so hold me

Uncertainty ran rife through Iolaire. Roan said that everything would be okay. He assured her that there was no way to go but up. However, Yrionne had said much the same. She wanted to believe the man with every fiber of her being, but there was that sense of self preservation within her that told her to be wary. Be cautious. That wouldn't stop her from growing to love Roan. It would just keep her mentally prepared for anything.

He pulled her against him and she went willingly, molding her body against his. The little willow was providing ample shade and a modicum of privacy as well. Iolaire sighed aloud and buried her face in the thicker fur of his ruff. "I want everything to be okay," she admitted. Though she'd told Roan of her past that night before the storm, she hadn't told him the details. She hadn't told him that she'd given herself to Yrionne entirely. She had stopped being 'Iolaire' and had become 'Yrionne's mate.' She had been devoted, 'head over heels' as the saying went. And in the end that devotion had bitten her in the face like some poisonous snake. She couldn't let that happen again. It would literally destroy her.

"Just don't hurt me, okay?" Io whispered softly into Roan's obsidian and silver fur. In that moment, she felt as small as she was. She felt as vulnerable as a newborn pup; deaf, blind and helpless. She had stressed that things would be casual, but already she considered them a couple and was thinking of every possibility that the future could hold. At the moment, most of those possibilities were negative.