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Was Audrey hearing this man right? He was claiming she was his mate? He was keeping her here to make her his wife, to impregnate her? She was not a vessel. Gods, was this any better than being with the slavers? The man who’d bought her at the auctions if she’d stayed would have used her. It seemed that was exactly how things would work here, as well.
No, Audrey couldn’t be a vessel for some … beast. He might appear to be human, but Audrey knew he was far from it. He was still so close, and she couldn’t find the strength to actually try to move from him. Audrey stared into his dark eyes. His face had smears of dirt covering it, and his hair, on the longer side, was unkempt and fell to his chin. The front of him was just as impressive as the back of him, with all the muscles on display. He did have a few tattoos marring his flesh, ones that were mainly made up of lines placed together and in patterns. She didn’t know what they meant, but she could assume they had something to do with where he was from. And then there were the scars that couldn’t be hidden by the ink. The raised skin was along his arms and upper chest, and for a split second she wondered how he’d gotten them.
Probably fighting and defeating some hideous creature.
But Audrey shouldn’t have been thinking about anything but leaving this man and this place. She wasn’t going to be a prisoner, not to the slavers, the man who’d purchased her, or this barbarian. She might not know where she was going to go, or if she’d even survive the foreign wilderness, but she had to try.
With his huge hand on her belly, his palm seeming to take up the entire area, all she felt was this tingling in her gut, this fluttering in her chest. Why did she feel like this? Why didn’t she feel disgust and anger that this savage wanted to keep her as some kind of pet?
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” he asked, his focus on her mouth, his voice so deep she swore she felt it vibrate throughout her entire body. His breath was warm and smelled sweet, like cinnamon and herbs. The tendrils of her hair moved along her cheek every time he exhaled.
“Tell me what you are called, female.” His voice had gone softer, and if this male could have been called gentle, she knew that act would have been the max for it. “I am called Styx, but if you prefer you can call me ‘mate’ or ‘husband’.” He was looking at her lips again, and gods, why did that have to be as exciting as it was?
“I’ll call you no such thing,” she managed to say. He lifted his gaze and looked into her eyes. “And I’ll tell you nothing of me.”
Another low growl left him. It excited her as much as it frightened her, and self-anger filled her that she couldn’t control how she felt.
“You’ll tell me everything soon enough, mate.”
“I won’t be a prisoner, a sex slave for you.” She was surprised she’d managed to say that much, but she was glad the words had come out. She wouldn’t be anyone’s toy, not even this male, who was bigger and stronger than any other person she’d even come in contact with.
He grinned, a flash of straight white teeth amidst his dirt streaked face. But the smile was not something to soothe her, and instead offered a dark promise. She knew that as much as she knew he was right before her.
“You will not be a prisoner, female.” He moved back an inch and took his hand from her belly. She felt her muscles tightening from the act and was confused by the way her body reacted. “You will be my wife, equal in all aspects. But being the male, your husband, I will provide and protect. You will never be frightened or be harmed under my watch.”
Her throat was so dry, her tongue feeling swollen. She wanted to curse at him, to say something, but all she could do was watch as he moved away from her and over to the pallet that was on the other side of the fire. But he didn’t sleep, like she’d thought … hoped? No, he grabbed several furs and came back to her. Audrey was pressed to the hard, rough cavern wall, not able to move as he put the furs beside her.
“Lie down and sleep. Come morning you’ll feel better.”
She didn’t know if he meant physically, or that she’d somehow think this situation was any better than what she’d been about to face with the slavers. But she didn’t move, couldn’t.
“Sleep, my female.” He pulled her toward him, and Audrey found herself lying down, face-to-face with him. She was shocked, frightened, but more so she found curiosity ran high in her. She had to try to escape though, because even if her future looked bleak, and she didn’t know if she’d even survive out there on her own, she had to try.