Page 14 of Kept to Kill
‘What isthat?’
She gasped, dropping the pot of salve and covering herself in panic.
He loomed over her and she scowled at him. He hadn’t been so quiet yesterday. He was employing extra stealth on purpose – probably to keep her from being able to relax.
‘What is what?’ she asked, eyes narrowing.
To her shock, she found that his hands were gloved as he took her wrists and pulled her arms to her sides. She let him, not sure what else to do. No one touched her, not even with covered hands. Even Vineri never had.
Her face must have shown her disbelief, but he didn’t let her go. Instead his eyes traveled down to where her chemise gaped, her chest on full display. She simply stared at him, watching his jaw tic.
‘He bit you,’ he muttered. ‘I thought it was just … I didn’t see …’ He sounded furious and she looked away, squirming under his stare that hadn’t left her, unsure if it was unease she was feeling or something else, and not able to forget that his hands, though gloved, were touching her.
As she thought it, he let her go, and she felt the loss of his proximity with a keenness that made her want to burst into tears. Even with the leather between his skin and hers, he had felt warm. She hadn’t felt another person in so long, and the loneliness that gripped her was worse than a punch to the gut.
She moved to cover herself.
‘Leave your arms at your sides,’ he ordered softly, and she stifled a sigh. Could he not just leave her be?
He picked up the pot of salve and dipped a gloved finger into it. He smeared it on the teeth marks, his finger tracing around her nipple as he rubbed it into her skin. Her breath hitched and she tried to hide her reaction, forcing her lungs to work. Her nipple hardened under his ministrations, and so did the other one. He wasn’t even touching that one.
He looked up and caught her eye as he pinched her nipple gently, rolling it in his gloved fingers and making her gasp loudly. She couldn’t take her gaze from his, wishing he would do more but not having much idea of what more actually was.
And then his hand left her and he straightened, smirking down at her. It was a game, she realized. Another performance designed to humiliate, to show her who was in charge. She blanked her face and stared past him as she slowly drew her chemise back together, willing her heart to slow. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction to his cruelty. Gods knew she’d never given Vineri one.
She was seized by an impulse she knew she’d have to give in to if she wanted to feel better. She’d killed four men, after all. The curse had extracted its due and now her mind would take its own as well. She surveyed the tent past Quin, who still stood over her. She was glad he didn’t lock his weapons away. She’d need a knife tonight.
* * *
As he gazeddown at her blank expression, Quin felt a guilt that he couldn’t push away this time. Why had he done that? Any of it? She could have dealt with the wound herself, but when he’d seen it, he’d been livid. The fucking Rat had bitten her and he’d let it happen. Nay, he’d made it happen. He remembered that cry of pain she’d given and his stomach churned. What would his mother have said if she’d seen any of his dealings with this girl?
He knew exactly what she’d have said, what she’d have thought. He could practically feel the cuff she’d give him around the ear. But what did it matter? She was long dead and she wouldn’t have known the first thing about how to command an army of mercenaries, half of them vying for his position. No, his mother’s sage advice would be useless in these circumstances. He needed to show strength, not weakness, if he was to lead the Brothers. Greygor, his predecessor, had been a prick, but even Quin had to admit the man had been very good at projecting strength.
He steeled his mind and turned away from the girl, ignoring her until he got back to his desk and peeked at her through the piles of papers. She still sat on the bed grasping her ruined clothes to her. His cock stirred as his gaze caught the mirror. That had been Greygor’s as well, and to think Quin hadn’t liked it at first. He’d meant to have it removed, but he was half glad now that he hadn’t. He’d never have been able to watch her as he had, her defenses down as she sponged her body, if he’d remembered to tell one of his men to take it away. He gritted his teeth. Why did he want the woman so badly? Was it because he couldn’t have her?
He got back to his work, shuffling documents around as he looked for this and that and vowing that he needed to find a Brother he could trust to sort out all the parchments for him. Half of it needed burning, but there was no time to organize it all.
He would have to sort something before they left for the north. And, now he was thinking on it, he knew of just the person – one of the few Brothers he could entrust with all of this.
He found the boy outside, the one Lilith had been afraid he was going to make her kill. He was usually lurking about when he knew Quin was in his tent. Quick lad. Motivated. He reminded Quin a little of himself when he was a boy after he’d been brought to the camp by his mother. He wouldn’t be surprised if he became a full Brother when he was of age.
He gave the boy his tasks and disappeared back into the tent to wait. The girl still sat on the bed, staring at the tent wall.
He snapped his fingers to get her attention and she turned to him. Her face was still thoroughly clear, but he could see that she hated him all the same. It was better that she did, he thought, and yet …
‘There are some books in the trunk there,’ he ground out, pointing at the wooden war chest behind his desk. ‘They may not be what you’re used to, but it’s something to do, at least.’
She blinked at him. ‘Before my next kill, you mean?’
‘If you don’t want them—’
‘I do,’ she said quickly. ‘Thank you.’
Sitting back behind the desk, he watched her go to the chest, a blanket wrapped around her. He needed to have her clothed before they went north. Yet another thing to see to, he thought, adding it to his long mental list.
A woman’s voice called his name – not ‘Commander’ as everyone else did now – from outside and he couldn’t help a grin as she entered, her dark hair pulled back into a plait at the nape of her neck, dressed in the blacks of the Brothers.
‘Maeve,’ he greeted, and she inclined her head.
