Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Avery Gale Page B

nightmare so he kept his words soothing as he held her as the emotions of the past several months bubbled to the surface. When she was finally able to speak again, she kept her face against his broad chest and said, “I’m so sorry, I have nightmares sometimes, but I don’t usually completely lose it like that.”
    “Shhh, princess, I’m so sorry your life has been so derailed by a lunatic. You don’t deserve that treatment, hell, no woman does. But I’m very grateful for your trust in me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe from harm.” He was rubbing his hand in slow circles over her trembling back and noticed how small she felt in his arms. “I’m curious, Tori, I love your curves but I have the feeling you have lost weight or muscles as a result of this stress. Did you have to give up your workouts when all of this happened, princess? His gut feeling was confirmed by her nod. “Well, we’ll see what we can do about getting you back up to your previous fitness level, what do you say? You’ll feel much more in control of things when you’re physically strong again.” He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a bit and was pleased when she tilted her tear-streaked face up and gave him a small grin.
    “I’m not too sure I want to gain any weight because it’s always been hard for me to stay slender, but I like the idea of being able to defend myself. I tried to take a class, but they asked me to not attend anymore when he kept harassing the staff for trying to help me.” Tori sighed, and Trace was completely taken in by her defeated expression.
    “Well, I have some friends that will love teaching you all types of self-defense. There are several Doms at ShadowDance who are former Special Forces soldiers, and any of them will be happy to help.” Grinning ear to ear, he went on, “But, Jenna Lamont, soon to be Jenna Lamont-Matthews kicks the asses of most of them any time she can sucker them into sparring with her. I know she’d be more than happy to help in any way she can, although you may have to wait until after her wedding on Christmas Eve.” Trace was pleased by the smile he saw light Tori’s face at his suggestions. He pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text to several of his friends explaining Tori’s need, and despite the late hour, he received affirmative responses from eight different people, including Jenna, within minutes. When he showed her the responses he saw tears fill her eyes again, but he knew they were tears of gratitude, not sadness.
    “Princess, I want you to know that no one in Climax will walk away from you because they are afraid of your stalker. You’re going to see very quickly how we do things in our small town. You’ll have a wall of friends the bastard will have to get through to even look at you. These are good people, wonderful friends who will look this challenge right in the eye and never even so much as blink.” Trace watched her, knowing she was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was no longer being left alone to face the dangers she’d been buried under for so long.
    “Do you really think they’ll help me? I mean, they don’t even know me and well, I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.” Tori’s focus was on protecting others, and that alone was enough to make him fall further in love with her. He was startled by his own thoughts and wondered again at how rapidly his heart was moving. He assured her Jenna would be thrilled to help her since she had learned self-defense as the result of an attack years ago. He didn’t fill her in on all the details because he felt it wasn’t his story to tell, and she seemed to understand that perfectly.
    “We’re going to dinner at ShadowDance very soon so you’ll have a chance to meet everyone then. But for now, let’s get you back in to bed and settled. I’m afraid this floor is awfully hard and my ass is getting cold.” Laughing, he helped her stand and