Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
She was sitting still, staring at me, but it was as if she was vacant. Like the lights were on but no one was home. Maybe she was in shock absorbing the news. I could only imagine how big this must be for her.
“We have to play things extremely carefully for damage control, so I’m gonna ask you to stay here while I figure things out. Help you figure out what’s next. Yeah?”
She said nothing.
“Felicia?”
Her eyes snapped to my face.
“You have questions?”
She rubbed her hand along her throat where the collar had been, a look on her face like she couldn’t get enough air. She swallowed slowly and as if she was having trouble doing it. And then she took a big breath as she stared at the ceiling. She started to shake her head in disbelief. She just sat there shaking her head. Her eyes got confused, then they looked angry, she narrowed them at me while still shaking her head. The anger tweaked me for a split second, made my scalp prickle, making me wonder if she was gonna have an issue with my being against them. Then her eyes got distraught-looking. She shook her head some more and then she covered both of her eyes with her palms and began to shake like a leaf in the wind.
I was sitting opposite her, on the other sofa. I got to my feet.
“Need something stronger than water?”
She didn’t answer me. She just kept shaking her head, her whole body trembling. Her teeth started to chatter. She was in shock.
I reached for a throw on the arm of the sofa I was on and moved toward her, sat beside her and put the blanket over her shoulders. “Hey?” I reached over and smoothed a lock of her hair away from her face. “It’s gonna be okay.” I put a hand on her back.
She grabbed me. She grabbed me and, in a flash, she climbed me, the blanket falling off her. She was on my lap, her arms around my neck, and she started wailing, sobbing so loud while clutching me that I could do nothing but hang onto her. So I did.
She was plastered against me, wailing into my chest and hanging on for dear life.
And she cried so hard and so long, with her body trembling hard, that she tuckered herself out and eventually the sobs stopped, then the shudders stopped, and then her breathing went soft, and she fell asleep on me.
She was curled up in a ball with her head on my chest, her knees pulled up against her own chest, her dress up around her waist, but she hadn’t even noticed. One arm was wedged between my back and the sofa and the other hand had been holding tight to my shirt at my shoulder.
I had both arms around her, one hand on the back of her head and the other at the small of her back and my head tilted back on the sofa, eyes on the ceiling. Wow. That was fucking rough.
A few minutes after she went limp, I cradled her tighter into my arms, lifting her and taking her to my bedroom. I yanked the comforter back and then put her in the bed and covered her up. She didn’t wake. She snuggled into the pillow and then in her sleep muttered, “Master.”
I felt a muscle jump in my cheek. I shook my head and then reached in between my mattress and box spring, grabbed my gun and backed out of the room, shutting the door behind me.
I re-set the security system. I really didn’t think she’d try to take off but who knew what’d happen when she opened her eyes. Maybe she’d be unstable. I checked my gun, finished my water, and then stripped down to boxers and headed to the linen closet for bedding and walked to the den to make up the futon. I tucked the gun between the mattress and the wooden frame.
I’d get her chilled out and get things safe and try to help her move on while I sorted out the craziness that was my life. I needed to sort out the business and then find a way to get my life moving in a better direction. No more scumbags. No more shady shit.
Fuck, after this trip to Thailand, more than ever I was so done. But because of this shit it might be a while before I could walk away. A long while. It was a complication… to put it mildly.
Something tickled my face. I was flat out, crashed on the futon. It wasn’t comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but I wasn’t alone. It was still dark and she was leaning over me and her hair was tickling my chin. I snapped up to sitting. Her shoulders were in my hands