Avenged (Hostage Rescue Team Series) (Volume 5) by Kaylea Cross Page A

Because of you.
    No , he’d said, shaking his head, his expression fervent. Because you’re a survivor.
    Just the memory of it made her heart swell.
    All those things together made him impossible to forget. Him stepping up to guard her today, now standing only feet away alone in this room with her, made him irresistible.
    Nathan cleared his throat and looked away. “Well. See you in the morning.” He started for the door, took two steps then paused and turned back to her. His shoulders were tense and while she couldn’t read his expression, she could tell he had something important on his mind.
    “What?” she asked softly, heart beating faster.
    “I need to know,” he began, then stopped. “I need to know if—” He pulled in a deep breath, let it out, and his hesitation told her that whatever he was about to ask, it had been bothering him for a while. “Did Hassan hurt you? Did he…” He let the sentence trail off, though there was no mistaking what he was asking.
    The mention of her tribal husband’s name caught her off guard for a moment and doused the flames of desire slowly licking at her insides. But she understood why Nathan asked her, given what she’d said about Chloe earlier. She should have expected him to ask more.
    Holding his gaze, Taya considered her answer carefully before speaking. “He treated me better than any of the other men treated their wives.”
    Nathan stared back at her in silence, his eyes full of torment as he put together what that probably meant and filled in the blanks on his own.
    Taya wished she could say something to ease his mind about it, but she couldn’t. And she refused to lie to him about this. “He was an undercover DEA agent, born to parents who emigrated to the U.S. from Tajikistan before he was born. I didn’t know any of that until later though. In fact, the first time he ever spoke English to me was the night he took me from Qureshi’s camp and ran.”
    She’d been confused and terrified, woken from a sound sleep when Hassan had come into her tent and clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling her scream. He’d been rigid with tension.
    No time to explain , he’d said. If you want to live, we have to leave right now .
    As the shock wore off she’d become furious. He’d lied to her the entire time, put her through nine months of hell, using and manipulating her as much as Qureshi had.
    In time, she’d come to understand why he’d done it. “His life depended on his ability to play his part without ever giving himself away, and maintaining his cover no matter what. So he did what he had to do to make our marriage look real.”
    Not rape in the violent sense that most people would assume she’d endured. More of an awkward, uncomfortable joining that she’d been too afraid to protest. It had been awkward for him too. He’d cared about her on some level. But even if she’d protested it wouldn’t have mattered.
    She could feel herself flushing as she went on. “It would have been suspicious if he hadn’t. And it was only once.” Once in nine months as husband and wife, to make it official. She swallowed. “He didn’t have a choice. Two of Qureshi’s men were in the room as witnesses.”
    That was the hardest part to get over, that awful, crawling mortification she’d felt as they witnessed that humiliating act. Hassan had treated her gently and gotten it over with as fast as possible. It was by far the worst thing she’d endured during her captivity. Bruises and cuts healed. Her soul hadn’t recovered as easily.
    Nathan drew in a ragged breath but didn’t say anything. She could feel his stare boring into her, feel his horror and outrage.
    As difficult as this was to say to him aloud, she shrugged. The past was what it was, and couldn’t be changed. Twisted though the reasoning behind Hassan’s decisions and actions might have been, she accepted it all now. Looking back, she realized now that he’d actually protected her from a lot of things