Captured By The Mercenaries

Both, probably.

“I mean, except when you’re bossing everyone around.”

She was trying to goad me into a fight. I didn’t know what the purpose was, but I didn’t take the bait. I placed a cast iron pan over the coals and then dropped strips of meat into it. They began to sizzle. Standing, I walked over to the bags, grabbed handfuls of spices and tossed them over the meat before dusting my fingers off.

Soon the roasting meat had my mouth watering and thankfully Colby had fallen silent again. Where the hell was Arsen? I’d given him babysitting duty, mostly so I could get a break from this tempting woman. The fucker had probably dumped her back onto me so that he could jerk off.

Breakfast was almost done, and she’d been asking unending questions the whole time. Finally, Arsen made his appearance. His eyes shone with mirth as he took in my stormy countenance. I was minutes away from throttling Colby just to get some quiet.

He sat next to her on her log and she began chittering at him, giving me a much needed break. I didn’t need to ask to know Arsen had gone back to sleep and she’d crept out here. I was surprised she was choosing to spend any time with me. I wasn’t known for my glowing personality. It was almost like she needed to be nearby. I hoped it meant she realized who she belonged to, but it was doubtful.

I handed Arsen two plates of meat with a small helping of rice and went to rinse my hands. As I returned, I saw him start to hand her the plate with less food on it.

Snagging both plates from him, I switched it and gave him the plate with less. Understanding dawned in his eyes and he chuckled, moving to sit further away. He knew there was about to be fireworks.

Colby held out her hand for the plate. I sat next to her and used my fingers to pop a strip of the rabbit into my mouth. Flavor exploded on my tongue. Chewing, I watched her thoughtfully before I held out a strip of my rabbit to her. She was about to learn how things were going to work here. Everything she got was going to come from me.