Page 24 of Bound by Wreckage
“Nothingwill happen to me. Promise you that.”
“He’s crazy, Nox. Just please promise me.” The words come out laced with panic and her arms begin to shake.
“Promise. I’ll stay away from him as long as he stays away from you.”
A gust of air releases from her lips. “Thank you.”
She lays down with a bit of hesitation as I bring the bottle of peroxide up to show her. “This mightsting a little. You good?”
Her eyes waver, and it’s like a punch to the gut that, from her reactions, she’s never had anyone help her get cleaned up after being attacked. She’s never had anyone who gave enough of a shit about her to do it.
Carsyn is giving me her trust here. Trust that I won’t hurt her. Trust that she can count on me. Trust that I’ll care for her when no one elseever has. Fuck.
Grabbing some gauze from the first aid kit, I pour the peroxide slowly on one of her cuts, but she says nothing. No groan. No moan. No reaction whatsoever to the peroxide, and that shit burns. Is she in that much pain, she can’t recognize more? Or is she numb?
Using the gauze, I swipe gently on the cuts and only then does she groan in pain.
Each touch of herskin that hurts, I want to make better. The ibuprofen she took a while ago on the road seems to be wearing off. I’ll need to get out of here and get some more.
Carsyn should be cherished, loved, coveted—never ever treated like this. Fuck, this pisses me off and I have to keep calm, not letting her see it. She’s a slippery slope that I somehow need to climb.
Her legs are the same,but with less cleaning up. She shivers again, and I cover her up tight. “I’m going out to get some food, water, and a few other things. I’ll see what I can find for clothes, but know it won’t be much.”
Her hand darts out to my arm. “Don’t go… I mean, okay. Thank you.”
She’s on the verge of a panic attack. Instead of leaving, I climb up the bed and rest my back on the headrest. Shestares up at me like I hold the key to the damn world. This woman is giving me so much of her trust, and it’s squeezing inside of me. I want to cherish that and hold it near. I want to make her wrongs right and be the man she’s thinking I am right at this moment.
I brush her hair away from her face and behind her ear.
“First thing we need to do is get rid of this red.”
Shechuckles, but it’s soft. “Yeah. I hate it. Always reminded me of a clown.”
“Bozo.”
The smile I love seeing meets her eyes as she pulls the blankets around her body. “Now we’re name callin’, huh?”
“Maybe.”
There’s this thick tension in the room, but I have to resist its pull. She’s not in a place to do anything but lay next to me. Hell, I’m a guy, what can I say? Thechemistry is something I haven’t felt before with a woman.
“You know,” she begins, “I had the biggest crush on you in high school.”
“They all did.”
“Asshole,” she grumbles, but does so playfully.
“I am what I am. But go ahead and tell me more.”
“Screw that. Your head’s big enough.”
This playful banter is so much different than the woman I met the othertwo times. It’s like a switch flipped knowing she didn’t have to go back to him. That she is free. Free to be herself for once.
“Oh, come on. You know what?”
“What?”
I scoot my body down and lay on my side toward her. She doesn’t retreat, and I take that as a good sign. “I had one on you too.”
