Burning Dawn (Angels of the Dark #3)(86)
Author: Gena Showalter

He nodded. “My mother was killed by demons, and afterward, my father wasted away.”

A tinge of sadness returned to her eyes. “I’m sorry. How old were you when this happened?”

“Six.”

“Just a baby. What happened to you?”

“I had already been sent to train as a warrior. My life wasn’t disrupted at all.” Not in the physical sense. He’d hardly known his parents, but still he’d mourned their loss. “My life didn’t change until a hundred years ago, when I was locked in a demon prison.”

“Xerxes said you’ve won all battles but one.” She said this hesitantly, as if she expected him to shy away from the topic. “Was he referring to your time in the dungeon?”

She was his woman. He would share everything with her, even his past. And he would trust her to like him—please, love me—anyway. He fingered the ring of scars at his neck. “No. Even though we were tortured, I consider the experience a win, as we eventually killed our captors. What he refers to is a battle I lost…against myself. Bjorn, Xerxes and I had just escaped imprisonment, and I wanted to feel something physical. I…slit my own throat. Xerxes and Bjorn used the Water of Life to heal me. I was angry, so I slit my throat a second time. They were out of Water, and had to doctor me back to health. Every day of my recovery, I saw anguish in their eyes and it affected me. They’d suffered enough. I asked the Most High to leave the scars around my neck as a reminder that I wasn’t alone, that others relied on me, and He granted my request.”

“Oh, Thane.”

He continued. If he stopped, he might never start again. “The dungeon changed us.”

“How did you end up there?”

“I was captured when I was sent on a mission. They chained me in a cell and later brought in Bjorn and Xerxes. Things were done to them…horrible things they survived only because they are immortal. But me…me the demons left alone, and I never understood why until much later.”

“Why?” she asked softly.

“They were feeding off my guilt, fury and hopelessness.”

Her eyes widened. “Though you try to hide it, you feel more deeply than the average person. That explains so much.”

He dunked under the water for a moment, cooling his face. “I was forced to watch, desperate to help the males but unable. I wanted so badly to hurt the demons and, barring that, wanted so badly for the demons to hurt me in their stead.”

Her hand fluttered over her heart, as if she sought to dampen a sudden pain. “How did you escape?”

“I struggled so forcefully against my bonds, I broke both of the wrist and ankle cuffs. I also broke my wrists and ankles, and dislocated both my shoulders, but I somehow found the strength to unhook Bjorn from overhead and yank Xerxes from the wall. By the time the demons returned to us, we had healed. We were able to fight.”

“Oh, Thane. What you endured… I’m so sorry.”

He reached out, brushed away one of her tears. “No sadness or sorrow. Not for me. The experience broke me, yes. But the pieces were eventually welded back together, making me stronger than I would have been otherwise. And now I have Xerxes and Bjorn. Something beautiful from something dark.”

“Beauty from ashes,” she said, the words she’d given him once before. She propelled into his chest, splashing water into his mouth as she enfolded him in her arms. “But, Thane?”

Peering into her eyes caused the most exquisite ache. “Yes, Elin.”

“You also have me.”

* * *

ELIN TOTALLY GOT Thane’s need to hurt and be hurt now. His past had shaped him, and what he’d been denied had become what he desired most, somehow becoming entangled with the most passionate part of his life. Sex.

All of her insecurities and reservations about that part of his life died in that moment.

“If those urges ever return—” she said.

“They won’t.”

“You don’t know that. So, as I was saying. If those urges ever return, come to me. Let’s talk about it. Let me be the one to satisfy you. I’m not afraid anymore,” she added when he opened his mouth to protest. “Not even a little.”

His features softened with adoration. “It isn’t just about your fear. It’s about my abhorrence of the idea of harming the one I’m meant to protect…of marring the woman I cherish most.”

She knew her smile was laced with every dream and secret fantasy she’d ever had. “I’m sure there are ways to do it that won’t truly harm me.”

His eyelids went heavy. “Yes. I can punish you the way you punish me.”

Her ni**les puckered as she rubbed against him. “I’m looking forward to it. But right now, I’m more interested in giving you a severe tongue-lashing….”

* * *

THANE CLUTCHED ELIN to his chest. She’d given him a tongue-lashing all right…and like the warrior he was, he’d somehow found the strength to endure.

Wicked, wild woman. She pushed him to heights he’d never imagined possible.

The “punishment” session had taken place in bed hours ago, and they had yet to leave.

“I would like to discuss the future,” she said now, straddling his waist.

He nodded, encouraging her to continue.

“I told you I want to stay with you, and I meant it. But I don’t want to stay as your employee. I want to stay as your equal. And, yes, I know you’re stronger. I’m not foolish. I know you have wealth, and I come with nothing. But I want to be your woman, and—”

“I agree,” he rushed out. She was giving him the words he craved more than life. He would have promised the moon and stars.

She grinned. “You didn’t even hear the rest of what I had to say.”

“I don’t need to. I want you, now and always. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you.”

“Well, good, because it means exclusivity, open lines of communication, trust, girls’ night at the bar every other Friday, and sleeping with me every night. And for the record, ‘sleeping’ does not mean lying awake and holding me.”

“Elin—”

“No. You said you’d agree to anything, and this is what I’m asking. Let me help you with your nightmares. I’ve done a good job so far, right?”

“At the cost of your own rest.”

“Rest, shmest. If you’ll let me, I’ll scare your bad dreams away. I mean, really. Have you seen my new biceps? They are sick.”