Born of Fire

He gave her a half smile. “Guess so.”


Shahara listened to the strong beat of his heart under her ear. This was the first time since Gaelin that she’d allowed a man to hold her.

And it felt really good.

But there was still a part of her scared of what he might do. A part of her that waited for him to change into a monster.

“How did you do it?” she asked, trying to distract herself from that thought.

He frowned. “Do what?”

“Learn to trust and be intimate with someone after that happened to you?”

“Who says I did?”

She frowned. “You were married. I just assumed you trusted her.”

“And I told her nothing of my past. I knew she couldn’t handle it and I was right. She was married to a character I created and not the person I was or am. She thought I was the orphaned son of a respected businessman who was living on a trust fund and that I’d had a bland, boring childhood.” He sighed. “It was the childhood I’d wanted to have. Totally fabricated so that other people wouldn’t know the truth of me.”

“But, you were with her. I can’t stand to be touched. The thought of sex still terrifies me even though I know it’s not supposed to be violent or painful. I just can’t bring myself to go there with another person.”

His features softened. “I think it was different because I wasn’t attacked by a woman . . . at least not until you. I never really associated the two and honestly, I can’t stand to be touched by a man either. Not even casually to shake hands. It makes my skin crawl. And like you said, it doesn’t hurt when you’re with someone you want to be with. It’s actually extremely pleasant.”

Syn stared into her trusting face and wanted to show her what he meant, but she wasn’t ready for that. Honestly, it’d taken him years before he’d learned to enjoy sex himself. For the longest time, he’d viewed it as a tool. An act to be bartered for something else.

Then Mara had come along and for the first time he’d been able to fully enjoy himself. He’d found pleasure by sharing himself with her and making sure she never left his bed without multiple orgasms.

Until he’d learned about her adultery. That had shattered him worse than anything.

But he didn’t want to think about that. It was a long time ago . . . and yet it still pricked him soul deep whenever he thought about it. Why hadn’t he been good enough for her? Where had he been lacking that she needed to find another man to satisfy her?

Wanting to distract himself from that, he leaned his head back against the wall. “Why don’t you tell me a story to kill time?”

She scowled. “What?”

“Caillen said that you used to make up stories to tell to him at bedtime. He said you were best at it.”

Shahara gave a light laugh, remembering how many stories Caillen used to demand from her.

Please, Shay, make it a funny one!

She missed those days of her little brother making shadow puppets on the wall to illustrate her tales.

“It’s been a long time since I even thought about any. I don’t think I can do it anymore.”

“Why did you stop?”

She shrugged. “After my father died, there were no more stories to tell. They just seemed too trivial to bother with while I had bigger concerns like feeding three hungry siblings.”

He reached up with one hand. She tensed, half expecting him to touch her. Instead he paused momentarily, then scratched his chin. He returned it to rest on his knee. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I know. It’s just hard.”

Suddenly, his hand was on her cheek, brushing a stray curl away. “Are you scared of me?”

“Yes,” she answered honestly.

His blaster appeared in her hands. She grimaced at him. “What’s this for?”

“If I hurt you, you can kill me.”

She scoffed. “This is stupid.” She tried to return it to him.

He pushed it back into her hands. His gaze locked with hers and it held her transfixed. For once there was no mockery in his eyes, nor did they appear quite so glacial. “Fear is never stupid.”

“That’s not what you said earlier.”

He laughed and she marveled at the rich sounded echoing around her. “Well I had to goad you in here for your own sake. Besides, it worked.”

Shahara set his blaster by her foot and relaxed, allowing him to continue to brush her hair back from her face. Chills spread over her and she thought about his strength. Since all this began, he’d been unbelievably courageous.

Just what did it take to scare him? “What are you afraid of?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

She was skeptical over that. “Surely something has to scare you.”

Syn licked his dry lips as his gaze trailed over her breasts and down to the legs she’d crossed in front of her. The way she sat, her thighs were open, inviting his hand to touch the most intimate part of her body.