Page 69 of Bound by Passion (Ravage MC)

“You’re thinkin’ so loud it woke me up,” Raid grumbled behind me, and a smile tipped my lips. His early morning deep voice was sexy as hell.

“A lot to think about,” I responded, feeling his arm tighten around me, and I loved it.

“What did ya come up with?”

Lord, to tell him everything that was rolling in my head would take days and scare the hell out of Raid.

I’d never really thought my life would come to this pivotal point.

Did he realize the struggle playing out in me? Did he know how hard it would be to open up even a little? Could he feel my hesitation and fear?

I let out a heavy breath, not knowing what to say or which way was up or down. How did someone do this? Share the dirty and ugly of their lives with someone they cared about. I’d never shared anything “good” with anyone. But maybe a little about the good?

My mouth opened and shut several times like a fish out of water. Did I talk? Did I brush him off? Did I just get the hell out of here?

Looking deep inside my soul, I realized I wanted him to know something about me. I spoke, but it wasn’t loud.

“Did you know I’m awesome at taking pictures?” Of course, he didn’t know, and when he started shaking I knew he was laughing which somehow encouraged me and gave strength to continue. “It’s true. I took pictures of everything. Bugs, grass, animals, scenery. You name it, I’m sure I’d taken a picture of it. When I was ten and a half, my mother gave me this fancy camera that had so many bells and whistles it took me days to understand. Once I did, everything in my world was photographed.”

“I’d love to see some of your pictures,” he responded.

My body went tight, and there was no way he didn’t feel it, but he didn’t say anything. He gave me a chance to pull myself together. Hesitation hit me, but having Raid behind me, holding me tight, loosened my lips. “I don’t have any of the pictures.” My eyes closed as I watched every single one of my pictures go up in flames. Every memory vanished in the matter of a few seconds. Their laughter at my tears.

Not a single picture of my mother. Not one.

All SD cards, clouds—everything vanished.

“What happened?” Raid encouraged, telling me he knew this was hard for me which helped. Something that should be so good. Turned so bad.

Part of me regretted starting with this, but it was where a lot of my life started. My body got hot and my fists tightened, but I pulled from deep within and continued.

“After my mother died, I was held down as all my pictures and camera were burned in front of me.” My skin prickled, thinking of how they handled me that night. Raid squeezed me and brought me out of that thought.

“Tell me.”

I’d never told anyone about this. No one. Ever. I’d kept this inside for so many years, and I started to feel like that little girl again.

I still had my back turned to him, making it a bit easier to talk since I didn’t have to see the look on his face. But it still scared me.

“They hated anything that made me happy in any way, and they knew I loved my pictures, so they decided to destroy them. This was only the beginning.”

“They?”

My eyes closed. The only thing holding me to the here and now was Raid’s arm, and I clutched on to his arm and held on for dear life. Was I really going to tell him this? This would change things. This would be letting him into my life and wanting him there.

What would he think?

Finally, I talked.

“I had no one when my mom passed. My ‘uncle’…” I made a weird noise with that because he really wasn’t my uncle, but he always insisted I call him that. “He took me in. He already had two boys, but he wanted me. He told me I could go into foster care where I’d be beaten and raped, or I could come live with him. But it wasn’t a choice. He’d already decided I’d be going with him and took me to his home.”

“But it wasn’t good,” Raid said. He wasn’t wrong.

“No. I…” A very loud pounding came to the door, and Raid jumped out of bed like a shot, putting on his jeans faster than I’d ever seen a man get dressed. He stalked out the door and grabbed his gun off my dresser as he passed. I could hear the safety click off and the cock of the gun.

I threw on clothes I found on the floor and grabbed my gun as well. Screech and Raid were the only ones who had been to my house. Whoever it was shouldn’t be here. God, it couldn’t bethem, could it?

The code was pushed into the security system, the door unlocked, and as I made my way into the living room, Raid swung the door open. Considering he did this, I assumed he knew who was at the door.

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