Pawned Virtue - #wattys2015 BK4 TPBS - Completed 1st draft

-3-

Not edited. Surprise! This is my way to say thank you all so much for all your support through Maxon's Revenge!!!

He stood at the railing of the small balcony he walked out to through the sliding glass doors of his bedroom. All the while his mind was spinning.

When he'd walked back into the room his eyes immediately looked towards the bed. What he saw made his stomach clench as his hands turned in to one another.

The dimly lit room wasn't enough to stop him from seeing her tear stained face as she lay curled up on her side with her legs held by her arms. She was protecting herself... from what?

From him.

The thought struck a chord in him that he didn't want to have. Damn her fucking father!

He watched her for some time but her silent sobs even as she slept were too much for him and he needed to get out of the room real quick. Knowing he needed to be nearby when she woke he chose to wait on the balcony with the gentle sea breeze at times sending chills through his body.

He ignored them. They were much less than he deserved anyway.

How the fuck had his life cone to this? His usual confident self was in tatters all because of this girl. Only one other woman had ever had the audacity to push past his hardened shell and when she died he promised never to let the shell crack again.

His grim smile was proof that this was no longer the case.

He thought about the wedding ceremony they went through and shook his head. At the time he'd blanked out how scared she looked, her hand shook as he slipped the wedding ring on her finger. He looked down at his own left hand at the band the civil servant told her to put on him.  Her hands were so cold they almost reminded him of the dead.

What exact reason would her father have given her so she went through with the wedding? What threat hung over her head as she'd whispered 'I do'?

He turned as he heard a whimper escape her. His breath hitched as he watched her gripping the cover beneath her hands. He was sure she was reliving the way he'd taken her.

He'd do anything if he could just relive that moment again and do things differently. If only he'd known the truth.

It wasn't something he could change but it was something he would make sure never happened again. The only way he knew to gain some sort of repore with her was if he got to know her slowly.

Was his heart up to that?

It was a thought he quickly pushed away. He'd never love her but he already cared about her well being and her safety. That would be enough. It had to be.

She was going to be here for quite a while, he hoped she understood that.

Then he chuckled at his stupid thought. Of course she knew. She'd married him. Regardless as to who she'd been before she now belonged to him. Her fate was sealed. She was Mrs Tara Porter.

His wife.

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