Page 23 of Christa's Obsession

“They are.”

Her sculpted brows arched. “Why?”

The delightful pink of her cheeks surely had deepened at Christa’s intrigue. “Because they think they’re funny.”

Christa didn’t push, and Wanda was grateful for that when she went back to feeling uncomfortable, unsure how to start a conversation that would most likely bring back the shame.

When the silence became full of tension, Christa twirled the near empty glass in her fingers. “I can sense your disquiet. Do you wish for me to go?”

Wanda sagged, hesitating and clearly giving Christa the wrong impression that she wanted her to leave. She moved as if to rise.

“No…” Wanda took a deep breath and centered herself as Christa came back down to sitting. “No, I don’t want that at all.”

“Do you want to talk about… us?”

The hesitancy she heard undid the knots in Wanda’s belly. “I do… but first I feel I must talk a-about… about what happened to me. What they did to me.” Her skin crawled from the flash of memory that snuck in without her permission.

You are safe, our beloved.

Christa reached out with her free hand and placed it on Wanda’s knee, giving her a soft smile. “You don’t have to, I know what they did to you.”

Wanda jerked as if slapped, her eyes widening. “How?” she whispered.

“Dakata. When I went to visit him last night to talk about… us, he told me what the demons had confessed to in the hopes of surviving.”

A hand gently stroking her leg left Wanda struggling to focus on what Christa was saying.

“Unless youwishto talk to me about what happened, then I’ll willingly listen.”

Wanda sensed the truth, knew she meant it. A glass appeared in her hand and she took a drink to wet her mouth. A deep breath didn’t quell her nerves, but holding Christa’s gentle gaze did.

“I feel ashamed, sullied somehow from their touch. I didn’t want it. Their penis’s rubbing over my flesh, leaving their…”

Christa’s jaw tightened, but her touch remained gentle even when anger flashed to life in the depths of the gorgeous blue of her eyes. “How can I help? What do you need me to do? I’ll do anything you ask. Do anything to protect you so you feel safe.”

That it would be the first thing she would offer eased the dread that Christa would reject her, knowing what had happened.

She will never reject you.

Wanda believed that in her heart when the woman in front of her spoke only the truth. “I believed when I found my trees—because I am different from other dryads, who only bond fully with one tree—that they would be my entire world.”

Taking another sip of juice, Christa offered her an encouraging smile.

“My girls, we connected immediately…in all ways.” Would she understand?

The beautiful, sculpted brows rose, intrigue was what she sensed coming from Christa, nothing more. “They are your… lovers?”

She nodded, doing her best to keep from dipping her gaze. “I never believed I would have—needanything more than my girls.”

Chapter Twelve

Christa

To conceal her worry about how filled with conviction Wanda’s words were, Christa worked to contain her emotions.

Does that mean Wanda doesn’t want me?

When Christa had stood in the forest listening to Scott rampage off, she had noticed a sensation creeping around the edges of her waking consciousness: Wanda’s fear.

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