Bound by Elisabeth Naughton Page B

sword fern. Above, gigantic sequoias rustled in the wind. The weather was cool but not frigid, and the teasing warmth of early summer could be felt in the damp breeze. His gaze followed the thin layer of fog rolling through the maples and red alders. They had to be near a coast somewhere. In a place with gigantic evergreen trees. The redwoods, maybe?
    He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that they’d been walking for about three hours, and the rope was starting to seriously piss him off. As was the fact no one—not even the Amazons—seemed to like to talk. Their thoughts he could hear, but he’d stopped focusing on those about thirty minutes into their trek because they weren’t telling him anything that would help his situation. It was mostly meanderings about hunting and skinning deer, concerns about their food supply and speculations about the size of his dick.
    They might not be interested in men, but they obviously still thought about them.
    His mind spiraled to what kind of ‘agenda’ Natasa had, and where the hell they were really heading.
    Ahead, Ilithyia drew to a stop and held up her forearm. As a unit, the others halted and raised their weapons. Titus was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t realize they’d stopped until he slammed into Natasa’s back and nearly knocked them both down.
    She grunted, pushed against him until he stumbled back a step, then glared over her shoulder.
    A smile worked its way across Titus’s mouth. She was gorgeous pissed. That flame red hair fanning out around her, the flare of heat in her eyes. He bet her skin was hot right now. Hot and soft and so damn alluring he wanted to feel it against him. Everywhere.
    “A garrison,” Ilithyia whispered in a harsh tone. “Spread out.”
    The Amazons moved with lightning speed, disappearing into the forest as if they’d never been there. Natasa tugged on the rope bound to Titus’s wrists and quickly pulled him into a dense copse of trees.
    Darkness surrounded him. He tripped over a downed limb, bumping into Natasa again, only this time she didn’t seem to mind. She grasped him by the shoulders, whipped him around and shoved him up against the trunk of a tree the size of a house. Then she plastered her body to his and whispered, “Shh.”
    Titus’s adrenaline surged. This close he could smell the lemon scent of her skin. Could feel the heat radiating from beneath her clothes. Blood rushed to his groin, messing with his thoughts. Focus. Control . To try to keep his brain on line so he wouldn’t give away their location, he looked over her head at the trees around them.
    The small area was more like a cave than a forest. The spruce so densely clustered, their limbs were devoid of needles. The packed groundcover told him some kind of animal had recently bedded down in here, and the foliage on the outside of the tree-lined circle was thick enough to block whatever lay beyond.
    Footsteps pounded in the forest. Muffled voices reached their ears. Titus tried to focus on the words and thoughts of those around them, but Natasa’s rapid breath drew his attention. And the way she gripped his sleeves tighter in her fingers, the way her heart raced next to his drowned out all other sound.
    Instinct overcame reason. He lifted his bound wrists over her head, slid them down her back so his arms were tight around her. She didn’t protest. If anything, she moved closer into the strength of his body. And yeah, she was warm—like he expected—but the tremble that rushed through her told him she wasn’t quite as confident as she’d seemed earlier.
    He lowered his mouth close to her ear, only just missed brushing her lobe with the tip of his nose. “Whatever’s out there…I’ll protect you.”
    She stilled against him, then slowly tilted her head back to look up. Heat radiated from her hands pressing into his sides, from her breasts resting against his leather chest plate. He wished he’d taken off the formal gear earlier in the forest. Wished