Page 17 of Victoria's Discovery

Thorn’s lips twisted wryly. Reaching out, he hooked one of his huge hands behind her back and pulled her into him. Victoria fell forward with a soft grunt, her cheek landing against his very hard, muscled stomach.

Face scrunching in confusion, she started to pull away, only to stop dead when she felt his heavy arms come around her, holding her to him.

He was… hugging her?

Her throat closed up and that warning tingle turned into a full-on burn at the realization that he was trying to comfort her.

They both stayed stiff at first but slowly, heart pounding in her chest, she stepped closer until they were flush, her bare feet tucked between his massive boots, and hesitantly wrapped her arms around him in return.

When he didn’t push her away, she melted into the embrace, closing her eyes and letting the tension drain from her body. As soon as she relaxed, he did as well, letting out an audible breath and tightening his arms to bring her even closer.

He murmured something, his voice a low rumble, and began smoothing his hand over her back in slow, gentle circles.

It didn’t matter what he’d said. It mattered that he’d cared to say it. It mattered that her distress bothered him. But, most of all, it mattered that he cared to do something to make her feel better.

That hesitant, unsure hug from a stranger was the most comfort she’d been offered in longer than she could remember, and it meant more than she would probably ever be able to tell him.

But he wasn’t a stranger. Or, at least, he no longer felt like one.

That saying that actions speak louder than words had never been truer than in that moment. It didn’t matter that they were different or that they couldn’t talk to each other. It didn’t matter where he came from, or that he wasn’t human, or even that his default setting was surly.

With that one action, she knew him.

The big, grumpy, growly alien was a closet softie.

Victoria felt like her heart was simultaneously melting and swelling as she listened to the steady beat of his beneath her ear, each reassuring thump telling her she wasn’t alone.

Tightening her arms, she turned her face into him, so her forehead was resting against his abs and sighed shakily, the fear, anger, and anxiety diminishing a little more with every passing second that he held her close.

Chapter 9

After a minute, Thorn pulled back from the hug and bent slightly to scrutinize her face.

Victoria offered a small smile and lightly laid her fingertips on his upper arm, whispering, “Thank you.”

He didn’t smile back, but she didn’t take it personally. From what she’d seen, Thorn wasn’t the smiling type, and that was okay.

His eyes dropped to her mouth when she bit her lip, lingering there long enough to make her pulse quicken. His throat moved in a hard swallow before he blinked and met her gaze again.

With a single brusque nod, he turned away and moved to crouch by the wall, digging through the pellets, she assumed to see if there were any structural weaknesses or vulnerabilities of which they could take advantage.

Glancing over, she caught Thegan staring at Thorn slack-jawed before he turned to settle speculative eyes on her. An enigmatic smile curled his lips that, for reasons unknown, had a blush warming her cheeks.

Turning away, she hurried to a different section of wall and began digging, blushing harder when his low chuckle sounded behind her.

Once they’d thoroughly verifiedthere was no way out of the cage, they all sat down together near one of the walls. A few minutes of quiet dragged past. Even the uproar in the hold seemed subdued.

Having never been good at doing nothing and wanting to ease the discouraged, frustrated looks on their faces, Victoria broke the silence.

“Boot,” she announced, pointing to Thegan’s boot.

They both gave her bemused looks, so she repeated herself, pointing to the boot, then her dress, and her hair, saying the words for each until she saw understanding dawn on their faces.

Indicating the boot again, she raised her brows.

Thegan smiled approvingly and answered, “Dúrlet.”

Squinting one eye, she tried to mimic what he’d just said under her breath. It sounded likedurt-let,but he somehow made thetandlsounds simultaneously. After trying, and failing, to make her tongue twist around both letters at once, she finally gave up with an apologetic shrug.

---