Chapter 33
As she had feared, her body had betrayed her, and she woke lying against him for the fourth morning in a row. He was hard with desire, and his erection against her hip felt so right that she almost forgot everything that had happened. Almost. It was a daily struggle to pull out of his arms and pretend as if she hadn’t been sleeping in his arms just as intimately as she had once done, without the sex.
Madison wiggled to put some room between them and started to slide from the bed. She froze when he grasped her wrist, slowly stroking his thumb across the underside of her arm. “Stop that.” She tried to tug away, but he held fast, though his grip wasn’t painful. “Let go. I need to use the facilities.” That was no lie, but it was a good excuse to slip away too.
He let go of her hand with obvious reluctance. “Go and get ready then. I have a surprise for you.”
She arched a brow. “Oh? I don’t care what it is. I don’t want anything from you.”
With a long sigh, he rolled out of his side of the bed. “I have a feeling you’ll want this, so please get dressed without an argument or sulking.”
Glaring at him, she got out of the bed. “I don’t sulk.”
He snorted, but didn’t refute her claim. Barely resisting the urge to stick her tongue out in his direction, she spun on her bare feet and padded down the hall. Fine, she’d play his game, get dressed, and go wherever, but just so she’d have the pleasure of tossing his “surprise” back in his face. She wanted no gifts from him, except maybe her freedom. That was one she would happily accept.
* * *
They didn’t have to venture far. Apparently, her surprise was on one of the floors of the lower level of the capitol building. She had a bit of letdown to find out she still wasn’t going to be leaving this place, even for a short time. After her stay in the cupola, she yearned for the outdoors and sunshine, which she had so far found only on Tiernan’s balcony.
When they were on the bottom floor, he led her to a door with a guard. She frowned, wondering what kind of surprise warranted an armed guard. Well, it didn’t matter. Even if she loved it, she would reject it. Taking gifts might encourage him to believe she could eventually forgive him and move on. That was never happening.
She changed her mind when they entered the room. Cam sat in a chair, his hands cuffed together on his lap. He was dirty, with his clothes torn, and his dark-red locks a tangled mess of greasy hair, twigs, and mud. “What’s he doing here?” she asked Tiernan in a high-pitched voice.
“My men found him in the wilderness two days ago, Madison.” He stepped up behind her, whispering in her ear, “I know.”
She jerked backward with surprise. “Know what?”
“Briggs sold out your brother. I know everything about his involvement, including he was the idiot who delivered you to the rebels.” Tiernan stepped around her, his posture revealing his anger. “I should have let the tribunal deal with him. He deserves the same punishment as the rest of the rebels.”
“We’re doing the right thing.” Cam’s eyes glowed with anger. “You have to be stopped.”
“I would guess your brother doesn’t know Briggs’s plans for you,” said Tiernan.
Madison frowned, annoyed with her brother despite her worry for him. “He was going to kill me, Cam.”
Cam’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “That’s not true. I told him you could be trusted, that we’d convince you to assassinate him.”
“I love you, but you’re an idiot, Cam. He used your naiveté to trap me with the intent of sending a ruthless message to Tiernan.” Sadness overwhelmed the surge of anger, and she shook her head. “The tribunal will probably execute you for this stupidity, Cam.”
“No, they won’t,” said Tiernan, putting a hand on her shoulder that seemed to offer comfort and reassurance.
She gritted her teeth not to shrug it off to show him she didn’t want his comfort. Only Cam’s fate kept her enduring his touch. It had nothing to do with the way her skin flared to life under his palm, or the racing of her heart at the slightest contact with him. “They’ve sentenced all the others to death on punishment day.”
Cam gasped, his pale skin turning a sickly white.
“Not all,” said Tiernan. “A couple received lighter sentences. Your brother won’t have to worry about that though. I’ve made sure there are no charges pending. He’s been pardoned.”
She sagged with relief, managing a shred of gratitude. “Thank you.”
He nodded before turning to Cam. “What you do with that pardon is up to you, Cam. You can go back to the winery and help your family, or you can reconnect with your rebel group and end up on the hanging line with your compatriots. I have my doubts about you, but for Madison’s sake, I’m willing to let you go home under the watchful eye of Eric Nash. If the slightest whisper reaches me that you’re plotting against me, I’ll banish you from the Federation. Get caught in the act of treason, and I won’t do anything to protect you. Do you understand my terms?”
Cam swallowed, his pale complexion regaining a hint of color. “Yeah, don’t do me any favors, Archer. I’m proud to die alongside the other freedom fighters.”
“Oh, for fu…Cam, shut the hell up,” said Madison angrily. “He’ll go back home and lead a quiet life, Tiernan, I promise you. If not, I’ll reveal his involvement in this to Momma. That’s sure to cause another flare-up, and Cam doesn’t want that. Do you?”
Cam ducked his head. “No, Madi.”
“Very well.” Tiernan moved toward the door. “Do you want to spend some time with your brother before troops escort him back to Yakima-Grace?”
Madison glared at her sibling. “No, not right now. I’m still angry with him.” Turning her glare on him, she added, “I have a hard time forgiving something that almost destroyed me. No amount of sorrys or tokens will make it right.”
“Sis, I—”
“Be quiet,” she snapped at Cam. Her words weren’t entirely for her brother, who was foolish, but idealistic, and had genuinely thought he was doing the right thing. It made him an idiot, not dangerous or seditious. “I can’t talk to you right now, Cam.”
He nodded, falling into silence. With one last meaningful look at Tiernan, she turned away and strode from the room. Her feet longed to take her to the clinic, but she was certain Tiernan wouldn’t allow that. His fear of something happening to his heir would no doubt keep her restrained on a tight leash for the next seven-plus months. Instead, she took the steps up to the main level and let herself out through the back entrance and into the garden. It was cold and windy, with a hint of rain in the air, but she still gloried in the weak sunshine and being outside with no bars blocking her view. She hadn’t exaggerated when she’d told him it would be hard to get over what she’d endured, and Madison really didn’t see a way she could ever forgive Tiernan.