Pathfinder's Way(66)

"And now you're here."

His gaze was inscrutable as the silence fell between them. Shea was  beginning to settle. With every moment that passed where nothing bad  happened, she began to believe her unmasking wasn't that big of a deal.  Maybe the only reason he'd chased her was because she kept running.

The distrust with which she had regarded him since their first meeting  had faded sometime in the past few months. As conquerors go, he wasn't  the blood thirsty savage the Lowlanders painted him as. He kept his men  in check. And, while there was plenty of looting and pillaging, there  wasn't the raping there would have been had another man been in charge.

In all these months, Shea had never heard even a whisper of him forcing  someone to his bed. Oh there were plenty of women in it. Just, they were  all there voluntarily. Even some Lowland girls. So the rumors went.

He was honorable. To an extent. As long as the villages he conquered  obeyed the rules he set in place and didn't try to get out of paying  their tithes, he dealt fairly with them. If they didn't, well, nobody  wanted to go the way of Edgecomb.

"Did your men know you were a woman?"

Shea started and said forcefully, "No!"         

     



 

He arched one eyebrow and ran his eyes down her figure, telling her clearly he didn't believe that for a moment.

Stung, she glared. "You didn't realize I was a woman either. Not last night and not when we were dealing with the revenants."

Of course he also hadn't dealt with her closely day in and day out for months.

The guys might have suspected something was off but hadn't asked, and she certainly hadn't told.

He surveyed her from under half closed eyes. She folded her arms across her chest.

The question of what was to be done with her hung unspoken in the air.

"Trenton," he called.

A moment later Trenton walked into the room. He must have been standing right outside the whole time.

"Watch her. Don't take your eyes off her. Not even for a moment."

Fallon stood and strode out of the tent without a backwards glance.

Trenton surveyed her before pouring himself and her a glass of water out  of a pewter carafe. He picked up the cups and made his way over to  where she was standing frozen.

She watched him come, unable to act one way or the other. He frowned and  then held out one of the glasses. She took it and then just held it as  she watched him warily.

"You should drink," he told her. "Then you should eat."

It was good advice, and she found herself lifting the glass and taking a  long gulp. The cool water slid down her throat. She savored the feeling  before forcing herself to take a seat at the table where she fixed  herself a plate and ate mechanically. It tasted good. A feast fit for a  king.

Trenton let her eat in silence for which she was grateful. It did, however, leave her entirely too much time to think and worry.





Fallon watched the entrance of his tent as if it held the answer to a  mystery that had been plaguing him for months. The scout, Shane. No,  Shea. Even now he could scarcely believe the deception she had pulled on  not just him but most of his army as well.

A part of him was beyond furious and wanted to make a painful example of  her as a warning of what happened when someone deceived him. Another  part, this one larger, admired the ingenuity and strength that allowed  her to hide in plain sight. What better place to seek shelter than in  the very stronghold of the enemy.

After those first few days, none of his men had even thought of continuing to search within their own army for the woman.

It was madness. It was brilliance. And now he had to decide what to do with her.

Now she was in his grasp, and he was just as confounded as before. He didn't like it.

"I never imagined she would be hiding right under our noses all this time," Darius mused from his side.

Fallon grunted.

"It's rather genius. You have to admit."

"No doubt the clan heads have already begun to spread this story."  Darius continued the one sided conversation, used to the way Fallon got  when he was trying to figure out the answer to a problem. "Bunch of  gossips that group is. Worse than a gaggle of women."

By nightfall, the story of the female scout would be all over camp.

Fallon really ought to make an example of her. If it wasn't for the fact  she had saved his life twice and looked so damn delicate, he would  have.

"What are you going to do?"

Fallon gave Darius a dark look.

"You have no idea, do you?" Darius said softly as he watched Fallon disappear into his tent.

Fallon gave a sharp nod to Trenton. The man nodded back and excused  himself quickly, leaving the two alone. Fallon loomed over Shea half  surprised to find her where he'd left her.

She looked peaceful in sleep. She rubbed her chin against the hand under  her cheek as if she was snuggling down for the night. She'd curled up  in one corner of the room on a pile of rugs.

Her face was bonier than the first time he'd seen her. Her wrists were  too. It wouldn't take much strength to snap them. It was hard to imagine  she had the ability to keep up with a scouting party, much less have  the strength to free him from a spinner web.

She was much shorter than the shortest Trateri. Even the women were  several inches taller than her. She was slimmer too, lacking the muscled  bulk of the women he was used to. Despite her slender limbs and bony  features, he still couldn't understand how he had ever thought her a  boy.

There was a fine boned femininity about her face. Her lips were full and  kissable and when he looked closer he could see the curves of the hips  and thighs she tried to hide with loose clothes.

No, when looking now, it was nearly impossible to see how she had hidden for so long in their very camp.

It was inconceivable, enraging and not to be tolerated.

He could have her whipped in front of his men. That would set a nice  example. If he did that, however, it might make her hesitant to bed him.         

     



 

He could force her.

Like hell.

He had never had to force a woman in his life. They came to him. Begged  to be let into his bed and protested when he ordered them to leave when  he was finished.

No, she'd come to him of her own will. That meant physical punishment was out.

He couldn't let this insult go, though. He'd be a laughing stock in  front of the men and sooner or later the clan heads would use it as an  excuse to try to force him from his position. It wouldn't work just as  their last attempt hadn't, but in the meantime, it would be tedious to  deal with.

He reached down and carefully lifted her. She slept through the  transition, settling into his arms more firmly. His chest tightened at  the sensation before he pushed it away and headed to the bed chamber. He  needed to think on her punishment. It wouldn't do to rush these things.  No, the punishment would have to be perfect.





Shea felt warm and comfortable as she drifted up from sleep. When had  they gotten such comfortable mattresses in the scouts' transient tents?  It had been so long since she'd slept on a decent mattress. Months, at  least.

She stretched and rolled onto her stomach. Or tried to at least. An iron band around her chest kept her pinned on her side

Lifting her head, she looked blearily down her body, coming more awake  at the sight of a bronzed arm wrapped around her ribs, right under her  breasts. A muscled leg was thrown over hers.

All traces of sleep fell away, and she put her head back down as she  cursed silently. She ran through her memories of the previous day.  Fallon had discovered her identity. For someone who seemed hell bent on  capturing her, he hadn't been that pleased when she turned up right  under his very nose.

He'd left her to her own devices for hours. The afternoon had fallen  into night and driven by a stomach that hadn't seen much food in the  past few days, Shea had finally eaten some of the meal. Fed, her body  had decided it was time to catch up on rest. She'd curled up on some  rugs as they were the softest surface in the tent besides the bed in the  personal chambers, and she wasn't getting near that.

Shea examined the fur covering her and looked around. She recognized the furnishings from her visit yesterday.

Well, just because he had carried her to bed didn't mean she had to stay  there. She shifted carefully under the weight of his limbs as she  started edging toward freedom.

"Trying to escape again?" a deep voice rumbled next to her ear.

She froze.

His arms tightened, bringing her body more firmly against his. Her face  burned as a very firm body part nudged her ass. She tested his hold but  gave up quickly when his arm and leg didn't budge.

"Not very talkative this morning, are you?" his amused voice asked. "I'm sure we can find other things to fill our time."

One thumb caressed the side of her breast, leaving no question as to his meaning.

Shea found her voice quickly. "Is this how you treat all the people who save your life?"

"Of course not." He bit her ear gently and a shiver worked its way down  her body. "Just the tiny, delicate ones who think they can disguise  themselves as a boy."