Everything hurt. The skin on my back itched and every time I tried to move a pained groan would leave my lips. Pink dots danced before my sight but no matter how hard I willed my eyelids to open they wouldn't budge. They felt like they were cemented down.

People were whispering around me. I could hear their voices but I didn't understand what they were saying. My heart was going to break my chest from the numbing fear I felt.

Was it Leila? Was I back to being a prisoner of the soulless?

The place smelled clean, not like blood and fire but clean like fresh sheets, washing powder, cleaning detergent and antiseptic. My head laid on something soft and comfy. It was where the smell of washing powder came from. A pillow?

I didn't have a pillow back in the soulless' camp. All I had was the sleeping bag in Leila's tent.

Someone was holding my hand, I realized as the feel of warmth, skin against skin... and sparkles registered. It felt like every thought was barely a trickle into the fog of my mind but the last one.

It hoped it was him, that it was Regan and not Lucas causing the sparks.

It felt like hours passed until I could open my eyes. I squinted them against the light until they adjusted and the forms in my sight cleared.

I was in a room lying on my stomach on top of a comfy bed. Pain shot down my back as I tried to roll to my side. Another groan made its way past my lips.

"Shh. Just rest. Don't try to move," his voice whispered in my ear as he leaned closer to me. I angled my head so I could see his face. It was exactly how I remembered it, except there was a hardness to his features that hadn't been present before – determination.

"I'm not dreaming, am I? It's really you," I croaked, my own voice sounding raspy from lack of use and how dry my throat was.

"It's really me." He confirmed squeezing my hand.

"Please, help me sit up," I said. I wanted to look at his face, to feel his skin against mine, to wrap my hands around him, to hold onto him. I needed to do it to make sure he was real after living without him for so long.

He let go of my hand and I felt both of his go around me as he turned me slowly, then gently propelled me up until I was sitting at the edge of the bed.

Despite having heard the hushed conversation, it was only when I was up and saw them that I remembered there were more people inside the room than just Regan and I. Healer was leaning against the wall opposite and Oracle was just standing next to her, the expression on her face letting me know she was ready to chastise me.

Lucas was sitting on a chair by the foot of the bed, his eyes on me when he stood up from his seat and moved to stand by my side next to Regan.

Without a word, he poured water into the glass sitting on the table next to the bed and offered it to me with a small smile grazing his lips.

"Thank you," I said, shooting Regan a cautious look. He had his face screwed up in an angry grimace, his eyes intense on me.

A second later, the look was gone and he surprised me by saying, "It's alright."

A wave of warmth shot up my arm as my fingertips brushed against Lucas', but I decided to ignore it and instead gulped down the water. I didn't want to acknowledge it. I didn't want to feel the attraction, the pull toward that other male, but with both of them right here, I couldn't deny that I felt it.

Were they as aware of it as I was? It was Regan's mark that I wore, it was Regan that I wanted to hold me at night, but Lucas affected me too.

Over the time we spent in the magicals' camp and later as prisoners to the soulless, we'd hardly had any opportunity to talk or just hang out as friends. Just a few glances once in a while, a few words exchanged, a few smiles in passing, a kiss...

And then, I'd begged for his life.

This meant something. This meant more than I wanted to admit to myself, let alone in front of others. And just then I had no idea what to say or how to act.

"I'm going to ask you to step out for a bit so I can talk with my mate in private." It was Regan who did speak. He didn't turn to look at the others when he made the request. He stayed in his place, facing me, reading me the way I knew he could. That mark at the crook of my neck turned me into an open book for him. It gave him the leverage he needed to get close to me when I was still guessing, getting glimpses of him only when he would allow.

Lucas was the last to leave. He seemed reluctant to do as he spun around and headed after Healer and Oracle.

I averted my eyes to my lap as I waited for him to speak. The minutes of silence felt like hours. His eyes on me made me feel self-conscious and uncomfortable about my transgressions as a mate. I'd stomped on his heart then left him. I never said a proper goodbye but chose the easy way out. He'd said that he forgave me but did he really, or was he going to blame me now?

My breath hitched when he placed his hand on my cheek, his touch gentle but the tingles merciless as they spread and traveled down my spine.

My eyes watered from the thought that he could be this considerate toward me after all I'd done, that he could be this kind of man. Once all I'd believed was that he was a monster and now I couldn't help but wonder if touching me hurt him. It had last time but whether it did or not now, I had no way to know if he didn't show it or tell me.

"Look at me, Scarlet," he said softly, his breath fanning over my skin letting me know he'd leaned closer to me.

Hesitantly, I did.

"It's alright," he went on, brushing my tears away. "It's hard for me to have him here with you, but it's alright. I meant what I said." His eyes were intense on mine. His lips were barely an inch away from mine.

I shuddered, feeling short of breath and much too excited for someone who was supposed to be in a recovery. This man was doing things to me - things only he could do, and I was letting him.

"I forgive you, however, that doesn't mean I won't have you bent over my knee and thoroughly spanked when this is over." My face became warm as I felt myself blush. Who is this man in front of me? I wondered.

"Pervert," I countered in a whisper.

"Yes, a pervert who loves you more than anything and everything in the world and will make you scream his name until it's the only thing you can remember," he added before his lips landed on mine. Hungry.

I never got to ask him if it hurt.