‘What do you propose we do then, Sorin?’ Viktor sneered.
‘We find her and bring her back, of course.’
‘And the penalty she’ll pay?’
Sorin hesitated. ‘I don’t know,’ he said finally.
Viktor’s eyes narrowed. ‘If she had been bound to us and claimed it would be different, but, at the moment, she is a slave who has stolen from the Dark Brothers and escaped. You know it cannot be left unpunished.’
‘No. It can’t,’ Kane said darkly as he stifled a smile. ‘You’re both too close to her to do what must be done. Besides, you’ve been ordered to the Commander within the week. You don’t have time to go wandering after …wayward property. I’ll find her.’
‘You?’ Sorin scoffed. ‘You’d kill her as soon as look at her – after taking your fill of her, of course.’
‘Oh, Brother. You always think the worst of me.’ Kane winked and watched Sorin’s face contort. ‘I may take a taste, but it’s no more than you two have had.’
‘Yourgiftwon’t work on her. You saw that before.’ Sorin gloated.
Kane smiled. ‘Perhaps I’ll seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or,’ he leaned in close to Sorin, ‘perhaps I’ll just force her the old-fashioned way,’ he whispered. Sorin rounded on him, just as Kane had known he would, and he danced away with a laugh.
Sorin calmed himself, his hands curling into fists with the effort. ‘You won’t be able to hurt her, Kane. You think she’s just a girl you can coerce and subdue, but I would pay to see the havoc she wreaks on you. When we next see you, you’ll be a shadow of yourself,Brother.’ Sorin left, walking back to the fires and Viktor followed.
‘Find her,’ he called back to Kane. ‘We’ll meet you at the camp by the coast before we sail.’
Kane returned to the tent and flopped down on one of the beds, deciding he would leave in the morning after the storm had abated. Already he could hear the rain thudding on the roof. He smiled coldly in the dark. He also wanted to give his quarry a head start. Listening to the downpour, he imagined her hiding in the forest – cuddling the horse for warmth, shivering in the darkness, unable to light a fire in case it was seen, her wet dress plastered to her skin, her nipples … he groaned and then chuckled to himself. Perhaps Sorin was right. But he would never admit it.
He closed his eyes and willed his body to relax. It hummed in anticipation of the morrow. He hoped she didn’t make it too easy.
Chapter 11
Lana
‘Come.’
Lana walked slowly towards the voice. She recognised it but wasn’t sure from where.
‘Take off your clothes.’
She shook her head.
‘Do it or I’ll rip your dress to pieces and make you beg me for a new one.’
She shivered and let it fall to the ground. She heard a murmur of appreciation behind her, but when she turned, there was no one. Suddenly his hands were on her, caressing her shoulders, cupping her breasts, moulding themselves over her belly and moving lower. Her breath hitched and she made a sound of annoyance when the hand stopped moving and left her skin. Her body felt bereft.
‘Touch me, please. I beg you,’ she pleaded, her voice sounding far away.
A hand caressed the top of her thigh, but it didn’t go to that place where she wanted it to. Instead it continued down the front of her leg and up the back in a large circle. She whimpered and he chuckled.
‘So impatient.’
The hand moved towards her core once more, but again it veered away. She groaned in frustration. ‘Why do you torment me?’
‘Oh, sweet girl,’ he said in her ear, ‘this is not torment.’ He nibbled at her. ‘The torment starts when I find you.’
Lana woke with a start,her eyes darting all around her, but there was no one.Kane!
She looked down and realised one of her own hands was playing with her breast through the cloth of her dress while the other caressed between her legs. She snatched them both away with a shocked gasp and pulled her still-damp dress down to her ankles. She’d never touched herself in such a way before, nor ever had such asordiddream!
She breathed out slowly, asthatpart seemed to pulse, and it took all of her strength not to let her hand drift down to continue what it had been doing while she slept. Instead she stood abruptly on wobbly legs. She was still in the forest where she’d stopped during the storm the night before. She took stock of her surroundings. The sun was only just up, the gloom of early morning still lurking where the undergrowth was thick. The sky looked relatively cloudless today now that the storm had blown itself out, though the air definitely had more of a crispness to it. She’d taken shelter beneath a rocky outcrop, and Viktor’s great steed stood not far away, regarding her indifferently.