Chapter 4 - Amber #2
Silently, unable to look at either of them, Amber nodded meekly.
“Didn’t look like a lovers’ quarrel,” Cillian said, raising one eyebrow. He jerked his head at Amber, but didn’t take his eyes off Eric. His expression was unreadable, and she wondered if she was imagining the tightness in his shoulders, the anger seeming to radiate off him.
Eric snarled, his eyes narrowing. He considered Cillian for a long moment, clearly calculating how to approach the situation. Cillian knew Eric was bullshitting. The question to Eric was what he planned to do about it.
“How about this?” Eric began, still holding tightly onto her. “I’ll pay you good money to walk away and pretend you didn’t see any of this.”
Amber managed to drag her eyes away from the forest floor to glance at Cillian. He watched her with a curious, speculative gaze, his lips a thin line. Amber tried to decipher what might be going on behind those eyes, but couldn’t for the life of her discern what it was.
“I don’t see how a few extra coins in my pocket are all that much incentive,” Cillian mused. “I think you would need to sweeten the deal a bit.”
Her eyes widened. Was he actually considering letting this monster take her away? He had been one of the shifters who had helped rescue her from the Ironbrand pack. She had thought he wanted to protect women.
Eric tilted his head, considering Cillian. “What did you have in mind?” Eric asked. Something about Cillian, maybe his stance or the indifferent expression, seemed to reassure Eric that he didn’t need to pretend this was a simple lover’s spat.
Again, Cillian met Amber’s eyes. Something lurked behind that hungry gaze, something that he was trying to communicate to her, only she couldn’t figure out what he might be trying to tell her. Despite the danger and the situation, something about the intensity of his gaze made her breath catch.
That evaporated at his next few words.
“I think a few minutes alone with her, along with some cash, would work. What do you think?”
Eric smirked. Amber could only gawk. Cillian couldn’t mean what she thought he did, could he? She had never imagined he would be the type of person to do that to a woman. But all she could see was that hunger, that lust in his eyes.
Her stomach plummeted. She had thought that maybe Cillian would rescue her. She hadn’t expected he would ever do something like this.
“No!” Amber tried to wrestle away from Eric. He only grasped her tighter.
“Knock it off,” Eric snapped. “I’m having a conversation here.” Back to Cillian, he said, “She can be a bit stubborn. Sometimes she forgets her manners.”
Cillian grunted. He rubbed his chin, eyes sliding over to Amber once more, regarding her with that same lust-filled interest. But this time, his other hand softly, almost imperceptibly tapped his elbow, a sign that he had shown the women during one of the training sessions when he and Jasper were talking about how they silently communicated with one another in the field.
It took her a moment to recognize the gesture, but then it clicked.
Follow along.
“I’ll take her off your hands for you if she’s that much of a hassle,” Cillian said, shrugging casually.
Comprehension dawned, along with relief that she tried to keep off her features. He wasn’t interested in her that way. He was trying to get her away from Eric.
Eric’s beady eyes watched Cillian, head tilted. A slow, calculating smile began to spread over his face. The sight alone was enough to make Amber’s skin crawl.
“I don’t know,” Eric drawled, though she could practically see the dollar signs in his eyes. He pulled her tighter against him. “She’s pretty special to me. She’s not the smartest girl I’ve ever met, but you’ve got to admit she’s got an incredible body. Hard to want to give that up.”
“Hmm.” Cillian looked Amber up and down, almost appraisingly.
She knew it was an act, but something about his gaze still heated her entire body, despite everything going on around them.
Her pounding heart, for once, had nothing to do with her terror at the situation and everything to do with that searing look.
“She’s not bad to look at, sure. But you don’t seem to know how to control her. ”
Eric snarled. “I know how to control her just fine.”
Cillian rolled his eyes. “Look. I’m not going to stand around here and pretend to bargain with you all day. I’ve got better things to do. So if you’re going to drag this out, I’m going to go.”
“Let’s not be too hasty,” Eric said casually. He considered Amber, and she could see that conflict in his eyes. He enjoyed having her under his thumb, but he would rarely miss the opportunity to earn some extra coin with hardly any effort involved.
He twisted back to Cillian, that smirk still on his face. “I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement. What sort of numbers are you thinking?”
Disgust and shame rippled through her. He was talking about her like she was a piece of meat or livestock to be traded, and she wasn’t even reacting.
She wasn’t trying to fight. She was just staying mute and timid.
She had thought she was better than this.
She had thought she would fight more. Apparently, she’d been wrong.
Eric hadn’t been too far off when he’d called her weak, it seemed.
She half-heartedly tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but all he did was jostle her arm painfully and grip it tighter.
Cillian watched with narrowed eyes, his jaw twitching.
After a moment, he rattled off an unreasonably high number that made Amber’s eyes widen.
There was no way someone would pay that much for her, would they?
Apparently, that wasn’t enough for Eric, who snorted in disgust. “You’re going to have to do better than that,” he scoffed.
“You’re the one who said she’s trouble,” Cillian said.
“She just needs a bit of retraining,” Eric said. “Trust me when I tell you she’s about as docile as they come after some correction. But if you don’t want her, then the two of us will be on our way.”
“I can up it by five grand, I think,” Cillian said. “As long as you hand over the car keys as well. That’s as high as I’m going to go, though.”
“Hmm.” Eric stroked his jaw, but she could see the gleam in his eyes, and she knew he had already made his decision. “You know, I think I can work with that.”
“Great.” Cillian held out his hand. “Give her here.”
Eric didn’t release her. “Once you send me the money, I’ll hand her over.”
Rolling his eyes, looking bored, Cillian pulled out his cell as Eric rattled off a string of numbers. Cillian’s thumb swiped across the screen. After a second, he glanced back up.
“Done,” Cillian said.
Eric pulled out his phone and checked something. He made an appreciative, smug sound, a smirk spreading across his face. Stuffing his phone back in his pocket, Eric turned to look at Amber.
“Looks like our reunion is going to be shorter than we thought it would be,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She recoiled at his touch, and he smirked. “But I’d certainly say it was profitable. For me, at least.”
Not giving her a chance to respond, he shoved her over to Cillian, who took her gently by the forearm.
“Be good for him,” Eric told Amber. To Cillian, he added, “I’m happy to give you some tips on how to keep her in line, if you’d like.”
Cillian’s stony expression didn’t change. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he responded. “Be seeing you.”
Cillian turned, keeping his hand on her, steering her down the path.
The difference between his and Eric’s touch was like night and day.
Where Eric’s grip had been possessive and forceful, Cillian’s was cautious, firm, but considerate at the same time.
His thumb stroked her arm where Eric’s fingers would leave bruises, the tiny gesture oddly comforting.
“Are you all right?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” she answered, wondering if it was obvious just how much she was lying.
“Good. Don’t look back, just keep moving,” he muttered in her ear. “We’ll talk when I get you out of here.”
She nodded and let Cillian guide her away from Eric.