Page 22 of The Good Girl

“I love you so much,” I tell her as I wrap her in my arms. “I couldn’t let anything happen to you. I had to make sure he would never hurt you again.”

“I love you too,” she sobs as I kiss away her tears. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You good?” Maxim says, and I look up at him.

“Thanks for helping save my girl,” I tell him, and he shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“Anytime.” With that, he goes to the front entrance and opens it up.

I can hear the sirens of the vehicles as they pull up, and I look into Karmen’s eyes. “They are going to ask you a lot of questions about what happened here. I need you to be brave for me. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agrees and glances at the bodies. “I’ll tell them how he ran at you and you had no choice but to shoot him.”

“That’s my good girl,” I say and kiss her forehead. “As soon as this is over, I’m taking you home, and then I’m never going to let you go.”

“I think I like the sound of that,” she says, and she puts her face against my neck. “Especially the part about going home with you.”

“That’s what I was doing before all this happened. Before you were taken.”

“What?” she asks, looking confused.

“I was getting all the paperwork in order with the lawyer. I put your name on my house and had him add you to all my bank accounts. I wanted to set up our lives so that when you left the asylum, you could live with me. My plan was to come get you and take you home. Then all this happened.”

“And you saved me,” she says.

“You’re mine, Karmen, and I’m never letting you go.” I brush my lips against hers, and we’re lost in the kiss when I hear the police enter the building.

Epilogue

KARMEN

As I start to spin, I bring my left foot up and create the perfect pirouette. I never thought I would dance again, but it’s been nice having the freedom to do it when and how I want. I slide down into a split when Rourk steps into the studio. He built this space for me not long after he brought me home.

Gosh, I love thinking about how this is home. Rourk knew what I needed, and he gave it to me. He wanted to show me that I always have a place of my own and that our lives would always be weaved together. He assured me that nothing would ever be beyond my reach.

All the freedom and security that he gave me only made me love and cling to him more. How could I ever let that man go? That’s how he wants it to be, and so do I. The only thing I want is to give him what he needs. It seems like a fairy tale to start our journey at Bellevue Asylum and then end up here. I have no regrets about going to Bellevue because it led me to my husband, my Daddy.

“You know what that does to me.” I can see the hard outline of Rourk’s cock in his slacks.

“You’re always horny,” I laugh, but the truth is we both are. The sight of Rourk does all kinds of things to my body, but I guess that’s what doctors are for. “Help me,” I jokingly plead as I hold my hands up.

“And what if I wasn’t home?” He shakes his head and helps me to my feet.

His hand goes to my small baby bump that has finally started to show. I would ask him every day if he could see it yet, but of course he would always say yes. He noticed the changes in my body before I did. When I told him I thought I needed a pregnancy test, he told me I didn't, because he already knew I was pregnant. Who am I to question the doctor? Unless I feel like being a little bratty. He likes that too, so I like to remind him.

For a while, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have a baby. The way my mother treated me made me so afraid that I would somehow become the same as her. It took Rourk reminding me how much he loves me and how he would never let that happen to get me to see it.

As afraid as I was to believe him, I knew he was right. My mother made her choices. She didn’t have the love in her heart that I do for my husband, and she never had any of that love for me. Over the years I’ve stopped thinking about her and what happened the night Rourk saved me. I like to focus on the here and now and the family we are creating.

“I saw you come in. I did that split just for you.” I lift up on my tiptoes and offer him my mouth. When he claims it, he pulls me close, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “You're home early.”

Rourk still has a few patients, but his caseload is nothing like what he had before I came into his life. He told me he used to be a workaholic. Clearly I’m not a doctor, but I think he might have a bit of an obsessive personality. These days his obsession is with me, and I’m all for it. It might be selfish, but I love that I’m his entire world, and I don’t care about anyone beyond our growing family. Rourk is mine in every way, and I don’t like to share.

“I have one more patient today.”

“Oh,” I say, letting my arms drop. I was about to climb him like a tree and have my dirty way with him.

Rourk's hands reach for my ass and lift me up, and the smile he gives me is dangerous. He carries me over to a nook that faces the dance studio. This is where he has a desk and a couch so he can watch me dance and still work. It’s always a pleasure to give him a personal show because it usually ends with both of us on the couch.

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