Page 5 of Fury of Affliction
“You can.”
His lips twitched.
Her eyes narrowed.
A standoff. One he was unlikely to win given his mate’s stubbornness. Since arriving at Black Diamond, she’d come intoher own, personality shining bright, becoming the female she was meant to be, not the one her uncle had forced her to become.
“Sloan.”
Unable to find the words, he clenched his teeth.
“His birthday was this week?”
The ball of pain sitting like a bomb in the center of his chest throbbed, threatening to detonate.
“Simeon would be what—twelve now?”
Sloan nodded.
“What day was he born?”
Recall hammered him. The vault he kept locked cracked open, allowing the memory to spill out. Devastation a living, breathing thing, he forced out, “On a Thursday. Full moon. Bright stars in a black sky, twelve years ago yesterday.”
“I know how much losing him hurts?—”
“It kills, Theo,” he rasped. “Kills.”
“I see it. I feel it. I hurt when you hurt, but honey, you’re already halfway there. You told me his name. You shared that much, so now, take the last step. Let me in on the memory. Give me the rest.”
Heart thumping, Sloan drew a ragged breath.
Theodora made a pained sound. “Hope shared something interesting with me the other day. I think it might help.”
“What?”
“When Forge gets mired in the past. In the pain, he shares the memory with her without speaking. He downloads the experience like a video file through mind-meld. If it’s too much…if you can’t find the words…then show me, Sloan. Use our bond to connect and show me. Nothing you do or say will shock me. I know you. I know your heart. I know I can help you find a way through the grief.”
So earnest. So understanding. One hundred percent right.
His mate knew how to smooth the way. How to help him even when he didn’t know how to help himself. Seeing him suffer hurt her. Instead of turning away, she’d dug in and thrown down by giving him an ultimatum. One that made sense. One his dragon half needed him to honor, so…
Time to decide.
Either he nurtured the bond he shared with Theodora, or he didn’t. No middle ground existed. He couldn’t have it both ways—sharing when he wanted to, shutting her out when he didn’t. Energy-fuse demanded respect. His dragon half was dialed in, waiting for him to pull his head out of his ass and trust Theodora with the truth. With all of him, not just what he felt comfortable giving her. His beast already knew what he kept resisting. In order to do right by her, he must shed old habits and create healthier ones.
Feeling inadequate, not knowing how to meet the moment, he cleared his throat, then raise his hand, palm up, asking her to come to him. “Need you here,mazleiha.”
An order. Firm. Determined. Even though, gently said.
Theodora didn’t resist. She moved, closing the distance without hesitation.
He sighed in relief as she walked into his arms. Smoothing her hands over his chest, his shoulders and down his back, she pulled him together with her touch, providing what he needed by pressing her cheek to his heart.
Playing with the ends of her hair, he set his mouth against the top of her head. “I don’t want to show you.”
“Too bad,” she whispered, prompting him with a squeeze.
“It isn’t pretty.”