Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
I nodded and forced myself off the bed. My limbs felt almost fluid, certainly not solid enough to hold me up, but they managed. I crossed the room to the bathroom, but I didn’t close the door. I just turned on the faucet and stepped beneath the spray. I’d attributed most of his tension to me this morning, but I was beginning to see he was more on edge than I’d thought, increasingly so every day.
2
Scarlett
With Marcos dead, I didn’t understand why he seemed so worried, but it was clear he didn’t think the entire threat had been neutralized.
Had Marcos merely been one of several? Did other sick and powerful men know about me? I’d learned I was supposed to have been Derek’s revenge but was there more to it?—others who wanted to see my father pay for his sins? The thought sent a shiver down my spine and made my hands fly faster across my skin. I was suddenly anxious to be on our way, too, putting as much distance between me and whatever men still might be hoping to use me in their vengeful plans.
As soon as I was done, I shut off the water and toweled off as quickly as I could. My clothes were in the other room though. I thought about wrapping the towel around me, but it almost seemed silly to cover up in front of Derek. He’d seen every part of me—what did I have left to hide?
Leaving the towel, I walked out intending to retrieve my clothes from the bag he’d stored them in, but the bag was gone. The room was spotless, and Derek was nowhere to be seen. No note on the table. He was just gone. Had he let me after all?
A pain shot through my heart at the thought, and I stood there, staring at the table as if I could make a note materialize out of sheer will. A note to say he’d gone on a coffee run or went to get gas for the car, or snacks for the road. Anything.
No note appeared on the table. The pain in my chest increased as if someone was squeezing my heart.
I wasn’t prepared for it when the door swung open. Derek walked in, and the sob I’d been holding back came out like a strangled cry. I wanted to drop to my knees, rush into his arms and collapse in a big ball of crazy, all at the same time. I settled for standing there as he approached while my bottom lip trembled like a child.
“What’s wrong, Pet?” he asked, running his hands over me, not seductively, but like he was searching for some physical injury to explain what was going on.
“Nothing’s wrong. I came out and you weren’t here, and there was no note, so I thought you’d left.” I rushed, and then finished with a ridiculous sniffle. Great. I sounded like an overgrown child with some serious separation issues.
He smiled, though his eyes looked sad, and he pulled me against him and rubbed my upper back soothingly. The wounds across my lower back had already begun to heal, but still, he seemed careful of them.
“I just went to put our things in the car. I would never…” He let his words trail off because we both knew they weren’t true. In reality, if he knew without a doubt I’d be safe, I think he would have left. Not because he didn’t care about me—I had to believe he did—but because he believed what I felt for him was all a result of my time in captivity.
That’s why I looked for a note any time he went out, and that was why I was quick to assume he’d left when there was none. I had a feeling if I didn’t change his mind about the source of my feelings for him, one of these days when I no longer needed to be protected, he would be gone.
I clung to him now, as if by doing so I could keep him here forever, but reason returned quickly. I knew we couldn’t linger any longer. I had delayed him by hours already. I could only hope he was wrong about the need to keep running.
“I’m all right,” I said in the most ‘all right’ voice I could muster.
“Good,” he replied as he dropped his arms to his sides. “Because if you don’t get dressed right now, we’re going to have another delay we can’t afford.”
I glanced down automatically to discover he wasn’t joking. His growing erection was already visible against his pants. Man, the Energizer Bunny had nothing on him. And as much as I wanted to pursue that line of thought, I couldn’t. We needed to leave.
I stepped back and saw the clothes he’d brought back with him from the car. He’d dropped them on the floor when he saw me standing there, sobbing like a fool.