A disbelieving laugh bubbles from her chest, and she shakes her head. “Why would you help me? And why should I believe a fucking word you say?”
I hold myself rigid. Because she’s more like me than she knows. And I can see the light inside her—the vibrant energy— slowly being snuffed out. But I won’t—can’t—say that. “It’s good that you’re cautious.” Pausing, I swallow. “I figure I owe you this.” There’s no good answer for why she should believe me. She doesn’t know me, doesn’t understand.Couldn’t.I snap my mouth shut and exhale sharply through my nose.
Apprehension coats her features, and her eyes track my every movement. Cross and Hayze had mentionedshe wasn’t…happy.But that’s a poor choice of words to describe her current mood. Maybe she’s in a worse place now than she was earlier, or maybe it’s simply because it’smeand the interactions between us have spanned from semi-normal to downright volatile. Whatever the reason, every subtle shift of my body elicits a glare of warning. I get the idea that she’d like to repay me for every wrong I’ve done to her. Maybe I should let her have a shot at doing so. Letting that idea simmer, I move behind her again to work the knot, fighting to get it to loosen. “Almost got it,” I mutter a moment later.
“What are you going to do with me?” The suspicion that laces her voice is like a million needles pricking my skin. “Will it hurt?”
I suck in a breath. With those words, she nearly breaks me. Once again, the part I’ve played in her torment haunts my thoughts. I step to the side studying her profile. “No.” Hastily, I wet my lips. “But if you’ll let me, Iwilltry to help you, if only for a little while.”
Skeptical, she peers into my eyes, shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to.” I release an exasperated breath, my gaze flicking toward the building. “Should I proceed or leave you here?”
“Ugh!Yes.Untie me. But—” Her jaw goes rigid, her misgivings spilling across her delicate features. It’s so fucking clear that she wants to give in. But that’s my spitfire, I suppose. She’s fuckingstubborn. And hotheaded. She swallows hard, then nods her approval. “If you hurt me, I swear you’ll hurt worse.”
I shrug, getting back to work. “Understood.” Several minutes go by, but then, all at once, the knot releases, and the heavy length drops to the ground… but so does the infuriating woman it’d been supporting.
Fuck.I hurry to her, skidding to my knees in the dirt. “Are you okay?” I have an impulse to put my hands on her but decide against it for fear she would misunderstand my intentions. Grimacing, I scan for any obvious injury… but it’d seem from the shaking of her limbs that she’s simply weak. Not surprising, considering the last twenty-four hours. Between not eating much of anything—Cross had clued me in about that earlier, too—and being immobilized after her correction, I should have expected something like this.
“Yes. I’ll survive.” She eyes me warily. I’ve been her aggressor in the past. I’ve kept her from escaping and returned her to madness. She doesn’t understand the reasoning behind most of my actions. After another few seconds, she heaves out a breath and mumbles, “Now what?”
Getting to my feet, I cautiously offer my hands to help her stand. To her obvious dismay, her legs are unsteady at best, and she’s forced to hold on tightly to me. Her lips wobble, at the perceived weakness, if I’m not mistaken. “Don’t be stubborn,” I whisper, my voice husky. “Let me help you.”
Amazement dawns when she allows me to sling her arm around my neck without a fight. I hook her knees and cradle her against me.
“Where are we going?” Her heart pounds frantically against my chest as she peers up at me, leery.
Giving a furtive glance behind us, I jut my chin toward the barn. “There.” I fully intend to hide with her for as long as it’s safe to do so.
The look she gives me is questioning, full of doubt and mistrust, but with a healthy dose of curiosity. I wish I could simply take her indoors, but with so many people in the main building, it’d be difficult to come and go without being seen. But the barn? No one should be out this way anytime soon. I just hope I can get her secured at the tree again before anyone notices she’s not here. An ill-timed glance out a window could be disastrous, but even so, I still think giving her some relief will be worth it.
I nudge the door with my shoulder until it begins to roll open. The damn thing creaks as loudly as my father’s ancient fucking knees. Both of us cringe. I don’t dare push it any wider, but I manage an opening that will allow us through.
We’re greeted by soft chuffs and snorts as well as the earthy, musky, pungent scents that scream animal. “Can you wait here a minute?” At her quick nod, I lower her feet to the dirt floor and, once I know she’s stable, I whisper, “Be right back.”
Retracing my footsteps, I gather the supplies I’d left at the tree and return to the cavernous wood structure.The metal gears of the sliding door shriek again as I shut us inside. Delilah stares, openly curious now, and her lips part, confusion sliding over her features. “You planned this.” It doesn’t even come out as a question, just a disbelieving statement of fact.
“It was more of an I-came-up-with-it-on-the-fly idea than a plan, but yeah,” I murmur, setting everything down. “I couldn’t stop—” My mouth snaps shut.
“You couldn’t stop what?”
I couldn’t stop thinking about her.A small shrug lifts my shoulders. It’d be unwise to bare my fucking soul just yet. Shaking out a sheet, I cover a pile of straw with it. “Um…” I gesture to the bucket of sudsy water that I’d filled back in the kitchen, suddenly feeling weird about this part of my plan.
“What’s that for?” Her gaze has followed mine.
I wince. “Thought maybe you’d appreciate being able to clean up.” Hesitating, my teeth clench together, certain she thinks I’m being a real weirdo. “You know, as much as is possible while we’re standing in the middle of a damn barn.”
Her eyes dart to me, and she blinks rapidly, taking a cautious step over to the bucket. She swallows and bends to pick up the rag from the soapy water, but before she ever touches it, her gaze drifts to the other supplies—a handful of dried fruit in case she was hungry, some water, and then the towel and dress I pilfered from the clothesline along the way. She freezes in place, glancing at me for only a split second beforescrambling to grab most of the fruit into her palm. I’ve hardly had time to blink, and it’s in her mouth. My brows raise. She must be really fucking hungry. I’ve never seen someone chew so quickly, and a moment later, she’s also downed most of the water.Good call.
She hesitates a moment, but then reluctantly picks up the wet, soapy cloth. Her eyes flick toward me, trembling as she begins to drag it over her skin.
I can tell she’s feeling awkward that I’m watching. Hell, I feel awkward about it, too. A second later, I come to my senses and make a circling motion with my pointer finger. “I can turn around.” Giving her my back, I stand there with hands on hips.
“You really don’t have to.” She makes a small huffing noise. “There’s nothing you haven’t seen now. And you’ve already beeninsideme.”
Those pain-filled words practically flay my skin open. I deserve every bit of her ire. Exhaling hard, I bring my hands up, momentarily scrubbing them over my face. “Yeah,” I rasp out. “Iknow.Trust me, I do. But I don’t have any idea how to apologize because I know you won’t believe me. But… I’m sorry for it all the same.” I glance over my shoulder to see her dip the cloth into the water again before running it over her legs and up between them to where fingers had probed and prodded. Something inside my stomach curdles. I can’t believe what she’s been strong enough to endure.
“Let me guess.” Her voice is ragged, all raw edges and brutally torn. “You didn’t have a choice.”
