Chapter 10 Valentine
Valentine
I’m still shaking as Lyle leads me upstairs to what I’ve come to think of as my room. I don’t remember the man in the flannel shirt, but my body remembers him.
Lyle sits on the armchair, and I crawl into his lap, letting him pat my hair and soothe me until the fear subsides.
Gina knocks on the door with a tray of food, and she stays to keep me company while Lyle goes to see how the guys are getting on. I don’t know what they’re doing to the man, but if he’s responsible for hurting me, then I guess he deserves it.
About twenty minutes later, Lyle comes back, and Gina discreetly leaves us to it. His look is serious. I know he’s got some information.
“What is it?” I sit up on the bed where I was resting.
“We found out who you are.”
Nervousness jolts through me, and I’m not sure I want to know. Lyle sits next to me on the bed and takes my hand.
“Your name is Abigail Goodfellow.”
“Abigail Goodfellow.” My face screws up when I say it. It’s a clunky name and sounds like it’s straight out of the pages of the Bible. I turn the name over in my head, but it holds no meaning for me.
“You were a member of the One True Way Fellowship.”
This draws a blank too, and Lyle must see my confusion.
“It’s a cult,” he says gently. “An extreme religious cult that is based down the coast. You were born into it.”
My mind reels, and while no memories are triggered, I feel nauseated and know it must be true. If I was born into it, then the scars on my body, the whipping, must have happened there.
A sudden chill claws at my heart, making me shudder. Lyle wraps an arm protectively around me.
“A week ago, during a routine ceremony—” He scoffs at the words.
“That’s what the asshole called it, but it sounds more like the public humiliation of women.
You were stoned and knocked unconscious.
” His voice threads with anger and his fist pounds the blanket.
“They left you alone on the ground, unconscious and bleeding.”
“Who would do that?” It’s too horrible to make sense of. Who leaves an injured human being on their own?
“Assholes who don’t deserve to live.” Lyle fists the blankets, and I know whatever he does to the man who pretended to be my fiancé will be well deserved.
“You’re lucky. You must have come to and escaped.”
It sounds so horrendous. Ceremonies, being knocked unconscious. My mind’s in a whirl. It’s too much.
Lyle opens his mouth to speak, but I hold my hand up.
“I don’t want to hear anymore.”
He nods his understanding.
“It’s a lot to take in, Valentine.”
The use of my new name makes my head jerk up. Lyle’s looking at me with true concern, and I know in my bones what I want to do.
“I never want to go back. I want to stay with you. I want to be Valentine forever.”
He pulls me close, his arms wrapping protectively around me. “I was hoping you’d say that. I want you to stay, Valentine. I’ll look after you and protect you always. I love you.”
The words melt my heart, and I feel a lightness I’ve never felt before.
“I love you too.”
Lyle kisses me, a slow warm kiss, and I give him everything I’ve got. This man found me on the side of the road, took me in, and looked after me. I owe my life to him.
He pulls back to look at me, his hands cupping my face. “I’ve found a doctor up the coast that deals with your condition. I’ve got money, Valentine. I can help you get better. I can help you remember.”
He’s so genuine, and my heart warms at his commitment to helping me. But if my past was so bad, do I really want to remember?
“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t need those memories, Lyle. My life started the moment I met you. I don’t want to remember what came before.”
It’s the truth. This is my life now, and it will only be good memories from here on out.
“If that’s what you want, baby.”
“Only good memories. That’s what I want.”
He kisses the tears that have crept down my cheeks. But they’re happy tears. I’m smiling, and Lyle’s smiling back.
His hands slide around my waist and over my hips, the movement turning from comforting to something else.
I feel his ownership as his hands run over my body, and I give myself freely to this man who rescued me and has shown me nothing but love.
His touch feels good, and I arch my back, leaning into him and sticking my chest out.
Lyle’s mouth moves down my throat, and he pulls my t-shirt off to get at my breasts.
“Let’s make a good memory right now.”
We move slowly, undressing each other piece by piece. His hands run over the ridges of my scars with gentle fingers, healing a wound I can’t remember getting.
Lying together with our bodies pressed against each other on the bed, I feel the emptiness of my past slip away. This is my future. What came before doesn’t matter, only what comes next. And Lyle is my next. He’s my future, my everything.
With renewed passion, I run my hands over his body and down his hips to take his shaft in my palms. He groans as my hand moves over him, and at the same time, his fingers slide between my glistening folds.
“You’re so wet.”
His voice washes over me, rich and smooth and comforting—the voice of my future. His finger slides inside me, and my mind goes blank. This moment right here is all there is, our bodies moving together and Lyle’s breath on my skin.
He whispers to me as his hand circles my sensitive nub.
His mouth captures my breasts, and my nipples graze against his teeth.
I cry out as the pressure in my center builds under his palm.
Then I’m coming as everything in the universe and everything I’ve ever known is forced together into one pinpoint of energy emanating from my center.
My body arches toward him as if I’m searching and Lyle is my beacon. As my pussy convulses with the orgasm, Lyle thrusts into me.
My hips buck and he grasps me tight, pulling me toward him and anchoring me to his center.
“I got you, Valentine.”
Our eyes meet, and there’s a current between us, an energy that’s joining our souls together. With my eyes still on him, I tip my hips forward and feel myself stretch as Lyle slides deeper inside me. I want him all the way in. I want him to fill me up and never leave.
He must sense my need because he stuffs a pillow under my hips, causing him to sink deeper inside me. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I’m sure there is nothing in my lost memories like this, so intense and so right.
My legs wrap around Lyle, and together we move, slowly at first and then faster, building a pace together as our climax grows.
I’m almost peaking when Lyle leans forward and whispers in my ear.
“I love you, Valentine. You’ll always be mine.”
It sends me over the edge, and I come undone completely, melting into the universe and into Lyle.
He slams into me and explodes so intensely I feel his hot cum shoot deep into my body, hitting home where I hope his seeds finds its way. I want to be tied to this man. I want our new life to start now—a future that we both create.
Afterwards, we lie in bed and talk about our new life and our dreams and plans. It’s a clean slate for me. I get to choose who I am and what I want to be.
I don’t know what all of that is yet, but I do know one thing: I want to be Lyle’s’ Valentine.