“Will she eat?” He asked Jaron.
His friend shrugged. “She hasn’t yet.”
Annoyance flared. She couldn’t afford not to eat. She’d already lost more weight than she could spare. He missed her round cheeks, her sweet smile. “Has Maku been to see her?”
“Yes. He’s given her a clean bill of health. Removed the geli cast also.” Jaron looked up from the screen. “Are you going to turn her over now?”
Denial was his instant response. Torkel took his time. If he turned her over, he could kiss seeing her again goodbye. She’d end up on a prison colony. Maybe not one as harsh as Dorlo for hardened criminals but one in which his Chosen would never survive. Earthlings weren’t meant for the rough conditions on those colonies. They came from a softer society.
“Not yet.”
Jaron frowned. “You’ve said that the last three days. First, because she wasn’t fully healed. Now you have no excuse.”
“I don’t need an excuse,” he growled and folded his arms over his chest.
Faye rolled over onto her side, body curling into a tight ball. The position pulled at Torkel’s emotions.
“You’re letting your heart get in the way of doing what’s right.”
“She’s my Chosen, Jaron.” He wished he could turn off his feelings. If he could get his heart to let go of the dark-haired woman sleeping in the other room he could move on.
“Have you forgotten what she did?”
Remorse curdled. He whispered painfully, “How could I?”
“No word on Axan’s whereabouts.” Jaron wisely changed the subject.
“Did you contact Naine?”
Axan had conveniently disappeared when they went to arrest him for questioning in his involvement with the Marenian slave ring.
“He’s obviously shocked by the role his son has played but he doesn’t know his whereabouts.” Jaron stared at Faye. “She might know.”
So far neither of them had talked about her connections. Torkel knew she’d shared something with Kyele but for some reason he remained closed mouth.
“I’ll ask her.” He’d avoided doing what needed to be done for fear of hearing her admit to his face that their relationship was based on a lie.
***
When the door open, Faye froze. She didn’t glance over. Didn’t have to. She knew who it was. Sensed it the moment he crossed the threshold.
“Faye, we need to talk.”
She flinched. Funny he wanted to talk now. Faye bowed her head on her bent knees and ignored him.
Heavy steps signaled Torkel’s approach. He sat on the bottom end of her bed. Or the bed they’d assigned her in the small cell. Her bed was a soft mattress with thick covers that she shared with her Chosen. Faye’s throat locked. She wondered if she was still allowed to call him that.
Of course she shouldn’t complain. This was better than her lodgings with the Marenian slavers. She had food, a bed and blankets and to her embarrassment there was a small attached restroom with a ceiling camera to watch her every move.
“I have questions we hope you can answer.”
Faye ignored him. Just as he’d ignored her on the transport ship to Enotia, ignored her on the hover car ride and ignored her since they’d imprisoned her.
“Faye, I’m trying to work with you.”
“Do you believe I love you?” She had to ask. Her desire to know where his heart was after everything was all consuming.
Torkel’s weight shifted on the bed. “No.”
She blinked back tears.
“If you help us find Axan and who he worked with, we can attempt to plead for leniency in your sentence.”
Faye leaned to the side to see his face as he continued. “We need to know Axan’s whereabouts, Faye.”
She stiffened not sure what the man from the presentation had to do with anything. “I don’t know.”
“The truth,” he snapped, watching her closely. “At least give me that.”
Faye sat up. He watched her closely. “I’ve always given you the truth.”
Torkel raked a hand through his hair and leaned toward her, mouth twisted. “We both know you haven’t.”
Faye closed her eyes. His words cut deep. “I don’t know anything about Axan or where he is if he’s missing.”
“We know Axan worked with the Marenians. Might have even played a part in your enslavement. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Faye straightened, eyes popping open. “What?”
Torkel studied her with an intensity that unnerved. His gaze roamed from her bare feet curled beneath her hip, up her chest where they paused at her breasts and despite it all, Faye’s nipples tingled. When at last he looked her in the face, his eyes blazed with banked desire.
“He played you, Faye. If you worked together, Axan’s the reason you ended up in a sex slave auction.”
She turned fully in his direction and balled her fists in her lap. This she wouldn’t ignore. “I didn’t work with that man. I admitted to taking money to choose you.”
His lips pressed tight.
“I admitted to telling when you and the teams left. But I didn’t work with Axan and I didn’t know I was working with Marenians. You have to believe me, Torkel. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
He rose to his feet. “I hope you spend the night thinking on this and change your mind about helping us, Faye.”
Her heart crumbled. She eyed his impressive build in his uniform as he walked out, the door sealing behind him. If only she could harden her heart against him.
***
The next night Torkel found himself watching Faye again. He couldn’t stay away. She huddled upright in the bed, head swaying back and forth as she tried to stay awake. Night had long since fallen but she didn’t sleep. Neither did he. He couldn’t. His bed reminded him of his Chosen. The scent on his sheets, the sight of his discarded shirt that she slept in. All of it brought home the fact that he missed Faye.
Her head fell against the wall. Torkel rose from his seat and placed his palm on the computer screen. Her eyes were closed. She’d lost her fight and drifted off. He should leave. Nothing would come of watching her like a love-sick ebo. He gathered the few reports he’d been working on when her body jerked on the bed.
Torkel stared and she jerked again, crying out. He was through the door heading to her by the second cry. The five seconds on the lock release were too long. When he reached her side, she’d curled into a ball and moaned.
“Faye, Faye.” Torkel shook her shoulder trying to break the grip the nightmare had on her.
She screamed loud and long. Torkel shivered. Not again. The sound reminded him of the nightmares she’d had on the ship.
“You’re safe, Faye,” he whispered urgently, using the same words. “You’re safe now.”
Another scream. This one so painful it made the hair on his neck stand up. Torkel leaned over the bed and gathered her close. “Please, Faye. Wake up.”
He couldn’t take it. He’d barely controlled himself on the ship when her dreams haunted her. She started to thrash and slap at her skin. Careful not to injure her, Torkel kept his hold gentle but tight as he murmured in her ear, hoping she’d hear him.
Her eyes snapped open. “Torkel!”
“I’m here, Faye.”
She choked off another cry, her hands coming up to touch him. His face. His hair. Her teeth chattered and she could barely speak. “I-I w-was back in the Marenian prison.”
She trembled. Torkel pulled her into his lap despite the fact he knelt on the floor and buried his face in her hair. “I’m here. I’m here.” He could only repeat the phrase. Someone came up behind them. Faye screamed again and almost leaped from his arms.
“Shhh,” Torkel rubbed the hair from her eyes. “It’s Jaron.” Heart thumping, Torkel cradled her closer as he got to his feet. “Just Jaron, Faye.”
He wasn’t leaving her in here another second. Torkel ignored a shaken Jaron and walked out of the cell and headed for hi
s quarters. Let his team lead make something of it and Torkel would plant him on the floor. The elevator was easiest. He used his shoulder to hit the buttons.
Faye’s arms looped around his neck, constricting his airways but Torkel didn’t complain. When he reached his place, he went through the living room and straight to the bedroom they’d shared.
He tried to lower her to the bed and Faye went wild. She shrieked. Her hands grasped desperately at his shirt to hold onto him. “Don’t leave me.”
His heart stuttered. Fear darkened her eyes. He hated seeing it there. Torkel climbed into the bed next to her. He managed to arrange them under the sheets without use of his arms because she wouldn’t let go. “It’s alright, Faye.”
“It will never be alright.” Tears glistened on her lashes. “I messed up.”
The truth arrowed right through his heart. She had. He brushed her hair back from her face, tucking a stubborn piece behind her ear and admitted.. “And I can’t get you out of my head,”
She burrowed into his chest with a broken cry. “Don’t leave me, Torkel.”
He stayed by her side, holding her until exhaustion tugged her to sleep. He pulled the covers over them and continued to stroke his hands through her hair, enjoying the silken texture of the strands once more.
‘Don’t leave me, Torkel.’
He’d tried. Failed.
“Never,” Torkel whispered and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. It took a while but he waited for her body to stop shaking before getting up.
Jaron paced in his living room. He should have known the man wouldn’t let this go. Torkel closed the door to his bedroom.
“I don’t get it. Why would they do that if she worked with them?”
The question bothered all of them but Jaron was more than angry. Like Torkel he was hurt by Faye’s actions.
“Marenians have no loyalty. For them only their wants matter and how much wealth they can accumulate.” Torkel sat on his couch, pushing aside the excess pillows. Faye wasn’t the only one exhausted.
“I saw her face.”
“What?” He didn’t understand Jaron’s words.
Head bowed, Jaron braced against the wall with one foot propped behind him. “When she woke from that nightmare, I saw her face. I’ve never seen anyone that terrified.”
Torkel’s lips flattened. “On the ship it was worse. Maku had to keep her sedated because we couldn’t wake her when she first started having them.”
Jaron’s head snapped up and he paled. “She’s been having nightmares like that since we rescued her? Worse?”
Torkel could only nod. His stomach clenched tight when he remembered how hard Faye held him when she woke from those terrors that chased her in sleep.
“Were you able to speak with her about Axan?”
“She claimed not to know anything about him. Said they weren’t working together.” Torkel leaned his head back, wondering what he was going to do next.
“Do you believe her?”
And that was the big question. When she looked at him and spoke, he believed every word from her mouth which proved he wasn’t the great and mighty Jutak he’d always believed. Torkel sighed. “Yes.”
They didn’t speak further but Jaron stayed, maintaining his vigil with Torkel by leaning on the wall. Neither of them wanted to admit how worried they were about the woman sleeping feet away.
Chapter 25
Over the next few days, Torkel watched Faye. He watched her in the mornings as she puttered around and ate when reminded. He watched her in the rec room among his teams. Hesitant and clearly uncomfortable she sat quietly while they laughed and played. Gradually, his men drawn by her air of despair made small overtures toward her which she shyly accepted.
Jaron kept his eyes on her as well, occasionally coming to Torkel’s quarters at night under the pretext of speaking about their missions. Torkel watched the two flounder as they attempted to rebuild what was broken. Neither of them spoke of her returning to the cell. For Torkel, it wasn’t an option. He couldn’t send her back to the detainment room alone knowing the torment she suffered during the night.
After a lengthy briefing with his teams and the Commander via vid-conference, Torkel returned to his quarters later than usual. As he had on previous occasions, Torkel entered the bedroom to watch her sleep. Each evening once she settled down, he came into the room as she drifted off. He wanted back in his bed. No, their bed he corrected. He needed to be back in their bed holding her. Keeping back the dark nightmares she refused to speak of.
Faye rolled over, tangling the covers about her legs. Torkel’s shaft twitched and lengthened. Unable to succumb to his desires, he left the door cracked to hear if she cried out and headed to the living area where he stretched out on the sofa, legs dangling over the arms. Not the most comfortable of positions to sleep he’d learned.
Torkel was at the stage between light awareness and deep sleep when he heard her. A soft cry then quiet mumbles. He rose to his feet instantly and stood in the doorway to the bedroom between one breath and the next. The covers had fallen to the floor. Faye huddled in a ball, arms around her knees which she’d jammed close to her chest. She rocked and mewled in her sleep.
His heart clenched at the sight of her anguish. He crossed over to the side of the bed irresistibly drawn to her. Wet tracks rolled down her cheeks but she wasn’t screaming. Yet. Torkel slid into the bed and tugged the covers back up. He curled his arms around her from behind and propped his chin on top of her head to keep her safe.
The restless motions ceased. Tense muscles relaxed as she sighed and pushed back into the cradle of his hips. His erection was inevitable but Torkel ignored it and closed his eyes. Memories of holding her like this many nights before played havoc with his mind and heart. If only. Torkel had a ton of if onlys and he tired of them. Tonight was the last night he planned to go through this.
***
Faye woke alone. Confused she sat up, the hazy memory of Torkel holding her teased at the edges of her mind. Not possible. She used the cleansing room and splashed water on her face. Her hair was a mess but nothing like the tangles she’d had to work through after her rescue. Faye pushed the thick length back and padded into the living room. Unsure if she had the right to wear her own clothing, she continued to wear the hated tan jumper she’d been issued.
Torkel rose from the sofa as soon as he heard her approach. His uniform was creased and his eyes drooped with fatigue. He didn’t look as if he’d showered or changed and Faye couldn’t recall him returning last night. She wondered if he hated her so much he slept on the sofa to avoid her. The very thought caused her heart to skip a beat and she rubbed at her chest. His gaze followed her hand then continued in a leisurely caress that covered her from head to toe and left her nipples taut. Faye couldn’t control her instinctive reaction to his presence. She still loved him and after weeks of fear and turmoil it was hard to resist the urge to rush into his arms.
“Good morning, Faye.”
After days together she still didn’t know where she stood with him. His expression revealed nothing. “Good morning, Torkel.”
“Come and sit. Dr. Maku says you’re still recovering.”
Faye edged around him to sit on the opposite side of the sofa. She needed to keep the distance between them to protect herself in case he lashed out with more hurtful words. She had to ensure she had a clear head even though her body cried out for him.
“How did you sleep?”
She cleared her throat. Faye didn’t want to talk about the nightmares. The dreams of darkness and fear. “Fine.”
Torkel’s eyes darkened, reading the lie in her words. Faye swallowed. His gaze lowered to the slant of her breasts. Smaller than when she’d come to Enotia weeks ago. Faye thought of all the diets she’d tried in high school and never lost a single inch. By the time she’d graduated, Faye had accepted her weight. During college she’d grown comfortable with her curves. Curves she now lacked due to no effort on her part after b
eing held prisoner.
When his eyes dropped to the slope of her slimmer hips, it took everything in Faye to remain still. To keep her hands fisted in her lap.
He spoke at last. “Tell me why, Faye.”
Faye took a deep breath and exhaled. “I made a mistake. If I thought saying sorry again would change anything…” A knot formed in her chest. “Wishes, horses, beggars.” She waved her hand in the air and tried to make light of the saying.
But instead of the blasé tone she sought, her voice broke. Moisture rolled down her face as the tears hit her hands with a silent plop. Her lips trembled and she bit down hard to hold back the cries clambering to burst free.
Clothes rustled and she sensed Torkel moving but kept from looking up because she didn’t want him to see the misery etched on her face. He had other plans, however, as he squatted on the floor in front of her. His legs bracketed her knees. He tapped a finger on her chin until she lifted her face. He regarded her with blank brown eyes. Faye stifled the urge to wail. She missed the way the brown would melt like warm chocolate when he gazed at her. Now there was nothing there as if she didn’t matter to him.
His hand went to the back of her neck as he drew her in. “Faye.”
Just her name. The whisper soft on the air. “Tell me again.”
She frowned and swiped a hand across her face. “What?”
He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her chin. Another on her cheek as he used his hold to angle her face up. She gasped when his lips brushed over hers. “Tell me again.”
Faye stared back with uncertainty but hope fluttered in her chest. “I’m sorry.”
He kissed her, tongue swiping over her mouth. Faye’s lips parted. “Again.”
What did he want? “I’m sorry, Torkel. I love you.” She brought her hands up cupping his face and sliding her hands through his hair. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. You’re my world, Torkel and I’m so sorry I messed up.”
His eyes closed and he leaned his forehead against hers. “I love you, too Faye. I couldn’t stop.”
Her eyes widened but before she could speak, he moved and joined her on the couch. He shifted her until she sat crossways on his lap.
Torkel's Chosen: A World Beyond Book 1 Page 17