Looking up at him, I searched his features, wanting to know if this was a bad thing or not. Carter had given me very general information about social norms and protocols for this time period and said not much else was known, specifically about how women were expected to act. After seeing Ghoajin smack down her husband a few times, I figured there was more leeway here to speak my mind than there had been in the eighteen forties.
But I didn't know for sure. The answer wasn't on Batu's features, though I realized somewhat uneasily if he wanted me to act a certain way, he had the muscular body and ferocity to make it happen. I didn't always check my speech, because I was from a time and place where I was accustomed to saying what I pleased to whomever I wanted.
"This one is deep." He rested his hand on my forearm.
I jerked.
"Be still, goddess." He rolled my arm over. One of the stripes went all the way around. Shallow on the top of my forearm, the two edges of the cut didn't meet on the soft underside.
"Is that bad?" I asked.
"It will heal quickly."
"No, I mean, is it bad I speak freely?"
"As long as you know to hold your tongue when it is wise."
"Like dealing with your uncle."
"Yes."
"And when talking to you?"
"You amuse me, goddess," he said with a faint smile. "You are honest like a horse and delicate like a flower. It is a good combination."
I didn't know how to respond. I'd never thought twice about a horse's honesty. But I imagined animals didn't hide things the way people did. He was right about me; I was candid, outgoing and open, for the most part. I liked adventures, or did, until Carter.
He was probing my elbow with his thumbs before sliding his hand to my upper arm to check for wounds. The lightness of his touch was in stark contrast to how he handled his enemies. I didn't yet know how such brutality and gentleness existed in one person or how to handle his closeness.
I shouldn't … I couldn't be attracted to him. I'd barely lost Taylor. It wasn't possible for me to start to like anyone let alone a massacring monster.
He released my wrist and slid a hand around my neck, nudging my chin up into the air so he could see the damage the choker and leash had done.
I flinched when his thumb brushed one side of my neck, the side opposite that which Chaghan had been standing when he yanked me the hardest. The pain wasn't the only sensation I was aware of. Batu was standing close enough for me to feel the heat rolling off his thick form while his touch was light enough to be a caress.