Betrayal & Banditry (Sunset at Dawn Book 1)

“Bandit King?” I raise one of my eyebrows back at him.
“Yes, the man who abducted you.” He looks around, as if searching for the Bandit King— while ironically speaking to me.
I smirk to myself.
He turns back to me. “The forest is no place for a noble lady like yourself.” Then, to my horror, he grabs hold of one of the lower branches to pull himself up.
“Oh, is that so? At least you have the taste to recognize my breeding.” I glance around, wondering how a noblewoman like myself can get down without breaking my leg since he’s taking up what was going to be my exit.
Suddenly, his arm is around my waist.
I go rigid and stare down at him. “What are you doing? Unhand me at once!”
Instead of heeding me, the barbarian tosses me over his shoulder and then jumps back down, shaking my upside-down body and making my death seem to come plummeting up toward me.
The moment I stop descending and am merely upside down, I flail my arms and legs, hitting his back as hard as I can. “Let go of me!”
“I am rescuing you, milady,” the barbarian says, walking, I assume, back toward his horse and his party and away from my horse and my party.
Panic grips me more than vertigo. “You are abducting me!”
“Your father and brother are anticipating your return.”
“My father and brother are dolts, and I ran away from them!”
He stops, suddenly my words finally getting through his stubborn skull. “You chose this?”
I still my limbs, wondering if perhaps I can get through this yet. “Please put me down and let me explain it to you, since you are determined to not leave me alone.”
Sighing, he bends over and my world spins around again as my feet hit the ground. I reach up to hold my temple as I steady myself and then feel two other hands grasping my waist.
I go rigid again and look down at his hands. What is with this man’s boldness? Glancing up, I find his neck has gone red, and he seems to be wondering that himself.
He clears his throat but doesn’t release me. “Please explain.”