For the first times since she'd known him, he chortled slightly when he saw her defiant smirk, slowly shaking his head as if to tell her she'd gotten it all wrong. "I do not want you to fear me, Damita..not me." The inflection of his voice made it clear that he was carefully differentiating between fearing him and fearing the beast.<br/><br/>His hand began to glide softly along the back of her neck, his black eyes roaming back and forth between her cinnamon. His other hand stroked idly at the small of her back. "The Jaega..the women..they fear me. This is why Chief Otaohnacto want to find me a companion from outside the tribe."<br/><br/>He pursed his lips slightly, as if trying to decide what to say next, or whether or not to say it at all. "I'm sorry." Meaning everything...her being given away by her father, her rough treatment the previous night..all of it.