Page 67 of Savage

I grinned and turned to exit the vehicle but his next words snatched me back. “Oh, and Wynter?”

Even his voice aroused me. Twisting toward him, I answered, “Yes?”

His eyes were locked on mine. “Run yourself a deep bath. You’ll probably be sore today.” He spoke those words so softly and with a genuine sense of care. I couldn’t ignore how my body responded to that advice and he was right, I did feel tender down there.

Nodding my head, I replied. “Yes. I will. Thank you.” I then climbed down from the car and closed the door with a soft thud.

Our eyes met through the glass of the window and we shared the sweetest of moments. The connection felt natural, unforced and most of all special and I felt a huge surge of contentment.

Jaxon stared at me with such an intense look of longing, and I knew that feeling would be reflected in my eyes; along with another deeper emotion; that I part suspected was love. For me anyway.

I felt a slight twinge of sadness, my stepbrother may want me physically, but that was something else entirely. The fog had now been lifted on my true feelings for this boy and I was relieved. Denial hadn’t been working that well for me anyway.

As far as I was concerned, my stepbrother had my heart and although it hadn’t happened overnight, I had fallen in love with him. The boy of my nightmares, the man of my dreams.

*****

As I sat in the bath, my mind worked sluggishly through those fractured memories I had of what my father had done to my mother.

In my sleep, I had seen her battered face, that cracked wrist and the damage he had inflicted in front of his nine-year-old child. If my Uncle Adrian hadn’t turned up, would my father have taken me without my mother’s consent?

That next day, I trapped my mother in the kitchen. The discussion as you can imagine was not an easy one. I knew the timing wasn’t right. Daisy was still in mourning for the baby, she’d never conceived, but I had to say something. Especially considering the text from my father remained unanswered. Like a huge reminder of what he had done.

The part of my memory I had repressed for all those years was now wide open.

Daisy was both horrified and disappointed that I had remembered and she explained that she wanted to bury the past so she didn’t have to relive it. I got that, of course, I did, but by burying her head in the sand she had surely only postponed any type of closure. I certainly had none.

My mother’s face dropped when I told her about the message I’d received and a true sense of panic had followed. I must say I had never seen her in such a state and partly regretted bringing the subject up at all.

Marcus came into the kitchen, sensing her distress and was hugely supportive; immediately taking over, everything he said making sense.

At that point, both my mother and Marcus told me that there had been a restraining order filed against my father by my mother years ago. That was the reason I had been sent away from his office that day as it had been illegal for him to see me. As my dad was a lawyer, any type of breach of that court order could have resulted in him not being able to practice anymore.

So why now, out of the blue had he contacted me? Marcus explained that he was aware that the order only covered the first three years and therefore it would no longer be in place. Due to Marcus being in the picture and not having heard anything for such a long time from Jenson, Daisy hadn’t felt the need to resubmit a request. Everyone had believed that it was now indeed over and he had moved on with his own life.

It didn’t make any difference to me, as I had decided that I wanted nothing to do with him and when I replied, I would ensure he understood why.

The first message I drafted was deleted around three times as it was too cryptic, almost like something you’d see in a dodgy teen horror movie.

I know what you did.

WTF? Eventually, I went with, please do not make any contact with me. Stay away from me and my mother. I know what you did to her and I want nothing to do with you now. Wynter.

I waited around ten minutes but I received nothing back. For some strange reason, the silence felt worse, but after several days of checking my phone for his reply, I finally felt reassured that it was over. All ties were severed.

At that point, I didn’t realise how wrong I was.

*****

I rattled around in the house for the rest of that week. Jaxon was working at the base and had fallen quiet again. I managed to stop myself from texting him like a proper loser.

Finally, Dominic came back from Paris and called in on his way home. I knew straight away that something was wrong. Firstly, he patted me on the head like a dog which was odd and when his lips met mine, it felt like how I’d imagined a kiss with a cold wet flannel would feel. His body language screamed that he felt awkward. Considering I’d slept with someone else, I too should have felt odd, but I didn’t. I had to try and push what happened with Jaxon out of my head as there was a chance it would never happen again. I decided that once Dominic was home and settled, I would end it.

What made it worse was that Jaxon came into the kitchen just as Dominic was pulling away after our kiss. I was surprised as he wasn’t due back from the base until the following day.

Our eyes met briefly and he grunted a reply to Dominic’s nod of greeting. Jaxon’s arm muscles flexed as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it; looking back and forth between us with an unimpressed expression.

“I suggest you go to your room Wynter. Watching you and your boyfriend necking in the kitchen is hardly good for anyone’s appetite.” As usual, Jaxon had gotten the wrong end of the stick. He was so cold again and I hated that.

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