Free Falcon’s Captive by Vonna Harper

leave…
    Alarmed, she straightened. He didn’t pull her back against him, but neither did his grip on the leash relax. Looking at the man who was so close that his features blurred, she again wondered if she simply hated him. She’d expected him to be a monster, a beast. But there were so many layers to him.
    “Your lord,” she tried. “Are you taking me to him?”
    “Yes.”
    “And Tau?”
    “Yes.”
    Soon she’d be turned over to other men, and they might indeed be monsters or beasts. If she’d been truly human, the thought would have terrified her. As it was, she had to tamp down fear, yet she told herself that she was grateful for what he’d just told her. Knowing what he planned for her future made it easier to shrug off her conflicted emotions. She and Nakos were enemies, nothing more.
    “Aren’t you going to ask me what Sakima wants of you?” he questioned.
    “Sakima?”
    “My lord, and the man who took me from boy to adult.”
    There, another layer to this complex man. “I don’t have to,” she evaded. “I know.”
    Shaking his head, he wrapped his fingers around the rope holding her hands together and lifted. “You can’t possibly know what his or Tau’s intentions are, because they haven’t confided in us yet. Tell me something, Jola. Why are you naked?”
    “I’m a Wilding. Do you expect anything different?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    “Maybe I—wanted to get close to myself,” she blurted, “To feel the sun everywhere.”
    “And that would, what, make you feel more alive?”
    Surprised by his perception, she said nothing. Falcon Land was a place of great contrasts, but most travelers didn’t note those contrasts. The mostly flat terrain struck most of those who traveled through it as monotonous, even barren, but she’d spent her life appreciating the nuances of color and the impact of each season. She couldn’t help wondering if Nakos would ever see it the way she did.
    Probably not, especially if he soon left, taking her with him.
    She didn’t want to be his prisoner! She wanted back freedom of movement and privacy and the ability to go to Raptor’s Craig whenever she needed to. She wanted to not think about him.
    “It’s still here,” he said.
    Certain what he was talking about, she nevertheless glanced up. The speck that she had no doubt was a Falcon was still circling above them. Again and again it traced the same pattern while drifting a little lower with each circuit. Falcons flew like that when they were searching for prey or learning what they needed to about something in their world. In Falcon form, they were ruled by instinct and not intelligence. Just the same, she told herself that the creature above her cared about her well-being. The creature was assuring him or herself that she wasn’t in danger.
    And perhaps deciding to leave her alone so she could learn everything possible about the newcomers who called themselves Ekewoko.
    “The way you’re looking at it,” Nakos went on, “it’s as if you love it.”
    “You think I shouldn’t?”
    “It’s only a bird.”
    Only a bird. Under other circumstances, she would have laughed at his ignorance. Instead, she let her gaze drift back to him. Because he was still looking skyward, she felt free to study his features. Nature had set his eyes deep in their sockets. His cheekbones were high and his chin firm and square, which lent him an air of confidence and added to his strength. Even his mouth struck her as strong. If he hadn’t taken her breast into it, she would have never guessed at the soft sensuality beneath the firm line.
    Yes, her breast had been in his mouth, sheltered and teased.
    Just then he shook his head as if dismissing the circling predator and met her gaze. They stood staring at each other, enemies probing beneath the surfaces for weaknesses. At the same time, she sensed something else behind the relentless stare: a questioning, perhaps, or maybe simple acknowledgment that she was female and he