Page 64 of Daddy's Mail Order Mate

“Welcome back.”

He turns and starts to approach me, and I see his dark eyes quickly scrutinize me before there’s a passage of visible relief across his face.

“Glad you’re awake.”

“Yeah. I am too.”

Thorn huffs under his breath and slowly makes his way towards me. It seems like he considers sitting down in the chair nearby for a second, but he just idles standing near the end of my bed.

“There’s blood on your cuff,” I point out dryly.

He lifts his arm and finally seems to notice the rim of red darkening the white fabric.

“Ah. So there is. Apologies. I should have gone and cleaned up first.”

“No, it’s fine. It makes me feel better to see that you’ve been making those bastards pay for trying to hurt Rowan.”

He smirks just a little at that and sighs with dark amused pride.

“Yeah. That I have.”

After a lingering second more, he finally goes to sit down, though he can’t quite make eye contact with me.

“But it’s not just because of Rowan. It’s also because of you.”

I chew at the inside of my lips to try and fend off my anxiety. We’re already broaching into some of the more uncertain topics from the looks of things.

“... Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Neither of us say anything for nearly a minute. Thorn sits and fidgets by rubbing his thumb on the back of his own hand, and I have to resist the urge to pick at the bedding.

“I’ve been informed that they spoke to you about their intentions. They indicated that they were intending on using you both as leverage to get their incarcerated bigots back?”

The sharpness of his language steals a bitter little laugh out of me.

“Something to that effect.”

Thorn sighs, the sound marked with years of pain and weariness. It provokes my concern enough to properly look at him. There’s a strain to his expression that I’m not used to seeing, and all I want to do is try to relieve it somehow.

“It’s… Not your fault, if that’s what’s on your mind. We both know just how sadistic and awful some of our kind can be. That’s why you went off and joined the council, right? To stop them from hurting others.”

I see his throat move with a dry swallow and his posture shifts with obvious discomfort. Shit, I must have pushed too hard, and now he’s just going to back off—

“That’s one of the reasons.”

There’s a weightiness to how he speaks that implies that there’s more to follow. I adjust myself to sit up more firmly and force my tired body to be as alert as it can manage.

“Gwen, I…”

“Yes?”

He breathes out in a tight controlled way that is clear indication that he’s having to brace his way through this too.

“There’s… A lot that’s happened between us. Not just lately, but when we were young, as you well know. And I know that I owe you so much more than I’ve given. Above all else, I owe you the truth about everything.”

Thorn looks me in the eyes, and despite his strength, I see the glint of vulnerability there. He is as scared as I am. Maybe even more.

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