cavern, unable to believe he was about to confess something he should never tell anyone. “No, Caelan, I wasn't there to steal his riches.” He stopped and met her gaze. “I was there to kill him."
"Kill Sneed?” she gasped.
"Yes, and if I don't escape, I'll be one of the six sacrificed to the God of War on Mabon."
Behind them, Danner toppled from the entrance tunnel into the room. “Garron, the guards are coming down to take the woman!"
Chapter Seven
It was treason.
Attempting to kill the most favored advisor of the King would be seen as an attempt on the King himself.
A crime worthy of death.
Just as her mother had committed treason against Useph's father.
Old emotions tumbled from hidden crevices, flooding from behind the locked doors of her mind where she'd carefully kept them. Pain seized her, and she wanted to scream, “Not again! I won't live through this again!"
She shut her eyes and rubbed her temple. This wasn't the same. Wasn't the same at all. Her mother's downfall had been falling in love with a man who wasn't her husband and blindly doing anything he wished. There was no way Garron would do something without fully understanding the consequences.
She forced herself to ask more questions. “Why? Why kill Sneed?"
"Because he killed my parents."
"Sneed did? Himself?” Sneed never left the castle unless he was at Useph's side. Or did he? What did she really know about him? She spent her days healing the villagers not watching members of the Court.
"No, he had his man, Farley, do it. My parents ran an inn in Trayborne. They overheard the two of them talking. Sneed had raised the taxes in the border towns without the King's knowledge. After they were murdered, I found a letter my father had written to the King, telling everything. He never had the chance to send it. I'm not even sure he would have. People in border towns are cautious and closed to outsiders.” His jaw worked as he ground his teeth.
He seemed so sure, but she just couldn't see Sneed betraying the King. At every turn, Sneed had been Useph's lackey. “How do you know it was Sneed?"
"Because I tracked down Farley, and he told me Sneed ordered their deaths."
Caelan shivered. No, this was nothing like her mother's crimes.
Caelan's father was the cousin of the king. Her mother's lover had also been the cousin of the King but on the wrong side. Two generations ago, the Monroes had been in line for the throne, but infant Edward Monroe died before he could inherit his father's legacy, and Useph's grandfather, Modred, stepped into the crown. There were those who said that Edward's death had been at Modred's hand.
Caelan didn't know if Modred killed the child. Babies died, especially when a proper healer wasn't near. What she did know was that her mother had not only been caught loving the wrong man but had aided him in his plot to take the throne.
And she'd died for it.
Caelan had been living in the Temple of the Goddess when it happened. Her stay there had kept her out of sight, sheltering her from the fall-out of her mother's actions. When she returned to the castle, her father had insured her position as the castle Speaker, protecting her until his death last year. By then, her mother's transgressions had faded from everyone's minds, replaced by other intrigues.
Caelan had made sure her own behavior never came into question. She'd built her life on the precept of being useful and in the background. She swore she'd never do anything to call attention to herself because she knew that while her mother's actions were buried, they were still there, ready to be used against her at a moment's notice.
"But why kill Sneed? Why not send the letter or tell the King yourself?"
"Tell King Useph.” His laugh was a harsh, cutting sound. “How, Caelan? No one gets near him without Sneed's say-so."
He was right. Even she hadn't been alone with Useph in years. It was hard to even imagine Sneed leaving the castle long enough to meet with Farley, but certainly the less people who knew he stole money from the King, the safer Sneed would be. “I'm sorry, about all of it.” She knew the words made little difference. His family was still dead, and if he didn't escape The Abyss, he'd die tomorrow.
Caelan watched dust filtering through the sunlight coming from the small cracks in the cave ceiling. Only days ago, she was healing the sick and living a quiet existence. Now, here she was, deep below the castle, surrounded by cut-throats and thieves.
She knew now in her soul she couldn't live with Radley's death on her hands. But her only escape was to crawl to a freedom tainted by a lifetime of running from the King's men.
"The guards are going to come down! What are we going to do?” Danner's panic brought them back to their current problem. His hands leapt in shakes that had her wondering if there was more wrong with him than just nerves. He looked healthy enough, but hand tremors came from a variety of illnesses.
"We'll hide her.” Garron's voice was smooth and sure as
he pulled on his breeches and boots.
"They said if she doesn't come to the grate, they'll withhold food until someone gives her up. How long do you think it will be until Rolf tells them where we are?"
Garron shrugged into a tattered shirt. “We need to go to the tunnel and start working in double time."
"But it's daylight. If we break through and someone is near, they'll be able to see us. We'll be caught!"
"That's a risk we'll have to take.” He turned to her. “Caelan, you'll be on digging detail with me. Danner, I want you on look out for Rolf. If he seems to be making a move to give her up, tell me, and I'll deal with him."
Caelan took a deep breath, resisting the urge to follow Garron's orders.
This was wrong. If the guards looked for her, they might find Garron's tunnel, and his chance of escape would be over. And tomorrow he'd die. She wouldn't risk that. Useph likely only wanted to ask her if she was ready to tell him where Brianna's lover was hiding. If that was the case, then she'd tell him she wasn't ever acting in a way that would jeopardize a life, and she'd be back here within an hour.
"Garron."
He turned to her, cocking his head enough so the light hit his face fully for the first time. She let her gaze wander over the hard planes of his cheeks, the strong nose, and slash of his mouth. Maybe if she'd met him outside the dungeons for the first time, she'd have seen him as too rough. But now she saw the face of a man who saved her, was in fact going to save her again if she let him. His large body would stand between her and the King.
The idea was so foreign to her, so beyond the possibilities she'd ever imagined for herself, she shivered.
"Take me to the grate.” Her voice wobbled, but only because she was trying to talk around the lump in her throat.
Because at that moment, she realized how her mother could have done what she did. She finally understood why Brianna risked both their lives for the man she loved.
Before, she couldn't imagine placing her body between someone else and harm. But now she wasn't going to let a man she cared for, a man who had saved her, risk his life to save hers. Not again. Not now that she'd come to care about him. In the short time they'd known each other, she shouldn't feel this way, but she did.
"You aren't going,” he said calmly.
She gathered the blanket around her as she stood and closed the distance between them. “He's going to ask me if I'm ready to give up Brianna's lover.” She unburied a hand to rest it on his arm. “I'll tell him no and be back here within the hour. There is no reason to risk you and Danner like this."
"I don't like it. The King is rumored to be dangerously erratic. I'm not taking that chance."
He had no idea just how erratic Useph could be, and Caelan didn't tell him. Suddenly it was very, very important that she protect him. If he didn't escape, he'd die, and for reasons that went beyond a repayment to him for saving her life, she didn't want that to happen.
"I'll be fine. He expected me to beg my way out of here by now. He'll throw me back here within an hour."
In the murky darkness, she could feel him studying her, weighing her words.
"Then we can leave tonight like we planned,” she added to reassure him.
After they were free, she knew that they would part company, knew that their connection would end once they left the dungeons. But while it would sadden her, leave her feeling as if she'd lost a piece of herself, she would be all right. In that moment, she made up her mind to go to Trayborne, to be the healer they so desperately needed.
"Danner, go see what Rolf's doing,” he said without taking his eyes from her.
Without a word, Danner disappeared up the tunnel.
"I'm going to the grate. Please don't fight me,” she whispered.
He blew out a breath. “I don't like it."
"Sometimes the best thing to do is also the hardest. You know this is what must be done to keep us all safe."
For a moment, she thought he'd dig in and refuse her. Then he ran his hand down her cheek, and her heart flipped over. Just a simple touch, but it meant so very much to her. The smell of his magic swirled around her, in her lungs, inside her body and soul.
She smiled, and it was bittersweet. What if she'd never met him? What if she'd done as Useph wanted? She'd be safely in her healer rooms right now. Would she have been better off? No. She was done being someone who faded into the background, who protected herself at almost any cost.
She was strong, had so much to offer, so much life to live. It wasn't until that moment, standing in the dim light of The Abyss that she realized fully how much of her life she'd missed by being so careful.
Maybe when she went to the king, she'd find that Useph had forgiven her or that Radley had been captured. And then she wouldn't be coming back here. This could be the last time she ever saw Garron.
The thought had her meeting his gaze and dropping the blanket slowly from her shoulders.
He stepped back and watched, letting the dim light touch her body. “So beautiful, Caelan. Like a goddess in a ray of sunlight."
"I'm so very glad I met you, Garron. I'm so glad it was you."
"Not as glad as I am, love.” Then he stepped close and dropped his mouth to hers in a slow glide, the kiss sweet and light, as if he worshiped her.
His warm, huge hands slid along her back, tangling in her hair as they caressed her. She tugged off his shirt, enjoying the fact he ducked so she could reach him.
Then she kissed his chest, marveling at the muscles beneath her mouth. His body was hot, the warmth radiating into her cool skin even though they stood inches apart.
She trailed her hands down his arms, over the hard muscle of his biceps, smoothing the dusting of hair beneath her touch. Her fingers didn't meet as she circled his wrists. His bulk only made her marvel more that she had the power to own him in this moment. And she did own him. He was more hers than anything had ever been in her life.
His lips found hers, and the kiss ate at her mouth in slow reverence, picking up speed as the magic inside them swirled and mingled, sealing them in a circle of need.
Then he picked her up, lifting her so high, she gripped his chest with her legs for balance. He easily held her there, while he ran his mouth along her stomach, teasing shivers from her body.
She moaned to release some of the emotion that longed to break free.
Then he lowered her to his pallet, shedding the clothes he'd only just put on in the blink of an eye.
"I promised to bring you over and over, love. If you're going to be gone from me for even an hour, then I can't let you go without knowing you'll spend the whole time with my name humming through you.” Like a lazy cat, he stretched out beside her.
She bowed into the hand he feathered along her body, fighting a laugh of pure joy that wanted to bubble from her.
His smile echoed hers. “That's how it feels to me, too, as if I'm about to explode with desire and need and emotions that feel so good, I'm on overload.” He caught her nipple between his lips and suckled.
She gasped at the sting that shot through her.
"I want you to think of me every second of every moment you're away from my side."
With effort, she tried to gather her mind and think. She was done letting things happen without her participation. From now on, she was seizing the opportunity to make her own destiny.
Which meant she needed to play a more active role in this seduction. She wasn't going to be the only one aching.
Turning to her side, she pushed him to his back and stroked his huge body in a slow caress. His hand fisted in her hair, bringing her head down for a kiss that went on and on. She wanted to relax into it, let him sweep her away, but she fought for control.
She ate at his lips, not caring if they both ended up bruised. He could handle it, and she wanted to speed things up, to boil the desire between them to a scorching, dark heat.
Then he rolled her under him, taking control, twisting at the right moment so he ended up resting betw
een her legs.
She bit him on the shoulder in retaliation, her teeth sinking into his skin enough to mark him.
"Little cat,” he murmured, tilting her head back to meet her gaze. “I can take anything you dish to me."
"I know,” she whispered, realizing that it was true. Unlike everyone she'd ever known, he wouldn't retaliate if she made a mistake, wouldn't whisper about her mother's sins, saying she'd come from bad stock. He would use his body for her protection or her need. Here in the middle of this dungeon, she'd finally met someone who saw her as a desirable woman.
He pulled his body far enough away to part the lips of her sex, lowering himself so his cock rested along the seam. “I want you to ache for me, Caelan. I want you to come when I enter you, you're so aroused.” Then he pressed himself tight against her clitoris, the hard length of him pinning her, sending a bolt of desire through her body so intense it wrenched a moan from her very soul.
His mouth devoured hers, one hand supporting his weight, the other feathering along the side of her breast.
Her mind whirled in response, her magic building inside her to a massive height. Somewhere, a voice of reason warned her that a large outlay of power would deplete her, that she should save it just in case. But where she was going, she knew the person who was at greatest risk to be hurt was her, and she couldn't heal herself.
Magic built like an intense pressure inside her, aching to break free.
Rotating her hips, she tried to slip him down, tried to slide him inside to stop the mad pressure that was building. He caught her hips and held her perfectly still while he ran the head of his cock over her clitoris. Again and again.
"Garron,” she whispered on a gasp, wanting to tell him he had to stop, even though part of her didn't want him to stop at all.
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