made sense.
Bodie just hoped she didn’t blow it.
While she drove, her thoughts flickered from one Master to another. She thought maybe she and Jasper had a decent foundation beneath them now—not the unstable footings of a submissive afraid of a Dom or her usual aversion to strangers, but something sturdy they could build a friendship on and have it hold strong.
That Sunday night, outside Avalon, Jasper hadn’t lifted a hand toward her. Not in punishment, not in anger, not in retribution—God knew she’d given him ample reason to lace her black and blue. Punching—check. Slapping—check. Swearing—check. Biting—check. Riding him like a demented pony across the parking lot—oh yeah, she’d done that.
The memory of it would be funny one day, maybe fifty years in the future when she was old, gray, and the embarrassments of her younger self paled in comparison to the mischief she got up to in her twilight years.
Right now, it gouged a hole in her gut, even a week after the event. She’d been out of her mind with stress, frantic to escape the secrets she’d spilled and the truths Connie shoved in her face. When Jasper whipped her keys from her hand...well, it flipped her bitch switch and her temper soared.
She felt a bit sick, knowing she’d drawn blood.
And then, after she’d bitten and slapped and cursed the guy like a sailor, he’d been kind to her. So fucking kind. Secure on his lap, she’d felt as safe with him as she did with Braun, and somewhere in those few minutes of comfort, he’d walked through the rubble of her defenses and earned her trust.
Damn those Avalon men, she thought, smiling to herself and drumming her fingers on the wheel. For all their brashness, their maleness and dominance, they were really good guys. It wasn’t surprising Liam fit in so well with them.
Jasper’s words came back to her, the words he’d given her as she trembled with the force of her emotions. His arms wrapped around her, rocking her gently, as he sat uncomfortably on a sea of stones.
“Fear will eat you up, poppet. The mind can only take being afraid for so long before it warps and destroys everything you are. The people here aren’t your enemy—I’m not your enemy, Boadicea. We know who you are, what you are, and we love you as you are. When you’re in trouble, when you’re afraid, you can come to us. We’ll find you in the dark and pull you back out.”
Bodie sniffled and wiped at the dampness under her eyes, slowing the car as she realized her vision was blurred. The traffic for this time of night was sparse but still, she wouldn’t chance an accident.
When she pulled into the lot outside her small apartment and cut the engine, she stared through the night at the row of cloned shitholes she’d once called home. Wafer-thin walls, pathetic plumbing, cheap locks on cheaper doors. The security lights running under the canopied roof glowed with a sickly yellow haze.
There were a few cars parked alongside hers, and she recognized most. There were a couple of motorcycles she couldn’t place—big, black beasts with fancy artwork painted on the tanks.
The hairs on her nape and arms rose, standing on end as though someone breathed down her neck. She really didn’t want to go back into that place. So what if she lost her security deposit? It was only money. Money could be replaced.
She really didn’t want to go back in there.
Scanning the apartment doors with a critical eye, Bodie shook her head slowly and reached for the ignition. When warning signals screamed, she would listen. Something was wrong here, and she wasn’t hanging about to find out what it was.
Her fingers grasped the key, twisted it. Her clunker of a car turned over once, then putted and died. She swore ripely, gave it a chance to rest, then tried again.
“Do not die on me here, you piece of shit,” she muttered, sending a prayer to whatever spirit might be listening. “Braun will send you to the scrapheap if you do.”
Nervously, she checked the area again, was somewhat mollified by the lack of people hanging around. Thirty seconds was all she needed to get the fuck away, to stop the feeling of dread shrouding her.
The engine caught on the second try, and she closed her eyes in thanks. Then she screamed as glass exploded, slicing over her skin and tinkling onto her lap, the floor, in pieces. Something hard clipped her jaw,