Chained (Chained Trilogy) by Elise Marion Read Free Book Online Page A

did not relish eating while covered in his own stink. After a long day of archery, jousting, and swordplay, he was glad to be clean and free of his armor. Standing on a stool, his squire, Urien, accepted buckets full of well water from a page. At Caden’s command, Urien emptied the bucket over his head, before reaching for another one. They repeated the ritual until Caden had scrubbed himself clean with a cake of soap, rinsing and repeating three times.
    “Urien, enough,” he said, running his hands through the sopping , black hair clinging to his forehead and neck. “Fetch a drying linen.”
    Silence greeted him, and when Caden turned to chastise Urien for his sloth, he found a fourth person within the enclosure. Around them, poles staked to the ground held animal skins between them, shielding him from the eyes of passersby. While Caden wasn’t shy about his own nudity, he knew that many ladies were passing through the camp on their way to the feast. One such lady had found her way into his bath, but he couldn’t say he was displeased by her boldness. The woman holding the linen out to him had come into the enclosure and stood smirking smugly at him. Still naked and dripping wet, Caden strode toward her, his eyes sweeping her tempting curves with interest.
    “Leave us,” he commanded. The boys jumped to do his bidding, leaving him blessedly alone with the statuesque lady who had invaded his privacy. Once alone with her, Caden accepted the linen from her and began to dry himself, never tearing his glittering blue eyes away from her.
    Hair like fire come to life fell to the small of her back in a tumble of curls. Cat-like, green eyes burned into his with undisguised lust and need. No delicate maiden was Lady Esa Beaumarchais. Even dressed in a man’s doublet and breeches, she cut an impressive figure—all bountiful curves and lithe muscle. Her face was strong and handsome, her lips curved, nose aquiline, her chin strong and proud.
    The tradition of knighted females was an old one in D aleraia. While Esa was not highborn, the title of ‘lady’ had come with her knighthood, elevating her into high social circles. Fierce and strong as she was beautiful, Esa had captured his interest the moment he’d laid eyes upon her.
    “You fought well today in the melee,” she said, her voice deep and throaty. Her eyes raked his body without shyness, yet one of the many things he liked about Esa. She knew what she wanted, and was never afraid to pursue it.
    Caden ran the linen over his face and the one week’s worth of beard scrubbing his jaws. “As did you,” he replied. “ There are few men in Daleraia who can wield a halberd as well as you.” She’d rode beside him in the melee, a mock battle waged between the Maignarts and the Durvilles, the main event of the tourney. They’d delivered a crushing defeat to the Durvilles, thereby earning them the winner’s purse. Thirty thousand silvers split between himself, the knights who rode with him, and their men-at-arms and squires. Of course, as their commander he took the larger share. “You should not have come here. Your absence will be noted and people will talk.”
    Esa shrugged as she unfastened the iron buckle at her waist, dropping her belt— as well as dirk and sword—to the ground. “Have I ever cared what anyone thinks of me?” she challenged, eyebrows raised as her fingers came to the laces of her doublet. “If any man speaks ill of me, I’ll slit his throat and drink my wine from his skull.” She paused, giving him a coy glance as she paused, her doublet half-unlaced. “Should I leave?”
    Blood rushed to Caden’s groin, swift and hot, and he tossed the linen aside. “Just because you shouldn’t be here, doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be.”
    Esa smiled as she shrugged out of the doublet, revealing the thin shirt beneath it. Through the worn fabric, he could clearly see the outline of her nipples and the curve of her waist. Caden reached for her,