Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
PENNY
It’s been four days since I was taken. If I’m being honest, I expected my guys to find me the first night.
But when I found out the gas had knocked me out for thirty-six hours before I woke, I realized we had a much bigger lead on them than I initially thought.
But that meant we were that much closer to the eastern woods.
And as soon as we were out of the desert, there wasn’t anything stopping me from running.
Well, nothing except the twelve assholes who had kidnapped me, that is.
I wasn’t surprised when, after I woke up vomiting, a lovely side effect from the magical gas, they told me I was to be their wife.
Yep, all twelve of them. I told them if any one of them comes near me with their dick, I would rip them off.
They didn’t seem to like that, telling me I have an attitude problem, and they were going to fix it.
They rode on camels, which I guess is how they got away without bringing a wagonful of water with them.
Based on what I'd heard from them so far, I’d figured out that they’d come from the south and must have been a group of bandits who were just roaming around looking for people to steal from.
They saw the same rain clouds that my mates had, leading them straight to us.
They made me take turns riding with each of them, and they each seemed to have their own way of dealing with me.
A couple of them tried to grope me into submission, but that just got me angry and had me turning my aggression on them, so they would end up tossing me to a different man.
A couple of them loved to try to tease me with their filthy words, making me want to vomit all over again.
Murray, who I think was second in command to Jarid, likes to pinch me everywhere.
My arm, my ass, my breast, wherever he could reach.
But Jarid was the worst. He liked to backhand me if I did or said something he didn’t like.
That normally shut me up pretty quick. So I seemed to spend the most time with him as they preferred my silence.
I decided being polite and quiet wasn’t the hardest thing in the world, especially if it would keep him from hitting me.
Somehow, I’d convinced them there was too much sand and heat to do anything sexual in the desert.
But I have a feeling that as soon as we make it to the eastern forest, and find somewhere to clean up, all bets would be off.
So I need to be ready to run. At least I wasn’t in my night dress this time.
“Can I have some more water, please?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Oh, looks like the princess has finally learned some manners,” Jarid says, from where he sits behind me on the horse. He seems to be the leader of this merry band of bandits, and a complete asshole. But then again, all twelve of these men are.
“It’s about time,” Murray quips from the horse beside us. Jarid hands me a waterskin and I drink it down greedily. I try to make sure to always be as hydrated and full as possible in case I figure out a way to escape.
But I’m not going to be stupid. I know I can’t outrun them, and if I manage to somehow get away during the night, I’d probably die of thirst before I found my men.
I really hope all my guys are okay. Jarid told me he killed them all, but I could tell he was lying.
But it wasn’t just that I didn’t believe his lie, I could still feel them all in my chest, like we were connected.
All six of them. Ryker, Braxton, Indy, Apollo, Silver and…
Huh, that’s weird. Why do I feel a sixth connection in my chest?
Didn’t Apollo say these were fated mate bonds?
Could it be for Ria? Maybe I could feel her because she was my family?
“Land ahead!” one of the men, whose names I didn’t care to memorize, yells from up front. We’ve reached the eastern forest already? I thought it’d be at least another few days. Shit, it was almost time to run.
I sit ramrod straight as the forest comes into view over the next sand dune.
And for the next few hours, I watch as it gets closer and closer.
When we finally approach the trees, Jarid’s arm tightens around my waist, holding me tight to him as he whispers, “Be a good little princess and don’t try anything.
If you do, I promise to make it hurt.” I try to swallow the lump in my throat as unease and fear pulse through me.
I feel the coolness from the shade of the forest the moment we enter, and it just reminds me how dirty I am. I’m kind of happy for it now, though. Clean means… Well, let’s just hope I’m not still here by the time we get clean.
To my utter dread, it’s only thirty minutes later when we pull up to a large pond fed by a stream.
It looks quite beautiful, but I can’t take time to admire it right now.
As Jarid lifts his leg and drops down to the right side of the horse, I try to go left, but he grabs my waist and pulls me down backwards into him, making me yelp. “You weren’t trying to run, were you?”
“Of course not,” I mutter.
“Good, now strip and get in there. I want you clean when I take you.” He gives me a shove towards the pond, making me stumble.
I can feel my eyes widen as they dart around, seeking an escape.
But with so many men, there is no clear opening.
My breaths start to quicken and my hands start to shake with fear.
I could try to swim across the pond and climb out the other side.
But no, that’s stupid, they could run around it before I’d make it half way across.
“Move!” Murray says, as he steps up behind me. I quickly turn to face him, pressing my hands between us to keep him away.
I shake my head frantically. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. I was supposed to find a way to slip away quietly, giving myself a head start.
“Princess, if you don’t get going, I will rip this dress from you and you’ll spend the rest of the day naked.”
“I… I can’t swim!” I blurt out, hoping it’ll buy me some time.
“Nobody told you to swim, stay where you can touch the bottom for all I care, now are you going to remove your dress or do I have to do it for you?”
I step back and shake my head. Fuck, this was bad.
“Alright, I guess you choose option B.” He reaches for me and I scream at the top of my lungs, making him jump back a step in surprise. I turn and run, trying to avoid the other men’s arms, but it’s useless.
Several of them grab me and they drag me back as I kick and scream as loud as I can. They dump me on the ground and I crawl backwards away from them as the tears leak down my face. Fuck, I hate letting them see me cry. But it feels impossible to hide my emotions right now.
“Please, you don’t want to do this. My mates, they’ll kill you for it!”
“Sorry, Princess, but your mates can’t kill us if they’re dead,” Jarid says with a smirk as he and Murray stand over me.
Suddenly, a knife appears right in the middle of Murray’s forehead. He stares with wide eyes before he topples to the side, dead.
“Holy shit, who threw that?” someone asks, and everyone’s eyes move around the clearing.
I have no idea, but I’d rather be on the side of whoever has just killed Murray, so I lie. “That would be my mates.”
“Impossible!” Jarid yells angrily. “They are days behind us!”
“Not all of them,” a familiar voice says from behind, making me turn. Holy shit! It’s my masked savior, once again, coming to save my life.
He moves in front of me, blocking me from their view, and I slowly stand. Placing my hand on my chest, I gasp as I feel one of my connections thrumming strongly. “It’s you,” I whisper in surprise. He’s the sixth connection, he’s my fated mate!
I see the men start to encircle us, so I move closer to him, slowly pressing my front to his back as I grip his cloak. “We’re surrounded,” I whisper.
“It’s okay, Love, I’ll take care of you.” Umm, swoon much? Fuck, that was hot. This guy is like my personal superhero, and the fact that he just called me love and promised to take care of me makes me embarrassingly wet, considering the danger we are currently in.
“You’re surrounded, just hand the girl over, and we’ll forget you just killed one of my men.”
“Hmm… How about I kill you all and keep her for myself?”
“I’ve had to put up with her obnoxious fat ass for the last three days, there is no way I am just handing her over, I want what I’m owed!”
“Oh, hell no!” I growl, trying to move around my newest mate, but he uses his arm to keep me behind him.
“Give me a dagger,” I ask, placing my palm out to his side.
He stares at me over his shoulder for a moment with his dark brown eyes, before grabbing my wrist and twirling me around to his front.
His arms and cloak wrap around my shoulders.
His hand moves underneath the cloak, out of sight, and the handle of a dagger is pressed into my hand.
I wrap my fingers around it and try not to smile, feeling the weight in my hand as I adjust it just right.
“Hand her over, or we’ll make you watch while we take turns with her.”
The arms around me drop and I quickly lift the dagger over my shoulder before letting it fly, right between Jarid’s eyes. A matching kill to Murray.
“Love… that was fucking hot.” His hands tighten on my waist as he whispers in my ear.