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But still she stayed.
Thank God Rachel didn’t have the same compunction.
Brave girl.
Brave and strong.
Gently touching her elbow, I glide my fingers down her arm until her palm is resting within mine, and then I ever so softly tug her toward me.
It’s a tender pressure that she can easily resist.
But she doesn’t.
She inches closer until I can cradle her against my chest. Her arms slowly wrap around me, like she’s not sure she wants this, but as soon as her head touches my shoulder, she fists the back of my T-shirt, clinging while she sucks in a rattling breath.
I cup the back of her head, ensuring that I’m not touching any of her bruises.
Her body starts to shudder the way it did last night, but her tears are silent.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“No,” she mumbles against my neck, and I have to accept that.
She’s an onion. It’s gonna be one layer at a time, and me being in here… her letting me see… that’s a huge layer right there.
Shit, I want to know so fucking bad.
It was Theo.
That fucker.
I’m going to hunt him down and end him.
But right now, I’ve got this woman leaning against me, drawing comfort from whatever strength I can offer.
Shoving thoughts of murder out of my brain, I lightly rest my head against her cheek.
She’s a tall willow that’s been bashed about by a hurricane.
But she’s going to endure.
And I’ll make sure I do everything in my power to help her.
CHAPTER 5
RACHEL
Liam’s chest is solid, and I lean into it, my nipples brushing against his T-shirt. But my slow brain takes a minute to register that I’m still naked.
I’m too busy soaking in his strength to be fully aware of my vulnerability until I feel a hard rod poking against my lower abs.
I frown, my head moving off his shoulder as I take a step back and gape down at his tented boxer shorts.
“Sorry,” he mumbles with a helpless shrug. “You’re beautiful. And you’re naked. And you’re beautiful.”
All I can do is blink… and keep staring at his… well, it… That’s a big tent right there.
Stop staring at his penis!
