She let out a slow breath and then stepped over him into the hollow he’d made and curled on her side.
He wrapped his arms around her, his chest to her back, her head resting on his bicep, the oak protecting her front. The dark spikes and waves of the tattoos up her arms contrasted with her pale skin in the dim light, and he longed to run his fingers along them, tracing those harsh, vibrant patterns.
He tucked his legs into the back of hers and let his scales cover his back until he surrounded her cold body with heat. All while quietly praying that she wouldn’t know enough to recognize what she was feeling pressed against her backside.
She froze.
Fuck.
“Sorry,” he whispered into the back of her neck. “Ignore it, and it will go away.”
She lay still for a moment and then turned her head to look at him over her shoulder, those huge, dark eyes staring into his.
She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Just like that? I would have expected it would take a bit more than that.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Why? How much do you know about men?”
He felt her whole body go stiff, and he wondered if she was about to throw off his arm. Why would she…?
Bollocks. She did know about men…. The fucking Blue. Cerdic. Lucilla’s voice tight with hurt and betrayal as she told him to get his hands off her. A powerful surge of pain spiked through his chest. He knew he should have killed the bastard when he had the chance.
His beast growled a long, low rumble, and she started to pull away.
Mathos tightened his arm. “Did he hurt you?”
She was still staring at him, her eyes deep and sad. But she shook her head. “Not like you think.”
“What happened?” He had no right to ask. But he fucking needed to know.
She let out a long, slow sigh, and he wondered if she was going to answer. But then she rolled to face him more fully and started speaking softly. “I thought that he loved me. We were going to run away together, but instead, he told Claudius.”
The beast was snarling now, a low rumble of unhappiness as Lucilla continued, “I was punished….” Her pause made him think the punishment had not been an easy one. “Bars were put on my windows. And he got a promotion and a reward.”
Gods. No wonder she struggled with trust. Wanted to get away from everything. From all the people who had abused her all her life. Not one man, not oneperson, had ever treated her with any kind of loyalty or compassion.
Not even the man who she had loved.
No, his beast murmured,she didn’t love Cerdic. She thought thatheloved her.
“You didn’t love him?” The words fell out before he could stop himself.
“No.” She shook her head, her damp hair trailing in a black wave over his arm as she moved. “I was lonely and stupid. And I wanted someone to care, just a little.”
Fuck it all.
Mathos looked down at her as he ran his fingers across her soft cheek to cradle her face. How could the asshole have betrayed her like that? How could he have made this strong, intelligent woman feel so small? To describe herself as lonely and stupid. If he had the chance that Cerdic had thrown away, he would….
No. Absolutely no way was he going to think about that.
But he could do something about this. “Lucilla, you’re beautiful, brave, and smart. He was so far below you that he might as well have been in a different kingdom. You deserve so much more than him.”
She rolled fully onto her back and pressed her cheek against his hand, her gaze fixed on his face despite the darkness. “What do I deserve, Mathos?” she asked, her voice so quiet that he felt the words almost as much as he heard them.
“You deserve someone who sees your true worth. A man who is strong enough in himself that he can support you when you need it and the rest of the time stand behind you and let you shine.”
“Someone like you?” She asked the question with genuine curiosity. No sarcasm or coyness. Just those dark eyes watching him as if she could see all the way into his soul.
Yes!
