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Iwent back and forth from uneasy dozing to tossing wakefulness, but luckily the bed was huge. I could flop around without disturbing Reggie, who slept very soundly.
These emotional extremes were exhausting. Euphoria, after escaping and getting Reggie back, terror that Halliwell could still hurt her. Passionate gratitude to Shane and his family. Violent lust. Hurt pride. Crushing humiliation after being thoroughly dicked down and then dismissed, like a silly little bitch who had fulfilled her purpose.
What did I expect? I’d acted like such a good little concubine. Bouncing in, flinging off my clothes, falling to my knees to suck his dick. Begging him to fuck me.
And after I’d put out, after his orgasm, it was ‘get the fuck out of here.’
Harsh. Embarrassing. But I had been through worse. I was being threatened by much worse. My hurt pride would heal. Eventually. Time and distance would do the job. I had to focus on Reggie’s health. Not my own shitty impulse control.
I needed these people. Their immense resources. Two helicopters, for fuck’s sake? An army of smart people who knew useful things? Yes, please. They snapped their fingers, and medical and pharmaceutical experts appeared. And the place was a fortress, beyond being beautiful and luxurious. It was the best place that Reggie and I could possibly have landed.
Which was so damn lucky, I couldn’t help bracing for the other shoe to drop.
Reggie’s lashes quivered. She yawned and opened her eyes. The smile of delight on her face made my eyes fill up instantly.
“I didn’t want to wake up,” she said, reaching out to touch my arm. “I was sure it would just be a dream. But it’s not. It’s real.”
“It sure is, babe.” My voice cracked, and I covered by scooting over to grab her and hug her. She felt so thin and small. Much thinner than I remembered. Like she’d blow away in a high wind.
We smiled at each other. “I’m going to find a way to make you better,” I said, hoping desperately that it was true. “There has to be a way, and I’m going to find it.”
She patted my arm. “It’s okay, even if you don’t,” she said earnestly. “I’m so glad you got me out. That clinic, it was like… I don’t know, being in hell, or something. I just want to be with you now. Whatever happens, happens. And it’s all okay. Really.”
My heart felt squeezed, as if by a clenching fist, at the otherworldly calmness in Reggie’s words, like she had one foot in that other world already. It broke my heart, and it scared me to death. Whatever mellow zen calm she had achieved, I did not share it.
I wanted her to pull that foot right back here and stay in this world. With me.
“Well, I’m going to fight like a freaking demon,” I told her. “So watch out.”
“I know,” she said, smiling. “You’re the Red Queen. Off with their heads!”
“Right.” I kissed her forehead and hugged her until she started to laugh.
“You’re squeezing me like a python!” she protested.
A knock on the door cut off our giggles, and we both jolted straight up, jangled by stress hormones. “Yes?” I called out.
“It’s Angela. Good morning!” she called out from behind the door. “Just letting you know that the breakfast buffet is piping hot and ready right now, and the coffee is nice and fresh. Does Reggie like pancakes or waffles?”
Reggie looked at me, eyes blank. “Ah… I’m not really all that hungry.”
“You have to try, babe,” I said softly. “Please, try. Waffles!” I called out.
“With strawberries? Cream?”
“Both!” Reggie called, always a good sport.
“A girl after my own heart,” Angela said. “One waffle, coming right up!”
We briskly got ourselves up, washed, brushed, dressed. I dreaded seeing Shane after last night’s debacle, but I couldn’t afford to be a whiny baby about it. I would just interact with him as seldom as possible. I just had to keep Reggie safe and well. My sex life, or lack of one, was of absolutely no importance in the grand scheme of things.
The rules were simple from now on. Head up. Chin out. Legs closed.
We followed the sounds and scents of breakfast, which were actually waking up my appetite from its long sleep. Coffee, pastry, toast, fried potatoes, yum. We heard voices murmuring, cutlery clinking. Reggie’s hand stole into mine as we stood in the doorway. I squeezed it gratefully.
“There they are at last!” Angela sang out, as she emerged from the kitchen with a waffle on a plate, topped with a heap of quivering crème Chantilly and juicy, dark red strawberries. “The heroines of the moment! Sit down and have some of this!” She beamed at me. “One for you, too?”
“I’ll stick to eggs and toast myself, thank you,” I told her.
