Forbidden Craving(77)

"What's wrong?" Shaye asked.

"Joachim and Shivawn...they need me."

Ah, crap. The nymphs had brainwashed another one. If Brenna backed out... 

"Joachim is healing nicely. You said so yourself."

Brenna bit her lip. "But Shivawn...he's so sweet. He would rather die than hurt me. He keeps me safe."

Understanding dawned. At some point in her life, Brenna had been abused. She'd probably shut down sexually...until the nymphs awakened her desires.

I know the feeling.

Desire alone wasn't the reason for her reluctance. Safe, she'd said. She felt safe. A heady feeling indeed, for someone who'd gone any amount of time without it.

Expelling a sharp breath, Shaye pushed a hand through her hair. "You really want to stay with our captors?"

A moment passed in silence. Without any kind of reaction. Then Brenna nodded. "I think I do. I'm ready to face my fears at long last. No, not ready. We're never really ready for anything, are we? I will face my fears. I hate the life I've been living and want a better one. The only way to have change is to make change."

Wow. Talk about a punch to the throat!

Shaye had thought herself content. Until Valerian. He'd opened her eyes to the truth. She'd settled. She'd settled for half a life because it was easier than risking her heart for a full one.

But here she was, running again. Running away from him and the things he made her feel. All because she feared he would one day grow tired of her.

What if he didn't?

What if he meant what he said-she was his one and only, now and always?

What if Valerian was injured during the battle with the dragons? He would need her.

What if he was killed? If she left now, she would never know his fate.

What if she stayed and he fell deeply, madly in love with her?

Her heart fluttered with...longing?

But...she didn't believe in love, right?

Love wouldn't be temporary. Love wouldn't allow someone to hurt another person. Love...

Maybe wasn't what she thought it was?

Like, maybe she'd never actually seen an example of real love. Maybe her mother and father had waxed poetic about lust not love.

Shaye bowed her head and stepped back, away from the portal. "I'm not ready to leave him," she admitted, her voice breaking. He was right. He'd said she would forgive him for abducting her, and she had.

Not that she was okay with his actions. She wasn't and wouldn't be-ever. What he'd done was wrong. But they'd both made mistakes, and she could finally see past his.

Brenna patted her shoulder, a show of solidarity.

She rubbed a hand over her eyes and pushed out a frustrated breath. "I'm afraid," she whispered.

"Of what?"

"Of falling for him, giving up everything to be with him, and then losing him."

"If we do not let go of the past and grasp onto the future, we will regret it for the rest of our lives."

"You're right. I know you're right" She licked her lips. "And these men could use a queen. I mean, already I can think of a million laws I need to put into motion."

Snorting, Brenna banged her shoulder with her own. "You're doing Valerian a favor, really. Fixing his kingdom."




 

 

"I'm a giver."

They shared a smile.

"Ameena is going to be ticked," Brenna said.

"Well, she'll just have to get over it."

They shared another smile.

"I don't want to go back to the cell," Shaye said. "Do you?"

"No."

"We can't go into the palace, though." Valerian had asked her to stay down here, so stay down here she would. She wouldn't play the dumb card and inadvertently distract him, placing him in unnecessary danger. Nor would she allow herself to fall in enemy hands, thereby giving the dragons the advantage.

Sighing, she led Brenna through the cave and into the cavern next door to the cell. "We can stay here." The guards wouldn't hear them, the drip drip of water too loud.

Wouldn't Valerian get a nice surprise when he came to get her, and she wasn't in the cell? The thought of thwarting him, however slightly, made her want to laugh.

If he survived.

Record scratch.

Time ticked by with agonizing slowness. She spent a good portion of it studying the cave walls in an effort to distract herself.

She traced her fingers over the image of a muscled male body. "The details are exquisite, aren't they?" Something caught her eye, and she examined it more closely.

Realization smacked her, and she gasped. She motioned her friend over. "Brenna, come look at this. They tell a story."

The first picture showed a group of...gods? They were sitting high above an empty world, looking down upon it. The second picture showed a world filled with terrible monsters born from rivers of blood, water and fire. In the third, those monsters were being thrown into an underwater prison. She saw a portal-the portal.