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“Come here,” John said softly. “Come to me. Tell me what he did.”
“He just…he just said…things.” She clutched the wipe tightly in her hand at the memory.
“Come on, baby, come over here.” He made that growling noise again. “I’d come to you, but it would mean rolling over there, and that wouldn’t look good.”
She forced a tremulous smile. His words, his strength and even his poor attempt at humour calmed her. On shaky hands and knees, she crawled to him. He sat back, his legs out in front of him, and Belinda climbed straight into his lap. She didn’t care for one second what that said about her or what he thought. He was big and strong. He had muscles and he knew how to fight. He was her only safe place in this whole terrifying mess. And she needed to be close to him. As close as possible. Just for a minute. Just until she calmed down and her heart stopped racing, and the urge to scream passed.
John lifted his arms over her head and wrapped her in the circle made by his tethered wrists. “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
She felt his cheek against her hair as she absorbed his heat. She pressed her ear to his chest, above his heart, and listened to the rhythm, letting it soothe her.
“We need to leave.” Her voice was hoarse.
“We will leave.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arm. “I should never have let you go out there. I knew you thought this was all an act and I let you walk out of here ill-prepared. I’m sorry, Hollywood.”
“No.” She wiped her cheeks. “It was the right thing to do. We had to know. I had to know. I’m okay. It was just… I just… Damn it!”
“What did the bastard say?”
She hiccupped, the memory of Miguel’s words crawling over her skin. “He told me how…how he’d rape me…how they would all…”
“Fuck.” John pulled her tighter.
“There was a woman. Crying in a cabin. The men were using her.” She sobbed.
“I’m sorry, baby. For her and for you.” He rubbed at her back.
“They’re really going to do it, aren’t they?” Belinda whispered. “They’re going to rape me.”
“No. I won’t let them.” John’s voice was steel.
And in that moment, she believed him. He was her only point of reality in a situation she didn’t understand.
And she held on tight.
Chapter 8
Beast listened to Belinda’s breathing as she slept at his side. After she’d untied him, and he’d told her they were leaving at first light, the drugs in her system and the stress of the situation had knocked her out. She lay there, pressed against his side on the stinking mattress, trusting him to watch over her. And damn if her trust didn’t do something for him. Something that Belinda probably never intended. It cracked open the wall around his heart and let the woman seep inside. Just a little. But still…
He’d spent the hours she’d been asleep planning their escape, while he listened to their captors drink themselves unconscious. After Belinda had filled him in on what she’d seen around the camp, he knew their only chance of getting out of there was by boat. He’d been out cold for the trip into the ca
mp, but there was no other way the kidnappers could have transported them. A large part of him wanted to get his hands on a gun and rid the world of these men. The more sensible, restrained part of him knew he couldn’t do anything that would put Belinda in even more danger. That meant sneaking out. Into the fucking jungle.
He mentally groaned. What the hell did he know about the jungle? He knew how to survive on the street. He’d spent more than a year living rough as a kid, rather than taking the risk with another foster home. He’d had several. Some good. Some bad. But the last one had been hell. After that, living on the street had been a breeze.
But this wasn’t the street. It wasn’t even Atlantic City. And he was also the only chance that Belinda had of getting out of there alive. Or, at least, untouched. His stomach contracted as he thought of the things their guard had told her. The look on her face once the cabin door had closed behind the man was something he would never forget. He’d wanted her to believe they’d really been kidnapped, but he hadn’t wanted reality to hit her like that. He hadn’t wanted her to be terrified, shocked and broken.
He kept his eyes on the tiny window and watched as the sky began to lighten. It was time to go. Gently, he cupped Belinda’s cheek and looked down at her. She took his breath away. So beautiful. So full of life. So fucking innocent. She’d lived her life in a privileged bubble, being adored by family and friends, never wanting for anything. Never hurting. Never even conceiving that their situation was real and something terrible was happening to them. He’d resented that about her, but now, after last night, he found the resentment had gone, and a deep desire to preserve her bubble was driving him now. So, she didn’t have the experience of life that he did? Maybe that was a good thing.
“Hollywood,” he said gently. “You gotta wake up. It’s time to go.”
She stirred and snuggled deeper into him. “Five more minutes,” she muttered, her eyes still closed.
Beast couldn’t help the smile that broke free. She was cute. Like a kitten in a den full of pit bulls. “Belinda. We need to go.”
Her eyes fluttered open and the bluest of blues hit him like lasers. “Joh—Beast?” She blinked and looked around. He knew the moment she woke fully and realised where she was—her body lost its fluid softness and became stiff with tension.
She sat up straight. “It’s time to go?”
