Page 66 of Unfulfilled Promises
Sighing, I began to explain. “A few months after I was sent to Kelly, she got pissed at me because she was expecting me to roll over and tell her everything I knew, but I refused. She’d left for a few days, and when she came back, she was screaming about how I was going to speak or she’d make me. So,” I paused, and he kissed my forehead again, giving me time to form my thoughts, “she allowed one of the men to get rough with me, and he’s the one who dislocated my jaw. I was remembering the few days following that.”
“Is there something specific you remember?” he asked, and I could hear a twinge of anger in his voice. I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but I had to keep reminding myself of that.
Looking up, I saw understanding looking back at me as I said, “Someone came in and said they were going to make them pay for what they were doing to us.” I shrugged, still curious who made the promise.
“Do you know who it was?”
“I never saw their face and didn’t recognize the voice,” I admitted, and he kissed me again.
“Thank you for sharing. I know it’s going to take some time for us to get into a pattern, but I hope you know you can say anything to me. I just want to be here for you, however you’ll let me.”
“When I said I trusted you, I meant that.” He went to speak, but I placed my hand over his mouth, needing to get the words out. “For too long, I’d lived in a place of survival, even when I was safe. I was terrified everyone would blame me for beingconnected to Sergey and then they would walk away and leave me to face my demons alone. But I was wrong.”
“And now?” he inquired, and I leaned forward and placed a kiss over his heart.
“Now, I’m ready to start living.”
He smiled down at me, and I pushed up, needing his lips. The kiss was chaste but filled with promise. A knock on the door had us pulling apart as I lifted my head and said, “Who is it?”
“It’s Hannah. I’ve got dinner almost ready in case you’re hungry.”
Glancing at Seth, I raised my eyebrows. He nodded, so I returned to Hannah, “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Take your time. It’s just about to come out of the oven,” she said.
“I guess it’s time to get up,” I reasoned. “What time is it anyway?”
I kept my room dark for the days when I didn’t want to see the world, so there wasn’t any natural light coming through the blackout shades covering the windows. Seth rolled over and returned with his phone in his hand. Looking at it, he said, “Damn. It’s almost eight at night.”
“I guess we needed the sleep,” I joked.
“I’m glad you got some rest. Did you sleep well besides the dream?”
“I slept better than I have in years,” I replied, and he smiled at me with his eyes twinkling.
“Let me help you get out of bed and we can get you fed.” Seth flipped the covers back on his side and released the hold he had on me.
I watched as he stood from the bed and stretched. The first step he took was gingerly before he pulled his shoulders back and began to move around the bed. The pain in his gait was obvious, and I wanted to tell him I was able to take care ofmyself, but he was faster than I was. Pulling my covers back, he held out his hand to me, and I took it before carefully sitting up.
“Go slow. You lost a lot of blood yesterday, and I don’t want you overdoing it,” he remarked as he helped me stand from the bed.
I was still a little dizzy and realized he was right. I pushed myself hard to make sure I saw Giovanni suffer for his crimes, but now, I was sore and weak. I nodded, and he asked. “What do you want to wear?”
Slowly, I shuffled to the dresser, but when I tried to open the drawer, I didn’t have the strength to pull it open. Looking at him, he had an ‘I told you so’ look on his face, and I rolled my eyes as I pointed to the drawer. “I need my black leggings from this drawer and a sports bra from the top drawer.”
“Have a seat and I’ll get it,” he said, and as I turned to shuffle to his side of the bed, he added, “Hardheaded woman.”
I was smiling when he turned around with my pants in one hand and a front-hook sports bra in the other. “I don’t want you to pull any stitches so I thought this would be best.”
I took them from him and carefully stood to pull the pants up my legs. I still didn’t have on panties, and the free feeling was foreign but nice. Memories of the shower with Seth started to fill my head and a blush pushed up on my face.
I tried to turn away from him, but he placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “What has that smile on your face, beautiful?”
I shook my head, embarrassed by my boldness this morning. There was never a time in my life when I had done anything like that, even before I was kidnapped. And it was out of character, but at that moment in the shower, there wasn’t anything I wanted more. And thinking about it now was making me wet, wanting his tongue on me again.
Seth leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I’m thinking about how amazing you tasted this morning and how I want to do it again.” I pinched my lips in a smile and glanced at him. He added, “Is that what you’re thinking about?”
I nodded silently, and he reasoned, “Whenever and wherever you want me, just say the word.”
