The tent was well lit with high ceilings and lavish furnishings. Billowing curtains of red silk waved back and forth in the breeze, swirling around couches and a low table covered with an abundance of food and wine.
Her uncle stood across from her, his armor polished and shiny and his weapons strapped over his chest and around his waist. His golden hair had grown longer while battling on the front lines and his beard had grown in so it now covered his face. The expression in his hollow blue eyes looked haunted as he communicated his disappointment regarding her arrival at the fort.
Valeria hung her head in shame, knowing he would not hear her case in his agitated state. The war seemed to be aging him, hardening him, until she barely recognized him anymore. She was dismissed to her own tent to rest and eat, and soon after the screams started.
She ran from her tent in alarm out into the cold night, wearing only her tunic, and the sight before her made her blood run cold. Chaos. Terror. Wild barbarians with painted faces, looking like animals dressed in the furs they wore, butchered the Roman soldiers, cutting them down in the night. She looked desperately for someone she recognized, but no face was familiar to her.
One of the barbarians noticed her and charged towards her, weapon raised in the air, ready to land a fatal blow. Valeria ran. She had no time to find her uncle. No time to look for Rufus. She ran from the fort like the devil was at her heels, never looking back, never stopping. Only when she could run no more did she fall to her knees in the snow to pray to the Gods.
They laughed at her. Their beautiful, flawless faces twisted and contorted as they mocked her. Valeria covered her ears and begged them to stop. They only laughed louder. She clawed at her hair and screamed in frustration, trying to drown out the sound of their ridicule.
Finally the darkness took mercy on her, and the dreams were no more.
The sounds of the camp stirring to life the next morning woke her, and she was surprised to find herself alone. Where had Tristan gone? Why did she care? She should be grateful for the blessed respite. Her dreams had left her muddled and disoriented and it took her a few moments to remember where exactly she was.
Gods, had she only been here for one day? Time dragged slowly in this place. She’d started on this journey weeks ago, it was the longest she’d been away from home, and though she missed it, some part of her didn’t want to go back.
What was happening to her? Only one day with the enemy and she was questioning her loyalty, her life, everything. Was it possible to change your fate? To thwart the will of the Gods and forge your own path?
The bright rays of the early morning sunlight poured into the tent when Tristan entered. He looked tidy, wearing fresh clothes and a fur draped over his shoulders, and his clean scent filled the small space. His long, auburn hair glistened with droplets of water. He was even more stunningly handsome than ever, and in her dazed, dreamy state she wanted this man. He was powerful and captivating, and she was helpless to resist his vital allure. Enemy or not, she wanted nothing more in her life right now than for him to kiss her. She fantasized about it. She feared it. She was both attracted and repelled by her feelings for him.
“Do you plan to sleep all day?” he rasped in a gruff voice. “Morning has nearly gone.”
Valeria stamped down the sudden dangerous craving she had for him and lifted her leg from under the fur. “I cannot get far with this.” She shook her leg so the chain rattled.
“As I prefer.” His bright smile was absolutely devastating. “I think shackles suit you.”
Her shock yielded quickly to fury. “I think you’re far more suited for them than I.”
“Yet you are the one wearing them.”
A horrible thought struck her. Her nerves tensed. If he intended to keep her chained as a prisoner, it would be impossible to escape. Why was she even thinking escape was an option? She had nowhere to escape to, and with no shoes or warm clothes, she wouldn’t get far. Any spark of hope she had left was extinguished.
Tristan saw the defeat in her eyes, but he couldn’t take pleasure in his conquest. Valeria was too beautiful to look as sad as she did. Lying in a pile of furs, still soft and warm from sleep, he had to fight every urge demanding he join her beneath those furs and bury his aching shaft deep inside her.
He shifted his weight, his erection growing uncomfortably hard, straining against the front of his breeches. He’d taken a long, cold bath in the river this morning and had taken himself in hand a few times to alleviate his desire, but all of that was for naught as Valeria sat up and her tunic fell over one of her shoulders, revealing more of her smooth, ivory skin.
Gods, why was this woman so tempting?
Perhaps he should force himself on her. Let her think him a barbarian so she’d look at him with hatred instead of the interest he saw flaring in her blue eyes.
One thing he was certain of, she was getting too comfortable in this tent. “I assume you have needs to attend to.”
Her cheeks flamed red and she gave a demure nod of her head. Tristan took the key for her shackles from his leather boot and went down beside her to remove the clasp from her ankle.
“Get up,” he ordered.
He went to the trunk in the corner and fished around inside until he found a red legionary cloak and a pair of leather boots which would probably be too big for her, but they would cover her feet and keep her warm in the snow.
“Put these on.” He thrust the items at her.
She readily obeyed, draping the cloak over her shoulders and pulling the boots on. When she’d finished, she looked at him in expectation.
“Come with me.” He led her out of his tent.
She hurried to keep up with the brisk pace he set as he led her through the outskirts of the camp, headed towards the river.
“What are we doing here?” she asked when they reached the frozen banks next to the water.
“You can bathe and wash your tunic.” He folded his arms and reclined against a tree to wait. “And take care of any other needs you may have.”
She eyed him warily. “Are you going to watch me?”
“Do you think I’d leave you here alone?” He wasn’t taking the chance she might try to run. Yes, he was going to watch her. All of her.
“Will you not turn your back and give me some privacy?” Her eyes pleaded with him.
“You no longer have any privacy,” he informed her coolly. “Not from me.”
“I have no need to bathe.”
“You will wash,” he ordered. “You’re filthy.”
She narrowed her eyes in anger. “I can’t wash the Roman off.”
“No,” he admitted. That she could never do. “But you can scrub the dirt from your hair and clothes.”
She resigned herself to her fate and shrugged off the red cloak and stepped out of the boots, gathering the items in her hands before she threw them at him with an angry huff. He caught the cloak in a clumsy grasp and let the boots fall to the ground.
She quickly turned away before he could react and waded into the shallow water. “It’s freezing!”
“Then you’d best be quick about it,” he barked and gathered up her boots. “I have more important things to do.”
She cast him a hostile glare over her shoulder before sinking down into the water, submerging herself fully. She came up sputtering and shivering. “Gods!”
Tristan stared at the wet tunic clinging to the curves of her body, the flare of her round hips and her high, full breasts with their nipples peaking under the wet cloth.