Page 80 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

“You’ll regret this,” I swore at the top of my lungs. “Someday, somehow, I’m going to make you pay for what you and your son have done to me and my mother.”

Instead of responding, he slammed the door and turned off the porch light.

I was alone.

Completely, hopelessly, alone.

No place to go.

No home. No family.

* * * *

I trembled against the unbelievable warmth surrounding me.

“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, Maia. I’m here,” said a low rumbling voice against the back of my neck.

An arm tightened around me, and my eyes snapped open, white-hot fear pouring through me.

I was back there. Back in my old room. Darkness all around me. Andhewas there, hands like an octopus, grabbing and touching where I didn’t want to be touched. Acid swirled in my stomach, bile coasting up my throat as I felt one of his hands on my bare stomach where my shirt had crept up in my sleep.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I hissed, knowing if I screamed, my mother and stepfather would come running in. Derrick swore he’d blame it on me. Tell them I begged for it. And his father would believe him.

“Maia, sweetheart…” That voice. Was that Derrick?

The room was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. My fight or flight instinct kicked in so fast I flopped around like a wild animal, punching and kicking at the arms holding me down.

“Jesus Christ! Ouch!” that voice said again, but I was finally free.

I flung myself out of the bed and slammed right into a wall that shouldn’t have been so close to my bed. I whimpered as my wrist came down hard on a piece of furniture that I didn’t own.

“Where the fuck am I?” I screamed, fear now flooding my system like a tidal wave. My heart hammered in my chest, and I couldn’t catch my breath as I felt along the wall, looking for a door. “Let me out! Let me the fuck out!” I pounded the wall.

The lights suddenly came on. I spun around to find myself in a room I didn’t recognize. Rhodes stood panting, wearing only a t-shirt and his underwear, his eyes wide with concern, his arms up, hands palm out facing me.

“Maia, honey, it’s me. Rhodes. You’re safe. You’re at Madam Alana’s house.”

I looked around the room, my mind split between the past and the present. Confusion clouded my vision as I scanned the room, looking for Derrick.

“He’s not here,” I whispered.

“Who?” Rhodes asked gently.

“Derrick?” I gulped in a breath of air, still tracing every corner of the room until I recognized the door to the bathroom.

Rhodes clamped his mouth shut, then peeked inside the bathroom. “No one here, Maia.”

I backed up until my ass hit the wall. I could feel the adrenaline from what I now realized had been a dream leave my body to be replaced by an exhaustion unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. My shaking legs could no longer support my body, and I slid down the wall, ass smarting when I hit the floor. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them to tuck myself into a little ball.

Along with the tears came a warm, soft voice.

“Maia, honey, you’re okay. I’m going to touch your shoulder, sweetheart,” Rhodes said in a calm and clear tone.

He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’m here. You are not alone. Whatever is happening, I’ve got you. I think you had a very bad dream, but Derrick is not here. I am. Your fiancé. Remember?” The tender way he stroked my arm helped reality return and slowed the tears.

“I remember.” My voice sounded as though my vocal cords had been put through a food processor. “I’m s-sorry,” I managed to get out as the entire experience came flooding back.

“Don’t be sorry. Bad dreams happen,” he said and then sat down on the floor next to me. He put an arm around my back and nudged me against his side.

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