Bondmate Read Free Page A

fall. Too little to eat over the last few weeks, running and screaming,
terror, had all stolen away whatever she’d been holding in reserve.
    “We
did. We needed privacy with you, and that wasn’t an option at the camp, was
it?” Mateen’s voice was low, his reasoning logical. No, there was no privacy in
the camp for anyone. She hadn’t had a moment of silence or peace since the
soldiers had forced the evacuation of her apartment block in Puerta Santigo over a month ago,
not that she’d had much solitude there. A blanket sectioning off half a tiny
room hardly counted as a home. But she’d belonged there. Once she’d been
evacuated her life had turned to hunger, filth, and desperation.
    “Privacy for what? Are you going
to kill me?”
    Mateen
narrowed his eyes, and she felt Bynton release her entirely as she asked her
question.
    “Kill
you? Why would we—?”
    “To eat me. The devils like
to eat us, or so the stories go.”
    “We
aren’t devils.” Bynton took a step away and jammed his hands on his hips,
throwing his broad chest and thick arms into perfect display. “We are decorated
warriors of a respected house, not uncivilized cannibals.”
    She
would have shrugged, but the other male, Mateen, still held her close. His
broad hand flexed against her back.
    “In
the interest of civility, perhaps we might share a meal,” he said as he slid
his other hand down her arm to stroke along her hand, his expression distracted
like he wasn’t sure what he was doing. “After you bathe.”
    Why
she should be embarrassed by her unkempt state, she didn’t know. Staying clean
was of much less importance than the basics of survival, but a quick glance
around her revealed this room was very tidy, and the men within it were equally
hygienic. She certainly wasn’t going to disrobe in front of them. “These are
the only clothes I have.”
    “We
have replacements,” Bynton offered quickly. He
stepped back to her side and again plucked at her cowl. “There’s a cleansing
module just through that door. I can show you—”
    “Show
me nothing. I’m not going anywhere but away.” It was weak defiance, further
degraded by the sudden rumble from her empty belly. So these devils knew she
was dirty and hungry. So what?
    “You
need to eat before you return to that place,” Mateen declared in a decisive
tone. She saw Bynton peered at his friend with a frown. “We will replace your
garments as well.”
    He
released his hold on her and stepped away. Bynton edged closer, the warmth of
his body apparent to her, and for a bare second she wanted to close her eyes
and lean against him, feel something solid in her world once again. So strange and dangerous.
    “I
will prepare a meal while Byn assists you.” With
that, Mateen turned away and left the room through a door she hadn’t noticed,
leaving it ajar in his wake.
    “Come
this way,” Bynton prompted her, and she took a few stumbling steps in the
direction he indicated before sense restored to her.
    “Why
should I? You captured me, frightened me, and now I’m supposed to bathe in this
place I don’t even know? Eat with you?”
    Bynton’s expression softened, and he caught her hand in a surprisingly gentle
grasp. “This was a traumatic way to meet, but we had no choice in the matter.
There’s no reason for you to trust me or Mat, but we truly mean you no harm.
The opposite is true. Our intentions are only the best where you are
concerned.”
    They
were kidnappers, scary beasts with horns and huge bodies. She couldn’t escape.
Rather than argue, she relented and walked towards the room he’d shown her. Perhaps
they wanted her clean and fed before they tortured her. At least she’d be
presentable at her execution.
    ****
    Bynton
was filled with a potent combination of delight and despair. Lovely No was
naked behind a thin translucent barrier, and the humid air of the hygiene
module was filled with her scent. Touching her, however briefly, had cemented
his certainty she