Chapter Eleven #2
“No, baby. You’re not stupid. You were protecting your family.” I kissed her forehead. “Need to tell you something. I’m so fucking proud of you. Not only for staying alive, but for thinking of others. You’re my fierce Tinkerbell, and I love you.”
She turned her head to look up at me. “You love me?”
“Yeah. I do.”
She reached up, her fingers brushing my jaw. “Love you too.”
“We’ll get through this, Tink. Your dad and grandfather are cleaning things up, making sure there’s no one left alive who could come after you. You’re safe. I’m only sorry I didn’t get to you sooner.”
She fingered her shirt, poking at the slices from where Carlos had tried to cut her clothes from her. “What happened?”
She was starting to sound more like herself and I hoped it meant the drugs were wearing off. I took her hand in mind, closing my fingers over hers. “Don’t worry about it, baby. I got there before he did anything else. We’ll burn these clothes. Hell, I’ll buy an entire new wardrobe if you want.”
We rode the rest of the way in silence, with her snuggled against me.
It gave me time to think of all the ways I’d fucked up.
Logan had let her walk out, and I’d understood why, but it also showed me I needed to up our security measures.
I needed a way to make sure men like Tony couldn’t get anywhere near the gates.
Lyssa might be the only old lady at the compound, but I knew there would be more in the upcoming years.
And children. There was no fucking way I was going to bring a child into this dark world without a better way to protect them.
I shot off a few texts to the other officers in my club, hoping they’d read them when they had a chance and come up with some ideas.
We had a lot of planning to do between now and when my first kid was born.
With the way Lyssa and I had been going at it, I would honestly be surprised if she wasn’t pregnant already.
She hadn’t had a period since she’d been with me, but maybe it was just too soon.
I knew she hadn’t asked for a pregnancy test yet.
The SUV pulled up to the gate and I leaned forward to shout out to Logan through the window. He let us through, and I directed Tyson to my house. I got out with Lyssa in my arms and went inside, going straight to our bathroom.
“We’ll get you cleaned up, Tink.”
“Can we use the tub?” she asked. “I need you to hold me, Eric. I know it sounds whiny and needy, but… I was so damn worried I’d never see you again.”
“I’ll fill the tub.” I kissed her cheek, then her lips.
Just a soft brush of my mouth against hers.
When I released her, I leaned over to put the stopper in the tub and turned on the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot.
I carefully removed her clothes, worried if I moved too fast or got too rough she might fall apart.
They’d been torn, and it looked like she’d gotten sick on herself.
My gut clenched at all she’d suffered in the short time those bastards had her in their grasp. Once I had her undressed, I stripped.
I lifted her into my arms again and sat in the tub, holding her in my lap.
She clung to me, not acting at all like the badass I’d known her to be so far.
It worried me. Had Carlos been right? Had he broken her?
He’d mentioned fucking her first, and he hadn’t gotten that far yet, but had the entire ordeal just been too much for her to handle?
I shut off the water and waited for her to relax at least a little.
As much as I wanted to run my hands over her, I didn’t want to risk scaring her more.
My strong, beautiful woman had been through hell.
I’d give her whatever she needed, even if it was space.
Eventually, she sagged against me, all the tension drained from her body.
I washed her, using slow gentle strokes to clean every inch of her. When my fingers brushed her pussy, she shook and I realized she was crying, her nails biting into me. I wrapped my arms around her and murmured words of comfort to her.
“You’re safe, Tink. They’re gone, and none of them will hurt you again.”
“Make me forget, Eric. Please. I need to forget what their hands felt like.”
Their? So Tony hadn’t been the only one to touch her.
I wished I could bring them all back from the dead just to kill them all over again.
If I hadn’t seen Tony’s bloody corpse on my way out of that damn house, I’d have personally sent him to hell.
Looked like Torch or Casper had beat me to it.
They’d taken her confidence. I was just glad they hadn’t done more damage.
If any of them had raped her before I got there, I wasn’t sure she’d have recovered.
Hell, I wouldn’t have either. It would have eaten at me until I finally lost my mind.
It made me realize the missing women, those auctioned off, had families who probably felt the same way. I didn’t know how long it would take to find them, but I’d lend whatever support I could to the clubs trying to reunite them with their families.
“Come on, baby. Let’s dry off and go lie down. I don’t know about you, but I think I want a nice, quiet day in bed. Just the two of us snuggled under the covers.”
“You won’t leave?” she asked.
“No, Tink. I’m not going anywhere.”
I dried us off, then took her to bed. With my arms wrapped around her, she managed to fall asleep.
I didn’t know what I’d need to do for her to feel safe here again.
Whatever it took, I’d make sure the shadows left her eyes.
I wanted my Tink whole again. It might take time, but I’d make sure she healed.
She was my woman, my love, and I’d do anything for her.