Page 18 of Caress of Fire
“Explain yourself to me, woman, or I swear I will throw you on Nyra’s saddle and not hear another word coming from those lovely lips of yours.”
Marielle’s mind rebelled against the domination in his tone, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think she could have the upper hand on him if things went to a display of physical strength. As much as she hated to admit the depth of her family’s trouble to a stranger, she had to tell Lord Fedryc the truth.
“Ignio Marula will kill Devan if I don’t repay his debt. Twice his debt, in fact.” Anger as hot as fire burned inside her chest when she saw the expression on Fedryc’s face. Pity—pity and disgust for what Devan had done. She would not let this rich, powerful man judge her brother this way. “He wanted to help me take care of us,” she said angrily. “He’s only seventeen.”
“He should have known better. He endangered you through his foolishness.”
Lord Fedryc’s merciless tone slashed through her like a knife, and hot tears of anger burned her eyelids. She let them fall freely down her cheeks.
“Don’t you dare judge him!” Marielle almost shouted. “I’m the one who should have known better! I’m the one who left him all alone, all day, every day since he was twelve years old, to work so we could eat, so we could buy water and have a roof over our heads. He’s only what I allowed him to become.”
Lord Fedryc stared at her for long seconds, the frown fading on his face as a soft expression pulled on his perfect, rock-hard features.
“How long have you been your brother’s mother?”
The question, asked in a soft, almost tender voice, brought more tears to her eyes, and she felt a sob coming up her throat. She could stand Lord Fedryc’s anger, his ultimate domination and counter it with rebellion and her own anger, but she couldn’t stand this caring, almost tender side of him. Her shoulders shook with another sob and soon, her entire body was wracked with incontrollable sobs as the flood of her tension and pain washed over her.
How long had she been Devan’s mother? Too long, that was the answer. Way too long, and what a poor job of it she’d done.
Strong, powerful arms wrapped around her shoulders and she was pulled against the warmth of a hard chest. Marielle turned instinctively inside Lord Fedryc’s embrace and buried her face against him. She inhaled, deep and long, absorbing his good, masculine smell. It soothed the burning pain inside her guts to low embers, until finally her body stopped shaking and she lifted wet eyes up to him.
He was looking down at her with an expression of complete shock, like he had no idea what to do with her, yet he’d done the only thing she had needed him to by wrapping his arms around her.
“My mother died when Devan was only two, but we still had our dad to keep us safe. It was hard without Mom but we were never hungry, never cold. Then Dad died when I was fifteen and Devan ten.” Marielle swallowed against the tide of sadness that the memory brought up. “I had no choice. I couldn’t even spare the energy to mourn my father. Every day since then was a fight for survival.”
“I am sorry for what you have been through.” Lord Fedryc’s hand gently patted her hair away from her face. “I swear to you, never will you have to fight alone again.”
Marielle sighed with relief, then blinked. She pulled away, and Lord Fedryc reluctantly opened his arms to let her break the contact with him.
“What do you mean?” She eyed the Draekon suspiciously as he stilled, his gaze on her like she was about to run again. She wasn’t. She was done running. Crying had wiped any intention of escaping from her mind.
Lord Fedryc straightened, his face as smooth and perfect as a statue’s. Only his eyes trailed over her face like the embrace of a lover. It made her squirm and want to turn around and run back to the hole in the rocks, but she didn’t. She was under the spell of those eyes, unable to move and escape her fate.
“Were you aware of the terms of your contract with Lord Aymond?” Fedryc studied her as he spoke, missing nothing of her most minute reactions.
“I didn’t have the chance to discuss anything with him,” Marielle answered, disappointed at the turn of the conversation despite her best effort not to be. An uneasy feeling began in her belly at the memory of Silva’s words. Would Lord Fedryc try to sell her, despite what she’d told him about Devan? It made her sick just to think about it.
Lord Fedryc nodded, his eyes still on her like a hawk’s. “You are bound to House Haal.” His voice was like velvet and acid at the same time, so soft and deep, but announcing a fate she would do anything to escape. She didn’t have control over her own body anymore. “The contract is valid until you give birth to a living child.”
“So I’m a whore now, right?” The bitterness in her voice flowed, and she let it. “Is that what you want to do, send me off to some stranger in a land far away? Even after I told you about my brother?”
She looked away, unable to sustain his silver stare any longer. It had been a mistake to think he had any kind of heart behind the metal in his eyes.
A hand closed on her chin, forcing her to look back up. Lord Fedryc’s handsome face was filled with shadows as he turned his back on the rising sunlight.
“I will give you a choice.” He spoke slowly, articulating each word carefully. “I can send you back to your brother and free you of the contract.”
He paused as Marielle felt her heart beat stronger, the sound of drums drowning her own thoughts as what she was being offered became clearer. “You would set me free?” She eyed Lord Fedryc as the prospect of freedom rose in her mind. She longed for it like she’d never longed for anything.
“Yes.” Lord Fedryc’s tone was cold and controlled. “Or you can choose to stay and I will repay the debt your brother owes directly to this Ignio Marula.”
Marielle felt her eyes widen and her mouth hang slightly open. This Draekon man was offering her a chance at freedom, yes, but it wouldn’t save Devan. Nothing had changed, she was still trapped.
She had to save Devan. If Lord Fedryc repaid the debt, her brother would live. He wouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. All she had to do was give up her own life.
Because she knew one thing for certain: she would never abandon her child to the Draekon. She would stay with the baby in the Draekon’s castle, would beg and plead if she had to.
Marielle bit her lower lip hard enough to hurt, then hardened her gaze on the Draekon. “I can’t. I can’t go back.” She shook her head. “I can’t have freedom.”
