Page 21 of The Widow's Forbidden Heat
She gave me a shy look—just a quick, upward tilt of those gorgeous gold-ringed eyes—and it was enough to fucking melt me.
“Maybe…”Icleared my throat.“Thismight sound weird, but would you like a hug?”
It might sound like a strange thing to offer but my ex had always felt better whenIheld her.
“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,”Iwent on quickly.“Ijust thought, you know, you lost your husband and no one…”
“I’m not close enough to anyone to hug them—or to ask them to hug me,” she finished for me in a quiet voice.Shelooked up at me.“Yes,Kor—Iwould love a hug.Thankyou.”
HopingIwas doing the right thing,Itook her in my arms and pulled her close to my chest.
ELEVEN
VIVIENNE
It was the first hugI’dhad in years.
Carter had never hugged me—he’d never touched me at all except to mount me for breeding and that one time he’d hit me for disrespecting him in front of thePack.Andof course,Icouldn’t exactly hug any of the servants.Soeven thoughIused to be a very affectionate person whenIwas younger,Ihad gotten used to being alone and untouched.
I don’t thinkIunderstood how starvedIwas for physical affection untilKortook me in his arms.Ashe pulled me close to his chest, it felt like something was breaking inside me—maybe it was the thin shell of ice that had settled over my heart years ago.Idon’t know—Ionly know that it felt so good to have his arms around me, it almost hurt.
I was stiff at first—it felt somehow wrong—improper—to want what he was offering.ButthenIbreathed in his warm, masculine scent and felt myself flowing to him, like water running downhill.Ipressed my face to his broad chest and breathed him in and thenIreally did break inside, because my eyes started to sting and the next thingIknewIwas crying.
I tried to stop myself, of course.Iwasn’t allowed to cry aroundCarter.IfIstarted, he would shout at me to “stop that sniveling!”Heespecially hated it whenIcried while he bred me.Aftera whileIlearned to close my eyes and take myself away from him, so there were no more tears—just a sense of numbness while he grunted on top of me.
But try asImight,Icouldn’t turn off the tears this time.Idon’t know why—maybe because it felt so strange and wonderful to be hugged again and to feel safe in a man’s arms.Becausethat’s howKormade me feel—safe.Ionly hopedIwasn’t making him mad by crying.
He didn’t act mad, though.Infact, he hugged me tighter and stroked my hair.
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” he murmured in that deep, soothing voice of his.“I’mso sorry for what you went through but it’s all right now—it’s all over.”
That only made me cry harder because itwasn’tall over—until theAlphaChallengewas won, everything, including my future, was up in the air.
I don’t know how long he held me—or how longIcried.Butfinally,Ibegan to feel calmer inside.Andafter that,Ibegan to feel ashamed.WhyhadIlet my emotions out like that?I’dspent years cultivating my calm outer façade—the “IceQueen” personaIwore for thePack.Butjust one hug from a kind stranger—well, almost a stranger,Ireally didn’t knowKorthat well—andImelted.
I pulled back at last and swiped at my eyes.Iwas ashamed to see thatIhad cried a wet patch all overKor’swhite button-down shirt.ThankgoodnessIhadn’t put on any makeup yet orIwould have probably ruined it completely.
“I…I’mso sorry,”Isaid, sniffing and swiping at my eyes.“Idon’t…don’t know what came over me.”
“Grief, probably,”Korsaid, and he didn’t sound angry or upset—just concerned.“It’sokay to let yourself feel your feelings, you know,” he told me.“You’vebeen through a lot—you should let yourself feel it.”
I sniffed again and looked up at him.
“You sound like some kind of a therapist.”
He laughed—that easy, warm chuckleIwas really growing to like.
“Not quite, butI’vebeen to a lot of therapy.Mydad took me after my mom died andIwent with my ex—Jennie—a lot too, when she was working through some stuff.”
“Well…thank you for not getting angry whenIcried,”Isaid, pulling a paper towel off the dispenser to blot my eyes.
Kor frowned.
“Angry?WhywouldIget angry?”
“I don’t know.”Iwaved one hand in an aimless gesture.“Carteralways got mad.Henever wanted me to cry.”
Kor’s dark brows drew together in a frown.
