Shattered Read Free

The blow across his mouth jarred his still-fragile consciousness.  Pain pulsed behind his eyes and straight through to the back of his head.  The fringes of darkness threatened at the corners of his vision.
    He tasted blood and it dripped from his chin. A few drops fell to the floor at his feet and he looked down dumbly, still registering what had just happened.  He hadn’t expected that burst of violence from her, but he realized it was because he was still somewhat slave to the thing between his legs. He had to clear his mind, for her eyes had given him ample warning.  It didn’t make sense that her hand was able to do so much damage.
    “I saw a soldier hit my father that way, for m oving between him and my mother,” Robin said. She seemed too calm.  “He hit him over and over.  He hit him until his face was unrecognizable.  I could hear the bone snapping beneath his plated gloves.”  She held up her gloved hand between them.  Two rows of metal ridges had been stitched parallel across the back.  “This isn’t quite the same, but my aim isn’t to kill you yet.”
    Any twinge of arousal Nathan had felt before was gone in that instant.  This woman was mad.  Twelve years, she said.  Twelve years was a long time to steep in revenge.
    “I’ll see to it that you’re compensated,” Nathan said.  He was hardly able to get the words out. “Let me go and I will give you any amount.”
    Robin laughed .  “Get back on your knees prince.  You’re making me uncomfortable just looking at you.”
    The fight he felt before was gone.  Somehow she’d taken it from him.  Nathan slid one leg beneath him, then the other, slowly, careful not to pull too hard at his arms.  His thighs burned from the strain and to be back on his knees was relief.
    Robin stood and turned from him, and only then did he feel free of her enough to look around.  He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see, but it wasn’t this.  He was in a bedroom, but underground.  It was strange.  The floor had been polished smooth but the ceiling was untouched in most places and ancient stone stalactites hung down like teeth overhead.
    He was bound in the center of the room.  The only door stood directly in front of him, to his left a bed and dresser.  Opposite that a substantial table, made of dark wood and polished, and two chairs to match.  Everything matched.  The furniture here was expensive and Nathan looked at the bed longingly.  He imagined it was comfortable, though at this moment he would have thought the same of a dank prison cell, if only the barred door locked him away from this woman.
    Nathan’s attention snapped back to Robin when she began her approach again.  The click of her boots was pronounced and each tap etched further into his mind.  She held a cup and set it down beside him, out of reach, but Nathan could see the clear water sloshing around inside it.
    Robin grabbed him beneath the chin and forced his face up until he looked at her again.  “That soldier pummeled my father until he stopped moving.”
    He r thumb moved across his swelling lip.  His blood stained her brown leather darker.
    “Please,” Nathan whispered, the word a breath as it fought to escape past her gloved fingers.  “That wasn’t me.  I wasn’t there.”
    “You lie to me prince, but I’m not angry.  I’m not looking for a confession.” The small, disapproving shake of her head sent the curls of her hair bouncing across her chest.  “I know you were at Verill.  It is in the register and I’ve seen the records.  But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you like they hurt my father.  They killed him so quickly it was a mercy.”
    Nat han shuddered but he didn’t pull away from her and her hand didn’t leave his face.  Instead she brought a cloth up to it and dabbed away the blood.  Nestled this close to her breasts Nathan felt a rekindling of warmth all over, not just between his legs.  The last few days had been a nightmare of