His Adam's apple bobbed. "I understand," he said in a hoarse voice as he stared into her sapphire blue eyes. He took a strand of her wet hair and tucked them behind her ear. "You are the bravest woman I've ever encountered and I admire you." He kissed her forehead and then curled his hand around her nape to tuck her face in his neck. His mother Adrianna had also encountered a lot of hardships. She always had to prove herself. But Anastasia—her tortures were a level beyond comprehension. "Maple is a twisted woman. Sometimes I feel she isn't a Fae. She is a bloody anomaly."
"Why do you say that?" Anastasia asked as she inhaled his scent. It calmed her and steadied the rhythm of her heart.
"When she had posted me in her chamber during those sessions of pleasure, I used to see the slit of her eyes becoming narrow and yellow when she had an orgasm. Once her wings came out in throes of pleasure, but they were so battered… not like normal faes have..."
This chapter and the next were so moving that I nearly cried writing them...