Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Avery Gale Page A

fact they’d been buried deep. Doctor’s records showed signs of extreme stress and indicated she would be a prime candidate for PTSD. Mitch was a former Special Forces soldier and had given Trace a brief rundown of symptoms to watch for and suggestions for ways to alleviate the stress the symptoms might be causing her. After Alex, Zach, and Dylan had disconnected from the conference call, Mitch had asked him directly, “Are you interested in her, Trace? Because if you are, I’m going to secure most of this information because I want it to be for your eyes only. There is a lot I didn’t mention in the call with everyone else because I wanted to talk with you first.”
    Trace wasn’t surprised by Mitch’s observation. The man was an empath and often heard the thoughts of other people, but still his consideration was welcome. Trace explained his instant connection to Tori and asked that Mitch follow through with suppressing the information and asked that he also give a heads-up to his wife, Rissa, that he’d be bringing Tori around to dinner and would appreciate if she and the other women would make Tori feel as welcome as possible. Mitch assured him that Rissa would be happy to help and he’d make sure Katarina and Jenna also knew so they could focus on welcoming Tori to their makeshift family.
    After ending his calls, Trace poured himself a small glass of scotch and sat watching the last flames flicker in the fireplace. He was lost in thought about how to best help Tori when her scream pierced the silence. He was sprinting down the hall when he heard what sounded like someone falling to the floor. As he entered the room he nearly panicked when he didn’t see Tori on the bed. He had left the bedside lamp on so she wouldn’t wake up in a dark room, and in its soft glow he caught movement in the corner of the room. Moving to squat in front of her cowering form, he reached out to her, and she screamed and tried to bat his hands away. “No! No! Please! I’m begging you, don’t touch me! I can’t believe you killed her! Why? Why?” She started to cover her face only to curl further in a ball, wrapping her arms over her head as if protecting herself from an unseen attacker.
    Trace moved back a foot or so and spoke to her in soft tones. “Tori, wake up, princess, it’s me, Trace. You are safe now, please wake up. Come on back to me, sweetheart.” Her gasping breaths and sobbing were tearing him apart. “Come on, Tori, wake up and look at me.” He’d used his Dom voice and had heard the quick hitch in her breathing.
    Tori slowly moved her arms away from her head and looked up with wide-eyed fear, and Trace swore to himself that he wanted nothing more than to make sure that look of terror never filled her beautiful dark eyes again. “That’s it, princess, look at my face. It’s Trace and you are safe with me. When you know who I am, reach out for my hand. I don’t want to frighten you further by reaching for you.” This was one of the things Mitch had just told him to use when dealing with a PTSD victim, and he would make a point to thank his friend for his insight and guidance because the shift in her body language was almost immediate after he’d spoken the words to her.
    Slowly he could see her focus return, and she lifted her hand to him at almost the same time she launched her delicate body into his arms. Her deep sobs were gut-wrenching, but Trace held her as they sat together on the floor, and he just let her vent all the pent-up emotion. “It’s okay, princess, let it out. You are safe now, but get out all that fear and sadness. I’ll hold you for as long as it takes.” Trace was sure his heart cracked nearly in two as he held her close. He couldn’t imagine what horrors she’d been through, and he was sure having to do so without any support from friends or family would have been more than most people would have been able to survive.
    Trace knew Tori had to feel completely flattened by the