“Yes,” I agreed.“I thank you all for your service.”
“I told you the French military would not let you down.”Laurent smiled and attempted to slap me on the back before I dodged out of his way.
“Ow.”I winced at the near impact, twisting to try and get a view of the damage the whip had caused.
“Yes, I’m sorry.”Laurent frowned.“You need a medic, Mr.Harper.”
“I’m okay,” I lied.“I’ll be fine once I’m back with Caroline.”
“Come.”He motioned to the doorway.“There is a medic waiting to see you on The Libération.Miss Craness insisted on that much.”
I laughed at the way Laurent made that sound.Even from back at the Dutch hotel, she was making her opinions known, but then it had been that exact fire within her that had always called so loudly to me.She was the feisty woman who’d dared to defy the rules and capture my attention.
“Okay, fine.”I took one last glance around the place where Ian had made me kneel and bleed for him.“Let’s go.I never want to step foot on a boat again.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Adam
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“HERE YOU ARE, SIR.”Caroline emerged from the bathroom in only a bathrobe, carrying a pristine-looking white shirt on a hanger.“I managed to get this ironed for you.”
I watched her sashay across the suite, her hips dancing seductively as she held the shirt aloft for me to see.
“Youshouldbe ironing it yourself, little girl.”I attempted a growl, but it was difficult to be genuinely intimidating when every flex of my back and shoulder muscles reminded me of how fragile my body was.
It had been two weeks since Laurent and his countrymen had swooped in to save me from Ian’s malice.Two weeks where everything from finding a comfortable position in bed to laughing at my little girl’s attempts at nursing me had triggered pain from the healing wounds, and two weeks where I’d, yet again, found a new respect for the women who’d endured such dreadful punishments on a daily basis.
It had only been months since I had presided over those acts at Fortorus, but sitting in the hotel, I hardly recognized the man I used to be.So much had changed since then.My situation, my location, my reasons for being, but more importantly, my morality.Smiling at my little girl, I acknowledged the monster I’d become under Ian’s regime, and also the woman who had lured me back to the light.
“Yes, well...”She shrugged, her grin playful.“That’s one of the advantages of still being in the hotel.We don’t have to do everything ourselves yet.”
“Are you saying youdon’twant to iron for me?”
I shifted on the chair, trying not to flinch at the pain that streaked along my upper back.I hadn’t expected the injuries the whip had caused to still be so sensitive, but, as I’d discovered, the problem with being whipped between the shoulders was that so much everyday activity relied upon the muscles working beneath that skin.At times, it had seemed as though everything I did only agitated the wounds and slowed down their ability to heal.
