Page 106 of Savage Scream

“They are fine, too. Everyone is fine.”

I frown. “But how can they be? Someone broke into their home and terrorised them. Because of me.”

“Hey.” Jared frowns, tugging me to the side of the bed as I shuffle to get out. “That’s not your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” I ask, feeling very much like it is. “If I hadn’t manipulated the system so the Rogans would find me. If I hadn't come into their life, then none of this would have happened.”

Jared stares at me for a long few moments, his eyes roaming over my face, a frown tugging at his brow.

“You couldn’t have foreseen this, Dee. No one could. If anything, the Angels have a lot to answer for. They should have told you who they were to you. Perhaps then you would have trusted them enough to ask for their help in getting to Travis.”

The Angels. My aunties.

Jesus fucking Christ. Everything is intertwined. Everything.

“Besides. I’m kind of glad you came to Fox Pines.” He shoots me a sly grin.

My shoulders relax at that statement, so I decide to give myself a break for the time being, because I know deep down that what I’ve done to the Rogans is not ok. And soon enough, this little bubble I’m in with Jared will burst, and I’ll have to face the reality of my situation.

Even though I can stay here in Fox Pines now, I know that I can’t.

Not after the danger I’ve brought into the lives of innocent people.

Jared, being one of them.

37

JARED

My heart is full as I help Dee to the attached bathroom of her hospital room. For a few days there, I didn’t think I’d see the old Dee again. I thought she was gone. Lost in the dark depths of her mind, never to return. Yet here she is, letting me hold her up as she walks on weak, shaky legs.

Knowing she’s back and ok has triggered an array of hope to bloom in my brain. We have a real chance at a future now. She can stay here in Fox Pines. She can finish school, keep dancing, get a job, and build a life for herself. A real one that doesn’t involve keeping her voice to herself or sneaking through the shadows at night and slicing someone’s throat in their sleep.

Now, we can be together.

I hadn’t wanted to let myself truly think about what that might look like when I knew she was planning to leave. I knew it would just make things harder for me to dream about a future that would never be. But now? Fuck, now I can let myself indulge in that.

Now I feel like I can truly breathe.

I turn the shower on, holding my hand under the spray until the temperature feels right, and then help Dee slip out of the hospital gown.

Instinctively, she covers herself, one arm held to her chest, covering the pretty pink nipples I love to lick. Another hand shifts to cover her hoo-ha, as she calls it.

“I can step out,” I offer, feeling like an idiot for assuming she would want me in here while she showers, but she shakes her head, her brown eyes wide like she’s scared I will leave.

“Stay,” Is all she says, and I bite back a grin and nod.

“I can face the other way if you like?”

She shakes her head again. “Can you take your clothes off too?”

My brows shoot up, and she sucks her lips in, trying not to laugh.

“It would make me feel less… exposed if you were naked, too.”

“Oh.” I chuckle, and nod, shucking off my t-shirt before slipping off my pants and jocks.

When I look back up at Dee, her dark eyes are travelling over my body, stopping at my dick, and all of a sudden I feel like I’m the one who’s exposed.

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