Chapter 29
The men ran at her, their faces filled with rage, then suddenly their eyes turned red and they weren’t men at all. They were monsters with huge teeth. They surrounded her, morphing back to humans, but this time, they were teenagers not men.
And they were pushing her, shoving her, calling her names.
They got her on the ground and laughed at her, threw things, hit her.
She cried. She begged them to stop, but her voice cracked, and she grew silent. But in her head she was screaming for help.
Help!
Help me! Someone help me!
Addie sat up with a gasp, glancing around wildly.
Where were they?
Where were they? Where were those kids? Where were the men, the monsters?
Sweat coated her skin as she shook.
You’re not there, Addie. You’re not there.
It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare.
She sobbed for breath, even though she wasn’t actually making any noise. Had she screamed? Probably. But at least she wouldn’t have woken anyone else up with the nightmare, because her screams were silent.
She hated having nightmares of that day she’d been caught by those bullies. She’d been helpless against them. Addie always felt so damn helpless.
Sliding to the side of the bed, Addie grabbed her phone to check the time, only it was dead. Shoot. She should have charged it.
Standing, she realized that she was soaked with sweat, shaking and weak. She needed another shower, a change of clothes, and a drink. Picking up the bottle of water that Cash had left for her, she gulped some down. Then she grabbed the painkillers and took them as well.
Even though she desperately wanted a shower, she didn’t want to wake anyone up. So instead, she grabbed the blanket off the bed, wrapping it around herself. Grasping hold of Snaggles and her squishy, she shuffled out of the room.
Addie knew she wasn’t going to get any more sleep tonight. Instead of turning toward the living room, she headed out the back. Maybe she could sit outside for a moment.
Opening the back door, she saw that there was a small porch with some furniture. Walking along, she sat down in a seat.
It was cold out here, but it helped soothe her overheated skin. And the quiet of the night eased her ragged nerves. It had to be close to dawn. It was far lighter out here, and she could hear the occasional car moving along the street.
She wasn’t sure how long she was there before he found her.
“Addie, shit, baby. What are you doing out here?”
She startled, glancing over to see Cash walking toward her. Where had he been?
Then she noticed that he was dressed in just a pair of shorts and a tank top. Had he been out for a run?
Addie couldn’t help but run her gaze over him. There was muscle everywhere she looked. His arms were thick with it, his chest wide, and his thighs oh, Lord. How was it possible for a set of thighs to be that sexy?
“Addie? Hey, what happened? Did something scare you? Why are you out here?” He crouched down in front of her, resting his hands on the tops of her thighs.
Her whole body gave a shiver, not out of coldness or fear, but out of pure desire. What the hell was going on with her? She’d never reacted to anyone like this in her life. And it had to be this man, this walking sexy god of a man.
She shrugged, grateful she had an actual excuse not to talk. Then she pointed at him and made running motions with her two fingers.
“What are you doing, Stowaway?” he asked, staring at her fingers. “Is there something wrong with your fingers? Did you hurt them? Do you need me to tape them up? I’ll go and get some tape right now.”
Oh dear Lord, this was ridiculous. She needed something to write on.
“Running. You?” She managed to croak out, pointing at him.
“Oh, is that what you were doing? You were trying to make a running motion with your fingers? Huh. I didn’t get that.”
Yeah, no kidding. She rolled her eyes at him.
“Why are you rolling your eyes at me, little girl?” he asked. “That’s very naughty.”
Her eyes grew wide at his words, especially as he reached out to tap her nose.
What was he doing? He was making her Little side stir. And now wasn’t the time for that to happen. She wasn’t in a safe space. Then again, sometimes her Little came out during the most inopportune times.
Cash seemed to sense something was wrong and dropped his hand. “Sorry, Stowaway. I shouldn’t have done that.”
He stood, and sadness filled her. Oh, no, he was leaving.
She didn’t want him to leave, especially like this. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of his hand and clung on tight.
“Hey, it’s all right. I was just going to sit down next to you,” he told her.
She was acting like an idiot. This was embarrassing. Addie quickly let go of his hand, and he sat.
“Yeah, I’ve been running. Needed to clear my head a bit, and a run always helps. It’s painful for about the first two or three miles, and then everything sort of goes peaceful in your head.”
That sounded blissful. Maybe she should take up running.
She’d always been a pretty fast runner, but she’d never done it as exercise, only ever to get away from something.
Seemed like she was always trying to get away from something.
“How’s the throat? I’m guessing not good since you still aren’t talking. The humidifier didn’t help? Shit. Why do I keep asking you questions when you can’t respond?”
“Helped. Feels better,” she told him.
“It doesn’t sound better. Rest your voice, Stowaway.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. When he turned it around, she could see he’d opened a text-to-speech app. “Type in here. What happened?”
“Nothing happened,” she told him through the phone. “I just needed some cold air.”
“Nothing happened? Then why aren’t you still asleep? It’s early. You barely had any rest.”
“Why haven’t you had any sleep?” she countered.
“I got a few hours. That’s all I need. A Little girl like you needs more. Shit, I did it again. Sorry, Stowaway.”
“Why do you keep apologizing?” she asked him.
“I don’t want to say anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable, should it? Maybe I’m defective because it doesn’t.” Her words sounded odd coming out of his phone.
“You are not defective at all,” he told her firmly. “If something makes you feel good and it doesn’t hurt anyone else, then what’s wrong with it?”
She nodded, although she wasn’t so sure.
“And I don’t want to hear you call yourself defective again. That’s going to get you into big trouble.”
“Trouble?”
“Yeah, trouble. With me.”
Holy heck. Why did her heart race at those words? Was he threatening to spank her?
No. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
Why are you getting all flustered imagining him doing that?
Jesus, she had to stop doing this. She couldn’t let him see how much she wanted him.
Addie dropped her gaze before he could read anything on her face. Thank God it was still slightly dark out here.
“You still haven’t told me what’s going on,” he said to her. “Why are you out here, Addie? You shouldn’t have left the house without letting someone know.”
Addie hunched her shoulders. Yes, she knew she should have told someone what she was doing, but everyone was asleep and she hadn’t wanted to explain herself. And it wasn’t like she was really in danger. Those guys wouldn’t know where they were. It wasn’t like she’d gone wandering off.
“Was it a nightmare?” he asked. “About what happened?”
She nodded. She should have known that he would guess.
“About the man carrying the body?” he asked
No. Although it would make sense for her to have had a nightmare about that.
She didn’t really want to explain the nightmare. There was no point in mentioning the past. Not to someone she barely knew. The only people she’d ever really talked to about that day were her sisters.
She didn’t want to tell him about that incident. She didn’t want to seem even more pathetic in his eyes.
He already knew she wasn’t quite right.
“Addie, are you okay? You’ve gone all quiet, withdrawn.”
How was that any different from how she was any other day?
“I’m sorry you had a nightmare, and I wasn’t here.”
“It’s okay. You’re not my dad.”
She should have thought that through more before she’d said it.
Because a large part of her would like him to be her Daddy.
And that was simply impossible.
“You don’t owe me anything, Cash,” she told him. “And don’t feel like you have to be here if there are other things you need to do.”
He eyed her for a long moment. “Are you trying to dismiss me, baby?”
Dismiss him? When he put it like that, it sounded crazy. Cash Savage wasn’t a man who was easily dismissed. That was clear to see. And no woman in her right mind would do that.
Then again, no one was accusing Addie of being in her right mind, were they?
She snorted softly.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“No one would dare to dismiss you,” she told him.
He made a scoffing noise. “You would be surprised. But you’re not going to dismiss me so easily. You crawled into my truck. That means you belong to me.”
Had he gone insane?
“No, I do not belong to you.”
“Hmm, well, your life is in my hands. I kept you safe, protected you, helped you find your sisters. You owe me.”
Shit.
She couldn’t even argue with that statement. She totally owed him.
“Breathe, Stowaway,” he told her. “I’m not going to ask for your life in payment, or for anything you don’t want to give.”
Then what was he going to ask for? Because this was all sounding rather ominous.
“What it means is that I am going to stick around, and I am going to keep you safe. So don’t try to run me off again, understand?”
“I wasn’t trying to run you off,” she told him. “I just thought you might have something better to do.”
“More important than looking after someone who belongs to me? No, I don’t.”
She felt a flutter in her heart but squelched it quickly. Because he didn’t mean it the way she wanted him to. She wasn’t his woman. She was more like a pet dog or a cat or a canary.
Yeah. She was the equivalent of Cash Savage’s canary. Protected, petted, looked after, but not lusted after, not desired.
It might not be what she wanted, but it was more than she’d ever hoped to have.