Besides, a fight meant less time to spend with his woman once they arrived at her house.
“Anyone touches her and he has me to deal with. Disperse.” The crowd stood transfixed, eyes wide. “Now!” he bellowed, watching with satisfaction as the mass scattered. The man he held turned the color of snow and fell over. It was always nice to know one’s bellow was fierce enough to be sleep-inducing.
Enar grabbed Lily’s arm, swinging her to face him.
“Did he hurt you?” His gaze glanced over her slight form that still shook, although not as violently as before.
“N...n...no. Thank you.” Her eyes stared at his feet as she drew in a breath. “Do you still want me? Should I give you back the necklace?”
Was she daft? “What are you talking about, woman?”
“If you think me a witch like everyone else, I’ll give you back this necklace.”
Enar snorted. As if she could get the thing off. “As I said when I claimed you, the necklace can’t be removed unless I die. And before you go thinking that sounds like a good idea, it takes a lot to kill me. And frankly, you don’t have it in you.”
Her eyes widened, her gaze fixating on his face as one hand grabbed the stones of the necklace. “It can’t be removed?”
He shook his head. It did seem as if his woman was dense. Brains didn’t matter, she had all the necessary parts, but it would be nice if he didn’t have to constantly repeat himself.
“So I’m yours? Forever?”
“I’m not that bad.” He hoped.
“And you want me knowing I’m a witch?”
Ah, the real problem. As if he’d believe a word the bastard said.
“Are you?”
She made an unladylike noise. “They say I am. I’m different. My coloring. It’s not like everyone else’s.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“They say it is.”
“Do you believe everything you hear?”
“Only when it’s followed through by a mob threatening my life.”
Something roared inside him at her words. “Who?”
“It’s nothing. You’re taking me away, right? So it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters. You belong to me now. I’ll protect you.”
Throwing an arm around her shoulders, he escorted her down the street, glaring at all who dared glance their way. How dare these blithering, superstitious people not like his woman. She didn’t have to worry about them anymore. He was here. And he would ensure she remained safe.
Chapter 3
“You never did say why you gave me this necklace.” Although one look at his face and Lily knew part of the reason. Something in his eyes, a spark when he looked at her face, a tingling on the back of her neck when he stared at her body. She might not have up close and personal experience with what a man looked like aroused, but she wasn’t a complete idiot.
His brows slammed together. “It seemed obvious.” Did that mean he found her attractive?
Men did not find her attractive. At all. But Enar had snapped a string of beads around her neck and claimed her.
Maybe he was crazy?
Maybe. But she liked his protective streak. And the fact he didn’t mind her coloring. During the short interval between Keara dashing through the gate and Enar claiming her, Keara had mentioned her husband didn’t mind what the townsfolk thought of her either. How odd. But comforting to know Enar saw past the pale wrapping of her skin. Until her brain weighed in on what being his forever meant.
“So if I can’t take this necklace off, does that mean we’re married?”
Goddess, she hoped not. Marriage had never been on her to-do list. Her parents’ constant bickering, fighting and general disinterest in each other had dissuaded her from being one of those girls who pined for a man. Not having a man pay her a whit of romantic attention helped cement the matter. And while Enar seemed to be helping with the top goal on her to-do list—leaving town—she didn’t want him to be the object of her heart’s desire. She didn’t want to form an attachment at all.
It would be easier that way when he started fighting with her and sneaking out to spend time with other women. If she didn’t care, then his actions wouldn’t bother her.
“The necklace means I claimed you. That’s not marriage.”
Whew. She touched the stone beads of the necklace resting against her neck. “Wait a minute. What does being claimed mean?”
“Do you always ask so many questions?”
“Only when I don’t get the answers.”
His focus on her face sent prickles down her spine, lodging in her lower belly. Her body protested her mind’s earlier self-talk to remain aloof.
Treacherous feelings.
Judging from the way her neck and other parts of her tingled, she didn’t need the answer. She knew one thing he expected and it wasn’t his dinner on the table at the end of the day.
He would crush her when she became his horizontal servant. After all this time, the Goddess had seen fit to send her a way out of the town, and that way would kill her before she saw freedom. Although being crushed by Enar seemed a more pleasant way to die than being burned at the stake.
His face had been merciless, eyes cold as glass, when he held his dirk against the priest’s neck. She should have been scared, petrified, when he looked at her then. Instead, she felt a warmth glowing through her at the knowledge he would kill to protect her.
No one had ever cared like that before.
“This is your home?” Enar’s hand dropped to her shoulder as Lily twisted the key in the lock on the back door.
“It’s my store. I live above it.” She pulled away from his hand, his heat, walking forward as she slid back the hood of her cloak.
Enar shut the door behind him and walked through the kitchen into the store, brows pulled together as he strode to the damaged door. “Someone broke in and cleaned you out.” He walked around the small space as if looking for the perpetrator.
“It happened this morning. When I was out.”
“Someone threw rocks into your store?” He picked one up, tossing it up and down in his palm.
“You heard them. They think I’m a witch and witches should be killed.”
She watched surprise turning to anger flit across his face as he white-knuckled the rock.
“Kill you? Those bastards. I’ll kill them all. Do you want their heads?”
Yuck. He couldn’t be serious. One look told her he was. Lily shook her head.
“They don’t matter anymore. Unless you plan on leaving me here?”
“Of course not! What part of ‘you belong to me’ do you not understand, woman?” His eyes hardened as he looked at her.
His glare dared a man not to tremble in fear. She imagined most men quaked when faced with Enar’s wrath. But not her. She knew he wouldn’t harm her, knew it like she knew the color of her hair.
“I’m glad. Because I really want to leave this town.”
He jerked like he stepped on a snake. And then his long strides ate up the distance between them. Right before he got to her, he slammed the rock down on an empty shelf, his fingers brushing against the wood. His eyes blinked, once, twice, as he stared at his dusty fingers. A quizzical look turned her way.
Despite the heat blooming in her cheeks, she met his gaze. “No one shops here anymore.” She headed toward the stairs, refusing to look at the pity shining in his eyes.
“I would offer to clean it up, but we’re leaving, so it doesn’t matter.”
And with that one sentence, he summed up her life in River’s Run. It didn’t matter, now did it? Hopefully, where she was going would be better than what she had here.
It couldn’t get worse.
She hoped.
He caught up to her as she mounted the stairs, following behind like a dog on a rabbit trail, apparently unwilling to let her out of his sight. And if that didn’t put her in her happy place, she didn’t know what would.
Pushing through the d
oor into her room, she wished she’d made the bed. How was she supposed to know someone would be following her home? Seeing the way she lived? Aloof, Lily, act aloof.
She turned to her wardrobe, pulling out a satchel and shaking it.
“How much can I take?” Not that she had a lot to bring. A few clothes. Nothing else. Stuffed to the brink with memories, her room held little else. Eating took priority over decorating.
When he didn’t answer, she glanced over her shoulder, shaking her bag. “How much? One bag, two?”
“You don’t mind leaving?”
All brawn, no brain obviously. Hadn’t she just said that downstairs?
“That’s right. I want to leave. You want to take me. It works out well for both of us. Now, how much can I take?”
“You do not feel a need to take your entire shop do you?” A small wrinkle appeared between his brows.
“As you noticed earlier, there’s not much to take. I have clothes and personal items. A couple of bags, maybe.”
“One bag. Thoren travels light. Insists we do the same.” He glanced to the bed and back to her, grinning. “Besides, the less time you take packing, the more time we’ll have for pleasure.”
Lily’s whole body stiffened, as blood pounded in her ears. Oh, Goddess, not now. She hadn’t left the town. Now she’d never leave. He’d crush her before she could be free.
He took a swaggering step toward her, cupping her face in his hand. “Don’t be frightened. I won’t hurt you.”
Sure you won’t, look at the size of you.
Bending forward, he placed his lips against hers, pressing gently. And just like that, her nervousness vanished.
Firm lips moved against hers, his tongue licking the seam of her mouth. She parted her lips for him and moaned as he thrust his tongue inside. Tentatively, she tangled her tongue with his, surprised when he thrust deeper, tightening his arms around her waist.
She felt his arousal press against her stomach, which had the odd effect of causing an unfamiliar ache between her legs. She moved, wanting to assuage it, wanting...something. What was it about this man that brought out all these strange sensations? All her thoughts swirled away in the fog swimming through her mind, allowing her body to thrum from the gentle assault on her senses.
Enar’s hands rubbed up and down her sides, barely grazing her breasts before slowly crawling down to her hips, only to do it over again and again, each swipe driving her deeper into the sensual fog. Up to brush his thumbs against the outsides of her breasts, down to stroke closer to the growing ache between her legs, until she feared she’d go crazy if he didn’t do something right now. Then he picked her up, pressing her against the wall, drawing her legs around his waist and ah, the thick ridge of his arousal pressed right where she needed it.
If she moved, just a bit, right there, oh, that felt good. Oh yes, a woman could learn to like this. She pushed faster, stroking him, grinding herself against him as the pressure built inside her lower belly.
More. Did she actually moan that? Apparently so, if his erotic deep chuckle meant anything.
Enar’s hands drifted beneath her tunic, his thumbs rubbing against the sides of her breasts, skin on skin, slowly moving toward her nipples. She twisted slightly, forcing his finger to cross her tightened nipple, moaning at the pleasure of his rough pad over her sensitive nub. She felt as if she hurtled toward a precipice, toward pleasure beyond her wildest dreams.
And then the bang of the front door hitting the wall echoed through the room, breaking the fog of desire. Enar broke his embrace, lowering her legs to the ground before drawing the huge sword that hung down his back, looking completely unaffected by what just transpired between them. She glanced down. Well, maybe not completely.
He motioned for her to stay put—as if she could move—and started down the stairs with amazing quietness for a man his size. Lily pressed against the wall, trying to breathe. A deep gulp in, an exhale out. Repeat. Her heart thumped hard enough for her to see the movement through her tunic. She hadn’t wanted him to stop, completely forgetting her earlier fear of him crushing her. Tingles shot from a spot between her legs she hadn’t realized existed. She pressed her legs together until the ache diminished enough for her to walk.
Perhaps being claimed by him wouldn’t be as bad as she feared.
She stuck her head out the door, watching as Enar disappeared into her shop. The fact he wanted to defend her was surprising. The men she knew wouldn’t bother.
She tiptoed down the steps, her tread soft on the wooden stairs. Poking her head around the corner, she saw Enar, the tip of his broadsword pressed against the throat of one of the priests.
****
The brown-robed idiot dared enter his woman’s store. If that wasn’t bad enough, he had done it right when Enar was about to get a taste of his woman’s sweet core. For that alone the man deserved to die. Two strikes already against the stranger, but the interloper hadn’t stopped there. The bastard brought others with him. Those others stood against the door, pressed together like a mass of worms, suspended between wanting to protect their man and escape the wrath of an angry, sexually frustrated Watcher. Escape won for several of them and they scurried down the street.
What a shame. Blood Seeker wanted to drink and Enar felt like feeding it.
Although how much nourishment it could get off these weak-willed, sniveling creatures was another matter.
“Why are you here?” Enar pressed the tip deeper, causing a trickle of blood to form.
The man tried to take a step back and ran into his friends. White eyes rolled as he swallowed. “The witch ran in here. If you’ve seen her, we’ll take her from you.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, she belongs to me now. You won’t be taking her anywhere. Now get yourselves gone before I feel obliged to remove your heads.”
The mass of worms popped out the door, leaving the one at the edge of his sword remaining.
“So, what do you plan on doing with her, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“None of your business. And since you’re still standing here, I assume you don’t like your head.” Enar drew back his sword, half in threat, half in jest. The sniveling creature wasn’t a worthy opponent, but he had tried to capture Lily and for that deserved to die. No one hurt his woman on his watch.
Squeaking, the man jumped back. “May the Goddess curse you!” He turned and fled, disappearing like the rest of the crowd.
Enar shrugged off the curse, sheathing Blood Seeker, confident the Goddess had better things to do than grant the hideous little man his curse. Just to be on the safe side, though, he’d have one of the priestesses bless him when he returned home.
“Thank you.”
He whirled at the sound of Lily’s voice, its timbre sliding over his skin, making his erection stiffen further. She stood at the foot of the stairs, her pale hair falling over her shoulders, looking at him like he was some great hero.
A man could become accustomed to that look.
He wanted her, wanted to finish what they started, wanted to sink himself inside her wet core until they both screamed their release.
Although he should probably go get Thoren’s and his bags from the inn and meet up with his friend. There would be plenty of time for him to make Lily scream her pleasure later.
He walked toward her, amazed she wanted him to take her away from her town, her life. Since when had a claimed woman been happy to leave?
Maybe he should skip the blessing from the priestess as the Goddess clearly favored him by giving him such a delectable woman.
“I can’t believe you chased off the priest.” Lily beamed, her eyes wide.
“Priest?” Enar felt his eyebrows touch his hairline. “Where are the priestesses?”
“What priestesses? Women can’t know the ways of the Goddess without the interpretation of a man.”
“How under the sun do males discern the will of the Goddess without priestesses?”
Her brows met as her
head tilted. “You have priestesses? Women are allowed to hear the thoughts of the Goddess?”
Enar gestured for her to go up the stairs. He watched the sway of her hips as she walked, imagining what they would feel like against his groin as he thrust into her. “We have no priests. Females are needed for the males to see the will of the Goddess. Males can’t discern the truth without females. Maybe that’s why your town is so backward.”
“Excuse me?”
Way to go Enar, insult her why don’t you? “No offense, but things are just plain strange here. Like the priests. Everyone knows you can’t have priests. Males don’t hear the Goddess correctly, which leads to problems. That’s why you need priestesses.”
“So women are looked favorably upon where you’re from?” She turned and pierced him with her blue gaze.
Enar inspected a piece of dirt on his boot. “Draconi females are considered equals with their males. Don’t you need to be packing?”
She stared at him for a moment before picking up her bag, stuffing her clothes inside.
Whew. He almost got caught. Not that he’d lied, Draconi women were considered equals. Lily just didn’t realize he wasn’t Draconi. Probably wouldn’t do her any good to know the Watchers’ women were all captured from various towns and forced to live the rest of their lives serving their new masters and bearing children.
All but his mother, who managed to take some matters into her own hands. Yet another thing Lily didn’t need to trouble herself about.
Not yet anyway.
Enar ran his fingers through his hair as he watched Lily place her clothes in a bag. Allowing a captured woman to bring her things was out of the norm for Watchers. Once he made it home, he’d be laughed out of town for his kindness.
Good thing he was used to it.
Lily didn’t have much to pack. With the exception of the armoire and bed, the room was bare. He thought women liked decorating, putting little touches of themselves on everything. But not his woman. Although the closer he looked at the walls, he realized pictures had once dotted them.
Warrior Lover (Draconia Tales) Page 3
