Page 64 of The Hunter

Still holding her securely, Telok eased back, cupped his hand in the water, and brought it up to pour over her back and shoulders, rinsing away the rest of the soap. “No more leaking, Lacey.” His hand smoothed down her back and arms in a soothing caress. “You are here now. With me.”

She was. God, she really freaking was. Sitting naked on his leg with his hands moving over her body. For the last several months, she couldn’t possibly have imagined anything like this, and she still wasn’t exactly sure how it was even happening now, or why so much had changed between them so quickly.

His lower right hand curled around her upper thigh, making her breath catch. She stared down at it, at those dark, clawed fingers, now so close to her pussy. His thumb stroked her skin, sending tingling currents through her that coalesced in her core.

Telok brought the soap down to her leg and began washing, his motions even gentler and more soothing than before. But that lower hand remained in place. His thumb crept higher, tracing just beneath the spot near her pelvis where her scar wrapped around toward the front of her leg. “Your scars. You were still telling the story.”

Lacey swallowed thickly. It was seriously hard to think with him touching her like this. She didn’t believe it was sexual, but it certainly was sensual and intimate. She clutched her hands on either side of her. “It…It was around that time, when I was at my lowest, that I heard about the Homeworld Initiative. I saw it as a chance to escape, to start over.

“Except when I first applied, I didn’t meet their criteria. I was too fat, and my bloodwork came back showing I was prediabetic with high blood pressure and cholesterol, which was cause for immediate disqualification. But when she saw my frustration and disappointment, the recruiter sympathized, and she told me I could reapply. She said that if I could make the necessary changes, it would make me a more appealing candidate because it would show my determination. And that meant losing weight, fast, because the deadline for applications was a little over a year away.”

As Telok carefully moved the soap over the scar on her inner right thigh, Lacey flinched from the pain, parting her legs further while curling her fingers around his leg for support.

He went utterly still. “I do not want to hurt you.”

“I know. It’s okay. They’re just really, really tender right now.”

He resumed moving the soap, though he did so around the scar rather than directly on it. As he washed her legs, he stroked his thumb over her left thigh as though to distract her. And while it did take her mind off the pain, it only made her all the more aware of how close he was to stroking her pussy.

Lacey released a shaky breath. “Long story short, I did the work. Sometimes…not in the healthiest of ways. I had a goal, and I busted my ass to lose the weight. And I did it fast. Physically, I felt amazing, better than I ever had in my life. But mentally? When I looked at myself in the mirror, all I could see were stretch marks and all the excess, sagging skin. A new defect to replace the old. I worked so hard for a new body, and all I could see were the flaws. I hated it. But I just…”

She raised an arm and trailed her fingers over the scar running from her armpit to her elbow. “I didn’t have insurance or very much money, and my time was running out. So I did the stupidest thing. I found a shady doctor who offered to do the skin removal surgery for cheap.”

Lowering her hand, she shook her head with a short, humorless laugh. “He cut my skin off and stitched me up like Frankenstein’s monster, leaving me with all these scars. I was lucky I didn’t die from the infection I got afterwards, considering his negligence. God, the fucking pain I was in for weeks… And I was alone through it all.”

CHAPTER 16

Every thread of Telok’s being was drawn taut, pulled in every direction with such force that it was a wonder he remained in one piece. The searing rage boiling through his veins was restrained only by the cold, heavy lump in his gut and the weight of his helplessness and distress.

He hated seeing Lacey in pain, hated that he’d caused some of it, that she had suffered so much. He could not protect her from what had already been done, could not avenge her, could not vanquish the ghosts that had followed her across the stars.

Her bottom lip trembled as her eyes filled with fresh tears. “After I healed, I felt just as ugly, but in a different way.”

Telok’s insides drew tighter. “Lacey⁠—”

“I know. I know I wasn’t. That I’m not.” She wiped the heel of her hand across her eyes. “But that kind of mindset is hard to break. Hard to heal from. I still haven’t completely, but I’m trying every day to look at myself and love me.”

“Ah, Lacey…” Cupping the back of Lacey’s neck, he lowered his head to nuzzle her damp hair, breathing in the heady blend of her natural scent and the fragrance of the soap. “I wish you could see what I see.”

He straightened, leaving his hand on her neck, and met her watery gaze. “I look upon you and see beauty. I see strength. I see a spirit brighter and more fiery than your hair.”

Telok covered the scar on her belly with a lower hand. “These marks have helped shape you, but they are not you. They are battles you fought, battles you survived. You are here even after every hurt, after every pain, every struggle. Because you are strong.”

Lacey gave him a little smile as tears spilled down her cheeks. “Ahnset said something similar to me once, and her words really helped me.”

“Ahnset is queen, so you must listen.”

“So I don’t have to listen to you?”

Telok tipped his head to the side. “When have you ever listened to me?”

She chuckled.

That sweet, soft sound flowed straight into Telok’s hearts, easing the pressure in his chest.

He brushed away her tears with the back of a finger as he brushed his thumb along the scar on her belly. “I wish you did not have these scars. Not because you say they are ugly, but because it would have spared you much suffering.”

Her bottom lip quivered as her brow pinched. “Telok…”