Liana faintly wondered what would happen if she told him, and quickly decided she’d rather not find out. “Maybe they’re coming after you,” she countered, then at his thoughtful silence, adding, “my cousin is a strange man, and I don’t presume to know the way his filthy mind works…Kavi.”
He seemed surprised when she said his name, then smiled as if it pleased him. “Tell me your identity.”
“My name is Liana.”
When he repeated it in his rich, warm voice, she felt like he’d just stroked her flesh. She was sure even her soles had turned red. “Do you plan to let me go soon?” she insisted.
“No.”
She spent a full minute in thought.
He would not let her go. She would have to do her part and escape. Which wasn’t what frightened her.
What frightened her was the knowledge that if she even dared try to escape, she had nowhere to go.
Chapter Three
She was tired. Kavi could see it in the way she dragged her legs with every step, her arms dangling by her sides. She was a small woman, with little muscle in her body. He should have known she wouldn’t be able to keep up with them.
They’d been walking for hours. The sun blazed high above them and there was little shade from the trees in this particularly wide, rocky dirt path. Her cheeks were bright pink already and she was breathing so shallowly he began to fear she would collapse. He watched her from the corner of his eye. Discreetly. Because it was something he shouldn’t even be doing.
He should stay focused on the task ahead. Finding a new camp, getting headway on the humans. Finding Amatista. But all Kavi could think of was the way she looked now, and the way she’d looked when he’d touched her. He could’ve drowned in those lilac-purple eyes—they’d pulled him in so deep. Her taste still haunted his lips and the feel of her tight, slick muscles as they’d gripped his finger had him flexing his hands repeatedly.
He’d been quivering in his breeches at the first taste of her silky juices, a breath away from pulling down the fabric and sinking himself into her very depths. But women were revered by the Fohers, regarded as something holy, the vessels of life. To take one completely and spill his seed inside her warmth was to bind her to him forever, to love, serve, protect.
He’d wanted to claim her.
Holy Amaya, he’d wanted to fuck her so good that when she came to her senses, she would be his. Forever.
But she was weak.
She couldn’t last a winter in the harsh landscape of Oriana, the drastic temperature changes, the barren Foher lifestyle. Kavi couldn’t claim her. He had nothing to offer her. No way of keeping her.
Unless—
His thoughts scattered when she stumbled beside him, and he quickly caught her by the waist. She stiffened then looked up at him with deep lilac eyes that glowed like gemstones. “I can walk by myself.”
“You are falling asleep while doing so,” he retorted.
She glared and pushed at his hands, taking a step to get away from him. Kavi watched her sway before sweeping her easily into his arms.
“Hands off, Foher!” she protested, but her hands quickly linked behind his neck and she squirmed in his embrace more to get comfortable than to get away.
“We will find a place to eat and sleep,” he said in a strange, gruff tone he didn’t recognize.
But she was already asleep, and when he heard her quiet snores, he gave himself the liberty of studying her now that those eerie eyes were closed.
He’d never seen a sight so lovely.
Nor met anyone as stubborn as she.
* * * * *
Two hours later, the woman had him grinding his teeth. Again. Moving a mountain from the middle of the road had to be easier than getting the human to move.
Fohers were lying on their furs around a blazing fire, the air so cold there were billows of smoke every time each of them exhaled. Kavi was lying on the ground, propped up on his elbows, while Liana was resting on a tree stump, her knees drawn up to her chest. Her lips were purple and her teeth chattered.
Kavi scowled, saying in the calmest way possible, “Come here,” and patting a spot beside him.