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He held her close and stroked her trembling shoulders, wishing he could kill whoever had put these tears in her eyes. He hated to see the usually sunny Madeline so distraught. But there was nothing he could do but hold her and murmur,
“Everything’s all right now, baby. Everything is going to be all right.”
At last, she stopped weeping and stilled against him. She took a few hiccupping breaths and wiped her wet eyes and cheeks with the sheet.
“Better now?” Grath asked, looking down at her. His heart still ached for her unhappiness but sometimes a good cry helped. He was hoping that was the case now.
“Better,” she repeated and looked up at him with wide, wet eyes. “Sorry for…for screaming the house down and then crying all over you.”
“You can cry on me anytime, little girl,” Grath told her. “There’s no judgment here.”
“Thanks.” She sniffed and swiped at her eyes again.
“I’m just glad your parents didn’t think I was killing you and come up here,” he remarked. “I’m surprised nobody heard you.”
She shook her head.
“It’s pretty well insulated up here. Muffles all the sounds.” She heaved a sign. “God, it’s been a long time since I had a nightmare about…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“A nightmare about what?” Grath said gently. “Please just tell me. Like I said—no judgment.”
Madeline looked up at him again, her eyes narrowed.
“Why do you want to know? You don’thaveto care, you know. It’s not like we’re really dating or engaged or any of that.”
“I know,” Grath told her. “I know I don’t have to care but Idocare. I’m your Protector, Goddess-damn it. And I need to know if I should go pound the ever-livingfuckout of that male I saw holding your hand in the park tonight. What did he do to you, Madeline? Did he hurt you? Did he—”
“He didn’t rape me,” she said in a low voice. “He…he tried but he didn’t quite manage it.”
“What?”Grath felt every muscle in his body tense with protective rage.
“Settle down—it was a long time ago. It’s in the past,” Madeline told him—as though whatever the bastard had done to her could be excused, just because it had happened a while ago.
“Tell me about it,” Grath said, doing his best to keep his voice measured and his rage in check. “All of it—I need to know and I think you need to tell it, little girl.”
“Well…all right.” She swiped at her eyes again and took a deep breath. “Here goes. I wasn’t very popular in high school—that’s part of our education system here on Earth,” she explained. “The part you go to when you’re in your teens. It’s…not always a very nice place.”
“Go on,” Grath murmured, stroking her shoulders. “Why were you not popular?”
She took another deep breath.
“Mainly because of my weight—and because I was shy.”
“You? Shy?” Grath couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice.
She gave a broken little laugh.
“I know, right? I’ve changed a lot since high school. Anyway, I mostly kept to myself because the other kids teased me.”
“Because of your curves?” Grath asked, frowning. And when she nodded mutely, he shook his head in confusion. “But…that’s like making fun of someone for having beautiful eyes or thick, shiny hair. It doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
“Maybe not in the Kindred culture, since you guys seem to like curvy girls,” Madeline told him. “But down here on Earth, it makes perfect sense. Most men don’t want a girl with curves—the popular girls in school were always really skinny.”
Grath made a face.
“Well, there’s no accounting for taste, I guess,” he muttered. “But it still seems weird for you to be teased about something that makes you so damn beautiful.”
“Well…thanks.” Madeline shifted against him. “It’s nice that…that you see it that way.”
