Tethered (The Avenlore Series) (5 page)

“To you, maybe.”  I was still lost.  “Who is ‘they’
and okay…no…just explain that first?”  My mind was so muddled the command came out in the form of a question.

A smile broke across his face.  He was happy to deliver this news.  “Your
mother and father, and Soleil, of course.”

My mouth opened before the words caught up.  “Okay…I’m gonna blow right past the part where you said ‘Soleil’ because by my calculations she should be over two hundred years old
and that is insanity.  But, hey that just seems to be par for the course now doesn’t it.”  He looked as confused by my words as I’d been by most of his.  “No, my parents are dead.  They died when I was eight months old.  You see, I can’t be a Connolly.” 

Liam scoffed, shaking his head and sending his dark waves swaying. 
“Your mother and father are not dead.  They are alive and well.”  He argued.

My breaking point was fast approaching, anymore new information and I would spontaneously combust.  I sunk to the ground
, drawing my knees to my chest and covered my face with my hands.  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.  Not right now.  It’s just, it’s too much.”

I
felt his hand touch my own and I stopped breathing.  He moved so quietly I hadn’t even noticed when he knelt down in front of me.  He slowly gathered one of my hands in his own and placed it upon my knee.  Then, he repeated the action with my other hand, exposing my face. 

“We do not have to.  Not until you are ready.  Not until you ask it of me will I speak of such things.”  His sincerity soaked every syllable.  I found it impossible to doubt anything he said
when he spoke to me like that, with that look on his face.  He looked at me like I was precious and breakable and important.  No one, not even Jones had ever looked at me that way.

Then, he reached his hand tentatively toward my face.  When I didn’t flinch, he pressed his palm to my cheek and grazed his thumb across my skin.  My eyes closed as I pressed my face to his hand and I heard his sharp exhale, felt it on my face.
  I drank in the moment greedily, branded this touch into my brain, because this touch was not required.  He wasn’t pulling me to my feet or helping onto his horse, he was just…touching me.  His hand was rough and calloused and I liked that.  His sea mist and sandalwood scent floated on the air.

I opened my eyes to find him studying my face a
nd once again, I couldn’t remember what I’d been so upset about.  This moment was all that mattered and we were the only two people in the world.

His gaze dropped to my mouth and I wanted so badly for him to close the distance between us.  It took every drop of self-control
I commanded to keep from asking him to, telling him to.  Without warning, he broke the contact and stood up. 

Eyes wide,
a multitude of emotions played over his features, finally settling on shock.  “I’m so sorry, forgive me.”  This time,
he
spoke to the ground.  Just like that the moment was over and he turned on his heel and strode off through the mouth of the cave.

Chapter 7

I was seated next to the strange blue flame, knees tucked beneath me staring alternately into the blue flame of the fire and out of the mouth of the cave.  I judged it to have been about an hour before he finally came strolling back into the cave. 

He emerged from the darkness, cloak billowing in the breeze, tendrils of his dark
, now damp hair clung to his face.  In the absence of rain and the fact that his clothes were dry I concluded that he’d spent his time away bathing and that knowledge brought on a whole new round of thoughts that set my pulse pounding higher. He glanced in my direction but didn’t meet my eyes.  “You should sleep, Milady.”  He said not unkindly, but detached all the same.  His face looked, what was that, anger or shame or…Oh.  I knew that look and my good great white shark but I was an idiot.  That look was regret. 

Of course it was, what had I been thinking? 

For a tiny little moment I let myself hope, begin to believe that he reciprocated my feelings or whatever it was going on inside me, even if only a little.  An impossible, ridiculous notion.  I could see that now, looking at him as he busied himself with random tasks like relocating a silvery bow and a quiver of arrows and taking inventory of the contents of a pack he carried on his saddle. 

I wanted to demand that he explain his behavior
, make him admit to feelings I knew he couldn’t have for me.  Or, at the very least, tell me what he was thinking when he was touching me, looking at me with those impossibly green eyes that were filled with a thousand emotions. 

But, I just bit my tongue and didn’t speak a word.  To speak my thoughts would be pouring salt into th
e wound.  It would be purposefully foolish.  I was a lot of things, but purposefully foolish was not one of them, at least for the most part anyway.

So, I did the as he asked.  I lay down to sleep, but when I closed my eyes that golden moment between us played out in my head and I drifted away to it
and dreamed of him.

***

Stretching and yawning, I woke but kept my eyes sealed tightly shut.  It was a cruel thing to be pulled from my dreams of him to face the reality that awaited.  I didn’t want to be awake, didn’t want to be looking at him not looking at me. 

The sun was up, even behind the cover of my eyelids I knew that.  It took some time to convince
myself that I had to open my eyes eventually and to go ahead at get it over with.  When I did, I immediately and involuntarily looked toward the mouth of the cave, expecting him to be there on his guard, staring anywhere but in my direction.

That, however, was not what I found.  He was in the same spot he’d been the first time I woke in this cave, but he was not on his guard.  He sat leaned up against the wall of the cave, head tilted over to the side, body relaxed, sleeping soundly. 

All I could do was stare.  I watched as his chest rose and fell gently, memorizing the way his face looked as he slept.  Thick, black lashes rested softly on his cheeks, full lips parted slightly, face unmarred by worry or regret or anger, only serenity remained.

I couldn’t bring myself to rouse
him, so I decided to freshen up and gather myself. The bag he’d gotten in the village sat next to where I’d slept, so I peeked inside, hoping to find a spare dress.  Blessedly, he had brought me not one dress, but three.  In addition, other garments filled the bag and I blushed as I realized they were the equivalent of underwear.  I took a moment to be appropriately horrified that Liam had brought me these and then plucked out a fresh dress and a fresh, uh, underwear thing from the bag.

As silently as I could, I padded out of the cave, past Liam and into the thick forest.  The same rich green leaves hung over head from the silvery branches of the trees
and sunlight warmed my skin.  I closed my eyes, concentrating on sounds, trying to pick out babbling or trickling, intent on locating a water source.  Not a difficult task.  The sound of rushing water, while faint, was certainly audible. 

I opened my eyes once I’d determined which direction to take and followed the sound.  I noticed a slim, almost invisible path running close by and followed it. 
Pure white flowers with large petals and pink centers peppered the path, giving off a fragrance that was like orange blossoms mixed with vanilla.  I snatched up a handful, planning to create makeshift perfume, since I lacked soap.  I walked on and as I’d hoped, the path led me to the water, where I was pleasantly surprised. 

Once again, a translucent pal
e green river slid over clear, wide stones and that was breathtaking all over again.  But, the real kicker here was that I was expecting a bath, and I would get a shower!  A low waterfall, spilled over a drop in the river bed, neatly tucked back into a hollow.   I smiled, excited by the thought of a shower, even if it was sans soap.

I hadn’t gone far, still close to the cave, but at least it was out of sight.  The waterfall was placed perfectly to provide privacy, which my sense of modesty appreciated.  I double checked to ensure Liam hadn’t woken and come in search of me, then quickly undressed and stepped into tranquil river. 

It was warm, like bath water and smelled like fresh rain.   I plunged beneath the surface, making my way to the waterfall.  I desperately needed this.  Emerging to my shoulders, I let the water flow over my head and down my face.  I scrubbed until my skin glowed a healthy pink and wrung my hair out before exiting the river.  I hadn’t thought about a towel and that was an issue, so I used my hands to slick the water from my skin as best I could.  Still damp, I regretfully patted most of the water away with my discarded dress.  That made me feel a little guilty, but it was a necessary evil.  I quickly pulled on the underwear, still embarrassed, and tugged the dress over my head, enjoying the feeling of velvet against my skin.  This dress was a silvery blue, the stitching and piping done in an iridescent, shimmery thread.  A square neckline exposed my clavicles and the dress fight tightly down to my waist, where the fabric flowed loosely.  I could easily do a split (that is if I were capable of such) in this dress.  The final touch was fluted sleeves that made me feel utterly feminine.  For all its girly flair, the dress allowed me to move and breath.  It was as practical as such a dress could be.

Happy with my wardrobe, aside from the part where I would’ve killed for
a pair of boy short panties, I set to making my “perfume.”  I found a large stone near the river with a hollow in the top and crushed the flowers with a smaller stone I’d found.  Oils spilled from the petals and saturated the air with their scent.  I dipped my finger in the oil and rubbed it over the pulse points at my wrists and neck.  I smiled to myself, utterly pleased with my accomplishment. 

My ears pricked when a twig snapped behind me and I spun, assuming Liam had found me.  But,
this was absolutely not Liam.  A greasy haired man, tall and overweight aimed a sparsely toothed smile in my direction. 

Oh, hell.

His smile was not welcoming or disarming, it was menacing.  I inhaled sharply and he looked me up and down, his intentions evident in his beady eyes.  “What an…unexpected treat.”  He said, licking his lips.   

Still standing in the hollow by the waterfall, I
was trapped between him and the earth and stone at my back.  I would try and talk my way out of this and if that failed I would fight.  Those were really my only options. 

The decision made, I dug my toes into the sand and summoned my most commanding voice.  “You will not touch me.”

His answering smile was mocking as he stepped toward me, laughing now, obviously quite entertained by my words.  “Oh, I believe I will.”

While he stalked toward me, I reached down for the rock I’d used to pummel the flower and flung it at him.  It glanced off of his head, only succeeding in angering him.  His face turned beet red and his features contorted into a mask of rage.  “After I have you, I’ll share you with my friends for that one.”  He spat
, eating up the distance between us in three quick strides.

He was on me now, I was out of time.  “
Nooo!” I screamed, the word cutting through the peaceful forest like a hot knife through butter as the horror of the situation set in.  He grabbed the front of my dress and threw me to the sand.  I scrambled to get up, but in vain as he settled his full weight over my hips.  One hand reached down to grab a handful of my hair, wrenching my head back so far it hurt.  I could smell his rancid breath in my face as my hands flailed and smacked and scratched at him.

Laughing at me, he snatched my left hand with his free one and let go of my hair in exchange for my right one. 
“I should throttle you for that, but I won’t mess up that pretty face just yet.”  Leaning close he whispered, “But when I’m done, I’ll beat you bloody black and blue.”  Clamping one hand over both of mine in the sand he leaned back again and reached down to undo his pants. 

At some point I’d started to cry, I didn’t know when, but the tears were streaming down my face now.  Hopelessness set in as I realized he was about to take something from me that I could never get back and in a vile and repulsive way.

He reached down to pull up the hem of my skirt and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to go somewhere else, anywhere else in my mind.  I saw Liam’s face in my mind, heard him say my name, scream my name. 

The greasy man was still struggling to hike up my skirt when he grunted, but not in pleasure.  This sounded like pain.  My eyes snapped open to find the point of an arrow protruding from
his shoulder.  Stunned, I stared at it wide-eyed watching the blood drip from the tip, trying to process what I was seeing.  The man was still straddling me, looking at the arrow with a mix of confusion and pain on his face.  I didn’t think it was a mortal wound, but I bet it hurt like hell, I hoped it hurt like hell.