34. Molly
Molly didn’t know how long she was in the black hole. It was like a void had opened up inside her and it was filled with terror and horror and the awful fear of what he would do to her once he finally got to her. He was Zach—she could vividly remember how his face would twist with rage when he got angry at her for the least little thing.
But wasn’t there also some glee in his anger? Yes—he enjoyed being angry with her—he liked tormenting her. It was the same kind of mean pleasure a bad man gets when he kicks a dog or runs over a cat. Inside she knew he was laughing at her, even as he was raging—laughing at her helplessness, at her fear, her…
Wait. What’s that?
The little thought that popped up in her head interrupted the loop of fear she had fallen into.
Molly listened…and felt. There it was—the sensation again. It was like a single ray of sunshine trying to reach her, down in the black hole she had fallen into. It felt warm…loving…caring…compassionate.
Soon she found it wasn’t just a ray of sunshine—it became more solid than that. It was a kind of rope made of all those positive emotions. Tentatively, Molly took hold of it. When she did, the warmth became much stronger and she felt the powerful presence of someone who cared about her deeply on the other end.
Slowly, hand over hand, she began to pull herself out of the hole. She could still hear the terror and fear and all the bad memories of Zach and the hundred ways—both big and little—that he had tormented and hurt her, but she found she could ignore them now. She concentrated on the rope and before she knew it, she was climbing out of the hole she had fallen into.
Molly opened her eyes and looked around. She was crouched in the corner of the bathroom, wedged between the toilet and the wall with her arms wrapped around her knees, which were drawn up to her chin. How had she gotten here?
She had a memory of the man at the door holding flowers, chasing her, screaming questions…
No, don’t think about it! You’ll slip back into the hole!
Molly pushed the bad memories aside and rose on shaky legs. A glance in the mirror showed that her eyes were wide and shocked looking—they were also red rimmed from crying. Her hair was a mess too. She thought about staying for a moment to fix it, but she felt very strongly that the person who had thrown her the rope wanted to see her.
She was wobbly as she moved past the sink and put her hand on the brass knob of the bathroom door. Her other hand hesitated over the lock. Was it safe to open it? But she didn’t hear any shouting from the other side and no one was banging on the door. She felt only love and longing—someone wanted to see her very badly—someone who cared deeply for her.
Taking a deep breath, Molly flipped the lock and twisted the knob. She opened the door but when she tried to leave the bathroom, she stumbled over Torus’s long legs.
The big Kindred was sitting right there, beside the bathroom door. Molly gasped as she tripped but he reached out strong arms to catch her and pulled her into his lap.
“Molly,” he murmured. “Been waiting for you, sweetheart.”
Molly stiffened against him at first, but then melted when she smelled his warm, comforting cedar and spice scent. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, cradling her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him as he stroked her hair.
Molly felt soothed and comforted—but even more she felt valued and cherished. She was in the arms of a man who would kill or die to protect her—the feelings he was sending her were proof of that.
They sat like that for a long time before she felt ready to speak.
“Torus?” she asked at last, making his name a question as she looked up at him.
“Oh, little bird,” he rumbled in a low, broken voice and she saw, to her surprise, that his silver-gray eyes were suspiciously shiny.
“You’re not…crying, are you?” she asked uncertainly.
“I’m grieving for what you went through. Your pain is my pain.” He stroked her hair and looked so worried that Molly didn’t know what to say.
“I…I’m sorry I didn’t come out right away,” she offered at last. “I kind of…got lost inside myself. That man—it was the same one from yesterday. He pretended he had a flower delivery and then he forced his way in and he wouldn’t leave.”
His eyes flashed red.
“Did he touch you? Hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“No—he never got a chance. I ran and locked myself in the bathroom. But then he was screaming at me and banging on the door, and…and…” But words failed her and her throat locked up as the black hole tried to swallow her again.
“Don’t let it, little bird.” The words came through their TET link and she saw that Torus was giving her a worried look again.
“Stay here, with me,” he said aloud. “He’s gone now—he can’t hurt you.”
“What…what did you do to him?” Molly was almost afraid to ask.
Torus’s deep voice dropped to a growl.
“Not nearly as much as I wanted to. He managed to get away in his vehicle—which was the only thing I was able to damage.”
“At least you chased him away,” Molly pointed out.
Torus shook his head.
“That’s not enough—he attacked you—he went after my Mate! I should find where he lives and end him!”
His eyes were glowing red and his hands were curling into fists.
“No, please!” Molly exclaimed. Turning around in his lap so she was facing him, she cupped his face in her hands and made him look at her. “Don’t go, Torus,” she begged softly. “I…I just came back from the bad place I was in. I need you here, with me. Please don’t leave me!”
The big Kindred took a few long, deep breaths and she could feel him willing the Rage away.
“All right,” he said at last. “I won’t promise to never go after him but for now I’ll stay here with you, sweetheart.” He shook his head. “I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. He should never have been able to get to you like that—I should have been here to stop him.”
“How could you know what he was planning?” Molly protested. “I’m the one who was stupid—I never should have opened the door to him.”
“It sounds like he had an effective ruse, though,” Torus pointed out. “You shouldn’t have to worry that any random male at the door might turn out to be an attacker.”
Molly sighed.
“Well, unfortunately that’s the way it is in a lot places here on Earth.”
His face hardened.
“Which is why we’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” Molly asked, frowning. “Leaving where?”
“Leaving Earth. Don’t worry—we won’t go far,” he assured her. “We’ll just move to my ship—it has living quarters in the back when I expand it. We can stay in low orbit until Councilor Paige tells us it’s time to come back for the trial.”
“All right.” Molly nodded, she could definitely see the wisdom in this decision. But part of her couldn’t help feeling sad. Their “honeymoon” was now officially over—it made her feel like their fake relationship would soon be coming to an end as well.
“I feel your sadness that our honeymoon is over, sweetheart,” Torus rumbled. “But it’s simply not safe here anymore. I want to be sure no one else can get to you—these human males are crazy!”
“Yes, they are and thank you.” Molly put her arms around his neck and hugged him, pressing her cheek against his in the way she loved to do. She never wanted to let him go.
Torus’s long arms came around her and he murmured through the link,
“I don’t want to let you go either. Over-hug me, sweetheart. I love it when you do that.”
“I love it too,” Molly confessed.
They clung together for a long, long time but at last, Molly reluctantly let go and sat back.
“I know we need to get going but I love being close to you,” she told him.
Torus smiled and stroked her cheek.
“Love being close to you too, sweetheart. I promise that once we get into orbit, we can go back to the ship’s sleeping chamber and hold each other for hours if you want to.”
Molly’s heart gave a little skip.
“Really? That sounds perfect.”
Inside she was wondering if something else might happen between them.
The thought surprised her a little—after the traumatic experience she’d just had with that awful Mandrew Pate, she would have expected to have zero interest in sex. But somehow being near Torus brought out her spicy side. He always smelled so good it made her want to be close to him—as close as possible.
But though they had been sleeping curled up in each other’s arms every night, they hadn’t done anything sexual since their first night together when she’d had the Bonding Fruit wine. Molly wasn’t sure if that was because they didn’t have the excuse of the extreme sexual need the Bonding Fruit had given her or because Torus was trying to be careful with her.
Regardless of the reason, after a five-year dry spell, the return of her sex her sexual desire was very welcome. Even if she still had some reservations and hang-ups, she wanted to explore more with the big Kindred. And since they were technically married, she didn’t even have to feel guilty about “living in sin”, which was what having sex outside of marriage had been called in her family when she was growing up.
She didn’t say any of this and she did her best to keep her speculation behind her mental wall, but she did catch Torus eyeing her thoughtfully as they packed their carry-all cubes.
Molly wondered what the next stage of their relationship might bring—she hoped it was something exciting. She wanted to feel Torus’s big, warm hands on her body again and hear his mental voice growling that she was a “good girl” while he touched her.