AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And then...
She thought of how it felt to rest her palms on his chest.
He was so muscular. So strong that she had the feeling he could have dismembered that poor man with his bare hands.
He had certainly looked like he intended to.
The way he had held her against his hot, hard body... He had not intended to hurt her. That much she knew. He wanted to protect her. But she didn’t know what he had thought was happening. Or whom he had thought she was.
He’s traumatized.
She certainly understood that.
She had grown up in a household filled with criminals. And they certainly hadn’t treated others with care.
She had been largely shielded from violence and other unsavory things. But when her father had told her that he was selling her to one of his enemies, that man had told her what he intended to do to her in no uncertain terms. It had been explicit, and tinged with violence.
She had always known that she didn’t live in a normal family. In a normal house. And like Riyaz, she had books. Books had told her that there were other kinds of families. But the way that her father cared for her was not love. Books had told her there was something more out there.
And then, like it was a story, a fairy tale, Cairo had rescued her.
All she had wanted, ever since then, was to find a normal life.
Instead, what had she done? She had spent the last decade in love with a man who refused to touch her.
You already know it isn’t worth the risk.
She did. She’d decided that a long time ago. She wouldn’t ever make a move on him, she kept her fantasies as tame as possible. He was her friend, and they were too different and...
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
And she had a feeling it was that very man.
She answered. “Yes?”
“I would like a progress report,” Cairo said.
“He sleeps in the dungeon and he just destroyed the library.”
“Oh. Well, that is not acceptable.”
“I’m sorry, Cairo. But he isn’t just going to be fine overnight. He’s deeply traumatized.”
“The psychiatrist said there was nothing wrong with him.”
“I think he’s remarkably well all things considered. But to say that he isn’t affected... That would be ignorant. Foolish. Of course he is.” She thought of the way he ate. The way that he limited any sort of sensory input.
“He’s very careful with himself. He’s quite smart. He knows there’s a limit to how far he can push himself. I saw that limit today. Something happened. It triggered... I think it was probably a flashback. He thought that I was in danger and he...”
“He what?” Cairo asked.
“Well, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d picked me up like he was King Kong and climbed to the top of the library ladder with me. He was ready to kill what he perceived to be a threat to me.”
“Were you in any danger?” Cairo’s voice sounded sharp.
“No,” she said. “I don’t need you to rescue me. Riyaz was trying to do just that. I don’t think he’s dangerous.” Intentionally. “I just need time. And I really wouldn’t... That woman that you intend to bring back? I wouldn’t. Not yet.”
“I’ve nearly arrived at her apartment.”
