REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 71 – 80
CHAPTER 77 & 78.
WHEN ALL GUARDS ARE DOWN.
PREVIOUSLY ON TESIERA, THE TORTURER.
Kracus’ eyes abruptly sprang open in the pitch-black room. He sensed it immediately. He was not alone.
Instinctively, he reached for the bedside lamp and illuminated the room with a soft glow. His gaze wandered to a figure that was huddled against the wall.
Tesiera.
He blinked a few times to ensure that he was not dreaming. But he wasn’t. It was indeed her familiar figure.
“Tesiera?” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
She remained motionless, staring off into the distance. But he knew it was her. She was dressed in her usual attire; overall leather. But something seemed…off.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his concern growing with every passing moment. Judging from the open window beside her, he didn’t need to ask how she managed to enter his room.
Instead, he quickly wrapped his robe around his body, got out of bed and approached her.
“Don’t. I shouldn’t have come here.” she whispered in a hushed tone. “Don’t come any closer. Please.”
He halted in his tracks. Her tone was calm as usual, but there was a crack in her voice that broke something in him. And, the fact that she used the word “Please” was also highly unusual.
“Are you alright, Siera?” he asked in a soothing voice, “Baby, please talk to me.”
Silence hung in the air, and the tension in the room was palpable. Finally, she spoke.
“The house was too quiet,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Then, she stepped out of the shadows, and Kracus could finally see her face. Her expression was composed, but her eyes…
Tesiera Rinderson was fighting to hold back tears. And from the looks of it, she was in a losing battle.
As she approached him, Kracus instinctively opened his arms for her. He knew that she probably wouldn’t accept his embrace, but was unable to stop himself.
A tear escaped from her eyes. “The house was way too quiet, doc.” she repeated and her voice trembled slightly.
Then, she walked straight into his open arms, taking him by surprise.
“Work your magic, doc. Make this pain go away so I don’t have to do it my own way,” she whispered, against him.
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 71 – 80
AND NOW….
Holding Tesiera, Kracus couldn’t help but feel a genuine worry for her. That lone tear and the quiver in her voice unveiled a vulnerability he hadn’t seen before. What was bothering her? Had she failed her mission?
Yet, now wasn’t the moment for questions. Instead, he embraced her tightly, relishing the sensation of her warmth against him. Her arms hung loosely at her sides, but he didn’t mind. His hand traced soothing circles on her back.
Time could have slipped away unnoticed—minutes or hours, Kracus couldn’t say. He lost track of time, just holding her.
Finally, he let go of her and took her soft hand, guiding her to the other side of the bed, facing the bathroom. Leaving her there momentarily, he stepped out of the room.
But, he didn’t stay for long, he came back after a short while.
“I got someone to grab some nightclothes for you from your room,” Kracus explained softly as he approached her. “Let’s get you comfortable, honey,” he murmured gently, reaching for her leather jacket.
He expected her to protest but he was surprised when she didn’t. Instead she allowed him to take the jacket from her. It showed how disoriented she truly was.
As he helped Tesiera undress, he felt her gaze locked onto him. Meeting her eyes, he focused hard, determined not to let his eyes wander despite the temptation. He wanted her to know that she could trust him.
He unzipped and removed her leather, revealing her slender figure. He proceeded to take off her panties and bra, then pulled away.
A soft knock broke the silence. He walked to the door, chatted briefly with the guard, and retrieved some nightclothes for her.
As he returned to her, for a second, his eyes swept over her form. Intense desire surged through him at the sight of her incredible body, yet Kracus pushed aside his longing.
“Here,” he whispered softly, guiding her into the nighties. She stayed quiet, her gaze still fixed on him. The weight of her pain hung heavy in the room, and sadness washed over Kracus as his eyes met hers once more.
Tesiera Rinderson was stubbornly holding back her tears.
“It’s okay to cry, babe,” he said gently, “You know that right?”
“It’s not okay.” If she opened that emotional floodgate, Tesiera feared that she might never know how to close it back again. So, she must hold back.
However, a distraction would be nice. She closed the distance between them, bringing her face forward so he would catch her intent, before moving in to close the distance between their lips. But, Kracus pulled back.
“I gave consent,” her voice was low, almost a whisper.
“I know,” Kracus replied gently, taking her hand and leading her to the bed. He would not take advantage of her in this condition.
She let him guide her to the bed. He had her sit down, and he settled in behind her, holding a comb he’d taken from the drawer.
With careful strokes, he tackled the knot keeping her hair in a ponytail, setting it free. Her stunning red hair cascaded down her back, and he started to brush through them.
A calm quiet filled the air.
“Did your mission go as planned?” He asked at last as he combed her hair. It was incredibly soft and knot-free, but Kracus worked through small sections at a time anyway.
At first, she stayed quiet, but he gave her space. “It did. I got past security and took him out,” she replied with a satisfied tone. “I even enjoyed it. It’s just…” She shook her head, “I didn’t expect to feel something else.”
“Did he say something? Do something?” His voice oozed comfort, reassuringly gentle.
“A bit of both. But mostly, I guess it’s the fact that I finally got one of the men who took my father’s life so suddenly,” and submerged me into the fires of hell. But she kept the last part to herself.
His touch was strangely soothing, Tesiera thought. His solid warmth behind her tempted her to lean back into him, though she resisted.
It puzzled her why he hadn’t taken what she’d offered—something she knew he wanted—and instead chose to run a hairbrush through her hair.
Dr. Kracussian Kingston was definitely unpredictable.
But this, she realized, was kind of…nice. Relaxing. The tension seemed to melt away, and her heavy heart felt a bit lighter. She still felt terrible inside, and still fought to keep the stupid tears in, but now at least she felt better than she did when she’d felt came into this bedroom.
“He brought up that day. My father’s last moments. Said he wished he’d put a bullet through my head. He never thought that terrified eight-year old would come after his life to avenge her father oneday,” her voice remained steady, in stark contrast to her inner turmoil. “But what really got me was when he dismissed my father’s death as insignificant.”
Kracus let out a frustrated curse, his grip pausing briefly before he continued. “I’m truly sorry, baby.”
He’d called her that again, Tesiera noted. She usually hated being called ‘babe’ or ‘baby’ by anyone. Hell, she fought Rex about it all the time.
So why did it feel kind of right when it came from Kracus? Strange.
“You don’t have to be,” she went ahead to respond. “I gutted him like a pig and the girl he’d assaulted saw me put a bullet through his skull. That shit made my night.” she deadpanned.
“You caught him assaulting a girl?”
She nodded once. “Maggie. She’s barely eighteen. Caught him raping her.”
“I’m glad you made his death slow and painful.” Kracus was all about saving lives, but some men really deserves to dïe painfully. “What about the girl?”
“Sent her home.”
Kracus half-expected to be taken aback by that revelation, but strangely, he wasn’t.
Part of him always held onto the belief that Tesiera wasn’t as icy and heartless as she, and the world, thought. “You did a good thing, giving that girl another chance.”
Tesiera brushed it off, waving him away. “She didn’t leave me much choice, really. She was all set to cry, whine, and beg if I didn’t agree.”
Kracus grinned. How many other good deeds had she downplayed like that in her life?
“All set,” he declared, tying her hair back into a knot behind her.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
He guided her to lie down on the bed, spooning her from behind. “Hope this works?”
His presence overrode the turmoil inside her. He felt so comforting that she snuggled closer, settling against his body. “Yeah, it’s fine,” she sighed. Who would’ve guessed that snuggling could feel this good?
Kracus’ body stiffened as she closed the distance between their bodies completely. The sensation of her soft, round ass pressed against him felt so damn good, he waged a major battle for self-control with himself. He’d spotted an erection.
Holding his breath, he created a bit of space between their lower bodies.
He shifted his attention to sad unrelated thoughts—like a litter of sick puppies, memories of dead children in the emergency ward, then counted from ten to one. And then, he repeated the process in reverse.
Eventually, his arousal subsided.
Taking a deep breath, he eased against her, enfolding her in his arms. He breathed in her distinctive vanilla scent, a fragrance that seemed to emanate from her, whether it was her soap, lotion, or shampoo—he couldn’t tell. But over time, he had come to associate it with her.
“After my father passed away, I ended up on the streets and then bounced from one foster home to another. It was only in one of those homes that I finally felt like I truly belonged. Anne and Gilbert, a couple without children, treated me like their own. It was the first time since losing my father that I felt things might be okay,” Tesiera’s voice was hushed, staring at the distance.
Kracus listened while gently stroking her arm.
“Things were good for about two months. Then, the nightmares returned. Some nights, I’d wake up screaming, but luckily, Anne was a heavy sleeper, so I never disturbed her. However, Gilbert would wake up and come to my room, comforting me and helping me get back to sleep.”
“That was really kind of him,” Kracus offered softly.
“I thought so too, at first,” she added, her tone so low that he might have missed it if he wasn’t so attuned to her.
Kracus tensed but kept his silence.
“At first, he’d run his fingers through my hair, caress my neck, while saying things like, ‘It was just a bad dream, my dear. You’re safe, you’ll be okay. Daddy’s here to protect you from those nightmares,’ and so on. I believed him, felt a sense of safety with him,” Tesiera paused, her throat tightening.
This memory used to make her so mad, but tonight… It fucking hurt. Her heart was squeezing the hell outta her chest.
Your feelings are all over the place, Tesiera. Control yourself.
She focused on the travel photography hanging on the wall. A picture of a beautiful waterfall gushing with clear water, descending gracefully from rocky cliff. “Then one night, like usual, he came in after a nightmare to console me. But this time, he didn’t stop at touching; he, um…he went way beyond that.”
Kracus tensed, his unease mounting. He didn’t like where this was going. “Did he…” his voice trailed off, filled with apprehension. He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Yep.” The word hung in the air, spoken so softly that he might not have caught it if he weren’t pressed so closely behind her.
“Shit hurt like hell. I was ten, I couldn’t understand why he’d do something that caused me that much pain. I felt so betrayed. Even when I cried and begged him to stop because it hurt, he wouldn’t stop. Instead, he shushed me and said I shouldn’t wake ‘mommy ‘ or she’d be furious with me.”
Kracus remained silent behind her, though Tesiera sensed the tension radiating from his body. Did he realize that his hand, resting on her midriff, had clenched almost painfully tight?
She didn’t call his attention to it though. Instead, she continued, “It happened twice before I escaped from there. That was my final foster home before hitting the streets. I was lucky enough to pair up with a woman and her child, picking up skills like stealing food, self-defense, and anything to help with self-sufficiency. I stayed two months before Big Cat’s men tracked me down,” she finished, her breath catching. She was more than she’d spoken in ages.
A heavy silence followed, almost comforting in its familiarity. Tesiera listened to the steady ticking of the clock.
Then, a tender kiss brushed against her shoulder, “I’m really sorry you had to endure that,” Kracus’ voice rumbled softly, sending a shiver across her skin.
“It’s all in the past,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand. But the quiver in her voice gave away her true feelings. She really hated the mess she’d become tonight, all because of that bastard Jake Blake. Oh, how she wished she could get her hands on him again, she’ll kill him once again.
“Where is he now, Gilbert?” Kracus inquired, his anger barely restrained.
A small smile tugged at her lips for the first time, “Oh, he’s dead. He became my first kill after I underwent combat training. My instructor let me choose my first test, so I chose him.” she shrugged.
“I’m relieved to hear that,” Kracus replied sincerely.
Tesiera shifted then, turning to meet his gaze.
“Careful there, doc. I might just be turning you over to the dark side,” she said in her usual serious tone, but there was a hint of playful teasing underlying her words.
His tension eased slightly, a small smile tugging at his lips. “If that’s the case, I don’t mind the conversion.” His attention was drawn to her tattoo. “The ink on your skin, what’s the meaning behind it?”
Following his gaze to the words etched in black ink between two crossed blades, Tesiera whispered, “Never Forget.”
Kracus understood the tattoo was like a tribute to her biological father’s death. He wanted to tell her that he would help her take down the remaining culprits, to support her in seeking revenge, even if it meant doubling his effort on the search for Kracullian—or his corpse if he was truly dead.
However, he hesitated, not knowing how she’d react to that. So, he kept his thoughts to himself, at least for now.
Not for the first time, He felt a pang of guilt for initially misjudging her when they’d first met. He’d labeled her a murderer, a ruthless killer, but in truth, she had lived a difficult life and learned to survive.
“You’re a strong woman, Sierra. And I mean that in more ways than just your physical strength.”
Tesiera closed the gap between them until their bodies were mere inches apart. Kracus locked eyes with her, noticing the lines of fatigue on her face. His gaze trailed down to the soft, inviting curve of her lips, and his mouth watered.
He remembered the sensation of her lips against his from that night three weeks ago. He was never gonna admit it out loud but he’d thought about it far more times than he’d care to admit since then. He—
Kracus’ train of thought ground to an abrupt halt as Tesiera moved unexpectedly, bridging the gap between them and covered his mouth with hers.
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 71 – 80
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