Page 31 of Meteor Storm

“How many were after me?”

He held up three fingers and I swallowed, a hint of fear for what could have happened giving me a sinking feeling in my gut. I had only seen two of them, but by the time Thilar entered the clearing, he was already covered in blood.

“Was that whose blood you had all over you?”

He nodded, but the gesture seemed so empty. So nonchalant. The man was a killer. There was a time that I could have been, too. And then I died and was shipped to the Nexus. I stuffed the memory back in my lockbox and shifted again, almost amused by how much going to the Nexus didn’t protect me.

“Forgive me,” Thilar said again. “It is—”

“Stop apologizing.”

“Taking a female against her will is a crime. I would sooner die, but…” He cut himself short, leaving that thought unfinished. “I will do everything I can to right what’s been done before I answer for it.”

I rubbed my brow, stressing over the fact that my body enjoyed what happened. I felt filthy and wrong for it and wondered if getting off negated the fact that we were both being forced into nonconsensual situations with each other. If both parties were unwilling, were either guilty?

“Penny—”

“Thilar, it’s fine.”

“It is not.”

“Thilar I…” I trailed off, stopping myself before I told him outright that I climaxed.

What would that mean to him anyways? Would it relieve him of his guilt to know? Would it just confuse him? Would it make him think what he was forced to do to me was ok?

None of it was ok…

Thilar’s eyes were already locked on me when I looked at him. I couldn’t help but think he was reading me. Successfully.

“It is not ok, Penny,” he said, his voice so low, I barely heard it.

I pressed my lips together and gently shook my head. “I know it’s not,” I said in an equally quiet tone.

I didn’t know how long Thilar had been in that place or what he’d been forced to do before I arrived. I didn’t know anything about him.

As if her name had been called, Sunhai came traipsing over, her feminine muscles bulging. She smiled, looking between Thilar and me like she was waiting for us to catch her up on our conversation.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” she chuckled.

As she was about to walk away, two more guards dressed in marginally more fancy attire strolled into the yard and scanned the remaining prisoners. When they settled on Sunhai, she let out a childish groan and started to head their way. Thilar was quick. He grabbed her arm and tugged her close, whispering something in her ear. For a moment, she looked a little stunned, but slowly, her eyes narrowed and a subtle smirk teased her lips. Before she set off with the guards, she nodded and then very obediently departed.

“What was that?” I asked.

Thilar crossed his arms over his broad chest. “She has been requested for a private viewing.”

“A private viewing?”

“Nobles pay extra for them sometimes.”

I grew uneasy at the thought, reflecting on the first game when Thilar and I were thrust into a room for a private audience.

“Got it,” I sighed. “So? How many times have you been requested for a private viewing?”

His eyes shifted back toward me, but he said nothing. That empty answer, however, told me everything I needed to know. My jaw ticked at the thought. The day he came back in nothing but a small strip of fabric over his hips, I knew something was strange. And I knew it wasn’t what he wanted.

“I suppose it won’t be long before someone requests me. Anything I should know?”

He shifted his stance, his teeth grinding subtly.