“That was a stupid question. Sorry, Calla.” He blew out a breath. “Did he ever hurt you sexually? I only ask because we can arrange counseling for you. Well, we can also get him charged and sent to jail where the bastard belongs.”
My eyes widened with shock before I pulled my hand from his face so I could chew on the edge of my thumb while I tried to remember how I’d felt each time I’d become aware I’d lost time. I’d never considered that Jack could have raped me. I should have. Now that Eric mentioned it, it was easy to see that couldhave been Jack’s reasoning behind drugging me. But I didn’t think he had. I couldn’t recall ever being sore between my legs, and since I was a virgin, together with the fact I know how rough Jack could get, I was sure I’d have been at least sore if he’d done that. And from what I could recall, I either regained awareness just before or as he arrived back home.
Dropping my hand down, I looked back to Eric’s mouth and shook my head.
His shoulders lowered as he exhaled a deep breath.
“Good. That’s good.”
When he reached forward with both hands toward my face, I tensed. Fear at what he was going to do churned my empty stomach. When he lightly ran his fingertips over my cheeks before pushing the gathered hair behind my ears, I lifted my thumb again to chew on the edge, heat filling my face. I was embarrassed that after all the kindness he’d shown me I’d still assumed he must want to hurt me.
Eric’s warm hand wrapping around my wrist snapped me from my thoughts before he gently lowered my arm down. “You’ll make yourself bleed, sweet girl.” He nodded to the tray. “Try to eat as much as you can, and don’t worry about anything you don’t end up eating going to waste. We have plenty of animals on the Ranch that love scraps.” He picked up the water bottle, cracking the lid and opening it before handing it to me. “See if you can finish the whole bottle for me. With all your body and mind has been through today, keeping hydrated as you recover is important.”
After taking a few sips from the bottle, I lowered it and used my other hand to reach for a stick of cucumber, nibbling on it while my gaze followed Eric as he returned to the wall of cupboards. He rummaged around for a while before he closed the door, turned and strode back to me. He moved with a masculine grace that I was certain I could watch all day and notget tired of the sight. Glancing down, I grabbed a strawberry next. It was bright red and cut in half. Bringing it to my lips, I bit into it just as Eric came to stop in front of me. He waited until I was looking at his closed fist before he opened it, revealing a necklace made up of a black cord with a cute purple heart-shaped pendant on it. The surface of the heart looked soft, but solid. Maybe a rubber of some kind. I’d never seen anything like it before and was curious what it was.
“Not sure if you’ve seen one of these before. It’s a chewable necklace, and this one is yours to keep. They’re designed to look like a normal necklace that you can wear all the time, so it’ll be close by whenever you feel the need to chew on something. Give your poor thumb a break.”
Putting down the water bottle, I plucked the necklace from his palm, squeezing the heart to discover it was solid but had a little give to it. Lifting it to my mouth I gave it an experimental chew. There was no taste, thankfully, and the strange texture was nice against my tongue and teeth. With a smile, I put the black cord over my head and let it hang down over my sweater before I reached for a carrot stick to nibble on.
Eric moved back to sit on the couch while I tried to ignore him, instead focusing on the floating bubbles in one of the tubes as I continued to eat my dinner and sip at the water until it was all gone. Setting down the now empty bottle, I winced when I realized I’d only managed to eat half of the food. Such a waste. Although, Eric had said there were animals here who’d eat it. I wondered what kind. Chickens probably. Father had chickens. Four hens and one nasty big rooster. One of the few times I was allowed out of my room was to go collect the eggs and feed them. Those hens were one of the few things I miss from Father’s house.
With a yawn, I wriggled down and pulled the blanket back up around me. Tiredness pulled at me now I had a full belly, but nomatter how I shifted, I couldn’t get comfortable. Not with Kimori missing.
Eric moving the tray from beside me had me stilling to look in his direction. After he set it down on the table beside the couch, he sat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he looked at me.
“Normally, when someone first arrives at Rawhide for the first time, they meet with Derek, the owner, in his office. However, because you’ve had such a traumatic day today, and it’s getting late, we’ve put that off until the morning to let you get a good night’s sleep in first. Please don’t worry about the meeting, it’s nothing scary, I promise. Derek likes to explain the history of the Ranch, and all the different things that happen here, not a single one anything close to what your idiot stepfather hoped we did. I have no idea where he got his information from, or if he simply made up garbage to scare you, but I assure you, nothing he said was based on facts.”
Frowning, I started to raise my thumb to my mouth, then remembering the necklace, gripped it and nibbled on the bottom point of the heart while I pondered the idea of being able to choose what I did while here. I had no clue what the options were yet, but that didn’t matter. I hadn’t been able to make any decisions for myself since leaving Pieces to Peace, I certainly didn’t get much say in what happened before going there. Even while at Pieces to Peace, I hadn’t really had much choice in anything. But Eric made it sound like Derek was going to treat me like an adult. Set out options and let me pick.
Excitement had me almost giddy, wanting to meet Derek now to find out what my choices would be. At least until another yawn hit and sucked out my remaining energy, leaving me tired and drained. A good night’s sleep sounded like heaven. Except for the part where Kimori was missing.
“I’ll take that yawn and the way you’re struggling to keep your eyes open as agreement to that plan. Derek has gotten a guest room all sorted for us for tonight, then tomorrow we’ll get you settled into a more permanent room.”
He stood and came over, sitting in the space the tray had been and facing me. The seriousness of his expression had me waking up and paying attention. Had something happened?
“Calla, the guest rooms here are set up with two bedrooms. We can’t leave you alone, not after the day you’ve had. I can organize for one of the ladies on staff to stay with you, in the other room of course, or if you’re more comfortable with me being the one to stay?—”
He stopped speaking when I dropped the necklace and reached a hand to grip his wrist, giving it a light squeeze as I nodded. I didn’t want to have to deal with meeting anyone else tonight. Eric had been nothing but kind and caring, while also being careful to not push past any boundaries I might have. And his touch held magic. There was also the fact Dr. Stringer had vouched for him. With all of that, I was willing to risk trusting him to sleep in a room next to me. Hopefully with him close, I’d be able to sleep despite not having Kimori.
Smiling, he slid his hand until his palm lined up with mine. Those magic tingles danced up my arm while he intertwined our fingers. Warmth spread through my whole body, heating me better than any blanket I’d ever used had. He was so close I could smell his cologne again. That citrusy scent with a touch of pepper that had surrounded me when he’d carried me earlier. My cheeks grew even hotter as I stared at his lips, wondering how it would feel to kiss him. I’d never done it before, never had any desire to but Eric was waking up all sorts of new sensations within me.
With a quiet chuckle, he leaned in, and I held my breath. All the happy thoughts vanished as fear took over. Had I made thewrong choice in trusting him? Was he about to smash through my boundaries, proving his previous kindness nothing more than a mask?
He whispered, “Such a sweet, precious girl. Thank you for your trust, Calla.”
He continued to lean closer to me, my breathing picked up and my thoughts spiraled with how I could escape him. When he pressed a soft kiss to my temple as he rose to stand, my spiraling thoughts stilled. His magic sent a wave of peace through my mind, followed by relief that I hadn’t misjudged him. At least, not yet.
“Let’s get you to the room so you can settle in and sleep. This late there shouldn’t be too many people out in the lobby, but if you prefer, I can grab you some noise canceling earmuffs to wear?”
Nodding, tears pricked my eyes, relieved I wouldn’t have to try to block out sounds myself. Normally I’d have a horrible headache after a meltdown like the one I’d had today. Eric’s magic had so far prevented one today, but I knew it wouldn’t take much to trigger one. Loud noises and bright lights were best avoided.
I tightened my hold when he loosened his grip on my hand. With a gentle smile, he firmed up his grip on my hand.
“Okay, Calla. We’ll grab it on our way out. It’s in the cupboard near the door.”
He reached for my other hand, holding both to help me rise to stand. The blanket fell from my shoulders but before I could panic, he gave my hands a squeeze.
“Don’t worry, sweet girl. We can take it with us. I’m going to need you to let my hands go for just a few minutes, okay? I’ll get your earmuffs and the blanket sorted, then I’ll be back by your side, holding your hand before we leave the room, okay?”
