Defender (Battle Born Book 4) by Cyndi Friberg Read Free Book Online Page A

this over with.” His hair was dark brown, the wavy strands longer on top. His features were naturally rugged and the scar running from his forehead to one corner of his mouth gave him a menacing air. It had taken her a while to realize the accident or attack resulting in the scar must have cost him his right eye. The color, shape, even the movements of the prosthetic eye perfectly matched his natural eye. Still, his left eye was much more expressive.
    She drew her legs up under her nightgown and folded her arms on top of her knees. “What do you want me to do?”
    His lips twitched and his gaze warmed as if he were fighting back a smile, a wicked, sensual smile. But by the time he spoke the heat was gone and he was all grim seriousness again. “Whatever it takes to ease your mind enough so you can sleep.”
    “I don’t know what that is.” She dragged her gaze away from his face and rested her chin on her forearms.
    “You saw more than the vision during your trance.” It wasn’t a question, so it allowed no room for denial. “Tell me what you saw.”
    Her breath shuddered out and she shook her head. The last thing she wanted to talk about was what she’d endured on that ship. “I can’t.”
    “All right. Tell me how it made you feel.”
    “Angry.” It was the easiest answer, the only one that wasn’t pathetic.
    “You’re angry now, but that’s not where it started.”
    She shot him a sidelong glare. “What would you know about it?”
    His answer was unexpected and immediate. “I was barely fifteen when I was turned out of training and assigned to my first post. I was tall and lean, my face not yet ruined, and I caught the eye of the quarter master.”
    “Did he…” Her gaze locked with his and her heartbeat paused as she waited for him to continue. Did he know? Had he lived through the same sort of nightmare Akim had forced on her?
    “I fought him off twice, but the third time he brought help.” His voice turned harsh and distant as he ventured deeper into the past. “He beat the shit out of me first, told me there was no escape except death. His friends held me down while he touched me, humiliated me. Then they positioned me so he could take what he wanted. I screamed and fought, but I was helpless, utterly helpless.”
    Tears blurred her vision and she had to look away. His pain was too familiar and hers was still too raw. “I’m sorry.” She whispered the all too familiar phrase then closed her eyes. “Was he punished for hurting you?”
    “He paid with his life.”
    Something in his voice made her open her eyes. “Why? When? Those who prey on the weak and helpless often get away with it.”
    He was silent for a long time. After all he’d confessed, why would he be reluctant to explain? Then a possibility appeared within her mind, a bittersweet flicker of hope. “Did someone save you just in time?” Her throat was so tight the words barely made it out.
    Finally he nodded. “Garin was my team leader. He found me just in time and slit the bastard’s throat.”
    Tears spilled down her cheeks and her lips began to tremble.
    “Oh, angel.” He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t cry.”
    No one came for her. No one rescued her from the nightmare. She sobbed, her fingers clutching his shirt. Raylon understood and yet he didn’t. He’d glimpsed her misery, while he’d been spared the degradation, the hopelessness.
    He rocked her, whispering words of comfort as he stroked her hair. She released her pent-up emotions while her tears wet his chest. She wasn’t sure how long she cried. It might have been minutes or hours. All she knew was she felt empty and sleepy by the time she was done.
    He gently touched her cheek, sliding his fingers down to her chin. “Look at me.”
    She shook her head.
    “All right, then listen. It wasn’t your fault.”
    She’d spent endless hours trying to convince herself of that concept. But doubt remained. She had to have done