Page 92 of Dance of Thorns

I, more than most people, know that the past stays where it is, and you can’t really go back there. And yet, here we are.

Heresheis.

And it’s become…more.

More than I ever imagined. More than I was looking for. Sometimes even more than I know how to process, when she’s in my thoughts every waking minute of the day, and creeping through every sleeping one, too.

All I know right now is this intense, near-psychotic need to protect her. To shield her from the evils of the world.

She’s already seen enough of them.

She’s not in her room when I open the door. I’m about to go checkminewhen I hear the sound of running water. My eyes drift to the ajar bathroom door and the steam rolling thickly out.

She’s standing motionless under the shower spray—naked, hugging herself, eyes staring vacantly at nothing, even when I walk into the bathroom and stop right in front of her on the other side of the glass wall. Even when I tap on it.

Nothing.

Fuck. She’s in shock.

I strip off my clothes and step into the shower with her. It’s only when I wrap my arms around her and pull her tight against my body that she jolts. She gasps sharply, a scream lodging in her throat as she goes to hit me with a closed fist.

“Easy,” I growl, catching her wrists tight and letting my eyes catch hers. “It’s me,” I murmur. “It’s just me.”

She blinks rapidly, her chest heaving, her nipples dragging against my skin.

“Tell me what happened.”

She shakes her head, still half dazed as her eyes dart all over the place, unsure of where to look.

“Tell me what happened, little bird,” I growl.

She’s still fidgety, her gaze flitting everywhere and nowhere, like she’s treading water in her mind.

So I do the first thing I can think of to snap her out of it.

My hand reaches down to cup her pussy. I stroke a thick finger up her lips, dragging it over the little nub of her clit. She spasms,jolting a little, and a bit of color seeps into her cheeks. I do it again, watching the shell of confusion and fear around her slowly begin to crack.

I roll my finger over her clit again and then sink my entire finger into her hole.

That does it.

She gasps like she’s just come up for air. She chokes and sputters under the shower spray, and goes to hit me again.

Then she realizes who I am.

“Bane…” she murmurs, sinking into me.

I slowly slide my finger out of her pussy and wrap my arms around her.

It’s not like Idon’twant the heat between her legs, but right now I only did that to drag her out of her stupor. Now that it’s worked, pushing it further might shake her even more.

There’ll be time enough for that later. Hunting her. Fucking her in that savage way she brings out in me.

But for now, she needs safety.

I don’t think she’s had enough of that in her life.

I turn off the water, wrap her in my arms, and lift her up against my chest. She smiles weakly as I carry her out of the bathroom and to her bed. I slide our wet, naked bodies under the sheets, and I keep her close to me as she sinks against my body, resting her cheek on my chest.