21. Clash of Stone and Steel #3
Talyn looked back at the body on the ground. Rivulets of blood had begun to spiderweb away from the widening pool of crimson under Kostas. The man’s eyes were still open wide in surprise, but Talyn couldn’t bring herself to feel sorry for him.
She mounted up next to Samhail, and they wheeled their horses around to head back out of town.
“If we were so short on time, you should’ve taken care of him with two swords,” Talyn offered as they rode. “You wasted time having me tie you up so you could toy with him.”
“Maybe I just wanted you to tie me up,” Samhail said.
Talyn’s mouth fell open a moment before she shut it so fast her teeth clicked together. It took her a second to recover. “I’m happy to tie you up whenever you want. I can tie you to a tree when we stop for the night.”
“And you think that will give you enough of a head start?” he asked.
“I’m very good with knots.”
“And I’m an excellent hunter,” he countered, his voice huskier.
Talyn swallowed. Why did her stomach flutter at the idea of him stalking her as prey in the night?
“I’ll make you a deal,” Samhail said. “I’ll let you tie me to a tree tonight if you want, and you’re welcome to try and escape. But if I catch you again…then I get to tie you up.”
Talyn’s stomach somersaulted as every muscle in her lower body tightened. What was wrong with her? That shouldn’t arouse her.
“Would you take the caronium cuff off?” she asked.
He was silent a moment. “No,” he said finally.
“That’s hardly fair then.”
He shrugged. “You’re my prisoner. It’s not supposed to be fair.”
She clenched her jaw.
“So you’re not going to take me up on my offer?” he pressed.
Talyn paused. “If you did catch me and tie me up, what would you do with me?” she asked.
Gods, why was she asking him this?
She felt Samhail’s gaze on her, but she refused to look at him. “I suppose you’d tie me to a tree as well and make me sleep there all night?” she suggested.
She sensed rather than saw Samhail’s grin. “No, I wouldn’t tie you to a tree.” He paused. “Do you really want to know what I’d do?”
Talyn opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. She did want to know. She just didn’t want to have to ask him.
“I…no,” she said finally.
“No?” Samhail asked, lifting a brow. “Are you sure?”
She swore there was disappointment in his voice.
Talyn swallowed again. She couldn’t handle knowing. “I…”
“There’s so many different options,” Samhail mused anyway. “But I suppose I’d start by tying your hands behind your back.”
Talyn kept her eyes forward. She wouldn’t look at him. She wouldn’t.
“Then I’d put you on your knees and make you finish what you started back in the great room at Tide’s End.”
Talyn’s head snapped around so fast she was sure she pulled something in her neck.
Her gaze locked with his, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his dark, smoldering look.
It was a look that told her he wanted her, but he hadn’t yet forgiven her for what she’d done when she’d pretended to be Cyra.
It was a look that promised both rapture and retribution at once.
Talyn tore her eyes from his and closed them. She struggled to keep calm as her breathing quickened.
“I’d thread my hands through your hair and hold you there while I fucked your mouth with long, deep strokes,” he went on, his voice a rasp. “You’ve seen my cock. How much of me do you think you can take?”
Talyn’s eyes flared. Samhail’s own eyes blazed as the ghost of a grin played along his lips. Now she wasn’t sure if that’s what he really wanted to do or if he was just trying to shock her.
She wouldn’t object if he did any of it, and she felt the blush stain her cheeks at that realization before she looked away.
“Do you want to know what I’d do after that?” he asked her.
“No!” she said, entirely too fast. She was sure there was a wet spot on her saddle already.
Samhail chuckled. “So do you want to tie me to a tree tonight and try to run, little hummingbird?”
“Don’t call me that,” she said.
The nickname annoyed her enough to clear her head.
It wasn’t that she disliked the association.
Hummingbirds were little warriors in their own right, and she’d happily accept the comparison.
It was more that the nickname was too close to…
to what? An endearment? It was the best she could come up with for why she didn’t like it.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.
“One deal at a time,” she said, willing the tremor in her voice to stop. “Ask me again when we’re done with our first one.”
Their horses’ hooves clicked off several seconds of silence.
“Coward,” Samhail said so softly she wasn’t sure at first he’d said it.
Talyn didn’t react. It was a challenge, pure and simple, payback for when she’d said it to him from her holding cell below Tide’s End. He was daring her to take him up on his offer, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
What she needed to do was get away from this man before he turned every one of her senses upside down. She’d promised him she wouldn’t try to escape, but for her own sanity, she’d need to break that promise.
But that wasn’t all she’d have to do.
He’d found her easily enough the first time. There was only one way to make sure he couldn’t find her again.
Samhail had to die.