Seth's Cravings: An Endless Series: Book 2 by Sara Hess Page A

he’d left me there to be raped,
and seeing that went a long way in forgiving him. I also couldn’t let him fester
in guilt because of an oversight.
         Grabbing the wrench I would need to loosen the coupling
from the piping I straightened and Seth made his first move since coming
downstairs. “Can you do that with your finger in a splint?” He stepped forward
wearing a frown of concern on his face.
         “I have for the last week.” I answered climbing the ladder.
Seth moved immediately to hold it and I noted the slight twitch of sick guilt
that crossed his face at my comment. “Seth, you need to get over it. It wasn’t
your fault.” I said looking down at him. “The guy might not have even intended
to even rape me. Sure, he tackled me to the bed and said some threatening
things, but it could have been all talk.” It had felt pretty damn real though.
         He stared up at me in tight lipped silence, blue eyes sparking,
and I could tell my words didn’t make a bit of difference to him. My emotions
were conflicted at seeing that. I was partially pleased that he still felt
guilt even though I recognized that he wasn’t culpable…it was telling me he
cared…But I didn’t want him to carry that around with him.
         Like I had outside I touched his forearm briefly, and
again felt that tingle of delight from the momentary contact. “Please…don’t drag
something like that around with you.” Seth’s facial muscles pinched into an
expression of, ‘ I don’t know if I can do that ’, so I gave him a half smile.
“If you don’t let it go than that’s just going to make me feel guilty about you
feeling guilty when the only one who should feel guilty is mu’dak Dale
who I doubt is feeling any guilt at all.”
         A reluctant grin pulled at his mouth as he shook his head.
“That’s a difficult argument to refute.”
         “That’s the only type of argument I give.” I replied.
         He snorted as I reached over my head and went to work
loosening the bad coupling. The splint was cumbersome but not impossible to
work with.
         “What does mu’dak mean?”
         Grimacing a little as I forced the coupling loose I
answered Seth’s question. “Asshole.”  
         “You said a couple other Russian words outside; were
they swear words as well?”
         I tried to remember what I’d said, but I’d been pretty
angry at the time and words had spewed forth indiscriminately. “Most likely.” I
replied giving him a saucy grin.
         His brow rose and his mouth curled in tribute. “I
deserved them. I’ve noticed that your accent is a little all over the place.
When you’re playing poker it’s very noticeable, but right now it has lightened
up a bit; however, when you get angry it thickens significantly. Why is that?”
He asked staring up at me curiously.
         I returned my attention to the coupling. “I already
told you it comes and goes, but when I’m emotional it really takes over.” I
answered as best I could. No one outside my family really needed to know the
part I played.
         “You said you’d been in the states for a few years?” He
queried.
         That was a common question a lot of people asked me. “About
five.” I answered truthfully. The coupling finally came loose and I examined
both subpar pipe ends to make sure they weren’t damaged from time or my removal
of the coupling.
         “Just how old are you? At first I thought you were
around my age, but right now you look about seventeen.”
         I stepped down the ladder and grinned at him. He was
watching me intently and it made my grin freeze and also set my heart to
thumping irregularly. “I’m twenty.” I answered, and then found myself chuckling
at his look of astonishment.
         “Seriously! So you’re in an apprenticing program.”
         “I finished not too long ago.”
         His shock increased. “How the hell did you do that,