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Torus looked at her with worried eyes.
“No—it’s not poison. This is Bonding Fruit wine! How much did you drink?”
25
MOLLY
“Bonding Fruit wine?” Molly repeated stupidly. What was he talking about? She was feeling slightly less tipsy now—maybe it was the concern coming from the big Kindred that had sobered her up, but now she was worried.
“How much did you drink?” he repeated, looking down at her. “How much, Molly?”
His tone made her flinch and her anxiety began to spike.
“Just a glass and a half,” she said quickly. “I’m really sorry!”
But the apology wasn’t enough—already she could hear the voice of terror yammering in her head.
Oh no—I made him mad at me. Stupid, Molly! How could you drink it without looking to see what it was? How could you be so dumb? Now you’re in trouble—big trouble!
The frightened, negative thoughts came too thick and fast for her to capture them. And with them came the memories of Zach shouting at her, yanking her hair…twisting her arm hard enough to leave bruises…throwing plates at her head that would shatter just inches from her face if she didn’t move fast enough…
“I’m really sorry—are you mad at me?” she blurted and felt her eyes stinging with tears. “I didn’t mean to, I swear! I know I should have checked the bottle before I drank any but I didn’t expect?—”
“Hey…hey…” Torus put the bottle back on the counter and knelt down so that they were almost on the same level. He took Molly gently by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Look at me, sweetheart—feel me. Do you think I’m mad at you?” he asked softly.
His deep, quiet voice did a lot to calm her fears. Her heart—which had been pounding with anxiety—began to slow a little.
“Feel me,” he said again, this time through their link. And then Molly felt herself being flooded with warmth and caring and protective possessiveness. “I will never hurt you—never hit you or force you, little bird,” Torus sent. “You’re safe with me. The Goddess has given you to me to protect—I won’t fail her trust in me—or yours either.”
Bit by bit, Molly began to feel better as her instinctive panic response to an upset male began to ease. She had confessed to Lana before that just hearing a man raise his voice sometimes sent her into a spiral of fear and anxiety. Lana had said that maybe she had PTSD from her time with her ex. At the time Molly had brushed the thought aside but now she wondered…could it be true? After all the terrible things Zach had done to her?—
No, be quiet! Don’t think about that! You don’t want Torus to find out!
She took some deep breaths and concentrated on counting backwards from a hundred. Finally she was able to look at Torus again.
“Sorry,” she apologized in a slightly shaky voice. “I just…I thought you were mad at me and I got scared.”
“I know you did, baby.” He pulled her to him and hugged her gently but firmly, enfolding her in his long arms and rubbing her back and shoulders soothingly. “I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have raised my voice like that—I just got worried about you,” he rumbled.
“I feel fine.” Molly nuzzled her cheek against his. Breathing in his warm, cedar and spice scent made her feel better. Why did he always smell so good? It made her want to get even closer to him. It?—
“Let’s take a break and go sit on the couch,” Torus suggested, pulling away from the hug.
Molly was disappointed—she would have been happy to “over-hug” him all evening. But he rose to his feet and headed back to the living room, so she followed him.
“Okay, now let’s talk about options,” Torus said once they were settled.
“Options?” Molly asked, looking up at him.
“I’m afraid the Bonding Fruit wine you drank is going to kick in soon and we need to have a plan for when it does,” he told her. “I’ll be honest with you, sweetheart—I don’t know how you feel about Bonding after we’ve known each other such a short time, but even if you’re okay with it, I don’t think it’s going to be an option.”
“It’s not?” Molly felt her heart sink.
He shook his head regretfully.
“I’m on the large side, even for one of my kind,” he explained. “And you’re petite.”
“I’m the normal height for a human woman,” Molly defended herself.
