had his efforts rewarded, he’d seen more naked females than he could remember, but there was something different about her.
Not that it mattered. Pressing his hands against her cheeks, he turned her head to the side. Next he lifted her shoulders and angled her upper body in the same direction, thinking that might help get water out of her lungs. Everything seemed unreal to him. Surely he hadn’t just risked his own life trying to save a barely human creature.
Then she coughed, and relief rushed through him. After a moment, she coughed again, her slim form shaking with the effort. Water dribbled from the corner of her mouth. When her coughing became ragged, he turned her fully onto her side, holding on to her shoulder and hip to keep her in position. She spluttered and gasped, her breasts jiggling. Watching them, he tried to think of something comforting to tell her only to swallow the unspoken words. Just because he felt sorry for her and more than a little responsible, nothing had changed between his people and the Wildings. She was still his captive, potentially valuable merchandise.
When she stopped coughing, he rolled her onto her back again and released her. His arms and legs burned. His heart continued to pound against his chest wall, and his breathing hadn’t returned to normal. From the way she lay with her arms sprawled and legs limp, he had no doubt that the paralyzing poison was still in her system. Maybe, he pondered, that’s why she’d survived instead of drowning. Her body hadn’t had much need for oxygen.
Experience told him it would be a while before she could begin to move on her own, and now that her chest rose and fell, something shifted inside him. No longer being concerned for her life allowed him to thoroughly evaluate the creature he’d taken possession of.
Her breasts were remarkable. Instead of flattening completely against her chest wall, they remained firm and rounded. Her nipples were hard, dark nubs, undoubtedly because the cold water had made them that way. Seeing no reason not to, he caught one between thumb and forefinger. Until now, her eyes had been closed. As they slowly opened, he acknowledged how much effort she had to put into what should have been a simple act.
Curiosity tightened his hold on her nipple. Her eyes widened, and she sucked in air through flared nostrils. Her lips parted, but she made no sound. Strange. He hadn’t expected her to begin recovering so soon.
“I have you, Wilding,” he said. “You might not yet understand what’s happened, but you soon will. And when you do, you’ll do everything you can to get away from me. But you’re too valuable. My lord and shaman have need of you.”
She still wasn’t focusing on him so he pulled on her breast, drawing it away from her body. Her eyes widened even more. She went from staring at nothing to glaring at him. A chill settled against his back, nearly causing him to release her. But if she thought her dark, hate-filled gaze would frighten him, she was badly mistaken. Angry at her—and maybe a bit at himself for his reaction—he took hold of her other nipple and pinched it.
“You should have worn clothes,” he taunted.
Being able to control her this way restored him. Having control also reminded him of how long it had been since he’d fucked. He could take her now while she was helpless, spread her legs and bury his cock in her soft flesh, although maybe he’d first flip her onto her belly so he could take her from behind.
From out of the corner of his eye, he saw her fingers start to curl inward. It should be too soon for her to be able to move on her own, but maybe there was more to the Wildings than he and his companions had thought. After all, she’d survived what would have killed many women.
“Your nudity was your undoing,” he informed her, although he wasn’t sure she could understand him. “If you’d been dressed, I might not have decided to claim you.”
Her lips thinned, and her nostrils flared even more. Seeing how much she hated him was like standing in the sun on a summer day, revitalizing, invigorating. His flesh warmed. His muscles felt restored. Most of all, his cock awoke.
“I saved your life,” he said, forcing his voice to be calm. “Among my people, when one saves another, the one whose life has been spared owes a great debt to the other. As for what I want from you…”
Having his throat shut down surprised him. He’d been about to lay her future out before her, but he didn’t know what use Tau and Sakima might put her to, what they needed her for.
She twitched, pulling his thoughts onto what he was doing to her. Because the poison numbed as well as paralyzed, holding her nipples this tightly might not cause her much discomfort, but he had no doubt she resented what he was doing.
He’d still been an untested warrior when Lord Sakima had told him that the time would come when he’d be rewarded with a sex slave. He might not spend much time with any of the slaves, but that experience would be more satisfying for him if he first reminded her that her body belonged to him, not her. Experience had taught him that the man who’d become his father in many ways was right so why did what he was doing to his captive make him feel slightly ashamed of himself?
And why was he releasing her breasts?
At first she stared at him as if she didn’t comprehend what he’d just done. Then her eyes closed. He assumed that her brief unconsciousness was her way of regathering herself, probably in preparation for resistance. Judging by her reactions so far, he suspected it wouldn’t be long before he was dealing with a wide-awake and determined prisoner. The last thing he needed was for her to injure herself trying to get free.
Placing a hand on her flat belly so he could judge her responses, he looked around for the pack he’d shrugged out of just before diving into the lake. He spotted it among some rocks a short distance away. After pressing his hand against her stomach again, he scrambled to his feet and hurried over to the pack. Snagging it, he retraced his steps and again dropped to his knees.
Good. She hadn’t moved, and her eyes remained closed.
Digging into his belongings for what he needed, he studied the creature who’d come into his world. There was a warrior quality to her well-muscled arms and legs. Although her physique paled in comparison to his, he’d never seen a female in such well-honed physical shape. There was something about her long neck and broad shoulders that had him looking forward to caressing them at his leisure. Strange. Always before his interest in a female captive had begun and ended with sex.
Ah yes, sex. Her legs were modestly together, but with her left knee slightly bent, it wouldn’t take much to spread her. That done, he’d take his time studying her pussy.
Her fingers twitched again, and her lids fluttered. Brought back to reality, he checked to see that he’d pulled out the leather and rope he needed to properly restrain her. When he’d first added the restraints to his pack, he’d shaken his head at what he was doing because for the first time as a warrior, his task was to capture, not vanquish. But if this was what his leaders wanted, he’d do everything he could to comply.
The rope, even darker than her tanned flesh, would contrast with it, which was why he picked up a limp arm and wrapped the strands around the wrist closest to him. Then, despite his desire to do nothing more than study her, he rolled her onto her stomach and pulled her arms behind her. Within a few seconds, he’d secured her wrists so only a finger’s width remained between them.
Now what?
4
Knowing she couldn’t fight him released some of his tension, but before turning her so she looked at him, he twice fed rope around her waist and then tied her wrists
