by Cara Lake
Belial was well known for his interest in women. He owned a harem of females, his treatment of them brutal. There was no way Jaro would allow the redheaded witch to be taken to Belial. He would rather die than let that happen. It was preferable to him that she be taken by Lorcan or even Phenex. Belial was a twisted, vile pervert. The bile in his chest rose, an acid burn that ate into his lungs as he shook off the images conjured by those thoughts. What the hell was it about this woman that had him so…whipped?
He didn’t know her. They’d never even had a proper conversation, but when he’d gazed into her eyes… Damn her! He’d seen heaven and hell in one glance. She was his heaven and his hell and for some insane reason it was imperative that he make her safe.
Tani ached all over. She breathed in, which was a mistake as she immediately inhaled dust from the dirt in which she lay. Her eyes watering, she gagged, twisting her neck to escape swallowing a mouthful of soil and registered something tight encircling her throat. She gasped for water. The word was a dry croak on her lips. Someone must have heard her plea as the next moment she was drenched in wet liquid that formed a puddle around her head. Moistening her lips with the residue, her throat too dry to protest, Tani opened her lids slowly, the sting of dust and water causing her eyes to blink rapidly as the shock of bright sunlight invaded.
She was lying on her side, hands tied behind her back. A rough tug by her captor on the leash that was attached to the leather ring around her neck was enough to jerk her head sideways, nearly choking her again. “Stupid bitch! Get up!” Her jailor’s voice penetrated, grogginess slipping away as she shook off the remaining effects of the drug.
A sharp tug again. A feral growl, low and deep, rumbled through the ground, vibrating into her body where she lay. The growl was a warning she didn’t want to ignore. Wriggling to get her balance without the use of her hands, Tani managed to pull herself up onto her knees. The thug with the leash jerked it again, laughing as he did so. “I’m gonna have some fun with this one!” The rough voice grated on her nerves but she wasn’t scared. Tani had been in similar positions before. She had a few tricks up her sleeve and would be happy to show this bastard some of them. She just had to bide her time.
Tani lost her balance when he tugged the leash again even harder. “I said get up, bitch!” As she fell to the ground, the steady growl of anger she had heard before thundered toward her again and she realized it was coming from behind. Immediately the sounds of a scuffle tore through the air, the sharp clank of chains thrashing, shouts of anger, a thundering roar and grunts of pain. The pounding vibration of feet breaking into a run heading in her direction.
Turning her head back as she gasped for breath, Tani registered the melee that had broken out between a number of Belial’s shedu and another prisoner they had shackled beside one of their trucks. She realized that the captive was straining in her direction and the growls of feral rage she had heard were in fact emanating from him. The male beast, for he was huge even compared to the shedu who were all at least six foot two and built like bulldozers, broke out of the circle that had surrounded him. His chains now broken flew wildly in the air, snaking coils that slammed into the shedu who tried to restrain his forward motion. Tani’s jaw dropped in shock. It was Phenex’s fighter, from the arena. She recognized his muscular frame and beaten face, still hideously swollen, his body still covered in bruises.
He had almost reached her when his progress was finally impeded by the coordinated efforts of four hulking brutes driving him to the ground by attacking him from two directions. It took numerous punches and booted kicks before they could subdue him so that he lay immobile, a bloody ring of crimson fanning out around his head. The fighter wasn’t cowed as the shedu guards kept pressure on his back with their booted feet. “Leave the girl alone!” he roared, struggling again beneath their continued onslaught, broken chains whipping angrily from red raw wrists and ankles, inflicting damage on those shedu slow to jump out of their reach.
Tani lifted her head from the ground, shifting her body up again. Her captor with the leash had joined the fray and she was now tied to a tree. There was no way she could make use of the distraction and escape. Thoughts of her own freedom were soon overtaken as she continued to watch the fighter’s resistance, her instinct to root for his rebellion, her heart soaring in amazement as he surged up again, exploding from the ground, leaving a cloud of dust to shower the fallen shedu behind him. The shock of his momentum caused sudden panic in the two shedu who were a barrier between him and Tani, their hesitation giving him the opportunity to smack their heads together. They fell unconscious to the ground, allowing him to crash past, flinging aside their dazed bodies in order to reach her.
When he drew close, Tani curled instinctively into a ball, expecting some kind of assault. It never happened. The fighter stood over her, a protective shield. “Keep the fuck away!” he bellowed, blood dripping like a crimson river from the wound at his temple.
Tani froze in shock. What was he doing? He could have escaped or used her as a hostage! Instead he had chosen to play her protector. “You are stupid fuckers,” he said, turning to face the shedu horde that stood twelve strong. His voice resonated deep and low. Fury no longer vibrated around him but was a steady pulse that throbbed with a strange calm in the face of the advancing shedu. Tani suddenly found that she was scared. She hadn’t been scared before, not for herself, but all of a sudden she was worried. Worried for the safety of this man who stood over her like a rottweiler guarding its bone.
The largest of the group walked up to him. “Why’s that then?” The man looked around smugly at the men at his back then turned back to her protector. “The only stupid fucker here is you.”
“I don’t think so, Halvin. You always were a moron. Do you think Belial will pay you if she’s damaged?” Her guardian faced the man with arrogance; the contempt in his tone appeared to slice his opponent deeply. Halvin, the guard who had jerked her leash, almost lost it but was restrained by a taller, sharp-faced male who stepped into the breach. Halvin fell back. Clearly, this was his superior.
“I didn’t think you were that stupid, Rajan. Don’t you think he wants her pretty ass intact?” Her self-appointed guard dog obviously knew these men, so why was he defending her? Tani was at a loss to explain his actions. He didn’t even know her.
“What’s it to you?” asked Rajan. “She’s just another whore Belial wants to feast on. Why do you care?”
“It’s no skin off my nose. But I’m not stupid. I also know about your master’s harem and he likes to do the damage himself. If she is already marked he won’t thank you.” Tani shivered at those words. She remembered now what she had heard of Belial’s reputation with women. Phenex’s fighter, Jaro—wasn’t it? She remembered his name now, stood fast as his words seemed to penetrate with the majority of the group. The leader, Rajan, paused, considering his words. “And what’s to stop us from marking you up some more, Jaro. You’re just an added bonus we found on the way. Belial didn’t ask for you.”
Her defender didn’t seem overly concerned by the threat. “He may not have asked for me, but you know he wants me. Belial’s not stupid and neither are you. You’re taking me to him because he’s lost Agron and he could use me to replace him. He also knows I have information on Phenex that could be useful to him and you know he’ll pay you well for me.”
Rajan apparently agreed with him. “What you say may be true,” he sneered, walking toward Jaro until they were toe to toe. “The girl is safe for now—for as long as you play nice.” Even though Rajan was over six feet, Jaro still towered over him. He nodded at Rajan, a promise of good behavior. The pact made, he then doubled over in agony as a crushing blow smashed into his gut, Rajan striking at him with a rabid shout. “Dog!” he grunted, kicking at Jaro as he fell. “We don’t have to be careful with you though. You can have her beatings as well.” A final kick in the ribs for good measure.
Phenex’s fighter crashed to the ground next to Tani, his eyes flicked over her unflinc
hing as the leader stamped on him again and strode off, signaling his men to load up the trucks. Tani stared at the man who had protected her, locking her eyes on to his as he was dragged away by two guards, she mouthed words of thanks.
“Don’t thank me, bitch,” he spat at her. “You’re no good to me broken.”
Chapter Fourteen
Captivity
Tani sat back, confused. Jaro had protected her from Belial’s men at risk to himself and the next moment had looked at her as if he wanted to kill her. And what did he mean; she was useless to him broken? She realized his actions had lulled her into a false sense of security where he was concerned. She had forgotten his past, why he was a slave. He was a double rapist, a man already condemned for atrocious acts toward women. He was not to be relied on. Whatever his motives for helping her, he was part of the evil that shrouded this planet. If she could use him, she would—in order to escape, but no matter how much pity she had felt for him in the arena and had even admired his courageous defiance, he was not a man she could trust. If he got in her way, she would kill him.
Two guards came back for her, hauling her up unceremoniously and she found herself dumped into the back of a truck next to Jaro. Anger pulsed around him. She could feel it vibrating in the air, caught in the static tension as it built inside him and she knew he was waiting for another chance to lash out. Who it was directed toward, she wasn’t sure, her or the guards? Jaro’s expression was a frozen blank. It was hard enough to read him, his face covered as it still was with bruises and blood, the flesh around his eyes and jaw still swollen and raw.
He suddenly stilled, his brow drawing together in definite anger, and before Tani realized what was happening, she was appalled to find herself shackled to him, one of the guards clamping a metal chain around her shin, the other to her erstwhile protector. “Seeing as you like her so much!” The man laughed at Jaro, then leered at her salaciously while running his hands up her thigh. She thrust his sweaty hands off by kicking her leg up at him, but not before Jaro had hissed at him and growled a warning, baring his teeth, reminding Tani again of a feral dog guarding its prey. The guard backed away. Even in chains and with a body bruised from beatings, Phenex’s fighter was intimidating.
“Down, boy,” she said when they were alone and the trucks were moving. “I don’t need your interference. I can handle them.”
“Doesn’t look that way to me, Red.” He raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Didn’t look like you were handling much earlier when they were just about to fuck your brains out.” She flinched at the thought of what they might have done to her. She squared up to him. “That’s because you poked your muzzle in before I’d had a chance to respond,” she said.
His brow furrowed again and she watched, fascinated, as his mouth appeared to twitch slightly upward at the corners. It was hard to tell with the swelling around his lips. Was he amused or annoyed? That thought threw her.
“Did you say muzzle?” he asked, a slight vibration in his tone that could have been laughter. “Are you comparing me to a dog, Red?”
Tani harrumphed in annoyance. “Well, you do growl a lot,” she muttered. The truck lurched on a bend and Tani found herself slamming into the brick wall of his chest. He was hot. The sudden heat of him seared through her flesh and Tani almost gave in to the temptation to melt into the wall of muscle before being thrust back by two large hands as if he couldn’t bear for her to touch him.
“Keep away!” he rasped, thick fury coating the inside of the truck. Her shoulder blades hit the metal at the back of the moving vehicle but not too hard. She scowled at him, angry both at her reaction and his. “Now you’re barking,” she commented coldly, not wanting to allow him the knowledge of how his heat had affected her. “Guess you must be a canine. And don’t worry, Jaro, or whatever your name is, I’ve no intention of being anywhere near you for long.”
“What the hell were you doing in the bazaar unprotected anyway, Red?” His anger was palpable and there was an underlying edge to his question she couldn’t quite understand. She could almost believe he was concerned for her safety. But that couldn’t be right. More than likely it was irritation that he’d been caught up in this situation.
“Why is that any of your business? And don’t call me Red. My name is Tani.”
“Because I made it my business. And your hair is red, Red.”
“Well, you can just unmake it and pretend to be colorblind.”
“Can’t do that, Red,” he said. “You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.” He rattled the chains in her face. “And even a blind man could see the color of your hair.”
Her brows creased in confusion and she decided to ignore his comments on her hair color. It seemed too personal. “Why exactly are you helping me anyway, particularly as you seem to hate me so much?”
“You are now Phenex’s property and as such I am bound to protect and deliver you back to him.”
Tani’s jaw dropped. What the hell? “Phenex’s property! What are you on about? No one owns me!”
His laugh was sour. “Betrayal’s a bitch, Red. Your friend,” he drawled the word with ironic emphasis. “Your friend sold you to him.”
“What?” Tani was shocked. Morana had sold her to Phenex? Why would she do such a thing? Her ties to the Eunomi would be forfeit—they would never trust her again. Although when Tani considered the scrawlings she had found in that hidden room that pointed to the possibility Morana might have Ziad, it looked very probable that Morana was playing some double game. If so, her association with the Eunomi was over. The Discordants must have paid her well, Tani thought bitterly. She had tried to give her the benefit of the doubt because at times Tani had felt there was more to Morana than the obvious. Now it appeared she had been wrong.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent with Tani studiously ignoring Jaro. She tried to detach the weight of his presence by focusing on the puzzle thrown up by the discovery she had made at Morana’s house, and planning ways that might lead to a possible escape. Antares would be worried and she was sure the Eunomi would try to track her, but with the dampening spell subduing her Esseni aura that would be difficult.
Jaro closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was alone. He was having a hard time controlling his anger at their predicament and the circumstances that had led to it. If he hadn’t been sent to collect her from Lorcan’s apartment and Morana D’Ath hadn’t allowed her to wander the streets of the bazaar unattended, then he at least wouldn’t be here. Why Morana had allowed her to go there he couldn’t understand. She knew that it was dangerous for females to walk those alleyways alone. But then, he just hated to imagine what would have befallen the little spitfire if he hadn’t been in the bazaar at that time. Fate was surely having fun with him. The last female he wanted to be anywhere near and she had practically fallen into his lap!
The redhead’s presence so close to him was a temptation he could to without. Something about her energy licked tongues of fire over his skin, tendrils of flame that encircled him, the heat settling in his gut and sparking emotions he didn’t want to feel. Urging him to act in ways he’d sworn never to act again. Yes, he gave of his time and material things to those he called friends. But he would never again sacrifice himself. Only now, with the redhead so close, he could feel himself falling into the traps of the past.
He had been noble. Once. He had sacrificed himself for others innocently believing they would do the same for him. They had not. He had been betrayed, outcast by those who should have stood at his back and protected him. That was the worst cut of all. He bled while they enjoyed the fruits of his sacrifice, lived in wealth and privilege on the strength of his blood. He had nothing left to give. All honor had fled once he realized that betrayal and backstabbing were all that he could expect.
But today he had found himself being noble for her, protecting her even knowing that Belial’s men could have ripped him to shreds. A woman to whom he meant nothing. Why was the urge to protect her so strong? Yes, s
he set his blood on fire, but that was no reason for him to throw all sense of self-preservation out the window. He wasn’t even sure he would die for Liana or even Sami if it came down to it. Maybe he would for Sami, he was an innocent. But this woman, his brother’s latest lover? He was honor bound by his duty to Phenex to protect her. Phenex had bought her, paid his brother good money for her. This had nothing to do with him being noble. It was just the compulsion to obey; he was a slave and had to follow Phenex’s orders. He knew it was a futile argument. He’d flouted Phenex many times before. He would survive this just as he survived everything. He would survive her. Because survival meant revenge.
The truck suddenly swayed violently sideways. Jaro, jerked from his brooding, was propelled backwards into the hard metal shell. The force of the swaying sent the truck careening over onto its side and skidding flush along the ground. Soft flesh slammed into his chest. The redhead twisted her head back to avoid landing on him but he caught her startled expression before her forehead collided with a loud crack against cold metal. She went limp, her head whipping back violently and falling across his chest. The chains that shackled them landed heavily across his legs, making it impossible to move, his hands still tied behind his back. Jaro cursed. His heart sped up as a rivulet of crimson bled from her temple, the tiny trickle weeping onto his skin, pooling in the center of his sternum.
The weight of her head pressing into his chest, the soft tickle of silky red strands that fanned across his shoulder and the scent of her, fresh strawberries and summer sun, pierced his anger, penetrating the shield of fury that surrounded his heart. An emotion he didn’t understand and didn’t want washed over him, flowing from the stabbing slicing pain in his chest. She had better not be hurt.
A shallow breath. A whisper of sweet air from her lips floated over the pores of his skin, caressing his flesh, calming the beast from his fury. His heart slowed down. Relief flooded over him as her heat seeped into his, merging, the energy calming his fear and fury.