Spinning, she brought her elbow down on the soft join of neck and shoulder, dropping Jaia like a rock. She knew that would mess up all the nerves in his neck and buy her a bit more time.
Spinning, she spotted the exit of the cave and rocketed towards it, past the baffled human giant, but Kai had already planned for her attempt to escape.
Coming at her from an angle, he caught her around the middle and knocked her into a wall, her shoulder jarring under the impact but she returned the favour, using the same elbow she had used on Jaia to drive into nearly the same spot. Kai was down but he was still clinging to her, in agony but refusing to let go of her. It gave Jaia enough time to reach them, the gold chain glistening in the air as it looped around her upturned arm.
Jerking her arm back in an attempt to get away from the closing loop, she found herself caught and she yanked before he could get a good grip on the other end.
It didn't matter, he crashed into her a second later and he pulled the loop tight, binding her wrist.
Pulling hard, she stumbled over a snarling Kai and fell to her knees, panting softly as Jaia lifted the chain, forcing her arm up.
Looking up at him, her fury was met with his own, knowing just how close she had come to escaping and realising that their current attempts weren't enough for someone of her type of species.
Kai pushed himself up, grabbing her arm and bending it up painfully, spiteful enough to enjoy her yell of pain before accepting the chain from Jaia and binding her arms tightly behind her back, one end snaking up to bind around her throat, keeping her arms up at an uncomfortable height, the other end loose to be held or to hogtie her if she decided to be difficult.
"Harder to keep contained than a wet cat," Jaia said when Kai had finished binding her, both men stepping back to look at her kneeling before them, looking ruffled and angry, but otherwise unharmed.
"I don't think you took enough," Kai said, grabbing her arm and roughly pulling her to her feet, still smarting after she had tried to kill him.
"I'll fix that once we're back in the carriage," Jaia said, his voice a low growl.
She was stuffed forcefully into the carriage, the makeshift bed making it difficult to get in without hands and the brothers climbed in after her, both angry and wanting revenge.
"Maybe if you do too?" Jaia asked, pulling the carriage door shut and the driver locked it from outside.
"Do you want to risk us both becoming addicted?" Kai asked, but his tone said he was seriously considering the option.
Pushing herself into a sitting position, she squinted in the gloom until her eyes adjusted and she was able to see them at least reasonably well.
They were watching her, trying to decide what to do with her.
Making an internal survey of herself, she found no lasting injury, the thing that had protected the little light inside her had a bruise and she was eternally grateful for what she could only assume to be the soul of her twin encasing her womb and keeping the foetus safe from harm.
"Too much of a risk, she's dangerous," Kai was saying when she came back to herself.
"Well, we'll just have to move faster, harder. It's entirely possible Versalis has helped her build up an immunity to a degree, she's fighting it," Jaia said thoughtfully.
Turning to look at her, he frowned at her glare. Rolling onto his hands and knees, he started towards her and she immediately backed up, using her legs to push herself back as far as she could.
"There's always the other option," Kai said slowly, his eyes averted.
"I am not a rapist," Jaia said, easily deflecting her attempt to drive her foot into his face when she had run out of carriage to back up into.
"I know, I was just saying," Kai said, sounding putout.
Jaia grabbed her hips and jerked her forward, her upper body falling back and he leant over her, easily able to use one arm against her shoulder to keep her down.
Kneeling between her knees, he had her nearly defenceless and they both knew it.
Using his free hand, he nudged her head to the side with two fingers, smiling when she resisted.
"Come on Etani, you know this is going to happen whether you want it to or not," he said softly, leaning down to brush his nose over the growing number of scars along her throat.
Lifting her foot, she slammed her heel down on his calf muscle and he grunted in pain.
He bit down harder than was necessary, her teeth clenched to keep from making a sound and she struggled to contain the rush of desire that flooded her, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. There was no stopping the endorphins that rushed into her.
Giving a soft whimper under the strength of his first pull, he relaxed himself on top of her, his arm that had been on her shoulder sliding down to trace over her thigh, his nails smooth on her skin and he dug them in, in response to her shiver.
He didn't stop until she was barely clinging to consciousness, her eyes fluttering as she tried to focus on what was happening.
He was still lying on her, warm and safe but the position felt wrong somehow.
When he bit down on his wrist and placed it against her lips, the wrongness vanished and she drank greedily.
Leaving her to drink until Kai finally told him to stop or he would risk turning her, he pushed himself off her and settled down against her side, smiling when she wriggled herself closer to him, content and safe.
His arms went around her and she immediately felt like nothing in the world could harm her.
Tucking her head under his chin, she fell into a happy doze, soothed by the feeling of his fingers tracing along her hip and along the curve of her waist.
He and Kai were talking quietly, but she didn't pick up anything they said.
***
Waking, she found herself snuggled tightly between the two men, Kai's back against hers and Jaia's body curled around hers, her own curled protectively around her swollen belly. She woke into a happy sleepiness, pushing herself up just enough to see what was going on, but the darkness outside only made the darkness inside more complete, and the warmth inside the carriage only made her sleepier.
Wriggling free of the two men, she made her way to the edge of the bed and tapped once using her shoulder. They didn't appear to be moving, so she hoped she would be allowed out.
The lock was released and the door opened.
Sliding out before he could protest, she took in a deep breath of the night air, her smile confusing the man all the more.
"Where are we?" she asked, not sure why she wanted to be out of the carriage, only that she needed to get out and move.
"About thirty five miles north east of Ayathian," he said, watching her warily.
"Do you know where we're going?" she asked, turning and pacing a few steps away before coming back, trying to get some movement back into her sore legs.
"Not entirely, only that we have another day of travel, possibly two as we will need to stop for horses."
She looked at the pretty, brown coated horses and found they didn't seem even remotely bothered by her, even when she got close enough to smell their warm bodies.
"They grew up around werewolves and the like, they are used to the smell of unusual creatures," he said as he moved up behind her, taking up a few strands of her hair and waving it before the horse.
The horse just gave them a look like they were insane.
"Odd, do you provide this service often?" she asked, inching closer to the horse to see the fine little hairs on its soft nose. She had never seen a horse that close before. He was entirely brown aside from little white bands around his hooves and a white stripe down his nose. She didn't know much about horses, but she thought he was pretty.
"Fairly often, as the need demand. Please don't eat the horse."
"I eat humans, not horses," she said, catching the man's started step back, but her amusement was cut off when the horse tried to eat her hair. Jerking back, she glowered. "Bad horse, you don't eat hair."
The horse only looked at her with a flick of the ear as if to say 'what are you going to do about it?'
She turned away from the obnoxious beast to see Kai stepping out of the carriage. Jaia had moved, but he wasn't getting out right then. He looked a little full and lazy.
Approaching her, Kai lifted up a small water skin and she closed the distance to him, glad for it.
"What is the story with you three?" the man asked, watching as she drank.
"It's private business," Kai said, using his sleeve to wipe her chin of a few drops of water.
Wrapping his arm around her, he hugged her close to his side and she leaned into him, his warmth calming her down even if he wasn't Jaia.
"Apologies Sir, I meant no disrespect," the giant of a man said, bowing slightly.
"None was taken," Kai said, guiding her back towards the carriage and Jaia.
Helping her get back into the carriage, Jaia accepted her eagerly into his arms and she dropped down beside him, only barely able to move without their help.
"Think we can undo the chains a bit, at least let her use her hands?"
Jaia only hmm'd his response, inhaling the scent of her hair and too lazy to care.
Kai released her arms, her groan loud as she was finally able to extend them. Settling on an alternative, he linked both arms to the chain and her throat, leaving her able to use her arms but not fully, nor was she able to fully extend them. With her in the middle of the carriage, she wouldn't be able to reach the windows.