Page 98 of Born for Lace

Unspoken words ride the tension between us as we stare at each other.

My eyes drop to a container in his hand, and even though I cannot read, I know what it is from the picture on the side. “Is that?”

“Not formula.” His voice pulses, blue eyes deeply sad—betrayed. “No. But itispowdered milk.”

I take a step forward through what feels like an invisible wall of resistance. “Thank you, Tomar. You have saved us. I will never forget that.”

“So…” He clears his throat, deflecting. “How is your rib feeling?”

I shrug a little. “It’s okay. It doesn’t really hurt that much anymore. It’s not like I’m doing anything strenuous?—”

Tomar’s eyes drop to the container in his hand, fingers idly turning it. “You should have come to me… last night.” His gaze meets mine. “You should have come to my room. I wouldn’t have touched you.”

I inhale hard, the bite of tears behind my eyes. I don’t want to hurt him, but I don’t feel that way. I almost wish I did; it seems to make more sense.

I chew my bottom lip. “But?—”

“She didn’t.” Lagos finishes, suddenly a furnace at my spine, his intimidating presence boring through me.

“Oh, Hell.” Tomar shakes his head, glaring over the top of mine. “Put some damn clothes on.”

A warm hand slides across my chest and up to my throat, possessive and authoritarian. “Get the milk and go back to my room, little flower,” the dark voice behind me orders.

Tomar’s brows weave with utter repulsion. “You touched her.”

Lagos presses against me from behind, his hard erection bruising my back as his free hand slides over my hip and down between my legs.

I want to swat his hand away, but I can’t, both arms bundled with my tiny assassin.

“I didn'tjusttouch her, Tomar,” Lagos booms. The heavy weight of his tone knocks the air from my lungs.

I swallow in his tight palm. “Please, please don’t do this?—"

“I split open this virgin cunt with my fingers last week,” he growls. “Jealous, brother?”

Wait…I blink.

“She was— She'd never... Her Ward didn’t touch her?” Tomar’s tone rises and cuts the air, severs it.

“My what?” I whimper. I watch his lips move, blinking at them. Hear his words and tone. But the meaning eludes me until…

The blood.

Virgin…

Clarity breaks through.

“And looking at her face, she didn’t know.” Tomar turns bright red with fury. “You took her virginity without telling her, Lagos!”

“Little flower.” Lagos releases me and turns me to face him. His hands come up to cup my cheeks. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

I gaze up into his near-black eyes set below weaved brows. Soft. Concerned. “What do you mean, Lagos?”

“Lagos!” Tomar barks. “Damn you!”

“I was a… I was a virgin?” The word echoes in my mind. “No, no, no. That's not— That can't be.”

“She had a choice!” Tomar is yelling at my back, my eyes lost in the depth of hot-steel grey. Gravity eyes. Eyes that lock me in place. Capture me. “It was her choice! It could've been?—"

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