Against Her Will

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Temperance stepped into the room and thankfully her eyes were already adjusted to the darkness so she could see her way as she walked to the bed. Tanner was laying upon it as he tossed and turned fitfully upon the sheets. He was moaning and whimpering in the darkness ad sweat slicked his dark blond hair to his brow.

"Tanner?" she whispered, recognizing the signs of a nightmare. She had them often enough to know them when she saw them.

The man didn't respond to her voice. His head thrashed more violently and he yelled out once again, the sound coming out strangled and full of pain. His hands gripped the sheet below him and his legs kicked.

Tanner had thrown off the covers and his bare torso was slicked with sweat. The sight of a half naked man was not enough to shock her--she had seen quite a few in the last year and the innocent young girl she had been before her family died had long since been forgotten.

Temperance noticed that Tanner's body seemed to have filled out some in the past week--while not enough to hide his ribs and hip bones it was enough to take some of the look of death away. A glance at his face told her his cheeks were not nearly as sunken as they'd been the last time she had seen him.

Temperance moved a bit closer to the bed and reached out a hand. She remembered what had happened the last time she'd awaken him from a nightmare and so this time she stayed closer to his legs and simply shook him below the knee. "Tanner, wake up."

Temperance jumped back when Tanner sat bolt upright and his wide blue/gray eyes were bright a she scanned the room and they fell upon her.

"You..." he whispered. Quickly he swiped the sweat from his brow and licked his lips. "What are you doing here?"

Temperance moved out of the shadows and stepped to his bedside once again. "You sounded as if you were struggling. I was coming in to help."

"It was just a bad dream," he assured her quietly. Then his eyes narrowed as they scanned her up and down.

Temperance shifted uncomfortably with his eyes looking at her so. It was different from the way she'd been looked at before... he wasn't looking at her appraisingly and there was no lust... his eyes held anger. Anger that would have had her fleeing had her abused body been capable of such fast movement.

"What happened to you?" Tanner all but growled.

"Nothing.." Temperance replied quickly. Her resolve was failing her. Could she trust this man? Could she tell him the truth about his brother? Would he believe her, and, if he did believe her, would he care?

No.

Temperance had learned her lesson in trusting. Why was she even in this room? Why had she let herself foolishly fall for that hopeful voice that still lived inside her? Temperance backed away toward the door but Tanner moved more quickly than she had thought him capable. He was out of the bed and between her and the door before she could blink. Temperance took several quick steps backward, instantly fearing the worst....

Their eyes locked and something sparked deep down in Temperance. There was such a familiarity in his eyes, a deep down sorrow and blankness that she recognized. She had no idea what the man had seen, done or had done to him to have given him such a sadness but it caused her heart to cry out for the companionship of someone who would understand her.

"I won't hurt you," he promised. Temperance was frightened to believe his words when there was a chance they were nothing but pretty lies to lure her closer. Tanner shook his head "Temperance--" he whispered, his voice pained and confused. "--why are you here with him?"

Temperance swallowed hard. She had no choice. She had to speak and had to believe that he would care. She forced herself to hold his gaze. "He bought me...."

"Bought you?"

"Yes. From the man who kidnapped me after my family died."

Temperance froze as Tanner reached out his hand and traced his finger across her welted mouth. His hand then went to her bruised and battered neck before falling down to his side. Tanner's eyes locked on hers and his body tensed.

Temperance felt her knees shake and, while she didn't understand what she was feeling, she knew that something about Tanner was different. He was brother to her husband. He was blood kin to a monster. He had fought alongside the people who had killed her father and brothers and yet she found herself unable to care about any of those things....

Tanner let out a long sigh and motioned toward the bed. "Sit down, Temperance. I think we have a few things to talk about. I need to know exactly what my brother has been up to since I've been gone."

***

Temperance felt lighter somehow than she had in as long as she could remember when she left Tanner's room only a few hours before dawn. They had talked the entire night away. She had let Tanner know about his brother and just how evil the man was deep down. While she hadn't gone too deep into her own life and abuse, Tanner had seemed to understand and in his eyes she had seen, not sympathy, but understanding.

Temperance knew he'd been abused himself. She didn't know the details and Tanner didn't offer them but he didn't need to. Just having someone that understood the pain that she felt in her heart was enough.

Temperance didn't know what Tanner was going to do now that he knew just how severe Trevor's evil nature ran but she knew that for the first time in over a year she had a reason to have true faith.

She had to believe that Tanner was a good man who would fix everything. If she let herself believe anything different her mind would simply shut down once again and she'd be lost in that fog that had held her captive for too long. Temperance didn't want to be lost again.