Page 26 of The Virgin's Chosen Dragon

“You’re here, you came for me,” she said, beginning to tremble. “I thought he was going to……”

“Are you okay?” he asked, tipping her chin up, his jaw clenching dangerously when he saw her cheek. “Did he hit you?”

She nodded, “When I tried to get away,” she said, thentook a deep breath. “I think he was planning on raping me then forcing me to marry him.”

Every muscle in Theo’s body tensed up. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to make him sorry that he ever touched you,” he said, looking at Sam stumbling up the beach toward them, then down at her. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

“I’m okay, but don’t hurt him, Theo. I just want to get away from these people,” she said. “You can’t take on the whole village.”

He looked behind him, a look of surprise on his face when he saw the line of faces on the beach. “He’s not just going to walk away after what he did,” he growled. “That’s just not going to happen.”

Just then Peter came running up, followed by the rest of the men. “What goes on here?” he demanded. “You have no right to be here.”

“He has every right to be here. I didn’t want to do this in the first place,” she said, stepping in front of Theo. “Sam tried to rape me, Theo stopped him.”

CHAPTER 15

***THEO***

Sam began shaking his head, then said something in their language to Peter, clearly trying to defend himself. “My son says that you interrupted them, that they were just walking along the beach when you attacked him for no reason,” Peter said. “This insult cannot be ignored. Sam demands satisfaction, a fight for the woman, to prove who should have her.”

“That’s ridiculous, he tried to rape me,” Eden said. “He tried to force himself on me. I don’t want him, I never will, and you can’t make me.”

“You are just a woman, have no say,” Peter scoffed. “Men are in charge on this island, you do as we say. Sam not that kind of man, you are confused.”

“I am not confused,” Eden said. “I know exactly what happened, he tried to rape me.”

He could hear whispers in the crowd behind them, and turned to see a few unhappy faces among the villagers, especially the women. “If Sam is so innocent, why is he standing there naked?” he asked. “A walk on the beach doesn’t require taking your clothes off.”

His question elicited more whispers, but no one said anything and the silence was so heavy it could have been cut with a knife. “Enough……you lie,” Peter finally said. “Sam is good man, lead the village someday. I won’t listen to your lies anymore. Fight or die, your choice.”

“This is not the road you want to go down, Peter,” he said, trying to control the anger pumping through him. “You may not be able to admit that Sam is a terrible human being, but I think everyone knows the truth.”

“You fight Sam, he must defend his honor,” Peter said. “The woman is his, you will see. The island will give him what he wants. Eden marries winner of fight.”

Eden grabbed him by the arm. “Theo, this is crazy; can’t we just walk away?” she said. “I don’t want you fighting over me. There’s no reason, I don’t want him, I want you. They can’t make me marry him.”

“Eden, I don’t think we can walk away from this. I’m going to have to fight Sam, there’s no choice,” he said. “I can’t protect us from all of them, but I can take him on and show them that they can’t mess with us.”

“And how do we know Peter will stand by his word? He’s done nothing but try to break us up since we got here,” she said. “I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”

“Oh, I don’t trust him, not at all,” he said. “But it’s time Sam got what he deserves, and I’m the one to give it to him. When this fight is over, Sam will be humiliated, and you and I are getting out of here.”

“I just want to go home, Theo,” she said. “I don’t care about my mother. I don’t care about all the things that made it impossible for us to be together. None of that matters anymore.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t,” he said. “All that matters is us. Iwant us to be together, Eden, for as long as you can handle an old man like me.”

“You mean forever?” she asked, smiling up at him.

“That might have been what I had in mind,” he said. “But first we have to deal with Sam.”

“Just promise me that you’ll be careful,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“When this is over, there’s something we have to talk about, but for now, just let me assure you that Sam has never met anyone like me,” he said, reaching up to stroke her cheek. “I’ll be fine, Eden, I promise, and as soon as this is over, we’re going to start working on a way to get home. It’s time to get started on our life together in the real world.”

Eden leaned into his palm for a second, closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, then picked up her head and looked into his eyes. “Go kick his butt,” she said, a grin on her face. “I’m ready to go home.”

“Yes, mam,” he said, giving her another kiss. “Wait right here, this shouldn’t take long.”

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