Chapter 3

What. An. Asshole. I grit my teeth, taking my sweet time, braiding my hair back in an intricate fashion just because I know taking longer will irritate him. It's irritated every other guy I've ever been with, after all. Besides, after that stunt he just pulled? Forcing me to make some magical vow to sleep next to him?

Bastard.

I clench my teeth, my hair slipping silkily through my fingers. I could've said no. My sister's mate, Ras, took the same kind of vow, which brought them to me here and likely saved my life. And then they left, because he was compelled to find our other sister, Mina.

I sigh, taking in the star-studded ceiling of my room.

He's lucky that irritating him is the only part of my plan I have figured out so far.

I have to get away from him. A whole month with only him and a horse for company? I'll lose what's left of my mind. I can still run. I can make a break for it, somehow.

Even if it's not now, learning to ride will only help me get far away from Ulson… and Lesath.

Tilting my chin, I inspect my handiwork in the mirror, tucking up the last of the tight little braids. My fingers scrabble against a leather tie, something Danielle, another woman trapped here from Earth, taught me how to use. It's not as great as a hair elastic, but at least it won't break.

Leather breeches the color of sand drape over the back of a chair, and I tug them on. They're still too loose, thanks to the fact I haven't quite regained everything I lost when… my heart skips a beat, then hammers in my chest. I push that train of thought away, not wanting to think about it. A sturdy sage shirt follows, a soft garment that I tuck into the breeches while I stare in the mirror. I hardly recognize myself in this get-up.

Without my sundress, it feels too real.

I'm not on Earth. I'll never see Earth again.

It's been weeks, and I still can't quite process it.

So I don't, pushing down the tight knot in my chest, finding the tight leather vest that matches the pants. I stick my arms through it and use the leather cords to fasten it.

My mouth purses as I work, thinking fast. At least he swore he wouldn't touch me. I don't trust him, not at all, but… something happened when we made that oath. I felt more than our mating bond— I felt a deeper connection. It pulls at me now, a tether I can't deny, the magic soaking bone deep and marrow sure.

I don't think he'll break his word to me, any more than I'll be able to break mine to him. It's a strange thing, knowing magic's real, knowing that if what Danielle and Lana told me is true, that if I have sex with Lesath, I'll be able to tap into some kind of power inside me as well.

Sex with Lesath? Hard pass.

I've managed to push that thought down for the past few weeks, managed not to think about what it would be like to have power. Power of any kind would be an improvement. The bed creaks as I sit on it, tugging on long, thick socks and then the gorgeous dark brown boots I've also been ignoring for weeks.

They're a bit stiff, but hopefully they'll loosen up quickly. Whatever. Blisters are the least of my concerns at this point.

I catch my reflection as I move. My cheeks flush pink, and as I stand, I notice that the vest pushes my breasts up, making them perky and full, and, if I'm being completely honest, pretty damn good.

Ugh.

Too bad I don't want to be pretty for him. I flip my long braid back over my shoulder, trying to hide my new cleavage, but it only manages to highlight it. Damn. Back behind me it goes.

Whatever.

He swore an oath he wouldn't touch me. He also said I'd be begging him to. I glare at my reflection, hating that my entire body responds to that thought. Disgusting bastard. The fact that he's objectively hot is a cruel twist.

My boots tap across the floor, and I replay the oaths we swore as I make my way to the recently filled stable.

Staff and servants are up and about now, cleaning nooks and crannies. The smell of breakfast wafts through the corridor as I tread down the main stairs.

It wasn't like this before. It was empty, no life, save for me and the giant scorpion that was Lesath. No one. No furniture. No clothes. No food. No water. Only hunger and fear were my constant companions.

Now, though, it's filled with people flitting around and casting surreptitious stares in my direction. The forbidding quiet has been replaced with the electric hum of staff at work, who are competent and take pride in that competence.

"Good morning, hi," I manage, smiling at people as I pass them. No reason to be rude to them. It's not their fault I'm stuck in a different dimension with a complete and utter asshole. So I smile, waving at the few I've seen before. The ones I haven't seen before stare openly, disbelief etched in their foreheads and wide eyes.

It's so freaking weird. All of this. I live in a castle, with servants. I used to live in an apartment and work at a vet's office. I sigh, missing the normalcy. Missing my morning coffee and the routine and even my nosey coworkers. Missing all the sweet animals. Not that I miss cleaning up their crap, obviously, I don't think it matters how much you love animals, cleaning poop is gross.

One of the servants whispers behind a hand to another, and I know it's about me. Maybe I shouldn't have said hi. I don't know what the protocol is here. I haven't bothered to find out. I still hardly understand where I am.

My fingers twitch at my sides and I force my chin up, striding toward the towering double doors that lead outside, to the path that leads to the stables.

The words of our oath echo in my ears.

Ride with him. On his horse.

My teeth grit together, and a servant hustles to open the doors for me. I try to smile at the man, but his eyes widen in surprise and he drops his gaze altogether, like he's afraid of me. I shouldn't care. I'm going to run away, aren't I? I'll never see him again. It shouldn't bother me, but it does.

Because it's his fault they're afraid of me, because really, I know they must be afraid of him. Of Lesath. Who wouldn't be? They should be.

I am too.

Sunshine blasts across my skin, the morning chill burnt off under the harsh desert rays. There are fewer servants out here, and I hustle to the stables. Half of the stable is still caved in from disuse, but there are people crawling all over it, attempting to repair and restore it to what I assume must be its former glory. Hammers sound, along with the sound of wood splitting. I know if I look back at the southwest tower, I'll see a crew restoring it, too.

But I don't look back. The last thing I want to see is the tower I was forced to squat in for days on end.

The smell of horses and straw fills the air, whinnies and nickers competing with the sound of hammers and conversation as the crew works the opposite side.

My teeth grind, and I make my jaw relax, inhaling deeply, thinking quickly. Ride with him. On his horse.

It hits me then, what I can do to finagle my way around the oath.

A slow smile spreads across my face, and it's been so long since I've really smiled, grinned and really meant it, my cheeks seem to prick with disuse. My footsteps quicken as I approach where a groom saddles a horse. Huge, the animal dwarfs me, coal black, like everything else in Lesath's ridiculous palace. Its coat shines in the light, and I want to reach out and touch it. I miss being around animals every day.

"Hi." I give him my most saccharine smile.

The groom turns over his shoulder to me, but unlike the other servants, he doesn't shrink away, only waits.

I'm going to take that as a good sign. I clear my throat, and the horse rolls its great eye in my direction.

"Which one is Lesath's horse?"

The groom finishes buckling a saddle on, then turns fully to regard me. "This one."

"That's great." I keep smiling, my plan taking shape as I grin like an idiot at him.

The groom blinks at me.

"Right," I say cheerily, trying to turn up the charm. It feels rusty as hell. "I'll be riding him."

"I think you mean we'll both be riding him." Lesath's voice comes from behind me, and I clench my fists.

"No." The word is sugary sweet, and for the first time, the groom appears concerned, his eyes narrowing. "No, I don't mean that. I will be riding this horse. Your horse. You can find a different one."

Lesath's close to me now, I can feel his body behind me, and the horse lets out a noise of greeting. Or maybe annoyance. I don't know much about horses, so I don't have a clue what that noise means. I might have been working as a vet tech, but our practice didn't do livestock or large animals like this. Cats, dogs, the occasional bird or bunny or guinea pig—those were our patients. Oh, and the boa constrictor. Can't forget him. I reach a hand out to the horse, planning to let him sniff me. Can't go wrong with a good hand sniff for an animal, no matter how big.

"No. We will both be riding this horse." His voice is tempered steel.

It pisses me off.

I put my hands on my hips and wheel around to face him. His gaze dips to my cleavage, and I breathe deeply. Maybe he'll be so distracted by the boobage he'll forget what's happening. Worth a try, anyway. I shake my chest a little for good measure.

"I meant what I said. I am riding your horse, per the terms of our agreement, and you are welcome to find another." I put enough bitchiness in my voice that I hardly recognize it.

His eyes widen infinitesimally, before his expression smooths out, the cocky smirk returning. Satisfaction courses through me.

Gotcha.

"Do you know how to ride a horse? Dabin made it clear that was not normal in your world."

"I worked with all kinds of animals for a living before coming here." Yeah, geriatric dogs and fluffy kittens, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. "Maybe you don't know what work is, though, considering you're…" I drift off, waving a hand at him and then his stupid castle. Truth is, I can't finish that sentence, because I don't really have a clue what he is, outside of an asshole that's sometimes a nightmare scorpion.

Lesath doesn't seem convinced.

"I can drive a stick shift in an old Nissan with three hundred horsepower, so I'm sure one horse can't be much harder," I continue. Actually, I'm not sure at all about that, but it sounds good, and I'll be damned before I let him wrap his big body around me on horseback.

Lesath steps forward, and the groom hands me the reins before fleeing the scene. Hopefully to get another horse.

"What is a nee-sahn?" Lesath asks, his voice pitched low. Goosebumps pebble over my skin, and I shift away.

"It's something a hell of a lot more powerful than one overgrown horse." Said overgrown horse chooses that moment to whack me in the shoulder with his nose, sending me off balance and into Lesath.

Powerful arms wrap around me, righting me, and electricity courses through me, igniting parts of my body I didn't even know existed.

Stupid freaking mate bond.

I shove against him, moving away, back towards his horse.

"This was not the terms of our agreement, and you know it," Lesath says, reaching out and giving the horse a pat on the neck.

I cock my head at him, patting the damn horse like I have a clue what I'm doing. The horse turns his head, eyeballing me, and I'm pretty sure we both know I don't have a clue what I'm doing.

"If you'd wanted me to ride the same horse with you, then you should have said so." I give a little shrug, pointedly ignoring Lesath's death stare and patting the big black horse. "You said I had to ride your horse, and that I had to ride with you. You can ride a separate horse. Near me. Going to the same place." I enunciate each thing carefully, victory sweeping through me at Lesath's increasingly frustrated expression. Glee surges, because it's clear I'm right about the oath, and I'm about to get my way. "You shoulda worded your little unbreakable vow thing more carefully." I shrug.

"You knew it was unbreakable?"

"Of course I did. Why else would Lana have abandoned me to go with her mate? Because he swore one of these things, too, to find Mina. Remember her? Or are you suffering from amnesia along with your serious case of assholism?" I wrinkle my nose. Assholism isn't a word, not as far as I know, but it'll have to do.

"This is a Westshear warhorse," he grits out. The horse stamps its hooves in apparent agreement, yanking the reins and sending up little puffs of dirt. "I can keep you safe on him. If you don't know what you are doing, you could get hurt."

"Hurt, huh?" A dry laugh of disbelief erupts out of me, and I sneer at him, one eyebrow raised. "What a completely new experience that would be. Imagine me being hurt because of your negligence. What a novel idea."

Lesath glowers at me for a long moment, before finally turning around and stomping off.

Satisfied, I raise a hand to pat the thing's massive neck, then quickly snatch it back as it curls its lip back like it's going to bite me.

"Nuh-uh," I say, putting my hands on my hips and stepping back warily. "None of that. We're gonna get through this together, and you're going to take me where I want to go and be a good boy." I tilt down, making sure I'm right. Yep. Definitely a boy. "You're not going to bite, kick, or throw me off," I continue. The horse snorts, like he's laughing at me.

But there's no way he knows what I'm saying. Horses can't understand people.

At least, horses on Earth can't.

I swallow hard before narrowing my eyes at the beast. Maybe this was a mistake. I glance over my shoulder, at where Lesath's leading another horse over to where we stand.

No. Not a mistake. Anything to keep him away from me. Besides, I'm good with animals. Great with animals. Especially old labs and surly cats who love bacon treats from the sweet, blonde vet tech. Big ole Westshear warhorse? Piece. Of. Cake.

I swallow hard.

I step closer to the horse, its reins firm in my grip. "If you understand me, then listen up. That man over there, Lesath, says he wants me to be safe. A good way to piss him off real quick is to be a turd nugget towards me. So if you want him to be happy with you, you better play nice, got it?"

The horse snorts and tosses its mane.

"What's his name?" I ask the groom, who's reappeared with more horse equipment, saddles and big leather bags. If he overheard me talking to the horse, he doesn't show it. I frown. Equipment isn't the right word, but I'll be damned if I know what is the right word.

The groom raises an eyebrow and returns my smile. Progress! I almost cheer.

"His name's Molmith."

I stroke the soft fur of his neck, crooning to him gently. "And Molmith is the best boy in the whole world, isn't he? The best horsey in the whole world!"

Molmith's lips curl back again like he's thinking of taking a chunk out of me. I glare at him. "What does his name mean?"

"Death on hooves," Lesath answers, throwing up a saddle on the grey horse he chose. "And he bites, so watch out."

"Death on hooves," I repeat, raising an eyebrow. Molmith blinks slowly at me, as if to say he'd do it, too. "Well, who is the biggest, greatest, scariest killer horsey of them all, hmmm?" I ask in a baby voice.

Molmith appears slightly mollified by that, tossing his head and stretching his neck towards me for scratches.

The groom stares at me, a hint of a grin playing on his face. I don't spare a glance for Lesath.

If I can avoid looking at him this whole trip, I'll do it.