Page 27 of Bought to Break
She said nothing.
‘Come here.’
She looked startled and shook her head.
‘Do it of your own will or I’ll make you do it,’ he threatened, betting that she didn’t know that his gift wouldn’t work on her.
Her lower lip quivered for a moment, and then his gamble paid off as she set her jaw and climbed slowly to the ground. She came to stand in front of him.
‘Take off your dress.’ His words from their first meeting came back to him, and inwardly he recoiled at his poor choice of them now.
The girl just stared at him for a moment, her eyes showing him nothing. Then she looked past him, ignoring him as she began to unlace. He held his breath as the dress loosened and he could see the tops of her breasts. She drew it down from her shoulders and suddenly he could see her chest in full. Her nipples were raised in the cold air, begging for his attentions. He didn’t make a sound, afraid she’d suddenly take flight like a deer surprised in a glade. She shimmied it down lower, and his eyes went down with it and he swore softly at the sight he saw. Her stomach and lower ribs on the right were a mass of bruises.
‘Those two you mentioned before?’
She still didn’t look at him, just stood stiffly as a flush began to mottle her skin. ‘Yes.’
‘You said they’re dead?’ Kane asked, his voice cold.
Her eyes darted to his in alarm. ‘Yes.’
‘Tell me the rest of it.’
‘Like this?’ She gestured to her state of undress, shivering.
He wanted more than anything to say yes. She’d do as he said, so afeared was she of his power. But the air was cold, and the last thing he needed was for her to catch a chill on the way down to the coast. He supposed he’d have to loan her a cloak. The gossamer dress pushed her breasts up nicely but wasn’t very practical. It would offer little protection from the elements.
He delved in his bag for the salve the Brothers used to heal themselves quickly between battles. He brought out the small pot and his arm snaked out slowly, giving her ample time to step away, but she didn’t move. It wound around her narrow waist, drawing her closer to him, and he heard a small gasp. He peered up at her from his seated position. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was … no, she couldn’t bearousedby him. She was afraid, he reminded himself, just afraid.
His fingers smeared the salve over the bruises, holding her firmly as she twisted slightly from the pain of it, gentle though he was trying to be. He didn’t have much practice with this sort of thing, after all.
When he had finished, he wound a bandage around her torso and tied it off. Then, his cock all but screaming at him to desist, he helped her on with her dress and laced it – though tighter at the chest than before so her breasts spilled out of the top slightly. That much he could do.
If she’d been scared of him before, now she looked almost bewildered.
‘Go on, then.’ He signalled for her to sit down next to him by the fire, which she did.
‘Will you promise me something, please?’
Inwardly he scoffed.So innocent. As if he couldn’t break a promise. When was the last time he’d pledged anyone anything? He knew at once. He’d sworn to Lily and Toman that they’d be safe and they’d both been torn to pieces in the arena that same day. He shoved the thoughts away. ‘I already know what you would ask. For me not to compel you.’
She nodded.
He didn’t answer her. ‘Tell me what happened after you stole Viktor’s gold and his horse. He is very angry with you, you know.’
She cringed. ‘Is that why the others aren’t here?’
‘No.’
When he said nothing else for a few moments, she began to speak. ‘I took a room in the tavern. That night, two men came to rob me. They couldn’t find the gold, so they decided to take me instead. I fought them and I screamed. The big one hit me and kicked me, I think. They ran off after that.’ She shuddered, and Kane was seized by a notion to put his arm around her.
He stood up abruptly instead. ‘Go on,’ he barked.
‘I went to a friend, but … he couldn’t help me, so I left.’
Kane’s eyes narrowed. There was more to her story, but the hour was getting late and she needed rest for their ride on the morrow. She could keep her secrets until he forced them out of her later.
He spread out his only bedroll by the fire and lay down upon it. ‘We have a long ride tomorrow.’ He patted the space in front of him.
