Royally Broken by Elle Boon Page 0,16
entire life. Ever since she’d seen Silas DeMarcus lying on some rocks by the river, naked as the day he’d been born, her heart and her young body had yearned for him. Well, if she were being honest, her teenage heart had already wept for him.
She scrubbed a tired hand down her face. The hair she’d always kept long growing up was now short, barely reaching her shoulders. Since she’d had Jaxson, it had been easier to manage, and gave Thomas less to hold onto if she didn’t have the heavy mass hanging down her back. Another shiver wracked her frame as images tried to encroach in the daylight hours. She’d worked to bury those horrifying nights. Once she’d fallen pregnant, Thomas had eased up on his abuse. Physically anyhow. His verbal assault didn’t stop until he’d driven himself and his lover into a tree at a rate of speed that ensured there were no survivors.
Looking over at the little boy who looked like the spitting image of her, she tried to work up a little sadness for the loss of the man she’d thought she cared for. Loved? No, she hadn’t loved Thomas Kincaid. At first, she’d liked him. He’d been nice, handsome, and had seemed to genuinely care for her. All that had ended the night of the honeymoon. At twenty-eight, Palmer had finished college, started a career in design, and planned to do so much with her life that didn’t include marriage. Sure, she’d had a couple of boyfriends, but silly morals had kept her from going the distance with them. How stupid and foolish of her, thinking it would be special to give that one thing to her future husband.
She got up from her perch, the need to check on her precious child almost overwhelming like it had been since the day she’d found out she was carrying him. “No matter what happened, you were worth it.”
Goosebumps rose on her arms as she thought about the first time with her husband. Thomas had been angry that she hadn’t been experienced instead of pleased.
“You’re a virgin? What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” He glared at her.
Palmer recoiled as if he’d hit her. “What do you mean? It’s no big deal, Thomas. I just thought you should know...I mean, I thought you’d be pleased. We never did it before we were married. I assumed you knew.”
He jerked at the bowtie around his neck, popping the buttons on his dress shirt. The ping ping as they hit the floor in the bathroom made her take a cautious step away from him. “Oh, no you don’t. You, my dear, are my wife. To have and to hold. To do with as I please. Take off that dress,” he ordered.
She shook her head, not liking the way his eyes were narrowed on her. “Thomas, I’m going to just wait in the other room until you calm down.” Palmer made it exactly two steps before he had her up against the wall of the hotel bathroom, her face slapping against the tile with brutal force.
“Palmer Kincaid, do you not remember your vows?” he asked, tugging on her hair.
Tears stung her eyes as he ripped several strands from her scalp. His breath was hot against her neck, the scent of whiskey making her stomach roll. “What is wrong with you? This isn’t like you,” she cried.
He laughed, the kind that a person knew there was no joy within the person. “Ah, my sweet wife, that’s where you’re wrong. This is me. The man who was courting you was a façade. Now that I’m married to the princess, I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. You, on the other hand are going to need to be a damn good actress, or I’ll make sure you suffer every day for the rest of your life. If you even think I’m lying or that I won’t do what I want, when I want, I’ll show you what’ll happen.”
When he jerked her backward by her hair, she thought she’d suffer through whatever he had planned, then get her PopPop to help her get a divorce. How stupid she’d been. She’d suffered being married to the sadistic bastard, because like he said, he could do what he wanted when he wanted. Luckily for her he traveled a lot. It was the times he was home she had to fear and loathe. Only she decided she wasn’t going to be his or