Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
When the door swings open, I scramble backward toward the headboard. Gary appears, and my heart sinks. He looks more disheveled than normal, and I whimper. If they’re going to lock me away, why can’t they just leave me alone?
“What the fuck?”
Every part of my body lights up at the sound of that voice, and I wonder if I’m imagining it. Had I fallen asleep? Then he’s there. My Phillip.
He grabs Gary by the back of the neck and tosses him like a rag doll. I watch in stunned silence as Gary hits the wall, but before he can fall to the floor, Phillip is on him again. His hand wraps around his throat, and he holds him up so his feet dangle off the ground.
“She’s terrified of you,” Phillip snarls as he gets within an inch of Gary’s face.
“Hey.” David comes in and grabs Phillip’s shoulder. “He got us in here.”
That doesn’t stop Phillip because his fingers only tighten. Gary’s face turns redder and then a shade of blue.
“Audrey!” David calls to me as he tries in vain to pull Phillip off Gary. “Get him before he kills him. He can’t help you from jail.” That has me snapping back to reality.
“Phillip!” I shout, making him raise his head toward me. When our eyes lock, I hold out my tethered hands to him. “Come here.”
When he sees the rope, he gets angrier and his hand squeezes Gary tighter. David lets out a string of curses, and I try again.
“Phillip,” I beg. “Help me.”
The plea must penetrate his fog of anger because he instantly lets go of Gary and rushes to my side. His hands cup my cheeks, and I burst into tears. “Baby girl, are you okay?” I never thought I’d hear those words again. “Look at me. Focus,” he demands, and I do what he says. “Are you okay?”
“I...ah...”I stutter over my words. “I think?” I reach out to grab him, wanting to make sure he’s real. It feels like I’ve dreamed him into existence.
“You’re okay now. I’ve got you,” Phillip reassures me as he removes the bindings from my wrists.
“I didn’t hurt her,” Gary mutters. “I was trying to help.” I can’t even look his way. “I love her mother, but she’s...” He lets out a sob before he finishes his sentence. “Changed.”
“Audrey’s scared of you,” Phillip hisses at him. He wants to know what Gary might’ve done to me, but he didn’t do anything except what my mom ordered.
When my hands are free, I fling myself at Phillip, wrapping my arms and legs around him in the tightest hold.
“I helped you save her,” Gary pushes, but I have no clue what he’s talking about.
“You came for me?” I ask Phillip while I bury my face in his neck.
“I’ll always come for you.” He holds me snug against him, and I feel him kiss my temple.
“Please, just help her,” Gary says, but before I can ask who he means, my mother’s loud scream echoes down the hallway.
“No one will ever hurt you again,” Phillip reassures me, but my entire life my mother has been an unstoppable force.
“She’ll tell you I’m crazy,” I whisper to Phillip. “I’m not sure she’s wrong.” I hate to admit it, but it’s true. It’s hard to know what’s right and wrong because my world is a jumbled mess.
“Audrey!” my mother screams before rushing into the room.
David releases Gary to grab her, and when I don’t see Gary trying to help my mother, I’m confused. Gary stands there motionless as he tells her he’s sorry and my mother screams and kicks. Gary pleads with her that she needs help, but she’s flailing in David’s hold.
“No!” she screeches, pointing at me. “She needs help. Save her!”
Phillip’s hand comes to the back of my head and forces me to look away. He whispers sweet words of reassurance in my ear, and then the room goes quiet. When I look up I see it’s only the two of us and I don’t know what to say.
“I might be crazy,” I admit again.
“I don’t care.” He rests his forehead on mine. “I love you. Crazy or not.”
“You love me?” I can’t tell if it’s his heartbeat or mine that’s roaring in my ears.
“You’re my wife. How could I not love you?”
“Right,” I agree as my eyes fill with tears.
To Phillip, it didn’t matter who I was. Only that I belonged to him.
I do. The same as he will always belong to me.
Epilogue
PHILLIP
Ten years later…
“Say it.” I move my lips to the inside of my wife’s thigh and bite the tender skin there.
“Phillip,” she moans, and I smile but shake my head.
“Not good enough.” My tongue drags along the seam where her leg meets her pussy, and I tease the both of us. “Say it.”
“I’m yours,” Audrey moans as she rocks her hips upward. She’s seeking my mouth, and I want nothing more than to give it to her. Well, almost nothing.