A Sinless Betrayal - Cherie Benjamin (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📗

whore for the night and a higher status title as well as a longer window for their hair to grow before their next fight.

0o0o0o0o

He is angry tonight. He is drunk. After the shagali, he came onto me hard and fast. He wanted me badly, and I was too scared to give him what he wanted. I ended up slapping him and he ended up shoving me outside of his door while he fucked Athenodora inside. I sat and listened to his throaty, husky moans and her high pitched squeals of pleasure as she was thrown about in the waves of ecstasy.

I've been out in the dark, hot hallway for about an hour. I suppose that he fell asleep with her and completely forgot about me outside of the door. He told me that if I ran off to the harem, I would be punished. He did not tell me how I would be punished, but I was not prepared to find out.

The sound of crickets, owls and night frogs is the only thing I hear. I lean against the wooden door, my legs hugged to my chest and my hair covering the sides of my face. I feel tired, but my mind is alert.

And then I hear it; a drunken laugh, and a pair of stumbling feet down the hallway. I stand and press my back against the door. The torches in the hallway light the way a little bit, well enough for me to see the figure of a barbarian man to emerge.

My heart pounds. "Karuwa," I hear him say. I've been around long enough to know what I'm being called, and that karuwa means 'whore.' I'm suddenly very afraid. This man is not Abigor, and he will most certainly have his way with me without my consent.

I do not recognize this man. He is tall, but his face is one I have never seen before. It is not Three Horses, Drinks of Waterfall, Iron Coyote, Black Bear, or Grey Hawk. I'm as still as a statue, completely frozen in time.

My eyes are like a deer's right before the arrow plummets through soft skin. My hands shake at my sides. I fear that if I make any noise, he will strike me. I try the doorknob behind me. Abigor has locked the door.

He reaches out and grabs me. I squeal, but his mouth encloses mine. He tastes of strong alcohol and drink. My nails claw at his skin, but he does not move away. Instead, he presses on, callused fingertips rubbing at my skin and pulling my skirts up. When I scream, he backhands me.

I feel myself beginning to faint. But before I do, I see the doorknob rattling viciously as the man attempts to drag my limp body down the hallway. And before the world goes dark, I see Abigor standing there with wrath in his eyes and hellfire pumping through his veins.
Heart

When I open my eyes, I do not recognize where I am. Warm water surrounds me and I'm leaning up against a hot, and hard chest. I'm not fully with it but I can tell that I'm in a bathtub. But with whom? That's the greater question.

The bathwater is tinged slightly red. I groan. My bones ache and my mouth is sore. The last thing I remember before I blacked out is that man trying to rape me. But did it happen? My eyes snap open and I abruptly upright.

The cold air hits my naked skin—naked. I turn around and see him sitting there, a startled look on his face. He, too, is naked. I'm horrified. How did my clothes come off? What did he do to me? He's seen my body, me in my most vulnerable state.

I slide away from him quickly, to the other end of the bath and cover myself with my hands. "What did you do?" I ask him softly, too afraid to look him in the eye.

He does not jump to answer right away, and that worries me. Tears stung at my eyes. It's obvious he went against his word. Blood is everywhere. My blood. "Relax, you are still budurwa," he says. "Do you not remember what happened?"

It is early in the morning, but still very dark outside. My wet hair sticks to my face as I frantically try to assess the situation. "No," I tell him. "I don't. But what I want to know is why I'm in the bathtub naked with you. And why you're covered in…in blood."

He looks down at himself. He's caked in it. He grits his teeth and looks away. "You are mine," he snarls, glaring at me from his peripherals. "I thought I made that pretty damn clear." That still does not answer my question.

I narrow my eyes at him. "That has nothing to do with anything," I tell him. "Absolutely nothing."

"No," Abigor interjects, his voice raising an octave. "That has everything to do with it!" The force and vibration of his voice ripple the water and tears through my skin. His eyes are furious. He is fuming.

I shrink back into the bath water, his tone of voice rattling my bones. I want to cry, but I don't want to show him my weakness. I want to be strong, but his hard eyes knock me right back into being afraid. The candlelight flickers in the dark room. He lifts an arm. It is slashed, right across his tribal tattoo. I gasp and reel back in horror.

He nods towards a cloth on lying on the floor near the bathtub. At first, I'm confused, but as I see the blood soaking through the rag, I get a gut-wrenching feeling. "What…what is that? Oh gods, Abigor, please tell me it's not."

Abigor looks at me dead on, his gaze steely and brazen. "It is."

I'm horrified. But I should have known. Tears came anyways. He's a barbarian, of horrible ways and traditions. I want out—I don't want to be here anymore. "How could you do that?"

His eyes widen in shock. He leans forward, hellfire in his eyes. "Do you not remember what he tried to do you?"

Suddenly, the memories come running back. Me, standing with my back pressed up against Abigor's door in the night. Me, scared to death. Him, down the hallway, staggering like an idiot. Him, everywhere on me. I stare down at the bathwater in horror.

As soon as he's satisfied with my reaction, he leans back in the bathtub and looks at me. "Yes, I killed him. I cut his heart out with my knife and wrapped it in that cloth for you—I wanted you to see it, gruesome as it is... And I will show it off to all of my people, letting them know that if they come close to you again, that is their fate."

I'm frozen. The words just do not come. My mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out of it. My heart slows. His face is stricken with pain. He licks his dry lips and caresses my knee. I jerk away from him.

He sighs, his heavy chest rising and falling slowly. "Did he hurt you badly?" Abigor asks me. I shrug my shoulders. His head drops, wisps of hair falling into his eyes. "I know it's my fault. I threw you out jus' to fuck."

"No," I interject. "It was my fault. I refused you."

"And I was a drunken fool to begin with," he tells me, shaking his head. "I should'a listened to you when you said I'd had enough wine to drink."

I stare at the long gash on his arm. It still bleeds into the water. "He hurt you," I murmur.

He slightly smirks. "But I kill him."

Now's not a time for laughs. "Let me see it," I say. Suddenly my nakedness and fear are gone as he slowly and tentatively inches towards me, his face blank, but his eyes curious. I examine the gash. It was curved like it was made by one of the barbarian khopesh swords. I grimace. "It'll get infected if we don't treat it soon," I tell him.

I look up at him and meet his blazing eyes as they burn holes through my skin. "You are beautiful," he murmurs. His free hand reaches up towards my face and strokes my cheek, pushing my wet hair behind my ear. His hand cradles my cheek.

The lull of crickets and night frogs is the only other sound we can hear, besides the blazing hearth and the beating of two hearts as one. "I am plain," I whisper, with a little smile.

He shakes his head. "No," he tells me. "Any man who makes that claim will lose his tongue. Your father must have been a magnificent thief, little one. He stole all the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes."

I look at him and blush. "My father was no thief. You, my king, are the greatest thief of them all." He smiles at me smugly, then cringes when the hot water laps onto his wound.

I look up at him. "I should bandage it now," I say. He nods and waits for me to get out of the tub. "Close your eyes."

"Why?" he asks. "I am no stranger to the female body. And now I am no stranger to yours."

I swear that my face can't get any redder, but it does. I know that he's right. So I stand up right in front of him and exit the tub. I can tell he definitely wasn't expecting that by the flustered and lustful look on his face. I grab the towel before I can take too long of a look at my naked backside.

0o0o0o0o0o

"Alright. That should do it," I say as I finish wrapping up his arm. He's sitting on the bed, watching my every move as I float around his grand bedroom. "How does it feel?" I ask him.

He moves his arm around in circles. "Stiff," is his final verdict. "But hurt? Ba. No. You are good healer." He reaches out and grabs me by the hem of my nightgown. It is still night and I am still tired.

Abigor pulls me between his legs and presses me against his tall torso. Even while sitting, he towers over me. His tongue darts out to moisten his dry lips. I gulp. I want to pull his mind off of the lust that he is feeling at that moment. "Do you want me to—"

"Kiss me," he cuts me off abruptly, his eyes staring deeply into mine. "I protected you. I defended your honour. You should kiss me."

It was all true. I'd only ever kissed a man once, and that was with young Lord Cordell, and it was merely a peck on the lips before I ran away with glee. "And…this would be your reward for saving your lady?" I question softly.

He smiles and hugs me closer to his body. "So you know you are mine," he says warmly. "I like 'dat. A lot." His big hand slides slowly over my nightgown, touching my back and my neck, spreading warmth down my spine.

His fingers curl around my neck and gently pull me forward. I'm scared, but I'm ready. I've been fortunate enough not to bed him for a while, and kissing me has most likely been on his