Consort of Rebels: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy (Magic Awakened Book 3) by Sadie Moss

Author:Sadie Moss [Moss, Sadie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Jae’s body was taut, poised to run or fight, like a fox caught in the open on a desert plain. He looked like he was on the verge of breaking down entirely, and part of me wanted to back away, to give us both an out.

But sometimes, the only way out was through.

I stood slowly, keeping my eyes glued to his back. He tensed as I approached, and when I reached out to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder, his whole body jerked.

“What, Jae? Please tell me. I want to help if I can.”

“I don’t… I don’t want you to see.” His voice was rough, almost unrecognizable.

“See what?”

“Me.” His shoulders slumped, and my heart broke.

“I want to see you, Jae. I want to know all of you.” My words were soft, and he shuddered under my touch.

Slowly, I walked around to face him. He looked lost and pained; it was the same expression he’d worn at the Grand Ball after I met his father for the first time.

Deciding it was a better to ask forgiveness than permission, I pushed him slowly toward the bed. His movements were stiff, but he responded to my gentle guidance, stepping backward until he hit the edge of the mattress.

He sank down slowly. Keeping my eyes locked on his, almost drowning in the bright green of his irises, I deliberately moved my hands across his chest toward the first button of his shirt.

Jae seemed drunk, hypnotized by my gaze, and though he shifted uncomfortably, he didn’t pull away as I undid the first button.

I continued that way, working my fingers down without ever breaking eye contact. When the shirt hung open loosely, revealing a small sliver of his chest and abdomen, I moved to push the fabric off his shoulders.

He stiffened again, reaching up to clamp one long-fingered hand around my wrist.

“Please, Jae.”

I didn’t push but held perfectly still until his grip on my wrist loosened. When it finally did, I slipped the white shirt down his arms.

A pained gasp fell from my lips before I could contain it.

This was what he hadn’t wanted me to see.

Thick, pinkish lines streaked across his chest and shoulders—old wounds long ago healed over. What had caused these? A knife? A lash? Some kind of magic?

My gaze traced the lines across his body as I crawled up onto the bed with him. I followed one that disappeared over his shoulder, and when I saw his back, I had to force myself to keep breathing.

“Holy gods….”

His chest had borne a few scars, but his back was a patchwork of violence.

Unable to stop myself, I reached out a trembling hand and traced the lines of overlapping scars. Jae swallowed, holding perfectly still under my light touch. There was no deliberate pattern to them, just an array of slashes cutting across his back. They were thick, the reformed skin stretched over time. These wounds had been received when he was young, no more than a boy.

“Your father?” I whispered.

He swallowed thickly.

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