Page 94 of Sands of Atonement

And I was analyzing this man, wondering where I had met him before.

The men in front of us were observing the situation, especially me.

“Who exactly are you searching for?” Ezra spoke through gritted teeth.

The man in the middle cleared his throat. “We’re looking for the Atrove.”

“The Atrove, you say?”

“Yes… honestly, by the look of your tent, your horse, your weapons, we assumed you were.”

“It doesn’t look like your assumption was right,” Ezra said curtly.

I saw then why Ezra wanted to uncover me. I wore Atrovian robes, as did he. Not only that, he wanted to have a naked woman near him to banish any doubts that he was an Atrovian.

I could tell Ezra was holding himself back, and I didn’t blame him—we didn’t have the upper hand here. His weapons were stupidly left outside. He was going to hear a mouthful from me if we got out of this. The one to the left and closest to me lingered his eyes a little too long over my draped body for my comfort.

The man in the middle chuckled humorlessly. “How do I know this is true? You could have made this act to deter your true colors.”

Ezra’s jaw ticked. Bingo.

“He is my husband.” The lie spilled easier than I would have liked it to. “I assure you he is not Atrovian, nor do we have an association with the Atrove.” I lifted the wool blanket higher on my chest, acting like the modest wife I was pretending to be.

Ezra slid his dark eyes over to me. His eyes said it all. He was pleasantly shocked.

A flutter ran through my stomach.

What the hell was wrong with me? I shouldn’t relish pleasing this man.

I glanced back at the middleman, hoping he believed me. I just wanted to get out of this ridiculous mess and go back to sleep. My eyes locked on his light eyes, and then I realized I had seen this man before.

Those green eyes. I’d never seen eyes like this before.

I met him traveling through Brestan to Tehara. He had been searching for the Atrove then too, when he found me killing a Silver Snake.

I ducked my face just then.

“I recognize you,” the man said.

Ezra's hand fisted on the wool that lay across me.

“That’s impossible—I’ve never met you before,” I spoke innocently.

“No, I do. You killed a Silver Snake. I’ll never forget the woman I witnessed kill it. You were traveling through the sands without an escort.”

Oh, he was good.

“Oh, yes.” My lips curved tightly. “I remember now.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked, his green eyes piercing through me.

“Of course.” I gave a breathy laugh. “My husband.” I laid a hand across Ezra’s warm chest.

“Right.”

He didn’t believe me.

The man who hadn’t stopped looking at me said, “You don’t look properly fucked. This man isn’t your husband, and if he is, maybe I’ll show you what a real man is like.”