Page 74 of Savage Hunter

I shiver under the weight of his promises. The intensity of the primal, animalistic promise in his words.

“I want to hear the words, Harmonia. Tell me you understand what I’ve said.”

Shame forces me to look away. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

His seeking hands wrap around my ribcage and he pulls me to him until there is barely an inch between us. His dark eyes flash and as if I need a reminder of how close he holds me, he wraps a powerful arm around my middle.

“I don’t,” he says fiercely.

I tilt my chin up and look at our reflections. The hunter and his… I can’t say it.

“My princess. My queen. The most beautiful woman in all the land.” He presses kisses to the top of my shoulder and the gentle slope of my neck. He moves my hair aside and continues until his lips reach my thundering pulse just below my ear. “Let me hear you say it, my beautiful Harmonia.”

“Yes.”

“Good girl.”

A barrier around my soul cracks at the low rumble of approval. I take a ragged breath. And then another. My eyes fall closed, and I let him lower me into the running bath water. Warmth suddenly surrounds me and I don’t feel so exposed under the blanket of bubbles.

He eases me forward and I silently follow his unspoken instructions as he tilts my head back and wets my hair.

He works up a lather, massaging the shampoo into the ends and works his way to my scalp. His fingers feel like magic. It’s when he takes the rose shaped soap over my back that I finally break.

Tears burn streaks down my flushed cheeks. It’s hard to breathe through the pain but his gentle caress over my jagged scars help me find my voice again.

“They were told to not harm me. Only to use me and see that they trained me well enough to pleasure the men and women of the Society. The Volkovs took it as a blow to their egos to have their windows controlled by an outsider. A woman no less. They said as much.”

Windows. Such a common word but one that stirs up nightmares for me. Their name for the pop-up auctions causes bile to burn the back of my throat.

I take a shuddering breath and blow it out until there’s nothing left in my lungs.

“I’m here.”

I take strength from those two words. It’s too late to clam up now, anyway. I take a deep breath and release all my mental safety nets and erase lies I’ve been trying to force myself to live for months now. I drag my knees up and rest my head on my arms.

“The first night the Volkovs nearly killed me. I don’t know if I wanted them to put a bullet in me like the other six or not that night. Looking back, I wished they had. Men were afraid of me at first. No one wanted to touch Princess Primrose. I was okay with that. I thought they might return me to the sender, you know, but it wasn’t long before the Society members realized there would be no punishment for enjoying the tender flesh of Lorelai Primrose’s daughter.”

Wolfe silently stands, sheds his motorcycle boots and pants before easing into the bathtub behind me.

Water sloshes over the side but I don’t care. For once it’s not a mess I have to clean up. I welcome his warmth.

“You are ice cold. Come to me.”

He pulls me into his arms and wraps his strength around me, silently offering everything he has to use as my own.

Letting go and allowing him to hold me above the water, when I would rather sink below the surface, relieves the pressure off my heart. I don’t have to make the conscious decision to keep living at least for now.

I know he says he loves me, but I think once he hears the rest he’ll rethink those words.

“They used me. Forced me to pleasure them and when they found out I was a submissive by nature, they turned it against me. The Volkovs took a particular interest in watching their members humiliate me. Every time I… completed a task, they flogged me until I couldn’t breathe. Some nights…” My nostrils and lungs burn with shame. “...I didn’t know how many members they forced me into servicing. I stopped counting. Stopped caring.” I angle my head around expecting to find disgust on his face. He takes in my blood-shot eyes and trembling lip. But instead of pushing me away like I fear, Wolfe pulls me around and twines my legs around his waist.

I sit on his lap and for the first time since Ares brought me to live with the Savages, I allow myself to fully grieve for the evil committed against me. Wolfe takes my head in his hand and buries my face into his neck. His hands are gentle and caring as he caresses my arms, my back, my legs.

There’s almost no part of me he leaves untouched.

Almost. I notice he doesn’t touch between my legs nor my breasts. I send up a silent prayer to whoever might be watching for sending Wolfe back into my life.

“Focus on my touch. I can’t erase your memories but let me in so I can give you new ones.”

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