Page 37 of The Stolen Princess
“Does it really matter? Just take the other side and help me.”
Grady moved to her other side, lifting under her armpit. Myka lay limp between them. Her head drooped down, and her long brown hair covered her face. The two men dragged her seemingly lifeless body through the dirt to where the other men rested. Her shoes skidded over roots and twigs, leaving two lines from her feet behind them.
“Stand up,” Drake said when they got to where the other men were.
She shook her head side to side, making her hair swing back and forth.
“Don’t be annoying,” he said. “Stand up.”
“Say please,” she said, still slumped over.
Drake’s grasp on her arm tightened. “Pleasestop acting like a child and stand up,” he said through gritted teeth.
She liked how mad she’d made him. It gave her a tiny bit of control. Myka would have kept this ruse going, but she felt like her shoulders were about to be ripped out of their sockets, and she was getting a little light-headed from all the blood that had rushed to her drooping head. It was time for the gig to be up.
She placed one foot in front of her, then the other, until her weight shifted from the men to her own two legs. Drake and Grady didn’t let go of her, as if she might do something unexpected. Her body rolled up slowly, inch by inch like she was a wave rippling back from the beach. She could feel Drake and Grady watching her, holding their breath until the last moment when her head rolled up, and she stood upright before them.
She turned to Drake, giving him the sweetest, most fake smile.
He lifted his hand in front of her flexing his fingers. “You are the most frustrating woman I have ever met.”
Her fake smile turned sour. “I doubt you know that many women, because if you did, you wouldn’t be such a jerk all of the time.”
Grady laughed as he walked away, leaving them alone.
“I know plenty of women, and, I can assure you, none of them think I’m a jerk.”
“Oh, right, I forgot. You’re a womanizer.” She stepped forward, tilting her head up to him.
“It’s not my fault women find me completely irresistible.” His eyes swept across her face in a way that bugged her.
Don’t appraise me!
His gaze pulled back up to her eyes. “You really have no concept of how immature you’re acting, do you?”
“Just like how you have no concept of how arrogant you are,” she said.
“I’d rather be arrogant than completely naive to the fact that I’m behaving like a spoiled child.”
“I’m not naive to it. I know I’m behaving like a spoiled child,” she snapped.
Wait...What did I just admit to?
He rolled his eyes then pointed to a large boulder. “Sit there.”
Myka slowly sank to her seat as she looked around. The four other men were scattered among the trees. One lay on his back in the dirt with hands behind his head and eyes closed. Grady was in the river splashing water on his face. The old man was next to his horse, rummaging through his bag. Then there was the bald guy with a goatee. His long features and face reminded Myka of a horse. From now on, he would be Horseface. He sat across from her, dragging his eyes over her body. Myka tugged at the sides of her gray jacket, pulling it closed over her chest.
Drake untied the rope at his belt and threw it at Horseface. “Dawsick, watch her for a minute.”
Dawsick’s smile turned greasy. “I’d be glad to.”
Myka's eyes followed Drake’s retreating back, and for a moment, her heart sank. It’s not that she thought Drake was a saint. He was the one who had kidnapped her and tied her to him, but the way Dawsick ogled her made Myka’s insides squirm.Maybe Drakewasbetter than the alternative.
Dawsick scooted close to her, sharing her same rock. He ran a finger through her hair, and instinctively she tilted her head away.
“What’s the matter, princess? Don’t you want some company?”
Myka turned her knees away and flipped her head to the side.
