Page 116 of Crucible
Khalil lifts his head to peer over his shoulder at me. “Do you really want to know?”
My gaze drops. I stare at the blanket covering me, and I nod. “Yes.”
“I fucked you.”
“Oh.”
“Do you have a problem with that?” he asks curiously.
A dry laugh punches out of me. “Would it make a difference if I did?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not upset.”
At some point, I realized the only choice my mountain men had left me was anger. I could choose to hate them for the forbidden things they forced on me, or accept that I didn’t hate it as much as I’d like to.
Currently, I’m teetering somewhere in the middle.
“Did you like it?” I don’t know why I ask. I shouldn’t care. He’s a monster, and I’m one for liking that he is.
Khalil takes a while to answer. “It was cool.”
My stomach growls at that moment, and it’s hard to miss in the quiet room. I remember that I tapped out while they were fucking me and skipped dinner. Khalil sighs heavily, then leaves the bed and room without a word. He returns three minutes later with dinner and a glass of water.
“Who cooked?” I ask in surprise as I accept the plate of trout, wild rice, and carrots.
Khalil places my water on the nightstand. “Thor.”
Taking a tentative bite of the trout I’d thawed and seasoned earlier, I’m pleasantly surprised by the burst of flavor.
Holy shit, I’m getting better.
“This isn’t bad,” I say when I notice how tender the trout is. It’s pretty fucking easy to overcook fish, as I’ve learned the hard way. “Why doesn’t Thorin do the cooking since he’s clearly better at it than me?”
“Because it’s unfair to ask him to hunt the food and cook it too. We do take turns, though.”
“So you and Seth don’t hunt with him?” I ask.
“We do occasionally, but we rarely catch anything. We mostly go to keep Thorin company.”
“Hmm…”
Khalil notices the wheels turning in my head and says, “What?”
“Nothing.” I scarf down the food until the plate is empty, but when I go to leave the bed and take it back upstairs, Khalil takes it from me and leaves the room.
This is new—being pampered and cared for by them.
I’m curled up next to Seth, timidly running my fingers through his dark hair by the time Khalil returns. I see him pause in the doorway, but he doesn’t remark on my change of heart tosnuggle with Seth as he goes to his side of the bed and climbs back in.
As soon as he does, Seth’s breathing changes, and he awakens with a groan. I force myself to stay where I am, to not leave his arms when he might need me, and to not be afraid. I’m just starting to relax when he mumbles with his eyes closed, “Sunshine?”
My fingers reach out of their own accord to caress his stubbled jaw. “I’m here, Seth.”
The chain rattles when he drops his cuffed hand. There’s just enough slack for him to circle my waist with both arms and pull me closer.
I let him.
