so in love with him and couldn’t wait for our new life. We unpacked and Carlos wasted no time in taking something I was only too happy to give him.”
She stops and cries a little harder and my heart freezes as the fury consumes my soul. “He was so cold and rough. I thought it would be magical and like the stories tell you. It was anything but and hurt like hell. If I felt anything, it was pain and he still didn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop, even when I cried and told him it hurt. He placed his hand over my mouth and told me it always did the first time and to shut up before someone called the cops. I never thought it would end and prayed it would be over soon because I have never felt such pain.”
I almost wish I never asked because now I’m feral. Imagining what that fucking bastard did to this woman leaves a bitter taste for revenge in my mouth. Revenge I know has already been claimed by another and I can only hope it was a painful end for a man who makes Satan look like an angel.
She sobs hard against my chest and still I say nothing. Just stroke her hair, over and over again as I try to drive the image from my mind of a man who raped a girl while she begged him to stop.
“I didn’t know it was wrong, Maverick. I thought it was like that for everyone. He finally stopped and just lit a cigarette and told me to go and get cleaned up because he couldn’t bear the smell of me. Even then I didn’t question him. There was so much blood everywhere and I felt sick. I still feel that cold water of a dirty shower that had probably never been cleaned, as I washed away my sin. The blood mingled with the dirt and made me feel ashamed. I still remember how empty I felt when I should have been so happy. I suppose I took too long because when I returned, he’d gone.”
She slumps against me and starts to cry and I know it took a lot for her to get those words out. The feelings she has are ones she’s had to live with all these years and yet it’s as if they’re still raw and never gone away. Time has not been a great healer in her case because this woman is as broken as they come. So, I do nothing but continue to hold her as she cries like a baby and as my arms tighten around her, I take her pain and make it my own.
She says no more and I don’t press her. If anything, she’s exhausted, so I pull back and wipe her tears away and say as softly as I can. “Listen, darlin’, that took a lot of guts to share that with me and now you need to rest. Lie down on my couch and I’ll find you a blanket. You can rest here while I fix us something to eat. I won’t be long and nobody will disturb you here. Are you ok with that because I don’t think you should be on your own right now?”
The gratitude in her eyes makes my heart break all over again as she nods shyly and lays her head on the cushion and closes her eyes. A lone tear falls as her lids close and my heart twists inside. She looks so fragile lying on my leather couch and as I reach for the blanket nearby, I am careful to tuck it around her without disturbing her. Just for a minute, I take a long look at the beauty sleeping so peacefully on my couch. It took all of a few seconds for her breathing to change and the tears are still damp on her cheeks as her face falls into a relaxed pose. Without the fear and anxiety pinching her features, this woman shines. She is majestic and yet has an innocence that is the opposite of who she should be. A polished, flawless diamond in a stinking pit and she shines despite the filth that surrounds her. Strangely, I feel my own tension leave me as I look at her lying there and feel an irresistible urge to lie right beside her and just marvel at what nature can create. Instead, I drag my sorry ass to the kitchen and do as I