She wept.
~.~
Veck. Hearing Cambry cry cut his insides like he’d eaten glass. He eased out of her tight back hole and untied her wrists then used the handkerchief to clean them both.
He had to bite back the urge to apologize, to hold her and rock her until her tears dried. He’d taken it upon himself to punish her on behalf of Prince Zander or his officers. He couldn’t show weakness now.
Though he’d freed her wrists, Cambry hadn’t moved from the kneeling position he’d placed her in. Her surrender was the only thing that made this scene bearable. If she’d fought him—if he’d had to put a knee in her back to whip her into submission, he would have done it as his duty, but it would have slain him.
He plucked her from the bed and sat on the chair, holding her on his lap. He thumbed away a t
