Chapter 3

Her breathless plea made his head snap back as though she had struck him. With wide eyes, he stared down at her as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard. Blinking a few times to clear his mind, he took a deep breath before releasing her and stepping back.

“No. I won’t hurt you.”

She stared at him in shock, panting for air. The next moment, he swayed on his feet, a direct blast of air in his face dazing him. She moved to slip around him, but his hand snatched her arm, spinning her to face him again. Pulling her close, he slid his leg behind hers and pushed her backwards all in a fluid motion. Desperately, she grasped for him before she slammed into the ground.

Placing her hands beside her head, she spun her legs, sending out a spiral of air that would have had the strength to lift him off his feet if she had not been winded. Flipping over, she nimbly landed on her feet, crouched low with her hands out as she readied herself to unleash another blast of air.

Thinking of something far more effective than fighting with her, he turned away from her and placed his foot on top of her bag, making sure something was under his potentially crushing weight.

“No!” she cried out. “Please! Don’t break it!”

Casually, he peered at her from the corner of his eye. “And what will you give me for it?”

She swallowed hard and lowered her head in diffidence. “I ... have only myself to offer.”

A triumphant little smirk tugged at a corner of his mouth. He reached down and withdrew an odd contraption, holding it tightly so that she could not blow it from his grip. “I’ve never seen a holographic violin. It was a lovely melody. Made it easy to get close.”

Those multicolored eyes shot up at him as she realized he had been spying on her before she looked at her feet. Though she tensed when he reached out to her, she held her ground. His fingertips delicately touched her clenched jaw, lifting her head up. Her skin felt like warm silk beneath his rough pads as he caressed her face, gazing into her gorgeous eyes burning with spite ... and wet with barely contained terror.

“I spent some time thinking of what I would do to you if I ever caught up to you.” Her breath caught, and she grew even more rigid to hide her trembles. “Now, I realize I just want to know your name.”

Glowering at him, trying to hide her fear with contempt, she responded tersely. “People call me Zigz.”

He shook his head slowly, not looking away from her fascinating eyes. “I didn’t ask what people call you.”

Even the insects had gone silent. It was tangible. At last she whispered, “Sinoja.”

“Now that wasn’t so hard.”

“Are you going to tell me your name?” she snapped at him.

“Kupper.”

“Good, now that we’re friends, you can just hand me my instrument...”

He held it up high into the air, tightening his powerful grip even more. His expression grew cold and his deep tone was absolute.

“Strip.”

A shudder rode her spine from tip to tip. With great revulsion, she slipped the baggy sweater over her head. The thin strapped shirt under it was perfectly form fitting. She removed it quickly, perhaps thinking the sooner they started the sooner it would be over.

When the tight leggings were around her ankles, the chill caused her to shiver, her nipples furling tightly along with the bumps all over her skin. Kupper allowed his hungry gaze to sweep over her delicious body, and he was well aware of how small and helpless she felt. He could have stared at her all night and not gotten enough. As the elves were flawless, so was she, hourglass and lush as only a H’elfling could.

He suddenly stepped up close to her. She cringed and took a step back, but his hand wrapped around the back of her neck and tangling into her hair, holding her against his punishing lips. He kissed her as if he intended to steal the air from her so she could no longer create those magical gusts. Indeed, it left her breathless.

Dropping the instrument on some hay beside him, he caressed the curve of her body from the top of a voluptuous breast to her hip, his thumb circling a pink bud before moving on. A tremor ran through her, only barely suppressing a soft moan. She was so warm, so soft, so yielding. There was nothing to stop him from taking what he wanted, from letting that demon have what it wanted from her.

Releasing her was an agony so great that it made him groan. Turning on his heel, he briskly walked from her tempting body. He could only imagine the shock on her face at the moment for he certainly heard it in her voice.

“Wha-what are you doing?”

“You have no coin and I won’t take your things, so I just made you repay my pride.” Intending for that to be the end of the encounter, he headed for the nearest opening. He would grab his pack which he left outside and be gone from this place.

“Wait.”

He stopped but did not turn. If he gazed upon that irresistible body again, he knew he would lose his control.

Perhaps she had not thought he would hear her, or perhaps she had not expected herself to say anything. It took her a brief moment to speak again, a twinge of loneliness in her voice. “It’s, uh, it’s been a while since I’ve, uh, had company.”

Kupper turned his head slightly but did not look back. “I don’t make good company.”

Another pause. “You could have done whatever you wanted, but you didn’t.”