Page 55 of Trapped to Tame
Eve belatedly realized that she had no clothes on and tried to turn away.
Her breathing stuttered as she tried to quell tears, but they begin to stream down into her hair anyway, and she cursed herself for bawling in front of them.
Priest entered, looking at her on the bed with a clinical eye. ‘She's still under the thrall?’ he asked. ‘You shouldn’t have touched anything,’ he said, and her lip quivered under his anger.
‘Leave her alone,’ Drax ordered. ‘You’ve done enough. You both have.’
Priest ran a hand through his hair.
‘Fuck,’ he muttered, turning around, and leaving.
Drax stood over her, hushing her again. ‘I can feel your upset. I won’t hurt you.’
But that was what the Bull said too. It was all part of the game. She had to do what he wanted and then he wouldn't hurt her, but then he always did anyway.
‘Don’t lie,’ she whispered, ‘I know what men like you do.’
She’d given too much away. She didn't want to see the pity in his eyes.
‘I will set you free,’ he relented, ‘but you must touch nothing else while you’re here and if you feel odd, you must tell one of us immediately. What you've done is very dangerous. I only hope your fae side is strong enough to expel the magick.’
He untied her and she sat up, covering her nakedness, crawling up on the bed in a sitting position and drawing her knees to her chest.
‘Here,’ he said throwing an ivory, homespun dress to her. ‘You threw your clothes in the river.’
She put it on, finding that it was the right length for her and feeling much better now that she was covered.
‘What happened to me?’ she asked in a small voice.
‘An enchantment,’ Drax replied ‘A game that most fae would have been able to see right through, but you were caught in the enthrallment. It made you want—’
‘Fie?’ she asked.
His face was bleak. ‘Fie didn’t realize that you weren’t yourself or he’d never have …’
* * *
Fie
Fie sat alonein a dusty corner of a storeroom, hoping that no one would find him, his head in his hands. He was a fool. He’d never forced a woman, and although Eve had been more than willing at the time … why hadn't he noticed that look in her eyes? He'd seen it often enough in the fae courts with the human women who were under the control of the lords. An enthrallment was nothing to be glib about. It may be little more than a child’s toy to the fae, but in the human realms such things could wreak havoc.
She hadn't really wanted him, and he didn't know why that cut so deeply. He threw a shard of wood at the wall, sighing.
He could feel her now their bond was complete. He'd been ready and willing to cut her loose yesterday, but now he felt a powerful, albeit faint connection to the female. He could feel her emotions, her confusion and fear. That surprised him. He hadn't realized she was so afraid and that was his fault, as well as his Brothers.
He stood up, going back upstairs in the house they had commandeered for their use while they were stuck here. There were worse places to be sure, but this was just another gilded prison.
He ascended the steps slowly. He knew that Drax had left Eve alone, and Priest was scouting the rest of the Underhill to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. He’d be back later on today as this realm was tiny compared with all the others.
Walking into her chamber, Fie found her lying in the bed, staring at the wall. Her fear was palpable when she heard him enter, but relief was on its heels when she saw it was him. That gave him hope that perhaps he could salvage whatever this was between them even after what he’d done.
He sat in a chair in her view.
‘Can I get you anything?’
She shook her head and Fie’s gaze fell onto the table where a plate of uneaten food sat, growing cold. She wasn’t eating and he found that there was little that would have worried him more. She was always hungry, after all.
‘I'm sorry, female,’ he said, staring at the ground, unable to look her in the eye.
