I suddenly wanted to tell him to stop looking at me like that, or better yet, I should just cut out his eyes so he could never look at me again. It was better than experiencing this lump in my throat, this craving for something sweet and compassionate that hinted vaguely of redemption. This fool couldn’t right my wrongs. He couldn’t fix anything I’d broken. He should stop giving me so much hope.
“Well, it appears he did know everything about you, after all, didn’t he,” Melaina announced, breaking the stare he held me under.
He definitely knew more than I wanted him to, that was for sure, especially my culpability over it all.
“So what?” I muttered, turning away abruptly to finish securing the saddle to my horse. “It changes nothing.”
I didn’t know who this man thought he was, coming in here, invading my life, and making crazy claims—no matter how true they were—but I did not like it.
I didn’t like any of this.
Chapter 8
Indigo
I had to appreciate my true love’s no-nonsense manner. She definitely wasn’t given to drama or theatrics. Her tidy and economical way of preparing for travel was downright admirable, too. But I had kind of been hoping for a little more reaction from her than this.
Upon learning I was her life partner, she decided to pretend I didn’t exist.
That stung.
“We have places to be,” she told her aunt tersely as she swung into the saddle and glanced toward Melaina, totally ignoring my presence in the process. “So let’s go already.”
“Wait.” I stepped toward her, blinking in confusion. “Where’re you going?”
I mean, seriously. What was this nonsense? She’d just found out she had a true love, and so she was going to leave? Didn’t she want to—I don’t know—maybe get to know me or something?
I guess not.
Instead of answering me, Quilla acted as if she hadn’t even heard the question, and she clicked her tongue, urging her mount into a canter.
Blinking, I gaped after her and shook my head incredulously.
She was different now. The first moment she’d spun around on that rock where she was sunning herself dry and had faced off with me, she’d been filled with a far different energy. Confidence, anger, determination. She’d had no qualms about looking me in the eye then.
Now, all that brave, defiant rage was clouded with vulnerability and uncertainty, all layered under a heap of unrelenting irritation.
When she’d thought of me as her foe, the lines between us were clear. She knew how to deal with me then. But now that she realized I wasn’t here to hurt her, she couldn’t accept me as an ally, either.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind she still wished I was the enemy because she suddenly had no idea what to do about me, and that bothered her.
But she certainly wasn’t going to figure anything out if she just walked away.
“Are you just going to leave me here?” I called. “What is the point of these, then, if you don’t even have some chain to drag me along behind you?” I jangled my wrist manacles to get her attention. “Not worried I’ll run off?”
She shot me a glare over her shoulder. “I’m not the one who bound you. If it were up to me; you’d be dead right now.”
My eyebrows shot up. Well, that wasn’t very reassuring. But I wasn’t going to let it bother me.
“So, then...” I sent her the sweetest smile I possessed—and I had some damn sweet smiles if I did say so myself. “Would you mind doing your true love a favor and removing my cuffs?”
“Fuck off.” She faced forward again and kept sauntering away.
Okay, then. “Politeness; not her thing. Got it.” I turned toward the aunt. “Since you seem to be my warden, could you remove these? Certainly, you know I have no reason to escape. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with her.”
The older woman sent me a sly smile. “Yes, I’m fully aware of your complete devotion to her.”
“Great!” Relief flooded my veins as I hurried to where she was mounting my—wait! Why was she on my horse? How had she even gotten her hands on it? I stopped in my tracks, gaping at her, then shook my head.
I’d round back to that in a second. For now…
I lifted my wrists for her to free them. “Could you unlock these for me, then?”
“Oh...” She backed the horse away from me, already shaking her head. “No. I’m afraid not.”
Um, what?
“What do you mean, no?” I shook my head, confused. “Why the hell not?”
“I find men infinitely more attractive when they’re tied up.”
Yeah, I honestly had no answer for that.
Reaching down, she ruffled my hair. “Don’t worry, darling. It’s for your own benefit. Not only is your sex appeal high right now, but being in such a harmless, submissive position will garner you more sympathy and trust from Quilla and help you get into her good graces more quickly. And that is the end game for you here, correct? Coaxing her into loving you back?”
I frowned down at my chains. If keeping them on made me less intimidating to Quilla, then, of course, I’d keep them where they were. But when I glanced up to admit Melaina might possibly have a small point, she’d already started to leave as well.
“Hey!” I stepped after her. “Where are you going? And how did you get my horse?”
“Oh, is this yours?” She paused and smirked my way as she stroked the horse’s neck. “Why, I just found this beauty here all alone in the woods, and I liked it better than my own gelding. So I sold old Charlie to a traveler on the road for some much-needed coin, and I claimed this girl as my new ride.” Waving her fingers over her shoulder at me, she grinned. “So sorry, but finders keepers.”
I gaped, unable to believe what I was hearing. “But you can’t just steal my horse. And all the possessions in those saddlebags are mine.”
“Not anymore.” Her laugh floated back to me, telling me she was taking my horse regardless.
I scowled.
“So what, then? Do you expect me to just walk to—” I didn’t even know where they were going. “What’s your destination anyway? We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. Our next stop could be days away.”
“Mmm. About four or five days, I’d wager,” she called back.
What the fuck?
That’s it. I refused to move another step. How dare they put chains on me and then just expect me to follow them like some kind of loyal dog? Either they made me a full prisoner and forced me along every step of the way, or they took off my shackles and freed me completely, riding on my own horse, of course.
Those were my conditions.
Because I was not willingly going to just trail along behind them on foot like this as if there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
Even though there really was nowhere else I’d rather be. That was totally beside the point.
Huffing moodily, I climbed the rock Quilla had been sunning herself on when she’d first come out of the water, and I plopped down, waiting with my arms crossed stubbornly over my chest.
Surely, they wouldn’t leave me behind. I was their prisoner. People usually bullied their prisoners into moving and going where they went. So yeah, they’d be back for me. They had to come back.