Page 46 of Redeemed

“Just tell me,” I prod gently.

“No! Please let me go.”

“I can’t. Not with you this worked up.”

“Then I—” She tries to stifle a sob. “Colt, I can’t. I can’t talk about it.Please.”

“All right.” I still haven’t let go of her, but I nod. “If that’s what you need, I’ll drop it.”

Sagging in relief, she whispers, “Thank you.”

My hand travels up and down her back, and I add enough pressure that she falls into me. We stay like that until her breathing has evened out and her panic seems to have faded.

“Can I see Star now?” she asks once she’s fully calmed down.

“Of course.”

Scooping her up, I stand and then set Haven on her feet. She really does seem mostly okay now, thank fuck, but whatever spooked her has a tight chokehold on her. I may have let it go for this evening, but I’ll get to the bottom of whatever is scaring her.

And then I’ll fucking eradicate it.

Haven

Three years later - Halloween morning

‎

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, grimacing at the bitter taste of the cum I just swallowed. My knees ache from kneeling on the laminate flooring of the library’s maintenance room, and I’m about ready to rip this guy to shreds.

“Fuck, that was good,” the security guard towering over me groans. Ralph? Raleigh? Ryan? He doesn’t bother to remember my name, so I don’t bother to remember his.

“I told you, you’re not allowed to touch me,” I grit out. As I put some distance between us, I glare up at him.

The motherfucker shrugs. “And I told you I wanted to come down your throat, not in your mouth. You shouldn’t have tried to pull away.”

“Listen, you know my terms. I stay in control, and you don’t touch me. You’re paying for a blowjob, not a facefuck.”

“Sorry,” he says, even though he’s obviously not. “Will an extra twenty make it better?” He tosses three bills at me instead of the normal two.

“If you do it again, we’re done,” I snap, snatching up the bills as they flutter to the floor.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He zips up his pants and moves toward the door. “See you around.”

I stay silent, trying to shove down the feeling of dirtiness that clings to me. Words I heard spoken from the pulpit as a little girl filter through my head.

Your purity is the most precious thing you can offer to your future husband.

Adultery is one of the greatest sins you can commit.

God is always watching.

Once the security guy is gone, I slump against a shelf full of cleaning supplies. I stare into my lap, my hair falling around my face haphazardly. Most of it is brown, but the sunlight from the only window in here catches the tasteful strands of deep purple.

Dying my hair was the first thing I tried to do to reclaim my body as my own. Experimenting with an alternative style came second, and then the tattoo that covers my chest. All things that would mortify anyone back home.

Isaiah would probably kill me if he knew what I just did.

I shake my head to dislodge the thought. He may technically still be my husband, but I left him—escapedhim. I’m not his anymore, and I never will be again.

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