Page 52 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
When he came back to reality, Harrow was climbing up his body to collapse on the bed beside him. He turned to his side and drew her into his arms, squeezing her against him. Maybe he clutched her too tightly, but he was shaking all over, and she seemed to be the only thing that could ground him. Neither of them spoke.
Then he remembered the way he had yanked on her hair and thrust so fervently into her mouth, and shame suffused him. He sat up on an elbow to study her face. “Did I hurt you?”
She smiled. Her eyelids were droopy, and her lips curved. She shook her head lazily.
He frowned, unconvinced.
She stroked a soothing palm down his chest. “You didn’t. I swear. I liked it.”
She had liked it. He allowed her to push him back down to the bed. But he didn’t relax completely. “I haven’t…before now… I don’t remember—”
“I know. I figured that out.”
“I wanted to please you.”
“You did.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “Not a worry about that.”
He relaxed further.
“I wanted to pleaseyou.” She pressed her cheek against his chest. “You haven’t told me much, but I gather you haven’t had much pleasure in a while.”
“I have no memory beyond a month and a half ago.”
It was Harrow’s turn to sit up and stare down at him. “You don’t remember anything at all?”
He shook his head.
“I figured you had some kind of memory loss, but I never realized…” Her eyes were wide. “What happened? What was the first thing you remember?”
“I awoke in the desert at midday. I didn’t know where I was.”
“Must have been somewhere in the South. Then what happened?”
“I was near death when the flesh traders found me. I tried to fight back, but I was too weak. They chained me and put me in the cage and took me to Allegra, where I was sold to Salizar.”
“Raith, that’s awful. I’m so sorry you went through that.” Her eyes were full of sympathy and softness. Somehow, her reaction comforted him. She was giving him solace he hadn’t realized he needed.
“That’s it?” she asked. “That’s all you remember?” He nodded. “Has anything seemed familiar to you?”
He thought about this for a moment. “When I first awoke in the desert, I felt that my body was separate from me. And earlier, when you made me promise…”
Harrow’s gaze softened again. “That promise meant something bigger to you than I realized, didn’t it?”
He nodded, shifting his gaze to the ceiling. “I don’t know how I know this, but once given, my word is binding. The promise felt like chains.”
“Goddess, Raith, I never wanted you to—”
“I know. That’s why I gave you the vow anyway. I trust you.”
She smiled. “Thank you for your trust. I won’t betray it.”
“I know.”
A crease appeared between her brows. “Your unbreakable word… Is that why you don’t like to speak much? To protect yourself from saying something that might bind you?”
He nodded. “But I didn’t know that until tonight.”
“It must have been instinctive, then. I wonder what you were like before you lost your memories. Did you like to speak more?”
