Chapter 65

• My body instinctively swiveled back around at the mention of those filthy beasts who dared to touch her without consent. I immediately refuted, "You are the only woman that I consider beautiful in my eyes, but you should never feel like you have to offer yourself up to me like a piece of meat." My hands rubbed soft soothing circles on her shoulders as I continued, "I can tell that you're not actually ready yet right now despite your words. You're practically trembling under my hands, and I promised that I would never touch you until I knew that you were fully ready."
• Her lips pressed into a thin line as she clutched her loosely hanging dress to her chest. "I-It's just that those girls w-were saying that you w-would eventually leave me when you realized that there were b-better girls out there..."
• I slowly reached up to cup her cheeks in my palms, gently lifting her head up to look at me. "My love, I thought I made it clear that I wouldn't want anyone but you. It pains me to see you think so lowly of yourself when you are the smartest..."