I leave them and walk back through the Narrowhalls toward the lift. My legs carry me the way they used to carry me years ago, steady and strong, and my arms swing at my sides without complaint. I can feel every step land solid and clean on the stonefloor, and the weight that has been dragging at my body for months is gone.
I keep coming back to the look on Sorina’s face. She was surprised when I agreed that what Noah was doing was wrong. She asked me if I thought it was wrong, and the disbelief in her voice told me she’d expected a different answer. I don’t understand that. A man hurting a woman is horrendous. It was as if she didn’t think I’d believe her when she told me what had happened, or that I’d take her side.
But when I grabbed Noah and held him against the wall, when I stood between Sorina and the man who had hurt her and told him he would never touch her again, her expression changed. She looked at me as though I had done something she didn’t believe a man was capable of doing.
I step onto the lift and pull the lever for the Corehalls. The platform rises. I haven’t let myself hope in a long time, but the way Sorina looked at me when I defended her tells me it might be safe to hope now.
Chapter Fifteen
Sorina
Vicky and I spend the day together. Noah is being held in a prison cell in the Corehalls, waiting for trial. We don’t see him. Vicky doesn’t want to, and I think she’s making the right decision. Abusers have a way of manipulating their victims when they get the slightest access to them.
We give our statements, and I’m proud of Vicky when she tells the guards what has been happening in her home since she married her husband. When she wavers, I place my hand on her arm and hold it there until she regains her composure. The process is long and drags on through the afternoon.
By the time we leave, it’s late. Vicky is drained and quiet. We walk together to the lift, and I pull her into a hug before she steps on.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she says.
“You’re doing the hardest part yourself,” I tell her.
She goes down to the Narrowhalls, and I take the lift up after.
The Highhalls are quiet. I walk through the living room toward my bedroom, exhausted all the way through. I’ve spent the whole day holding someone else together, and now that I’m alone, every part of me feels heavy.
Korr’s bedroom door is open. I see him in his armchair with a book in hand. He notices me and gets to his feet.
I smile at him.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“How’s Vicky doing?”
“Shaken, but she’s doing better.”
I tell him I need to take a bath. He nods and bids me goodnight.
The bathroom fills with steam as the water runs. I lower myself into the tub and let the heat soak into my shoulders, neck, and the tight muscles along my spine. The temperature is perfect, but my mind won’t settle. I’m tired, yet fully awake at the same time, my body wanting sleep while my thoughts refuse to slow down.
I get out of the bath, wrap myself in a robe, and walk into my bedroom. I stand in front of my bed and stare at it. I won’t sleep well in it tonight, I can feel it. I slept with Korr last night, and it was deeper and more restful than ever.
I’m not sure what I’m doing, and I don’t have a plan, but I move to the drawer where I hid the first box Korr gifted me, and I pull it out. The diamond earrings sparkle at me. I remember how afraid I was when I laid eyes on them. I pluck them out of the velvet and put them on. Wearing them tonight feels right.
When I walk out of my bedroom and head toward his door, I’m wearing the earrings and bracelet he made for me, a robe, and nothing else.
I knock.
“Come in.”
I open the door and step inside. Korr is making his bed, pulling the sheets straight, getting ready to sleep. He looks up when I enter, and I notice that he’s wearing only a pair of underwear. It takes us both by surprise. He probably invited me in without realizing he was in this state of undress, unused to me knocking on his door at such a late hour.
I take in his body. Massive, towering, as if carved from living stone. Broad shoulders, thick arms roped with dense muscle, and a wide torso that narrows to a firm waist. Every surface is solid and defined. His thighs are columns of stone, and his forearms are thick. There’s nothing soft on him anywhere. He’s hard everywhere – pure masculinity, raw and unhidden.
The sight of him does something to my body that I haven’t felt in a long time. Heat pools low in my belly and spreads between my legs, sudden and thick. My pussy gushes, wetness building so fast I can feel it slide down my inner thigh. My nipples harden against the fabric of my robe, two stiff points pressing into the material. One tug at the sash would be enough to leave me bare so he can see what he’s doing to me simply by existing. My face and chest flush warm as I step closer to him.
His eyes study my face, then focus on my earlobes.
