Page 36 of Fierce Vows

I sigh.“It’s been a long week, little wife,” I murmured.“Is it not enough I want to take you back to the plane and check every inch of you is as you should be?”

Her face pales, then stiffens.I frown and glance at Thalia.

“Willow?”Her thin voice hits below whispery status as she lays her hand on my wife’s arm.

I disengage long enough to let Willow draw breath.She glances over her shoulder at Inavoff, a gesture I hate on so many grounds in that moment, like a sucker punch in the gut and turns away from us both, unclasping one side of her black sheath dress.

The back falls away to expose a swath of bandages.

It doesn’t seem to matter that her captor/buyer/host has millions at his command.The asshole can’t afford a decent doctor.

“Fucking asshole.”Both Thalia and I swear at the same time.I glance at my healer askance, shocked to hear her swear for the first time ever.

Dom doesn’t so much as flinch.

Apparently, it’s not the first time he’s heard her use foul language.Mind, now is the time for it.The bandages crisscross Willow’s back in a messy pattern, the skin beneath her original scars stretched tight with fresh wounds that look as though they might have festered at some point.

I curse again, hovering my hands above her skin.She doesn’t so much as flinch when I accidentally touch her, though my blood boils.

“Give me a name, little raven,” I croon, sweeping her hair over her shoulder while Thalia continues her study, swearing softly to herself in a language I don’t speak.But her vehemence is evident in her passion.

“I’ll step in on this one, Willow.You’ve taken a whipping fucking again.”Dom’s livid as he rests a hand on Thalia’s back, though his eyes remain narrow and pinpointed.

Willow sighs.“You boys can go on a vengeance train later.Besides, don’t I get a chance to go on this little murder spree too?”she asks, a little too brightly for my liking.

I glare at her.“Wife...”

She shakes her head and her waist length black hair covers her bandages while she fixes her dress.“Bogdon has something for Thalia.I think you need to hear this.”

I catch her chin, and her lips part in an immediate reaction to our proximity.“Give me a damn fine reason I shouldn’t take you back to the jet right now and show you exactly how fucking terrified I’ve been of losing you, Willow,” I mutter, a breath from kissing her as brutally as I promised moments before.

Fuck it.I’m a Don, not a goddamn saint.

Her breath brushes my lips, sweet as temptation, dark as sin.

Until her words reach my ears, and the world stalls.

“Because he knows about Thalia’s baby.”

---