“Stop being so goddess damned brave and tell me what’s wrong.” Tilting his head to one side to look into her eyes, he cupped her cheek gently. “Please, Kat. Tell me.”
Even that one simple skin-to-skin touch made things a little better—drove the pain behind her eyes back a bit. Kat couldn’t help herself, she moaned softly in relief.
“I’m sorry!” Deep pulled his hand away as though he’d been stung. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t.” When his hand left her skin, the pain returned. This time it felt like someone was driving a rusty iron spike into her brain. Kat squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear slipping down her cheek though she tried to hold it back.
“Kat?” He sounded genuinely distressed. His hand hovered over her cheek again but didn’t quite connect—as though he was afraid by touching her he would make her worse.
“You didn’t hurt me,” she forced herself to say again. “This…the pain is back, that’s all.”
“How? How could it come back?” Deep demanded.
“Doesn’t matter.” Kat tried to shake her head and groaned. “Knew…knew it would come back. Mother L’rin…warned me.”
Deep scowled. “I knew she’d told you more than you were letting us know. Tell me now, Kat—what did she say?”
Kat was still reluctant to talk but it seemed she couldn’t avoid it any more. “She said…she told me that I still needed…needed to touch you and….Lock.” The rusty iron spike was digging into the tender flesh behind her eyes now, making it hard to think. “Incomplete bond means…pain…weakness….”
Deep ran a hand through his hair distractedly. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Despite her pain, Kat lifted her chin defiantly. “Didn’t want…your pity. And after the fight we had I didn’t…didn’t think you two would want to touch me anyway.”
“You mean you didn’t think I would want to.” Deep shook his head. “Goddess damn you, Kat, for your stupid, stubborn pride. Don’t you know I’d do anything to keep you from pain?” Standing, he began stripping off his shirt.
But when he reached for her, Kat had a sudden thought. “Wait,” she protested as he bent toward her. “Lock said…said it hurts you to touch too much if…if the other one isn’t there.” She gestured weakly at his bare chest. “Too much skin-to-skin contact…without Lock…will hurt you.”
“You think I give a damn about that?” Deep’s voice was an angry growl but he gathered her into his arms with surprising gentleness. “Come here, damn you. Let me hold you,” he murmured, settling himself on the flat boulder with her in his lap.
Kat couldn’t help it—she didn’t want to give him pain, but the immediate relief she felt when his broad, warm chest came in contact with her cheek was too wonderful to deny. His arms around her were so comforting and strong and the scent of his skin made her feel safe—protected. Suddenly, though she didn’t know why, she was crying.
Stop crying, stupid! It’s bad enough that holding you hurts him, he doesn’t want you crying all over him too! But she couldn’t stop. And to her surprise, Deep didn’t say a thing. No sarcastic remarks or biting observations—he just held her closer and stroked her hair in a gentle rhythm that somehow calmed her down.
“I’m sorry,” she said at last, when her tears slowed. “I didn’t mean to cry like that.”
“Were you crying because it still hurts?” Pressed against him as she was, his voice rumbled through her in a way that was oddly comforting.
“No,” Kat said honestly. “I think…I think I was crying because it finally stopped hurting. I know that doesn’t make any sense…”
“It doesn’t have to.” Deep stroked her hair. “There’s no rhyme or reason to pain—it just is.”
“I’m feeling better now,” she said cautiously, raising her head to look at him. In the dim otherworldly glow from the luminescent moss he looked like a dark angel. “I…I should probably be all right for a little while now.”
He shook his head. “Can’t wait to get away from me, can you?”
“It’s not that,” Kat protested. “But I know this is hurting you. Every minute you touch me without Lock touching me too—he told me it was like an electrical shock running through you. That can’t be comfortable.”
“It’s not,” he said shortly. “And yet, I would hold you a little while longer, if you’ll permit it.”