Page 359 of Primal Bonds

“Shut the fuck up.” He lunged over the seat, catching her jaw in powerful hands.

She glared back. “Cleia,” she said indistinctly from behind his covering palms.

“You want to play with me?” He shook her—hard. Her head snapped back and forth and her teeth clacked together. “I could break your neck right here.”

Her heart raced. He meant it.

But what did she have to lose?

Her preferred animal might be a dolphin, but river fada could shift to any river-based animal—and some of them had teeth and claws. Now she brought her bound hands up and sliced her claws down the inside of his arm. The metallic scent of blood filled the air.

His face hardened. “Bitch.”

He surged the rest of the way into the backseat and flipped her onto her stomach. Pushing her face down into the vinyl, he shoved a knee into her spine between her shoulder blades. She was trapped, her hands caught beneath her chest, her nose and mouth squashed against the seat.

She couldn’t breathe. Spots swam before her eyes. She tried to buck him off, but he pressed her deeper into the seat.

Strong fingers closed around her bruised throat. A strange calm descended on her.

She was going to die. But at least she’d gone out fighting.

But as she started to black out, he lifted her enough to take a gulp of air—and then pressed her face down again.

“Listen, you crazy bitch.” A harsh growl against her ear. “I took you instead of Adric. You make me kill you, I’ll have to go looking for him. I’m under a geas.”

She stilled.

This was the earth fada lieutenant Adric had told her about. The man who’d broken into the B&B along with the fae.

“Yeah,” he said grimly. “I thought that might change your mind. His scent is all over you. The choice is yours. Come with me willingly—and that means no tricks. Or I’ll slit your throat and leave you here for a farmer to find, and then go after Adric.”

“Mmph.”

“Say it.” He lifted her off the vinyl. “I want to hear the words. You’ll come with me willingly. No tricks, including calling the queen’s name.”

She sucked in a breath. “Yes,” she said as clearly as she could, although it came out as a rasp.

“Yes, what? And use your name. Your full name.”

It would bind her to keep her promise. But she wasn’t going to try and escape now anyway.

“Yes.” She pushed the words out as best she could through her abused throat. “I, Rosana Marie do Rio”—she sucked in another breath—“will go with you willingly. No trying to escape or calling Cl—I mean the queen’s—name.”

“Okay, then.” He released her. “I’ll just take this, too.”

Sliding her stiletto from her back pocket, he returned to the front seat with a fluid twist of his body. As he pulled back onto the highway, Rosana rolled onto her side and lay there, lungs heaving. A tear trickled down her cheek. She knuckled it away and then pushed herself back up to sitting again.

With shaking fingers, she reached for the water, took a few gulps. She put it back in the seat pocket and then leaned back.

During their struggle, the leather cord of her pendant had twined around her throat. She unwound it and tucked the amethyst back into her shirt.

Too bad it wasn’t one of those quartz smartphones. She could use it to contact Adric. But the six-sided stone was a comforting weight over her heart.

The earth fada eyed her in the mirror. “Ric gave you that?”

She moistened her lips. Would knowing the truth help her, or piss him off even more? But a lie would exact a cost, too.

“Yeah.”

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