He glanced at her imprisoned ankle. She resisted the urge to curl her toes because then he’d know his scrutiny bothered her. Enraged her. Gods, if he got any closer, she’d gouge out his eyes and force them down his bastard Gallic throat.
Unbelievably he reached out toward her enchained leg, and her resolve snapped.
“Don’t you dare touch me.” She jerked her legs across the bed, the shackle a loathsome weight around her. When he turned back to her, as if he was about to justify his act, she leaned forward so he wouldn’t be under any illusion as to how she felt. “How dare you chain me like a slave?”
His jaw tensed, as if he didn’t appreciate her accusation. “That wasn’t my intention.”
Injustice bubbled deep in her gut that he should treat her so basely. And although she tried to ignore it, she also knew her pride seethed at the knowledge she’d been unable to gain his trust, been unable to hoodwink him as easily as she’d so smugly imagined.
“How could you have intended anything else?” She kicked her leg, making the chain clank, a hideous sound that reinforced how helpless she was. If he kept her chained the entire time they were in Camulodunon, she’d never have a chance to escape.
“I intended to release you upon my return.” He sounded as though he was having second thoughts about following through, but it didn’t matter what he intended. He’d already shown her, more clearly than any lying words, what he thought of her.
“You had no right to tether me in the first place.” Her breath shortened and she gripped the cloth over her breasts before it slithered to her waist. She wanted to hate him, and she did. She wanted to despise him, and she most certainly did.
But she didn’t want to still desire him. Didn’t want this ravening lust thundering through her veins or pounding between her thighs. And yet she did still desire him and her body craved his as much as it ever had.
“Are you going to argue the matter all night?” No hint of apology or shame at his actions colored his words. If anything, he sounded as if he believed her in the wrong to question him.
As though he truly did consider her nothing more than his slave.
She straightened her rigid spine. “I wouldn’t demean myself to argue with such as you.”
“Then go to sleep.” His voice was harsh and he rose from the bed and strode to where he’d left his pack against the far wall. She caught sight of an iron key dangling from his fingers. “Enjoy your self-righteous indignation.”
Her fingers twitched with useless rage. Had he really intended to unlock her shackles when he returned, even if she’d still been asleep? But he’d seen she was awake and still he’d approached with the key.
Had she held her tongue, or at the very least not insulted him, she’d be free already.
But at least now she knew how little he truly thought of her. She wouldn’t underestimate him again. Wouldn’t assume a friendly word or disarming smile equaled trust.
Pride demanded she sling one final condemning insult in his face before grandly turning her back on him and feigning sleep. And if she did that, she risked him never removing the chains of degradation. The image of her hobbling behind him, in view of countless others, haunted her, and a shudder crawled through her soul.
What did he want from her? A groveling apology for speaking her mind? A promise to never cross him again? A pledge that she’d obey him in every word he deigned to utter?
Her throat closed, choking on the mere thought of subjugating herself so. Instead she clamped her teeth together, an effective barrier against an inadvertent remark escaping. Rigid with affront, she lay down on the bed, jerked the cover up to her chin and, after a moment’s hesitation, rolled onto her side facing him.
Never turn your back on the enemy.
***
In the fathomless black of the abyss, the entire world slipped sideways. Morwyn groaned, burrowed back into the endless silence, but still the world rocked, centering on her shoulder, insistent and relentless.
“Morwyn.” The voice penetrated the darkness bathing her mind and the blissful obscurity of slumber shredded like wisps of summer clouds in a warm breeze. “Wake up. We have to leave.”
The heat of his fingers sank into her blood as he clasped her naked shoulder and shook her in a very unlustful manner. She scowled into the pillow, her eyes still tightly screwed shut, and surreptitiously pressed her thighs together in an attempt to relieve the unwelcome throb of arousal.
And realized she was no longer chained like an enslaved chattel.
“If you don’t hurry, you won’t have time to eat.” He sounded impatient. Good. Why should she care if she made him late? She stretched as well as her painful muscles allowed and smothered another groan at the thought of a second full day in the saddle. By the time they reached Camulodunon, she’d scarcely be able to walk straight.
She rolled onto her back and squinted up at him. He was dressed in tunic and mail shirt and the grim expression on his face suggested he wasn’t impressed by her continued disobedience.
For a moment she contemplated remaining in bed. It would serve him right if he had to physically drag her from the room. Except her pride wouldn’t allow it. It was humiliating enough knowing the innkeeper’s wife pitied her for being in the Gaul’s power, without drawing any more attention to the fact.
And at least he’d removed the shackles. He didn’t intend she look like a slave in public, even if he treated her as one in private.
She sat up and discovered the cloth had disappeared during the night. And the Gaul, who had slept beside her, still hadn’t taken advantage. If she didn’t know better from the way his cock had dug into her when they were in the forest or how he’d looked at her and touched her while she bathed last night, she’d assume he preferred boys.
Scowling, and unable to help it, she climbed from the bed and snatched up her gown from the floor. Had he fucked another woman while in the bathhouse last night? It was the only reason she could imagine as to why he hadn’t taken her upon his return. Surely it had nothing to do with how she’d insulted him?
And even if it had, why hadn’t he slaked his lust at some point during the night? She was no longer covered in dried mud or crusted blood. He’d ensured there was no way she could have procured and hidden a dagger with which to gut him.
As she tied her bodice with savage precision, she hoped it had been a singularly unsatisfactory coupling. And judging by the dark glare on his face and the waves of tension that crackled in the air around them, it certainly hadn’t done much to relieve his frustration.
In frigid silence they walked to the latrines and attended to their needs. She hoped he didn’t bother opening his mouth to her again until they reached Camulodunon. Filthy, lying Gaul.
Despite her best intentions she shot him a surreptitious glance from beneath her lashes. Already his jaw was rough with an overnight beard, but the faintest scent still lingered from his sojourn in the bathhouse.
And he hadn’t lied to her. No matter how she tried to twist his words or misinterpret his actions. How much better she’d feel if he had. Then she could justify her wounded feelings instead of knowing she had nobody but herself to blame for her misguided illusion of having gained a foothold in securing his trust.
She picked up her pack and followed him outside. It was early, the sun still low in the pale blue sky, and the air was fresh as it gusted through her loose hair. With an impatient sigh she pulled open her pack, aware the Gaul watched her. As if even now, after he’d gone through every item before allowing her to touch her own things, he still didn’t trust her not to find a lethal weapon hidden among her possessions.
Her fingers curled around a leather thong and she pulled it free, unable to resist slinging him a scornful glance as she began to braid her tangled hair.
Apparently satisfied she had no intention of garroting him with her strip of leather, he turned to issue instructions to a young stable lad. Obviously he had no intention of allowing her to break her fast, although s
he was sure he had.
And if he imagined she was going to complain or beg him for food, he was delusional. She’d sooner chew on grass.
The innkeeper’s wife emerged, looking exhausted as if she’d been up half the night, and handed the Gaul a package. The aroma of fresh bread tantalized and, despite gritting her teeth, Morwyn’s mouth watered and her stomach growled.
She knotted the end of her braid and glared as the Gaul turned toward her. Let him stuff his face. She hoped he choked. And then she’d take the horse and make her own way to Camulodunon. How hard could it be?
He shoved half the package at her without a word, his green eyes scorching her, before turning around and taking possession of the horse from the stable boy. Part of her wanted to sling the bread at his head. She didn’t need his food. She could fend for herself. And yet she couldn’t because she was his captive. Beholden to his whims. If he decided to starve her, there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Except he wasn’t starving her. He was feeding her. And that annoyed her as much as if he’d stood in front of her and eaten the entire loaf without offering her a single crumb.
Feeling obscurely this was a contest of strength and she’d failed at the first hurdle, she transferred her glare from his back to the bread and, finally, with self-righteous resentment, began to eat.
***
The sun was sinking on the far horizon as they clattered to a halt outside another Romanized inn. Morwyn loosened her grip on the timber-ridged saddle, her fingers molded into claws from their extended inertia, her head throbbing from the relentless travel without comfort of shade.
She had never believed it possible to travel so far in one day. The countryside and villages merged into a continual blur as the Gaul had urged them ever onward, allowing her only the briefest respite whenever they changed horses. And still Camulodunon wasn’t in sight.
As always, he assisted her in dismounting but the moment she was on the ground he released her, as if the contact repelled. She slung him a dark look as he hauled their packs from the horse. Not one word had passed between them since he’d woken her this morning. Sometimes she got the impression he was waiting for her to apologize.
In which case they were destined to travel in eternal silence. She wouldn’t lower herself to speak to him, never mind beg his forgiveness for an imagined slight to his honor. He possessed no honor and therefore such slight was impossible to give.
She tramped after him, her spine threatening to crumple after the punishing regime of the day. Gods, her back ached. How many times had she almost slipped into slumber, how many times had she caught herself slumping against the Gaul’s rigid chest?
And how often had she wished to simply remain lying against him, cradled within his unyielding arms, and allow her weary body to rest for a few precious moments?
Too often. It was humiliating. She caught up with him at the door and reassured herself, not for the first time, that the only reason such treacherous thoughts had crossed her mind was because of her exhausted state.
The entrance was small, nothing more than a space with which to conduct brief business. He accomplished that within moments, securing them a room for the night and a fresh horse for the morning. As with every other place they’d stopped, she was the recipient of fleeting sideways glances, the expressions ranging from pity to complete disinterest, as though she were of no account.
She wasn’t sure which response was more insulting. Her bloodline was noble and her previous existence as an acolyte of the cursed Morrigan had always assured her of deference whenever she was among her people.
But of course, these weren’t her people. These were only Britons, and Romanized Britons at that. Her people would never surrender so easily to the enemy.
The Gaul shot her a glance over his shoulder, almost as if he could hear her thoughts. But he didn’t say anything, merely waited for her to reach his side before they entered the noisy tavern that led directly from the inn’s entrance. With a jerk of his head he indicated a table in the corner of the room, shoved up against the wall, and again waited until she moved in that direction. Obviously he didn’t trust her not to run off the moment he turned his back on her.
They sat facing each other. Raucous laughter and drunken voices vibrated through the air but silence screamed between Morwyn and the Gaul across the ale-stained timber table.
It didn’t matter. He didn’t need to speak to her. And she certainly didn’t need to speak to him.
“So we’re not eating in our room this eve?” Just because she didn’t need to speak to him didn’t mean she should suffer the rest of this interminable journey as a mute. Conversation would make the time pass more swiftly, and since she had no intention of pandering to his wounded pride she wasn’t breaking her promise to herself. It certainly had nothing to do with wanting to hear his voice again, because if all she wanted was to hear a male voice, there were plenty in this heathen Briton tavern.
If he was surprised by her breaking the deadlock, he didn’t show it.
“Would you rather have?” He didn’t sound as if he cared one way or the other. But his intense gaze never left her face.
A warm tingle danced in the pit of her belly. She ignored it as best she could because it was obvious the Gaul had no intention of following up on the lust that had once simmered between them.
And she no longer wanted him to. Not after last night. And just because she still retained a modicum of desire for him was irrelevant.
“I have no opinion on the matter.” She accompanied her words by flicking an uninterested glance around the darkened interior at the rowdy inhabitants, but it was impossible to ignore the only person in the room who snared her interest. Sooner than she’d intended, her focus once again arrowed in his direction. There was the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.
“I find that . . .” He paused. Deliberately. “Difficult to believe.”
Why did he smile at her? It made it hard to remember how vital it was to remain on her guard. Made it easy to forget that in his eyes she was nothing more than a spoil of war.
The reminder galled. “Why should you? You’ve made it clear you find my opinions worthless.”
“When?”
Morwyn blinked, unsure she’d heard him correctly. “What?”
“When have I made it clear your opinion is worthless?”
Was he serious? He didn’t look as if he were jesting. She expelled a disbelieving breath and rolled her eyes for emphasis. “You abducted me against my will. Or had you forgotten?”
“For your own safety.”
Arrogant Gaul. “You can believe that if you wish, but you know it’s nothing but a lie.”
He leaned back in his chair and his feet nudged against hers as he stretched out his long legs beneath the table. She refused to move to accommodate him, and refused to acknowledge the way her heart thundered in her breast at so slight a contact.
“Do I?” The quiet words were a challenge. She stared at him, unwilling to examine his accusation because, curse the foul gods, he wasn’t entirely wrong.
“If I hadn’t been injured, I would have been more than capable of continuing my journey alone.”
“But injured and horseless?”
She rapped her fingernails on the table as she clawed through her mind for a suitable response. And couldn’t find one. She decided to move on.
“You disregarded my wish to bathe in a river.”
“With good reason.”
“Ah.” She pounced on his words, rested her forearms on the table and leaned toward him. “So you don’t deny my opinion on that was of no consequence to you?”
“It was dark outside.”
She made a sound of disgust.
“The river backed onto a Roman settlement.”
That, she hadn’t known, but she wasn’t going to back down for the second time. “You could have stood guard over me.”
Again his lips twitched as if laughter threatened, and she stared at him in
reluctant fascination, wondering why he found her amusing and, since he so obviously did, why he so studiously fought to hide it.
“I chose comfort over conflict.”
The memory of the bath slid into her mind, heating her blood. She would never admit it to this Gaul but she had enjoyed the experience of luxuriating in that hot tub.
Only as a novelty. Given the choice she’d certainly never forsake the familiarity of her rivers and springs for decadent Roman bathing rituals.
The food arrived and with strange unwillingness she drew back from the table to allow the serving wench access. The girl’s breasts spilled from her untied bodice and Morwyn shot the Gaul a sharp glance, but oddly his gaze was still fixed on her, as if the sight of the wench’s nakedness enticed him not in the slightest.
Why did she even care whether he looked? It shouldn’t make any difference to how she felt, and yet it did. And the words hovering on her tongue—words condemning him for enslaving her last night as she slept—withered.
If she continued this conversation, she would win, for there was nothing he could say in his defense that would change her mind or the facts. So what was she waiting for? Why did she hesitate?
Was it because, despite everything, she enjoyed conversing with this Gaul? If she threw last night in his face, she knew, without question, their current fragile harmony would shatter.
Was she considering compromising her integrity for the sake of flirting with a man whose compatriots were directly responsible for the deaths of her fellow Druids?
Chapter Nine
Bren watched as subtle nuances of emotion flickered over Morwyn’s face. Suspicion, confusion and, finally, inexplicably, guilt. She didn’t have to open her mouth for him to know the direction of her thoughts. She’d be mortified if she realized how easily he could read her.
As the serving girl left their table, he waited for Morwyn’s next accusation. She may have broken their silence but she wouldn’t ignore the reason for it. He stifled a sigh. It had seemed a good idea at the time. A way to ensure she couldn’t escape should she wake while he was gone.
Captive (The Druid Chronicles Book 2) Page 7