Page 78 of A Vow of Blood and Tears

So, to steel my nerves, I recounted my accomplishments. I had worked my fingers to the bone and sold years of my life to achieve things the Sisters hadn’t thought possible of me, but by the Light, I had done it anyway.

And if I could dothat, then I could master my fear.

I could be what Bane deserved.

I stepped into the tower, shutting the door behind me. Bane stood at the foot of the bed, his back to me… he’d peeled off his oddly-tailored shirt, exposing his broad shoulders and brawny torso, the armor-like, blunted thorns rising from his spine and shoulders. That coal-black mane of hair spilled over his shoulders.

Fear gripped me, sharp and implacable. He was gentle, but still a beast. Kind, but still a monster.

With terribly jagged fangs.

“You’re here,” he said. “Come to bed, Cirri.”

By the Light, I was a coward.

I put my journal on the nightstand, and unlaced my overdress, following his orders and climbing into bed like I belonged there.

I didn’t belong at all. I didn’t deserve a single nice thing if I couldn’t bare my throat to him.

But my body betrayed me as he climbed into the bed, remaining motionless. It would take exactly one simple movement to tip back my head, exposing my neck, but my spine remained adamantly locked in place.

Bane curled his large form around me, and tentatively reached out to wrap a hand around my waist. “May I hold you?” he asked, his deep voice huskier than usual, a banked fire glimmering in his amber eyes.

Yes, you’d better. I wriggled closer to him, soaking up his warmth.

How could I be so afraid of his teeth, yet so intrigued by the rest of him? I breathed in his scent as his hand snaked around me, pulling me closer. The size of his body, the smoothness of that coal-gray skin… I was aware that he still wore trousers, hiding himself from me, but his cock was hard as stone behind those laces.

I reached out, tentative in my own way, and rested a hand on his chest.

Would he push me away if I tried to touch him?

Bane’s eyes glimmered faintly in the dark. “What are you doing, my Cirri?”

His Cirri. It almost took my breath away.

Touching you. I knew he wouldn’t understand, but I still signed.I’m curious about you.

To make my point, I splayed my hand on his chest once more, his skin like velvet against my callused fingers.

Then I trailed them down, moving over the hard muscle of his stomach, tracing the contours of the ridges and valleys…

He took my hand, stopping me in my path. “You are afraid of me.”

I looked up at him, at those eyes gleaming with yellow nightshine in the darkness.

“You have good reason to be.” His smile flashed, the faintest moonlight catching the edges of his fangs, and a chill ran down my spine. “I won’t allow you to force yourself to touch me. But if you let me… I’ll show you that you don’t need to fear.”

It wasn’t his touch I feared, only his bite. My own muscles were rigid, still tense from Wyn’s accurate accusations, and to Bane, who was sensitive to the body language of prey… that must feel like I was terrified, forcing myself to be here.

But I would have to get my journal to make myself clear, and I didn’t want to get up from the warm circle of his arms.

Instead I nodded, still looking him in the eye, and carefully removed my hand from the cage of his claws to put it on his chest again with a very deliberate motion.

He exhaled, his disfigured lips twisting into a smile. He slipped his hand around me again, stroking my waist through the thin gown. His thumb brushed the bottom curve of my breast, and despite the fangs on display, my nipples hardened to tight buds.

“Do you trust me to touch you?” he asked, and I nodded again.

His hands were so soft and warm. Every movement was thought out, his claws held away from my flesh. He stroked with the pads of his fingers, moving his palm down over my thigh.

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