Page 30 of Curvy Hostage Mate
When I woke the next morning, Chris wasn’t in the bed. The events of the day before came back to me through the haze of sleep while tantalizing smells came from the other room. Deciding to push concerns about the day before out of my head for now, I crawled out of bed and pushed the door open to reveal a kitchen table laden with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
Chris stood at the stove, turning when he heard me. “Morning,” he said.
I raised my eyebrows as I looked at the mouthwatering spread. “I didn’t know you cooked.”
“It’s the way I relax,” he said. He nodded at the food. “Eat your fill. You should keep up your strength.”
I hesitated, glancing down at my body without saying anything. He saw, though, and his expression darkened. He placed the spatula down and came to stand in front of me.
“You are beautiful,” he said. “You always have been, and you always will be. That’s not something you need to worry about.”
My face flushed, and I gave a small, almost timid smile. Despite myself, I believed him. He really did think I was beautiful. For whatever reason, the concept felt bizarre. But I decided to accept it as he returned my smile and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead.
“If not for that, then you should eat because we’re going to have a busy day ahead. We’re heading out after this.”
I frowned, staring at him as unease crawled along my spine. I stared at him with gnawing unease. “Is it Cain?” I asked. “Did he find me?”
He shook his head. “Nothing like that. This is a good thing. I promise.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Somewhere I should have taken you a long time ago,” he said with a grin. “You’ll like it. Truth me.”
He refused to give any more details beyond that for the rest of the morning. Whenever I asked about it, he just gave an amused smirk before shaking his head and not answering anything else.
Eventually, though, he guided me out of the house. He tucked his clothes into a special backpack shifters often used to carry their clothes, then transformed into his great wolf. No longer feeling that shred of hesitation I encountered the first time I saw him, I clambered onto his back, gripping tight as he got back to his feet and took off.
We came to an elegant house tucked away in the woods on the side of a mountain. Not small, but not massive, either. Gray stone and wood. Nestled amongst the trees like it was, it reminded me of a fairy tale. Chris deposited me, grabbed thebag of clothes, then dipped into the woods, appearing a moment later fully clothed.
“Is this your house?” I asked.
He gave an amused snort. “Nah, I don’t have this good taste. Mine isn’t bad, but it’s a shack compared to this.” He jerked his head toward the entrance and guided me over.
“Are you going to tell me who we’re meeting yet?” I asked as he rang the doorbell.
He turned to look at me, mild surprise playing on his face as he regarded me with interest. “I thought you would have guessed by now,” he said with a triumphant smirk.
My brow furrowed, then my eyes widened as I figured out who it was a split-second before the door flew open, and her eyes locked on me. Tall, slender, bright red hair, gray eyes, and our mother’s pointed nose.
“Oh, thank God!” Kendra flung her arms around me and pulled me tight against her. “You’re okay.”
I was too stunned for words. Kendra. Here. After all these months. My mouth opened and closed in shock, relief, and joy. All I could do was tighten my own grip and hold onto her for dear life, trying to convince myself that this was real, that it was Kendra. Right here. Hugging me.
“I’ve been so worried,” Kendra said, her voice a strained sob. She didn’t relinquish me for another long minute, and when she did, she still held tight to my shoulders as she stepped back to get a look at me, glancing at me up and down as if making sure it was really me. For one terrifying second, I thought her eyes lingered on my stomach, and I scrambled to figure out how I would talk about the baby. But if she had figured it out or noticed the change in my scent, she didn’t say anything.
Instead, she murmured, “I’m so, so sorry.”
My brow furrowed in genuine confusion as I studied her. “Sorry? For what?”
“For abandoning you back there,” she said, guilt and grief flooding her face. “I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you or leave you. I didn’t—”
“You didn’t have a choice,” I interrupted her, giving her a stern look. “We both know that none of what happened down there was your fault, so don’t try and make it. Cain would have set his sights on me at one point or another. And anyway, if we hadn’t tried to escape, you wouldn’t have gotten free in the first place.”
“I didn’t want to get out without you,” she said.
“We’re both out now,” I said. “That’s all that matters.”
I didn’t know if she knew about Cain, or any of the other issues plaguing that whole mess of a situation. If she knew about him still lurking around, she didn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to be the one to put those thoughts in her head.
