Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 42863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“Can you handle that?”
A rough chuckle escaped my lips. “Yeah, I can handle it.” I was a goddamn expert at handling it, though I knew he didn’t know that.
“We’ll speak tomorrow,” River told me before ending the call. I pocketed my phone and stared out over the landscape, hating that more hadn’t happened. That Alejandro hadn’t found out something. I knew patience was a huge player in this game, but my patience was running thin.
Clarke and Beck needed closure. And I was getting agitated that they didn’t have it yet.
14
Clarke
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I stared up at the white, tiled ceiling. I could hear the guard making his way down to my room, his heavy boots thumping down the corridor. I clenched my hands into fists, tugging on the cuffs bound tightly around my wrists. The only thing they did was clang against the metal railings, echoing loudly in the otherwise silent, mostly empty, clinically-white room.
Vomit rose up my throat, my fear ratcheting higher with every step the guard took. Those boots were getting louder, the steps still steady—calm and unbothered. Snot ran down over my lips as I quietly sobbed. I knew I couldn’t get out of these restraints, but it didn’t stop me from trying every time I was conscious.
If I didn’t keep fighting, what would happen to me? To my will to live? I had to get out of here one day. Someone was going to come for me, right? They had to.
My mom and stepdad were too influential for someone to not come find me. I had to keep hold of that hope. If I lost it… I may as well just die.
The door slowly opened, the well-oiled hinges not making a single sound. The guard gave me a predatory smile. “Hello, Clarke.”
I opened my mouth…
And screamed.
I jerked awake, my heart slamming against my breastbone, my skin clammy with sweat. I sniffled and swiped at my cheeks, staring up at the dark ceiling. I squeezed my eyes shut, choking on another sob. This room bore too many shadows that too easily took on the form of the monsters from my flashbacks, even with Beck’s arm thrown over my waist.
Shakily, I eased my body out from beneath Beck’s heavy arm. He didn’t so much as grunt when I got up, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew he would want to know when I had a nightmare… or, well, flashback, but he needed rest. Especially after his time with Tank.
They’d done their best to hide all evidence, but the scent of sex had become so ingrained into me now that I could pick up even the slightest hint of it. I’d known the moment I’d walked into the room that they’d fucked.
It didn’t bother me. Didn’t even trigger me. But it had made me slightly jealous that I hadn’t gotten to experience it, too.
Tank’s door was slightly ajar when I emerged into the hall, and before I could even realize what I was doing, I was already slightly pushing it open, peeking in. His eyes snapped open, and a small squeak of surprise slipped past my lips since I hadn’t expected him to be awake. He grunted as he raked his eyes over the part of me that wasn’t hidden behind the door.
“What’s wrong, little one?” he murmured, his voice husky and thick with sleep. My core tightened, my belly warming. He always sounded sinfully sexy, but when he was like this, his voice all deep and gravelly, he made me want to let him do whatever he wanted to me.
“I, um… I had a nightmare,” I whispered, my fingers tightening around the door.
He patted the mattress beside him. “Come to bed,” he rasped. “I’ll do my best to keep the nightmares away, baby.”
Fuck, that name. My insides went all gooey. I mean, they did when Beck called me that, but he’d always called me that. When Tank did it, it felt different. Like he was warming my insides and caressing my heart with those rough, calloused fingertips.
Releasing my tight grip on the door, I stepped further into the room. He pulled back the covers, and I slid into bed beside him, giving him my back. He made a small noise in the back of his throat before he rolled onto his side and his thickly muscled arm banded around me. He tugged me back against him so my body was flush against his, his body curved around me.
In his arms, I felt as safe as I did in Beck’s. How was that possible?
My skin warmed all over when he pressed his lips to the back of my head. “Go back to sleep, little one.”
I decidedly liked that name better than baby. Baby was reserved for Beck. And I liked Tank having that special name for me.