Page 55 of Owned By the Fae
‘I made it as good for her as I could under the circumstances.’ He glances around the room. ‘The bath will still be warm. Clean her up and make her eat even if she says she isn’t hungry.’
He almost sounds like he cares, and my eyes bore into him. I wonder what else Varrik has ordered.
‘Where are you going?’ I ask.
‘Away from here,’ he mutters.
He fucks off without a backward glance, leaving me to pick up the pieces of my very thoroughly fucked female … who I still haven’t had the pleasure ofhavingmyself.
I look at the bed. She’s still in the middle of it. She hasn’t moved.
I survey the room for her clothes, but there’s nothing in here for her to wear. Even the bed only has one threadbare blanket on it. I frown at it. I should have noticed she didn’t have anything when I was in here before, but instead, I was too busy assuming she was fine when I saw nothing overt and then giving in to my own desires without any more thought for her.
I’m as big a cunt as Dane.
‘Lia?’ I ask.
She doesn’t reply, and I move closer, taking in her healed body. At least Dane has seen to that … unless Rikoth is up to his tricks. But then I don’t think she’d have been able to fight Dane the way she had if she was still sporting broken bones and all the rest of the wounds we saw last night.
When I’d come back early from the festival, mostly out of boredom, I’d been shocked to find her with Dane and then horrified by the state of her. I should have been able to tell by her slow movements when I’d been in here watching her. In hindsight, it’s all so obvious.
I lay on the bed next to her and stare at the ceiling, waiting for her to speak to me.
When she doesn’t, I cast my eyes towards her and ask her the question that’s been plaguing me the most instead.
‘How many times did Rikoth hide your injuries before you set that fire and escaped?’
She doesn’t look at me. ‘I never kept count. But it was frequently. Sometimes, if Grith noticed, I would be taken to the healers, but he’d always want something in return, so I’d try to hide it from him if he asked me … and he was the only one who asked me.’
My fists clench. ‘I’m sorry I never asked you.’
She finally turns her head to look at me. ‘It was best that you didn’t. You couldn’t have done anything.’
‘Grey said the bindings stopped working long ago. Why are you still here?’
Lia sits up and winces a little. I cast a look at the door that Dane went through, angry with him all over again.
‘Come.’
I lift her up, noting that she’s lost weight in Varrik’s care. No wonder Dane wants her fed. But first, I put her in the bath that’s still hot enough to warm her shivering body. While she’s in it, I throw some wood on the fire, and then I turn back to her, she’swashing between her legs vigorously. I can see on her face that she’s hurting herself.
Frowning, I go to her and stop her hand’s movements with my own. ‘What are you doing?’ I ask her gently.
‘I can’t be bred,’ she whispers. ‘I need to get Dane’s seed out of me. I don’t care what he does. I won’t have a babe for him to take.’
‘Who?’
‘Varrik!’
At my blank expression, she pulls her hand out of my grip. ‘What do you think this has been about?’ she hisses angrily. ‘Varrik was going to give me to Rikoth, but he changed his mind and chose Dane instead. Did you think Dane actually wanted me?’ She laughs mirthlessly. ‘Varrik ordered it, and Dane did as he was told like the good dog he is!’
The hurt I see in her glassy eyes makes me realize that Dane was right. He didn’t have to force her at all. But he still shouldn’t have done it that way and I’ll be making sure he never does again.
‘I thought you’d be angry,’ I murmur. ‘I thought you’d never want to see any of us again.’
‘I am angry.’ She closes her eyes. ‘Iwas. But what’s done is done, and Varrik … no one here seems capable ofnotadoring him, Dane included.’
I cup her face, wondering if I should tell her of my suspicions that the love the fold has for the fae lord is merely an effect of his skill. I will, I decide, but not now.
