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Julian kissed me gently before standing. “Alright. Get some sleep, baby girl. We’ll figure out what we’re doing tomorrow.” He closed the door behind him.
Undressing wasn’t hard; I avoided standing as best as I could. Now, pulling on the shorts took a little finagling, but I managed it. The shirt smelled like Xavier, and the scent of smoked wood made me relax. I hugged the pillow to my chest as I looked at the fuzzy socks and smiled as I settled into the bed after taking my hair down, falling asleep.
“You useless piece of trash.” Dylan snarled as he backhanded me across the face, making me fall to the ground with a cry. “I told you not to speak tonight.”
Tears fell down my face as he yanked my hair back, making me cry out. Pain exploded in my scalp where he clutched me. Tears burned in my eyes, threatening to fall as I fought against him. “I’m—s—sorry,” I stuttered, trying anything to make the pain stop.
“You should know better,” Dylan hissed in my ear. “I’m going to brand you to remind you who your master is. Maybe then you’ll learn to obey my orders when I give them.”
I woke with a cry, my body shaking. The white hot pain of the brand on my hip echoing through my memories. “No! Don’t!” Tears fell from my eyes. I touched my hair, feeling the scar on my scalp where Dylan had yanked out my hair in fistfuls. I couldn’t get the man and his evil laughter out of my head.
“Alena?” Elias surged into the room, his voice frantic as he called for me. He wore a pair of tight boxers and nothing else.
I wish I could say I enjoyed the view, but I was too caught up in my night terror. He climbed into the bed, pulling me up against his chest.
“Shh, little one. I’m here.” He purred softly in my ear as I sobbed into his chest. His skin vibrated beneath my touch. Dylan’s laughter was still in my head and the echoes of pain made my body jerk. I tried to focus on his purr and let it replace the memories.
“Oh, my little one, what can I do?”
My fingers curled into his pecs. “Make me forget, Elias. I want to forget his cruel touch. I want to be cared for. Please take me.”
Loved. I wanted to be loved by someone. But I couldn’t say that part aloud.
“Little one, I won’t take advantage of you.” His fingers ghosted over the bare skin of my shoulder where the shirt slipped down.
My eyes fluttered shut as a fresh wave of tears cascaded down my cheeks. He didn’t want me. Not like this. Not when I wasn’t in heat.
Disgusted with myself, I tried to roll away from him, but he held me close. “Alena, look at me.”
I swallowed then tilted my neck back to peer up at him. “I’m s—s–s–s–” No. Not again. I worked so hard to get rid of that damn stutter.
Elias placed a gentle finger over my lips. “No apologizing.” He moved and cupped my cheek. “Trust me, if you knew how difficult it is for me to not accept your offer, you’d understand. It’sveryhard.” His eyebrows arched and his gaze dropped to where his impressive erection was tenting the sheets.
I pushed my face back against his skin, trying to hide again. If I was a stronger woman, I would have been able to pull away from him.
“What else can I do, little one? Can I hold you until you fall asleep again?”
I shook my head, knowing I’d never be able to sleep after that nightmare.
I just wanted the memory of Dylan’s cruel touch replaced by a loving one. I curled against him, not meeting his gaze again as my body stiffened. Despite his words and the evidence of his desire, my mind still fought back against me. Dylan’s voice rang through my head, taunting me. Telling me I was worthless and nothing.
Ugly and scarred. Not worth a knot. A soft sniffle escaped me, a couple stray tears leaking from my eyes to fall onto Elias’ chest before I could stop them.
The rumble beneath my cheek intensified. “Please don’t cry, little one. It’s breaking my heart.”
His hand stroked up and down my back and the crying stopped. But I ached. It wasn’t as intense as when I went into heat, but the feeling of emptiness remained.
I didn’t know if it was my body or soul that was empty, but both cried out for these men. Needed these men like I needed air to breathe. I let out a deep sigh, unable to stop my body from rubbing against him as his scent invaded my nostrils.
“On your back, spread your legs for me,” Elias rumbled, easing away from me to allow my body to comply with his order. The heat burning in his eyes as I met his gaze made desire sparked to life within me. These men were slowly rekindling things I’d long since thought dead.
My feet planted on the mattress and I started to push down the shorts, but Elias stopped me. “Stop putting pressure on your feet.” He grasped each ankle and placed them on his shoulders. “Much better,” he said with a wink.
“Elias,” I gasped as he maneuvered me to drag the shorts down my legs. A growl reverberated around me as he saw I wasn’t wearing anything beneath. No use getting my panties any dirtier when I had a perfectly good pair of shorts.
“Your scent drives me to the brink of madness.” His nose ran down the length of my thigh before he kissed a path back up to my knee. “I’ll make you come tonight. It’ll help you sleep. I won’t ask anything more of you.”
“I’m the one asking you.” The husky quality of my voice startled me as I spoke.
