Punished, Tana Stone [top reads .txt] 📗

else running on the path outside the dwelling, just one more voice in a chorus of terror.

Donal laughed, but it was a hard, mirthless sound. “No one is coming for you. No one knows you’re here. Well, no one who would dare open their mouths about it.”

I thought back to the hands grabbing me from behind. “Your friends were in on this, too?”

His cold smile was the only answer. “They don’t like the idea of that barbarian showing up here and taking my girl either.”

“Corvak has nothing to do with me not marrying you.” I strained my hands against the rope until the skin chafed. “I was never going to marry you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You are going to marry me. As soon as this is all over and the empire drags away the corpse of your Vandar, you will agree to marry me, or I’ll make sure your father never works again. You really want your sweet little sister to be homeless?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Since Juliette had been the one to tell Donal that I was seeing Corvak, and was the reason I was currently being held against my will while the planet was being brutally attacked, she was far from my favorite person at the moment. But as furious I was at her, I didn’t want that to happen.

“You’d really force a woman to marry you?” I shook my head at him. “Why would you want someone who doesn’t want you?”

His eyes flashed and he dropped his hands to his sides, clenching them into fists so hard his arms shook. “You will want me.”

I shrank back as he stomped over to me, gripping my jaw in his hand and jerking my face to his. “Once that Vandar is gone, you’ll forget all about him, and I’ll make you want me.”

I twisted my face from his painful grasp. Even though Donal looked a little crazy, I refused to let him scare me. A Vandar warrior would never back down from a fight, and neither would I. “That’s not the way it works, Donal. I’m in love with Corvak, and I always will be.” A blast rattled the door and sent more dust over us. “It doesn’t matter if he dies or if he leaves, I’ll never stop loving him. And I’ll never love you.”

He staggered back like he’d been slapped, shaking his head so hard it was a blur. I used his distraction to pull my shoulders back as far as I could and tug my hands with all my might. The pain made me flinch as I scraped off the skin on my wrists, but one hand finally slipped free. I let out a gasp, drawing Donal’s attention.

“What are you…” His words died on his lips as his gaze dropped to my neck. Then he was on me, tearing back the neckline of my blouse. “What is this? Where did you get this?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he was so distracted pawing at my collarbone that I was able to use my free hand to untie my other one. When both hands were free from the restraints, I brought them around and down hard on his back.

A huff of startled breath escaped his lips as he rolled off me and onto the floor. Leaping up, I kicked him in the gut, rewarded by a groan as he clutched his belly. “That’s for trying to rape me.” I aimed another kick at his side. “That’s for tying me up.” My final kick was straight at his groin. “And that’s for never ever learning the meaning of the word no, you spoiled, little prick.”

Stepping over the moaning man, I glanced down at my wrists. They were a bloody mess, but I didn’t care. I was getting the hell away and joining the fight. Bandages could wait for later.

I pushed open the door and ran out onto the path. Villagers were rushing in both directions, the din of yelling and crying almost drowning out the sound of fighters swarming overhead. The sky glowed with the red beams of laser fire and the orange bursts of explosions.

I turned to rush down toward the village square and ran smack into a sweaty, bare chest. My fingers splayed across the hard muscles as I braced myself and peered up at the face of the Vandar raider.

“Sienna!” Corvak closed his hands over mine, his gaze raking across my face. “I thought you were…”

“I was detained,” I said. “I see you started the war without me.”

Corvak cocked one eyebrow, squeezing my hands to his hot flesh. When I flinched from the contact on my raw wrists, his gaze dropped to them. Then his face became stone.

“What happened?” He gently lifted my hands, a muscle ticking in his clenched jaw. “Who did this to you?”

“Don’t worry about him. He’s currently searching for his balls.”

The fury faded from his face. “That’s the warrior I trained.”

A few villagers bumped into us, and Corvak pulled us over to the side so the crowd could pass.

“Shouldn’t you get back to the fighting?” I asked. “I’m ready to fight with you.”

“Not until you know that I’m not leaving this planet without you.”

I held my breath for a beat. “What do you mean? You want to stay?”

He lifted one of my palms and pressed a kiss to it. “I want you to come with me. After we defeat the empire and secure the future of the planet, I’ll be leaving with the bounty hunters. They’ve offered me a place on their crew. I want you to join me.”

My pulse fluttered. “Live on a bounty hunter spaceship?”

“You’d get to do what you love to do, and you’d do it by my side.” He traced a finger along the line of my jaw and down my neck, hesitating when his callused finger reached the hollow of my throat. His dark eyes flashed with possessive desire. “As my mate.”

I tried to swallow, but my throat was too thick. Instead,