Chapter 14 Wren
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WREN
“Sly!” I half yell, half cry, as relief rushes through me.
He tilts his head to the sky and yells, “I’ve got her!” before turning back, pain and relief written all over his face as he reaches for me. “Come here, baby. Careful now.”
I try not to wince as the gravel bites into my knees, and the second I’m free of my hiding spot, he lifts me, hugging me tight, chest to chest. He holds the back of my head, his other arm under my butt as he starts to carry me through the yard.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Wren.”
“It’s not your fault,” I tell him just as I hear pounding footsteps heading toward us.
“This way!” Pete yells, right before he comes around the corner, spotting us, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
“Wren!” he yells. “Fuck, Wren,” he says, softer this time as he stops right beside me.
Sly lets me lift my head, and Pete cups my jaw, his eyes noticing my wound.
“Are you okay? Of course you’re not okay, don’t answer that. ”
He shakes his head at himself, then asks, “Can you stand? I need to hug you right now.” I nod, and Sly places me on my feet. Pete immediately pulls me to his chest, hugging me tightly as I let a few more tears of relief stain the front of his shirt.
“My turn,” Dex says from behind, and I pull back from Pete and am immediately pulled into Dex’s massive chest. “Baby, thank god you’re okay. You are okay, right?”
He pulls back, and his eyes travel down my body, freezing when they land on my thighs. “Oh fuck. No, no, no! Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
I look down and see the blood I smeared on my legs as the others start cursing.
Someone kicks something that goes flying as Dex stares down at me with a look I’ve never seen on him before.
It’s filled with pain and regret and something else I can’t name.
His eyes fill with tears, and I quickly rush to reassure him.
“Nothing happened! No one touched me there. I used blood from my head to make it look like they had.” I wiggle my blood-stained fingers at him, and they all freeze, staring at me with a mix of confusion, worry, and hope.
Jagger gets my attention as he signs. “You know you can tell us what they did, no matter what it is? It won’t change the way we feel about you.”
I shake my head, giving him a strained smile. “I promise, they didn’t touch me there, see,” I lift my skirt to show them the blood is only located on the visible part of my legs, and my panties are still clean and in place. Well… cleanish considering what I got up to with Sly earlier.
A grunt comes from Elias, his eyes glued to my panties, and I yank my skirt down, my cheeks heating with embarrassment. “Whoops.”
“Why did you want them to think you’d been touched?” Sly asks, pulling a cloth from who knows where as he starts to clean my face.
“I heard the men talking about how they wanted to… you know… do things to me. But they said if they did, Ivan would kill them. So I had hoped that if Ivan thought they had, he’d kill them.”
“Well, shit!” Pete lets out a strained laugh. “That was a bit of a gamble, did it work?”
I nod as Jagger pulls out his own cloth, kneeling in front of me as he starts cleaning the blood off my thighs.
I grip his shoulders as I look at Pete and nod. “Yeah, as soon as I saw Ivan, I cried rape and ran behind him.”
“Oh, I bet his ego loved that,” Elias huffs, finally shaking himself enough to join the conversation. Jagger’s fingers tighten on the back of my thigh, but he doesn’t pause his cleaning.
“He didn’t hesitate to shoot them, then I took off. How did you find me?” I ask, needing to know.
Pete pulls something from his pocket. As he reaches for my hand, I gasp.
“My watch!”
He nods, but looks upset as he tells me, “We followed the signal here, and after the shooting stopped, I followed it to a guy on the ground with a hole in his head. I searched his pocket and found your watch.” He finishes fastening it to my wrist, but doesn’t let go of my hand as his pained green eyes connect with mine.
“I was so fucking scared,” he whispers. “I didn’t know what that meant. Where you were, if you were hurt.”
He licks his lips and swallows, and I lean around Jagger to hug him again.
“I knew you’d find me,” I whisper to him. He squeezes me a little tighter, and when I try to return the squeeze, I wince.
“What’s wrong?” Several voices ask at once, and I try not to roll my eyes at their alarm. It’s cute, really.
“It’s my arm,” I say, clutching it to my chest. “One of those guys yanked me out of the trunk by it and wrenched my shoulder.”
I watch as anger rolls through five sets of eyes. They’re silent, as if unsure what to say, and Elias is the one to finally break the quiet.
“They had you in the trunk that whole time?” he asks, looking pained. I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. Elias knew I was claustrophobic, but I never admitted why. I was too embarrassed at the time, thinking it was my fault for not obeying Robert. I didn’t want Elias to think I was bad, too.
I should have told him. We were only fifteen at the time, but maybe if he had known how bad it really was, he could have gotten me out of there sooner.
That’s when the dam breaks. I cover my face as a sob bursts out of me that I’m unable to contain.
The fear of being kidnapped and trapped, mixed with the pain and anxiety from every time Robert locked me in a closet.
Throw in the emotional high of them finding me and being angry on my behalf that I was taken and injured, and it’s all just too much at once; my mind shatters in the form of giant tears raining down my cheeks.
Jagger lifts me as he stands, and I wrap my good arm around his neck, cradling my other one between us as I press my face to his neck. He cradles my butt with one hand while the other rubs up and down my back.
I feel other hands reach out to soothe me as I try to get myself under control. Nobody tells me to stop crying, none of them get upset that I‘m wailing like a child, and no one tells me to suck it up. They just let me get it out, as if they understand I need this release of my pent-up emotions.
Jagger starts to walk, and I’m thankful they aren’t pressing me to talk.
After a few minutes, my crying calms to just some silent tears. I hear car doors opening, and turn my head to see the guys standing outside our SUV, glaring at each other with their arms crossed.
“Get in the front,” Pete says angrily to Elias, pointing to the passenger seat.
“No way! You guys haven’t let me sit with her once, and we’ve been traveling for three goddamned days!”
“That’s because she’s our girlfriend, not yours.”
“She’s still my best friend.” Elias takes a deep breath, lowering his voice as he continues. “Please? It’s killing me not to hold her right now.”
His eyes flick to mine, and I can see the pain and restraint there. I feel bad about keeping him at arm's length when we used to be so close. But part of me is afraid to get close to him, fearful that my feelings aren’t as platonic as they used to be.
Regardless, I owe it to him to give him some of my time. He might not be my boyfriend, but he is right; he’s still my best friend.
“Jagger?” I lift my head to look at him as I ask. “Can you set me down now?” He nods and gently lowers me to my feet. I wipe my cheeks as I turn to face my other three guys, who are squaring off against Elias. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to sit with Elias.”
I can see a series of emotions play out on Pete’s face, Sly is much harder to read, and Dex just frowns. “Of course, Wren, whatever you want,” Sly finally answers with a strained nod of his head. “We want you to find yourself and your voice. So thank you for telling us what you need right now.”
He steps toward me and gently hugs me against his chest before tilting my chin up and placing a gentle kiss on my lips.
When he steps away, I run my tongue over my lower lip, tasting him there.
His eyes heat when he tracks the movement, then he quickly turns and walks around to climb in the driver’s side.
Pete steps forward next, also giving me a not-so-gentle kiss, leaving me feeling a little heated as he climbs into the front passenger seat.
Jagger turns me around, so my back is to everyone else, then bends down and cups my face before his lips gently graze mine.
He stands up and signs. “I’m so glad you’re back. I’m sorry we let them take you again.”
“It’s not your fault. Thank you for coming to get me,” I sign back silently.
“Always, tiny flame. I love you.”
I bite my lip as I sign back, “I love you, too, Jagger.”
I hold my breath, scared to finally admit it, even if I didn’t actually say the words out loud.
Then, the most amazing thing happens. Jagger smiles. I’ve seen the odd smirk or tiniest hint of a grin, but never an actual smile. It changes his entire appearance. He is no longer menacing or broody. Now he’s breathtaking.
My eyes widen, and my jaw drops open. He swoops back in to kiss me again. This time, he doesn’t hold back as his tongue charges in demanding I obey him. My core instantly heats, despite where we are and what’s just happened, and only the clearing of a throat has us pulling apart.
He grins down at me and turns me back to face the others just as my cheeks start to heat.
“Come give me a hug, baby,” Dex says, holding his arms open for me. I gladly step into his embrace, and he kisses the top of my head. When he pulls back, he grabs my waist and lifts me into the SUV.
“Get in the back with Elias,” he instructs, and I lift my gaze to see him sitting in the bench seat at the back, waiting nervously. I offer him a small smile as I hunch over and drop to the seat beside him.
Dex and Jagger climb into the seats in front of us as I offer him a tentative smile. “Hi,” I squeak out, a little too awkwardly.
A small grin pulls at his lip, as if my being nervous sets him at ease. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“No nicknames!” Pete yells from the front.