Wren
Present Day
“Whothehelldid that to you, Wren?”
I stilled at Atlas’s words, a cold dread extinguishing the passionate fire raging through my blood. I was so completely lost in our kiss that I’d forgotten about the bite mark. I’d forgotten, for those few moments of pure magic, that I was branded by the man who’d tried to kill me.
Oh, God. What had I done?
I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see the look of disgust sure to be on his face. I didn’t want to see the look of rejection. My heart raced, and I felt it cracking at the edges.
Atlas pulled away a little more, and I wanted to hold onto him. But I didn’t. There wasn’t any more hiding behind this secret. No more hiding away my shame. It was on full display for him to see. He wouldn’t ever want me now.
Devastation gripped me, closing my throat as tears burned in my eyes. This wasn’t how I’d imagined telling anyone about where I’d come from or what I’d run away from. What I’d done.
Atlas’s warm, rough hands cupped my face, his gentle touch sending shivers down my spine.
“Please,” he breathed, and his voice sounded so broken that my eyes opened.
Atlas didn’t look disgusted. He looked…pissed. And sad.
“Tell me what happened to you, because I’ve never felt this violent urge to beat someone bloody. I need to know if I’m overreacting because the thought of some man hurting you makes me want to physically rip him apart.”
His jaw was rigid and those gorgeous amber eyes flashed like the flicker of flame. I blinked, stunned by his words. I was prepared for him to run. I was obviously broken. Marked. No better than a lost dog he’d found on the street, only to take it home to find out that it was rabid. Sick.
Everything swirled inside me like a vortex of sadness and confusion. I couldn’t process the way this man was looking at me, with compassion and protectiveness and…something else I didn’t dare put a name to. Not yet.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came. No words. There were no words for the chaos inside me. My face crumpled as I gave in to tears, gave in to the hard knot clogging my throat. I sobbed.
I fell apart right there on the kitchen counter. Shattered into a thousand tiny, jagged pieces.
Atlas pulled the straps of my top back up over my shoulders and wrapped his arms around me without a word, pressing me to him. I buried my face in his hard chest, suffocating myself in his perfect scent. Everything about him seemed perfect and now, I had to tell him the truth. And he’d look at me differently, because how could he not?
My body trembled with the force of my sobs, but I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t do anything but cry and cling to Atlas’s shirt while my face remained firmly pressed against his chest. I was vaguely aware of Atlas’s breath in my ear as he made soft shushing noises and smoothed down my hair. His comfort made me cry even harder.
I’m not sure how much time passed, but eventually Atlas lifted me up again, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him, unwilling to let him go. I swayed as he walked us somewhere. I felt the muggy heat as he stepped outside briefly before we entered through a door. He’d taken me to the guest house.
He carefully laid me on the bed and finally, I relinquished my hold on him, accepting that it was time to let him go. To let him leave.
I turned my face into the overstuffed pillow and continued to let out my sorrows. Atlas’s hands lingered on me for a moment before he pulled away. The absence of his warmth chilled me to my bones. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold myself together and failing miserably. I listened for the sound of the door opening, but it didn’t come. Or maybe I didn’t hear it over my pathetic sobbing.
The bed creaked and shook as someone shifted next to me. Before I comprehended it, a strong arm reached over my waist, pulling me in close. Atlas was all hard muscle, but the curves of my body fit against him perfectly.
Atlas laid with me, held me as I cried. Held me as I realized fully, for the first time since it happened, what I had endured, what I had survived. I realized all I had gained here in Cypress Falls. And I mourned all that would change now that the truth would come out.
I had no idea how long I cried. But when I started to get hold of myself, the room had dimmed as the sun began to set. I turned my head and stared out the window across from my bed. Only the sky was visible, but it was pure and clear, not a cloud in sight. The watercolors of the setting sun painted it, orange and pink and dusty purple. The sight calmed me, even though my body ached. I had to have been laying here for hours, but Atlas was still there. His body wrapped around mine.
I didn’t know what he expected of me, but he needed to know. I inhaled, my breath shuddering in my chest. I wasn’t sure where to start, but I guessed it didn’t matter now.
So, I started at the beginning.
“When I was six, I found my mother dead in the bathtub.” My voice sounded as tired as I felt, and Atlas pulled me to him even tighter. “She suffered from severe depression for all of my life, and she killed herself. I know now that she was just sick, but then…back then it always felt like she hated me. Like she didn’t want anything to do with me and just wanted to get away.”
His body tensed and my teeth dug into my lip. No more secrets, Wren. No more hiding.
“Wren…” Atlas shifted up onto his elbow so he could look at my face.
I turned toward him, shaking my head so he wouldn’t continue. I had so much to say, and it needed out before I changed my mind.