Embracing Silence (4 page)

And do what?
a voice in the back of her head demanded. He’d be on her before she could take more than a few steps. “I was trying to find out who you were, where you lived and what you were doing here.”

“Why?” He shifted his hold, grasping her two wrists in one hand and placing his free hand on her stomach.

Butterflies danced in her belly, whether from fear or something else, she couldn’t tell. She ignored them. “Because information is power.” Adrian had quoted that sentiment to her so many times, it came out of her mouth without her even thinking about it.

“So it is.” He lowered his hand, letting it slide over her bellybutton and lower.

She whimpered and tried to pull away from his touch. That drove her back tighter to his chest. Something long and hard pressed against her butt. Oh damn, he had an erection. Memories of long ago when she’d almost been raped swamped her. “No,” she whispered, fighting his hold. “No!” Yelling, she struggled, kicking and thrashing. She wouldn’t let him rape her. She’d rather he just killed her.

He picked her up in his arms and before she could figure out what was happening, her back was pressed against a cold, hard wall. He was in front of her, his strong legs trapping hers, his hands holding hers above her head.

A sob broke from her throat. Then another. She took a deep breath, trying to control them. She had to think. Had to escape. Her pulse was pounding in her ears and it took her a while to realize he was talking to her.

“Shhh,” he crooned next to her ear. “I won’t hurt you.” He said it over and over.

Although she didn’t really believe him, his voice calmed her. Eventually, she caught her breath. “Why are you doing this?”

She felt him shrug. “Damn if I know.” He held her two hands over her head with one of his. His free hand cupped her chin, holding her steady. “There’s something about you that calls to me.” His fingers were warm and strong as they traced the contours of her face. “You’re not beautiful in the classic sense, but there’s something about you, a beauty that radiates from within. Maybe it’s the way you’ve tracked me these past few weeks, never giving up. I feel as though I know you.”

His words mesmerized her. She hadn’t been able to give up searching for him. No amount of reasoning or threats from Adrian had stopped her.

His hands feathered through her hair. “Your hair is dark, like mine, but shorter.” He paused. “Do you cut it yourself?”

“Yes.” She knew her hair was a ragged mess, but she didn’t care. She had more important things to worry about than if her hair looked good.

“I thought so.” She sensed his amusement and it made her angry again. Angry was good, it helped keep her wits about her.

“So where does that leave us?”

He sighed and his breath feathered over her lips. “I don’t know.” His mouth touched hers, the briefest and lightest of caresses and it sent a blast of heat pulsing through her entire body.

Silence swallowed hard and asked the question she dreaded. “Are you going to kill me?”

“I don’t know.”

Chapter Three

Silence woke and immediately knew her captor was gone. For the past two days, he’d kept her locked in this room, returning at times to watch her from the shadows. They talked from time to time but neither of them had shared much with the other. Still, there was something intimate about spending hours on end with someone.

They slept together too. He insisted on it. The pallet she was lying on was thick enough to keep most of the dampness from the floor from seeping into her bones. His large body did the rest. The man radiated more than enough heat to keep them both warm.

Her body was becoming attuned to his in a way she’d never experienced before. He had a hard-on almost all night long, but true to his word, he never did anything about it.

As strange as it seemed, Silence was beginning to trust him in an odd way. He’d said he wouldn’t rape her and she believed him. He’d also said he wasn’t sure if he was going to kill her. She believed that too. If he changed his mind, he’d let her know what was coming.

It had taken her almost a full day in his company to figure out who he reminded her of. Adrian. He had that same take-charge, hard-ass attitude her brother did. This man was a leader, not a follower.

She had yet to see his face. He seemed to prefer the darkness, having no trouble maneuvering in the room without light. Still, she was grateful he’d leave a candle for her to light when he left to do whatever it was he did when he was wasn’t here with her. Her weapons had disappeared, but the table and chair remained.

Silence had paced off the entire perimeter of the room, exercising constantly for warmth and as a way to pass the time. Her captor fed her regularly and had set up a bucket in the corner for a makeshift latrine. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than it might have been.

Adrian would be frantic by now and have searchers out all over the outer city looking for her. She regretted the worry she was causing him. She’d gone over the room about a hundred times, but there was only one way out and that was through a wood and steel door that locked from the outside.

She’d chipped away at the hinges of the door with a chunk of rock she’d found in the corner of the room but had barely made a dent with it. Her best chance for escape was to either overpower her captor or to convince him to let her go. Neither option was promising.

The first time she’d tried to sneak out in the middle of the night, he’d caught her before she’d made it off the pallet. The second time she didn’t get any farther either. Nor the third. The man had the instincts of a predator. If she moved as much as an inch during the night, he was awake and watchful.

Then they’d both lie awake for hours in the dark. Silence would try to remember he was her enemy. But it was becoming more and more difficult as time went on. He held her tenderly, cradling her head on his chest. He rubbed his hands over her arms and back, warming her and soothing the muscles she’d strained in her first escape attempt.

Her bruised throat was back to normal. He supplied her with plenty of water and had even scrounged up some tea, instructing her to heat the water over several candles until it was hot.

Through it all, he’d kept his identity a secret. That gave her hope she might get out of this situation alive. If she didn’t know who he was then he had no reason to kill her. At least she hoped not. In fact, she was counting on it.

Rising from the pallet, she carefully made her way over to the table and fumbled until she lit the two candles that sat there. Now that she had some light, she used the bucket in the corner, making sure the lid was on tight when she was done. Then she washed her face and hands using the tepid water in an old battered metal bowl he’d procured from somewhere. She rubbed the coarse cloth over her face, wondering what today would bring.

The candles flickered on the table, illuminating a tin plate with a slice of bread and a piece of meat sitting on it. Silence ate both, trying not to wonder where the meat had come from. It was cold, but it filled the emptiness in her belly.

When she was done, she paced around the room. Hours passed and she sensed it was getting close to her captor’s arrival. He was fairly regular with his comings and goings. The opening and closing of the door made barely any noise at all but she heard it all the same. Swinging her gaze around, she stared at the corner where the door was hidden by a small alcove.

As much as a part of her wanted to keep her captor’s identity a secret, another part of her wanted—no, needed—to know who he was and what he looked like. This was the first time she’d heard him entering the room. Usually he slipped in when she was pacing and the only notice she got that he’d arrived was the candle being extinguished.

Silence licked her lips, her mouth gone dry. Was he going to let her see him? If so, what did that mean? Maybe it wasn’t her captor at all. Her stomach dropped and she automatically fell into a fighter’s crouch, knees bent, arms loose, ready to defend herself. She wished she still had her knives.

“There are people scouring the outer city for you.”

She relaxed the moment he spoke, recognizing the low, raspy tones. Ignoring the way his voice made her skin tingle, she scowled at him. “I told you Adrian would search for me.” She’d made a decision her first full day as a captive to tell him about her adoptive brother in hopes it would encourage him to release her. Since she was obviously still here, it hadn’t worked.

“So you did.” He strode forward and the dim light of the candles illuminated his size. The man was at least six inches taller than she, his shoulders incredibly broad. He was wearing a pair of combat boots and dark leather pants that clung to his thighs and emphasized the rather impressive bulge in the front. A tight, short-sleeved T-shirt was tucked into the waistband of the pants. His leather jacket was slung over his shoulder. She’d known he was big and strong. After all she’d lain next to him the past few nights. But somehow he looked even larger, harder in the light.

She let her eyes drift higher. Trepidation filled her. She wanted to see him but was almost afraid to. His jaw was chiseled, his chin strong and stubborn. Full lips turned up slightly at the corners. He wasn’t smiling. She had the feeling this wasn’t a man who smiled often, but he was amused.

Her captor wasn’t merely good-looking. He was devastatingly handsome. His features were strong, his nose straight. Silky, black hair hung to his shoulders and a pair of brilliant green eyes studied her from beneath thick lashes.

Silence knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t seem to close it. The man radiated sex appeal.

“Are you done?”

His laconic tone jolted her back to reality and she realized that while she’d been studying him, he’d been checking her out. Not that there was much to see. She was slender, her breasts were small and she was ordinary, at best. Of course, he’d seen her before when she’d been unconscious when he’d first captured her.

Her breasts felt heavy and her nipples puckered into tight buds. Her core contracted and she almost moaned at the power of the need she felt for this man. She was hot and wet between her thighs. Ignoring the way her body responded to his, she nodded. “I’m done.”

One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Like what you see?”

She shrugged. “You’re handsome enough.” There was no way she would let on she found him sexy as all get out.

“I can smell your arousal.”

Impossible!
He had to be lying. Her cheeks heated and she knew her face was getting red. “You keep telling yourself whatever you need to,” she taunted.

He prowled closer, looming larger with each step he took. Tossing his coat on the chair, he moved behind her. He didn’t touch her as he circled her, inhaling deeply. “It’s like warm honey and a hint of spices and musk.” The heat from his body surrounded her like a warm blanket. Her knees weakened and she stiffened them to keep from falling to his feet in a heap of wanton need.

He was behind her, for which she was grateful. There was no way she wanted to face him. Crossing her arms over her chest to hide her stiff nipples from his eagle eyes, she said nothing.

A touch, as light as a feather, stroked over her nape. “So fragile, yet so strong.”

She couldn’t move if her life depended on it. With just that simple touch he had her shackled as tight as though she were wearing chains. She longed to lean back into his touch but didn’t dare. The power he had over her was frightening. “What’s your name?” she blurted out. “You know mine. It’s only fair.”

He chuckled, his breath warm against her ear. “No one ever accused me of being fair, sweet Silence.” His teeth closed over the lobe and he tugged gently before releasing her. “Tienan. My name is Tienan.”

She said his name over in her head several times. It was a strong name. It suited him.

“Say it,” he ordered.

“Tienan,” she whispered.

He groaned and wrapped his arms around her from behind. His erection pressed into the small of her back, a vivid reminder that he was all male. “I want you, Silence.” His lips pressed dozens of kisses over the back of her head and down the side of her neck. “I want to strip you naked and lick you from head to toe.”

Silence moaned as her pussy clenched. Her mind might be telling her she was making a huge mistake, but her body made no secret of the fact it wanted him. Bad.

His large hands gently pushed her arms down by her sides, his palms slipping under the hem of her shirt to caress her stomach. Her tummy quivered, her insides turning to jelly.