She offers him what he's spent years protecting. What he's spent years resisting.
She offers what he never claimed, she offers him more than he has ever had, and it terrifies him.
He leaves his cell at the darkest hour of night, careful not to wake her, careful not to wake the dogs that surround them.
He looks up and knows there's only one way out, one way to protect her, only one way for him to resist what she offers him.
He ties the rope around him and climbs, his toned body flexing under the moon with each movement, with each inch gained. He makes it up to the ledge, his eyes fixed on the second, most difficult to obtain ledge and leaps. He barely gets a finger hold yet still manages to pull himself up.
He allows himself a moment of rest, sweat streaming down his face and arms. He doesn't allow himself to think of her, still sleeping in his bed. He doesn't allow himself to think she means what she says, that she truly understands what she offers him.
He grips a stone and pulls himself closer to the night and the moon that guide his path.
Shame is his companion as he moves carefully, quickly, shame that he is dooming her, shame that he is dooming himself. Yet shame is replaced by his understanding, this is the only way out. This is the only way he can protect her.
He does not realize how close he is to the top until he hears the shriek of a passing bird. He pauses and looks up. He's only two arm lengths away from the world; he's only two arm lengths away from sun and stars, from fresh air and fresh water.
He looks down, shame and regret burning in his throat like bile.
He closes his eyes and knows he'll live in agony rather than leave her. He realizes he'd rather spend every second resisting the temptation than be without her. With a single movement, a flex of muscle, he's flung from the wall of stone and is dropping through the air.
He losses consciences seconds before the rope snaps taunt and when he wakes hours later, he cuts himself free and hurries back to his cell, ignoring the blinding pain crushing his ribs.
He is her protector; he will protect her, even from herself.