Skin (16 page)

That he considered Tinkerbelle his terrified him even more.

What the hell?

He didn’t come here for that.

Sex was one thing…this was something else altogether. The trouble is, he didn’t know what. She was…broken…to use her words. He had his own problems. The last thing he should be doing was hooking up with someone who wasn’t whole. He winced. But he wasn’t whole himself – who was he to expect someone not dealing with major trauma issues to be looking at him?

Then he wasn’t looking for himself. It’s the last thing he wanted.

But Tinkerbelle was…different.

But she was still female, so how different could she be?

Very, he knew. Her experiences had molded who she was. She didn’t have the deviousness of other women he knew. But he could be wrong. He’d been horribly wrong at the time when it had counted, and he didn’t want to go through that ever again.

He showered, dressed, and headed down to breakfast. He was early, but maybe he could check in with security to see what had happened last night. The drunk had been spouting off something about suing Tinkerbelle, but he hadn’t been able to describe her nor name her correctly. Kane hoped in the cold light of day that the man had come to his senses. Kane would push for him to be charged with assault if he could, but that decision wasn’t his to make and if it came down to Tinkerbelle pressing charges, he figured she’d just want it all to go away.

He’d wanted to ask her about her rapist. Had he been found? Charged? Done his time and been released? But he figured she’d tell him if she wanted to. It didn’t stop him from wanting the details, though. He could put a call out to a buddy if he wanted to bad enough. He could get the details, but it seemed underhanded prying into her life, a life he’d been allowed to see just one corner of. A good corner, but still just a corner.

He’d be the first to admit he wanted into every corner.

He couldn’t find the security guards, so he left a message for them to contact him later. Then he headed into the restaurant for breakfast where he found Jenna waiting alone at the table.

“Kane.” She smiled up at him. “I was hoping for a chance to see you alone. What on Earth happened last night?”

He winced. “It might be better if you asked Tania, but as it involved security and police, I can give you the short and dirty version.”

He explained, watching her face drain of color. “She handled herself well.” He grinned, pride in his voice. “Actually, she handled herself really well.”

“Well.” Jenna shook her head slowly, letting out a gust of air. “Poor Tania. What a difficult thing for any woman.”

“True. But it was also a win for her. After all she’s been through, she wasn’t a victim this time. She was the victor.”

Jenna studied his face. “She told you?”

He nodded and smiled up at the waitress who’d arrived with the coffee pot. After she’d left, he turned his attention back to Jenna. “Yes, she did.”

“Interesting.”

“In what way?” God, he hated how Jenna said that word so often. He hated feeling like there was more going on here than he understood. Of course, there was – there always was – but he didn’t want it to be a constant irritation in the back of his mind.

He waited for Jenna to answer.

“I’m just surprised she told you about her history.”

“We’re working on this project together, isn’t it normal for her to have shared something like that?”

Jenna’s lips quirked.

Okay, so that came across as slightly defensive. Damn.

“It’s intensely personal.” Jenna studied him closely.

He frowned. He should have seen that coming. “And…”

“Nothing. I’m happy she was comfortable enough to share with you.”

He frowned at her, saw the twinkling in her eyes, and understood she was poking at him to see what might come out. He smirked. “It’s early, professor, but not so early that you’re going to get anything out of me.”

“Oh, so there is something to get, though, is there?”

He glared at her, and damn if her laughter didn’t ripple free.

He sighed and lifted his coffee cup. No doubt about it, he had it bad.

T
ania dragged herself
into the restaurant, wishing she could just go back to bed. She had a headache, and her elbow hurt after defending herself last night.

The table was full. She caught Kane’s gaze, and damn if her heart didn’t speed up at the possibilities promised in his eyes. He’d turn any woman to mush. Oddly enough, not one of the other females at the table appeared to be bothered, but there were several others in the restaurant checking him out. His size alone attracted attention. That his voice was deep, dark, and promised midnight dreams helped a lot.

She sighed. Talk about being lovesick. Or was it lust struck? Stupid body. It could have stood up and sang hallelujah when she was high school. She’d have enjoyed spending time in the back seat of cars making out, especially if the guys kissed like Kane. Then again, how many guys could make her melt like he had?

Tired, she took the last empty seat and caught the waitress’s eye, motioning desperately for coffee. It had been a long night, and getting through the morning meant she’d need some serious fortification. With that in mind, she ordered a big breakfast. She might be short and small, but her appetite was seriously large. Her breakfast, when it came, made her sigh with happiness.

“Whoa, isn’t that a bit too much food for you?” asked Robin, who was sitting across from her. Tania shrugged. “I’ll let you know in twenty minutes.”

“What did you do, work out all night?” Snide jokes started up. She ignored them all and plowed through her meal. When she laid her fork down, she was surprised to see she’d cleaned her plate.

She reached for the last piece of toast and polished it off, too.

When she raised her gaze, it was to see everyone staring at her. She raised an eyebrow in question. Kane asked in a gentle, humorous voice, “Would you like seconds?”

She smirked. “I’m good until lunch, thanks.”

Jenna picked up the conversation from there, after which, they moved to the seminar room and got started on the homework.

“Tania, did you get a chance to do the homework?” Jenna asked.

“In the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, I worked on it.” She sighed. “But is it done? No.”

“Sorry about all the trouble you had. I hope you’re happy with the way the hotel dealt with the issue.”

She nodded. “They were fine.” She really didn’t want to go into the whole mess again, but several people were looking at her oddly. She said, “Some drunk accosted me outside my room last night.”

The women cried out. The men stayed silent.

After a quick explanation of what happened after that, she ended with, “As a result, I didn’t get much sleep.”

“I bet,” Robin said with feeling. “Take it easy today.”

“Sure. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you fine?” Jenna asked seriously. “Why don’t we go for a walk outside and we’ll talk?”

It was on the tip of her tongue to say she didn’t need to, but the truth of the matter was her nightmares had returned with a vengeance. If she could figure out how to get her subconscious to let this all go, her nights would be much better. And talking about it just might be the answer.

“Sure.” She stood up from the table and handed her homework to Kane. “I’ll work on this when I get back.”

He nodded. “I haven’t even looked at it yet. Go. Enjoy your talk.”

“Thanks.” As she turned away, he added, “You look tired.”

“I am. The nightmares were bad again last night.” She walked outside with Jenna.

*

Kane watched the
two women leave. One was small and normally walked with determination and focus, but today it looked like taking every step was hard work. Tall, stately Jenna strolled easily alongside Tania; they made a striking pair. He sat back down and looked at the homework sheets, but his mind returned to Tania’s comment. Why hadn’t he considered she’d have nightmares? Of course she would have them. That attack had to trigger bad memories, and when did those memories usually hit the hardest? During the dream state.

Damn.

He’d never even thought of it, so he’d gone to bed and slept like a baby while she’d barely gotten any rest. He could have helped her. He didn’t know how, but he could have slept in the chair to watch over her. Then again, she might have found that even more disturbing. It’s not like she’d ever slept with a man – innocently or not.

But he could have done something. Instead, he’d given her a gentle kiss and pushed her into her room with orders to lock the door.

Then his eye caught the theme question on Tania’s page and the one word she’d written beside it. Skin. What the hell did that mean?

T
he fresh breeze
blew Tania’s hair across her face as they exited the hotel’s front doors. It was a beautiful day; even the breeze was warm. It was also early enough that the morning sunshine was fresh and bright and missing the muggy heat promised for later in the day.

“What were the nightmares about?”

Tania gave a broken laugh. “The rape. It’s the same as always, triggered, no doubt, by last night’s attack.”

“Were you hurt last night? How bad was the attack?”

“Not bad in some ways, but bad enough.” Tania shrugged. How did one determine how bad something was? “I was scared, but he didn’t physically hurt me. I hurt him. I broke his nose, apparently.” The reminder put a smile back on her face.

“Good. He deserved it.”

“The police hauled him away, but I don’t know the final story.”

“I hope he’s gone and stays gone. You don’t need that around.”

“No. I need sleep at this point.”

“Do you want to miss the morning session and go back to your room?”

As tempting as that thought was, she didn’t want to miss any time with Kane or the seminar. She was here for a reason and wanted to get as much out of this as she could. “No. I’ll stay. I would like to stop the nightmares, though.”

“Then lead me through the details. Let’s see if we can find out what your subconscious was working on.”

It took several minutes to relay the details as she remembered them. “I don’t think there was anything new in these ones, just the same old, same old.”

“But not as potent? You didn’t wake up screaming?”

“No, not at all.” Tania recognized the truth with surprise. “It was uncomfortable and I woke up in a cold sweat, but it wasn’t nearly as bad.”

“Good. Great, actually. When you think about it, last night’s attack might have been a gift in that it gave you a chance to see where your subconscious thoughts are at. And it looks like they are slowly getting better.”

“That’s one way to look at it.” She hadn’t mentioned any of the intimate time she’d spent with Kane. It felt odd, almost disloyal to mention him in context of her healing to Jenna. Still, he might have had an impact on that same subconscious. As she thought about the problem, she realized Jenna was correct.

She was healing.

*