Reaching up, I touch the scruff of his beard, bringing him back like he did for me. “Where didyougo?” I ask, tipping my gaze up as his eyes clear.
“A story for another day. Right now, my- our concern is you, Angel,” he endears,and I see the haunting shadows leave his stare as he refocuses his attention on me.What happened to you?I make a mental note to revisit this conversation.
I feel hands trace up my spine and land on my shoulders, massaging the tension away. I turn and encounter Wyatt’s soft smile, fully taking him in. His once smooth skin bearded. “Did you get in a fight with your razor?” I quip, tugging at the fine, coarse, auburn hair on his chin.
He laughs, and some of the worry drains from his posture. I moan when his fingers press into a knot at the base of my neck, causing my head to lull to the side.
“Don’t make those noises when we’re trying to behave, Love,” Wyatt grunts as he bends to kiss the same spot his hands just were. Shivers travel my spine, making goosebumps line my skin. I feel the smirk crest his lips before he lifts them from my skin.
“None of that,” he taunts.Jerk.
Huffing, I accept that no amount of procrastination will deter them from this conversation. Not even sexual ones.
I lay back in his muscled embrace, allowing his body heat to envelope me, grounding me in the present.I’m not still in that room.
“While I was there, so much happened in such a short amount of time, but it felt like an eternity passed at the same time,” I start, taking a fortifying breath to prepare myself for everything I’m about to divulge.
A hand grabs mine, and I know it’s Owen’s. Wyatt’s hands are wrapped firmly around my middle. I close my eyes and nod, reassuring myself that I’m Ariah fucking Bishop or Bradford. Whoever the hell I truly am, I take whatever life throws at me and make it my bitch.
“The entire time was a mind fuck. Between some waterboarding-style tactics when I first came to, the horrifying things they did to Samantha in front of me, the asshole who tried to assault me, and finding out my mo- Elise is part of some new world order type of organization, I need more time to process it all,” I verbally vomit, rambling off everything at once.
I feel Wyatt stiffen as Owen squeezes my hand almost to the point of pain.
“Did they- did they touch you, Angel?” Owen chokes out. His eyes close and his jaw clenches so tightly that his angular cheekbones are more pronounced, even through his five o’clock shadow.
I’m not ready to have this conversation. What happened to me is nowhere as severe as what I witnessed, but when that man tried to force his disgusting dick in my mouth, only my quick kick to his balls and elbow to his gut saved me long enough for some guard to rush in and drag him out of the room.
The look of retribution in his cold, dead eyes made me refuse to sleep and not for the first time, I wonder what would have happened if my dad and the guys didn’t come in time.
I would’ve been in for the fight of my life.
“You don’t have to tell me exactly what happened if you aren’t ready, but I— no,weneed to know if we have to go dig up the asshole’s body and skull fuck it before we defecate on it,” Owen snarls, and I know his anger isn’t toward me but what happened to me.
Wyatt finally loosens his grip on me. “Please, Ariah, please,” he begs.
Shaking my head, “No, I wasn’t sexually assaulted in any way. There was an attempt, but it wasn’t successful,” I explain.
They both puff out a small sigh of relief. A little reprieve from whatever they were imagining happened to me.
“They still hurt you though, Love, and for that, every single fucking one of them will die,” Wyatt commands, reaching around and turning my chin to face him so I can see the fury and seriousness in his words.
“Damn right. They won’t even get to meet any of my fine ladies— they deserve nothing less than a dose of Lev,” Owen adds.
A dose of Lev? What the fuck?
I’m about to ask what they’re talking about when my room door bursts open, and another unannounced visitor makes their entrance.Seriously? I’m talking to Thomas about security measures.
“Ariah bumboclat Elaine Bishop, where the pussyclat have you been, and why di ras did no one fucking tell mi when yuh reach back?”
My attention shifts in the direction of my rider.Shay!
I jump from Wyatt’s arms and rush my best friend. Her arms open before I reach her.
She embraces me, squeezing me tight before her hold loosens, and she smacks the shit out of my arm.
“Hey,” Owen and Wyatt shout, jumping off the bed, but she aims her glare in their direction, and I fan them off, already knowing what the slap was for.
“If you ever in your life go missing again and don’t find some way to let me know where the fuck you are, I’ll kidnap you and lock you in a tower myself. I don’t care if you have to use morse code, carrier pigeon, smoke, or bat signals. Let me know bitch,” she demands, and I burst out in laughter.
