Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Ow,” I cried out, eyes glistening, then tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Yeah, you’re gonna be hurting,” he said, his forearm pressing against the back of my neck, the pressure crushing my face against the step as his hand went back to my waistband, yanking hard at the material.
But it was just then as the pain and hopelessness overtook me, sure that there was no way to avoid the evil intentions this guy had, I heard it.
A door opening and closing above us.
Footsteps running down toward us.
The man stood suddenly, the pressure releasing.
“This isn’t over,” he declared as he turned and ran in the direction we’d both come from.
“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you okay?” a voice called, making me realize I’d just been lying there, face on the dirty, cold cement step.
“He ran down,” I said, seeing a man in a black and white security uniform. “Tall, bald,” I added, wiping at my eyes as I sat up.
He didn’t pause to ask more questions, just took off at a dead-run, his adrenaline likely surging.
The door above opened and closed again, then there were more footsteps as I cradled my face in my hands.
“Siana!” Alaric’s voice called, an edge to it I’d never heard before. Frantic.
I wanted to call to him, but was too busy letting out little whimpers as the migraine screamed through my skull.
“Baby… fuck,” Alaric said, coming to a stop in front of me, then squatting down, his hands reaching for my face, pulling my hands away. “Are you okay?” he asked. “What happened? Did you fall?”
“No,” I said, my voice catching as I squinted up at him, reaching again for my cheek. “It was him,” I said. “The guard went after him,” I added.
“Don’t worry about him, baby. I’ll deal with him,” he said, pulling my hand away from my face, again, then reaching out toward it. “Fuck, okay,” he said when the slightest bit of pressure had me hissing and yanking back hard enough to knock my head against the wall.
“He slammed my face into the step,” I told Alaric, sniffling hard as more tears fell down my cheeks.
“Okay. Come here, baby,” he said as more footsteps came from both above and below us.
More security guards, likely tipped off by the others, needing to check on me, get my story.
“She needs to be seen by someone,” Alaric said, reaching down, and carefully pulling me into his arms before standing.
The guards followed us down to the emergency room, where I went through triage, made my way back, then waited to be seen by the doctor.
“Baby, talk to me,” Alaric implored, voice thick with emotion.
“My head hurts,” I said, cradling my forehead as I rocked on the hospital bed.
“I know, baby. They’re gonna give you something once they check you out,” he assured me, his hand rubbing my thigh reassuringly.
“He got away, didn’t he?” I asked, eyes squeezed shut.
“Seems like it. But not for long. He’ll pay for this,” Alaric said, his hand reaching out, so his finger could stroke my cheek. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked.
“My hair hurts.”
“Your hair?”
“Scalp,” I clarified, my brain wasn’t working right with all the pain. “He pulled my hair, then slammed me against the step by it. Then he… he was trying to…” I sucked in a deep breath. “To pull down my shorts,” I admitted. “To persuade me to tell him where the drugs are.”
“Oh, baby,” he said, the bed shifting as he joined me, his arm going around my back, pulling me close, and pressing a kiss to my temple. “He’s never going to get near you again,” he assured me.
“Can you check on Kylo?” I asked when the doctor came to tell me I was going to need to get a scan.
“Baby, I need to stay with you,” he insisted. “I’m not letting you out of my sight from now on.”
“Gotta agree with that, darlin’,” Kylo’s voice said, appearing out of nowhere, making my eyes slit open, wincing at the bright fluorescent lights overhead.
But, sure enough, there he was.
In his hospital gown, looking weak and in pain himself. But there. Wanting to check on me.
I watched the two men share a dark look.
“Trying to steal my thunder, huh, darlin’?” Kylo asked, forcing a smile that I knew he didn’t feel, not with the way tension had a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“I’m okay,” I insisted, even if I felt like garbage.
“You will be,” Kylo countered. “Once they let you out, so this guy can take care of you.”
The nurse came to take me down to get my scan then. I had no idea what the guys discussed while I was gone, but when I got back, Kylo was gone again.
“Did he go back to bed?” I asked.
“Yeah. Thigh started aching, so I sent him back up, told ‘em there’s nothing he can do. And that I was just waiting to bring you home.”