Page 33 of Under Your Care

Why?

Why?

“Princess.”

I shook my head. I needed this all to end. I needed to be freed from this heartbreaking pain seering my insides every fucking day. I needed–

“Baby, I’m here. You’re safe. I’ve got you,” a soothing voice hummed into my ear. I shook my head again, then stopped because it felt like my brain was rattling around in there. Were brains stuck in a specific place or did they just sit up there without a seatbelt?

“Settle. Shhh. I’ve got you, princess. I’ve got you.” A heavy warmth enveloped me, cocooning me within its wings. “Shh, there you go. That’s my good boy,” the voice whispered. I felt as my consciousness slowly came back to my body. My skin felt wet and sticky, from my forehead to my hands to my thighs. I felt the calming strokes of a large hand through my hair. “Come back to me, darling. You’re doing so well,” it cooed.

My head was pounding, making me concerned that maybe my brain got rattled a bit too hard somehow. My eyelids weakly lifted, my gaze settling on the face in front of me.

Greyson.

“Hey, there you are. There’s my little fawn. I’m here. Daddy’s got you now,” he said tenderly, eyes full of concern.

Why was he concerned?

With what little strength I had, I flicked my eyes down to see what the gross sticky feeling was coming from. All I could see was red. Greyson gently took my face in his hands and turned me back towards him.

“You don’t need to look at that right now,” he murmured, rubbing his thumbs in soothing little circles on my wet cheeks.

“Look… at what…?”

His strong brows pulled down in concern.

“Nothing. Just keep looking at me, okay?” I managed a small nod. “I’m going to get you home now, sweetheart. We’ve already got Chloe - she’s perfectly safe, okay?” I wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t have been safe, but I nodded again, leaning my weight into Greyson’s chest. “Quick pinch,” he mumbled, my eyelids drooping closed again.

Chapter 15

Greyson

Lane stirred slightly in his sleep, his hands unconsciously kneading my shirt as we laid facing each other on my bed. I carefully used a finger to brush away a stray curl that had fallen across his face. He looked so serene with his pale, freckled face slack and his small, soft lips open just a smidge, a glossy sheen on them from drool. Both of his hands clutched my shirt, like he was trying to keep me as close as possible. I drew my thumb over his lips, pulling down the bottom one. He scrunched his face in his sleep before curling even further into me, his head tucked into my chest. I placed a chaste kiss on top of his head, wondering how his mental state was going to be once he awoke.

I about had a heart attack when I opened his motel room door and found him bathed in blood, repeatedly stabbing something on the bed, awake but unresponsive. It took me until I was sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, to see that thesomethingwas a man. He was completely eviscerated. Lane’s eyes were faraway, and he paid me no mind as I checked him for injuries. He just continued stabbing, although he was only stabbing into the mattress at that point since there was nothing substantial left of the man’s upper half for him to stab.

“You spend one night without me…tsk,” I whispered to his sleeping face. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, he could have been caught by police and incarcerated for murder. Lane wouldn’t survive an hour in jail, let alone prison. Just thinking about it was making me furious.

Suddenly, Lane’s eyes flickered open. He gazed up from my chest with wonder. “Daddy? Am I dreaming?”

I chuckled under my breath, my fingers entwining with his. “Hey, princess. You’re not dreaming. You certainly caused a commotion though, running away like that.”

Lane looked up at me under his lashes. He squeezed my hand as he spoke. “I’m so sorry… I should have just waited for you to come home– I just– I was panicking. Oliver said that you were abusing me, and my emotions got all muddled in my head, I was so confused, Daddy.”

My eyes went soft, and I pulled him up so that we were laying face-to-face. I pressed my lips against his, and cradled his head in my palms.

“I know, sweetheart, I know. Are you still feeling confused now?” I asked while rubbing his speckled cheeks.

“No, I was gonna find a way to call you so that you could come get me. How did you find me?” Lane swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He frowned, a nervous look appearing. “Um… Did I– I don’t remember a lot of last night. But um…” He bit his lower lip as it began to tremble. “Did you see– I mean, I remember some things but I’m not sure if it was just a bad dream or not. I don’t think I was drinking or anything–”

“Hush,” I instructed, tucking some of his loose hair behind his ear. “Can you tell me what you remember?”

“I had a bad dream about Tate and woke up having to puke. I went to the toilet and threw up. Chloe came in. Is Chloe okay?” Lane shot up into a seated position, scanning the room for his pet.

“Chloe’s okay, Lane. Don’t worry. I brought her home safe and sound, I promise.”

He sighed in relief before inching back so that his back was againstthe headboard. I raised to join him, wrapping the arm closest to him around his shoulders and pulling him so that his head was on my shoulder. He briefly nuzzled in, but then sat up and crawled into my lap. I couldn’t help but smile as he turned and laid his back against my chest, grabbing both of my arms and placing them around his chest.

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