Page 56 of Trapped to Tame
She said nothing for so long that he looked up.
‘It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry that I …’
He frowned. What could she be sorry for?
‘I'm sorry that I forced you to do something that you didn't want to do. I know that you do not find me ...’ This time she looked down. ‘I know that I'm not like a fae female.’
Fie wanted to throw back his head and laugh. She thoughthehadn’t wantedher?
He stood up, taking two steps closer, wanting to ensure she heard every word and could not mistake him.
‘You didn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do. That's why I'm sorry. I thought you wanted me.’
She sat up in the bed. ‘There's nothing for you to be sorry for,’ she said quietly.
He looked incredulous and spoke slowly. ‘You weren't willing. Not really,’ he said. ‘I've seen enthrallment on a human enough times to know what it looks like. I should have realized. Please, forgive me.’
Eve regarded him. She wasn’t afraid at the moment, he didn’t think, but understanding the link between them was going to take time.
‘It may have been fae magick,’ Eve continued, ‘but in my own mind, I was not struggling. Believe me when I say that I know what it is to be truly forced,’ she said, meeting his eyes and daring him to pity her. ‘It wasn’t the same.’
Fie felt rage wash over him at the thought, though it didn’t escape him that both Drax and he had not had her consent either. The time with Drax had been unavoidable. There simply hadn’t been any other way. The pleasure tents would have killed her. But he’d made everything worse with his stupidity. How could he have thought she wanted him? She’d been forced into this. She was practically their prisoner, and he hadn’t been kind.
She drew back and he frowned. Had he scared her anew?
‘You’re … angry,’ she said. ‘Why?’
‘You can feel that from me?’ he asked in surprise. Drax hadn’t told him that she’d be able to feel him as well.
She nodded slowly. ‘But it’s different; like a muffled sound that I can only just hear. Can you feel my emotions too?’
‘Yes, when we’re close to each other.’
‘And Drax?’
‘And Drax,’ he confirmed.
Eve got out of the bed and stood in front of him.
‘What am I feeling now?’ she asked, looking up at him.
Surprised, Fie stepped back as he felt her arousal spiking. That couldn’t be right, could it?
Very slowly, needing to make sure, he stepped closer to her and the emotion intensified.
‘Tell me you are not still under the thrall,’ he murmured in her ear.
‘My head is as clear as the river outside,’ she whispered. ‘but …’ she hesitated and Fie could feel her warring with herself.
‘Speak,’ he said.
‘I want … When I lost in the rings, it was always because I was ordered to; so that money could be made.’
Fie’s eyes narrowed. ‘What happened if you refused to fight?’
She shrugged, giving him a vague smile as if what she recalled was just an amusing memory.
‘I was starved until I relented, but that doesn’t matter now. I want you to understand. When I was made to lose, it was to one man – always the same one. For his payment, he never wanted coin.’
