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My heart thumped, my eyes welling that he would do this for me. Me, a broken mess of a woman who never thought she would find any amount of happiness ever again. Especially not from someone like Cyrus.
I took the rose and brought it up to my nose, inhaling the sweet scent.
“My goal is to keep that smile on your face, Ainsley,” Cyrus murmured in my ear. “No matter what I have to do. Even if we fight, that smile is mine.”
I shivered as his deep voice washed over me. Turning toward him, I stood on tiptoes and placed a soft peck on his cheek.I can’t thank you enough for this.
“I can think of ways you can thank me later,” he offered, a sly grin spreading on his handsome face.
I laughed, shaking my head. He didn’t have to worry about that though. I already made it a goal to have him back in my bed. Now that we’d had sex already, we got that first moment of awkwardness out of the way. We could start enjoying each other more, getting to know what we liked and didn’t like. Cyrus had been gentle with me, but I found that it wasn’t something I wanted. Not always anyway. I would have to be patient, knowing that because of what I told him, he wouldn’t do anything to put me back in that place. To trigger a memory accidentally. But I wanted him to show me how he was and what he liked, so I could learn from him.
As we walked hand in hand through the library, I kept the rose at my nose and realized then that my feelings for Cyrus were blooming. Much like the flower in my hand.
***
(Cyrus)
The smile on Ainsley’sface was something I vowed to always keep there. She was beautiful already, but she was absolutely stunning when her face lit up. I hadn’t seen her smile much and based on the little bit I got from Piper, she wasn’t a happy person. Understandably so with the shit she had told me.
I made a mental note to contact someone regarding what happened to Ainsley. She had said that some of the bastards running the trafficking ring had been killed, caught, or escaped. The ones who escaped were the ones I wanted to go after. But I wouldn’t. Not yet. Not until I knew that Ainsley trusted me enough to take her to the clubhouse and keep her there while I went after the fuckers who hurt her and everyone else they kept locked up.
I also needed her to trust me enough to give me her voice. I craved her words but most of all, I just wanted to hear her say my name. At least once. I wanted to know what it sounded like on her tongue. I wanted her to taste each syllable as my name fell from her sweet lips. I wanted her to want me like I wanted her.
As we walked through the library, she let go of my hand and went a couple of steps ahead of me. My eyes fell to her ass. She was wearing dark blue jeans that hugged her curves. A white oversized sweater was tucked into the waist and even though she was completely covered, I remembered exactly what she looked like beneath those layers.
I also remembered how she reacted when I saw her scars. She tried hiding them from me, but it didn’t work. Every inch of her was in my mind’s eye as I attempted to remain calm, knowing what those bastards had done to her.
It was beyond sick and twisted to think that they could remove a part of her and that would prevent her from having any sexual gratification. I had spent hours on Google trying to get some answers, but the main internet only did so much. I would have to contact a friend and dig deeper. But for now, I was going to spend the day with Ainsley and attempt to keep that smile on her face and that brightness in her eyes.
She stopped every couple of rows, keeping the rose at her nose and brushing a finger over the spine of a book.
When she stopped and pulled a book from a shelf, I looked around us. The library wasn’t overly busy. A few people sat at tables, hunched over books or taking down notes. Several of the computers were being used. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Not until I saw a man looking back at me. From where I was standing, I could see that he was heavily tattooed. He was sitting at a table, with a book spread out in front of him but he was staring directly at me.
He looked familiar but I couldn’t place where I had seen him before.
A throat clearing pulled my head around.
Ainsley came up to me.You okay?
I looked back out at the strange man who was staring at me but found his table completely empty. Scanning the large room, I didn’t see him anywhere. I had no idea who he was, but I knew that I had seen him before. I just couldn’t figure out where.
“I am.” I gave Ainsley a quick peck on the mouth. “Go play.”
She laughed, heading back to the books.
