Her lips turned up in a small smile. “Have I ever said that it bothered me?”
He shook his head.
“Have you ever felt anything like that through our bond?”
Again, he shook his head.
He opened the door to their place, and Tenia heard water running in the bathroom. Torion must have decided it would be better for him to actually do what she’d instructed the first time around instead of making her repeatedly harp on him before he obeyed like normal. Perhaps he could tell she was going to be harsher than usual, considering her irritation with him over his language.
Skender pulled her to a stop as the door closed them inside their suite. He drew her to his chest and rested his hands on her hips. His eyes glowed slightly as he looked down at her, not as brightly as if his wolf was in full control, but enough that she knew the beast was close to the surface. “I love touching you,” he whispered. “Nothing brings me more comfort or peace than feeling the soft places on your body where I my own body is not soft, or touching your silky skin. Having your scent linger on me soothes my beast when we are having a rough day.”
Tenia had heard Skender’s voice grow gruff when he spoke about his past. Occasionally it seemed to overwhelm him, and she knew those were the “rough” days to which he was referring. Skender struggled with the choices he’d made. He wanted to make amends for them, but as he had told her, he felt there was nothing he could ever do that would repair the damage he had done.
“I love that you touch me when you want to, Skender,” Tenia assured him. She lifted her hand and cupped his firm jaw. “I never knew how much I needed touch until you.”
“Just touch?” he asked, his brow raising.
Tenia rolled her eyes. “Yourtouch,” she specified. She started to tease him about being insecure, but then felt a heavy dose of shame roll through their bond so she swallowed back the words. “You can’t undo the past, Skender. But you can change the way you live in the future, and you’re doing that.”
He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. “I wish that was enough. What I would give up in order to change the past.” It was something he’d said more than once, and she knew he’d say it again. Tenia didn’t know how to help him. So she tried to simply listen when Skender appeared to need to talk. She let him hold her when that seemed like the best thing for him. And occasionally, she left him alone when, on rare occasions, he went hunting in his wolf form without asking her to go with him. She’d never admit it to him, but it hurt when he didn’t invite her. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it did.
Tenia felt his warm breath on her face as he breathed out. “I don’t mean to hurt you.”
Dammit. She was usually very good at keeping things to herself—things that made her feel vulnerable or that she worried would make him feel worse than he already did.
“Usually when I go hunting on my own, I need to think about my past, Tenia.” He pulled away from her head and then ran his thumbs across her cheeks. “I’m trying to remember more about my childhood, about what was done to me. It doesn’t change what I did, but it gives me hope that maybe my true self wouldn’t have been a traitor. Maybe if I had not been tampered with by a high fae, I would have been faithful to my pack. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been driven by such selfish motivation. It’s hard for me to let you see that.” He gently pressed his thumb to her temple, indicating their bond. “I’m a man.Yourmate. I should be strong, and there are so many days when I feel anything but.”
Tenia rose up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. She was becoming more and more comfortable instigating physical affection with him, and she always felt pleasure from him when she did. “Sometimes it’s okay to let me be the strong one.”
“Is this one of those times when I need to go to my room and turn on some music?” Torion’s voice came from behind Skender.
Her mate chuckled, and she smacked his chest as she felt her face flush.
“No,” Tenia said at the same time Skender said, “Yes.”
She leaned around the large male in front of her and saw that her son—
“Our son,”Skender corrected her through the bond.
“Our son,” she whispered, and he nodded at her, then released her and turned to face Torion.
“You ready for a story?”
Torion nodded, his eyes brightening. He loved Skender’s stories. They were full of adventure, battles between good and evil, and even a smidgen of a love story sprinkled throughout. Somewhere along the way, when Tenia had been eavesdropping, she had realized that he was telling Torion about Skender and Tenia’s own lives, filling in what he could glean from her mind. He was sharing with their son how they had come to be a family.
She didn’t join Skender in Torion’s room. She liked to allow them to have that time together. Tenia did, however, sit outside the room and listen.
Later that night, as she and Skender lay in the bed, he ran his fingers through her hair. He did this every night. Tenia closed her eyes and released a contented sigh. Perhaps it was wrong of her to feel this way, considering what Lilly had told them regarding the things going on outside of the warlock mountain. They’d offered their help, but Lilly had said that until Fane specifically called on them, then she and Skender were to stay put. They had no idea how long they would live in limbo.
“I’m sorry,” Skender said into their dark room. “You’re stuck in this situation because you’re mated to me.”
“I’m not sorry. Do I wish we could help? Yes. Because that’s just who I am. I have been given powers that have been exploited and used for evil, andnowI have the opportunity to use them for good. It aggravates me that I’m not permitted to do so, but I don’t blame that on you, Skender.”
“Fane’s a good man, and I have no doubt he’s a good alpha,” Skender said, as if he needed to defend the male who’d commanded them to stay put.
“I believe you. And I believe that he honestly wants to do the right thing when it comes to your … well …oursituation. And considering all the stuff he and his people are dealing with, there hasn’t exactly been time to do that. In a way, he’s actually protecting you, and therefore protecting me and Torion.”
Skender rolled until he leaned half over her body. Tenia shivered as his hand ran down the bare flesh of her arm until he could twine their fingers together. “I don’t deserve you, but I can’t give you up either. That’s probably my biggest issue, Tenia. Knowing all that I’ve done and how you deserve better than me.”
