Pride turned up Trent’s lips.“Yes, she is.”
“Careful there, kid,” Brennan warned.“Make sure you’re thinking with your brain, and not your todger.”
Defensiveness made Trent want to argue, but Brennan was right.“Thank you for the reminder.”
He shrugged.“I’d hate to have to give you a beating.”
Trent choked on a laugh.“I’d hate that too.”
“Still,” Brennan said with a grimace.“Better me than her brother.At least you'll still be breathing when I've finished.”
Trent let out a long sigh.“Understood.”
He waited a moment before going back into the barn.A wide smile stretched across Samantha’s face as she unwrapped the cloth from her hands.She was proud of herself, and he loved seeing it.He took the strips and hung them in their place.He held out his hands and she placed hers on top without any hesitation.
“You were amazing, Samantha.”
She did a happy sort of shimmy and wiggled their hands.
“Do you want to do a few more punches with a sketch?”
“No.My arms already feel like overcooked carrots.Do you think we could just sit for a little while?”
“You mean in the drawing room?”He was afraid she might mean in her bedroom.
She went to sit on the floor, leaning back against the wall of the barn.She patted the spot next to her and he sat down beside her.
For a while, she just fidgeted with a piece of straw.He got the feeling she wanted to talk about something but didn’t quite have the courage for it.
“Will you tell me about him?”he asked.
Her eyes searched his face.“How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.”He held out a hand for her again.
She let out a sigh as she settled her hand on top of his.“I have a whole mess of feelings and thoughts and I don’t know how to process it all.So I thought maybe if I just talk about everything and get it out of my mind, I might be able to organize it in a way that makes more sense.”
He squeezed her hand.“Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“It feels like such a long time ago.I was only sixteen.Still just a girl.My father was in his cups when he informed me I’d be marrying.I thought once he sobered up, he’d tell me it wasn’t true.But that didn’t happen.I didn’t know it at the time, but apparently, he wagered me.”She hissed a cynical laugh.“And so I married Norman.Or I thought I did.”
Jesus.He hadn’t expected the beginning would be before she even married.All he could do was squeeze her hand.He felt useless.
“Norman was…” She looked up into his eyes.“Not kind, like you.But he wasn’t cruel.He would often tell me how pretty my hair was.He loved that it was so long.Or, at least, he loved that other men would find it appealing.”She paused for a moment.“He didn’t send me to other men right away.First, I had to learn how to be both a lady and a whore.”
“No.”Trent wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.“Please don’t use that word.”
“But I was.Norman taught me all the best ways to please men.”She turned and lifted up onto her knees.“I could show you incredible pleasure, Trent.”
Trent sighed and shook his head.“Stop it.”She was testing him.Still not sure that he wasn’t like the others.It was hard not to be offended, but it wasn’t personal.After all she’d been through, she had no reason to trust that he wouldn’t hurt her too.He held out his arm and gestured for her to come back.
After a moment, she sat back down and snuggled against his side.“Do you mind if we spend a few minutes just like this?”
“We can stay like this for as long as you’d like.”Without thinking, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.He froze.
If he wasn’t careful, he was going to land himself on the receiving end of a beating, or worse.
ChapterEleven
