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She was staring up at a worn white ceiling. A fan whirred to her left, throwing cool breeze at her sweat-stained skin.
No Kross. Just a shoddy room with horrible wallpaper, a small lamp on a nightstand and…
Finn.
She was safe.
Or was she? Kross was out there, at this very moment, planning his next move. One that involved her. She couldn’t go back to that life. She could never return to him.
Jewel would rather die.
You know Kross would be more than happy to accommodate.
She launched to a sitting position, her mouth open and a wheezing sound pouring out of it.
Panic.
It invaded her mind, took everything hostage. Her bravery was trapped in a corner somewhere, hands and legs twined with thick white rope. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t go head to head with Kross after all he’d done to her.
After all she’d let him do.
“Jewel.” Finn’s voice was softer now, like a man corralling a rabid dog. Jewel looked at him.
Though he was handsome, he looked nothing like Kross. No, where Kross had been unnaturally beautiful, Finn was ruggedly appealing. If one looked close enough, they could find things about him to nitpick.
Like the thickness of his eyebrows.
Or the ears that were smaller than average.
Or the hair on his forearms that thickened going towards his elbows and peeking out from the T-shirt behind his chest.
“That’s right,” Finn coached her gently. “It’s me. You can breathe.”
Tears cropped in her eyes.
Which made her angry. Why was she crying again? After nineteen years of bawling at the drop of a hat, when would she learn that those tears did absolutely nothing?
They didn’t keep her mother’s boyfriend from sneaking into her room at night.
Didn’t protect her from Kross.
Didn’t stop the pain or the hurt.
Nothing.
She angrily swiped the tear that had fallen on her cheek.
“No one’s going to touch you,” Finn said, a healthy distance away. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
As she looked into his hazel eyes, something clicked into place.
Jewel believed him.
Man, how she believed him.
Slowly, painstakingly, she reached out and clutched his T-shirt. Jewel felt him stiffen as her hand connected with his side. She ignored his reaction and let her other hand slowly wind over his back.
Leaning in, she tucked her chin in the dip between his neck and shoulder.
