NINA “Can you help me sit up?” I asked Lachlan when I saw Olezka walking up to me. Lachlan reluctantly helped me into a sitting position. He had to, because when I tried to do it on my own, I hissed through my teeth as pain flared through my arm. He steadied me with a palm to my spine, his eyes telling me he hated my pain. His expression was tight. Worried. And it only turned guarded, skeptical and angry when Olezka stood beside the bed. He should learn something from Ark. The dog has stopped growling at him after learning he wasn’t a danger to me and was now currently sitting quietly. But the same could not be said about Lachlan's thoughts and his misconceptions about Olezka. But then, he had been furious when Olezka had brought me in, accusing him and practically shaking with rage— but now… now that anger had shifted to something quieter. But no less intense.At least, he wasn’t pinning him against the wall anymore. Silver lining, I guess. “How are you feeling now?” Olezka a
NINA “I fucking knew it,” Lachlan growled. “You were just waiting for your moment, weren’t you?” What was he doing? Why did he think Olezka did something? “Lac—” I began only to cry out when a hand grabbed my arm and lifted it up. Lachlan shoved Olezka away and marched to me. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” It was with great difficulty that I turned my head to see the man standing beside me who was touching my injured arm. As I focused on him, I noticed he was older which was probably the reason why he looked so unfazed to Lachlan’s outburst as he adjusted his gloves. He was tall, lean, with calm eyes and a white plaid shirt buttoned to his neck, a stethoscope slung around it. A doctor. “I am doing my job, Mr Reed.” The old man answered, pulling a metal table closer. Lachlan’s dark green eyes narrowed on the doctor as he warned, “Nothing will happen to her or I’ll kill you.” The doctor nodded like he was used to such threats and replied in a reasonable tone. “Sh
NINA “Oh my god, what if he bit me?!” “He won’t. Stand still. Maybe he’ll make you his new friend.” I stood still and Ark crept closer like he could understand what Olezka was saying. My gaze locked on the beast towering beside me, afraid that he’d stand over me and just bite my head off. But instead the dog sniffed my furry slippers that Lachlan had bought half a dozen pairs of, after I had endured new cuts on my feet. He was extra like that.The dog pulled my attention back to him as he slid even closer, sniffing my hands and the journal. I waited, holding my breath, and after a beat and a rub of his head along my thigh, he circled me once and twice, before he finally sat down near my feet, his tail flicking against my leg. “Well, look at that...” Olezka said, a flicker of surprise in his tone. “I was right. He wanted to befriend you.” “Do you think I can pet him?” I asked. Now that he had settled and hadn’t bit me, I wanted to run my fingers through his soft dark fur.
NINA It has been a week since that chase in the forest. And since then Jeremiah has been avoiding me.Me? I have been taking every chance to goad him, to rattle him and get on his nerves.I didn’t know what has happened to me but something had snapped inside me since that night, a part of me has become fearless because I saw the truth he didn’t want me to see. He wanted me.And maybe that’s why I have been having such visceral dreams about him touching me and pleasuring me, and painting me in his come. It started a week ago, when I had woken up, I was alone in my bed and not only covered in all the bruises from the night before but also their combined scents. And ever since I was having all these dreams where not only Lachlan but Jeremiah was also touching me, kissing me, licking me and fucking me. Sometimes it felt so real like I could taste him on my lips and tongue.But even though my feelings have become so complicated where my husband was concerned, and I felt that an impenetr
Flashback Continued...JEREMIAHWhen her sobs finally subsided, I told her to meet me in her room. And then, I waited on the terrace until I heard her footsteps slowly fade, leaving me alone in the silence she left behind.It took me a moment to gather myself. To suppress the rage. The guilt. The cold twist in my gut that told me I had almost lost her. And when I finally did, I myself went down to her room. There, I waited for her to come back, and the moment she stepped inside looking like a ghost of herself, I locked the door and scooped her up in my arms.I carried her to the bed and sat down with her in my lap, cradling her the way no one ever cradled me. And I doubted anyone ever gave her the same softness that I was missing in my childhood. It seemed we both were deprived of parents that shoukd care for us.She curled into me, her tears still silently flowing as she pulled her knees to her chest, trembling so badly I felt it in my bones. I pulled the blanket over her and tight
Flashback #7JEREMIAHThe moment I stepped into her bedroom, I knew she wasn’t there.The air felt hollow.The room too still.Her absence was like a physical thing in the room with me.And as I stood there for a moment, staring at her empty bed, I could see that the sheets were untouched and the pillow bore no imprint. I wondered where she was because I knew she wasn’t in the bathroom either. I didn’t know how but I could sense her absence and just the same way I could sense that something was wrong.A muscle ticked in my jaw.I didn’t want to admit it out loud, even to myself, but I had missed her.Her dark eyes, with that speck of silver. The curve of her lips when she smiled at me like I was something more than a monster. The way her small body curled into mine when she let herself be soft, trusting me to protect her, clinging to me like I was all she needed. And her sweet kisses— those innocent, needy, messy kisses that always left me undone.And, I missed it all. I had to go ba