Page 27 of Toxic Vengeance

The hallway was empty. At the back door he and Karas stepped outside together and headed for the stable. Megan often liked to go riding at this time of day. He might be able to catch her before she headed out.

At first he thought it was her sitting on the bench at the top of the path with her back to him, but as he came nearer he saw the woman’s hair was black, not brown.

Kiyomi. Bent over sketching something onto a pad in her lap. His pulse skipped a beat and he almost stopped, but kept going. This was his home. He couldn’t avoid her forever, and God knew, he didn’t want to.

She sat up and looked behind her when she heard the crunch of his boots and cane on the fine gravel. A polite smile curved her mouth. “Hi.”

“Ey up.”

“You just missed Megan. She and Ty went out with Amber and Jesse to shoot some arrows.”

“Ah.” He smothered the twinge of disappointment, quickly extinguished by the excuse to talk to Kiyomi. “And what are you up to, then?”

She made a disgruntled sound and looked down at her sketchpad. “I was trying to draw.”

Stopping beside her, he studied the drawing. In a few scant strokes she’d captured Rollo as he stretched his head over the door of his stall, ears pricked forward. “It’s brilliant.”

“Then that makes you a liar,” she said with a smile, and closed the cover. “I’m badly out of practice, but it’s just so quiet and peaceful out here and I like the sweet, dusty smell of them.” She gestured to the horses.

“Do you ride?”

“No.”

“Fancy a go?”

She seemed surprised by his offer. “Now?”

“Aye. I’ve got a mare so gentle she used to be a children’s therapy horse, if you’re interested.” It surprised him how much he wanted her to say yes. She’d healed physically during her time here, but not the rest of her. There were still shadows in her dark brown eyes he wished he could erase. Because he knew what it was to be haunted by things that could never be forgotten. “I’ll talk you through it, hold onto the reins so she can’t go anywhere.”

A sparkle of amusement lit her eyes, and he was glad to see a hint of the vibrant woman he sensed hidden beneath her quiet reserve. “Promise?”

“Aye.” He offered her his hand.

She took it, allowed him to help her to her feet. Savoring the small victory, he released her and led her to the stable. “This is Maple. She’s from Canada.” The bay mare came right to her stable door and put her head over it to bump her nose into his chest, her eyes half-closing as Marcus gave the white blaze on her forehead a scratch. “Good lass.”

“She’s beautiful,” Kiyomi said softly, reaching up to stroke the horse’s cheek. Marcus had never been jealous of a horse before, but he couldn’t help but imagine her hand on his skin instead, and lusting after a woman who was still struggling to overcome the trauma she’d been subjected to made him ashamed.

“Aye. You can help me groom her, then I’ll saddle her up and get Jack ready.”

“Jack?”

“My horse. Short for Jacobite’s Revenge.”

She laughed softly, the relaxed sound making him smile. “Let me guess, he’s from Scotland?”

“Aye.”

When the horses were ready, Marcus hooked his cane in the crook of his elbow to bring both animals into the stable yard and took Maple over to the mounting block. After putting a helmet on Kiyomi, he helped her into the saddle. Grasping her ankle to position her foot in the stirrup, he caught the glance she shot him from under her lashes, but she didn’t pull away. “I’ll hold onto the reins and walk beside you for now, so you can get comfortable,” he told her. “Ready?”

At her nod, he led both horses out into the beautiful fall morning, Karas trotting out in front of them. The air was cool and crisp, carrying the scent of damp leaves and a faint whiff of wood smoke. Overhead the sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, the rays of sunlight slanting through them making the dew-damp grass glisten.

“How do you feel?” he asked, watching Kiyomi closely. She looked relaxed, her posture perfect, if a little stiff. Were her ribs still bothering her?

“Fine so far.” She aimed another smile at him, setting off a sharp twinge in his chest. Her smiles were so rare, being given one was like receiving a precious gift.

She was the quietest of the Valkyries here, though she might not always have been that way. Captivity and all the horrors that came with it changed a person.

He didn’t like thinking about what had been done to her, or to imagine her doing the kinds of things Megan had told him an operative like Kiyomi would have carried out. She’d endured too much in her years of service to her country. War and espionage weren’t pretty. Marcus admired her for being a survivor. Yet the most primal part of him rebelled at the thought of any other man touching her against her will. He wanted to help her, comfort her, protect her…

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