Free Bound by Elisabeth Naughton

be holding his breath, as if…as if he were in pain.
    She glanced toward his arms, covered in the long shirt, but didn’t see any marks or tearing of his clothes. The guards had removed his gloves but nothing else. Her brow lowered. “Leave us.”
    “That is not advised,” the guard on the right answered.
    Natasa had reached her patience limit about four hours ago. She couldn’t remember the guard’s name and seriously didn’t care to. “Your advice has no bearing on me. And this does not concern the Amazons.”
    “Everything in our city concerns us.”
    “Not him, and not me. Now go.”
    The guard cast Titus a scathing look. One that screamed of malice and distrust—and—Natasa narrowed her eyes—heat?
    Oh…shit . This was so not what she needed right now.
    Reluctantly, the guard dragged her attention from Titus and glared Natasa’s way. Then turned for the door. “We’ll be right outside.”
    Yeah, Natasa knew they would. This was getting better by the minute. And would make getting Titus out of here so much easier.
    The tent flap closed in the guards’ wake. Natasa blew out a breath equal parts relief and frustration.
    “Is this how all men are treated in your village?”
    Titus’s deep voice brought the fine hairs along Natasa’s nape to attention. In addition to a chiseled body and gorgeous face, he had a great voice, deep with just a hint of rasp. And at the moment, it was even raspier than normal.
    She turned away so she wouldn’t be tempted by him. Yeah right . She was always tempted by him. “It’s not my village. And yes, this is how all men are treated here. Amazons do not like men. Which is why your being here is a really bad idea. I told you not to get involved with me.”
    “You’re not an Amazon.”
    It wasn’t a question but a statement, and she didn’t feel like being vague right now. She unhooked the small pack from her waist and dropped it on the floor. After sliding her remaining dagger from the sheath at her lower back, she set it them on the small table. “No.”
    From the corner of her eye, she watched him look up at his arms, bound to the tree above his head. Then back at her. But when she caught the gleam in his eyes, she no longer saw pain. She saw heat. A heat as hot as the one she’d seen blazing in his eyes when he’d looked at her in the safety of those trees.
    “I could snap these ropes at any moment. I let you bring me here, ligos Vesuvius . Admit it, you wanted to get me alone so you could have your way with me.”
    Yes…
    No !
    Her frustration bubbled up, and she faced him. A frustration that grew to bursting with each miniscule curve of his lips. “I don’t think you get what’s happening here. These are Amazons, not children.”
    “They’re still girls.” He nodded toward the door. “Those two are no threat.”
    “Those two are the least of your worries. How many Amazons do you think live in this city? No idea? I’ll tell you. At least eighty. And that’s not counting the nymphs they protect who’d turn you over to the guards faster than you could cry foul should you so much as look at them wrong. Two Amazons wielding swords are nothing? Try the entire city bearing down on you because they not only hate men, they see you as a threat. You’re only alive right now because I convinced them you were my prisoner. As soon as you challenge that, you’ll be dead. I’m the only thing standing between you and the afterlife, buddy.”
    She turned for the door. She had to get away from him. There was something about him that riled her up. Distracted her. Made her want . And she didn’t have the patience for that right now. Not when she was running out of time.
    “Why are you?”
    She stopped a foot from the door. Why was she? Good question.
    A memory hit before she could answer. The gentle way he’d taken care of her at the half-breed colony after her panic attack. How he’d seemed as astonished by that fact as was she was. How dangerous it had felt to