Beautifully Broken

I nod quickly, but wave after wave of fear is crashing over me. My mid-section is aching terribly. I bite at my bottom lip and then let my arms slip around Damian’s waist. I hold on to him and bury my face under his chin. His scent and presence envelop me, and it soothes me some.

“I’ve got you,” he murmurs. “You’re safe.”

His words sink deep, chasing some of the panic away, but then I hear the drone of voices as men pass by the unit we’re in. My anxiety doubles, and it has my midsection aching so badly, waves of nausea and dizziness spill over me.

Damian presses a kiss to my cheek and then another to my neck. “You’re doing good, baby.”

“I’m going to puke,” I whisper, the pain and fear becoming too much.

We stand still and listen as the men roll the door open of the unit next to ours, and then a loud curse makes me cringe as close to Damian as I can get.

Footsteps race by our unit, and then the sounds fade fast.

“Just a little longer,” Damian murmurs. “They need to think we’re gone.”

My legs go numb from the pain, and my body sags against Damian’s. “I need to sit,” I whimper, feeling terribly weak.

Just like the night before, Damian slides us to the floor and then pulls me between his legs. I curl against his chest and close my eyes, trying my best to fight the urge to cry.

His one hand starts to brush soft circles on my lower back, and it eases some of the pain in my hips. He presses more kisses to the top of my head.

Torturous long minutes tick by before he stirs. “I’m going to go check if they’re gone. Stay here.”

My head snaps up, and I grab at him. My hands slam into his abs, and I grip hold of his shirt. “No,” I shake my head, and even though my body is an aching mess, I struggle to my knees. “Don’t leave me here.”

Damian hesitates for a second, and my heart stops, but then he pulls me up with him. “Can you walk?”

I nod. God, I’ll do anything Damian tells me to do as long as he doesn’t leave me in this box.

I can feel his eyes on me, and I wish I could see as well as he does in the dark. “Stay close to me.”

“Okay,” I reply as we walk to the door.

Damian slides it open, and the light from the hallway spills over us, finally allowing me to take a deep breath of relief.

Damian looks up and down the hallway and then takes the gun from behind his back. Just like that first day when he came for me, he takes my hand with his left one and keeps the gun in his right hand.

“Stay behind me,” he orders, and this time the words sound so different from when he first said them to me. There’s nothing neutral about Damian anymore. Instead, his tone is filled with warmth and possessiveness.

I stick close to his back as we walk down the hallway, and luckily, when we reach the parking area, there is no sign of the men.

I feel a flicker of hope that we might make it.

“We have to walk up the road. I have a car waiting at a dealership.”

“Walk?” I whimper, not sure I can make it much further.

Damian pulls me against his side so I can lean into him, and his arm settles firmly around my shoulders. “We can’t take this car.” He looks to the one we’ve been using. “We’re leaving it all behind.”

“Your house?” I ask, only now realizing what he’s giving up for me.

“It was just a safe house.” He starts to walk, and my numb legs move sluggishly. With every step I take, I lean more into Damian. Then, suddenly, he stops, and he takes my left arm, pulling it around his waist. His arm goes around me again as he takes more of my weight, which helps a little.

“I’d carry you, but it would only attract unwanted attention.”

I can only nod, my mouth filled with thick saliva. My vision starts to blur, and I don’t take in any of our surroundings anymore. I only focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

You can do this, Cara.

Just one foot in front of the other.

It feels like the longest distance I’ve ever walked. When we finally reach the dealership, I can’t hold back the bile and quickly turn away from Damian. My body convulses, and it makes the pain blindingly sharp.

I don’t know how we get to the car. With blurring sight and a spinning head, I finally get to rest my cheek on the worn upholstery of the back seat, and then I sink away into a bottomless pit of darkness.