Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Never?” she asks, her eyes growing sad.
“Like never ever?” Briella questions.
“Yep, like never ever. I’ve never had sex willingly. Only when I was with my first boyfriend, but he was so forceful I wouldn’t call it willing.”
“Oh, honey,” Zariah says, sitting down beside me. “I didn’t realize, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” I say, giving her a smile. “If it wasn’t for all of you, I’d never even have the chance to find love, or get that experience. I’m grateful.”
“Your soul is too good, honey. Too good.”
Maybe.
Or maybe it isn’t, and it’s just well covered.
I guess we’ll never know.
THE SOUND OF RUCKUS outside wakes me up. I hear shouting, and then angry slams coming from the rooms beside mine. I stir and sit up, glancing at the clock beside the bed. It’s two AM. I look over to where Briella is sleeping beside me. She hasn’t moved and is in a deep sleep. She stayed with me when Alarick wasn’t home. We were talking and just fell asleep.
I’m sure he’s wondering where she is.
I get out of bed and walk to the window, peering out behind the curtains. I see Alarick, Bohdi, and Mykel all talking amongst themselves. Alarick swings his arms around every few minutes, clearly cursing and, when he moves, I see Bohdi’s face. It’s all beaten up, blood dripping down from his mouth, eyes dark, face banged up in a big way.
I freak out and rush outside without thought.
I don’t care that I’m in a bra and panties. I don’t even care that everyone turns to stare. Bohdi is hurt. Whatever happened tonight caused him pain and I want to know what went down.
“What happened?” I ask, when I reach them. “Bohdi, are you okay?”
“He fuckin’ deserves everything he got for goin’ behind my back like that,” Alarick growls.
I don’t understand.
“He deserves it?” I say, horrified.
“Bohdi went back to Riff after we found Cova and he beat him within an inch of his life. We got him out of there before he did, but that man is a fuckin’ mess,” Mykel tells me.
Bohdi beat Riff.
He hurt him?
I look to him, and he’s staring down at the ground where blood is dripping onto the pavement below him. He did that for me. He doesn’t even know what Riff did, but he risked it all for me. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever risked it all for me before. The only reason the club saved me is because they were there looking for Cova, otherwise I never would have been saved.
I step forward toward Bohdi and, when I reach him, I wrap my arms around his waist and put my head on his chest. “Thank you,” I whisper.
He stiffens for a minute, and then he puts his arm around me, just one, and rests his chin on the top of my head. I don’t even care that he’s bleeding. I don’t care that Alarick and Mykel might think I’m crazy. What he did for me tonight, that means so much to me.
“Clean him up,” Alarick mutters. “I’ll deal with him in the morning.”
“What’s going on?”
Briella is standing outside my room now, her eyes sleepy. I release Bohdi and step back, and she catches sight of him. “Oh my god, what happened?”
“He got himself into a brawl, he’s fine,” Alarick mumbles. “I need to sleep.”
“Cova?” she asks.
“Safe. With Zariah. She took her for a drive to calm her down. We have her back. She ain’t happy, though.”
Briella exhales. “Oh, thank god.”
“Let’s go to bed,” Alarick says, walking toward her and catching her around the waist, pulling her toward their room.
“I’ll go and find a first-aid kit and clean you up, wait in my room,” I say to Bohdi.
He nods and disappears into my room. Mykel goes to his. I go to the office where they have staff on nightshift. I ask for a first-aid kit and she hands one over. Then I return back to the room where Bohdi is sitting on the end of my bed, shirt off, nothing but a pair of blue jeans on. He looks so gorgeous sitting there, his blond hair falling around his shoulders, his olive skin glistening beneath the light.
He’s perfection.
Utter perfection.
He looks up at me, face all banged up. He’s in pain, he has to be in pain, but his face is calm. I gather a few washcloths and soak them in warm water, and then I step in front of him and carefully start washing the blood away. He doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t wince, he just sits there, staring at nothing.
“What did he do to you?” he asks me in a quiet voice.
I pause.
I’ve never said the words out loud.
I’ve never even considered telling another person.
But I trust Bohdi.
I trust him more than I think even he realizes.
“He raped me,” I say softly. “Multiple times. He was rough and aggressive. He hurt me, made me bleed, and the pain from that lasted a very long time.”