Free Embracing Silence by N. J. Walters Page B

them now.
    Ignoring her, Tienan turned to a small table. She heard a telltale scratch and then a light flared before settling down to a slow burn. The dim light of the candle was barely enough to penetrate a few feet. She was sure that was intentional.
    Tienan walked slowly toward her. The weak light was enough to remind her of just how big he was. His broad shoulders blocked out most of the light as he loomed over her. Swallowing was difficult, but she managed. “Why?”
    He shook his head and kept coming. Silence backed up, her knees hitting a hard surface. She toppled back into a chair, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out in fright. Tienan was trying to intimidate her and he was doing a hell of a job. But why?
    Casually, he untied her hands, bring each one to rest on the heavy wooden arm. Quick as a flash, he cuffed them to the chair with leather bindings. This was beginning to feel all too familiar.
    Crouching down beside the chair, he wrapped another binding around her stomach. His hands were warm as he pushed up her shirt so the strap rested on her bare skin.
    Silence knew she could scream and yell and it wouldn’t matter. No one would come even if they happened to hear. People minded their own business. It was safer that way.
    Adrian didn’t even have any way of knowing she was missing. She’d told several people she was going out on patrol with one group. Then she’d told a few other folks she was going out with a different patrol. By the time Adrian missed her, which he would, he’d have to wait for both patrols to return to find out for sure which one she was with. By the time he found out she wasn’t with either one it would be too late. Tienan would have done whatever it was he was going to do.
    “Tienan.” She thought he might have flinched when she said his name but decided she was mistaken when he glared at her a moment later. Their eyes were level and she’d never seen his green eyes look so cold, not even when he’d first captured her.
    Worry crept through her soul. What did she really know about his man she’d fallen in love with? Nothing. He’d said once he might kill her. Was he planning on fulfilling that promise now?
    Catching her chin between his palm, he turned her head until she was facing him. He said nothing as he watched her. Silence had the feeling he was trying to see all the way into her soul.
    His thumb traced the curve of her jaw, the tender caress at odds with the anger brewing in his eyes. The mask was still in place, but she could read the emotions stirring within him.
    “Why?” He spoke so low she had to strain forward to hear him.
    The restraints brought her up short and frustration gnawed at her. Patience , she reminded herself. “Why what?”
    “Why did you betray me?”

Chapter Six
     
    Tienan watched as confusion and then anger flared in her eyes. Silence tried to keep her emotions contained, but they showed on her face. She frowned and gave him the denial he expected.
    “What are you talking about? I didn’t betray you.”
    How he wanted to believe her. Even now, he wanted to free her from the restraints and whisk her over to the pallet in the corner and lose himself in her soft, hot depths. Only the memory of the nightmarish hours he’d spent eluding the security police stayed his hand. Someone had told them his location and Silence was the only person, besides Logan, who’d known where to find him. And Logan’s loyalty wasn’t in question.
    His fingers tightened around her face and he forced himself to relax them, not wanting to bruise her porcelain skin. Which was stupid. He wanted answers and he’d do whatever it took to get them. But hurting Silence wasn’t the way to get what he wanted.
    Even now he could sense the rise in her body temperature, see the way her nipples pebbled beneath her shirt. With her jacket hanging open, there was no way to hide her reaction to him. Silence wanted him.
    Letting his hand slide down the side of her face, he