"Oh gods..."-she covered her heart with her hand-"you scared me. You need to make some noise when you move."

"Sorry." He leaned down to kiss her bare shoulder.

"So what did the doctor say?" she asked him.

Darling straightened, his features deadly earnest. "I'm going in for surgery day after tomorrow."

Her heart clenched at those words and the fear they gave her. Why would he choose to do it so soon? "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

Worry ran rampant through her. Maris had told her that Darling didn't do well under anesthesia. His body barely tolerated it.

"Are you doing this for you or for me? Because you know I don't care about it at all. I think you're wonderful just like you are."

His features stern, he pulled the washcloth from the bar, then turned her around so that he could wash her back. She didn't know why he liked doing that, but it always felt really good.

He made small circles over her back, then trailed the cloth down her spine. "It's not for you, Z. I mean... some of it is. I hate that this is what you have to look at when you hold me. I know how awful I appear and I applaud you for not cringing every time you see me. But honestly, I can't take it anymore. I can't stand to look at myself. Every time I catch my reflection against anything, I get severely sucker-punched over what I see there."

Darling swallowed. "Believe me, I know removing the scars won't fix the rest. I know they're superficial. My voice and vision will still be screwed up. And the memories will always be there, stabbing me." He flinched as if one of them hit him just from mentioning it. "But the scars bring it home and kick it down my throat. I'm ready to move forward, and I can't do that when all I see is a victim every time I look in the mirror."

She wanted to tell him he wasn't a victim. That he'd never been a victim, but that wasn't true and she knew it. The worst tragedy of all was when someone this strong, this capable, was held down and unable to protect himself while others abused and violated him. Like her with this damnable collar on. To know that you were fully capable of protecting yourself and to be unable to do so...

That was its own special kind of hell and it did untold damage to the psyche.

In her mind, she saw the photos Maris had shown her from Darling's medical report.

Saw the way Darling had looked hanging in front of her that day when she'd thought he'd killed Kere. What had been done to him disgusted her. And she was an outsider to it. He'd been the one who had to endure the true, unvarnished degradation and horror of his torture.

The one who couldn't even sleep for it.

All she wanted was to heal him.

His breathing ragged from the pain of those memories, he returned the cloth to her hand. He glared at her throat with so much animosity and fury that it actually scared her. She wanted to say something to soothe him, but fear froze her vocal cords.

This wasn't the man who made love to her for hours on end.

This was the feral warrior, Kere, and by the look on his face, it was obvious he wanted blood.

Her blood.

With a twist to his lips that was truly terrifying, he reached for her throat.

He's going to kill you...

Just as she started to punch him to protect herself, he broke her slave's collar in half. Her jaw went slack as he stepped away and angrily tore the collar into pieces, then tossed it into the trash can next to the tub.

"What are you doing?" she asked, confused by his actions.

Those blue eyes scorched her with his repressed insanity. "I spent too many years imprisoned here. I refuse to do that to someone else, especially you. I don't want you to stay with me because you have no choice. I want you here because you want to be with me." A tic worked furiously in his jaw. "I told Gera not to prep you anymore unless you requested it."

His gaze dropped to her breast before his features softened to the teasing countenance she'd come to cherish most. "Although I did like the flavored body paint."

She smiled at him. "As long as you're the one who applies it and not some strange woman I've never met before, I have no objection to using it."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Gera's having your clothes sent up, and she assured me that you would have things appropriate for public wear. You're free to come and go as you please. Your apartment's just as you left it. I've been paying the bills for it, and they're all up to date. But I did have the door rekeyed for you as a safety precaution since I didn't know who might have access to it. I left the new keys and a link for you on the table by your bed. The link's yours to keep. I went ahead and programmed my number so that you can call if you get locked in here again, and I set Sorche's as your first contact and Ture's as your second."

She didn't miss the fact that he hadn't set himself in as a contact. Was that a presumption that she didn't want him there or did he not want to be listed?

"Lastly, there's a transport in the hangar for you to use as you wish. It's in your name, so don't be afraid that someone will report it stolen if you take it. Or you can use a public transport. Your cards are with the keys and link if you need money."

Unsure of his mood and the source of his sudden charity toward her, she stepped out of the shower and turned the water off. She reached for a towel, then wrapped it around her body. She moved to stand in front of him.

Zarya bit her lip in uncertainty. "Are we good?"

Darling ran the back of his hand along her jaw. There was a haunted shadow in his gaze that concerned her. "You want the truth?"

No. Not if it was bad.

But she wasn't a coward either. "Always."

His brows furrowed as that angry insanity flashed across his features. And as quickly as it flared, it settled down into a pained expression that showed how much anguish he still carried inside him. "You are my heaven... And you will always be my eternal hell."

Those words stabbed her straight through the heart. "Darling-"

He put his finger over her lips to silence her. "When it's just the two of us and we're alone, I can forget what happened, and I'm better. Then just as I think I'm all right, it all comes barreling back and kicks me in the crotch again. I can hear you laughing out in the hallway when I needed you most. And honestly, it ravages me so deep inside that I feel like I'm going crazy from the anger and hurt. I feel so betrayed, Zarya. I know you didn't do it on purpose, I know you didn't know, but my feelings don't have ears and they don't listen to my head. No matter what I do, I can't reason it away. It just hurts and I don't know if it'll ever stop."

Those words brought tears to her eyes. God, if she could only go back and change what had happened...

Like Hauk had said... Nothing ruined a life faster than one bad decision.

Darling swallowed. "I would give everything I have, even my soul, to let it go. I would. But no matter how hard I try, Zarya, it just keeps coming. And it lights a fury so deep inside me that all I can think about is hurting you in retaliation. It's so demanding that it scares me. And it takes everything I have to stop from lashing out at you. I can't keep those feelings or memories from returning. But I am trying to. I am."

Those words made her heart ache. For all of his confessed rage, he'd kept it bottled inside to the point that she'd never suspected he had any inclination except to be kind to her.

It said a lot about him that he hadn't once said or done anything mean.

He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "What about you? Do you still hate me?"

She shook her head. "I never really hated you, Darling. I was hurt by your rejection. Bitterly. But what I went through was nothing compared to you."

"Are you sure?" His tone was strained and searching. "I get sick every time I think about the fact that I caused you to be thrown to a slaver. And when I consider all the things that probably happened to you there..." He clenched his teeth so violently that it made the muscles in his jaw protrude. "You've no idea how much I hate myself for it. How much it worries me that I abandoned you when I had no right to do that. I swear to the gods that I didn't want you harmed. I didn't. It was a stupid, selfish thing I did and I'm so sorry."

Her throat tightened as she heard the agony inside him. He'd had every right to strike out after what she'd done to him. Slapping him when he'd been tied up had been wrong on so many levels. "Baby, don't take that onto your shoulders. You've been tortured enough. I wasn't physically hurt at all."

He narrowed his gaze at her. "Are you lying to me?"

She covered his hand with hers and held it tight. "No. I swear. No one touched me the entire time. I was too old for the slaver's tastes. And he thought I was too skinny to get top credit so he didn't want me to do anything or for anyone to bother me. He kept me isolated in a less-than-pleasant room, but I was alone there and it wasn't so bad. Boring, but not bad. It's why I was still there when Maris came to find me. The slaver was trying to fatten me before the auction."

Darling saw the truth in her eyes. Relief poured through him. He'd mentally flogged himself with the fear of someone raping her because of his thoughtless words to Jayne. When he'd said them, he had no idea that Jayne would give her over to a slaver. At worst he'd thought jail. At best, he'd assumed Jayne would let her go. Never had the concept of slavery for Zarya entered his mind.

And even though Zarya hadn't shown any signs of having been violated, he knew from experience that the aftereffects and emotions didn't always manifest the same way. Sometimes there was shame that made you lock yourself away from the world. Other times it was anger that caused you to lash out at everyone. And sometimes it was a mixture of both, or nothing more than a cold emptiness that left the soul sick and numb for weeks on end.

Grateful that the gods hadn't punished her for his stupidity, he pressed his forehead against hers and cupped her face in his hands. "I'm so sorry I did that to you, Zarya. It was wrong and I had no right to treat anyone like that, least of all you. I was such a stupid dick for it. I was just-"

This time, she covered his lips with her fingers to keep him from speaking. "I know, sweetie. I do."

But she didn't know how much he hated himself for what he'd done. Not really. Out of nothing more than sheer selfishness, he'd put her in harm's way. Twice.

How could I have done that?

To her.

He, who knew exactly what it felt like to have someone shove him aside while they wallowed in their own grief and pain, had done that to the one person in his life he'd sworn to love and protect.

I am my mother.

Even worse, he felt like his uncle. And that was what stung the deepest.

How could she forgive him when he couldn't forgive himself?

"No, Z, you don't know. There's so much darkness inside me that sometimes I feel like it's going to swallow me whole. It makes me want to lash out, and explode all over everyone around me."

"But you don't."

"I have. And worse, I did it with you. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself had you been hurt. I swear to you I will never, ever do something like that again no matter how mad I get."

She hugged him close and he savored his body against hers. "Had I been physically assaulted, I probably wouldn't be so forgiving." She nuzzled his neck. "It was extremely humiliating to be told how worthless and undesirable I am. I'm not going to downplay it. But I've had worse."

"Yeah, well, he was a fucking idiot. I think you're more beautiful than any woman I've ever seen."

Zarya trembled as he took her hand into his and led it to his cock that was already hard again. It was so erotic to have him hold her palm against his erection while he stared down at her with a hunger that was hot and tangible. "Believe me, no one has ever done this to me like you do. Every time I look at you, hear your voice, or smell your scent, I want to be inside you so badly it hurts."

And he had definitely proven that. A lot over the last few days. It was a wonder the man could walk.

Her either.

She smiled up at him. "Thank you." Then she pulled his lips down to hers so that she could kiss him.

He growled low in his throat as he hardened even more underneath her hand. As he deepened their kiss and went to remove her towel, she stopped him.

"You haven't eaten."

"I-"

She covered his lips before he could contradict her. "You need something more to nibble on than me."

"Fine," he groused with an uncharacteristic pout. "I need to get some real work done anyway. I'm not sure how the gerents are going to deal with that e-mail I sent out last night."

"You're going to eat first, right?"

"Yes, my lady."

She smiled. "By the way, did you really fine and fire the cook?"

He actually turned sheepish over her question. "Well, yeah. I wasn't going to let her near my food out of my eyesight after I fined her. What kind of stupid would that be?"

She laughed. "You know what I mean."

"I do, and yes." He sobered. "She had no right to treat you like that. I won't have that kind of abuse in my home. If you tell me who stole your clothes, I'll-"

"It's all right," she said, interrupting him. "I don't care about something so trivial."

"I do. Stealing from others isn't trivial to me."

He was right, but given everything else, she just wanted to forget it'd happened.

"Go and eat, my lord. The sooner you take care of your business, the sooner you can come back up here and take care of me."

His eyes darkened playfully before he picked her hand up and kissed it. "Very well, my lady. I shall obey. But only because I need to make sure I still have an empire."

"You have been a little neglectful," she teased. Then she paused as another thought occurred to her. "Out of curiosity, who runs things when you're gone? Maris?"

"No, since he's an offworlder, Mari can't. My brother, Ryn, is actually the pro tem in my absence."

The half brother he'd once been close to...

That made the hair at the nape of her neck rise. "You trust him not to backstab you for your throne?"

"I do. He wants nothing to do with the throne, or the empire for that matter. So he officiates when he has to, and then steps down happily when I return."

That was a lot of trust for someone he'd grown distant with. "Are you sure he has no designs on replacing you?"

"I have the scar to prove it." She didn't miss the underlying bitterness in those words.

And that concerned her most of all. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." He offered her a smile that didn't reach his shadowed eyes. "I should go. If I don't, we'll be on the floor, or the counter, or-"

She playfully pushed him away from her and laughed. "Go."

He kissed her again, then left.

Pulling on a robe, she went to her room, hoping to find some decent clothing.

She paused as she saw Maris putting her new clothes away in the tall armoire beside her bed. "Were you here when Darling was?"

He shook his head "I left the minute he came in, and didn't return until after he was on the stairs. Voyeurism is not my sin."