To Colorado. He was going to bring her to the sanctuary… was going to give her her freedom despite the money he’d spent and the fight he’d won to keep her as his.

Her chest gave an achy spasm. He was going to give her up.

Perhaps he was right—perhaps she was lost in the afterglow of everything that had happened, because a few weeks ago she would have been over the moon with gratitude. Now… she just felt oddly deflated.

The faucets in the bathroom turned off, and Kain reappeared with a bowl in one hand and a cloth in the other. He was still naked as the day he was born, and Selma found herself suddenly distracted from her more morose thoughts. The aching in her chest traveled south of her navel, turning rather more pleasant, albeit still painful.

Kain was a very attractive man. She wondered briefly what he looked like underneath his human disguise, but then lost interest in pursuing that particular train of thought when he bent to place the bowl by her side of the bed and his abs flexed in the process.

“What are you doing?”

“I am tending to my mate. Can you move on your own?”

Tend to her? Intrigued, she glanced at the bowl. “I can move. What do you have in mind?”

He sent her an admonishing glance. “Swing your legs over the edge, little one.”

Slowly and awkwardly, Selma obeyed, though it could hardly be classified as “swinging” when she finally pushed her legs out from under the duvet to dangle them over the edge of the bed.

Kain knelt in front of her and proceeded to place his large hands on her knees.

The sweet ache between her legs heated further at the contact, and she winced as her tired muscles attempted to clench in anticipation.

Then he spread her legs with a firm press of his knuckles against her inner thighs, and she couldn’t hold back a whimper.

Kain quickly looked up at her with a concerned frown. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” It wasn’t a lie—what had hurt her was her body’s immediate and overwhelming attempt at welcoming him. Her pussy throbbed, and overworked muscles were forced to tighten as moisture began seeping from her core.

For a moment he looked like he was about to press her further on the matter, but then his nostrils flared and a delicate shiver traveled through his naked body.

“Mm.”

It was his only verbal acknowledgment of her predicament, but when she glanced down, she saw his cock strain thick and pulsing between his thighs, eager to heed her body’s call. She stared at it, marveling at how something so grotesque could feel so good.

Without further comment he grabbed the backs of her knees and slid her closer to the edge of the bed, ensuring that her exposed mound was easily accessible.