"Not here," he growled. "Come with me. "
Taking her hand, he drew her into the butler's pantry and closed them in. The squat, cramped room was lined with shelves of colorful canned fruits and vegetables, the still, warm air smelling of freshly milled grains and the dry, cakey sweetness of flour.
As the overhead light came on and the door locked itself, she knew they had been willed so by him.
And then he just stared at her as his fangs elongated even further, the twin white tips peeking out from under his parted upper lip, his eyes glowing.
"What do I do?" she said hoarsely.
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What do I. . . do for you?" The symphath had taken what he'd wanted and to hell with her. And her father had naturally never permitted any male to feed from her. Was there a certain way to -
Abruptly, Tohrment appeared to pull out of the vortex, something jarring him back to a different consciousness. And yet even so, his body remained fully engaged, his weight shifting from one boot to the other, his hands curling into fists and releasing, curling. . . and releasing.
"Have you never. . . "
"My father was saving me. And when I was abducted. . . I have never done this properly before. "
Tohrment put a hand up to his head as if he had an ache within it. "Listen, this is - "
"Tell me what to do. "
As he trained his eyes on her once again, she thought his name was indeed apt. Lo, how he was tormented.
"I need this," he said, as if speaking to himself.
"Yes, you do. You are so gaunt that I ache for you. "
Except he was going to stop this, she thought as his stare grew dull. And she knew why.
"She is welcome in this space," No'One said. "Bring your shellan unto your mind. Let her take my place. "
Anything to help him. For Tohrment's great kindnesses toward her earlier self, and fate's cruel machinations against him, she would do anything for him to be made right.
"I may hurt you," he said harshly.
"No worse than I have already survived. "
"Why. . . "
"Stop talking. Stop trying to think. Do what you must to take care of yourself. "
There was a long, tense silence. And then the light went off, the little room going dim, with the only illumination that which bled through the milky glass panels of the door.
She gasped.
He breathed harder.
And then an arm linked around the back of her waist and jerked her forward. As she hit his chest wall, it was as if she had been thrown against rock, and she blindly put her hands out to grab onto something -
The flesh of his arms was smooth and hot, the skin thin over hard muscles.
Tugging. Tugging on her braid. Then wrenching. . . and her hair was unbound, her scalp spared the stretch and pull of the binding, the release drawing her head back.
A large hand speared in through her tresses, tangling them, pulling downward. And as her neck stretched further, her spine was forced to follow until she was held up entirely by the strength of him.
r />