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Emeline pressed her forehead to his chest, unable to meet his eyes "I know she’s alive, aware, and she’s innocent She didn’t hat happened any more than I did I have to protect her There’s no one else I don’t kno she can survive et to me I know if the others find out about her, there is a very large possibility that they ant htly so I don’t kno rows I know you can’t possibly understand…"
"You are not thinking clearly, sívamet The baby will not survive his torture He knows that As she grows, his tortures orsen Eventually, as you grow to love the child, he will use that against you He knows you will go to hi she would end up in the hands of a round city to save children she didn’t know Strangers The only thing she had in common with them was that they were street kids like she had been She hadn’t been able to stop herself Vadim knew her better than she knew herself Already the baby’s piteous cries day and night, echoing through heron her She had already considered – and discarded – the idea of giving in and going to hirew, so would the connection between them If Vadim stepped up his torture, what other recourse would she have?
She moaned and shook her head in defeat "I don’t knohat to do I considered ending both our lives All those women down in the tunnels Dead Their unborn children dead I didn’t want to be like that"
"Tell entle it turned her heart over She had never had gentle Never She’d been homeless She didn’t even remember her mother and father, only relatives that treated her like a burden Never gentle until this man
She closed her eyes and leaned into hith She had tried to forget To put those minutes – not even a full hour of her life – behind a solid steel door in her mind, but she couldn’t Those seconds and minutes were carved deep into her soul and would never fade She hadn’t told anyone, not even Blaze She couldn’t
The thought of telling it, reliving it… But she had to Drago so far as to believe she was his lifemate, mostly, she was certain, so others would believe it Hein the chair, on his lap, his ar her securely, as if he could keep her safe from evil
"Vadim had several others with him They were so hideous Teeth so pointy and stained with blood They dug their nails into ernails, but these long, thick claws like a grizzly bear" She rubbed her ar talons digging into her flesh, right down to the bone The pain had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced The wounds deep, burning, as if they’d poured acid into her veins
"Even so, I fought hiht corew until she thought she ht choke "So the hopeless feeling she had had when they took her to the ground "I kicked him hard, really hard, and he just smiled at me" Her body shuddered and she pressed her forehead to his "I was scared So scared" Her confession came out in a whisper because she couldn’t speak above that mere thread of sound She didn’t want Vadim in the room with them
"You are safe now, síva anywhere" He rubbed the nape of her neck, his body rock solid, ar as they encircled her "He didn’t control you with his ht he’d be furious when he couldn’t, when I continued to fight him, but he seemed pleased Why? Why would that make hiry It doesn’t make sense"
He fra Psychically strong He needed that in a host body He hunted you because you could resist his compulsions Now that he needs to reacquire you, it isn’t an asset for him He wants you back and he can’t force you"
She searched his eyes Those strange, golden eyes – so hot they burned She brought her hands up and tried to put her fingers around his thick wrists She felt his pulse beat beneath the pads of her fingers Strong Steady So like hiround, but he was holding her close, like sheof safety in a world she kneasn’t safe and never would be again
"They heldclaws, als so far apart I thought they’d tear the what felt like spikes through round I was surrounded by theoainst his chest, his ar could hurt like that"
He stroked his hand down her hair, and she wished she’d brushed it, that the tangles were gone and she was beautiful for hie desire, when she was reliving the worstthrough her hair, made her want to look her best for hiht…" She touched her tongue to her top lip, her brain trying to shut down to protect her "He grippedso hard it felt as if he was trying to shove his fingers throughand then he…" She turned her face away fro She shoved her fist into her mouth
He immediately pressed her head into his chest, his hand on the back of her skull, fingers in her scalp, creating a soothing e "I would not ask you to relive this moment, Emeline, if it didn’t matter I need to knohat he did I can take these hter, but ISo perfect She was desperate to protect him, but she couldn’t stop the compulsion to tell hi part of the pain, the suffering, onto his shoulders and off hers She pressed her forehead into his chest, staring down at the rows ofon them, on the beauty of his body, she continued
"He was kneeling between one He’d re so vulnerable, and thatmacabrely He put his hand inHer mouth went dry "It hurt Really, really hurt Then it felt like he was h ht there"
"In the sa outside his body?"
"Maybe, but the healer completely left his body I could tell He was pure spirit, pure energy Vadi about it with Dragoust him that Vadiusted her, er
"He wouldn’t risk his body to other vampires They are not a loyal lot He couldn’t take that chance Eeous for me I know this is difficult for you, but it helps ainst hi gone "He suddenly beca to the others that noas the ripped my body both inside and out, and one of the vaht hi and filled with a dark liquid I knew I knew exactly what it was The needle was very long He shoved it intoit around as if searching for so There was so much pain"