He was heartbroken.
“I’m surprised he never told you that,” she whispered.
Since I was in the same position, he probably didn’t want to scare me, to remind of the fate I was about to experience. “He and I don’t do a lot of talking…” It was mostly kissing and touching, among other things.
She dried the last glass before she put it off to the side. “Adelina, can I ask you something?”
She was my only friend in the world. She could ask me anything. “Of course.”
“Are you in love with him?” She looked me square in the eye, watching even the slightest reaction I made.
The question took me by surprise. I thought she would ask me about going back to Tristan, about how I felt about it. I didn’t think Cane was on her mind. I was fond of Cane and really cared about him, but the thought of love never crossed my mind. “Uh…I don’t think so. I mean, I love being with him. He’s a sweet man. He only pretends to be rough and cruel, but he’s soft on the inside. When I’m with him, I’m happy. But falling in love in my position just isn’t possible.”
“Why?”
“Because our relationship is so short. In two days, I’m going back to Tristan.”
Pearl kept staring at me, like she expected me to say something else.
“Why are you asking me this?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s in love with you.”
Cane had been nothing but good to me since I arrived here, but I didn’t think he was capable of feeling anything more extensive. He said he was going to return me to Tristan. If he really loved me, he wouldn’t do that. “He’s not.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I just am. We have a connection now, a bond. I know he’ll miss me when I’m gone. I’ll miss him too. But love isn’t something that’s possible. I don’t think I could ever fall in love with a man under these conditions. It’s not how I pictured romance.”
“I didn’t picture meeting my husband the way I did, but I wouldn’t change anything.”
“I didn’t mean anything offensive by that…”
“I know,” she said quietly. “I’ve just never seen Cane act this way with anyone.”
“Well, he does pity me…”
“And he doesn’t pity anyone.”
“He has more of a heart than he lets on. He’s been nothing but good to me since I arrived. He’s never made me do anything I didn’t want to do. He’s given me as much freedom as he could within four walls. He’s kind to me…makes me happy. He’s been a real blessing. He’s helped me believe that there are good people…that there’s hope for everyone.”
Her eyes fell in sadness. “I’m so sorry, Adelina…”
“I know you are, Pearl. But don’t feel bad. There’s nothing you guys can do. I understand that, so please don’t feel guilty.”
“I don’t feel guilty,” she said. “I just feel heartbroken. This shouldn’t happen to you, to me, to anyone. Men shouldn’t be allowed to look at us as property, as things that can just be taken. They shouldn’t have this kind of power, to own us just because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hate it so much, Adelina…you don’t even know.”
I heard the pain in her voice, the memories that still haunted her. She’d suffered much longer than I had. I’d only been Tristan’s plaything for a week before Cane came around. From what I understood, she was subjected to Bones’s torment for months before she escaped. There were thousands of women all over the world who had to suffer in the exact same way. It was innately wrong, a crime against humanity. “I know.”
* * *
Cane wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed me into his chest, his back against the headboard and his eyes dark in heated intensity. He pressed his forehead to mine and guided me up and down his length. We were both sheathed in arousal, our bodies wet with slickness. He moved deep inside me slowly, with purposeful gentleness that felt good. It’d been weeks since we screwed like animals. Now every time he was inside me, it was deep and slow, full of passion without violence.
When he was inside me like this, I didn’t think about the limited time I had left. I only thought about those dark eyes as they bored into mine. I only thought about those soft lips, that hard jaw, and the way his hair curled when I ran my fingers through it.
My legs had been forced apart, and my virginity had been taken away from me. It was cruel and painful. Being with Cane was completely different, like I’d been given a second chance to enjoy something that nearly broke me. He taught me it could feel good, that even if he was big, it didn’t hurt. He made me crave it when we were apart all day. He made me want it in the middle of the night. He made me want something I once despised.