Taken by the Enemy

by Jennifer Bene

  “Whoa, whoa…” Lucian shoved the door aside and stepped in, looking between the two of them with surprise on his face. “What’s going on in here?”

  “Your bird is more interested in playing games than doing her damn job!” Mathias shouted, but Emmie just smiled at him.

  “I read you the letter, Mathias.”

  “You’re a lying —”

  “Hold on! Did you read the letter to him?” Lucian was speaking to her, and Emmie turned to look at him. For some reason he was harder to lie to, but she was able to make herself nod, and a thrum of guilt ran through her as he defended her. “See, Mathias? You’re both going nuts. Being cooped up in here day after day is going to drive anyone crazy.”

  “I’m not crazy, she’s not taking this seriously, and we both know —”

  “I know that no one in this village spends all their time indoors except for you. Let me take the little bird out for a bit, let her stretch her wings.” He smiled, and it was a charming, bright smile that made him look too handsome. For an instant Emmie wondered what he’d look like in a fine suit at a party, his gray eyes reflecting the golden lights – but she stopped short as he reached over and grabbed her hand, shattering the brief fantasy.

  “Fine. Go teach her a lesson, maybe she’ll come back willing to behave!” he grumbled and Lucian tugged her towards the door.

  Deciding between a sullen, spiteful Mathias – and a smiling, but dangerous, Lucian was difficult. Ultimately, she let Lucian pull her out the door just because she didn’t want to give Mathias the satisfaction of seeing Lucian go off on her too.

  As he was pulling the door closed, Mathias ripped it back. “Make sure you talk to her about—” his eyes found hers and she glared at him. “You know what I told you, Lucian. Handle it.”

  “It’s under control, Mathias. Why don’t you go have some of Nettie’s soup? She doesn’t have enough for everyone, but it’s rabbit from one of her own traps.” Lucian smiled at him as Mathias grumbled and shoved past her, and then they were moving in the opposite direction.

  Emmie promptly jerked her hand from Lucian’s, but she kept pace with him when he laughed and kept walking. “Mathias wants you to punish me, doesn’t he?”

  “He’s asked me to, yes.”

  “Is that where we’re going?”

  “Do you need to be punished?” Lucian looked over his shoulder at her as they reached the outer edge of the village.

  “Don’t mock me. What exactly are we doing?” Emmie stopped, and he sighed as he turned to face her.

  “First, I’m about to grab a spear from the set of them we have right over there. Then, I have something I want to show you.” He gestured ahead of them and bowed with more grace than she’d seen in half the aristocracy of the city. “If I may?”

  “You’re obnoxious.”

  Lucian laughed and stood straight again, walking ahead until he snagged a spear from a hollowed out tree before continuing on. She followed, confused and torn as to whether or not she was walking into folly.

  They hiked for several minutes in silence, and Emmie started to feel some of the tension melt from her shoulders. Sitting hunched over the table for days had made her ache worse than sleeping on the hard ground, and moving around felt good. Just being able to look up and see the blue sky through the trees was a welcome relief.

  “You didn’t answer my question.” He helped her as she climbed up and over some roots, but she tore her hand back from his as soon as she was steady.

  “What question?”

  “Do you need a punishment, little bird?” Lucian was too close and when he raised his hand, Emmie flinched before she realized he was just tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

  A furious blush burned her cheeks, and she hated that the first visions that popped into her head were the stolen glimpses of Alice and Quentin, followed fast by her own memories of Lucian spanking her, and that damn switch. “No,” she spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Okay then.” He shrugged and walked on, leaving Emmie standing still for a moment in shock.

  Okay?

  Had he really just agreed with her so easily?

  She caught up to him, following him through the underbrush for a while longer until he stopped and took a deep breath. “Do you hear it?”

  “What?” Emmie paused, quieting her breathing to strain her hearing for any noise. Then it slowly filtered in, a roar underneath the normal buzzing of insects and trills of birds. “Is that … water?”

  Lucian’s grin was broad, and boyishly excited, and she couldn’t suppress her own smile as he shouted, “Yes! Come on!”

  He grabbed her hand and she didn’t fight as he pulled her through a line of trees until a huge waterfall came into view. It was tumbling from rocks over a story above her head. Without the trees to muffle it, it was even louder and Lucian let out a whoop before charging ahead leaving her to follow on her own. Emmie climbed the slight hill and was shocked to see a huge expanse of calm water that spread out from the thunder of the waterfall. “Wow.”

  “I knew you’d like it.” Lucian pulled his shirt over his head, and in the sunlight standing on the edge of the sparkling water, he looked like some wild drawing in one of her secret books. He was covered in hard muscle, and she knew from personal experience it only hinted at the strength he possessed. A deep v-shape was sculpted between his hips, dipping under the tied pants he wore – which he was beginning to untie. “Let’s go in!” he cheered, and Emmie backed up immediately, averting her eyes from him.

  “No way!”

  “Don’t you want to do more than just wash off in a bowl? I promise, it’s cool but it feels amazing.” He smiled, and he seemed sincere, but there were alarms going off inside her regardless. What exactly would he do if she got into that pool naked? The water looked beautiful though, crisp and clean, and she hadn’t had been able to take a real bath in two weeks. Quickly the temptation of the sparkling pool and the thunder of the waterfall drowned out any internal bells ringing out their warning.

  “You first,” she mumbled, and then his pants were off and she covered her eyes as he splashed his way into the water. Emmie peeked between her fingers and saw his strong back flexing as he walked until he was waist deep in the water.

  “Come on, little bird.” Lucian turned around and beckoned her forward.

  Emmie moved towards the water, but the realization crept over her as she stood by his clothes that she’d have to undress. Out of the water. In full view of him. “Turn around.”

  “What?” He laughed.

  “Turn around so I can undress.”

  “I’ve seen everything already, you can’t be serious.” Lucian stared at her, his mouth open as if he were actually surprised. She was about to argue when he sobered suddenly, his expression clouding before he turned around in the water. His voice was much more serious when he spoke again. “Go on. I won’t look.”

  Emmie waited for a moment, expecting him to look over his shoulder or come tear her clothes off in an impatient fury, but he never moved. It was quick work to remove everything and place it on a rock out of the way, and she felt the bite of the air as she tiptoed over the mud and smooth rocks that led to the water. Her first step into the water made her gasp. “Shit! It’s freezing!”

  His body shook with suppressed laughter, but Lucian still didn’t turn around. “Just walk in fast. It’ll take your breath for a second, but you’ll adjust.”

  With a few choice curses, she forced herself to keep walking into the frigid water, walking far to his left until she was able to crouch and hide her chest mostly under the water. She covered her breasts with her hands and then cleared her throat. “Okay, I’m in the water.”

  Lucian turned towards her and there was a flash of something hungry in his eyes before he shook his head and smiled. “Well?”

  “Well?” Emmie tilted her head, and then he sighed and walked forward in the water, keeping a good distance between them as he came to where it was deeper.

&nb
sp; “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He looked up and around them, and Emmie’s gaze followed his. Tree tops shifting in the wind, the palest clouds rolling soundlessly across a blue sky, broken only by the occasional passing flight of a bird. The waterfall was a tumbling roar that she’d only read about in books, the sheer power of the water pounding into the rocks and water beneath it was something she could feel in her chest. It was peaceful here, a huge, open space unbothered by the touch of man.

  “It’s perfect,” she breathed, and he was smiling when she found his gaze again. “So, why are we here?”

  “Can’t you just enjoy yourself? Stop thinking for a minute.” He sighed and glided into even deeper water, moving like he was made for it, and he looked way too good doing it. Raiders weren’t supposed to be this handsome, the exiles weren’t supposed to care about other people, and they definitely weren’t supposed to cheerfully play hunting games with little kids. None of it made sense with who Lucian was supposed to be, and a nagging voice inside her refused to let Emmie believe this was an innocent excursion. Just a pleasant diversion from Mathias’ angry, single-minded focus.

  “Enjoy myself? Around you? No.” She tucked her arms tighter across her chest but he just shook his head, silent for a moment until he found footing chest-deep in the water.

  “I wish you’d just give me a chance.”

  “Like hell.”

  He laughed, moving his arms back and forth in the water. “You always surprise me. Do you know how we found you that day?”

  “You were looking for women?” Emmie sneered.

  “We were actually looking for food, but we heard you screaming.” Lucian tilted himself back until his head dipped into the water, as if he were lying down on the water to look at the sky. His voice was softer when he continued. “You have no idea how afraid I was that we wouldn’t get to you in time. That we’d be burying another woman who had the misfortune of pissing off the council and being shoved out of the gates with no skills, no weapons, and no way to defend herself.”

  Bury another woman?

  All Emmie could do was swallow in response as the weight of those words settled inside her. Had it not been for the luck of a branch, Lucian might have been burying her instead of chasing her through the woods.

  “When I came through the trees and saw the boar, I threw the spear on instinct trying to kill it before it turned on me. Victor did the same, trying to keep it from charging me, and we all brought it down because that’s what we do. We go out to feed the village, and then —”

  “And then you saw me and decided I was a better hunt.”

  “Actually, I was surprised by how —” He huffed out a soft laugh and lifted his head. “Beautiful you were, perched up in that tree like … like a little bird. I was surprised you weren’t hurt, I was so glad you weren’t hurt. That we had made it there in time.” His voice sounded sincere, but Emmie remembered the pain of hitting the ground all too well.

  “So, you decided to yank me out of the tree the hard way?”

  “The way I remember it is that I asked you to come down, and you said…” he paused for a second and then grinned wildly at her. “Like hell.”

  “And you took that as an invitation to —”

  “I decided to bring you down from the tree before you did something stupid like try and climb higher.” He stared at her, a strange look moving over his face as he took steps towards her. “And then you hit me.”

  Emmie felt a frisson of alarm run down her spine. “You had just knocked me out of a tree.”

  “And then you ran.” Lucian was steadily moving closer to her, and she started to move backwards through the water, using her arms to push herself away from him, to keep space between them.

  “Because you pulled. Me. Out. Of. A. Tree.” She enunciated the words, trying to get through to him, but his eyes were dark and intently focused on her.

  This was a bad decision, Emmie.

  “You ran faster than I expected, especially over that terrain.”

  “People run fast when their life is threatened.”

  He laughed low, shaking his head. “How many times do I have to say this? I saved your life.”

  “And then you chased me.” Emmie felt the water lapping at her neck, and she was struggling to keep her toes on the muddy, leafy bottom of the pool.

  “I couldn’t resist.” He moved forward in the water and Emmie fumbled backwards, conscious of the water reaching her chin.

  “You could have let me go.” The earliest hints of panic made her heart flutter wildly, but she fought to keep her voice strong and steady.

  “I really couldn’t.” Lucian dove for her in the water and Emmie threw herself to the side clumsily, slipping under the water before she surfaced, choking. She scrambled until her toes found the bottom again and she was able to keep her head up.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” She spit out water, glaring at him as he steadied himself with a deep breath.

  “You’re always trying to get away from me, and you’re so damn feisty.” He groaned and shoved his hands into his wet hair. “I couldn’t lose you to the woods. You wanted me to let you run off, to maybe die horribly somewhere else with no one to help you —”

  “I’m not helpless!” Emmie splashed him as anger raged through her.

  He growled as he wiped his face. “No, you’re not helpless, but all that spirit won’t stop a boar, or a cougar, or a wild dog. And that spirit, all of your smart-mouthed fight… I couldn’t risk losing that.”

  “So, your solution was to hunt me down and take me for yourself?” She glared at him over the water, and he kept her stare for a moment before he turned away.

  “You’re different, and I don’t know how to describe it… but you’re irresistible. I can’t think straight when I’m around you. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

  “You could say you’re sorry.”

  Lucian met her gaze again, and those heather gray eyes were dark. “I’m not sorry that I found you, and I’m not sorry that I caught you. If I said otherwise, that would be a lie, and I don’t lie.”

  “You—” Emmie let out a frustrated scream and hit the water as she backed up again. “You… damn you!” There were tears in her eyes and she hated it, hoping that the water on her face hid them as she growled out her rage. She couldn’t voice what he’d done to her, but she wanted to scream it at him, to –

  “I took you. For myself. In the woods. Across a fucking log of all places.” Lucian actually sounded contrite, and he raked his hand across the water sending a spray of it to the side. “That’s not – that’s not me. I don’t do that. I don’t.”

  “Except with me.” Bitterness filled her voice, and his eyes met hers again.

  “Except with you.”

  The roar of the waterfall filled the space between them, and Emmie clenched her teeth to try and keep herself from crying. “You’re not sorry.”

  “No.” Lucian stared at the water, and it was a rippling mirror for the sky above it. Blue and imperfect. “You know the rules, I —”

  “Can do whatever you want with me, I know.” She laughed at the ridiculousness of her situation. Escaping one prison for another.

  “That’s not what I meant!” Lucian shouted, and his voice broke, but she had no sympathy for him. “I wanted you. I won’t lie about that, I did, but I also didn’t want any of the others to… touch you.”

  “So you did it first.”

  “Yes.” He couldn’t even meet her eyes, and that felt like some sort of victory, even though she was in no position to feel victorious. “It’s why Mathias is so angry with me, it’s why I’m breaking my own rules.”

  “Which rules?” Emmie asked the question, but Lucian stayed silent.

  He refused to answer, but she knew what he meant a moment after he’d said it. Lucian wasn’t letting anyone else touch her. He’d given the order more than once. She was a free woman in the village, and no matter what Lucian ordered… she didn’t belong t
o him.

  “What do you want from me?” Her voice was soft, almost too low to be heard over the roaring water.

  “You already know that, little bird. You said it yourself. I want you.” His eyes were on her again, but she couldn’t answer. She didn’t have a response to that, so she turned to move away from him.

  Her head was spinning with too many thoughts of him. His touch, his body against hers, the way he’d made her feel – but it was also full of how he’d done it. The rough way he’d tied her hands, held her down, controlled her so he could have what he wanted.

  Me.

  She couldn’t filter everything properly. It was all too wound up in the pleasure she’d found in his touch, in the distracting memory of Alice’s reaction to Quentin, and then the bottom of the pool disappeared and there was only water. Emmie choked on it as she tried to find the mud under her feet, but there was nothing as she sank lower and her lungs screamed for air. She flailed, but there wasn’t anything to push off of as she dropped like a rock into nothingness, wondering how long she could keep her mouth closed to the urge to breathe. Her feet kicked, but the light above her was fading – and then there was a pinch on her arm and she suddenly breached the water. Coughing and sputtering against Lucian’s chest. He was solid in the intangible expanse around her and she clung to him, digging her nails into his skin, and taking heaving breaths when she wasn’t coughing.

  “You’re okay, you’re okay, there’s a drop-off, the waterfall digs it out, you’re okay, I’ve got you…” Lucian’s voice was repetitive and reassuring as he laid his hand on the back of her head, holding her tight to him. Warm, firm skin was under her cheek and she tightened her arms around him as he moved them backwards to the shallower area of the pool. “I should have warned you, I just didn’t realize you couldn’t swim.”

  Emmie jerked back from him as soon as she realized she was naked and pressed firmly against him. He released her instantly, raising his hands up to show he wouldn’t reach for her again. A fevered blush crept up her chest and into her cheeks, and she wiped the wet hair from her cheeks. “Where in the hell would I have learned to swim?” She coughed again.