Page 56 of Temptation Unleashed (Talaenian Fae #3)

T he walk to his room was wrought in a tenuous silence.

’Twas as he imagined his walk to his death might be, electrical hums and unspent energy coiled tight, on the brink of exploding.

He tried to soothe Rori’s tension—the cuffs muted his magic, but he was still able to funnel a small expenditure of power, for ’twas power to do good—but she remained anxious.

Her steps weren’t as they had been in the beginning, loose and languid.

Rather now, he felt the stiffness in her knees, the stilted forward movement.

Her fingers trembled between his, despite caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.

His woman held a keen instinctual sense. As hard as she tried to prepare for what he would share, there would be no merciful deliverance.

They reached the end of the corridor where Shaye had set up his bedchamber.

Tucked away from the bustle of the main castle, out of sight of family and friends.

’Twas best, as he wished no harm upon the man who took him in, healed him, and further nurtured distant memories while walking the grotto.

Never once did Shaye bring up his faults or his dismal future.

Instead, they reminisced about times of their childhood, before the dark underbelly of the Fae realms had a chance to coax and tempt them.

Before they were exposed to the truth of power-hungry Seelie, jealous princesses and greedy Fae.

The moment he saw Rori leaning against the column, every worry vanished. He could do naught but stare at the vision of his goddess, dressed like a Fae queen, resting her fiery red head against the marble. Skin pale as cream, the dusting of freckles, her pillowy lips parted in wonder.

Then, she opened her eyes and the world around him ceased to exist, for ’twas Rori who became his world. His universe.

And with that revelation, the harsh reality of what he had to do.

Thaddeus opened the door, and guided her in with a light hand on her lower back, securing the door behind them.

Rori silently took in the space, shuffling toward the small sitting area with a settee and two plush chairs angled to the crackling fire in the marble fireplace.

His gaze lowered from the loose braid draped over her narrow shoulder, along the delicate bumps of her spine.

He tried to will his desire to rest, his cock a throbbing distraction and the heat building throughout his lower abdomen a force to be heeded.

Her dress did little to help him, the satin laces dangling from the top of the corset, calling to him to release them from the bow.

To unfasten the laces and golden eyehooks, enjoy the moment the black satin and lace garment slipped away from her skin to pool around her feet.

Goddess, his mouth ached to kiss and taste each small freckle along her back, nip his way up to her nape and cover her with his body before he made her his again and again.

Closing his eyes and rubbing a hand down his face, he turned away from his beautiful little goddess and busied himself with pouring a couple of cups of cold tea, scoffing at the hot teapot releasing the subtle bitter scent of healing tea. Aye, he needed another cup, but it would have to wait.

“You once said I didn’t fear you, though I should.

” Thaddeus paused with the glasses in hand.

Behind him, he heard the cushion of the settee sigh as she sat.

“I tried to give an analogy as to why I believed I didn’t fear you, but even that didn’t make sense.

There was no reason I shouldn’t fear you.

But you’re right. Something deep inside me, something I couldn’t explain or see or understand, assured me I was safe with you.

Then you healed me after Rich’s attack and tried to pawn it off as your brother’s doing, but I saw what you’d done before Cael had a chance to do his own healing. ”

Slowly, he turned toward Rori, finding her playing with the skirt of her gown.

From where he stood, he could see her chew her lower lip, the flutter of her long lashes over a single cheek.

He quietly approached, rounding the settee as she rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand.

Flushed red, but no scent of desire taunted his nostrils.

Nay. ’Twas that foul scent of fear. Fear he thought he’d done away with.

She took the glass he offered with a small thanks, then released a sharp, breathy laugh.

“The reason I didn’t fear you is because I couldn’t.

I didn’t have enough…space inside me to fear another person, even if I wanted to, because all my fear was for Rich.

That first night I saw you, yes. I feared you, a little, because I didn’t understand what the fuck was happening.

I saw a stranger holding a knife to my best friend’s boyfriend’s neck, and then my reality turned upside down.

I was on the brink of hysterics that night, but afterwards, I held no fear of you because here”—she touched her chest, finally lifting her brilliant emerald eyes to him—“wouldn’t let me.

Here assured me there was nothing to fear. ”

“I was wrong in how I treated you in the beginning. Like you, ’twas unexpected, and I spent a good time unraveling what I was feeling.”

’Twas liberating, speaking freely without fear of retribution. For now, at least.

“You said that the Fae used magic to make me relive my nightmares the night outside the club.”

Thaddeus nodded once, sipping the tea despite the twist of his gut. “Forbidden magic.”

Her gaze lowered, her hands nervously wringing the glass. Thaddeus relinquished his glass to the simple coffee table and angled himself toward Rori. He didn’t like the way the air turned dense around her, or her uptick of fidgeting.

The torment she struggled through lanced his heart. He reached forward and tucked a loose wave that had escaped her braid behind her ear. Her hands instantly calmed, but when she lifted her gaze again, narrowed and strained, he caught the quiver in her chin.

“He was my nightmare,” she murmured. “They don’t know how bad things got with him, but what they know is bad enough.”

“They. You mean my brother and your friends?”

“Yes.” Rori nodded a few times, then sucked in a deep breath. “Did Cael tell you he broke my ribs?”

Thaddeus froze. His fingers stilled against the shell of her ear, where he had smoothed that stray wave back a few times. For the briefest moment, he swore he saw red in the center of a cloud of black. The vile darkness he thought he’d never suffer again roiled through his mind.

“Nay. Cael didn’t tell me much about your situation, leaving it to you to disclose when you felt ready.”

Rori released another breathy laugh, and he realized it was a sound she made when she was nervous.

“I said feeling hurts. And it did. I wanted a night of numbness. A night where I didn’t have to feel the pain and shame and fear I’d been suffering for so long.

Yeah, he broke my ribs. It was the night Cael and Brandon rescued me, called the cops, and had him arrested.

It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten physical.

Funny thing is, I knew the cycle of abuse.

I watched my parents. My father had been physical for years, after losing his job and drowning himself in alcohol.

My mother took to the bottle shortly after.

It was a bad situation, one that I tried to stay away from.

I escaped my house when I was fifteen and lived with Cassy and her family, but they struggled financially.

I worked as soon as I was able to get a job and contribute, while studying hard and earning scholarships.

Two weeks before we graduated high school, the cops arrived on Cassy’s doorstep to tell me my mother was dead from blunt force trauma and my father was in jail awaiting trial for murder.

That’s when Cassy and I decided to move to Florida, far from that nightmare.

Or what I thought was a terrible nightmare until I landed myself in a situation not too different. ”

Thaddeus struggled to temper the rising fury boiling up in his gut.

Logically, there was naught he could do but listen.

’Twas her past, her shadows, things she’d already been through and things that no longer threatened her.

Her parents were out of her life. Her ex was dead.

Alas, watching her sit a foot from him, working through these horrors for him to hear, roused the protective beast that reared its head at any indication his woman was in danger.

It didn’t differentiate between a dead threat and a living threat. It simply recognized a threat.

“After going through that with my parents, I wanted to make something of myself. I wanted to do good. I wanted to help people, give people hope, and that’s why I decided to go into nursing. To know I can help, be a listening ear. Bring someone hope who may feel hopeless.

“So we moved here, worked hard, saved money, and then I enrolled in school. A two-year associate program. It was about the same time a coworker of ours introduced me to Rich. Said his friend wanted to get to know me.” Rori shrugged, drawing random shapes in the condensation on the glass.

“The beginning was great. Honeymoon phase.

No red flags. Nothing. I spent most of my time at his apartment until we decided I should move in.

Cassy rented out my room to someone at work, having not met Cael yet.