Page 74 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

After I’d disposed of her bloody clothing and grabbed something for her to wear from my drawers, I returned to find her exactly where I’d left her.

I smiled to myself as I let the shower heat up. It was soon to fade when I heard her sniffle and inhale roughly.

I walked to her and gently tilted her chin up, breaking her out of her dissociative daze. She was slipping in and out, long-buried emotions crashing into her violently as she struggled to hold on to the present moment. “Tell me something in this room that you smell.”

She paused, her dark brows pulling together. “Eucalyptus,” she said.

“Now tell me two things that you see.”

She glanced around, her gaze landing on the window. “The city,” she said, her eyes flickering. She was coming back, inch by inch. She swiveled her head. “You.”

“Good. Now tell me something you hear.”

Her breathing became more even, her beautiful heart steadying. “Running water.”

“Something you feel.”

She looked down, lifting one foot and then the other. “The floor?” she asked with a small, hesitant smile.

When she lifted her gaze, her blue eyes stunned me for a moment, as they often did. In them I saw oceans, multitudes, and the fire that refused to die.

“You are here, in this room, with me. And there’s no safer place in this world for you.”

35

SCARLETT

Under the cascade of water, I washed away the vampires’ touch and saliva and the last bits of blood that the healers hadn’t cleansed from my body.

Rune was shirtless but remained in his black underwear, not that it hid much when it was wet and clinging to his form.

His unbelievable, ridiculously sinful form. He caught me staring more than a few times—at his broad, tattooed, chiseled chest and all the rest of him. He didn’t say anything, but he may have smirked the third or fourth time.

He made a spinning motion with his fingers, and I moved at his command. My back to him, one hand gently held my shoulder while the other reached for a black glass bottle on the jutting stone racks.

His chest against my back, paired with the warm water above was so soothing that I felt like I was melting.

When Rune massaged minty shampoo into my scalp, I made an unconscious noise of contentment.

Even though he was no longer directing me to, I still took note of the sensations around me. The crisp, clean scents, his comforting touch and the sturdy tile beneath my feet, the beauty of this dark and luxurious space, and the sound of the water falling against our bodies.

“How did you know how to do that?” I asked. “How to bring me back from the empty place?”

Rune continued to wash my hair. “I’ve been through war, but I’ve also been around for a very long time. Most people have trauma, to varying degrees. We all handle it differently, but some tricks work for everyone. Especially when we get stuck. The key is convincing the body that it’s no longer in danger, that the past is no longer happening to us. Then the mind can reattach to its physical form. Grounding yourself to your surroundings helps with that.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know what happened was nothing like war.”

I suddenly felt very dramatic and silly, undeserving of Rune’s undivided, selfless care. I couldn’t fathom why he was giving himself in this way without receiving anything in return. Nor did I understand why I was allowing it, why I’d never felt safer than I did when this ruthless vampire clan leader was close.

Rune slowly spun me to face him, his gaze intense. “There is no competition in trauma. None of it is ever better or worse than any other. Trauma is not what happens to you. It’s what happens inside of you as a result of what happens to you.”

I thought about that for a moment. Rune may have been insane, but he was also wise. Not that I’d ever tell him that.

“Why are you taking care of me?” I asked.

Water dripped down his flawless skin, clinging to his powerful shadow marks. He was a dark god, a man who didn’t belong on this plane. And the way he looked at me—with all the devotion and intense attentiveness at his ancient, forceful disposal—it caught me in an electric riptide of captivation. I hung on his every word, clung to every soothing brush of his skin on mine.

“I was going to say because I want to, but that’s not the whole truth.” Rune swallowed, his sharp jaw tensing as his powerful muscles flexed. “I need to take care of you, Scarlett.”

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