The Bound (Ascension #2)(41)

Her eyes snapped upward to his face. He was blindingly attractive with light hair and intense brown eyes. He carried himself on the horse as well as King Edric himself. She swallowed back her fear and tried to ignore how attractive he was.

She had to find a way out of this. All she had done so far was stare at him.

Once he got a good look at her, he vaulted off his horse and reached his hand out to help her up. “My lady, allow me to assist you. I thought you were…well, I wasn’t sure what you were doing. What are you doing out in the woods?”

He effortlessly helped her to her feet.

What could she say to him to convince him to leave her alone? The last thing she needed was to be recognized by some strange man. She was wearing Byern clothing with neither hat nor cape to hide her features, and she was alone in a country that forbade such behavior while the Prince of her own country was in the city, looking for her.

She couldn’t even bring herself to play the meek, submissive role and break out the I-got-lost routine.

“I was just in the area.”

“There’s nothing in the area.”

“There are trees.”

“Yes. Yes, there are,” he agreed. “Do you talk to the trees?”

He wasn’t laughing at her, but she could tell she amused him.

“Of course not. Are you finished mocking me? I have more important matters to attend to.” She raised her chin and stormed away from the man, hoping he wouldn’t follow her and ask more questions.

“Stay, Raeder,” the man said to his horse.

Then, she heard him following after her.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. I was merely curious. I seek solace in the trees to escape the city. It is quieter out here, and I’m able to think. I would never judge someone who also loved the trees.”

“You might love the trees but not the animals in it,” she said. The heat of the moment was still wrapped around her after the death of the buck. “You took down that buck, but you hardly look as if you are starving. For sport then?” She whirled on him and planted a finger in his chest. “Did you never think of what its death would mean?”

“A hunter rarely considers its prey,” he said, stepping into her finger.

“A hunter who does not consider its prey is destined to become prey himself.”

His eyebrows rose high, and then he smiled, lighting up his entire face. The force of it seemed to knock the breath out of her. All she could do in return was stand there and smile back.

He cocked his head to the side. “You are very different than the rest of the women in this country.”

“Yes…well…” she said with a soft shrug.

“You act as if that is not the first time you have heard that.”

It wasn’t. Far from it.

“So, what would you have me do with the prey the hunter killed for sport?”

Even though something in her mind was buzzing around, telling her to leave, to get out of this situation immediately, she didn’t back down from his challenge. “Give it to the hungry. There are too many in the streets.”

“A kindred spirit,” he whispered. “A woman who stands up to a stranger she meets while all alone, who prefers the solitude of the woods, and who recognizes the needs of others. Pray tell, where did the Creator send you from, and why is this the first time we have met?”

Cyrene flushed and took a step away from him. When he put it that way, she realized how very alone she was out in the woods here with this strange man.

“I…I should probably go,” she said softly.

“Now?”

“Yes. I just remembered I have somewhere to be.”

“Allow me to take you,” he said, gesturing back to his horse.

“Oh no, that’s not necessary.”

Cyrene retrieved her bag and cloak, threw it back over her shoulders, and turned to flee. He grasped her hand to keep her from leaving.

“Please,” he said, bringing her hand to his mouth and softly kissing it. “After I’ve offended you so, please allow me to do this. I have eleven sisters. They would have my hide if they knew that I had made such a fool of myself.”

Just then, three men galloped into the clearing.

“Dean! Dean!”

The man before her shifted so that she was completely blocked from their view, and then he waved his hands at the men. “I’m over here.”

A man on a chestnut-colored horse pulled into the lead. He had dark hair past his shoulders and a full beard. “Bloody hell, Dean, we didn’t know where you had gone. If your father heard about this…”

“Well, he won’t,” Dean said stiffly. “Just a friendly hunting excursion. I took down a buck.”

“Fantastic,” a second man said. He looked younger than the other man with sandy-blond hair and a lean, almost stringy, build. “We’ll get him cleaned up.”

The second man dismounted and strode over to the fallen deer. A third followed behind him.

Cyrene knew, if she would ever have an opportunity to escape, this would be the time. Dean was hiding her from sight from the other men for some purpose, and maybe it would be easier for both of them if she just disappeared.

She bit her lip and contemplated her options. But Dean seemed to have another idea.

“I’ve picked up a young maiden walking in the woods and agreed to take her back to her home.”