Chapter 4

I threw my eyes open and tried to move away from him, but only ended up backing into dark hair who had been laying on the other side of me. I scooted away from both of them and fell off the surface we had been laying on. Crawling across the floor I stopped when I hit the wall and stood up.

Glancing out an opening in the wall I noted the sun that was peeking over the purple blue horizon. Several large moons could also be seen stretched out in the sky. I’d never seen a sky that color or with that many satellites.

I turned in stunned silence and gazed sightlessly ahead. This wasn’t earth, unless my planet suddenly sprouted new moons. I was somewhere different, somewhere very far away. My eyes started to work again and I took in the details of where I was.

It appeared to be a bedroom. In the center of the room sat a huge circular bed covered in an assortment of deep blue covers. A large pole ran up the middle of the bed and attached the ceiling. Four powerfully built men were lounging on it. From the look of their hair, they had just woken up.

The lanky man was laying on the other side of the mattress. He stretched languidly and watched me.

“I told you we should have tied it up,” the lanky man said to the group in general.

I whimpered and hugged my arms around myself. My butt naked self, I realized. Looking down quickly I saw ornate metal cuffs wrapped around my wrists and ankles, but was otherwise I was completely unclothed. I shifted my arms to cover my private parts.

“To the first contest then,” the broad, bearded man said rising from the bed and coming toward me.

The bearded man was taller than me by at least a foot. His chest was bare except for the copious amounts of thick bronze hair. A fine piece of white linen was wrapped around his waist. From the number of scars that cut across his torso he had obviously been in a lot of fights. He terrified me.

“Master Evan wishes to inspect you on the bed with your eyes open, Ciara. Go back and lay down,” he commanded.

The man was a giant. I was too scared to move and shook my head ‘no’ watching him.

“What do you mean when you move your head like that? Speak to me, Ciara,” he said coming closer.

“No,” came out of my mouth.

“No what, Ciara,” he said folding his arms across his chest. He watched me tremble for a moment and then continued. “You are not educated, so I will help you. When you answer myself or my brothers, the word master should follow whatever you say.”

“You are not my master,” I hissed at him mutinously.

The bearded man stepped closer to me and I bolted away from him. I didn’t make it far. In my haste to escape, I didn’t notice the long haired man as he stepped in front of me. Fighting wildly, I fought the hands that restrained me. After a quick struggle, I ended up subdued on the floor.

The long haired man held me face down with my hands behind my back. He had my right arm twisted in a grip so strong I feared the bone would break. Screaming apologies I lay still, praying he would release me.

“That was a horrible noise, Ciara,” the bearded man commented.

“I apologize, Master,” I sobbed, grateful the long haired man had suddenly freed my arm.

The bearded man spoke to the long haired man sharply then, “Use less force, Evan. You act as though we have not been trained.”

The man named Master Evan pulled me to stand as he grunted an apology to the bearded man.

“It ran at me,” he said, “I was surprised.”

I stood and trembled between the two men. Powerful did not begin to describe them. Despite my objections the long haired man, Master Evan, had quite simply moved me to the floor like I wasn’t fighting him. My arm throbbed as a vivid reminder of how not to act.

The men were looking at me and I realized I had been staring at them.

I wasn’t sure how I had ever confused them for human. For one, they were too tall. Secondly, their eyes were different, larger and more feline. Their skin also should have told me, it was very faintly striped gold and golden brown. There were subtle and distinct differences between us.

I dropped my eyes, but not before taking in Master Evan’s complete form. He was tall and his muscles were well defined in his arms and chest. Like the bearded man he also had a good number of scars that cut across his body. Unlike the bearded man he had less chest hair.

“Your eyes are green, Ciara. None of us have green eyes,” Master Evan said conversationally.

I had no response to that but looked up at his face again. Master Evan had a lopsided smile on. He was just intently watching me. For a man that had nearly ripped my arm off, he seemed almost good humored.

The bearded man was standing watching me also, but seemed to have deferred the conversation to Master Evan.

“What is Ciara? Why are you calling me that? My name is Rachel,” I said to him in a pleading voice.

“That’s twice you didn’t follow instructions, Ciara. I would be happy to answer your question if you apologize for not addressing us properly. Be forewarned, the punishment will only get worse the longer you defy us,” he said in that pleasant tone.

The lanky guy on the bed spoke before I had the chance to. “Liam told me the first they did with their slave was take it down and show it the whipping post. He told me they strapped it to the post and left it there half the day, after that they had no problems.”

I’d been beaten by my mother and her brothers on more than one occasion. These guys were much tougher than my family. I had no urge to repeat an experience like that ever again.