Page 82 of Taken By Touch and Torment

My clan had the good instincts to leave us alone. Mason and Uriah merely nodded as they walked past.

Silent tears streamed down Scarlett’s cheeks. She appeared terrified of me, and I was half-afraid she was about to bolt.

Instead, she quickly launched herself into my chest. And the move broke something inside of me. Or maybe it had knocked something loose.

I wouldn’t have been able to stop my shadows from crawling all over her if I’d tried. One of my hands rested on the back of her head, the other on her upper back. We were locked like this for what could’ve been years or the briefest of seconds. We were two halves of a whole, two souls who were always meant to find each other, in any lifetime and any world.

She would never leave me again. There was no place in this world my Scarlett could go where I wouldn’t be able to hunt her down and drag her back where she belonged.

It felt like I could finally breathe again after weeks without oxygen. Knowing she was safe, that she was away from those who’d been hurting her, meant more to me than any other truth ever had.

I pulled back, my hands now cupping her face in my broad palms. That first failed rescue had affected me more than I’d thought. It was hard not to fear she might fade away again.

This woman was the only thing in this world that could make me think and behave so irrationally, like a man possessed. I was thoroughly convinced I’d set myself on fire just to see Scarlett give me one of her beautiful, dangerous smiles.

I fell to my knees before her.

She stared at me in shock, glancing around before she refocused on me.

I didn’t want to make this about me, but I needed to show her where she stood before I said it aloud. I needed her to see that I was at her service. I would apologize in whatever way she desired, for as long as she desired, until she felt safe with me again.

Until she believed in me again. Believed in us. In our soulmate love—dark, powerful, and all-consuming.

A shudder rolled through her, and she swallowed. “What are you doing?” Her voice was scratchy and raw. Her small hand reached for my face, and I leaned into her touch.

“Showing you how much you mean to me. How much you will mean to me forever. Now is not the time to tell you everything I need to say. But I will start with this: Scarlett Hale, my soul has been in love with yours since we were nothing but flecks of stardust. I would sooner die than let you believe otherwise ever again.”

Her features crumpled. I saw evidence of the heartbreak I’d caused her pour from her eyes and twist my own heart in a tight fist. I’d broken her, just as I’d been broken when she was taken. She’d not only been tortured and harmed, but she’d endured it all believing I’d abandoned her.

“Please stand up,” she said, dropping her hand. She looked around nervously, even though we were alone now. The only potential onlookers were stable hands guiding shadowbirds back to their stables.

I smiled at her. “Does it make you uncomfortable to see your God on his knees before you, Little Flame?”

Her eyes flashed, her lips quirking up. “It would’ve been more dramatic of a move if you weren’t so freakishly tall.”

A joke. She’d given me a half smile and poked me with that jagged wit, and it was as though she’d given me the whole world.

I stood, giving her back the comfort of eclipsing her with my size. “You have complete control over anything that happens to you from this moment forward, baby. My only humble request is that you allow me to take care of you, provide you with food and let a witch heal your wounds.”

I lightly stroked her cheek as she parsed carefully through my words.

“If ever you want me to leave you alone, or to stop touching you, tell me. I will never be offended. It will only harm me if I cross your boundaries because you were too scared to make them known.”

I tried not to look at the fang marks on her neck, on her breasts. The blue and purple bruises on her arms, the jagged red lines on her thighs. Worst of all, Durian’s name once again carved into her stomach.

Fuck, had I been hurting her when I’d held her or picked her up? How much pain was she in?

“Okay,” she said softly. Her eyes were dimming fast, and her cheeks turned slightly pink.

It fucking broke me that they’d done this to her, and it was she who felt ashamed. I fought the urge to clench my fists. A muscle in my jaw twitched. In the distance, heavy doors creaked shut.

“Stay here, sweet girl. Focus on your senses—what you can smell, hear, feel, and see. I’m unbelievably sorry you lost your friend today.” Behind Scarlett, Snow was making a quick approach, a white fur jacket slung over her arms. “I don’t want to overwhelm you, but there’s someone who really wants to see you,” I said gently, nodding behind her.

“Oh, honey. You must be freezing,” Snow said, covering her mouth as a sob escaped her lips. She draped the coat over Scarlett’s form. “May I hug you? It’s okay if not.”

Scarlett slipped her arms inside the coat as she faced her friend. She stared at Snow for only two seconds before launching at her too. It melted my damn heart until I wasn’t sure it was in my chest any longer.

Snow was in her lavender jacket, her face stricken with emotion as Scarlett folded into her embrace.

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