Page 73 of Savage Hunter

He turns on the bath and I watch fluffy bubbles form as he drenches the bottom of the porcelain with a gold liquid that smells like freedom in a bottle.

I could lose myself in the scent and just stay there until he finally gives up.

Wolfe takes the end of my t-shirt and peels it off me, paying no mind to me batting his hands away.

“Shh, sweet girl. Let me care for you.” There’s a reverence in his voice. It makes what I know is coming all the harder to bear. I look up to catch his gaze in the large mirror over the sink. Everything I hate about myself stares back at me, taunting me with truths I can’t keep buried any longer. My face is pale and mascara is a blur of black beneath my eyes.

And then what I’ve fought against for so long happens.

My soul shatters.

No.

My heart weeps when Wolfe takes both of my shoulders in hand and slowly edges me around to unclasp my bra.

Whore. Filth, Trash.

Their words slash at my mind and heart.

Wolfe’s hands fall away from my body. Mortification grips his handsome features through the reflection. With my heart pounding, I force myself to hold his gaze. Mirrors don’t lie, they can only reflect the truth. And right now it shows the disgust on his face.

My heart turns to glass and falls to the marble floor, shattering into a million serrated pieces.

Shame washes over me. My stomach heaves with renewed nausea. I collect my shirt from the floor and move toward the bathroom door. I get half a step when strong hands cinch around my waist and pull me back in front of him.

He presses his forehead against my shoulder and I can hear him breathing in softly and exhaling harshly. The warmth of his breath is steady compared to the trembling in his fingers against my scarred flesh.

“Wolfe. Just let me go.”

“Does Ares know about this?”

I place my hand on my stomach, sick at the idea of anyone knowing my ugly secret. “No. Why would I tell him?”

“Good. Because if you had told him and he did nothing to avenge you—”

I follow his line of thoughts and it leaves me stunned. “—you would what? He’s your friend.”

He stares back at me. Where I look stunned, his expression is grim and as black as a sinner’s heart. “Kill him,” he states flatly like he’s announcing the weather.

“I would end Ares if he knew about these and did nothing.” As he speaks, Wolfe brushes the rough pad of his fingers over the raised flesh across my back. The lash marks have healed over. Contrary to what my psychologist wants me to think, the nerve ending beneath the scars are not dead to the touch. I feel every callus on the tips of his fingers. It’s like we are hooked up to a battery and every time his skin comes into contact with mine electricity forms. It hums just beneath the surface and is very real.

I’m not ready for the onslaught of emotions that such a gentle touch does to my resolve.

“I want names.” I’ve never heard a man speak with the force of the devil before, but the hunter at my back has murder in his eyes. His voice pitches low and drips with ice-cold blood thirsty vengeance.

He means well, but he’s better off using that anger for someone who can use it.

“I don’t have any names to give.” And that is the truth. “You can’t go hunting to save my honor. I don’t have any to find. They ruined me. Don’t you understand that?” I’ve never wanted to end my life more. Back at the compound, where no one saw the horrors I hid, I could lie to myself and pretend I was Avery. But here, under Wolfe’s attentive eye, he forces my raw, uncensored truth to the surface.

I want to hate him for it, but that takes too much energy right now.

He lifts his head. Our gazes meet in the mirror. He considers me for a moment before a deep frown snaps into place and its power reverberates inside me.

“I’m disgusting. Take your hands from me. I’ll go to Chicago and you’ll never have to see me again.” I try to move but I’m not going anywhere until he allows it.

Holding my eyes captive in the mirror, he slowly lowers his lips to the first of the scars. One by one he presses his warm lips to flog marks. He takes his time. The first few send shockwaves through me. I tremble in his hold.

Hell moves over his expression when he lifts his head. “You’ll only go where I go. You try to run, I’ll hunt you down and pull you back to me. Your life is mine to protect, your body is mine to love and treasure. Your heart is safe with me and no one will ever reach your soul to hurt you so deeply again. I won’t let them. Do you understand?”

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