Chapter Twenty-Three
Groaning, I came to. In blinking flashes of sight, I noted my environment—tents, trees, fire, men.
The Okon men sitting around a central fire were those with the bright veins and scars.
They stared at me covetously, their cold eyes roaming my body.
I took stock, sensing that nothing was broken.
Even my nose had healed from Nahel's punch.
But something was wrong. There was a lethargy in my bones that I recognized.
“No!” I screamed and surged to my feet.
“Sit down, Eliel,” Nahel stepped past the circle of seated men.
I sat down. My horrified stare went to my wrist. A white silk ribbon was knotted there. Nahel sat beside me, his left wing stretching to curl around me. He handed me a bowl of honeyed porridge. On his wrist was a white ribbon with a spot of my blood staining it.
I began to cry.
“Shh, don't cry.” Nahel set the bowl in my lap and stroked my back between my wings.
His command over me was so great that my tears dried up instantly from his casual words. I shuddered and gasped, denied even that small freedom.
“Please don't do this to me.” I met his gaze and found his green eyes fever-bright. “I'll do whatever you want. Just remove the ribbon. Please.”
“Whatever I want?” His grin turned lascivious. “You will come to my bed willingly? Enthusiastically?”
“Yes,” I whispered, even as fear sliced through me. It was all right. I had endured years of Bara's abuse. If Nahel removed the ribbon, it wouldn't be nearly as bad. “I'll obey you willingly. Please.” I held out my wrist.
“I will consider your request after I question you. I need you to answer me honestly.” He nudged my hand. “Eat. You'll need your strength.”
I ate. I had to because he commanded it. Only when I scraped the bowl clean, could I set it down and turn to face Nahel. “What do you want from me?”
“Above all else, I want you. You are a great prize.”
There was that word again. How ironic that I had pitied Tara just last night for being called the same thing.
Oh, why had I run from Raven? It was all becoming clear now.
Sitting there under the compulsion of Nahel's ribbon, I knew the King had not been subjugating me.
He'd been giving me a piece of himself. It was his soul that I felt tingling in my flesh.
Why couldn't I have comprehended the greatness of his sacrifice sooner?
! Bara! That was why. He had fucked up my life from the grave one more time.
How he must be laughing at me from the beyond.
I had left the one man who could have loved me forever and protected me from men like Nahel.
And I had flown right into Nahel's arms in the process.
What a fool I was. I deserved to be bound. I certainly didn't deserve the Dragon King as my mate.
Wings drooping, I waited for Nahel to continue.
“Bara bragged about your talents in bed.” Nahel stroked my hair.
I shuddered, remembering the Dragon King's hand on my hair. How different it had felt.
“He said your channel is as tight as a fist, and he trained you to suck him for hours, drawing out his release until it became almost holy.”
“Holy?” I whispered. “There was nothing holy about what he did to me.”
“No, he didn't appreciate what he had.” Nahel's hand slid down to cup my chin and lift it. “I will treasure you. You won't be harmed, I swear it. Even in bed, I will be gentle with you. You will come to love me.”
I bit back my scathing laughter. The man was clearly insane. Or so arrogant it was nearly the same thing. “So, you want to fuck me and what else? You can't have done all this just for a bed slave.”
He chuckled and let go of my chin. “No, of course not. I have been trying to mimic Bara's bone magic.” He motioned at his warriors. “I want to achieve more than he did, but his notes can only take me so far.”
“His notes?” I sat up straighter. “You don't have his notes. The Dragon King has them. I saw them myself.”
“Does he now?” Nahel smirked. “Or did he have them until recently?”
“How did you steal from the King?” I whispered.
Nahel reached into a satchel by his side and pulled out one of Bara's black notebooks.
Sweeping his shoulder-length black hair out of his face, he set the book on his lap.
Then he leaned into me as if we were friends and motioned at a page.
It was Bara's notes on how to harvest magic from bone marrow.
“I know how to get the silk from the larvae, and I understand the process of weaving it to make fabric. But I want more than pieces of silk that I must wear. I want to ingest the magic.”
I looked from the book to the Okon warriors. “You've embedded silk threads into them, haven't you?”
“Yes, but it alters them.” He grabbed my thigh. “There must be more to it. He told me he was working on ways to permanently transfer magic. Tell me how he did it.”
“I don't know.”
“Tell me!”
I held up my wrist with the ribbon on it. “I don't know!”
Snarling, Nahel sat back. “How can you not know? You were there with him constantly.”
“I was his prisoner, not his confidant. I only learned about this after I was freed.” I waved a hand to the book.
“Damn it all!” Nahel launched to his feet and threw the book across the clearing.
One of his warriors went to fetch it.
I huddled in on myself. I had really fucked things up this time. Out of the arms of the man I loved and into the arms of a lunatic. I was right—Lurransa had cursed me.
After raging for a few minutes like a child, Nahel sat down and took a deep breath. He turned toward me. “There must be something you observed. You know things. You just don't know that you know them. Tell me about every odd thing you observed.”
I spoke without gathering my thoughts, the magic pulling descriptions out of me. But none of them were useful to Nahel. I saw moths and large crates. Symbols on the crates. The bones of animals on display. Nothing of Bara's experiments. He had never allowed me into his laboratory.
Shaking with rage, Nahel stood up and yanked me to my feet.
“I'm sorry!” I cringed. “I want to help you, but I have nothing to offer.”
Nahel's rage evaporated. “Yes, I see that.
It's not your fault, Eliel. And you still have value to me.” He motioned at his men and ordered, “Set a watch and get some rest.” Then he took my hand and led me to a large tent, far larger than the one the Dragon King slept in.
This tent had enough space for a bed big enough for a winged person and a brazier to keep the space warm.
Nahel let go of me and undid the ties that held his tunic on.
Watching him, my heart sank. Like Bara, he wouldn't wait to slake his lust. It would begin now and never end.
I prepared myself for what was to come. I would survive it.
I would endure. And then I would escape him.
Somehow, I would be free again. I just needed him to remove the ribbon.
I couldn't do it myself, even though it was only knotted on.
The magic compelled me to leave it in place.
Nahel removed his belt with his strange weapon hanging from it, his boots, and then his pants. Sending me a possessive look, he turned in a circle. “Look upon me, pretty bird. I am your new master. This is the body you must worship.” He sat down on the bed and motioned me over. “Come here.”
I went to stand before him and swallowed my fear. Next, he'd ask me to undress. I knew what to expect, and that would make it easier to endure.
“Sit down.” He patted the bed beside him.
Wait. What was this? Frowning, I sat down.
“I want you to be comfortable with me.” Nahel took my hand and kissed it.
“And I want to be sure that you will obey me even without the ribbon.
So, prove it to me, Eliel. Touch me as you would a man you love.
Make me feel your desire. Explore my body as if you're eager to learn its secrets.
Get comfortable with me. I promise, I won't demand more from you tonight. Just this.”
“Touch you?” I whispered.
“As if you want to.” He cupped my cheek and turned my face so I'd look at him. “You don't have to use your mouth. You don't even have to kiss me. I want you to be comfortable with me. So, relax in the knowledge that I won't touch you in return. I won't take you until you're ready.”
Shock ran through me, vivid enough for him to see it.
Nahel chuckled. “I promised you I would treat you better than him. I know I'm a bastard for capturing you, but it used to be how we found our wives and husbands. It was how we blended the tribes and kept from inbreeding.”
“Not anymore.”
“No, and more's the shame for it. But it's in my blood.
My mother was captured by my father, and she grew to love him deeply.
I know I will love you, and I'm hoping you will love me in return. So, in the way of the Okon, I give you my body to explore freely. This is how it was done. If you accept me, you will no longer be my captive.”
“Except for this.” I raised my wrist.
Nahel stroked the ribbon. “This is my security. I can sleep beside you without worrying that you might kill me while I'm vulnerable. But if you show me that I can trust you, I will gladly remove the ribbon, Eliel.”
I sighed, closed my eyes, and dropped onto the floor before him. Nahel didn't touch me, even after I took a minute to gather my courage. I opened my eyes and found him watching me. I couldn't hold that insane and yet hopeful gaze. So, I lowered my stare to his feet and set my hands on them.