get when she'd say or do the wrong thing. The same look that made her beast cower inside her.
She saw all that but downplayed it to just one of his faults in light of his many wonderful attributes. Or that he was just having a bad day everyone had those. No one was perfect. And everyone was caught being a fool sometime.
"I suppose I should get to the point. Um, the sex got stranger and soon afterwards, I told him that I didn't want to see him anymore. He was fine with it too. He even smiled and hugged me, said he understood, said he still wanted to be my friend. That was the first night since the first day I met him that I actually felt one-hundred percent good. So I told him I was going to go get my things. I probably shouldn't have broken things off while I was at his place, huh? ”
“ I went to his bedroom to grab my toothbrush and a few pieces of clothes I had there ." She stopped and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm not going to go over the rest but, he beat me and tried to rape me. It was the most terrifying experience of my life."
She hugged her knees tighter and stared unblinking at a tree branch through the window. Wetness pooled in her eyes and she focused until they dried up before continuing. "Anyways, he's an asshole. For a while after that night I stayed with my parents. They didn't understand, hell my dad didn't want to hear anything about it. For about a month after I got home I started receiving phone calls with no one on the other end. It was him . I knew it. I could feel it. But that was two years ago. It was a few weeks ago, before the break-in, when I started receiving the same kind of phone calls . Only this time with nasty letters."
"Why do you think he's trying to...reconnect with you?" Rome's deep voice was harsher than usual.
"At Sarina's wedding, I said something to distract him when he had her. It worked but I think after he saw me it reminded him that I exist or something . I don't know." She stood a little too quickly and teetered as blood fought to rush to her legs. She made herself sound cool and unaffected, it was pretty convincing in her opinion. "I have to go now. I need to get back to my café and make preparations for my busted apartment and so on." She stared straight ahead and moved to walk past him.
He didn't let her. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him. She stood stiff as a board in his arms. When he tried to tilt her face up to his, she fought it, but finally gave in when she realized that doing what he wanted would speed her escape along.
She lifted her face toward his but shut her eyes. She didn't know what she was going to see there, but either way didn't bode well for her. If it was pity then she'd knife him, if it was a smile she'd slap him, if it was indignant anger for her she'd run from the room.
His words made her look at him. "Look at me, lumara ," he said gently. Bondmate, he'd called her , the most intimate term for a loved one, a close one to a lykaen, and she was mush in his hands.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes tracing over his face taking in every line, point, and expression. His mouth was flat with anger and contempt, his eyes blazing with possession. She should want to go right now, run, and hide in her room , but she didn't. His hands stroked her arms, then her back in long reassuring strokes that soon had her falling against him.
She lost herself in his eyes. For the life of her she couldn't remember why looking at him was so bad to begin with. His eyes were a grey with a thin white rim on the outside holding in all that stormy color. " Beautiful ." She didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until his features softened and his lips curled into a smile. Not the grin that said he was laughing, but a genuine, happy smile.
His head bent and stopped right before hers. She knew what he was going to do and her heart pumped faster, her breeding cycle spun inside her at the obvious willing male; it wanted her to lie
She saw all that but downplayed it to just one of his faults in light of his many wonderful attributes. Or that he was just having a bad day everyone had those. No one was perfect. And everyone was caught being a fool sometime.
"I suppose I should get to the point. Um, the sex got stranger and soon afterwards, I told him that I didn't want to see him anymore. He was fine with it too. He even smiled and hugged me, said he understood, said he still wanted to be my friend. That was the first night since the first day I met him that I actually felt one-hundred percent good. So I told him I was going to go get my things. I probably shouldn't have broken things off while I was at his place, huh? ”
“ I went to his bedroom to grab my toothbrush and a few pieces of clothes I had there ." She stopped and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm not going to go over the rest but, he beat me and tried to rape me. It was the most terrifying experience of my life."
She hugged her knees tighter and stared unblinking at a tree branch through the window. Wetness pooled in her eyes and she focused until they dried up before continuing. "Anyways, he's an asshole. For a while after that night I stayed with my parents. They didn't understand, hell my dad didn't want to hear anything about it. For about a month after I got home I started receiving phone calls with no one on the other end. It was him . I knew it. I could feel it. But that was two years ago. It was a few weeks ago, before the break-in, when I started receiving the same kind of phone calls . Only this time with nasty letters."
"Why do you think he's trying to...reconnect with you?" Rome's deep voice was harsher than usual.
"At Sarina's wedding, I said something to distract him when he had her. It worked but I think after he saw me it reminded him that I exist or something . I don't know." She stood a little too quickly and teetered as blood fought to rush to her legs. She made herself sound cool and unaffected, it was pretty convincing in her opinion. "I have to go now. I need to get back to my café and make preparations for my busted apartment and so on." She stared straight ahead and moved to walk past him.
He didn't let her. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him. She stood stiff as a board in his arms. When he tried to tilt her face up to his, she fought it, but finally gave in when she realized that doing what he wanted would speed her escape along.
She lifted her face toward his but shut her eyes. She didn't know what she was going to see there, but either way didn't bode well for her. If it was pity then she'd knife him, if it was a smile she'd slap him, if it was indignant anger for her she'd run from the room.
His words made her look at him. "Look at me, lumara ," he said gently. Bondmate, he'd called her , the most intimate term for a loved one, a close one to a lykaen, and she was mush in his hands.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes tracing over his face taking in every line, point, and expression. His mouth was flat with anger and contempt, his eyes blazing with possession. She should want to go right now, run, and hide in her room , but she didn't. His hands stroked her arms, then her back in long reassuring strokes that soon had her falling against him.
She lost herself in his eyes. For the life of her she couldn't remember why looking at him was so bad to begin with. His eyes were a grey with a thin white rim on the outside holding in all that stormy color. " Beautiful ." She didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until his features softened and his lips curled into a smile. Not the grin that said he was laughing, but a genuine, happy smile.
His head bent and stopped right before hers. She knew what he was going to do and her heart pumped faster, her breeding cycle spun inside her at the obvious willing male; it wanted her to lie
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