“I think so,” she replied after a long hesitation. “You make me feel safe, and I know I haven’t felt safe in a long time, especially around men.” She shook her head. “But I can’t decide which of you I prefer.”
“Why not settle for us both?” Raoul asked, blowing her a kiss from the open kitchen area.
Her eyes widened and Zeke was encouraged to see them light up, albeit briefly. “Is that allowed?”
Both men threw back their heads and laughed. “Oh yeah, babe,” Raoul replied for them both. “It’s definitely allowed, but as far as the rest of the world’s concerned, you’re married to me. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Well, that’s real good. Now come on you two, dinner’s ready.”
Cantara fed herself this time, picking at her salad and the grilled fillets of fish Raoul had prepared, along with tiny potatoes and green beans. She cleared her plate of the small portion Raoul had given her.
“That was nice,” she said. “Thank you.”
“Seeing you eat it all is thanks enough,” Raoul said, clearing away the dishes. “And it just so happens that I have some raspberry ice cream. Your favorite.”
She gave him a blank stare. “Is it?”
“You tell us,” Zeke replied, dishing some up and placing it in front of her.
She picked up the spoon, took a little of the frozen dessert into her mouth and savored it slowly. “Hmm, it tastes real good, but I don’t remember having it before.”
Shit, Zeke thought. She used to eat it all the time.
“You can have more next time,” Raoul promised her. “Have to get you used to this stuff again slowly or your insides will protest.”
“Why?” she asked with another of her bewildered looks.
“Don’t worry about it, sweet thing,” Raoul replied, dropping a gentle kiss on her brow. “Just concentrate on getting better one day at a time.”
She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand.
“Come on, darlin’,” Zeke said, standing and taking her hand to pull her to her feet. “It’s getting dark and you’re beat. It’s time for you to get some rest.”
Together Zeke and Raoul did what they had never imagined they would get to do, and got the love of their life ready for bed in the home they had created for her. Her eyes were dropping by the time they’d helped her to wash, brush out her hair and slip into a silk nightgown that Raoul had bought for her in a previous life. It hung off her emaciated frame, but she seemed to find the touch of the silk against her skin soothing. Zeke pulled back the covers and Raoul lifted her into the middle of the huge bed—a bed which they had given up all hope of ever sharing with her.
Now that hope had been resurrected—but it wouldn’t happen tonight. She needed to get used to being back in civilization first. She needed time to heal. Each man kissed her brow as Zeke pulled the covers up to her chin.
“Sleep well, darlin’,” Raoul said. “We’re both right down the hall. Just call if you need anything and we’ll come running. We’ll leave the door slightly open so we can hear you if you want us. Is that all right?”
She mumbled something incoherent and curled into a ball on her left side. Zeke and Raoul waited until her breathing became slow and even and they were pretty sure she was asleep. The doctor had given them sleeping pills for her but both men were against the idea of her taking them unless absolutely necessary. They were here to help her through her neurosis. She didn’t need chemical additives messing with her already messed-up mind.
They ought to leave her but lingered a little longer, drinking in the sight of her. In repose, with the covers over her thin body, she looked almost like the Cantara of old. Except she would never be that person again. Part of Zeke thought it would be better if her memory didn’t come back, but he also knew that unless she faced her demons, she would never be free of the fears that gripped her.
“What do you make of her?” Zeke asked as they crept away and sat together in the great room, sipping beers straight from the bottles.
“I think there’s a good chance she’ll get her memory back,” Raoul replied. “Odd things are occurring to her already. Whether that will be a good thing or not, is another matter.”
“Yeah, I hear you.” Zeke felt a murderous rage streak through him. “When I see how cowed she now is, how petrified of men, it makes me wanna commit a few murders of my own.”
“Then we’re on the same page.” Raoul’s expression was set in stone. “We know who took her, and why. He’s dead so there’s nothing we can do about him. What we can do is track down Levi and make him regret the day he was born for what he put her through.”
“I still find it hard to believe that he did it,” Zeke said, shaking his head. “I thought he was as straight as a die.”
Raoul shrugged. “Just goes to show. A fool who can’t control his cock can land up in all sorts of shit. He should have known better than to get caught in a honey trap. Once that happened, he belonged to the guys who trapped him.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Zeke stretched his arms above his head and grinned. “We have her back, man. That’s all that counts. I still can’t believe it. We’ll get her fit again physically, get some meat back on her bones, and hopefully the rest will follow.”
“We’ll know more tomorrow after…” A bloodcurdling scream had them both leaping to their feet. “What the fuck!”
They ran to Cantara’s room and switched on the lights. She was thrashing about in the huge bed, her body bathed in perspiration, the silk nightgown twisted in knots around her. But it was her face that worried them the most. She was whiter than the sheets she had kicked aside, and the terror in her eyes tore at their heartstrings. Even though her eyes were wide, she was clearly still asleep, gripped by a nightmare.
“Cantara,” Raoul said in a firm yet gentle voice. “Honey, can you hear me?”
He touched her arm and she flinched like he had struck her. She tried to pummel him with her fists, possessed of superhuman strength.