16. Clash of Stone and Steel #2
“You fucking bastard!” she yelled as she pushed away from him.
“I suppose it’s too much to hope you’ll come quietly?” he asked.
Talyn let out a mirthless laugh before she launched herself at him. She swung at him with her fist – for all the good it would do – but he caught her hand. Then she sent her knee toward his groin.
He just barely turned in time so her knee sunk into his thigh instead, and he yanked her around to pull her against him. Arms like iron wrapped around her, pinning her back to his chest, but Talyn struggled ferociously against him long after it was apparent there was no way to escape his hold.
It was several minutes before she finally stilled against him, breathing hard. She wanted to scream at how stupid she’d been to let her guard down all because he’d kissed her. That kiss was the kind of devious, underhanded, sneaky move that…well, that she’d use.
Nemesis fucking take her.
“For what it’s worth,” Samhail said, leaning in so his warm breath caressed her cheek, “The kiss wasn’t planned. It’s rare I find such a worthy opponent and I…got caught up in the moment.”
He brushed his lips against her ear, and Talyn jerked her head away.
“I hope you’re a light sleeper,” she said, her voice low and cold, “because one of these days you’ll wake up with my blade against your throat, and I’m going to enjoy the look on your face when I slit you open.”
His chest rose and fell heavily against her back as he sighed deeply. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“You haven’t gotten what you deserve yet,” she spat, “but you will.”
“At least you learned from your mistake. I notice you went for my groin this time. No more concern for the work of art between my legs?”
Talyn screamed and renewed her struggles against him. He tightened his hold on her, and she grunted as it became hard to breathe. She went still again, and his arms loosened a fraction.
“Enjoy your cock while you still have it,” she growled. “I’ll cut it off if I ever get the chance.”
He had the nerve to chuckle, which only enraged her more. She tried to throw her head back into him, but he was so tall her skull only found his collarbone instead of his face.
“It’s time to get you back to Tide’s End,” he said.
Talyn’s stomach dropped, and she shook her head frantically as she renewed her efforts to pull away from him.
“No, please!” she said, panic in her voice. “I can’t go to Revenmyer. Just…Just let me go, and I promise I’ll never come near any of you again.”
“Even if I trusted you to stay away, I can’t do that,” he said.
He eased his arms from around her but only to shift his grip to her elbow so he could pull her toward the horse. She dug in her feet, but it did nothing against his strength. She stumbled forward after him, unable to plant herself.
“What if I can give you Sandrian?” she said desperately.
Samhail stopped and turned toward her. “I’m listening.”
“I know how to get to Sandrian,” she said. “I can hand him to you if you let me go.”
Samhail scoffed and pulled her toward the horse again. “And I’m supposed to believe you’ll bring him to me if I let you go?”
“I will. I promise,” she said still trying – and failing – to keep herself from being pulled along in his wake.
“Unfortunately, you’re not high up on the list of people I trust right now, so I’ll have to pass on that offer.”
“Fine, don’t let me go,” she said. “Let me bring you to him.”
Samhail stopped to face her again.
“Where is he?” he asked. “Bring him here.”
Talyn shook her head. “He’s back in Rowe, and he won’t cross the border, but he expects updates from me. Come to Rowe with me, and I’ll arrange for him to meet us.”
“And why would you do that?” he asked. “He hired you. Why would you betray him?”
“Sandrian misrepresented himself to me,” she said.
“He lied to me about the Lord and Lady of Hiraeth. I only knew Lord Bressen by his reputation as the Nemesis Incarnate, and Sandrian used that to paint himself as the victim of Lord Bressen’s cruelty.
He led me to believe Lady Cyra was dangerous as well, that she was just as much of a monster as her husband.
It’s how Sandrian convinced me to take the job. ”
That and the ridiculous amount of money he’d offered her.
“And you don’t think they’re monsters anymore?” Samhail asked.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “Lord Bressen is an arrogant prick, and I thought for a while he was abusing his wife, but then I found out you were the one giving her all those bruises.”
Samhail looked surprised for a moment before his face eased. “Ah, her training.”
“The point is, yes, there was a time or two I was tempted to kill Lord Bressen,” she said, “but purely for personal reasons. The more I saw of him, the more I realized he wasn’t the cold, cruel monster Sandrian made him out to be, and Cyra certainly isn’t evil either.
Sandrian used me to get information about them, and then he kidnapped an innocent man to lure them out so he could get the items they retrieved from the ship. ”
Samhail’s expression darkened. “You’re the reason Sandrian knew about the collar and rings,” he said. “We suspected as much.”
Talyn sighed. “Yes.”
“You’re the reason my friend, my brother, almost died,” he went on. “You’re the reason Cyra’s father is dead.”
His tone made Talyn pull back despite his hold on her arm.
“I didn’t know what he planned to do,” she said. “I swear. You have no idea how much I regret what happened to Cyra’s father.”
She hadn’t meant to admit the last part, and she didn’t know why she’d done so now.
Samhail yanked her up against his chest. He grabbed her by her upper arms, and she winced as his fingers bit into her flesh. She’d have bruises there later.
His eyes flashed with anger, but Talyn didn’t turn her gaze from his. He stared at her for a long time, and his head dipped briefly in a way that made her think he meant to kiss her again, but he didn’t.
“Here’s how this is going to work,” he said finally. “You and I will travel together to Rowe where you’ll send Sandrian a message to lure him out of hiding. Then when he shows himself, I’ll rip his head off.”
Talyn blinked at him. “I suppose that’s one way to do it. We won’t be bringing him back to Revenmyer then?”
“He lost any chance of that happening when he kidnapped Jasper and got Cyra’s father killed,” he said. “I’m not giving him a chance to hurt anyone else I care about.”
Talyn nodded. That was something she understood.
“What will you tell Lord Bressen?” she asked.
“As little as possible,” he said. “He needs deniability, so he can’t know we’re going into Rowe.
He can’t go in himself, or it would be considered a hostile action, an invasion.
I may be his friend, but I’m a mercenary by trade, and I’m free to cross borders for my work as needed, especially to retrieve a fugitive.
As long as Bressen doesn’t know what we’re doing, he can’t be accused of acting on behalf of the state in anything that might stoke tensions between Thasia and Rowe. ”
Samhail let go of her and reached into the pocket of his pants to pull out a message leaf and a small pen. He wrote something on the paper, hesitated a moment, then held it up between his middle and forefingers before the paper vanished in a puff of smoke.
“Here are the rules,” Samhail said, turning back to Talyn and shoving the pen back in his pocket. “First and foremost, you’re my prisoner. You’ll do what I say, when I say it. If you try to escape or attack me, not only will you regret it, but the deal is off.”
“Do what you say?” she asked carefully. “What does that mean?”
Samhail narrowed his eyes before he understood her concern.
“I won’t order you to fuck me if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Talyn thought a moment. “Anything else?”
“The caronium cuff stays on at all times,” he said. “I’ll get my own horse in the next town we come to, since the one you stole is a bit small for me, let alone both of us.”
Talyn glanced at the gelding she’d chosen specifically because he’d looked light and fast. Regent perked his head up as if he knew they were talking about him, and Talyn could’ve sworn there was relief in the animal’s eyes.
A message leaf appeared in a puff of smoke in front of Samhail’s face, and he snatched it out of the air. His brows pinched as he read it, and he was quiet for several seconds. Finally, he pulled out his pen, wrote something on the back of the leaf and sent it on its way again.
“Just remember, I can fly faster than that horse can run,” Samhail said, turning his attention back to her. “The first time you make me regret giving you this chance, we head straight back to Solandis, and you can take your chances with Bressen and Revenmyer. Is that understood?”
“Understood,” she said.
“Then let’s get going. There should be a town about five miles from here where we can get breakfast and another horse.”
Talyn swallowed as she thought about what she’d just agreed to.
She let her gaze roam over Samhail’s chiseled jawline, his long white hair, and the heavily muscled body built for fighting.
That body was probably also incredible in bed, and under other circumstances she would’ve jumped at the chance to find out, but she was his prisoner now.
The feel of Samhail’s mouth crashing into hers came back to her, and she absently touched her puffy lips. The effect of his kiss, brutal and punishing as it was, had been devastating to her sensibilities.
Samhail was dangerous, and not just as a fighter or as her captor.
He was dangerous to her ability to think straight and make smart decisions.
He was dangerous to her body, which seemed to gravitate toward him when he was close by, and she’d just agreed to spend several days alone with him traveling to Rowe.
Talyn added one more item to the list of regrets she now had about taking this job.