Page 54 of The Hermit

I nod while slowly pulling my chin free from his hold. Taking a step backward, I lower my eyes to the floor while sucking in a deep breath.

“What if you change your mind and you want more?”

“Then I’ll just have to take a lot of cold showers,” he jokes.

I close my eyes as I shake my head. Up until now, there has only been disgust and hatred when I think of what Braden did to me.

But as I stand in front of the man who’s my husband, I begin to feel inadequate. Tears sting my eyelids, and I clench my jaw as I fight to keep them from escaping.

My voice is raw as I whisper, “He broke me.”

“I know.” Dominik sounds so gentle, and when he carefully takes hold of my shoulder, I’m a second away from losing the battle to keep the tears back.

Once again, his arms wrap around me, and this time, the hug feels so tender my body convulses, and for the second time today, the floodgates burst wide open.

His hold on me tightens, and he presses a kiss to the top of my head before saying, “I’m going to make you as strong as Evinka, and one day you’ll realize you’re not as broken as you think.”

When I nod, my cheek rubs against his shirt, and for the first time since I married Braden, I lift my arms and wrap them around a man.

Dominik practically engulfs me with his body, as if he’s trying to form a shield around me, and the kiss he presses on my hair is soothing and healing.

He holds me until I pull my arms away from him. When he lets go of me and starts to chop the carrots, I grab the head of cabbage and move back to my working space.

Silence falls between us as we continue to prepare our dinner, and every now and then, my body shudders as tension leaves it.

DOMINIK

Once dinner is ready, I lead Grace to the sliding doors. Pressing a button on the wall, the doors fold open, and we step out onto the veranda that overlooks part of the lake and trees.

I set my plate down on a table before grabbing two chairs from where they’re stored against a wall.

“Can you get two pillows from the cabinet?” I ask, gesturing with a nod of my head to where they’re held.

“Sure,” Grace murmurs.

I set the chairs down by the table so we’ll sit across from each other and head back into the house to grab two bottles of water.

When I return to the veranda, Grace is standing with her arms wrapped around herself, staring at the view below as the sun begins to set.

“Come eat,” I murmur while taking a seat at the table.

She joins me, and picking up a fork, she shakes her head at me with a look of disbelief on her face.

“What?” I ask before shoving a bite of the stir-fry into my mouth.

“I’m shocked out of my mind,” she admits. “Since the moment you shot my father, I’ve been struggling to make sense of everything.” She waves a hand at the house and view below. “And now this.”

“I’m not following,” I say between bites.

Her eyes lock on me, and a slight frown forms on her forehead. “You’re one hell of an enigma, Dominik. Every time we interact, you surprise me in some way.”

Hearing something akin to admiration in her tone, the corner of my mouth lifts.

Grace has no idea how much progress we’ve made today. She let me hold her without having a panic attack, and right now, she’s completely relaxed.

For the first time since I met her, there’s no tension on her face.

Warmth stirs in my heart as I look at my wife, hoping with time we’ll get to know everything about each other.

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