honey?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have any left.”
Fuck, the flat tone of her voice was almost as devastating
as her words. Trying to hide his shock, he nodded, as if running out of tears were
perfectly normal. “Is there anything you need from us?”
“Like what?” she asked, suspicion coloring her tone.
The lack of trust in that question and the ground they’d
obviously lost made him want to rend and tear at something. Forcing his fingers
to unclench, he tried for a nonchalant tone. “Like whatever you need. We can leave
or stay, we can hold you if you’d find comfort in that, or we can just sit.”
Closing her eyes tight, she allowed her head to roll back,
and she didn’t even wince when it thumped hard and loud on the marble paneling.
“I know you want to help me,” she whispered. “But don’t make
me choose. Giving me a choice was how this all went to hell in the first place.”
Rye straightened himself up, and Dev didn’t like the wild
look in his denmate’s eyes. “All right, no choices.” Reaching out to cup Tansy’s
chin, Rye stared her down. “I am going to do what I want, and the only way for
you to stop me is to say ‘no’ in a loud, clear voice. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
The startled look on Tansy’s face gave Dev pause, but Rye
had no such inhibitions. He scooped her up, settled her on his lap and tucked
her head under his chin. Holding her close, Rye spread his legs and nodded to
the space he’d made. “Get your ass over here, Dev—she needs to feel safe.”
Bereft of a better idea, Dev shuffled closer, sliding his
legs underneath Rye’s and pulling his denmate close until they were almost
crotch to crotch, with Tansy evenly balanced between them. Rye wrapped his arms
around Dev’s shoulders, squeezing until they had their woman firmly trapped
between them.
Rye kissed the top of her head but his voice was all
business. “I’m not giving you a choice, Tansy. This is where you’ll be staying
for a while, safe and tight between my brother and me. There is only one word
that will get you out of this. Are you going to use it?”
Tansy deliberately pressed her lips together and shook her
head. Rye gave her another kiss. “Good girl.” He softened his tone. “You’re
safe with us. We’ll take care of you, so you can just relax now.”
Tansy shuddered once and then she let out a sigh as her
whole body softened. Dev and Rye kept themselves plastered to her and she
seemed perfectly content to be squashed between them. Dev looked at his
denmate, at a complete loss about what was going on.
Dev had always been smarter than average. He liked to learn,
and the books and scrolls in the library were some of his favorite friends. He
was usually way ahead of anyone else with plans, ideas and solutions, but this
situation with Tansy left him utterly bewildered.
And to make matters worse, it seemed his funny, outgoing,
impetuous denmate was so far ahead of the problem that Tansy was practically
purring in his lap. For the first time in his adult life, Dev felt redundant,
and the sensation of uselessness hollowed him out and scraped him raw. Lowering
his head to the crook of Tansy’s neck, he nuzzled close and squeezed his eyes
shut against the burning ache in his chest.
Chapter Six
Rye couldn’t sleep. He was doing his best not to toss and
turn, because he didn’t want to disturb Dev, but his brain was working too hard
for his body to rest. Tansy was spending the night with Fellescend and
Zenbaylan, so her room was empty, but it would have been an invasion of privacy
to crawl into her bed without asking.
And the thought of her having a say circled him back to her
problems with choice. He knew it had something to do with that bastard
Lockmehdyhn, but Rye couldn’t work out how having a choice was Tansy’s issue.
Surely being kidnapped and raped was all about not having a choice.
He rubbed his head, trying to ease the ache. Then he felt
Dev roll closer in
Valerie Sherrard
Russell Blake
Tymber Dalton
Colleen Masters
Patricia Cornwell
Gerald Clarke
Charlie A. Beckwith
Jennifer Foor
Aileen; Orr
Mercedes Lackey