“Aren’t you going to ask what happened to us?” Chloe came up behind me and slammed a plate into the sink.
I turned to face her. “I don’t need to, the bruises tell it all.” I reached up to touch her face and she pulled away.
“I can’t believe you just left us like that!
You left us
!” She ended on a shout that quickly dissolved into heaving sobs.
I pulled her into my arms and held her for all I was worth, burying my face in her dark hair that had been piled atop her head in the same way mine had. “I didn’t leave Chloe, I was taken. I fought my way back to you as fast as I could.”
She looked up at me through red-rimmed eyes. “They locked me in the attic and kept telling me I would be the Preacher’s new bride. I was so fucking scared and
no one was there!”
My stomach fell out of my ass at her words and I grabbed her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “Are you ok? They didn’t…
hurt you
…did they?” I wanted to throw up just saying the words but knew they needed to be said.
Chloe sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her dress. “No. The ceremony was supposed to be tomorrow.” She started to sob again and I pulled her into my arms, a sigh of relief making its way out of every pore in my body. I could deal with everything that had been done to me, but touch my kids and I will
end you.
“Shhh, it’s ok, you’re ok now.” I whispered into her hair as I rocked her. I looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway and judging from the expression on his face, he heard every word. He came over and wrapped his arms around us both. I heard something break in the living room and knew Ty had heard what his sister had said as well. He came stomping into the kitchen and I watched the fire leave him to see Chloe wrapped up in our arms, still sobbing for all she was worth. Ty walked over and wrapped his arms around us as well, effectively creating the world’s saddest group hug.
The four of us stood there for a long while, just hugging Chloe and each other until her sobs died down to a light whimpering and a hiccup. “Come on, let’s get you some sleep.” Chloe nodded and I pulled her into the boys’ room, stopping to grab Johnny’s hand on the way.
Chloe climbed onto the bottom bunk while Johnny climbed up top. I made sure they were both tucked in and left the lantern on and the door cracked before making my way back to the living room.
“Let’s all just try and get some sleep. We can figure out what to do in the morning,” I said, trying to stifle a yawn. Ty and Bash just nodded and headed in to crash with Chloe and Johnny.
“Ya’ll can take the other room, I’m fine on the couch,” Earl said, pulling his boots off and punching the flat pillow on the sofa in a vain attempt to fluff it up.
I walked over and sat on the edge of the sofa with him. “You sure? We can stay out here; you need a bed more than we do.” I tried not to flinch at the bruises marring his skin or the dried blood on his lip.
“Naw. I’m fine.” He rolled over and that was that.
I looked up to see Austin and Jack sharing a weird look before Austin broke and started laying out blankets on the floor near the sofa. I walked into the hall, pulled a couple of rolled up sleeping bags out and handed them to him. He smiled at me half-heartedly as he threw one on Earl, who just grunted before pulling it over himself and laid his out on the floor.
Jack grabbed my hand and pulled me into the master bedroom, closing the door behind us.
I walked into the room and turned around to face him. “Look, Jack, I-“ He didn’t give me the chance to finish my sentence before grabbing my waist, pulling me in and kissing me so hard I thought my lip might’ve been cut on my teeth.
After a moment, he pulled back and hugged me so hard I could feel my ribs creak. “I thought I lost you,” he whispered into my hair. I could feel him fighting back tears and the barely restrained rage boiling just under the surface.
I reached up and flicked the tear that had slipped unchecked from his eye and was making its way down his cheek away. “I’m tougher than that to kill, you should know this by now,” I said with a smile I almost felt.
He didn’t smile like I thought he would. Instead, he pulled away from me suddenly and punched a good size hole through the closet door. His hand came back bloody and I picked up a stray shirt from the floor and wrapped his knuckles up. “No one ever told me what happened to you guys after they took me,” I started, trying to distract him.
Jack sat down on the bed and ran his hands through his greasy hair. He had a good two week’s worth of stubble on his face which only made him look even more rugged and handsome. I’d been so busy trying to stay alive and rescue everyone that I’d forgotten how incredibly beautiful he was. It was no wonder he’d been voted Sexiest Man Alive.
“After they took you, they took Penny and the kids to the main house and locked me and Earl up in the barn with Austin. We’ve spent the last several days at the end of a leash doing supply runs as bait. After you escaped, they corralled all of us into the barn and took turns beating us until someone told them something. Only no one knew anything, so it was all for naught. That’s when you showed up.” He looked up at me and I could see the anger at watching even the kids be beaten until someone cracked slowly eating him from the inside.
“Well, fuck.” I filled my cheeks with air and let it out slowly as I paced the tiny room. Turning back to Jack, “So what should we do?”
He looked up at me and shook his head. I walked back to him and stood in front of him. Jack leaned his head against my belly and I let out the rest of the air I’d been holding and wrapped my arms around his head as he wrapped his around my waist. I started to feel moisture seep through my shirt and decided to not acknowledge his tears; we’d been through hell and no one should have to keep it all buried forever.
I felt him sniffle hard before he pulled back and stood up fast, his body rubbing against mine hard the whole way until he was holding me again. I leaned my head on his shoulder and inhaled his scent; basking in the familiar and comforting smell that was only Jack.
Feeling his mouth nuzzling my neck, he whispered “Let’s figure it out tomorrow. I just want to sleep.”
I nodded and let him pull me down onto the bed with him and didn’t fight when he held me even tighter and wrapped a leg around mine; apparently I wasn’t going anywhere for a while.
“Angie, the world is fucked up; even more so than before. But I’m glad I met you.”
I smiled into the pillow and snuggled up closer. His face was pressed into my shoulder and his light breathing tickled, causing goose bumps to race down my spine. In that moment, in that small, insignificant moment, I wanted to tell him I loved him and tear his clothes off and have my wanton way with him but I knew I wouldn’t. Everything we’d been through together only solidified the fact that I was already too close and to go that road would absolutely only end in pain and suffering. That and we were both still injured.
“I’m glad I met you too, Jack. And I’m still sorry about Steve.”
He snickered into my shoulder, making the little hairs on my skin go wild with lust. I knew he could hear my heart racing and feel my skin heat up but was ever the gentleman. He just wrapped his arm tighter around my belly and I felt him systematically relax every muscle in his body.
Jack started rubbing his lips down my neck, the stubble on his cheeks stirring all kinds of inappropriate things deep inside. “I love you, Angie.”
My eyes shot open and my heart stopped. He was still rubbing his lips across my neck and collarbone but I couldn’t get a breath in to save my life. I finally got enough air in to choke out a mumbled “I love you too,” before the air left me again.
He stopped nuzzling me and flipped me over to face him before I could protest. His eyes shone in the near darkness as he stared at me hard. “Do you?”
Words just weren’t going to happen so I nodded. Jack smiled wide, causing the cut on his lip to split slightly and glisten with a small drop of blood. I was too distracted by his incredibly beautiful face I’d missed so much to care. He pulled my face in gently and kissed me lightly this time.
I sank into it and kissed him back. It was painstakingly slow and sweet and just as I felt his hand creep up my shirt I pulled back with a start. Shaking my head I pushed his hand away and rolled onto my back.
Jack reached over and brushed the stray curl that had come loose out of my face, “I’m sorry,” he whispered at me, worlds of remorse audible in his soft tone.
Turning to meet his eyes, “Don’t be sorry, it’s not you, it’s me. I just, I just can’t. Not yet at least, maybe not ever. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
A dark cloud passed over his eyes and I knew he understood what I meant. He grit his jaw and I watched as it became even more pronounced, which only made him hotter and the whole thing more of a mess.
Jack ran his fingers down my cheek so lightly I almost didn’t feel them. “Don’t ever be sorry. None of it was your fault and I swear I will never push you.”
I smiled under his fingertips and kissed them lightly. There was no way I could ever explain how hard that level of intimacy was for me and seeing that he completely got it, made me love him that much more.
Rolling into him, I wound my legs up in his and curled my arms up between us, fitting my head under his chin and passed the fuck out.
Chapter 14:
“Hey, Angie,” I cracked open an eyelid to see Chloe standing next to the bed and shaking me softly.
“Mmphrmmhm,” I mumbled into the pillow and closed my eye again.
Chloe just shook me harder. “Serious, we can’t stay here long and need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
I sighed into the pillow and pushed my tired body up until I was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. “What time is it?” My voice cracked and it felt like a desert had taken up residence in my throat.
“It’s after 4,” Chloe answered.
“AM?” I asked incredulously.
She shook her head and made a ‘tsk’ sound in the back of her throat. “PM, lazy.”
Both of my eyes shot open at that. We’d slept more than 12 hours! I turned around and started to shake Jack awake.
He mumbled at me and before I could say a word he grabbed my waist and pulled me back down into the bed.
“Ugh, you guys are impossible. Hurry the hell up.” With that, Chloe stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
“Jack it’s after 4 in the afternoon, we have to get up,” I ended on a giggle as he tickled my neck with his beard.
“So? Let’s just stay here,” he mumbled into my neck as his hands slid up the back of my shirt and started rubbing my back. The whip marks still hurt and I flinched, which got his attention.
Jack’s eyes shot open and he sat up and pulled the back of my shirt all the way up.
“Son of a fucking bitch! I’m going to kill the bastard! I’m going to tear him apart and feed his kneecaps to him!”
Jack’s yelling brought the troops as I peeked over my shoulder to see the door thrown open and Austin and Earl standing in the doorway scanning the room for trouble. Their eyes settled on my back and the tension eased from the room.
“Everything ok in here?” Earl managed to get out on a rumble; cheeks reddening from the exposed wounds on my back.
“No, no it’s not fucking ok!
Look!
Look what that pigfucking son of a whore did to her!” Jack stood up so fast from the bed I was almost tossed over the other side from the force of the mattress springing back. He punched another wall for emphasis.
I looked over my shoulder at the puckered flesh on my back and cringed. It looked like I’d been torn apart and sewn back together by a blind surgeon using fishing line and safety scissors; it was bad to say the least.
Austin came over to get a closer look; tracing his fingers across the healing wounds. “They’re all sealed and it doesn’t look infected; does it hurt?” Concern flashed across his face as he met my eyes.
“A little, but I’ll live.” I plucked my shirt from his hands and pulled it carefully back down, moving to stand.
Jack was still pacing furiously on the other side of the bed so I picked up a pillow and threw it at him. He stopped pacing and stared at me in complete shock and it was all I could do to not erupt in a fit of laughter. “Come on killer; let’s make sure the kids are alright.”
The fight drained from his eyes and I watched him swallow his fury; there wasn’t anything any of us could do about it at that very moment and he well knew it. Jack stormed out of the bedroom and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
I looked helplessly at Austin, who only shrugged his shoulders and started for the living room. Normally I was the one with the temper but apparently Jack’s unwavering calm was starting to unravel. I could only hope he could manage to keep a cool head when we needed it.
I threw myself onto the sofa and watched everything happening around me. Roscoe was eating something off a paper plate on the floor next to where Ty and Bash were once again heavily engrossed in maps. Johnny was playing with his Spiderman doll and Chloe was busying herself with something in the kitchen.