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"Well, well, well," Stefan said, unsmiling. "It seems I've found a woodland fairy."
Bre
When they emerged from the woods onto the road, Bre
Royce rode in tight-lipped silence, growing angrier with each passing minute. Besides the deep loss he felt because of Thor, he was also tired, hungry, and thoroughly enraged because one young girl (he rightly held Bre
When they rode into camp, heads turned to watch them and faces relaxed, but none of the men were foolish enough to cheer. That two captives had been permitted to escape in the first place was a cause for embarrassment, not rejoicing, but that those captives were women was unthinkable. It was humiliating.
Royce and Stefan rode toward the pen and Royce dismounted, then unceremoniously hauled Je
Every man within hearing distance seemed to tense in unison and turn toward Je
"Answer me!"
"I didn't have to sneak them out," Je
A look of pained disbelief flickered in Royce's angry eyes, but his face was otherwise blank as he nodded curtly at Arik. The blond giant, his war axe in hand, walked forward through the men, heading for the recalcitrant guard. Je
As Royce marched her through the camp, Je
Her concern over his anger was suddenly overwhelmed by a more immediate calamity-Royce Westmoreland was taking her to his tent, not to her own.
"I won't go in there!" she cried, jerking backward.
Swearing under his breath, the earl reached out and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of flour, her buttocks pointing skyward, her long hair falling to his calves. Lewd laughter and cheers rang out all over the clearing as the men witnessed her public humiliation, and Je
Inside the tent, he dumped her onto the heap of fur rugs on the ground, then stood watching her as Je
"Defile you?" he repeated with scathing contempt. "The last thing you awaken in me right now is lust. You're going to stay in this tent because it's already heavily guarded, and I don't have to waste more of my men's time watching yours. Furthermore, you're in the center of the camp, and if you decide to make a run for it, my men will cut you down. Is that clear?"
She glowered at him but remained stonily silent, and her arrogant refusal to submit to his will enraged Royce yet more. His fists clenched at his sides, he fought down his rage and continued, "If you do one more thing to inconvenience me or anyone else in this camp, I will personally make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?"
Looking into that harsh, sinister face, Je
"Answer me!" he ordered murderously.
Realizing that he was already pushed past reason, Je
"And-" he began, then broke off abruptly as if he couldn't trust himself to say more. Turning, he snatched up a flagon of wine from the table and was about to drink from it when his squire, Gawin, entered the tent. In Gawin's arms were the blankets he'd fetched earlier from the ladies' tent-blankets which he'd been handing out to the men before he realized they'd been slashed, not mended. The boy's face was a study of anger and disbelief.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Royce snapped, the flagon arrested halfway to his lips.
Gawin raised his young, indignant face to his master. "The blankets, sire," he said, turning his accusing gaze on Je
Je
Shaking her head, Je
"You're making it worse on yourself," he warned as she retreated another step. "I said, come here."
Je
Royce spoke to his squire, but his dagger gaze remained on Je
"Aye, milord," Gawin agreed and scurried over to the corner, retrieving both. He put them on the table beside Royce, then stood back and watched in surprise as Royce merely lifted up the scraps that had once been blankets and held them out to the red-haired witch who'd destroyed them.
"You're going to mend every one of them," he told Je
The tension left her body and she stared at her captor with a mixture of bafflement and relief. After causing him to spend a day and night chasing her, after killing his beautiful horse and destroying his clothes, the only punishment he meant to exact from her was to make her mend the blankets she'd ruined. That was making her life a living hell?
"You'll not sleep with a blanket until every one of these are repaired, do you understand?" he added, his voice as smooth and hard as polished steel. "Until my men are warm, you'll be cold."
"I-I understand," Je