To The Ones Who Can't Dream

chapter 71 - 6,032

TW: mentions of abuse

     Without another word, she walked directly into the bathroom and shut the door on Rhys. She took a shower, washed her face and brushed her teeth before appearing back in the main room. Rhys eyed her as she walked over to the bed and so she may have swayed her hips a little more than usual. She had put on a pink, silk nightgown with black trim. It was one of her favorite things to sleep in because it was super comfortable but also made her look amazing. Well, as of lately nobody had been seeing her in bed so there was no point to wear something showy, she admitted to herself, Damn I really need to get laid.

     The only action she had had with anyone in who knows how long was this male laying beside her. As she got more comfortable and flipped onto her stomach, she glanced over at Rhys. He was still staring at her, eyes roaming down her back, ass, and legs. The corners of her lips turned up, "So, what sort of 'tactics' did you want to discuss tonight?"

     He started, realizing she had caught him staring at her, "Oh, um."

     He paused for slightly too long, "What should everybody do while the human queens are here?"

     She wanted to laugh but decided to humor him, "Nesta, Elain, and Feyre may be in the room if they want. Az and Cass should stand behind us. Hopefully that'll intimidate them enough while we question them about the Book of Breathings."

     Rhys nodded before Seren continued, "Anything else?"

     Clearing his throat, Rhys looked like he was preparing for battle, "Yes, I have something else to ask you. I noticed while we were outside on the porch that you stepped away from me. I just wanted to apologize for making you uncomfortable with my comment."

     Although a pang of sadness washed through her, she smiled softly at him, "You didn't make me uncomfortable. In fact, you made me too comfortable. But we have already established that I'm just your second-in-command. I'm trying to keep the boundary that you set."

     Rhys's eyes widened slightly, "When did I set that boundary?"

     Heat flushed to Seren's face, "You know... at Calanmai."

     Rhys looked apologetically at her, "Oh yes, I'm also sorry for pushing you to do all that with me. It wasn't right of me."

     Now it was Seren's turn to look confused, "You didn't push me to do anything I didn't want to do? I'm sorry I took advantage of you. Clearly you didn't want all of that to happen, all you did was kiss me. But I escalated it further."

     "Hold on," Rhys started, "I was thrilled about what we did."

     Seren shook her head, "But when I tried to return the favor, you didn't want it."

     Rhys turned so he was fully facing her, "What? You thought I didn't want you to? I just didn't want you to feel obligated to return the favor. Your touch is my destruction and my salvation."

     She had to take a moment to process all of that. 'My destruction and my salvation', damn this dude really had a way with words.

     But something kept popping up in the back of her head, her tattoo. Although Rhys had given her no reason not to trust him, she couldn't help but shudder thinking about her past life. She didn't know if she could ever trust someone enough to love them again. Being condemned to a life sentence of salvery had made her realize that people you love can use that love against you. But Rhys deserved to know why she couldn't take it any farther with him. She sighed, "I know I've given the Inner Circle and you very little information on my past life. It's probably time for me to let you know a bit more about it."