‘You didn’t upset me, not you,’ she murmured, as she moved her kisses along his jawline.
Elijah pulled away. ‘Has he…hurt you?’ he frowned.
For a moment they stared at one another, a silence dropping between them like a stone in water. And then Delores hooked her other leg around Elijah’s and lifted her hips up to meet his. She felt him slide back into her and she gasped and sighed all at once. Elijah groaned out her name and then pressed a kiss to her trembling mouth.
The next time he woke, Delores was getting dressed. Her shadowed frame stood in front of the window, the sun bright.
‘Are you sneaking out on me?’ he said with a smile.
Delores turned to look at him. She padded over, her hair still damp from a shower she had taken while he slept, her feet still bare. She sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over, pressing a kiss to his mouth. He hooked a hand in her hair and kissed her back, softly at first, but then harder, more urgent. When the kiss ended, both of them were smiling.
‘I have to get home,’ she said standing back up and walking to the door. ‘He’ll be back from work soon, and I need to pick the children up from school.’
Elijah nodded. ‘Will I see you again?
Delores slipped her feet into her sandals and looked over at him. Her eyes seemed to shine with new life. ‘If you want to,’ she said, reaching for her black purse.
Elijah climbed out of bed and strode towards her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again.
‘I never want you to leave, Delores,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Not ever.’
Something had changed, he decided. Since waking up, something had changed and he knew that things would never go back to how they were again.
‘I don’t either,’ she replied with a sad, soft smile.
Elijah swallowed. ‘What I said before, about Michael, does he hurt you?’
Delores looked to the floor. ‘Not really.’
‘Not really?’ he frowned. “You know I can look after you, right? I’m a cop; I can protect you.’
Delores looked back up, but didn’t look at him. ‘No, not really.’
‘Then why did you say it?’
She tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘He’s never hit me, he just makes me confused.’ It sounded silly saying it out loud, but it was something she had never thought to put into words before. Something she hadn’t ever had reason to express before now.
‘How?’ Elijah asked, keeping his expression neutral and calm so as not to frighten her. He had a feeling he knew what she meant. In his line of work, he had met many men like Michael. Manipulative, controlling. He hated men like that, people like that.
‘I can’t explain it,’ Delores said, her words evaporating into a whisper.
‘Are you frightened of him?’ Elijah asked seriously, dreading the answer but needing it.
Delores looked at Elijah, their gazes connecting, colliding. ‘Yes, very much,’ she said without hesitation.
*
Elijah’s ass was hurting from sitting on the hard ground, but he wasn’t ready to leave, not yet. Most of the canyon was closed now, but he’d found a path. There was always a path if you looked hard enough. There was always a way, if you wanted it hard enough.
Elijah stood up and began walking, making his way back to his car. He had looked for the spot that she had been found in; he knew roughly the whereabouts, but to find the exact spot was almost impossible, especially at night. He clicked on the small torch in his pocket and carefully guided his way back up the rocky path, his footsteps making crunching sounds on the gravel.
He didn’t know why he had come here. He hadn’t even realised this was where he was heading until he arrived. He had only meant to drive and clear his head of all the doubts and stress of the last couple of days.
It had almost broken him to see her in the hospital so confused, so lost, and frightened. She wasn’t his Delores, not when she was like this. She wasn’t even her own Delores. What he couldn’t understand, above all else, was how she had let it get so bad. He had seen her take her meds, she had seemed so on top of her illness, so how could she have gotten like this?
She loved her kids and wanted to be the best mom she could be for them, so coming off the meds didn’t make any sense. Yet it was the only explanation.
He scratched at the back of his neck, almost tripping over a large rock on the path. He crashed to one knee and let out a yell of pain, dropping his flashlight. It rolled to one side and plunged Elijah into darkness. He cursed and rubbed at his painful knee before reaching over for his flashlight.
