“I’d rather you left my hairy little eight legged friends alone, thank you very much. They eat the flies, you know.” There was no venom or real heat in his words, and he sounded, if his voice was anything to judge by, just happy to be able to talk about the damn spiders again after so long. “Don’t worry; I did enough scaring for the both of us. I even had Nia on edge, and you know how much she loves to push my buttons.” It was true, Nia had been more nervous than Des about meeting Prudii, although des came a real close second. Prudii had been all for dragging his daughter out of that strange, pretty boy interloper’s mansion and giving her a stern talking to, but God help him, he’d seen the love in Des’s eyes when he looked at his little girl, and he knew there was no helping it. Nia was smitten, and Des was in love.
There would be nothing that could break them apart. It made his heart ache and he wished his love had been that strong…strong enough to keep Madeline by his side. He gently smoothed down her hair, running his hands across her neck and back, gently pulling her closer. “I don’t expect anything of you, Madeline. Nothing at all. I don’t want you to tell me what I want to hear; I want you to tell me what you feel from now on. Don’t try to please me; think of yourself first. I don’t want what happened to…happen again. Okay? Just promise me that. It’s all I ask of you.” He gently reached down and nudged her face up with his hand, capturing her gaze briefly, sternly, before he let her tuck her head back into the crook of his neck. He knew she was hiding from him, and maybe from herself. He didn’t mind; he’d give her whatever she needed.
“Des told me…He said that Nia was terrified that she’d be alone. That he’d want to marry her and then change his mind and leave her because she was such a horrible person. She thought she was like you, she thought she wasn’t worth loving, really loving, until Des came along. She cried for the first time that day since you left, Madeline. She cried because she didn’t think she was good enough to be his wife, that she’d drive him away from her. He changed her mind in the end, and I’m glad he did. He saw who our little girl really was, and he loved her for or in spite of it, I’m not sure. She’ll never be alone, not while she has Des. I just want you to know that you can have that too. You’ll never have to be alone, Maddi. Not as long as you stay with me.”
Prudii felt the tear soak through his shirt and seep into his skin. He frowned, gently pulling her away from him and crooking a finger under her chin to lift her head to face him. “What’s this? I thought we were over tears, cyar’ika. Is it because you’re worried my clothes might actually fit you?” he teased, his eyes glowing a deep gold in the light from the fire. “I’d rather face your mother than let you go anywhere without me. You and I can go get your stuff tomorrow. In the meantime…” He leaned forward, tentatively, something uncharacteristic of Prudii, and gently brushed his lips against hers. It was slow, hesitant, and he quickly retreated, looking almost ashamed. “…in the meantime, let’s eat dinner, all right?”