When she lifted her gaze to his face it was to see that same stoic, hard expression covering it. He looked dirty, like he’d been out in the woods foraging, hunting. Was he one of the “savages” the slavers had been shouting about?
“You must eat and drink,” he said and moved toward her.
She shifted backward as much as she could, given the pain she still felt. She winced when her side pulled again, but he was shoving a cup toward her. Looking between him and the mug, she didn’t want to accept it, but didn’t want to upset him. He shoved it toward her again, his brows going down as his annoyance was clearly written on his face.
“Drink.” His voice had gone harder, and she found herself reaching out and taking the cup, her fingers brushing along his. A shiver moved up her spine at that small contact, and she quickly looked at the cup’s contents. The mug was made out of a horn of some animal she couldn’t identify, and the contents smelled sweet, but also having bitter after notes.
“What is it?” she asked, and looked at his face. His focus was on her mouth, and when he looked her in the eyes she watched as his pupils dilated to take up nearly all of the iris.
“It’s herbs. It’ll help flush the toxins out and ease the pain.”
Toxins?
She thought back to running from the slavers and remembered when she’d gotten hit with something on her side it must have been tipped with poison.
“Drink,” he said again, more determinedly, his voice deeper, darker.
Audrey glanced down at the horn cup, her throat tight at the thought of drinking it.
He could have killed you easily already.
Audrey brought the cup to her mouth and took a small sip. Just like it smelled, the liquid was sweet, but had bitter after notes.
“All of it,” the man barked out, and Audrey tipped the cup back and drank the rest of it. She handed the horn back to him, and he made this grunt of approval. He stepped away from her, disappeared behind a rock outcropping, and she pushed herself up even more.
Glancing around the cave once more, she took note that there was a pallet set up across from where she was, placed on a raised rock podium. A few primitive looking chairs and even a table were on the other side of that. To her left she could only see the cave, and to the right it was no different, although light filtered from where the man had disappeared.
After a few moments Audrey felt the pain in her side start to diminish, and she glanced down, pushing away the animal fur so she could see her wound. She didn’t have her auction gown on anymore, but she did wear a loose shirt type tunic. The openings for her arms were cut larger than normal, and chilled air moved along her exposed flesh. Pulling the material aside she could see this off-white colored bandage covering where her wound was. Gritting her teeth as she pulled back the material, she saw there were thick leaves and a grayish paste over the wound. A small amount of blood could be seen mixed in with the gunk on her wound, but there was almost no pain.
“More herbs and leaves from the Ekasha plant. It’ll cut down on the healing time, and promote the wound to close.”
She snapped her head up and stared at the man, who now stood a few feet from her, a wooden plate in his outstretched hand.
“Eat,” he said in that gruff, deep, and slightly accented voice.
Audrey didn’t know what in the hell was going on, or who this man was, but instinct told her she needed to obey him if she wanted to get through this ordeal.
Chapter Three
Styx watched the female eat, and when she went to push the plate away, food still on it, he barked out the order for her to finish it all.
“If I eat anymore I’ll be sick,” she said, looking at him with huge blue eyes. He’d never seen a female with eyes of that color. The males and females of his tribe had eyes the color of the ground: a rich, earthy brown. But this female, so small and fragile compared to him, to his kind, had eyes crystal clear.
Styx inhaled deeply, sensing she was telling the truth about not being able to finish the meal. He wasn’t pleased, however. She needed to eat more, to fill out more, not just for her health, but because Styx preferred fuller, thicker females. Once she gained weight, she’d be able to handle the kind of mating he wanted and needed. She’d be able to carry and deliver his young without trouble.
Styx took the plate, disappointed there was half the plate of food left. But he had to remind himself she was healing, and that she’d been poisoned. He might be alone, left his tribe to be on his own and hadn’t seen them in longer than he could recall, but he remembered the females of his kind well enough to know this human was far from what he was used to.
This young female had him curious.