Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
“He does, doesn’t he?” I reached out to Jerrica with my green hand, and the girl backed away from me.
“Oh, no. Wash your hands first. Green is not my color.” Everyone around me laughed, including myself.
“No, but gold glitter certainly is.” I lunged for Jerrica, pretending I was going to cover her in the paint from my hand. This brought on more laughter before Jerrica threw herself into my arms, laughing so hard she shook with it.
“I love you, Hope! You can get green paint on me if you want to.”
I hugged the girl back, recognizing the longing in her for what it was. She was as lonely as I had been at her age. Still was. Especially since Mrs. Wagner had passed away.
“I love you too, Jerrica.” My heart ached for the girl. I wanted so much to bring her into my life, but there was no way I was in any shape to adopt any child. Or even have my own. I was only here temporarily before I had to go back to Indiana. To see my marriage annulled.
I held her until she pulled back. She smiled at me, but I could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. I was sure she saw them in mine as well.
Getting up from my seat, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. Took some doing, but I finally got most of the paint off. As I looked in the mirror, I could see so many changes in myself. Physical as well as emotional.
I looked happier than I had for a long while. Even though my skin seemed to stay on the verge of being burnt, I had a healthy glow that had never been there before. There were equal parts pain and happiness in my eyes. The juxtaposition seemed both cruel and obscene. I was only going to be happy as long as I was here. In the Black Reign compound. With Warlock. All that was going away sooner rather than later. I was hoping they’d let me stay until after Christmas. Being alone for Christmas seemed like the most intolerable thing in the world right now.
I was finishing up when the door opened. I’d seen the woman around the clubhouse at parties. While I’d never spoken with her, I’d seen her giving me superior smirks every time she saw me.
“Hope, isn’t it?” The woman was tall and curvy. Large breasts were encased perfectly in the leather vest she wore. Cleavage galore. Tight leather pants with laces from her ankle to the waistband hugged her slender legs and luscious hips like a second skin. The material must have had more give to it than it looked because, otherwise, they were so tight there was no way she could even sit in them. On her feet were six-inch platform pumps. How could the woman walk? But she did. Routinely. I’d seen her. The men seemed to love it.
“Yes. I’ve seen you around.” It was stupid, but I didn’t know what else to say.
She gave me that same smirk as she looked down at me from her dominant height. “I hear you’re getting ready to go back to Indiana.” She turned from me then, pulling out a tube of blood-red lipstick from between her breasts and opening it to apply to her already-coated lips.
“At some point, yes.”
“Pretty soon from what I hear. Wrath did some magic and got things moving. I suspect you’ll be leaving in a day or two.”
“Oh.” Stupid! I couldn’t seem to form words around this woman. She was perfect. Every hair in place. Make-up done to perfection. Perfect body. Confident. Intelligent. She was a woman who screamed sex. Probably everything Warlock expected in a woman. Everything I wasn’t.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Warlock is taken care of.” She gave a low, husky laugh. “Like I’ve been doing since he got here.”
I felt sick. Was this where Warlock had been going at night after I fell asleep? After he’d spent time coaxing me to an orgasm? Did he find me that lacking in sexual knowledge? What was I thinking? Of course, he found me lacking! I was a virgin in both thought and deed. I’d spent my teenage years in a nursing home. My younger years in a Catholic group home. The things I’d done with Warlock had all been firsts for me. While I’d loved every second of it, had he been frustrated with me? Or worse, laughing at me?
Trying for a smile when I really wanted to throw up, I nodded like an idiot. “That’s good, then. I wouldn’t want him to be alone.” Then I pushed past her and left the bathroom.
Instead of going back to the common room with the children and the Black Reign women, I went to my room to get myself under control. This had to stop. As much as I wanted Warlock, as much as I wanted to do right by Mrs. Wagner, I had to think about myself in this instance. If I wanted any self-respect, I had to get out of here. I thought Mrs. Wagner would understand because she always told me women were not doormats for their men to push them around. They stood up for themselves and demanded as much respect from their men as they gave back. Anything less was doing everyone a disservice.