Page 11 of Full of Wrath

I give him one more nod and finally let my feet take me to where my heart was already sitting. Shock has set in, and her forest green eyes are blank when she turns them on me. I don’t like it. I step in front of her and tell Clark, the tech processing her, to give us a moment. He nods and grabs the evidence bags.

I brush the back of my hand over her soft cheek as the memory of that fucker hitting her rushes through my mind and burns inside of me with a hate I’ve never felt for someone before. If I could have gotten my hands on him, I would have killed him, and when I check in with myself, I find no guilt or remorse about it.

My thumb trails down her soft face. As she stares up at me, I trace her full bottom lip as everything around us fades away. So soft.

“Sweet girl.” I bet her mouth tastes like honey. I bet everything about her is sweet and sugar-coated. From the little kisses I’ve given, I can say her lips are definitely candy-coated. I cup the back of her neck so I can tilt her head up just a little bit more. “You doing okay, baby girl?”

She doesn’t verbally answer me but instead gives me a shrug of her shoulder.

“Look, baby…”

“When can I go in?”

“Go in? To your apartment?”

She nods for me. Well, damn! I thought I would have more time. I thought I would be able to ease her into the idea of taking a trip with me.

“You, um, can’t go back up.”

“What do you mean? I have to go back. All my clothes and…”

“They broke into your apartment, Waverly.”

She sits with a stunned look on her face for a second before closing her mouth and asking me more questions.

“Sadie? She was supposed to be home and…?”

“She was with Boston. She’s safe.”

The shock is gone, only to be replaced with anger and frustration. “Where the hell am I supposed to go tonight? How am I supposed to get my clothes out? What am I supposed to do, Memphis?”

“You have some options.” She really doesn’t.

“How long will it take before they turn it back over to us or finish or whatever?”

“It’s going to take some time, baby. That’s…”

“How bad is it? What the hell did they do?”

I take her by the hand, the good one without the new splint on it, and lead her to the side of the ambulance before gently pushing her back and using my arms as a cage. Not that I want to cage her in, but she needs a sense of safety, and she can find that in my arms. She’ll always find that in my arms.

Before she can say another word, I take her chin in my hand and tilt her head so I can lean down and put my lips on hers. All the fight goes out of her, and she brings her hands up to grasp my biceps. I run my lips over hers, gently pulling her closer to me and taking the kiss even further. I lick and nibble along her puffy bottom lip before taking a step back. If I hadn’t, I would have done more than kiss her right here in front of God and everybody, including the chief.

“Let’s go to the hospital and have that wrist looked at to make sure it’s alright and then get on the road. I’ve got everything figured out.”

Chapter Eleven

Waverly

I’m glad he has it all figured out because I have no idea what the hell is going on or where we’re going for that matter. The hospital put a different cast on my wrist and made sure to tell me I can get this one wet, not that I’m complaining. A bath sounds fucking magical right about now.

My mind keeps slipping back to that kiss. It wasn’t like the others. The other kisses were ones you would give your sister or best friend, quick and light. This one was…different. Wasn’t it? What the hell do I know? Maybe he kisses every woman who isn’t his mom or sisters like that? Maybe it was nothing, but to me it left me…adrift. It was very much like a wave that came over me and swept me out to where my feet couldn’t touch the ground.

I opened my eyes to find myself clinging to him, my fingers sinking into his thick arms, and the world around me changed on a certain level. It took me a whole five minutes to realize the kiss was in front of everyone milling around. It must not have meant as much to him, and that’s why he didn’t care about so many people standing around watching and I’m just blowing it out of proportion.

I’m so deep in thought it takes me longer than it should have to realize we’ve left our little town behind and are, in fact, in the deep, dark woods.

“Where are we? Where are we going?”