I had a lot of cuts and bruises. But what I had more than anything else was pain.

I hurt everywhere.

The doctor examined me and gave me antibiotics. I had a wound in my leg, and it was beginning to show signs of infection. I also had a UTI because I’d lived in such unsanitary conditions. My head was pounding from dehydration, and my entire body hurt. Tristan hurt me more than he did last time.

That was how much he missed me.

I’d only been there a week, but it felt like a lifetime. It was so much worse than the first time I was there. He was more aggressive than before, and I also remembered exactly how it felt to be pampered and adored.

It was such a drastic change.

The only reason why I hadn’t taken those pills was because I lost them. I had them stashed between the mattress and the floor, but Tristan decided to keep me in his room on the floor. When I was finally returned to the cot soaked in urine, the room had been changed around.

And the pills were gone.

If Cane hadn’t come for me, I would have miserable for a long time.

I never expected him to come to my rescue. Thoughts of him were the only thing that kept me going, the only thing that stopped me from collapsing. When Tristan raped me, I tried to pretend Cane was there with me. I pictured his handsome face and the comforting words he would normally say.

When I heard the gunshots, I had no idea what was going on.

And when Cane walked into my room, I almost didn’t believe it was him.

The doctor left, and I sat alone in my old bedroom. It was the first place Cane brought me when I became his prisoner. It had a king-size bed with a duvet softer than a rose petal. There was a fireplace, a TV, and Tuscan style furniture. It was beautiful, like a page inside a magazine. It felt like home.

Cane walked in a few moments later, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. He was still dressed in all black, a bulletproof vest strapped around his chest. His hair was messy because he’d been fingering it nervously. All of his habits continued, but that shouldn’t be surprising since it’d only been a week since I’d seen him.

Though it had felt like an eternity.

He sat at the edge of the bed, purposely putting five feet between us.

He didn’t need to do that.

It was hard to look at him because I saw the pain etched into his features. His jaw was tight, not in annoyance, but agony. His dark eyes were heavier than usual. His beard was thick because he hadn’t shaved since the day I left. He looked as broken as I was.

I wanted to shower and rinse all the dirt away. I wanted to scrub away the evidence that Tristan had ever touched me. But I wanted to be with Cane, to sit with him just like this. This man saved my life. He risked everything to get me out of there.

How could I ever repay him for that?

Cane cleared his throat. “I want to tell you that you can talk to me about what happened…that I’ll listen and be there for you. But honestly…I don’t think I can bear it.” He closed his eyes and swallowed. “I know that’s selfish, but…I just can’t.”

“I understand,” I whispered. “There’s not much to say anyway.” I didn’t want to relive the pain. I wanted to move forward with my life and forget that horrible week. When I’d stayed with Cane for that month, he’d somehow put me back together. He made me feel like a person, not a victim. He didn’t look at me like I was stained or dirty. He looked at me like I was beautiful—always.

“Maybe you could talk to Pearl…if you need to.”

“Yeah…”

He stared at the floor, his elbows resting on his knees. “Do you want to be alone for a while?”

“Not particularly.”

“Okay.”

I watched the side of his face, watched the way his expression hardened.

I scooted to the edge of the bed and sat directly beside him. I was the one who had been tortured and beaten, but I wanted to comfort him. He seemed to be holding on by a thread, about to be swept away in an undercurrent. “Why did you come for me?”

His eyes were still on the floor. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you in there. I couldn’t sleep…couldn’t eat…it killed me. I went to Crow and told him I had to save you. I regretted letting you go the second your hand was gone from mine.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t need to say anything, Bellissima. You don’t need to thank me. You don’t owe me anything.”

My hand moved to his arm, and I caressed his skin.

He flinched at the touch.

“Do you not want me to touch you…?” Was he disgusted by me because Tristan was the last person to lay his hands on me?

“No. I just assumed you didn’t want to be touched for a while…”

“I don’t,” I whispered. “But I like to touch you, Cane. It makes me feel good.” I leaned my face against his shoulder and sat there with him.

A moment later, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. He didn’t say anything else, choosing to hold me in silence.

And all I wanted was to be held.

---

It took thirty minutes in the shower to wash everything away. There was so much dirt, oil, and blood. It was the first time I’d showered in a week, so I stayed under the water much longer than necessary. I hadn’t brushed my teeth either, and thankfully, my old toothbrush was still in the bathroom.

I scrubbed hard.

I scrubbed deep.

I shaved my entire body, removing everything I possibly could. Like last time, I wanted to step out of there as a new person. I wanted to wash away the old and step into the new. I wanted to shed my damaged skin and become another person.

I liked who I was with Cane. It was the perfect place to recover, to get back on my feet.

I finished the shower and dried off before I pulled on fresh clothes. A new set of clothes and a shower already made me feel better. I was a human being again. I had rights. I had power.

I walked into the kitchen because I was starving. Cane fattened me up before I left, but most of that weight had been shed immediately because I only ate once while I was a captive. Cane was in the kitchen when I walked inside, just finished preparing lunch. He had two plates of spaghetti.

He knew it was my favorite. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

His eyes fell at the comment. He carried the plates to the table, and we ate in silence.

Cane still didn’t look at me. He seemed to avoid it whenever possible. When I was here before, he could barely take his eyes off me. A constantly intense expression was on his face, his eyes boring into mine like he owned me. He wasn’t afraid to possess me with just a single look. Now he refrained from even allowing me to be in his line of sight.

It made me feel disgusting. “Cane?”

“What’s up?” His eyes turned to his food.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

“Of course I look at you.” His face moved up, and he met my gaze.

“But you do everything you possibly can to avoid it. You used to stare at me all the time… Now you try to pretend I don’t exist.”

He sighed and looked down at his food again. “That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Then what is it? I thought being back here would make me happy…but it seems like you don’t want me here.”

“Of course I want you here. I’m just… I assumed you wouldn’t want me to look at you.”

“Why would you think that?” I whispered.

“After everything you’ve been through, I assumed it would make you uncomfortable. You wouldn’t want to be stared at, touched…stuff like that. I’m just trying to give you space. You must be disturbed. I don’t know how to handle this…”

“What did you do last time?”

He turned his expression on me.

“You stared at me all you wanted. You touched me when you wanted. Nothing has changed.”

“That was different… I didn’t care about you then.”

“I think you did.” He would have been worse to me if he hadn’t. “I want you to touch me, Cane. I want you to look at me. I don’t think about anyone else when I’m with you. With you, I feel safe. With you, I feel like I’m at home.”

His eyes softened.

“I’m not ready to jump back into bed right away—”

“I never expected you to.”

“But I want everything else. I don’t want you to look at me like I’m damaged. I don’t want you to look at me like you pity me.”

“How can I not feel that way?” he whispered. “The idea of you suffering makes me sick to my stomach.”

“Well, I’m not suffering anymore, Cane. Now I’m in this beautiful house with a beautiful man. I have a plate of food in front of me, I took a long shower… Everything else will get better in time.” I slid my hand across the table with my palm up.

He eyed it before he took it. Her fingers interlocked with mine, and he gave me a gentle squeeze. “Bellissima…”

---

Cane stripped down to his boxers. His muscled physique was just as strong as ever. Hard lines marked the grooves between his muscles. He was still the powerhouse I remembered, the strong man who could knock over a house if he just pushed hard enough. His shoulders were broad, his hips were slim.

He was beautiful.

He was dark outside like the other men I encountered, but he had a distinct brightness in his eyes. He had a soul underneath that hard chest. He was a killer, but he was also a healer. “Are you sure you want to sleep in here?”

I was already under the sheets with one of his t-shirts on. “I don’t want to sleep alone.” When I slept on that cot, I listened to every sound outside the door, waiting for Tristan to come back for me. I spent all of my time alone, even when Tristan was pounding into me. My mind was the only thing he couldn’t touch. He desecrated everything else, but my mind was too strong to be demolished.

But now, my walls were gone because Cane was there. I didn’t need to protect myself from him. I would sleep all through the night without being jerked away. No one could touch me when he was beside me.

Cane pulled back the covers and got into bed beside me.

I immediately moved to his side of the bed and wrapped my body around his. I loved the way he felt under my fingertips, the way his muscles shifted under the skin. He was warm, like a roaring fire in the hearth. His heartbeat was a lullaby. I crowded his side of the bed and clung to him with no intention of letting go.

He turned his head toward mine and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

I missed those kisses. No other man had ever given them to me before.

His arm hooked around my waist, and he pulled me tight against his body. We were perfectly placed against each other, complementing one another perfectly. I hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long time.

Within seconds, I felt his length harden against me. All nine inches formed, thick and long. He was warm, and the sensation was unmistakable. I’d felt him against my hip too many times not to recognize it.

Cane didn’t shift his body. “I can’t control it.”

“That’s okay…”

“Doesn’t mean I expect anything.”

“I know, Cane.”

“I can move if you want.”

I hugged him harder. “No.” Feeling him desire me after everything I’d been through only made me feel beautiful. I didn’t feel like damaged goods or someone’s leftovers. Cane didn’t think about Tristan when he was with me.

He only thought about me.

---

Cane stayed home with me for a few days. He cooked all my meals for me and made sure I took my medication. He spent the afternoons lounging by the pool with me. At nighttime, he watched TV while I read in front of the fire.

We didn’t talk much.

But it felt the way it used to. It was quiet and comfortable, an unspoken routine established between us. The pain between my legs faded away, and I started to sleep all through the night. I wasn’t as hungry as before since I was getting plenty to eat. My body tissues swelled with hydration and nutrition. I hadn’t had a nightmare yet, and that surprised me.

Cane was my dream catcher.

Despite everything I’d endured, I felt the flame of attraction when I was around him. I missed kissing him, missed the way he would grope my tits while I sat on his lap. I missed his cock deep inside me, coming over and over.

My enjoyment of sex had been untouched. What I went through with Tristan wasn’t sex at all. That was something else entirely, just violence. I didn’t think the two acts were comparable since they had nothing in common.

My desire for Cane would never stop.

I was still in pain between my legs from the way Tristan had fucked me without lubrication. I bled often because I was so dry. My ass still hurt from the things he did to me. Even if I wanted to have sex, I didn’t think it was possible right now.

But that didn’t mean we couldn’t do other things.

Cane stepped out of the shower with his hair slightly damp. A towel was around his waist, and he dropped it in the middle of the floor when he opened his drawer and pulled out a fresh pair of boxers.

I stared at his physique without shame.

He didn’t notice my stare and came toward the bed. “Want me to make a fire tonight?”

I rose on my knees in the center of the bed and pulled my shirt over my head. I was just in my panties, my tits on display for him to view. I still had bruises sprinkled across my skin, but now they were faded.

He stopped and stared.

“Come here.” I patted the bed beside me.

He slowly approached the bedside but didn’t climb onto the mattress. His eyes were glued to my tits for a long time before he met my gaze again. “It’s too soon, Bellissima.”

“You’re right. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something else…”

He stayed put. “I think we should wait. We both know I want you, but…I’m in no hurry.”

“And we both know I want you. So don’t make a woman in your bed ask for you again.”

His eyes darkened at my comment before he dropped his boxers. He climbed on the bed then positioned me until my head was on the pillow. He held himself over me, his thighs separating mine.

My ankles locked together at his back, and my arms circled his neck.

He looked down at me with the same dark expression, but he didn’t do anything. He only stared. “What do you want, Bellissima?”

“To kiss you.”

“Anything else?”

“I want you in my mouth…”

His expression tightened noticeably. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“I know I don’t. I want to.” My hands moved up and down his chest.

“Can I go down on you?”

I was too sore for intercourse but feeling his soft mouth against my entrance would probably feel amazing. “Please…”

His hand snaked into my hair, and he prepared to kiss me. “Just tell me when to stop.”

“I’m not going to want you to stop.”

His mouth was on mine, and he kissed me softly, deliberately restraining his passion. It was the first time he’d kissed me on the lips since I’d been rescued, always pressing his lips to my hairline or my forehead. His lips caressed mine, and then he breathed into my mouth. His hand tightened on my hair, and he kissed me harder, his passion making me come alive.

My week of hell didn’t change anything between Cane and me. I wanted him as much as I always had. Our kisses were purposeful, our embraces tender. He gripped me harder and tighter, wanting more of me.

My thighs squeezed his hips, and I moaned into his mouth as my fingers ran through his hair.

He abruptly left my mouth and moved down my body, sprinkling kisses down my belly and between my thighs. He got to my opening then pressed a gentle kiss to the entrance, touching me with the softness of a rose petal.

“Cane…”

He took his time as he started, giving me light pressure against my clit. He circled slowly before slowly entering my slit. He tasted me then circled me again. Every touch was meaningful but light. He was going easy on me, kissing away my scars and getting my body reacquainted with goodness.

The longer I moaned, the more he got into it. He widened my legs farther and kissed me harder, working my clit just the way he used to. He kissed harder and harder, pushing me over the edge like he was determined to make me fall.

And I fell hard.

His name escaped my lips like it always did. My fingers dug into his hair, and I writhed on the bed, feeling amazing for the first time in over a week. I didn’t think about the pain on Cane’s face. I didn’t think about the past. I didn’t think about my bruises and cuts. I just thought about the natural goodness this man just gave me.

I felt alive again, like I’d never suffered.

Cane moved over me, his lips smeared with my arousal. “I love listening to that sound.”

“I love making it. Now it’s your turn.”

“Not yet,” he said. “I won’t be done for a while.”