Page 42 of Reclaiming Adelaide

There wasn’t a calming inside of me anymore. Instead, I shivered, my teeth rattling as my thighs shook with violent tremors that radiated through my body as a ripple effect.

What if it was Jake?

Intense bright light burst through my lids like a fiery orange sunrise, threatening to blind me with its awe.

My eyes flew open when the wall beside me scuffed against the cold, hard floor, swinging toward me until it touched my toes, pinning me in.

“Where did she go?” Jake said.

My mouth gaped open as I tried answering him, but nothing escaped my lips until the door moved away with a vacuum effect, pulling stray hairs into my face.

“She’s here,” Tonk said.

Tonk’s broad, muscular shoulders stood above me, his feet placed wide with one hand on the door, the other beside him, his fingers moving in an up and down pattern.

“Shit, Adelaide?”

Jake shoved his friend out of the way and wrapped his arms around me, but my body refused to move.

“How long have you been awake?”

I jerked my head to the side.

How was I supposed to know? He’d left me in my own personal dark hell.

Jake tucked his arms under my knees and around my back, lifting me up against his chest, and walked me back toward the cot I’d run into so many times.

He was going to leave me again?

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to a stop.

“Don’t leave me.”

Don’t leave me.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

My chest deflated as I bit back my sob.

“You need to have lights in here,” Jake said.

I buried my face in his neck, breathing in his rich, woody scent, letting my memories take me to a time with Jake between my thighs or our first date eating Mexican food.

“That defeats the purpose of sensory isolation.”

“Come on, sweets.”

He dropped my legs, settling my feet on the ground while keeping his arm around my waist, and led me out of the padded room into a brightly lit hallway with closed doors lining the length of it.

“What is this place?”

“A safe place foryou.”

I shook my head, squeezing his waist tight. “There are no safe places anymore.”

“Now that you’re awake, why don’t you sit down and tell me about who it was that tried to take you?”

My stomach popped and gurgled as my foot hit the first stair. “Can we eat first?”

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