Chapter One
Once upon a time, in a land closer than you would think…
The light made her eyes burn, so she was happy for the enormous
shadow that suddenly blocked the sun. As her vision adjusted, she
realized that the shadow had the most piercing eyes she’d ever seen.
Meg Starke shrank back in fear. Well, she shrank back as far as the
chains binding her would allow.
A deep voice said something in a lilting language she didn’t
understand, and suddenly, the curtain to the tent dropped. She could
see again. The shadow was a man, a beautiful, terrifying man.
“She does not speak Gaelic, Your Highness,” the small man who
served as her jailer said softly.
The dark man grimaced and immediately switched to English. “I
have no title here, Rhys. Speak to me as you would any other
customer.” He looked at her straight in the eyes for the first time. She
felt a thrill of excitement. Not excitement. Fear. The racing of her
heart had to be fear, right? Meg couldn’t figure it out, but she knew
the huge man in front of her made her do the one thing she was
worried she might never do again—feel.
Bound
9
“What’s your name then, love?” His voice rolled over her skin,
even from across the tent.
“My name is Twenty to Life because that’s the time you’ll do for
kidnapping me, you son of a bitch.” Meg was sick of being terrified.
The last couple of days washed over her. Her kidnapping couldn’t be
erased because the man in front of her had a lovely voice. She had