expecting him to give her the time of day.
At first, she had wished he would come to her. Now, though? She wanted to shove him out of the room, lock the door, and cry herself to sleep. Talon didn’t look like he planned on giving her a shed of mercy, and she didn’t expect any. After everything that she had done to them, why should he?
It was just as Chris had told her, over and over again. It wasn’t the people around her that were the problem -- it was her.
You’re nothing but a stupid idiot, his voice whispered in her head. Look what you’ve done? Pissed off the only thing good to you, the only thing that wants to support you. She flinched when the mental punch collided with her face.
Talon was tense. Silent. She waited for him to yell at her, to come after her like he had to Chris. What had happened to her belief that he wouldn’t hurt her? Jamie choked on her tears and moved farther onto the bed, grabbing the pillow and wrapping herself around it.
The brief thought that if she pretended he wasn’t there, he would leave, crossed through her mind. It wasn’t until a second later that she felt the bed dip and his hand settled on her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me,” she begged, turning her head to look at him. “You almost killed him, Talon. And then you yell at me. What do you think I am? A whore? Trust me, I got called that enough by Chris. I know you might think that’s what I am, but even if I was, it hurts too much hearing it from you.”
Her broken plea was met with silence.
Jamie took a shuddering breath, raising shaking hands to her face. Her cheeks were wet. “If you’re going to accuse me about things you don’t know, I would like you to leave. If you don't, then I will.”
“No you won’t,” he snarled, tightening his hand on her shoulder. She started to move away, hating herself for crying in front of him, for letting him touch her, for letting him near her after what she had seen him do. “If you leave me, there won’t be anyone that will help keep you from me.”
His voice had her shivering, and not with fear. She stared at him with wide, watery eyes. “Don’t say stuff like that.”
“Why not? It’s true, Jamie. If you ever leave like that again... God. Just don’t. I’ll kill anyone, I’ll do anything, to get you by my side again.”
The utter possession in his voice made her gasp. When she looked into his eyes, everything stopped. Her tears. Her breath. Her heart. The fear and pain.
His hand cupped her cheek gently, his other coming around her waist to pull her up and into his arms. “I can’t risk losing you,” he whispered, his silvery eyes tracing over her face like ghostly fingers. She felt as if he were trying to memorize her, trying to learn everything he could about her just through staring at her.
Her hands fisted in his shirt. “You hurt me,” she sobbed, pushing him away yet pulling him closer at the same time.
Talon stared down at her, his emotions warring openly in his eyes. For the longest second, she thought he wouldn’t reply to her. When he did, though, his voice was void of emotion. “Those things he said -- what was he talking about? What did he do to you?”
Jamie stared up at him, heart pounding not only at how close they were, but because of what he was asking of her. Was she meant to reveal everything to him? To tell him how weak she had been?
She realized, right then, that if it meant keeping him then she would tell him everything, do anything, to keep him. They had been through so much together, it seemed impossible to be anything without him. To live a day where he wasn’t watching over her. To go to bed at night without his arms around her.
“He... You know how you’ll read about abuse cases in the papers?” she asked thinly, realizing it was a lot harder than she had thought it would be.
Talon nodded mutely, tightening his arms around her until it felt like she couldn’t breathe. The only good thing about it was the fury that was settling in his eyes.
“You had bruises. All over.”
Her face drained of color. She couldn’t remember what she had looked like that long ago, but it still