Free Dark Stallion by Raven Willow-Wood Page A

might think that was why she’d given in to him.
    Ok, so she had to concede that it was very likely that pretty much every woman had at one time or another.
    She hadn’t been last night, though—she didn’t think.
    Had it been in the back of her mind, her subconscious mind, that it was a way to ‘tame’ the beast? To curry favor? To ensure her safety?
    She certainly hadn’t thought so. She hadn’t believed that she was acting on any impulse except desire—an uncharacteristic impulse, to be sure. But then she’d never been around men like Aydin and Colwin—men that weren’t actually men at all but strangely exotic and appealing beings.
    If that was the case, though, it sure as hell hadn’t worked worth a damn, she thought angrily! He seemed more suspicious of her rather than less!
    She glanced at Colwin then, wondering if he was as inclined to distrust her as Aydin and discovered he was staring at her bared legs hungrily. She also noticed that he looked pretty battered. “You fought with your brother,” she said before she thought better of it.
    His gaze flickered to her face. His skin reddened with discomfort. “We had a … difference of opinion,” he said tightly.
    About her?
    She swallowed a little convulsively, unnerved by the evidence of violence. “Does it hurt?”
    He sent her a sour look. “No more than his, I don’t expect.”
    She hadn’t actually noticed that Aydin’s face looked as battered as Colwin’s did. “The bully,” she muttered. He was the oldest and bigger and stronger, she didn’t doubt, although Colwin hardly looked frail himself! “Why don’t you put some cool water on it? It should help the swelling go down.”
    He studied her curiously for a moment and with more than a touch of suspicion.
    Emma frowned. “I wasn’t considering bashing you over the head with a rock while you were occupied,” she said dryly. “I just thought the cool water might help.”
    “I am centaur.”
    “Meaning you’re a tough guy and nothing hurts?”
    Irritation and amusement flickered across his face. “Meaning we heal very quickly. It does not hurt any longer. In a little while it will heal and there will be no sign at all that it happened.”
    Surprise flickered through her but she realized it actually made sense—in a crazy sort of way. If they could shift from being completely human in appearance to the form of centaurs, there had to be some serious cell manipulation going on. She doubted that that meant they didn’t feel any pain, though, regardless. “Except in your memory.”
    His lips tightened and she realized he wasn’t thinking about his fight with his brother at all but the deeper wounds he’d suffered at the hands of the hoonans. “We need to go.”
    Scooping up one last drink of water, Emma rose and led the way back.
    “I will carry her,” he told Aydin when they reached him again.
    Aydin divided a frowning look between them. “You will regain your strength faster if you are not burdened with her.”
    Indignation rose in Emma’s breast, even though she was obliged to admit she wasn’t exactly a feather weight. Colwin looked equally indignant. “I believe I can manage,” he responded tightly.
    Aydin shook his head at his brother. “You take insult where none was intended. I have been a guest of King Bart. I know what a sojourn in his keep is like. You have dropped a stone, at least—almost no food or water and driven to work until you are nigh ready to drop and beaten until you get up again if you fall … or try to fight them. And we have no food to help rebuild your strength. Let me carry her at least until we have had time to find food and eat a decent meal.”
    Colwin looked somewhat mollified, but he refused the offer. “I will carry her. Mayhap tonight we can hunt, fill our bellies, and we will all feel better for it.”
    Adyin allowed the subject to drop, but it was obvious he still didn’t like it and Emma felt horribly uncomfortable—like an unwanted