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Molly stepped into his arms, thinking how nice it was to be on the same level with the big Kindred for once. Torus enfolded her gently but firmly and she smelled his warm cedar and spice scent again as she put her arms around his neck.
To her surprise, the hug lasted awhile—not that she minded. She was able to notice things about him that she hadn’t earlier when he was holding her while she cried—mainly because she wasn’t distracted with sobbing her heart out.
For one thing, his hair was very soft—much softer than it looked—and it smelled as good as the rest of him. His big body felt good against hers too—he was quite muscular and she knew how immensely strong he was, but he was careful not to crush her—it made her feel safe in his embrace which was wonderful.
It was so different from hugging her ex—back when she and Zach were still together, she thought. He’d had a mean little habit of pinching her or yanking her hair or suddenly squeezing her so tightly she couldn’t breathe every once in a while. Then he would laugh and laugh when she cried out in pain or gasped for breath, as though it was a hilarious joke. Molly had never been sure when he asked for a hug if he wanted to hurt her or not, which made even casual physical intimacy with her ex a nerve-wracking affair.
Commander Torus wasn’t like that at all. She felt safe in his arms—like she could relax. He really was a gentle giant, she thought dreamily as she inhaled his warm, masculine scent and nestled her cheek against his. She even liked the rough scratch of his whiskers and the press of his broad chest against her breasts, though if anyone had asked her, after her time with Zach, she would have told them she never wanted to be this close to a man again.
But he’s not really a man, she reminded herself. He’s a Kindred—they’re different. They’re?—
“Forgive me, Molly, but I don’t know how long a hug of gratitude is supposed to last.”
His deep voice seemed to vibrate her whole body and she realized with embarrassment that he was probably just hugging her so long out of politeness—because he didn’t know what else to do.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, pulling back. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, uh, over-hug you.” Which wasn’t even a thing, but her scrambled brain spit the word out before she could think of a better one.
“’Over-hug’ me?” A rare smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Well, I mean, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable—” Molly began.
“You didn’t.” He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Your face is getting pink like it does when you’re embarrassed or upset. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable,” he rumbled. “I was afraid that I was the one who was ‘over-hugging’.”
“Oh, no—no, you weren’t,” Molly assured him.
“Good.” He rose smoothly to his feet to tower over her again and then picked up the empty duffle bag. “Should we go back?” he asked and held out a hand to her.
“Yes.” Molly smiled up at him and took his hand. This time she was the one who entwined their fingers. “And thank you again for this,” she added, nodding at the ablation doors. “For helping me get revenge.”
“You’re welcome.” The big Kindred’s eyes flashed red for a moment. “Your ex-mate is lucky it’s only his material possessions that were fed into the ablation field.”
Molly felt a little shiver run down her spine. She wondered again how badly her boss had beaten Zach up, and then decided she didn’t care. Her ex had gotten everything he deserved and she wasn’t a bit sorry for him!
She had no idea how much the vengeance Commander Torus had taken for her was going to cost both of them in the very near future.
9
TORUS
The holo projector on Torus’s desk beeped twice and a mechanical voice said,
“Incoming call from Commander Sylvan, Head of the High Council. Accept or Decline?”
Torus was jerked out of his musings—which was probably a good thing. He had been thinking entirely too much about Molly. No, Ms. Byrne, he corrected himself. He really shouldn’t have let himself become so informal with her. But it was hard not to, after the experiences they’d shared yesterday.
After destroying all the tech equipment he’d confiscated from her ex-mate and sharing the extra-long hug—which he had liked much more than he ought to, Torus admitted to himself—he had walked her back to her suite where they had stood in her doorway talking for some time before finally saying good night.
Torus had been tempted to ask if she wanted to come out to a restaurant and have Last Meal with him…but he had restrained himself. He was getting much too involved with the curvy little Earth female, he told himself. And as tempting and gorgeous as Molly was, she was still far too small for him to mate with her. Not that she probably wanted to mate with any male after what she’d endured at the hands of her sadistic ex.
It seemed to him, on thinking about it, that he had done what he was meant to do—he had acted on the terrible dreams he’d had and taken vengeance for her against her ex-Mate. Now she was free of the cruel male and Torus intended to remove every single intimate video or picture of her from the Earth Internet, even if he had to track them down one site at a time. So, Molly never had to fear such humiliation again. Which meant that basically, his job was done.
And so, reluctantly, he had decided he ought to leave her alone. They would go back to their proscribed relationship of boss and worker and not interact anymore, he told himself. It was better that way—safer. Because things were getting too intimate between them. He knew that because on the way back from the ablation chamber, as they were riding in the service tube together, she had asked him, blushing shyly, what cologne he was wearing.
Torus had frowned in confusion.
“Cologne?”
“Perfume. You know—scent,” she had clarified. “I’m just asking because it’s really nice, that’s all.”
