Chapter 62

I ran my eyes over Juliana, loving the way the leggings Emmaline had given her hugged her ass and her hips. She had just emerged from the bathroom after getting a shower, and her hair was hanging wet around her shoulders, her eyes a bit brighter than they had been when I’d first seen her yesterday.

It was clear to me that she felt safe here with me, and I was damn happy about that.

I wanted her to always feel safe with me.

A knock sounded on my door. She froze on her way over to the bed. I gently cupped the side of her neck and tilted her head back to look up at me. “Easy,” I crooned. “Over my dead fucking body will anyone touch you,” I swore. And I fucking meant that.

She relaxed. I pressed a kiss to her forehead before I walked to my door, smiling at Mrs. Judy when I opened it. She was holding a tray of food that consisted of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon along with a glass of cranberry juice, two bottles of water, and a steaming pot of coffee with two mugs and my favorite hazelnut-flavored creamer.

“Thanks,” I told her, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “You’re the best, Mrs. Judy.”

She laughed. “Go take care of your girl,” she told me. “I expect to see both of you for lunch or dinner today.”

I shook my head. “Tomorrow,” I told her. “I have plans with her today.”

She smiled knowingly before she walked off. I sighed and stepped back into the room, gently kicking the door shut behind me. That woman knew a bit too much about our family, but she’d been surrounded by us for most of her life. She was bound to.

I walked over to the table on the far side of the room, placing the food down. “Baby girl, you need to come eat,” I called, looking over my shoulder at her.

Juliana slowly slid off of the bed and padded barefoot over to the table. I drew her against me, leaning down to kiss her, my tongue touching hers for a beat before I reluctantly released her and hooked my finger under her chin, tilting her head back so those pretty, soulful eyes locked on mine.

“Eat your breakfast. I have a big day planned for us, and you’ll need the energy for it all,” I told her as I pulled her chair back for her.

She bit her lip, looking at the food as if she weren’t sure what to do. I frowned. “Do you not like the food?” I asked. If she didn’t, I needed to know so I could have something brought up for her that she would eat.

She shook her head, looking up at me with panic in her eyes. I cupped her cheeks. “Easy. Breathe, little girl.” She drew in a shuddered breath. I brushed my thumbs over her cheeks, trying to figure out what she needed since I knew I had a while to go before she would be comfortable with vocalizing her wants and needs to me. “Can you try to explain to me what you need?”

She frowned in confusion, her eyes running over my face before she looked back at the food. She just kind of spread her hands over the table and then looked at me, shrugging her shoulders.

Okay. She was confused about something.

“You don’t know what to eat?” I asked her.

Her eyes brightened a little bit. That strange feeling stirred in my chest again. She was so fucking pretty when she looked like this.

“Okay.” I grabbed one of the empty plates. “Do you like pancakes?” I asked her. She nodded. “Can you eat two?” She shook her head.

Okay. One pancake. Part of her plate was made.

“Bacon?” I asked her. She nodded. I grabbed three slices, but she shook her head. I took one away. She frowned. Taking a guess, I took the second one away as well, leaving her with one slice.

She smiled.

God, help me. My heart was in a lot of fucking trouble around this woman.

And honestly, I didn’t mind taking care of her like this. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure she was properly taken care of. If that meant I had to make her plate and possibly cut up her pancake, then so be it.

I would do whatever was needed to make her feel safe and comfortable.

Taking a chance, I scooped up the equivalent of one scrambled egg and set the plate in front of her. Without needing her to prompt me, I grabbed a knife and a fork and cut up her pancake before pouring a generous serving of syrup over it.

She grabbed my hand in hers as I placed her fork down and gave it a gentle squeeze, her silent way of saying thank you.

I was fucked. So, so fucked with her.

I pressed my lips to the top of her head and sat down, greedily taking the rest of the food. I was starving, and add that to a damn good homecooked meal? I may as well have never eaten before.

I finished before she did, which didn’t surprise me. She was picking at her eggs, her eyes moving over the table like she was looking for something.

Were the eggs nasty?

“Baby, what is it?” I asked her.

She frowned down at her eggs. “You don’t want them?” She looked up at me, nodding her head. Okay. She wanted the eggs. “You normally eat them with something?”

Her eyes brightened again. I scrambled around in my brain, trying to think of what someone would eat on their eggs.

Some of the guys in prison had eaten ketchup on their scrambled eggs.

Was that something she did as well?

“Ketchup?” I asked her.

She nodded. I resisted the urge to gag. That shit was nasty. I had tried it once and would never try it again.

“I don’t have ketchup, baby girl, but I’ll remember it for next time. Have you ever tried eating your eggs with syrup?”

She shook her head. I grabbed her fork from her and mixed her eggs with the syrup still left on her plate before picking up a forkful, holding them up to feed them to her.

Her cheeks reddened in the most adorable fucking way, but she opened her mouth, allowing me to feed her. She moaned, her eyes closing. My cock hardened in my jeans. I reached down and adjusted myself at the same time her eyes opened.

Her cheeks flushed even more when she saw what I was doing. I grinned at her. The combination of taking care of her and that sexy ass moan was enough to make me fucking crave her like I craved my next breath, but she needed to finish eating.

“Just an effect you have on me, little girl.” I picked up another forkful, holding it out. “Open for me.”

She obediently opened her mouth, and an image of her opening those lips so I could fuck her mouth flashed through my head.

Fuck.

I kept my body in check as much as I could, which mostly just consisted of me not throwing her on top of the table and fucking her until neither of us could fucking move.

Once she was finished eating, I leaned down and lifted her up in my arms, carrying her towards the bed. “Lay down for a little while. I need to go check on some things, and then, we’re going to go somewhere, okay?”

She nodded. I handed her my laptop. “You know how to work this?” She nodded. I pressed my lips to her forehead. “There’s a movie app on here. Watch whatever you want. I’ll be a while. Sleep if you want.”

“Okay,” she whispered, surprising me with her voice. It was a bit scratchy, but I didn’t care.

She had spoken to me without being prompted.

My heart skipped a beat in my chest.

I was making progress already, and it felt fucking incredible.

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