Page 89 of Rebellion

Deep down, he’d known something was wrong. He’d let her push him away.

Fuck.

What had Oleg done to her? It was nearly killing him not to know.

But he couldn’t push her too much when she was so fragile. It was clear to see she was close to the end of her endurance. As she slept, he took in her too-thin face. How had she managed to lose so much weight in a short amount of time?

Weight she couldn’t afford to lose.

Her skin was too pale. Her skin still looked red and sore in places.

Shit. It just occurred to him that she must have scrubbed her skin raw in the shower.

Washing off Oleg’s touch?

Yeah. She was fragile. She needed care and attention.

Not for him to demand that she tell everything.

Not for him to take her to his bed and not let her out until she agreed to be his.

Definitely not for him to demand that he let him claim her. In whatever way he needed to do that.

Which right now... included a ring, a permanent mark, and for her to never look at or talk to another man again.

Yeah.

He might be going a bit overboard.

Chill, man.

Let her get some sleep. We can take care of everything else later.

First was her health. Both mental and physical.

Then, he’d work on her heart.

18

Sofia woke slowly.

She felt groggy and unsettled. Confused about where she was.

Glancing around, surprise filled her as she realized it was morning. Maybe even later.

She’d actually slept? And for more than an hour? Without nightmares?

It was almost unheard of.

The only issue was that she kind of felt worse than when she’d gone to sleep.

She rubbed her temples where a headache had formed and tried to stretch out her neck. It was stiff and aching.

The last thing she needed was to add to her aches and pains.

The door opened and she tensed. Surprise filled her as Colm walked in.

Not because she was surprised to see him... but because he was carrying a tray of breakfast.