The Beast stared at me for a moment. My breath hitched when he started around the bedside. Gripping the blankets tighter, I jerked them up to my chin.
My actions caused a low chuckle to rumble through him. “There isn’t one part of your beautiful body that’s a stranger to me.”
“You and the man who seduced me are two different men.”
“Are you so sure about that?”
Nodding, I replied, “The man last night cared about me–about my consent and comfort. You’re the stranger who drugged me into submission, stealing my ability to consent, and holding me against my will.”
“While I might’ve taken your consent, I never stopped caring about you, Sarah.”
“You lie,” I bit out.
“From the moment you lost consciousness, no one dared lay one finger on you. It was only me.”
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “Like that makes me feel better.”
“It should. You have my word, I didn't touch you in any untoward way.”
“How decent of you,” I snapped.
He ignored both my comment and when my breath hitched as he eased down on the side of the bed. “After arriving here, I stayed by your side through the entirety of the night.” He threw a glance over his shoulder at the chair beside the bed. “I didn’t sleep as I checked on your breathing every hour to ensure you weren’t having any adverse reactions from the ketamine.”
“And what if I had?”
“I have a doctor standing by.”
Although momentarily touched by his concern, I quickly shook myself free of my Stockholm Syndrome. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“It should. I would certainly have comfort in the fact that someone respected my boundaries when I was unconscious, as well as being concerned about my health.”
With a huff, I countered, “Jesus, you’re psychotic, and that means a lot coming from me, who has a brother with schizophrenia.”
The Beast ignored my remark. Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket to produce his phone. But then on closer inspection, I realized it was mine. Waving it at me, he said, “I even texted your friends to let them know you had to leave.”
I gasped at the reference to Hudson and Archie. “What did you say?”
He extended the phone to me. After snatching it out of his hands, I quickly scrolled to the group text with Hudson, Archie, and myself.
Hey guys, I’m so sorry, but I got a call from my mom and gotta cut the weekend short. I called an Uber, so you guys keep having fun. I’ll text you in the morning.”
It was eerie how much he sounded like me and mirrored the way Inever wrote in text speak and always used grammatically correct sentences. Both Archie and Hudson always gave me shit for it.
Scrolling past my message, I saw Hudson’s reply. “
So sorry Whit, Whit. Call if u need us.”
To which Archie said,
“Love u.”
As an ache burned through my chest, I fought the tears clouding my eyes. Staring at my screen, I said, “They’re going to wonder what happened to me when I don’t reply.”
“Why wouldn’t you respond?”
I jerked my gaze from my phone. “You’re going to let me have my phone?”
“I’m not–my client is.”
