Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“I need this to be off. Now,” she mutters.
I nod and walk to the back of the cell, turning around to give her some privacy.
I hear her throw it off and chuck it into a corner, her teeth clattering. So I turn on the shower from where I’m at and look at her shadow dancing on the wall.
“Can you stay like that? Turned away?”
I nod. “If that’s what you want.”
She breathes out a sigh of relief, and I hear more stuff coming off. All of it is chucked to my right, and I can see the stack growing. A dress, shoes, panties, and a bra.
“What did he do to you?” I ask, wondering what it would take for someone to want to undress so violently.
“He made me put that thing on,” she says. “To make me look like his wife.”
Fuck.
What a fucking bastard.
“Did he hurt you?” I ask, making a fist, ready to punch a hole into this wall as well as that fucker. “Because if he did, I swear I’ll—”
Something soft and velvety is slipped off and thrown into the corner to my right. Gloves. “You’ll do what?”
I’ll kill him.
Cut off his limbs.
Poke out his eyes.
Make him eat his own dick.
But I realize now that’s only a fantasy. In this prison, I am nothing but a caged beast with unrelenting hatred and fury.
And he knows this.
She knows this.
“I want to protect you,” I say.
It’s quiet for a moment, and I wish I could look at her. It’s costing every inch of my self-control not to.
“I can protect myself,” she replies.
It’s practically silent around me until her body finally interrupts the water clashing down onto the ground.
For a single second, I catch a glimpse of her soft skin through the reflection of the mirror near the sink, and our eyes connect.
“Please, don’t look at me.”
My eyes avert back to the wall as puffs of steam blow past me and onto the wall, allowing me to paint a picture with water of what I saw in that single moment.
It’s beautiful.
“Why are you scared?” I ask.
“I’m not,” she says. “It’s just …” She sighs. “Forget it.”
“No,” I say. “I want to know.”
“My father told me it was forbidden,” she says.
Forbidden.
Seems he used that word a lot.
“He doesn’t own you,” I say. “Not the way my owner owns me.”
She doesn’t respond. But I know she heard me.
Footsteps are audible, and the shower is turned off. She grabs the last towel off the shelf and I can hear her swaddle herself.
I glance at her pile of clothes, which remains untouched.
“I don’t want to put it back on,” she murmurs, “but I have nothing else.”
I immediately take off the long white shirt the guard chucked at me and throw it over my shoulder without a second thought. “You can have mine.”
Aurora
First, he offers to protect me.
Now he offers me his clothes?
I’m too flabbergasted to say anything, let alone move. Even though he stays put near the wall, dangling that shirt of his like it’s a peace offering.
I thought I was confused before, but now …
Sighing, I step closer and quickly grasp the shirt, putting it on before he can see me naked. Then I sneak over to the pile of clothes and grab the gloves, tucking my hands inside. The panties I stole are still good, so I put those on too.
I don’t have any leggings in here, but his shirt is long enough to cover me like a dress.
When I look down to check, my nostrils catch a whiff of his scent. My cheeks flush as endorphins rush through my body.
No one’s ever been this kind to me before, yet he’s the reason I’m in here in the first place.
All of these conflicting emotions are hard to swallow.
“I’m dressed now,” I say.
He briefly glances at me over his shoulder before turning around. The grumpy look on his face makes me feel confused.
“What?” I immediately look down at the gloves, but they’re on correctly so that can’t be it.
Only when I look up do I notice the extra wound on his belly. My eyes widen in shock. “Who did that to you?”
“Raymond,” he replies, taking in a big breath.
I grimace. “Why? What happened?”
I shouldn’t care, but for some reason, I do.
But when his fists tighten and his jaw clenches, I realize there can only be one reason.
My eyes widen. “Because of me?”
He nods, and my stomach drops.
“I like you.”
What?
No, that can’t be true.
I shake my head. “Don’t say that.”
Even if it is true, I do not want him to bear these scars. Not for me. Not for anyone, but definitely not for me.
I shake my head. “You brought me here.” It’s impossible to hold back the anger lacing my voice. “It’s because of you that I’m in this cell, this prison.”
The look in his eyes is full of pain, and it hurts. It physically hurts.