Chapter 7
Kaylee
Forever was a long time. Or it would be, if I were planning on sticking around that long. But, as it would happen, I had better things to do with my life. Like live it. Preferably somewhere far, far from here. Far from any shifter would be a nice bonus.
Rook showed me to my room—at least it wasn't the cell in the basement I supposed, and I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if it was—and then left me to get ‘acclimated.’ I may or may not have made some witty repartee about getting acclimated to captivity.
.. but not until after he left and shut the door behind him.
The room itself was bigger than the one that I had back in the packlands—being a ward of the pack didn’t entitle you to much, even if you were promised to the third son of the alpha—and it was a far cry from the room I have been moved to after my status as an omega had been outed.
It was furnished with what was probably the most comfortable bed I'd ever seen—certainly more comfortable than any I’d slept in before—and the room was somehow both well-lit and cozy at the same time.
I peered upward. Actual electric lights hung from the ceiling, explaining the phenomenon.
A plush rug covered most of the floor, and it took all my self-control not to kick off my shoes and let my feet sink into it.
It was better than I’d been expecting slave quarters to be.
But then, it wasn’t the room I had a problem with.
It was the bastard who’d put me here.
He must have been used to dealing with meeker girls than me, though.
Maybe last time he came and snatched one, he’d picked a good little shifter who played by the rules and hadn’t had to survive in the middle of a pack that hated her.
But he was about to find out just how resilient becoming an omega had made me.
I paused a moment, wondering what exactly had befallen his last ‘servant’ or whatever.
Yeah, no way was I sticking around to find out. Time to go.
I cocked one ear to the door for a long moment, but he was gone—probably sat on top of his hoard congratulating himself on a successful slave-gathering trip, or whatever it was dragons did when they weren’t busy ruining my life.
I hurried over to the window and gave it an experimental tug.
It budged immediately. Unexpected. But whatever.
I wasn’t about to look a gift escape route in the mouth.
I eased it all the way up, then swung one leg over the windowsill and peered down.
One flight down. I’d jumped from higher and not killed myself before.
I shrugged and swung my other leg over, lowering myself down as far as I could while gripping the sill, then dropped the rest of the way.
I landed on the damp grass with a soft thud, and paused there for a half dozen heartbeats, waiting to see if either of my ankles was about to give way beneath me. They didn’t.
Awesome.
I rose and hurried across the garden. This must have been the back of the building, because the grounds stretched in a wide expanse with no sign of the small courtyard we’d come in through.
What I did see, however, was a wall. A very tall wall.
I guess Rook’s obsession with privacy didn’t just extend to the front of his home. Fun times.
No matter. I was out of the house, and if a twenty-foot wall was the only thing that stood between me and freedom, then I sure as hell was finding a way over it.
I followed the wall, sticking close to its base as I looked for a conveniently close tree that I could climb and use to jump over.
Just as I was about to give it up for a lost cause and start thinking of Plan B, I spotted what I was looking for.
A sturdy oak with plenty of sturdy-looking branches.
It stretched far higher than the wall, and dozens of thick branches splayed above it, wreathed in thick swathes of leaves.
Grinning, I hurried towards it. I was five feet away when something thudded to the ground at the base. I yelped and jumped back. The shape rose and straightened into a man.
Correction. Not just any man. One very pissed off man.
“Rook.” My voice escaped in an undignified squeak.
The dragon shifter fixed his steely eyes on me. “I wondered how long it would take you to find this tree.”
“I was just…uh…taking a stroll.”
He raised a brow. “A stroll around the only tree that grows near to the wall?”
“Yes? It’s, um, a beautiful day, and, uh…” My voice kept creeping higher and higher, completely beyond my control. “You know, it’s good to exercise, and…”
My words trailed off under his glare.
“Speak one more lie to me and you won’t see the light of day for a decade.”
I swallowed with an audible gulp. “Well, I mean, none of that was technically a lie…”
“A stroll?”
I flushed red and looked down at my feet. Wait a minute, why was I the one feeling embarrassed right now? This asshole was holding me here against my will. Fuck him.
An image of myself doing exactly that in a very physical sense, and in excruciatingly graphic detail, flashed through my mind, and the burn on my cheeks intensified.
Where the hell did that come from? And more importantly, why wouldn’t the image of his broad chest towering above me while his fingers dug into my hips go the hell back there and stop tormenting me?
Just as I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Rook’s nostrils flared, scenting my arousal, and my humiliation was complete.
I groaned, and wished the ground would open up and swallow me…and the thought of swallowing did nothing to steady the fire in my stomach.
Rook rumbled a throaty chuckle that shot straight between my legs.
“Bastard.”
I whirled on my heel and marched back towards the house.
“Planning on getting back in without a key?”
I flipped him off over my shoulder without bothering to turn around.
A low growl split the air and abruptly he was in front of me, a shadow darkening his face. I shrank back.
“Let’s get something clear, pet,” he snarled. “You may not be happy about being here, but you will show me the respect I deserve.”
I jerked my chin up. “Says who?”
“Says every other servant who’s stood where you are. You think that tree’s there by chance?”
“You set me up!” I gaped at him, my face rearranging itself into a scowl.
“And you proved you were exactly what I thought.”
“And what’s that?” I demanded, planting my hands on my hips and glaring at him.
“A spoiled little brat who’s going to need teaching the hard way.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, little wolf.” He shook his head slowly, and bared his teeth in something not tame enough to call a smile. “It’s a promise.”