Pet: A Dark Menage Romance

“You need to,” I told her. “Fuck, Pet. I’m going to call someone now.”

“No,” she begged, gripping me. “Don’t, please. Not today. I can see someone tomorrow. I just want to stay with you tonight. Please.”

I stared at her, her bottom lip quivering as her eyes filled with tears. This fucking girl… Only eighteen and she’d been through so fucking much already.

“Okay,” I told her. “Tomorrow though, first thing in the morning, I’ll have someone come over.”

She nodded and held on to me so tightly. She felt so good in my arms, like it was the only place in the world she belonged. I didn’t want to let her go.

I wondered what would happen if she wanted to go back to him the next day, because I knew by then I would never be able to let her leave me.

Holding her close, I buried my nose in her purple hair. It was a nasty reminder of him, because I knew it couldn’t have been her idea. I wanted it gone. I wanted every trace of that bastard wiped off her, from her memory, too. I wondered how I could possibly make that happen, and if she’d even let me.

It only took moments for her breathing to get heavy, and I realized she’d fallen asleep in my arms. But I couldn’t let her.

I felt anxious myself, nervous as fuck and needy for her.

I pressed my lips against hers, and they parted in her sleep, welcoming me in.

Kissing her as she slept, like she was my Sleeping Beauty, felt so fucking right. She barely moved in response, just moaned inside my mouth. I kissed her softly. Sweetly. In a way I’d never kissed anyone before, like my kiss could heal her of the shit she’d been through .

Her eyelids fluttered open when I moved back to look at her. She stared at me sleepily, and there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Am I yours now?” she asked, the words so soft I thought I’d misheard her at first.

“Do you want to be?” My voice was gentle, and my heart thumped awaiting her answer.

“No,” she whispered, and snuggled against me.

I held her and wished I’d killed King. Maybe then she’d finally be mine completely.Putting Sapphire back together took weeks.

A day before she could walk.

The doctor came in and took care of her cuts, no questions asked. Thankfully, most of the damage was outside on her thighs, and the doc told us she’d be fine in a week or two.

Three days before she stopped flinching when I called her by her name, not the nickname he’d given her.

A week before she started responding to it.

Eight days for her to come out of the bedroom and sit with me in the living room, watching mindless shitty TV for a few hours.

She didn’t speak for the first few days either. And on day nine, she finally came up to me herself to ask for something.

I half-expected her to ask for him.

King had called me several times, but he hadn’t called her. I never answered, but I didn’t block his number either, and confused myself by not doing it.

It felt like it wasn’t my decision to make. Like I wasn’t supposed to intervene with her life in that way.

“I want to talk to Maria,” she told me, and I nodded right away.

The first nine days of her being with me were spent in the apartment. She barely left the bed. I had food delivered because I couldn’t bear to leave her alone, and I tried to use my shitty cooking skills to make her something edible. She never asked a question. Never asked for anything. We barely talked, and I needed her words so badly, but didn’t want to force her.

I gave her my phone to call Maria, and she didn’t question why I had her number saved already.

They talked for two hours, and I waited outside the bedroom like a moron.

At least she still slept in my arms every night. And every night, like clockwork, I’d kiss her when she fell asleep. She’d wake up for a moment and just stare at me before her eyes closed again.

The purple was starting to fade from her hair. She took long showers in the mornings and before bed, and the shower leaked purple down the drain once she was done. It was my favorite sight, and I felt like she was washing away her awful past along with that color.

The white-blond shone through her hair, only some streaks of lavender remaining. It looked pretty. I thought it made her look like a fairy princess or some shit.

She finally came out of the bedroom and handed me back my phone. There was a slight smile on her face.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so… weird,” she said, and I shook my head like it didn’t matter. “I’d like to pay you back… For everything you’ve done for me. Maria says I can stay with her now.”