Page 214 of Primal Bonds

They just laughed and passed her from man to man, until she curled into a tiny ball in her mind and tried not to go mad.

From far away she heard whimpering and knew it was her. But her eyelids stayed glued shut.

Without Tiago do Rio, she didn’t know what would’ve happened.

He’d killed one man and scattered the others. Then he’d passed out and she’d spent the night beside his unconscious body, trembling from the effects of the drug…wondering if he’d wake up and rape her too, because they’d both been given the same powerful aphrodisiac.

And the worst thing was, she might not have fought him off. The drug had made her crave sex like a cat in heat.

No. No. No.

She moved her head restlessly from side to side.

“Jani. Jani.” Fane stroked a hand down her back. “Wake up, love.”

His gravelly voice, his scent—she knew it was him, and yet she didn’t. The arms cuddling her became a cage. Terror swamped her.

Never again.

She fought free of his grip and crouched on the stone floor, breath scraping in and out of her lungs.

“Hey,” he said. “Calm down. It’s only me.”

She unpeeled her eyelids. Her fingers were claws. She laid her ears back on her head, hissing in warning.

She realized she’d shifted partially to her cougar.

They stared at each other. She knew what Fane saw: a monster—a woman half-covered in fur with a cougar’s paws and ears and teeth.

A corner of his mouth lifted in a sympathetic smile. “Bad dream, huh?”

She hissed again. But the spell was broken. Because she scented absolutely no fear—just concern.

He patted the nest of sweaters. “Come here.”

She ignored him to creep to her cargo pants and her quartz, still in a side pocket. She set her paw on it, drew a deep breath—and shifted back to woman. Taking out her quartz, she sat on the cold stone floor facing the pool, the quartz tight in her hand.

Breathe in, breathe out.

The water steamed around her. She’d almost gotten used to the stench of sulfur.

Behind her, she heard movement—Fane curling up on the sweaters. “I’m here,” he said. Just that and nothing else.

She moistened her lips. “I’m sorry.”

“Jani. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yeah? I nearly ripped your throat out.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.” She chuckled darkly. “Give the woman a freaking gold star.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“You should be.”

Rising to her feet, she splashed some water on her face and then went around the back to pee. While Fane took his turn, she washed up and pulled on her briefs and a T-shirt. When he came back, she was seated at the pool’s edge again, feet dangling in the hot water, the quartz still in her hand.

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