Page 104 of Mindeater

“Why would you even say that? I told you all about it. How it happened. When. Why. And to insinuate that I made it all up? For what?”

The cogs in my head are spinning too fast. Clearly, this is a sensitive topic. As much as I’m remembering, I still don’t have all the pieces. The man in front of me isn’t the boy from my memories. He’s changed just as much as I have. And if this explosion of defensiveness is how he deals with being questioned, we’ll never be able to have a conversation.

But then another flash of my past enters my mind.

Saren screaming that I’m a liar, storming out of a bedroom, and this horrible knowing inside me that he’s brainwashed.

I blow out a breath and drag my fingers over his scent gland. He opens his mouth like he’s going to yell at me again, but a soft whine comes out instead. He inches closer, his features relaxing as his chin lifts higher.

“Better?” I murmur.

Nodding, he gingerly palms my chest, calmly explaining, “It was the most traumatic experience of my life. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. After I turned eighteen and still hadn’t had my first heat, I understood that I wouldn’t ever have one.”

“Saren, I need you to listen to me right now, okay?”

His nose scrunches, but he nods.

Dragging my fingers up into his hair, I swipe strands off his forehead and keep my voice low. “I’ve been inside you. I’ve knotted you.”

“I don’t see how that has anything—”

“Let me finish,” I scold gently.

“But—”

Laughing, I pinch his jaw so his lips pucker. “Shut up, okay?”

The frown is far cuter than it has any right to be.

Distraction.

“I don’t think they took out your womb.”

He starts to argue, but I click my tongue. “Listen.”

The command glides off my lips, and his pupils blow wide. I can feel him sag in blind obedience.

Fuck, that’s a heady feeling. “I felt it. The tip of my cock was right there, kissing your entrance.”

“How?” he rasps.

“That’s why I asked. Who told you they removed it?”

I see it the moment Saren realizes, and if I believed in any gods, I’d be thanking them for our temporary predicament.

His rage is so palpable, I can taste it.

36

Saren

Patryn lied to me.

They all lied to me.

Matthias.

Horris.