Stolen_Saving Setora

by Raven Dark

Hawk chuckled low in my ear and swatted my butt cheek. He kissed my shoulder. “Relax, I’m not going to fuck you now. We don’t have time, and I think I’m late for work.” I heard him stretch before he climbed out of bed.

  Wanting to get the subject away from sex, I said, “You didn’t seem to have any nightmares with me here.”

  “I guess that means you’ll have to spend your nights with me inside you.”

  Thankful I was facing away from him, I bit my lip and willed the blush from my cheeks.

  He swatted my butt cheek again. “Get dressed before I decide not to let you get out of here at all today.”

  His words shouldn’t have affected me, but they made my sex clench, as usual. I climbed out of bed, found my frock and slipped it on, then looked for my panties.

  “Looking for something?”

  I turned to him.

  Hawk’s eyes danced as he held up my panties between his fingers. Right, he’d put them in the pocket of his pants last night. “You’re not getting them back.”

  An absurd tightness clutched at my throat. “Master, those were…that is, they…”

  “They mean something to you.”

  “Yes.” I rolled my eyes at my own foolishness. Sentimentality over underwear. Not very Yantu of me.

  Hawk stepped over the mat to me, forcing my eyes to notice every inch of him. He must have put his pants back on while my back was turned, because the leather clung to his powerful legs, but he was still stripped to the waist, all tanned and muscled power.

  He prowled around me, tracing those thin faded, pink lines the blade of his had left behind on my skin last night. I wanted to hate them, but the ownership they suggested did funny things to my insides.

  “I love the way you look with these marks on you. My marks.”

  Unable to meet his gaze, I focused on his chest, following him with my eyes. “How is this going to work with Pretty Boy and Steel? They may not like this.”

  “Having other masters with different needs is a challenge. When you’re with them, you will do what they tell you. When you’re with me, you will conduct yourself as I see fit. Each of us knows not to interfere when it’s another master’s time.”

  I mulled his words over. I had to admit, the thought of seeing how the others would react to Hawk’s marks sent an unwilling thrill through me.

  He held up my panties again. “You get these back as a reward when you do as I say,” he said softly. “Today, you wear only this.” He pinched the material of the frock between his fingers. “When I see that you have followed all my rules, you will be allowed to wear these panties tomorrow.”

  “Cherry won’t like this,” I said with a wince.

  “Is Cherry your master?” Hawk seized my chin.

  “No, Master.”

  “Who is?”

  “You, Master.”

  “Which means only what I want matters.”

  Wow. He’d gone from avoiding anything to do with Pretty Boy and Steel’s slave to insisting he was my master. I’d created a monster.

  He released me and shoved the panties in his pocket again, then put on his boots.

  I waited while he slipped on a black long-sleeved shirt and his cut. Hawk took my hand and pulled me from the cave. “I’m late, so we only have time for a quite bite. I’ll have to drop you off with Cherry right after.”

  “Master,” I said, hurrying to keep up with him as we walked to the common room. “You said you had rules.”

  “Correct. You will not wear anything I have not permitted you to wear. You will not come without my permission, and you will not speak to any man unless I tell you to.”

  “But what if a man speaks to me?”

  “Then you will have to find a creative way to answer him, won’t you?”

  I blew out a breath, dread and need filling me with a potent mix.

  “What about Pretty Boy or Steel? Or Sheriff?”

  “Pretty Boy and Steel will not be back today. If Sheriff speaks to you, you will answer him as you would me. You’ll answer my guards the same way, as if they were me.”

  I couldn’t help feeling a touch of relief that Pretty Boy and Steel wouldn’t be back yet, even if a tiny part of me almost missed them, even worried about them. But Hawk was a little easier to be with, and I hadn’t forgiven them for what they’d done. Thank the Maker I wasn’t going to the bath with Hawk. I needed time to think.

  When I didn’t respond, Hawk stopped in the middle of the walkway and cupped my chin with his fingers. I’d been so in my own head, I hadn’t thought to answer him. “Master has given you his orders. What do you say, Kitten?”

  I sighed. What else could I do but agree? “I understand, Master.”

  Hawk brushed my forehead with his lips. “We’ll see how well you do.”

  We ate in the common room. If someone had asked me what I’d eaten, I wouldn’t have been able to remember. I drank my tea with iris root and he drank his tea with mint.

  When he took me to the laundering hole to meet Cherry, I didn’t know if I wished he wouldn’t leave or if I never wanted to see him again. He grabbed my chin and kissed me long and hard in front of the women, ignoring Cherry’s annoyed shake of her head.

  “Behave yourself, Kitten.” He touched me under the chin. “Misbehave and I will know it.”

  He was gone before I could ask him how he’d know, but I had no doubt he would.

  When he disappeared from view, I walked toward Cherry, wishing the ground would open and swallow me whole after that kiss she’d seen. She fell in behind me and I heard her tsk.

  Cherry lifted the back of my frock up and smacked my backside, making me whirl around with a yelp, hands covering my butt cheeks. “What the…”

  “Where’s the underwear I gave you, Violet?”

  Oh, Holy Light. My cheeks flamed. I yanked my frock down at the back. “Let’s just get to work, please?”

  For some reason she chortled. She shook her head and walked with me toward the slave caverns.

  “Cherry. Hold up.”

  Cherry and I turned at the same time.

  One of Hawk’s guards made his way toward us. The bearded man wore my master’s golden hawk on the breast of his cut, the word “Messenger” stenciled on the hawk.

  “Your captain just left, Gore.” Cherry pointed in the direction Hawk had gone.

  He ignored her and looked at me. “Sheriff wants to see you in his office, slave. Now.”

  Chapter 13

  Against Orders

  My thoughts were a jumbled mess as the guardsman escorted me to Sheriff’s office. Maybe Pretty Boy and Steel had returned. I dismissed that thought, though—knowing them, they would have come to get me themselves. Was I in trouble? Oh Maker, was Sheriff going to sell me?

  The guardsman and I stopped at Sheriff’s open door, waiting until we were acknowledged. I took a deep, steadying breath. Whatever happened next, I could handle it.

  “Come in. Gore, you can wait outside.” Sheriff’s rough voice held no trace of why I was called in. He looked and sounded like he usually did—dangerous.

  I walked into the cool room as Gore closed the door behind us, leaving Sheriff and I alone. The room’s walls were half-paneled in wood slats from the bottom of the stone floor up to the center of the cave walls. Against those walls stood shelving and metal cabinets. Books, scrolls, boxes, and papers covered every surface. The only furniture in the room was an olive-green couch, a massive desk, and a few plain chairs, which unlike his desk chair, was quite ornate and big enough for Sheriff’s frame.

  “Have a seat.”

  Not able to distract myself anymore, I looked at the Dark Legion leader. He seemed relaxed enough, so I sat down in the sofa and waited.

  “Hawk said you can read. Can you write as well?”

  The question was so unexpected I only nodded. What did reading have to do with meeting with me? Swallowing, I answered him. “Um...yes. I can read and write. In several languages, actually.”

  He made me so ner
vous. His dark eyes, the color of the sky before all traces of day is gone, held mine, scanning for any deception or trickery. Slaves landed themselves in trouble for a lot less than reading and writing with some masters.

  He nodded like he agreed with some unheard decision and took a folder off the desk. He raised it toward me. “Here. I want you to read this correspondence. Hawk is on a reconnaissance mission, and with Pretty Boy gone, I have no one here who can read Lathian.”

  I got off the sofa and took the folder. Curious, as soon as I sat back down, I opened the folder and started reading.

  “Aloud, woman.”

  I cleared my throat. “Greetings, Friend. We at Newland Produce would like to meet with you to discuss a proposal that would benefit your—”

  “Stop.”

  I put the letter back into the folder and waited as Sheriff got up to pace behind his desk. “I want you to write a letter in Lathian.” He went around the desk and handed me paper, pen, and a leather book. “Write the following: Your proposal is most appreciated. We will send word to your representative at the next city fair and set a time that would be convenient for both parties. Sincerely, Zone 2 Clan Officer Hezra Trace.”

  My pen paused in midair, considering his words. Obviously, Sheriff was not Clan Officer Trace. What was the notorious Dark Legion up to? He shot me a dangerous look, so I finished the last few words from memory.

  “Done, sir.” I capped the reusable pen and slid the letter over the desk’s surface like it was poisonous. Curiosity burned a hole in my mind, but I wasn’t foolish enough to ease it, no matter how much it hurt.

  Sheriff picked up the letter, his eyes moving over the words. Even though he couldn’t read Lathian, the man must have been somewhat familiar enough to know how letters of correspondence were structured in a foreign language. He nodded and placed it in his desk drawer. Looking at me, he sat back in his seat. I squirmed on the couch as he silently interrogated me. Now what did he want?

  “Happen to know the Sorian language? Spoken and written?” At my nod he continued. “I have another letter for you.” He grabbed a piece of paper from the desk and handed it to me. While I poised over the paper with the pen, waiting, he spoke again. “To whom it may concern. I will be waiting at the tower by the gate in three days after the receipt of this note.”

  I waited for more, but he just waved his hand at the paper. I wrote it out, capped the pen, and handed the letter back. Again, he looked it over, but this time he balled the paper up in his meaty fist and let it drop to the cave floor.

  “I’m gonna tell you a story, slave. Once upon a time, there was leader of a notorious group of outlaws. They lived in a secret hideaway. No one but these outlaws knew the location of the hideaway or who the group was. The leader made sure it stayed that way.

  “One day, the leader comes home to find a stranger, a beautiful woman, in his domain. She was perfect in every way. She could read, she could write. Hell, she was as smart as most of his men. Nothing got past her, and she could lure his men with just a look. But see, the man who raised her was the leader’s greatest enemy.”

  I swallowed, my head swimming in fear as he continued.

  “So this leader was faced with a predicament. Was she a threat to his people, or was it just one hell of a coincidence that she showed up right on cue? And the bigger question; what should this leader do? Did he trust the facts, that there was no way possible that this woman was a spy sent by his rival, or at the very least, that perhaps she would return to her master to unload all the things she’s learned? Or does he write it off as paranoia and let his men enjoy a fine, privileged woman who just happened to be thrown into this by chance?”

  He picked up the pen I had placed back on the table and rubbed it against his lips, his eyes drilling into mine.

  My mind was whirlwind, listening to what he was telling me. On one hand, I appreciated the small, if not puzzling, insight into the leader of the Dark Legion. I could see why he was the General. The tremendous weight he carried as its leader, the burden of keeping his people fed and protected. The responsibility of keeping everything they held dear secret. But on the other hand, anger burned in my breast. I wasn’t a pawn, I wasn’t a spy, and I wasn’t at fault for my being here. How I should convince him of these things was beyond me. I had a feeling that, even with knowing so little about him, nothing was going to help my case.

  “I think, sir, that this leader would have a lot to consider. Facts should always take precedence before conjecture. But your instincts should, too.” I paused, then went to the heart of the matter without the pretence. “I wish there was a way I could show you I’m not here to do any of those things you imply. But I can’t.”

  He lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “So diplomatic.”

  I blinked at him, hearing the malice in his voice. “I don’t know why you hate me so much—”

  Within seconds, he was standing and heading toward me. He placed his hands on the back of the sofa, trapping me with his body, his face inches away from mine.

  “Why are you here? And don’t you dare fucking say that it was my men that stole you. Why are you here?”

  No matter how I tried, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. It was like looking at two blue flames that burned brighter and hotter than the sun itself. My bottom lip trembled, my heart stopped. “I…don’t know what you mean,” I whispered, and his eyes moved to my lips. Those two blue flames jumped in heat. Did he want me? The thought took my breath away.

  I was good and trapped and had to get out of this room.

  “You’re right,” he growled. “I don’t like you. I don’t. You are a distraction. For me, my men. Do you know how many men are out looking for you on Damien’s behalf? Do you know how many search parties have been sent out by Talak? Pretty Boy and Steel made a stupid, stupid move in taking you, and I’ll be damned if a piece of ass will be the cause of my Grotto’s downfall.”

  “Sir, I wouldn’t…”

  Suddenly, he pulled me up by my arms, shoved me to his desk, and bent me over the top of it. Pinning my cheek down on the desk with his palm, he leaned in close, his nose pressing into my cheek.

  “You smell like honey, and you look like the sweetest blushing wine. You were created by a fucking master of beauty who’s trained to get into a man’s head. You can’t be trusted, sweetheart. You can fool my men all night long, but I know who you really are. You’re a puppet.”

  As he spoke, he rubbed his hand along my ass cheek, up to my lower back, around my hip and back again with slow and sure strokes.

  I said nothing, panting heavily. My body responded in an instant as wetness pooled in my center. I closed my eyes as tightly as I could.

  “You see, this grotto is my domain, and I’ll be damned if Damien thinks he can send in a prized sex kitten in here to claim it.”

  The man was more unhinged than I thought. Did he really believe I was a spy? I never thought I would be praying to the Maker for Pretty Boy and Steel to come barging in here, but I was now.

  “You’re a prize for a king, a breeder queen for a dying population. But you know what? We’re not kings. Far from it. You’re going to set off a war being here, and guess who has to stop the dogs from fighting over the bone? This kingdom could be taken away in a blink. And I can’t let that happen, sweetheart. So while you shake your little ass around here, walking around teasing my men, I’ve got to figure out what the fuck to do with you before Pretty Boy and Steel come back.”

  “What are you going to do with me…Master?” Since he hadn’t acknowledged me as his, calling him master seemed off, but nothing else seemed right either.

  With a curse, Sheriff released me. I slowly straightened and turned around to look at him. I couldn’t help but notice the huge bulge in his leather pants. The sight produced a rush of sensation all the way to my core. I turned my head away before he could see my reaction as he opened the door and stuck his head out.

  “Gore!” he yelled out toward the waiting room. “Escort h
er back to the women.” Sheriff walked back to his desk and sat down as if nothing had occurred.

  I didn’t know what to say, or if I should say anything. My feelings were too all over the place. But I had to say something.

  “Sir, it is true that I am here against my will. Your men took me from an auction that was selling me to the highest bidder. An auction orchestrated by a man I thought loved me.”

  At this, Sheriff finally looked at me. With disgust? With pity? I couldn’t tell.

  I went on. “But living here these past few days, I have lived more freely than I ever had under Damien’s thumb. No matter what you choose to think, I…I am glad I was stolen.” My voice shook, my own words startling me. Did I really feel that way?

  It didn’t look like Sheriff believed me, either. “I’ll be watching you, slave. Everywhere you go and everything you do.” Then he turned away and went back to his paperwork, tuning me out like I wasn’t there.

  Gore walked in, and we left the room, heading back to the laundering hole.

  The fresh, clean morning air did wonders. It cleared my head and seemed to drive away the shakiness in my legs. By the time Gore dropped me off at the laundering pool, my hands had even stopped shaking, but as I walked toward the slave caverns, dread slid through me. Cherry knew I’d been with Sheriff. That’s all I needed now, one of her cheap shots about my seducing the General.

  Too bad I didn’t have a choice.

  I searched the caverns but didn’t find her anywhere. Back out at the pool, the women looked up at me.

  “Gretl, have you seen Cherry?”

  The old woman seemed closer to Cherry than the others, but she just shook her head.

  “Has anyone seen Cherry?” The other women ignored me.

  Voices shouted and screamed from one of the walkways above the pool. I glanced up. Men standing on the walkway shouted down to Hawk’s guardsmen below. Smoke billowed out of the entrance to a cave where the walkway turned a corner.

  Wait. I knew that cave. My heart leapt. Dice.

  I raced across the lawn to the ladder that led up to Dice’s walkway, ignoring the women who called at me to stay back. Others hurried across the grass behind me. I clambered up to the top of the ladder. The smoke was thick, rising up from the entranceway and blowing out, high over the basin now.