Page 42 of The Scars of Us

I was about thirty feet away when he slapped her back, which sent me into a rage-filled run.I’m going to kill that motherfucker!Kaiya began to scream as he covered her mouth with one hand, pushing her back against the wall while using the other to grope all over her body.I’m almost there, baby.

Then, my warrior bit him.Good girl.He pulled away instinctively before rearing back again to hit her, but it was too late—I was already there.

Tackling him to the ground, I immediately began punching him, bashing his head into the asphalt with my fists. He tried to fight back, but with the combination of my training and his drunkenness, he was no match for me. Fury took hold, overpowering any other emotion as I continued to beat him until I couldn’t recognize his face beneath the blood and bruising.

Then, I remembered Kaiya. Standing up, I turned to face her—she was huddled against the wall, arms tightly around herself, crying. As our eyes locked, we both began to move towards each other until I wrapped her in my arms.

Burying her face in my chest, her sobbing intensified. I held her tighter, pressing kisses to the top of her head. She clutched the back of my shirt in her hands as her body shook against mine.

“Shh, it’s okay, now—I’ve got you, baby,” I whispered into her hair.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized through her sobs, the sound muffled against my chest.

“You have nothing to be sorry for—I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said last night, shouldn’t have hurt you like that. I fucked up.”

Looking up at me, she propped her chin on my chest as tears continued to stream down her face. Even with her smeared make-up and blotchy skin, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

“Thank you for saving me.”

I brought my hands to her face, stroking the tears off her cheeks with my thumbs as I looked into her eyes. “I’ll always save you, Warrior. You just have to let me.”

Her bottom lip trembled as she nodded. Her hands came up to cover mine as my mouth came down on hers. Unlike our other kisses, this one was gentle, but not less passionate—electricity surged through me as my heart rate up kicked up, just like it did every time.

When we separated, I placed my forehead against hers. “Ready to go?”

She pulled back, looking up at me with reddened eyes. “Yeah, I have to find Nori—she drove.” Her voice was hoarse and knotted with emotion.

“I can give you a ride home.”

She briefly hesitated, unsure as always. Reaching toward her, I waited for her to put her hand in mine. She threaded our fingers together while giving me a small smile as we started to walk towards the end of the alley.

Once we got in my truck, I could tell she was still shaken up. She trembled as tears rimmed her eyes, and a few escaped every so often to fall down her cheeks.

After starting the truck, I placed my hand over hers, hoping I could calm her some. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s over. Please don’t cry anymore.”

She squeezed my hand tightly. “You don’t understand. I… I just…” she hesitated, cutting off her words.

“What, baby?”

Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. “This just brought back so many bad memories.”

Bad memories?“This has happened to you before?” I asked angrily.

“Not exactly,” she sighed before pausing. Her eyes opened and met mine as I waited for her to continue. “I… I—” a sob broke through, cutting off her words as she shook her head.

“Kaiya, baby, tell me.” I urged.

Our gazes locked, her eyes searching mine as tears streaked her cheeks. Stroking the back of her hand with my thumb, I said, “You can trust me, Warrior.”

She continued to hold my gaze before speaking, her voice cracking, “I… I… I was abused when I was little.”

“What? For how long?” I asked, my anger building back from her words.

Tears were raining down her face as she choked through her sobs, “As long as I can remember. He… he wouldn’t stop. No matter how hard I tried… he always touched me. It didn’t end until… until I was seventeen.”

My body was on fire with rage, even more so than minutes ago when I saw that asshole hit her. Someone had hurt my warrior for years, making her live in fear.

“Who?” I gritted through clenched teeth.

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