Page 43 of Deadly Desires

Melody flinches at my touch and my heart breaks all over again. I tell myself I can’t fix what happened, but I can damn well try to mend her.

“Lift your arms for me, baby,” I tell her as she finally sits up.

I take off her shirt and throw it aside, trying my best to ignore all the blood that has soaked through the shirt from her back. If I allow myself to sit in my anger too long, I’ll lose it.

Helping Melody stand up, I pull down the briefs and have her step out of them. Leading her to the bathroom, I help to gently lower her in the tub. She gasps as she lowers into the water, her injuries probably stinging and incredibly painful. Knowing that her injuries are very sensitive right now, I grab a soft washcloth for her to wash herself with. I hold up her hair as she washes the back of her neck, laying a tender kiss to the top of her head.

“Jaxon, I’m so sorry, there wasn’t anyth—”

I cut her off before she can say anything more. “What in the world are you apologizing for, little sparrow?”

“Everything he did to me… I couldn’t stop it.”

“Melody, stop. I am in no way upset with you. At all. I can only imagine the horrors you were put through… You are so incredibly strong for surviving. And I’m damn happy you did, you hear me? I wouldn’t have been able to live without you. You are such an integral part of me, I can’t function without you next to me.”

Melody looks up at me through her lashes. “Are you sure, Jax? I’m dirty…”

I grab her chin and make her look at me. “Melody Ann Harper, you WILL NOT say such things about yourself, am I understood? You are beautiful and the strongest woman I know. You will not give that fucker’s ghost the satisfaction of keeping you down. You will overcome this and I’ll be right by your side every step of the way. I don’t care how long it takes, you have me, all of me, through the entire journey and the rest of our lives. Do you understand?”

She peers into my eyes, looking for a lie. “OK, Jax, I understand… I believe you.”

“Good, now that that’s settled, let’s get you out of this tub before you catch a cold.”

“I’m sure that’s the reason…” she has the audacity to smirk at me. My little sparrow, cut and bloodied up all over her body, and who knows what other horrors she had to endure, is still the sassy vixen I’ve come to know and love.

Wrapping her in a towel, I kiss her nose. “I love you, Melody, with every part of my soul, I love you. Like the sky filled with stars, you light me up. You are my northern star and I, a wayward shepherd. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth, because you are my true home.”

Thirty-Three

Melody

After helping me towel off and get into a pair of underwear, Jaxon instructs me to lay on my stomach on the bed. He explained that the doctor will be here shortly, and the first thing he’s going to look at is my back and my hand.

As we wait, I ask Jaxon the question I’ve been burning to ask since he found me.

“How did you find me, Jax? How did you know about Damian, about his warehouse, about everything?”

“Melody, promise you won’t get mad?”

I nod. “I promise.”

“I’ve been watching you for some time. Franklin, while he is my best friend, is also the best hacker south of Silicon Valley. I had him hack into your security system so I could keep an eye on you.”

At this point I stare at him in disbelief, but I keep my mouth shut, so he keeps going. “The night Damian trashed your house, he actually left a message on your camera. I won’t quote it, but he made mention of being in 305 with you. We finally figured out that it was one of your courses, and then we narrowed it down even further to who you worked on projects with the most. We ran the names through Franklin’s database, and Damian is the one that seemed most suspicious, owning numerous abandoned warehouses. That’s how we found you.”

My mouth hangs open, and I’m in complete disbelief about the lengths Jaxon went through to find me. I’m ready to argue with him about how crazy he sounds, but he cuts me off.

“Melody, please don’t expect an apology from me about this. If I hadn’t done what I did, we would have had no way, no clue, how to even find you. Saving you from that fucker is worth it.”

I probably look like I’m still ready to argue, but I gather myself instead and say, “Thank you, Jax.”

He’s completely taken aback, probably because I just thanked him for stalking me. He feels my forehead to check for a fever, but I feel fine.

“I’m not delusional, Jax, I really am thankful that you guys found me. If that means I have to accept the fact that you stalked me, I’ll accept it ten times over.”

“But,” I continue, “don’t think you get to keep stalking me…We need healthy boundaries for this to work.”

“Anything for you, little sparrow.”

---