One moment she was pinned beneath Hairan's furious stare, and the next she was alone and naked.
Despite the raw vulnerability clawing at her skin, Elka felt an overwhelming rush of relief when he stormed out without touching her again. She refused to let her mind wander to the darker paths the night might have taken. Dark thoughts of her body forced open, her blood staining the sheets while her groom claimed what he believed was owed to him. It would have been exactly as her father intended.
There were men who would have done it without hesitation.
If it had come to that, she liked to believe she would have fought. But then again, when had fighting ever truly helped her?
A man like her father would sooner hold her down himself than lift a finger to protect her. Resistance had only ever earned her harsher punishments.
