"..."
Jenna stood there, her tongue glued to the roof of her mouth, her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her pride. The morning breeze did nothing to cool the fire creeping up her spine. Not when Rhane's words still echoed like a sin-slicked hymn in her ears.
'So deep inside you… hear your soul sing…'
God. Her thighs pressed together. Jenna squeezed her palm tightly. Reflex. Survival instinct. Whatever it was, she was trying to think of something not so sinful!
What the hell was that man made of? His words were as sturdy and rough as his body.
The sun had barely finished stretching across the sky, the birds were still arguing about worms, and here she was, feeling like she'd just been mentally stripped naked and bent over the garden railing.
Jenna blinked. No. No, not garden railing. That was specific. Why was she being so specific? Why was she even thinking of being bent over when all Rhane had said was her legs curled around his waist? Had she gone mad?!
"Pull it together, Jenna," she hissed to herself, blinking fast, even as the image of his mouth, that mouth pressed against her ear refused to leave. The way he said it, as if it wasn't filth but gospel. As if he already knew how she tasted. And what she'd sound like.
She glanced sideways. Rhane stood there, smug bastard hands in his pockets like he hadn't just committed verbal assault with a side of fornication.
And that was when it hit Jenna. She wasn't going to last seven days. Not even seven hours if he kept talking like that. Did Kali know that? Was that why she set her up, knowing how good her brother was with the art of seduction?
Jenna came here thinking she was doing him a favor. Let's see what this man's got, she'd told herself. Seven days would fly past like a breeze during the morning rain. Wouldn't be remembered even.
But now? She'd be the one offering her body like tribute to the god of temptation by Day Two. Jenna cursed herself loudly, mentally.
"Do you talk like that to every woman?" Jenna finally managed, her voice cracking like she hadn't spoken in ten years. "Is that how you seduced Beth?"
Beth. She almost forgot about the Chief Merchant's spoiled daughter who was attracted to Rhane like bees to honey. Jenna wished she hadn't said the name. Now she missed home and her servants even more.
Rhane tilted his head. He enjoyed seeing Jenna flustered, but even more when she tried to act indifferent.
"The name doesn't ring a bell," Rhane replied casually.
Jenna scowled. "I see you're the kind to seduce a woman and forget she ever existed. I'll have my guards up now," she promised, advising herself.
At the moment, Jenna needed to delude herself with anything that could keep her from falling into a bottomless pit of Rhane's charm. She was the kind of woman who wouldn't use her head once she fell for a man. And she didn't want to get her heart broken again.
Rhane hummed, a slow smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "It'll shock you to know that I've never—"
"Mm."
The sound of soft sobbing interrupted him.
A small, wet hiccuping cry that was childlike.
Jenna heard it too, her head snapped toward the sound. Her brain took a second to process the shift from sensual tension to child-in-distress. It was only then she noticed they'd left the mansion and now stood on the dusty road.
Talking to Rhane made the day move so fast that she barely noticed her surroundings.
"Did you hear that?" Jenna asked to be sure it wasn't just her. "It sounded like a child." She took a step forward toward the sound, but Rhane pulled her back to his side.
"Stay here. It might be a trap," he replied. Rhane was yet to find Gerald, and he didn't know what other stunt the bastard might pull.
Jenna furrowed her brows but obeyed because Rhane wasn't asking. He commanded it. She shifted her position and stood right beside him, her eyes darting curiously.
"Who..." Rhane asked as he got closer.
Just behind a tree, a twig broke and a dress shuffled. There, near the huge tree a little girl stepped out. Couldn't be older than seven. Dressed in a simple cream-colored dress, curly hair tied with a crooked ribbon, cheeks streaked with tears and dirt. She stood there, clutching a torn ribbon in one hand and a stuffed rabbit in the other, crying like the world had just ended.
"Oh God!" Jenna's heart twisted. She didn't know why the girl was crying, but her senses became alert.
"Hey…" Jenna softened her tone, immediately walking over. "Hey, sweetheart. What happened?"
The little girl sniffled harder, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
"I-I lost him," she hiccupped. "He ran in there." She pointed toward the dense forest bordering the estate.
"Who ran in there?" Rhane asked gently, crouching beside her.
The girl raised the rabbit as though he might somehow be able to explain.
"Pete. My brother. He's not very tall. He's lean," she said, her voice suddenly sharp with toddler fury, before breaking into a sob again.
"Oh, darling…" Jenna exchanged a glance with Rhane. Of course the girl was lost.
Rhane exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck. He noticed the worried look in Jenna's eyes. "I'll go find him," he said with quiet certainty, already moving towards the forest.
Jenna watched him, the tension from earlier melting, just a bit under the warmth of the moment. Damn him. Even when he wasn't trying, he was making her heart feel things it had no business feeling. And she hated that.
She turned to the girl and touched her small face. "We'll get Pete back," Jenna promised. Then, glancing over her shoulder at Rhane's disappearing figure, she muttered under her breath,
"…Unless someone else finds him first."
Jenna didn't notice the little girl had stopped crying, just staring at her with big eyes.
"Are you his Lady?" the little girl asked bluntly.
Jenna's lips parted, stunned by the boldness. "What?"
"You're like those women in my storybooks... all red-faced and fluttery."
Jenna blinked. Then sighed. She really wasn't going to last seven days. Even a child could tell with just a glance.
Damn me, she cussed internally but forced a smile for the little girl.
"Not lady… I'm his, um… Master," Jenna gave the only response she could think of. When she noticed how the girl was looking at her, Jenna swallowed hard.
"W-what?" she asked.
The little girl raised her stuffed toy. "It's like my stuffed rabbit thinking he's the master without looking at the size. You don't believe yourself, do you?"
"Wha- how old are you?" Jenna asked, eyes widened.
The girl gave her a small, girlish smile. "Seven."