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at her body. She hated those polka-dot scars marring her skin. She couldn't look at herself without remembering the slaughter. If she closed her eyes she could smell the blood running through the house and outside into the ground. Her brothers' bodies thrown carelessly aside, arms and legs sprawled out, little Avery lying partially across Adam as if in a garbage dump. Bile rose and she fought not to be sick. Her friends. Her family. She made a single sound, inarticulate, and tried to jerk her arm away from him.

He didn't let go. His gaze leapt to her face. "Do not turn away from me, Solange. We share this. The slaughter of your family. The slaughter of mine."

His soft words allowed her to breathe away the images.

"Do you wish to remove the evidence from your skin?"

He asked the question quietly, his voice so gentle she looked away because she couldn't stop the tears from welling up. She'd never been so emotional. Or maybe she had when she'd talked to him, thinking he wasn't real. She'd felt safe enough to cry in front of him. He had been her only outlet. Juliette and Jasmine had often helped her with the rescues, Juliette more than Jasmine, as they both tried to protect her. But they relied on Solange and she looked after them with fierce protectiveness. She blamed herself that she had been away when the jaguar-men found her aunt Audrey and dragged her away. They'd mounted a rescue but . . . The damage had been done. Just as with Jasmine.

She tried desperately to stop her thoughts. She was in a hot bath with a shockingly handsome man--larger than life--and she was so emotional she'd nearly forgotten that small detail.

"Solange?" His fingers continued to work their magic down her arm. "Would you do it if you could? Remove these tributes?"

She closed her eyes and allowed him to draw her head back until it rested against his chest as he lifted her other arm and began that slow, soothing massage. She'd never thought of the scars as badges or a tribute. Were they? She'd thought of the scars with hatred and anger, a reminder of who her father was, of what blood ran in her veins. She'd never once considered the small white dots as something beautiful--a tribute to her love of her mother, her family.

"Could you remove them?" Was that even possible?

"Perhaps." His tone was noncommittal.

Solange didn't try to look up at him; she merely relaxed, her head resting on his chest as he massaged her arm, knowing he would wait with infinite patience for her answer. She'd loved that calmness in him, the lack of anger and need for revenge. She was driven by both destructive emotions, and desperately needed that calm in the midst of the wild fury that drove her so hard. When she was close to him like this, she felt steadier. Safe. Comforted. She might be off balance, but as long as she wasn't thinking in terms of man and woman, she could lay down the fight and just be still.

He brought his mouth to her shoulder where the puncture wounds had been. "He nearly got you today."

She nodded. "I was terrified. I never want him to get his hands on me again. I went into the river, just as poor Annabelle did." She pressed her fingers to her temple and shook her head. "I left her there. In the river. To bait them. I don't care about the jaguar-man, he can rot there. But I can't get her out of my mind. I should have tried to find her body."

"I found her body and I buried her deep where no human, no animal and no jaguar will ever find her. I removed all scent from the area. She is safe from them."

The relief was overwhelming. Solange leaned back and rested her head on his chest once more. "Thank you. I've never left a woman alone in her death. I do my best to do right by them, even if I can't save them. It would have haunted me that she wasn't buried or burned properly."

His arms circled her, just under her breasts, and held her close. "It is done, s?vamet--my heart. You can rest now."

She felt relaxed, the tension at last completely gone from her. His arms felt safe, and when she closed her eyes she allowed herself to drift a little and just enjoy the feel of him surrounding her. This, then, was what