Shepherd understood that it was less Maryanne's comment, and more the fact that Claire absolutely agreed with her friend's assessment. Svana had never found him wanting when it came to understanding her or her needs. She was easy to please, loved the gifts he brought her, and always thanked him profusely. Claire was disinterested in almost everything he had provided, never glanced twice at new clothing, jewels tucked into her drawer, or fine things he put in the room. He knew she enjoyed the food, though her pride kept her from expressing it… and she found pleasure in her paints; nothing else had ever drawn a reaction.
He had hated every moment of the women's conversation, save Maryanne's wise reprimand to her friend. It was the only thing that might induce him to allow such a meeting again.
Stranger still, Claire had grown hostile, they had argued, and then it was over. No hard feelings on either side.
The Omega was growing limp, falling asleep in his arms. Still knotted, Shepherd carried her to the lounge chair and arranged them both while he waited for his member to soften. When her nose went to his neck and she began to draw in his scent, the Alpha encouraged her behavior, played with her hair, and listened to her strange musical hum—an Omega noise she had not made since… since Svana.
He had pleased his mate. She was even smiling against the flesh of his neck, Shepherd certain she was unaware he could enjoy such a sight by their reflection in the window. The purr deepened, her eyelashes fluttered, her fingers toying with the fabric of his shirt.
"I would provide female things if you asked for them," the man grumbled, oddly relaxed considering how annoyed he'd been only minutes earlier.
She took a deep breath, and pushed up to look him in the eye. After their conversation downstairs, she knew what was in order. "I don't know why you did it, and can only assume there was some ulterior, self-serving purpose, but at this moment I appreciate it. Thank you for arranging for me to spend time with Maryanne."
He could be so gentle, so different. Cupping her face, he looked at her with a soft expression. "My motive was simply to show you that I am keeping my end of the bargain and for you to enjoy yourself."
Shepherd was behaving properly, he was making concessions… and he wanted her to acknowledge it. Sucking her lower lip into her mouth, she allowed herself a moment to study him up close; raised up so that his softening member slipped out, they were eye to eye. Claire touched where his neck swirled with Da'rin parasites, the arch of his eyebrows, the various scars over his face, collected over decades of brawls.
This man was her enemy.
Shepherd sought to encourage her. "You're curious…"
Having the male speak snapped her from her abstract regard. What had been a subject became a person, and Claire shrank back. "Senator Kantor told me your Da'rin marks symbolize the men you killed."
"It is a common thing underground, to threaten potential adversaries."
"He said they hurt…"
"In sunlight, yes."
They were sitting in a pool of sunlight, and though he wore long sleeves, the marks on his neck were exposed. He seemed so calm, his eyes focused but soft, that Claire doubted. "But you don't cover them."
Shepherd smirked, tried to kiss her unresponsive lips. "I can bear the pain."
Crooking a finger under his chin, eager to distract the man's more amorous intentions, Claire urged him to stretch so she could see his neck in the light. Nail scraping over the branching marks, she explored, she counted lives. "How many?"
The male began to purr, stretching, luxuriating, when Claire traced over the patterns. "Many."
Eyes sad, she confessed, "I have tried to tally them, over and over. I always lose count…"
He wanted her cuddly and content, not frightened and eager to quarrel. "This is tradition underground. You have traditions, too. Most men are in the Undercroft for a few years, maybe a decade if they are strong. I was born there. Before I gave prisoners purpose and will to survive, few lived long enough for Da'rin to spread as extensively as mine. My marks were hope to many that they, too, might endure."
For men who had been thrown into darkness in innocence, for men who had been cast down there for small infractions… for Maryanne… Claire could let herself understand. "The Dome is not what I thought it was, but it's not what you think it is, either."
Running his fingers through her hair, he teased, "You know so little, yet talk so big."
"Don't minimize my life." She ran a hand over her eyes. "An Alpha cannot imagine what it's like growing up Omega. Of course, dynamic is not confirmed until twelve or thirteen, but that fear, to know all your childhood prayers to be Beta went unanswered. To know you would never amount to more than an Alpha's prized possession. I had broken that circle. I'd taken such care."