“It all started when I decided to examine the progress of the new stable.” Michael Talbot’s head was throbbing. He opened his eyes and then closed them again. It was too bright. He felt like he had a hell of a hangover, but he hadn’t been drinking. The last thing he remembered was going after that faithless bitch of a wife. He didn’t care what the courts said. Roxanne was still his wife. Until he decided he didn’t want her anymore.
He forced his eyes open and looked around. “What the fuck?” He pushed himself into a seated position. He certainly wasn’t in Roxanne’s apartment any longer. He was in the middle of some godforsaken forest. What had that bitch done to him?
He struggled to remember. He’d dragged her back to her small sofa, planning to avail himself of his husbandly rights. There’d been a flash of light so bright it had momentarily blinded him. Then he’d been thrown back and felt himself fall.
Then…nothing.
Standing, he surveyed his surroundings. He couldn’t stay here. He had no idea how far he was from civilization. Roxanne must have done something to him. Had she somehow managed to drug him? That had to be it. Nothing else made sense. She’d pay for that.
A heavy pounding came from off to his left. He turned just in time to see two large horses break into the meadow. Each horse was carrying a man dressed in nothing but leather—pants, boots and vest. They circled him, their eyes narrowed.
Michael’s heart thudded, but he showed no fear. He’d met this kind in prison and recognized kindred spirits. The corner of his mouth turned up in a sneer. “Where the hell am I?”
They brought their horses to a stop and stared down at him. They both had long hair to their waist, but one had thin braids on either side of his face. The one with the braids drew a long sword from a scabbard at his waist. He extended the weapon until the tip touched Michael’s face, breaking the skin. A bead of blood rolled down Michael’s cheek. He didn’t move. Didn’t flinch.
“Who are you?” the stranger asked. “And why are you on our land?”
“Name’s Michael Talbot. I don’t know how the hell I got here, but I’m looking for my wife.”
The man eased his weapon back. “You have a woman?” Michael sensed the stranger’s interest and nodded. “I need to find her.” The stranger sat back in his saddle. “Why should we help you? What will you give us if we help you?”
“What do you want?” Michael had a feeling he knew what they wanted. He’d seen the gleam in the stranger’s eye when he’d mentioned a woman.
The second stranger nudged his horse forward. “Is the woman pretty?”
“I wouldn’t bother with her if she wasn’t,” Michael retorted.
“We want her.” The first stranger sheathed his weapon but that in no way made him any less dangerous.
Michael shrugged. He was almost finished with her anyway. Serve her right if he left her with these two. She’d be begging to come back to him in no time. Only he wouldn’t take her. Not after these two had their dicks in her. “When I’m done with her, she’s all yours.”
The stranger smiled. Michael could see the cruelty in it. Roxanne was going to get what was coming to her one way or another. Maybe leaving her with these bastards would show her just how good she’d had it with him.
The stranger glanced at the other man with him. They were obviously related in some way. Probably brothers.
“I told you my name. Who the fuck are you?”
The man with the thin braids smiled his cruel smile again. “I am Agmar of the House of Luther. This is my brother Ivan.”
Strange names, but then again, these weren’t exactly normal-looking guys. If they weren’t riding horses, Michael would have pegged them as part of a biker gang. Maybe they were. Maybe they had a place to crash near here and kept horses.
“Where am I?” He hated not knowing, not being in full control of the situation. But that was about to change. Michael knew what these men wanted now and he was a master at manipulating people to get what he wanted. It was only a matter of dangling what they desired before them. And right now, they desired Roxanne.
“You are in Javara.” It was the second man who answered him. He turned his horse around and offered Michael his hand. It was either swing up on the horse or walk.
Riding was better than walking any day.
“Never heard of it. How close is that to Los Angeles?”
Chapter Six
Roxanne felt warm and cozy. She snuggled beneath the covers and sighed. She’d had the strangest dreams last night. Everything from a nightmare that Michael had found her to another one featuring her warriors from the tapestry.
Her warriors.
When had she started thinking of them in that way? Not that it mattered. It was perfectly normal for her to want them in her dreams. They made her feel safe and very desirable.
The covers shifted beside her. She jerked and tried to move, only to find herself trapped by a large, muscled arm thrown across her waist. A low rumble came from behind her. “You’re safe, Roxanne. Sleep.”
Her eyelids popped open. Impossible. She was wide-awake now. Or was she? She blinked as a large man came into view. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted slightly. She recognized him. Sednar. Radnor’s brother. He lay on his back, one arm thrown above his head, naked from the waist up. She had no idea if he was naked below that because a blanket covered him.
As if sensing her gaze, his eyes opened and a sleepy smile covered his face. “Good morning, little one. How are you feeling?” His voice was deep and slightly raspy.
Seductive. It sent a shiver down her spine.
Behind her, Radnor shifted. There was no mistaking the fact that he was naked. She could feel his cock hard and hot against her lower back. Against her lower back! She was naked. Almost naked. She was still wearing her underwear, but she might as well be wearing nothing. How the heck had that happened? And what had they done to her?
She bolted upright in bed. The covers fell to her waist. She grabbed them and yanked them to her chin. “I’m still dreaming.”
A rumble, much like a growl, came from her left. She swiveled around and watched Radnor as he sat up and shoved his long hair away from his face. The scowl on his face and the scar under his right cheekbone made him look deadly and dangerous and incredibly sexy.
She had to stop thinking about sex all the time. For a woman who’d been celibate for a long time with no problem, she was suddenly thinking about sex constantly. It had to be their fault. Maybe it was pheromones. Whatever it was, it was disconcerting to say the least.
“You are not dreaming, Roxanne.” Radnor reached out and pried one of her hands away from her death grip on the covers. He brought it to his face and pressed it against his hard square jaw. The stubble on his face was rough against her palm. The warmth of his skin soaked into her hand.
Not to be left out, Sednar cupped her chin in his large hand. “We are very real, Roxanne.” He brushed his thumb lazily over her bottom lip.
“I don’t understand.” This couldn’t be real. Could it? She couldn’t explain away what was happening by saying it was a dream any longer. That logic didn’t hold up.
She’d slept. Yet when she awakened, she was still here, not in her apartment.
Radnor sighed, his fingers tightening around hers before he turned her hand and pressed a kiss in the center of her palm. “It’s as I told you, Roxanne. You are in Javara.
The tapestry brought you here as a prospective bride for Sednar and myself.” Everything he’d told her from the day before came back in a rush. Competition.
They wanted to compete, sexually, for her favor. Her nipples tightened, brushing against the cover she had clutched to her chest.