“Allison…what the fuck did I walk in on tonight?” I said, my voice hoarse. I was still in shock.
Before answering me, she rushed up and went to the bathroom, bringing back a first aid kit.
Tears fell from her eyes. “Cedric, you are hurt because of me. I am so, so sorry. I don’t know how to thank you enough for getting here tonight when you did.”
She took my injured hand and began pouring peroxide on it. I looked down silently at it and back up at her tearful face. She was crying harder now and it killed me to see her in so much pain.
“Allison, please stop crying. Please, it really hurts me to see you cry,” I said. It did. It really did.
Allison started to wrap my hand in gauze while she spoke.
“Cedric…that man…Nate…he was my ex-boyfriend. We broke up months ago as soon as I realized he had a serious drinking problem. He was a good person for a long time, taught music at Berkley and everything. I had no idea he was an alcoholic until the very end of our relationship. He hid it well from me for most of the time we were together. One night, he came home drunk and hit me and that was the last straw. I never wanted to see him again and I never did after that. Tonight was the first time I saw him since that night almost six months ago. I opened the door without checking, because I thought you were early.”
Allison shook her head, crying and repeated, “I thought it was you…I thought it was you.”
My heart was breaking as more tears fell from her eyes. I wanted to touch her, comfort her, but resisted. To think that I had something to do with him gaining access to her tonight made me physically ill.
“Did he…do anything to you?” I asked. I needed to know.
She sniffled. “He forced himself on me, but only kissed me and groped me, but he wasn’t able to do anything more. You came in right when he was…about to, though. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here, Cedric.”
It made me sick that he even got that far. And to think, I sat there and witnessed some of it through the window first hand before I realized she was actually being assaulted.
Allison finished wrapping my hand and kept her hands on mine when she finished.
The will I had to resist her moments ago disappeared as I took my hand from her grip and wrapped it around her shoulder pulling her into me with my forearm.
Her head leaned against mine and I just held her there and closed my eyes, listening to her heart beating rapidly against my chest. She must have been able to feel mine too, because it was absolutely racing.
We stayed like this for about five minutes before I pulled away to look at her.
She looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes and I noticed a small bruise on the ride side of her face and pushed back suddenly.
“That fucker hit you too?” I seethed.
“Yes. Right before you walked in,” she said never looking away from me.
“Mother fucker,” I said, taking my good hand and gently caressing the area.
My feelings were so strong for this woman. It hurt me so much to see her physically harmed.
Allison closed her eyes as I held her face with my hand and rubbed my thumb gently across the bruise.
“I am so sorry this happened, Allison,” I whispered.
“Thank God you were here. I can never thank your mother enough for sending you tonight. And I’ll never be able to repay you,” she said.
My emotions were running wild and I pulled her head back toward my chest, holding her there.
I didn’t know if I could ever let her go tonight. She had been through hell, but she still looked so incredibly stunning, even with mascara running down her cheeks and a bruise on her face.
Looking down, for the first time, I realized she was wearing such a hot little outfit and wondered if she had dressed that way for me. But instead, she got Nate showing up. That thought made me sick all over again.
After many minutes passed while I held her head to my chest silently, listening to her heartbeat, she looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes again and we continued to stare into each other. But this time instead of pulling her face back into my chest, I placed my hand on her chin, pulled her mouth straight into mine and buried my tongue down her throat.
CHAPTER 17
ALLISON