“None,” I confessed.
“Are you telling the truth? Hmm?”
“Yes, I’m telling the truth,” I cried out, feeling the whip lash my bare buttocks again.
“I find it hard to believe a gorgeous, insatiable huntress like you has gone months without a cock in her bed,” he drawled, eyes glinting with amusement.
Whack.The last stroke welted a sharp soreness, harder than the others, across the back of my thighs. This one was going to leave a mark that would last for days.
“Trust,” I shouted.
I couldn’t take any more. Not tonight. I carried a heavy, dark cloud of mental agony that blocked my ability to enjoy sex. I had to tell Alistair the truth about the terrible thing that happened during our months apart. I heard the gentle thud of the crop fall on the floor as he undid my collar. He slowly removed the plug from my anus and offered one hand to lift me from the floor.
“Get up,” he commanded, and I obeyed. The game was over when he wrapped his arms around me. We were both nakedand alone, hugging each other in silence. Our worries were unspoken, but the comfort we gave each other was enough.
His large hands raked through my messy hair as he kissed my forehead with gentle passion. I nestled my head against his shoulder while his arms engulfed my body in blissful silence. My fingers curled and touched the soft hairs on his chest, then felt the contours of every muscle that made him a man. His scent was addictive and intoxicating, pulling arousal through me.
“You smell so good, Scotty,” I whispered as a loose tear escaped my eye and ran down my cheek.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart? Why the tears? Did I hurt you?”
“I have something to show you,” I said, pulling away from him.
I switched on the light and dimmed it, softening the glare. My pulse thudded as I turned to face Alistair, ready to unveil what I kept hidden. My hand pressed against my abdomen. “You need to hear the truth about the night I called you.”
His eyes widened, the sharp green flaring with shock as they dropped to the scar.
I WEAR YOUR SCARS
Vera
Have you ever seen a grown man cry? I have. Two men in my life have wept openly in front of me. The first was Julian, and the second was Alistair. His eagle eyes didn’t miss the faded scars on my abdomen when I showed myself to him. Nor did he hide his tears, listening in sorrowful silence, when I told him my story.
I drew in a shaky breath and forced the words out. “Someone I trusted and had feelings for betrayed me. Holly James, the doctor I’d been casually seeing when you and I weren’t together. She planned the assault. Either Saira or Erin was behind this, but I don’t know which one.”
His face went still. I watched the realization hit—first horror, then grief, then a wave of guilt so fierce it hollowed him out. His eyes locked on the scars across my abdomen, and his voice broke.
He reached for me, every muscle tense, but he didn’t lash out. He just sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around mywaist, holding on like he might fall apart if he let go. His cheek pressed to my skin, silent tears wetting my scars.
“Forgive me,” he whispered, his voice ragged. “I should have protected you. I never should have let them close.”
We stayed like that. No tantrums, just pain and tenderness. Grieving what had been done and what we’d lost.
“You’re here now,” I murmured, caressing the curls on his head.
Alistair’s forlorn face, reddened and stained by the sadness of his tears, looked up. “I failed you,” his hoarse voice faltered.
“The world failed us, Scotty. Or maybe we failed ourselves. Whichever way we look at it, it doesn’t matter anymore because we’re here now. Together.” I offered a faint smile and cupped his face with my hands. My thumbs rubbed the prickles of his jaw, feeling it clench tightly.
“I’ll find every person who did this to you, Vera, and there will be no mercy. Not for hurting thewoman I love,” Alistair vowed, still on his knees. His green eyes gazed at me with earnest devotion, as if he were praying to a deity.
“Love?” I asked, intrigued.
“Your eyes are as wide as saucers,” Alistair teased with a grin. “I said it, though, didn’t I? I love you.”
I wanted to say the words back, but I was still processing everything that had happened tonight. Was our relationship risky? Perhaps. Was it worth the suffering? I didn’t believe in regrets.
Alistair’s body shifted on top of mine under the silky cover of our bed moments later. The sex was vanilla, but ever so sweet and flavored with unbridled energy. Our kisses were insatiable, and our bodies connected as one energetic force, sweating profusely from the outbreak of our rabid fever for each other.
