“Thank you both so much. I—I was…”
Hunter sat on side of the bed closest to me, placing his large, warm hand on top of my cold, clammy one.
It was the first time in so long I’d been touched with gentleness by a man. It felt like slipping into a warm bath or cuddling up into a thick blanket. While all the sensations were focused on my hand, it was like his touch pulsed deep reassurance throughout my entire body.
“You can tell us, it’s okay,” he said.
I turned my hand over and gripped his tightly. “I was abused in the den for blood, but in other ways too. If you know—I mean, it’s made me… put up guards against men. Forced me to never think of…”
Their response was silence, but their sympathetic eyes said they understood what I couldn’t bear to talk about.
Hunter gave my hand a gentle squeeze and his eyes flared yellow again. “Serenity, if only I could—” he cut himself off, but I knew he was sympathizing.
And I’m sure Hunter had guessed some details after me being so standoffish around everyone, especially men, all these months. I’m sure he and Bryce could both imagine all the groping, fondling and rubbing the vamps had enjoyed so much. Vamps were known to get sexually excited when drinking blood. The feeding den owners maintained a few hard limits—always reminding the clients they weren’t running an underage whorehouse—but that didn’t stop plenty of things that should never have happened.
“We understand.” Bryce said, sinking into the lazy boy armchair in the corner. “God, I can’t wait to burn those monsters to ashes.”
Hunter slowly slid his body into the bed beside me.
I scooted closer to him, using our intertwined hands to draw his arm around my waist. “L-like this, please,” I breathed, another flush hot in my cheeks. “I don’t like my shoulders touched.”
“Sure. I’ve got you, Little Dancer,” he said as he wrapped me in his arms and laid on his back, pulling the upper half of me up onto his torso.
He held me close, with sure movements but gentle strength. He kept his lower half from pressing into mine. Just his arms, side and hard pecs touched me. The muscles were unyielding to my weight, but the skin so smooth. I wept into his chest, not just from the horrors I’d dreamt, but at the feeling of being held with such care. Something I hadn’t experienced since I was a child.
There was a creak from the chair as Bryce shifted. “I’m going to catch the people who made you and that poor boy suffer,” he said. “Theywillpay for what they did. I promise.”
I nuzzled into Hunter’s bare chest and my sniffles cleared. “Thank you, Bry.” I just realized I’d shortened his name, but he didn’tseem to mind. “That means a lot to me. I want them to pay too. I need them to. There needs to be some justice in this world.”
Hunter murmured an agreement and stroked my hair.
This time sleep came effortlessly as I drifted off again, smelling Hunter’s woodsy scent and feeling his muscles, firm and solid, against my skin. Listening to Bryce’s occasional movements in the chair and his deep, steady breaths.
I slept soundly all night.
Hunter
Iwoke with Serenity still in my arms, but we were on our sides now, facing the window. Bleary-eyed, I made out faint golden rays oozing from between the curtain folds. I looked over at Bryce, still fast asleep on the lazy boy—his jacket spread across his chest like a blanket—and snorted at the only man I knew who would sleep in a ten-thousand-dollar suit.
And here I was, holding Serenity under the soft sheets. We’d turned over in the night and were spooning without an inch of space between us. My chest was hugging her back. Her butt was pressing against my crotch and I reveled in how it felt to be nestled against her. But I eased my hips back a few inches, not wanting to alarm her if she woke and found my hard cock nudging her.
Somehow, in our slumber, our fingers had interlocked. I moved our interlaced hands closer around her stomach, savoring the feelings of closeness and connectedness. Those feelings were slowly healing pieces of my soul.
I felt unimaginable pride that she’d trusted me enough to getso close last night. Damn, I was a lucky man. She was such a strong, beautiful woman. Beautiful inside and out.
My heart glowed with a powerful warmth. I wanted to sleep beside her every night, in this same type of heavenly embrace. Protecting and comforting her each time she slept.
I made the decision right then to stop torturing myself, to stop holding myself back. I’d pursue her as the woman I wanted by my side—now and forever—with clear intent. If she allowed me, of course. And if she did agree, we’d still take it slow. I wouldn’t pressure her or stress her out, but I had to let her know she owned me. She was such a bright light in my life already.
If she wanted me, I’d be by her side, doing whatever I could to make sure that light flourished. Forever.
The night before, when she’d screamed and I’d burst through the door, I’d felt my jaguar clawing at my insides. Desperate to connect with me. I’d felt him surge within my eyes, his powerful, cat-like reactions having helped me leap from my own bed and sprint to Serenity’s room so quickly. I knew he wanted her too.
But I’d forced him back into that mental jail cell I’d created, like I always did. Even with that he’d still managed to slip out a few more times last night. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could contain him, especially the closer I got to Serenity. His yearning for her was only getting worse. My fear wasn’t over any safety issues for Serenity—his devotion to her was palpable—but the other things he’d want.
Like reconnecting with Dagger. My jaguar would hound me about it—that was one of the reasons I’d shoved him in the cage to begin with—and I didn’t know if I could ever have a positive relationship with Dagger again. Much less share a mental bond with him like we used to. Sometimes I wished I’d just been born a human, or without a twin brother, or both.
But all the wishing in the world couldn’t alter the reality: my jaguar was growing impatient to be together with Serenity, and the animal inside me also wanted reconciliation with the man I’d onceloved more than anyone in the world. I didn’t know if that could ever—
