Page 31 of Warlord's Mate
“Drag their bodies to the border and leave them to rot.” Vikram nodded and turned on his heal, but the warlord called out and stopped him. “Don’t forget their heads.” The warlord’s second in command smiled before turning away. His hold on her tightened. “Are you hurt?”
The awkwardness of him carrying her only lasted a few seconds and she relaxed, then held her hands out in front of her, palms up. “Not really. I’ve just got a few scratches is all.”
He looked down at her then and met her gaze. “You are not to go beyond sight of one of the sentries when with the other females in the forest. Is that clear?”
This close up, Marcy could see those sharp teeth that reminded her so much of fangs. She remembered the feel of them in her flesh, remembered seeing her blood staining his lips—lips that were quite nice, now that she thought about it.
His arms tightened around her. She’d woken so many times locked within his embrace she was used to the feel of them but no one had ever been there to witness it. As they reached camp, everyone seemed to be staring.
The other females were clustered in a small group by one of the huts, their eyes wide as they looked at her. The warlord set her on her feet but kept his hand on her back until she was steady. He looked at Celestia. “See to her wounds, then go help Cayen with the evening meal.”
The warlord turned those strangely colored eyes on her as he stepped away and for a brief moment, she would have sworn she saw concern shining in them. It was gone in a blink and she watched him walk away and head back into the trees.
Her hands were stinging like fire and a glance at them let her know why. Bits of splinters were sticking from her skin, dirt packed into the red welts dug into her flesh. Getting them clean would be painful.
Celestia touched her arm and tried to get her to follow her. Marcy lifted her head, watching the warlord’s retreating back and was about to turn away when he glanced over his shoulder at her. The look on his face was deadly, and she pitied any of Allok’s men he ran across. As she watched him walk away, one question kept popping into her head—was the warlord furious at the thought of Allok’s men getting so close to camp without being seen or that they’d tried to take her? And why did thinking it may have been the last make things low in her belly pull tight and cause her heart to flutter like a caged bird?
How had they come so close to camp without notice? Were some of his men disloyal? Were they secretly working with Allok? He glanced at those around him. If he found out they were, he’d pull their guts out through their lying throats.
Most of them were in a small cluster. The scent of blood hung heavy in the air and caused bloodlust to cloud his vision. The anger he felt caused his limbs to tremble, and it took opening and closing his fist several times to gain control over it.
Nothing had gone right for days now and this little attack did nothing to calm his already scattered thoughts. There was still no sign of Aris and as much as he wanted to deny it, he feared him dead. It filled him with rage to think it and he was surprised he was able to hold it all in. He wanted to kill something and this latest attack was all he needed to march straight to Allok’s camp and rip his head off with his bare hands but knew, if the bastard had taken Aris, that was exactly what he wanted.
The war he’d been trying to wage was nearly upon him but he wanted to be the one calling the shots, not Allok. They’d do this his way. On his terms. He’d not walk into a trap. He’d worked too long and too hard to be so careless.
The human didn’t help matters any either. Her being injured concerned him more than it should have and her anger at him left him conflicted. He shouldn’t care if she was mad or hurt. She meant nothing to him, but having her ignore him annoyed him like nothing else had in more moons than he could count.
He should put her in her place. Stop putting her in his bed and stop coddling her. Stop wrapping her in his arms at night and sleeping with his nose buried in her silky hair and stop treating her differently than he did the others.
He growled deep in his throat, annoyed all over again. He needed to get her out of his head once and for all. Maybe he should just take her and be done with it, fuck her until he was spent and didn’t have the energy to even think about her again and then he could stop thinking about her at all. He could make her sleep with the other females and forget she was even there. He could stretch out on the entirety of his bed and not have to share it. Her scent would eventually leave his furs and he would forget how she felt pressed against his skin.
Allok tried to take her.
The stray thought whispered through his head like a phantom and caused an unfamiliar panic within him. Jorrick stopped walking. The scent of blood was thick in the air and he could smell the slightest hint of hers mingled with those that had bled out on the ground. She hadn’t been hurt other than a few nasty scrapes on her hands but it could have been worse. They could have killed her trying to get away. Or Kr’Atek could have dropped her and broke her neck.
He clenched his jaw and looked back at camp. He could barely see it from here.She’s safe now.The words whispered through his head, followed by the realization that he shouldn’t care. That he’d taken her from the arena for one reason only: to get back at Allok. Him wanting her so desperately meant he had plans for her, and any reason to thwart those was worth the effort. Now that they'd tried to take her twice now, meant he'd been right. She was worth something to Allok so maybe that war he'd wanted wasn't so far off.
But—now that they’ve tried to take her, he couldn’t see past his own rage that they’d even attempted it.
Jorrick ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. What was he doing? Why did she confuse his thoughts so damn much? Did she hold magic like so many claimed? Is that why his thoughts where she was concerned were so muddled? Had she bewitched him? There had to be an explanation for his almost possessive interest in her. She meant nothing to him. She was only a pawn in the war games he wanted to play, but Allok’s men trying to take her from him made him want their heads on a pike. It caused adrenaline to race through his body. His pulse beat so fast now he heard nothing but his own blood rushing through his ears and it felt as if something was trying to claw its way out of his skin.But this is what you wanted! What you’d hoped would happen.Yet….it made him furious they’d dared to try.
Were his sudden feelings for her because of something she’d done? Had she used magic on him to insure he’d keep her safe? He was beginning to think she had.
He clenched his fist again, stretching out his fingers before making another fist. He had to stop thinking about her and focus on the task at hand. Allok had sent men to take her and this was what he'd been hoping would happen. He'd wanted Allok to start a war, and now it was close. He just had to bide his time—and not let that little witch get inside his head any more than she already had.
Joining the others, he followed behind them as they dragged the dead through the trees. He hoped Allok was waiting for them when he reached the edge of his territory or at least more of his men were. He was still on edge and needed to kill something, needed to bathe in their blood and try to get that human out of his head.
Or maybe you just need to fuck her and be done with it.
He scowled, unsheathed his sword and hoped like hell someone got in his way.
It was near dark when the warlord and his men returned. They were covered in blood and not alone. Marcy jumped to her feet when two women were shoved into the middle of camp, their arms bound in front of them.
Both women were covered in filth and wearing one of the short dresses the aliens on the ship had given them to wear. She couldn’t see much of them but she could see enough to know they were human.
Her heart was racing as she stared at the one with black hair. Emma’s hair was black, but it had been long. That didn’t mean it couldn’t have been cut since the last time she’d seen her. She took a step forward but stopped when she saw the warlord walking toward the two women, his gaze intent on their faces.
Was he going to claim them like he had her? Her heart clenched at the thought, the now healed bite mark on her neck tingling as she watched him cross the camp.