Her words make me want to rip something apart, but I control myself. “How bad were they, Bunny?” My insides knot. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I want to. You told me. It was mainly some pushing around and seeing how they treated my mom. She’d let them do anything to her, and I do mean anything.” I run my hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. “Honestly seeing them do the things they did to her was worse than any beating I ever took.”
I can’t fight the flinch of my body. How in the hell could someone beat her? She’s freaking tiny. Rage begins to fill me as I think of how helpless and scared she must have felt. The same way I had been when I was younger. But I got older and bigger than most of those fuckers, taking away their advantage.
“Are you growling?” Whitney drops her head back to look up at me.
“Maybe.” If I was I didn’t know I was doing it.
“The last was the worst. It’s why I ran to Healing Homes. We’d stayed there a few times, and I knew it would be safe. It started off with him only staring at me. Then it started to progress as time went on. I started putting a chair under the knob of my door, but one night I must have forgotten. I woke up with him standing over my bed.”
I suck in a breath, trying to control my rage.
“He played it off saying he thought he heard something so he was checking on me.”
Yeah the fuck right. The one night she forgot to put the chair under the door, that asshole just so happened to hear something. It’s more like that motherfucker was checking her door every damn night.
“The next day I grabbed a bag of my stuff and left.” I drop my head down, breathing her in to help calm me.
“No one is ever going to hurt you again. I promise you that.”
She releases her hold on me, taking a step back. She’s looking at me curiously. “What about you? What if you hurt me?”
I drop my head, thinking about the first day I met her. And how she and I always seem to get off on the wrong foot again and again.
“I know I fucked up that day, and I can be an asshole, Whitney, but I swear to you never again.” I wish there was another way to prove that to her.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Like you said, you can be an asshole at times but normally there is a reason.”
“Generally,” I admit. I hate that she sees me this way.
“What if I do something to make you mad? Would that give you cause?”
“Hell no. I’ll likely be groveling because I fucked up somehow because there’s no way you’d do something just to be mean.”
A smile pulls at her lips. “I don’t mean to make you feel bad or anything. I’ve just had a lot of terrible experiences with men. I shouldn’t take that out on you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I was a dick, and I have had this coming, but I’ll prove to you that I can be good.” Her smile grows bigger, making some of the uneasiness settle inside of me.
“Only for me?” She says it in a teasing way.
“I’m sure there might be times where I have to be an asshole to someone else.” She takes a step into me again.
“Is it terrible that I kind of like that side of you sometimes? That it makes me feel almost safe knowing you’re near.”
“No, Bunny. I taught myself to fight to protect myself. And I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. I’m fucking elated that subconsciously you know I’ll keep you safe from others.”
“Okay,” she says softly, licking her lips.
My eyes drop to her mouth. I lean down slowly so she knows I’m coming in for a kiss. If she pushes me away, I’ll know where I stand with her for now. But she doesn't do that. Instead, she presses her chest more into me. Her eyes fall closed right before I capture her mouth.
I part her lips with my tongue, and she opens wider for me. She tentatively starts to stroke her tongue against mine. A sexy as hell moan comes from her. I grip her hips, pulling her into me. My cock presses into the softness of her stomach. I swear I would relive every second of the shitty life I had if it meant it would lead me to this moment with her.
I pull back when I hear the door open.
“Looks like you found the gym,” Oz says from the doorway. Whitney’s eyes widen, her cheeks flushing. She spins around to face him. She looks like a deer caught in headlights. “I guess I had that coming with how you keep catching me and my wife making out.”