She tried to curl her legs up toward her chin and found she was bound at the ankles too.
Damnit.
"Our prize has awakened." a sinister voice spoke out behind her.
Her eyes flew open. She tried to roll over and look. The blood vessels in her head pounded, she had a massive headache. Her head swam and she blinked trying to clear her vision.
A blonde man with fierce angular features knelt beside her. His hair was tied at the back into a short ponytail.
"Don't struggle, pet." He brushed some loose hair out of her face.
She froze at his touch. There was coldness about him; this was definitely not the same man who'd cornered her in the street. She looked past him at her surroundings. It was dark and she couldn't see far.
He reached out for her again, touching her cheek and tracing his long fingers down her jawline. She jerked her head away.
"Now now, don't be rude." He crooned, his dark eyes flashed.
Her lips were cracked and dry; she licked them and tasted dried blood. Someone had definitely hit her over the head, it was killing her. In the dancing firelight behind the man she could see several other men kneeling, sitting, and talking as if this was normal.
This was NOT normal.
Her voice cracked, "Who are you?"
"That's not important." He traced his fingers down the exposed flesh of her forearm. She tried to jerk away but he grabbed her, hard.
"Do not pull away from me again," He growled and clenched his jaw.
He pulled her up by her arm and held her tightly to his side. She could barely stand. Her feet were freezing, they'd taken her boots. Probably so she didn't run, she thought miserably.
There was a small flash as he produced a dagger.
She sucked in air as he knelt before her. She looked down at the ground, afraid of what he would do to her. His hand caressed her calf down to her ankle. His touch made her feel sick. He stood up again.
"Walk." He pointed her towards the fire.
He'd cut her bonds. She sighed, relief washing over her for the moment. When she was within a few feet of the warm fire he shoved her down hard, she landed on her tailbone and yelped. The men laughed.
Her anger burned in her chest; how dare they!
She kept her head down and clenched her jaw. The pounding in her head almost made her pass out again. The pain radiating in her lower back waned. They mostly ignored her presence.
Good.
"Drink" the blonde man held a metal cup to her lips.
The water washed over her tongue and lips. It felt so cool, so refreshing. She gulped the whole thing down. He refilled it and offered again, she drank half this time.
He studied her; she could feel his burning stare on her body. She shifted her weight and kept her head down. Why should she be ashamed to face him, he was the criminal.
She looked up and met his gaze head on. He continued staring, the firelight reflected in his dark eyes. She gave him her most fearsome glare, he smiled.
Damnit.
"How long was I out?" her voice was low but the men stopped talking and all looked at her.
Blondie sipped his drink, "This is the second night you've been with us."
She panicked but tried not to let it show. What had they done to her while she had been out?
He leaned in close. His breath smelled of alcohol.
"Don't worry, I like my women awake." His face split into a wicked grin. The men laughed.
She felt like crying but refused to show him any weakness. She lowered her head and they ignored her again. They offered her no food, and no more water.
It seemed like forever but eventually they all passed out on their bed rolls, all except blondie. He sat there, just staring at her, willing her to break. When she didn't he got bored. He unrolled his bed near the fire and then knelt in front of her. He tipped her chin up to his face. She felt the desire rolling off of him, it made her sick. He covered her mouth with his own, forcefully. She resisted him but she was hurting, bound, and exhausted. He pulled away.
"You're a sweet little pet, you know?" He cut the bonds off her hands.
"If you fight me, I will kill you." He said it so calmly, so level. She felt the fear rising up inside her.
He pulled her over to his bedroll, dagger in hand. She had no choice.
"Lay down"
The tears welled up in her eyes. He lay down and pressed himself against her back, his arm was across her chest and his hand held the dagger close to her throat. The message was clear: she was his possession now.
Run
Her body screamed at her but she couldn't move. She knew he'd slit her throat before she even got up. She was trapped.
"If you're good, I might let you live." He threatened softly into her ear.
The sound of his voice made her skin crawl. She thought he was going to do something to her but he must have been too drunk because he fell asleep quickly. One of the other men sat on the edge of the firelight watching her. There was no chance she could get away now, she forced her eyes closed but didn't relax. She was awake for most of the night, petrified of what he would do with her when he was sober. She thought of as many escape strategies as she could and vowed to get away in the morning.
She finally slept out of sheer exhaustion but was startled awake at dawn, as was her hung over captor. He yelled orders to his men, most of them were still sleeping. Men on horseback charged into their camp, a battle cry on their lips. With one expert blow the first man fell to the ground twitching and bleeding from a fatal wound. Blondie ran for his sword but didn't make it very far, a warhorse blocked his path, a large dark haired man astride, his crimson mantle whipped out behind him as his heavy sword swung down in a deadly arc. She heard the crack of pistols firing behind her.
Run.
This time, her body listened. She frantically looked around and spied the dagger her captor had dropped. She grabbed it and saw her boots and traveling bag in a pile on the other side of the fire. The men were too occupied fighting each other to notice her slipping away. She grabbed her boots and cloak before taking cover behind a large tree. She pulled them on frantically and tucked the dagger inside one, hoping she had enough time to get away.
Run.
She left the shouting and clanging behind and slipped through the forest as fast as she could. She stopped only once to drink from a spring and out of sheer will forced herself to keep running. It seemed like she ran for hours. In her desperation and exhaustion she tripped and tumbled down a hill. She hit her head, elbow, and back against a tree making her cry out. The last thing she heard was distant barking; they were hunting her.
Run.
Her body had nothing left. The darkness overtook her again.
**
Rayn thanked his stars they'd come upon the dog, tied to a tree near a stream. There was evidence of a struggle and drag marks. They found the raiders in the pre dawn hours and dispatched them quickly. The girl was nowhere to be seen, even though Rayn was sure they'd taken her. The dog was well trained and after sniffing a pile of dirty clothes and a saddle he'd taken off into the forest, crashing through the undergrowth and barking like mad. They rode hard after him, hoping he caught her scent.
They found her at the bottom of a ravine, the dog licked her face and whined pitifully but she didn't stir.
Rayn slid down the side of the ravine easily, and checked her pulse. She'd landed badly against the tree, her pulse was faint and she most certainly had a nasty head wound. Her hair was tangled in the leaves and twigs and halfway covered her face.
He looked back up at his men.
"Is she alive?" Kieran called to him.
"Barely, we have to get her out of here. She needs to be healed." He lifted her carefully and held her close to him as he climbed back towards his men. Her scent overtook him, fresh and sweet. He had to hold back the urge to brush the loose hair out of her face.
In all his life Kieran had never seen Rayn so gentle with a woman unless he wanted something from her. He couldn't understand it. He'd never even told them why he dragged them out here looking for her in the first place. King's orders he'd said. Kieran had to admit, cutting down the small group of raiders had been a little adventure although taking lives was never easy or particularly pleasurable.
Rayn grunted as he set the girl down.
"We'll make camp here tonight, ", he turned to Riley, "can you heal this?"
"Yes, most of it anyway," Riley assured him.
Riley was not as impressive of a warrior as the other men, what he lacked in brawn he made up for in determination and tactical skill. He could heal wounds using incantations but was not as proficient as a healer; it would have to do for now.
He laid his hands on her and chanted the familiar incantation. Before their eyes her bruises faded from purple and black to green and yellow, the cut on her neck started to heal, and the color came back to her face.
Riley looked up at Rayn, "She should come around in a couple of hours."
"Good, bind her hands."
"What?" Kieran was almost in a rage.
"I said bind her hands, she cannot be allowed to escape again."
"You're going to bind a woman, after her life was threatened by a bunch of heartless curs?" He was raging now.
"She's a threat to the crown, if you're unwilling I can do it myself." Rayn leveled his princely gaze on his friend. He did not tolerate insubordination in the field.
"Her?" he looked down at the bruised woman, she was rather young, and back at Rayn.
"I'll explain later. It's bad enough we're three days off course."
They set camp as the sun started setting. They'd made it as far as they could for the day. The dog hovered over the girl, checking her every few minutes before lying against her side and groaning.
Rayn almost smiled. The grey beast was very loyal. He tossed a few pieces of meat in the direction of the dog, who snapped them up instantly.
As Kieran and Riley started the fire, Rayn picked the girl up to move her closer to the warmth. The forest was cooling off.
That damn scent of hers was intoxicating. It stirred something deep inside him. He tried to shake it off and would have succeeded had she not opened her eyes as he laid her down. Stormy grey blue orbs stared at him, she blinked several times and then after what seemed like an eternity she punched him right in the jaw with her bound fists.
Shit.
He grabbed at her but she twisted out of his grip, backed away carefully, and pulled a dagger from her boot. He watched in amazement as she turned the sharpened edge toward her own stomach.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will restrain you if I have to." He growled at her.
