Luna laughed. “I wish I’d been that creative. But no. I walked out of the cabin. I’d done my share of the work and cleaned up my assigned part of the bathroom. But when the rest of my cabin mates arrived for dinner that night, that girl, the mean one, wouldn’t let me sit at our normal table. So I sat alone.” She sighed. “At the bonfire that night, I didn’t feel like being ostracized further, so I went down to the lake and sat on the dock, looking at the stars.” She stared out at the courtyard, silent for a long moment. “A group of boys came down. I don’t think they knew I was there, at first. At least, I was pretty sure that they hadn’t followed me.” She looked back at him, grimacing slightly. “I think I was more of an opportunity rather than a planned ‘conquest’.”
Tasim’s body tightened as he realized where this story was going. “Tell me they didn’t…!”
She gave an odd sort of half laugh. “No, they came down onto the docks, laughing and joking. But when they spotted me, alone, they started getting some really vicious ideas.”
“And you…?”
Luna glanced over at him, smiling crookedly. “I wasn’t going to be a victim. So, instead of trying to get past them on the narrow, wooden dock, which I knew they wouldn’t allow because they wanted to have some fun with me. So instead, I jumped into the lake.”
“You…?! In the dark? Wasn’t it cold?”
She smiled. “Yep. It was dark. And cold. I don’t think they wanted to get into the water that night. So, I swam under water as far as I could. When I surfaced, I was pretty close to the wooded area on the other side of the camp. The boys were still looking out to the middle of the lake, trying to find me. I climbed out of the lake and went back to my cabin.”
“And you told the camp counselors that the boys were about to rape you?”
She snorted, shaking her head. “No way. The counselors wouldn’t have believed me. Women are rarely believed, especially if the boys had ganged up and claimed that I’d teased them into coming down to the lake.”
He muttered something under his breath, which she took to be rather pointed expletives. “What happened?”
She shrugged. “I called my parents, told them what had happened. They came and got me the next day. When Elon heard what had happened, he gave me a small knife and showed me how to use it. He ordered me to practice at least an hour every single day until I could throw it accurately.”
Tasim nodded with arrogant approval. “Good man.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know if a knife would have been enough during a moment like that one. Six boys against one girl? And I was a few years younger than they were. I was terrified of those teenage boys.”
“Still, it’s not right!”
She smiled, warmed by his words of support. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But,” she let out a deep breath, “that’s how I learned to throw a knife so accurately.” She looked into his eyes. “I’ve never forgotten that feeling of being powerless. Elon showed me that I’m not. That I can learn skills that would help in those kinds of situations.” She shifted away from him. “In this instance, I am relieved that I was able to stop the snake from hurting anyone.”
She looked fixedly out the window for a long moment, trying to school her expression. Her heart thudded against her ribs at the look in his eyes. Luna was used to anger from him. She’d known him for less than twenty-four hours, but she knew his reputation and it wasn’t one of compassion.
So, why was he looking at her like that? Why did his eyes convey a message of…admiration? Compassion? And something more. Something that she couldn’t quite define?
“I…um…I need to check in with the kitchen about tonight’s dinner,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward and self-conscious. She looked up at him and, for a long moment, neither of them moved. Tension flared. Awareness of him as a man wove between them and she felt her body tighten with surprise…and something more. When she saw his eyes flare with that same awareness, Luna felt her animosity towards him soften.
It was such a strange reaction, it pulled her back to reality. Jerking backwards, Luna looked around, feeling as if the world has suddenly shifted, spinning in a different direction all of a sudden.
“I’d better go,” she whispered, feeling awkward and out of sorts. This was her enemy! He had sneered at her, unfairly maligned her. Made her feel small and insignificant! And then, adding insult to injury, he’d piled her plate with broccoli last night. Luna absolutely hated broccoli! But she’d gagged her way through the meal, resenting him with every bite.
So, why did she feel…a connection to him?
It didn’t make sense, so she turned on her heel and left the bedroom.
Tasim watched Luna leave, feeling oddly…comforted? No, that definitely wasn’t the right word. Connected? Yes. He’d felt that surge of awareness between them. For the first time, Luna had seen him as a man, not as her enemy. For one brief moment, they were no longer on opposite sides of the political spectrum. For that moment when she’d looked into his eyes, they’d been…man and woman. Base instincts had kicked in.
Still, he remained in place, watching her hurry out of the room. Luna’s bedroom! Damn, he was in her bedroom.
Looking around, he noticed the small details. Such as the fact that her dressing table wasn’t covered end to end with cosmetics, like his sister’s. She was neat and tidy, with only few select items on the top. There might
