Page 10 of Bound and Beguiled

Chapter Five

Isighed, pressing a hand to the small of my back as I stretched. Working tables used a different set of muscles than farming did, and although I’d recovered well enough to take off the healing amulet and no longer felt the physical effects of my abortion, I was sore and tired. The heaviness of my limbs should have meant I fell into sleep with a smile, but my nights were spent tossing and turning.

Secret sins weighed on me, making me twitchy. I jumped at shadows, the constant alertness wearing me down like water on stone. It didn’t help that Mared and Emyr were always at my side during my shifts at the Broken Crown. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for their help and friendship. I just wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

They were too godsbedamned sexy.

As the days had passed and nothing changed, I’d become convinced that Mouse was wrong about their interest. That knowledge didn’t help me from thirsting after every fleeting touch or drinking them down with my eyes. Every night I went home, alone, itchy and hot as if bees were trapped beneath my skin.

It had gotten so bad that I’d been tempted to take things into my own hands...but no. I’d tried that a few times over the years, and it had only brought me frustration, disappointment, and shame. I had enough of those already.

Efa seemed to sense how much she affected me, and perversely, I hated the distance she kept between us. I snorted, folding my apron and tucking it next to my bag in the back room.Not satisfied by anything. If that isn’t the story of my life...

“Tereza.”

I started at the sound of my name in Kynan’s deep voice, my heart leaping. He’d barely spoken to me all week. I’d tried to mend the fences my clumsiness had broken at our first meeting, but he pulled back farther with every awkward, stuttering interaction. Eventually, I’d accepted his disdain and resigned myself to watching from a distance. Sometimes I caught his eyes on me, and the burn in them made tears prickle...and heat bloom.

He sighed, and I flinched, realizing I hadn’t responded at all.Way to add insult to injury, idiot.

“If you’re ready, I’ll show you to the clearing now. Don’t worry, I won’t be staying for the meal,” Kynan said, roughly.

“No!” I blurted, turning to him finally. I stepped forward as he recoiled. “I mean, yes, I’m ready. And I’d love you to show me the way.” Mared and Emyr had gushed about a clearing in the woods where the Bwbachod liked to hang out, and tonight they’d invited me to join them. The acceptance that invitation implied had me giddy. “I just meant you don’t have to leave. I’d...really like it if you stayed,” I murmured, one hand rubbing my other arm as I watched his reaction through my eyelashes.

His head cocked, and he narrowed his eyes. After long seconds he nodded, once. “Get your jacket. It’s cool under the trees.”

I exhaled relief, smiling broadly. “Sure,” I agreed, and turned to my belongings. A white square of paper fluttered to the ground as I pulled the jacket free, and the air in my lungs froze, spikes shooting out to impale me from the inside.

“That didn’t last long,” Kynan muttered. Then he took a step forward, alarm in his voice. “Tereza? What’s wrong?” The paper flew up, and I twisted around, thudding into the wall as he plucked it from the air with two fingers. “What’s this?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I’d been working so hard to not think about these poisonous little pieces of paper and everything that they might mean. If Kynan saw—if heknew—it would all be real. My hand crept up to my ear, fingers squeezing the cuff that Sid had fitted to me that first day. None of this made any sense.

“Reza.” Kynan growled. “Breathe. I’m not going to hurt you, by all the gods.”

I shook my head, uncomprehending. Of course, he wasn’t going to hurt me. Why would he even say that?

He growled again, frustration clear, and his eyes flicked to the paper he held. His gaze sharpened, and he tilted it, reading the note. The muscles in his jaw were bunched tight when he lifted his eyes to mine, pinning me in place. “This is a threat, Reza. From your ex?”

“I think so,” I forced out. A tiny voice wondered how he knew about Franklin. Did the others talk about me? Did he...ask?

He pushed forward, stopping abruptly when I shrank back. “Is it the first?” When I shook my head, he snarled, and the chair beside us flew across the room to crash into the wall. “Have you told anyone?” I bit my lip, and that seemed to push him over the edge. He crowded close, arms caging me in place as he lowered his head until we were face to face. “How long has he been tormenting you, Reza? Has he touched you?”

I stared at him; lips parted. My heart felt like it was going to hammer itself to death against my ribs, but the helpless, wordless terror that had gripped me disappeared as cleanly as the champagne had that first night. In its place was a strange calm and a yearning I had no explanation for. “I like it when you call me Reza,” I breathed, unthinking.

“Answer my questions, or I won’t do it again,” he growled.

Unexpected heat licked through me. “I found the first note Sunday morning, the day I came here. And one every day since. But that’s it. I haven’t seen Franklin since...since I left.” I faltered, closing my eyes as I tried to push past remembered fear.

Kynan cursed, straightening so fast I felt the breeze of his movement. “I’m going to get the others. And Sid.”

He stepped back, and my panic grew with every inch that parted us. “No!” I cried, clamping my hands on his arms.

“They need to know, Reza.”

I shook my head, then nodded, then shook it again. “Yes, fine. I’ll tell them. But, please, don’t leave.” Shame curled through me at how pitiful I sounded, but I couldn’t take it back. The darkness of panic was lingering, snapping just outside my vision, looking for a way in.

“I just want to get one of the others. Someone you’re not afraid of.” Bitterness tinged his words, and I was momentarily distracted from my looming dread.

“I’m not afraid of you, Kynan,” I said, searching the liquid black pools of his eyes.

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