Taken by the Enemy (11 page)

“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 to 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.

“I don’t know, I kind of always imagined you had baths as big as this pool inside those huge houses people like your family lived in.” Lucian grinned at her when she rolled her eyes.

“No, we had normal baths.”

“I’m sure they were very
nice
baths.” He was still grinning and she splashed him, making him flinch and sputter. Wiping his face, Lucian sighed at her. “Do you ever just say thank you when someone helps you?”

“It depends on who helps me, and
why
.” Her breathing was finally settling, her lungs no longer burning, and she caught an odd, sad look on his face before he spoke.

“I didn’t help you just because I want you.”

“But it was part of it.”

“If I didn’t want you, I might have waited a second or two longer to react, yes.” He shrugged, and she gawked at him. “That was a joke.”

“It was a terrible one.”

“Listen, I —” Lucian muttered to himself, grabbing at his hair again before pushing the damp strands off his forehead. “I want to —”

“What?”

He took a deep breath, and then met her eyes steadily. “I want to show you that things can be different. With us.”

“There is no
us
.”

Lucian flinched. “Will you just let me show you? Without fighting me like a hawk trying to break its leash?”

“You don’t see a problem with that question?” Emmie stared at him, and he just looked tired. “You have me on a
leash
, Lucian. This whole village is one big leash, with rules, and —”

“I
know
,” he growled. “You don’t like the rules, or the community we’ve built, I
know
.” He took a slow step towards her in the water, and she had to fight the urge to back up. “But I’m already bending them until they’re threatening to break. I’m doing everything I can to protect you.”

She started to argue, but he raised his hand to stop her.

“I can be different. I’m trying,
this
is me trying, and I want to try with you.” He moved closer, and part of Emmie wanted to dive back into the water, sanity be damned, but the other part wanted to know what he was offering. To know what he meant by different. Lucian slowly moved his hand towards her face, giving her plenty of time to move away. His skin was warm when he finally cupped her cheek gently. He kept it there, holding her gaze for a moment until his hand slid back into her soaked hair – and then he kissed her.

It was gentle, soft, and nothing like the harried kiss they had shared after her confession in his house. His lips were hot against hers, and she found herself opening to him slowly as he deepened it. They were close, too close with no barriers between them, and she wanted to steady herself against him but kept her hands clenched into fists away from his bare skin. It was mesmerizing, this slow, decadent tasting, and then his teeth trailed over her bottom lip as he pulled back sending a thrill through her.

Emmie leaned towards his lips again, to renew the kiss, but he steadied her by her shoulder and then ran his hand down to interlace their fingers, walking them wordlessly towards the shore. She followed him in a daze, not sure quite what was happening, but willing to see. As they rose out of the water, it shone on his skin like tiny jewels, highlighting every hard ridge of tanned muscle. In that moment, she gave herself leave to look and every inch of him was perfect. Formed by the efforts of surviving in this wilderness.

“Come here.” He pulled her down to sit on the soft mud, and she felt like she was trapped in a dream that she couldn’t wake from. Thoughts flitted on the edges of her mind, questioning her sanity, but then he was kissing her again, laying her back while keeping himself off to her side.

“Lucian —”

“I just want to show you what this can be like.” He silenced her next protest with another kiss and his fingers trailed over her skin. It seemed impossible to feel both cold and hot at the same time, but Lucian’s touch was doing that to her. His fingertips traced patterns on her skin, across her collarbone, down the side of her breast, and then the curve of her waist. With every breath, Emmie urged herself to get up and walk away, but this was the first time he was acting more like the Lucian she had seen from afar.