He smirked as he looked me up and down. “How old is this one?” he asked as he began to rub his crotch with hispalm.
“Fourteen,” Morgan replied. “She’sfeisty.”
“A youngone.”
“Yeah. Galvin plans to keep this one. The money she’ll bring in will be great,” Morgan said. “I offered to do the deed, but he insisted you had to be theone.”
“Now, girl, you behave and let me do as I wish,” Erick said, not taking his eyes offme.
“You’re not gonna touch me,” I said, with as much anger as I possibly could, while I tried to find a way out of this small room, my heart pounding infear.
Erick just laughed as he slowly stalked me around the room. I ended up falling backward onto the bed as he caged me in with hisbody.
“That wasn’t hard, now,” he said as he advanced towards me. He towered over me. I scooted back to the wall as much as Icould.
He easily grabbed my ankles in a tight grip and jerked me down the bed. I screamed in fear. His knees pushed my own apart as far as they would go. I tried to hit and kick him, push him away, but it only made his eyes darken before he pinned my hands above myhead.
“Just relax and don’t fight me. It won’t hurt . . . much,” he smiled as he undid hispants.
* * *
Isat up in bed,gasping. It was light out and there was no Elijah in bed beside me; his side was cold. I was sweaty, my hair sticking to my neck. I hoped a shower would calm mypanic.
I took my time, knowing that whoever was on company duty wouldn’t mind me taking a little extra time. I almost wished, in a way, that no one was there. I wanted to be alone, but at the same timenot.
The shower helped some, even though the remains of the nightmare were still on the edge of my thoughts. The nightmares seemed to be coming more often than I liked. I could still feel Erick’s hands on my body, no matter how hard I scrubbed myskin.
I made my way downstairs to where the smell of bacon and eggs was coming from. I left my hair down, as I wasn’t good at doing anything with it like Elijah could. I was tempted to ask if I could cut it, but wasn’t sure if he wouldapprove.
I was disappointed he didn’t wake me up that morning. The house was quiet, but I figured Joslyn would be waiting in the kitchen for me. I was surprised when, instead of Joslyn sitting at the table, Elijah was. He was reading the newspaper and still in his pj.’s. A plate of bacon and eggs sat at the spot besidehim.
“Good morning, kitten,” he smiled over the paper. “Comeeat.”
I slowly made my way to the chair beside him, confused as to why he was home. I slowly ate the food, noticing it had just been made shortly before I came down the stairs, as it was stillwarm.
“How did you sleep?” he asked, laying the paperdown.
“Fine, Sir,” I lied. It was better sleep than I got in the cell, so I couldn’t complain—even with thenightmares.
“Hmm. You slept later than you have all week,” he replied, looking at me with those brown eyes. “Do you feel unwell? You’re a littlepale.”
“Had a bad dream,” I whispered with a shrug. “But I’mfine.”
“I’m here if you want to talk,” Elijah said, taking his empty plate away. “I’m sorry I haven’t been home much. I’ve been trying to get this case closed as soon as possible, and because of that, I’ve slacked on my duties to take care of you. Emily said you haven’t been doing well because of me not beinghere?”
“I’ve been fine,” I said. I usually always got lost in my mind; plus, Emily hadn’t been heremuch.
“If you say so,” he said, giving me a look that said he didn’t believe me. “Anyway, Kaleb and his wife will be by in a littlebit.”
Not knowing what to say, I chose to stay quiet. I was worried Elijah may have heard me last night. And if he did, would I be punished? Would Kaleb’s wife be nice, or expect anything fromme?
“Something’s bothering you,” Elijah said, kneeling so he was eye level with me, while I sat still in my chair. His eyes were probing myown.
I vaguely remembered a boy with the same colored eyes, and the same look, telling me hundreds of times that my eyes were the window to my soul. The boy was older but seemed to help me get what I was feeling out in the open with just that one look. This time, although it was no different, I changed thesubject.
“We did know each other; I remember small things,” I said, tilting my head to the side. I knew him, but how well wasthat?
“Of course, we did,” Elijah replied as his look softened. “You used to follow me everywhere, and would pretty much do anything I wanted you to do…except for going away.” Hesmiled.
