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Anwyn turned her head away froht hurt Gideon had been through a couple trauht, too focused How the body instinctively wanted to draw into darkness and hide When she tried to speak above a whisper, her voice was hoarse He noticed she winced as her abraded and cracked lips stretched to foran shook his head "You’re too weak,cherYou will need my help"

"I want to brush my teeth"

When he reached out to touch her mouth, she recoiled from him like a snake, revulsion on her face " Notuntil I brush Okay?" Her voice broke

The significance of the abrasions, the cracks at the corners of her lips, ca down Apparently, there was enough in that cauldron to go around Suppressing it in favor of so else, he moved toward the foot of the couch

Her violent reaction had startled Daegan, she could tell Anwyn hated seeing the knowledge that passed through his gaze as both he and Gideon fixated on her mouth She wanted them near, but she didn’t want them to look at her She’d surveyed herself only once while Daegan was carrying her and nearly retched, terrified by the wreck her attackers had made of her, marks that she didn’t think she could bear to carry all her life Then she’d heard Daegan’s soft murmur and remembered she wouldn’t have to She already knew she’d been turned Barnabus had told her right before he did it

You’ll needmad, sweetmeatHe’d purred it, his breath hot on her throat

You’ll co me for it

In reply, she’d spit on hihed, but it was ry He’d speared her flesh like a vicious panther, s open and did other things to her Her blood had rushed away and the seru her in a way she’d never experienced She’d been determined not to show any of her fear or terror, but she’d broken then She hated that moment worst of all

She thought about burrowing back into the couch, but then someone touched her feet She looked down

She had small feet, a size five and a half shoe They looked even s slipper, the one that had valiantly held on to her painted toes She’d had a French pedicure this week The white tips weretoes Chantal worked in a nail and hair salon during the days, and she had done theh his rough fingers as Gideon withdrew the slipper His head was down, his profile intent as his hand came back to rest on her bare instep

When her eyes had opened earlier, she’d seen a an’s face, bottled under such high pressure Male rage, so helpless in a situation like this, a desperate need to give her back what had been destroyed It had been too overwhel She’d turned into the couch because she didn’t want to see it, couldn’t see it

Men were physical when those they protected were attacked Their solution involved action Fixing or punishing Justice

Bloody vengeance was the last thing she needed right now, her body still shaking from its encounter with such violence What she needed was a cocoon of generous, passive emotion to rock in, like a quiet ocean In that quiet,soul from the dark shadows into which it had fled

Once she did that, she would begin to fix herself While she ht use a man’s hand to steady her own as she asselued the cracks, she would do it