“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster,” he whispers, rocking us slowly while I sob out my terror.
“You were fast enough to keep him from doing something worse,” I look up into his worried green eyes. “I wouldn’t have been strong enough to fight him off again.” I admit. Releasing me, he pulls his flannel off and helps me into it, covering my nudity, before wrapping me in his arms again.
“You will be,” his words are a promise. “I will always try to be there when you need me, but I won’t ever get a moments peace until I know that you can protect yourself from the sick fucks of the world.”
The sound of the door opening behind us registers in my ears, but Blake is all I see.
“I love you,” I murmur, ignoring the uniformed police officers entering the room. I try to smile, but my head hurts too much and it’s more of a grimace.
He brushes a soft kiss against my cheek. “Fuck, I love you too, Elinor. Thank you for fighting and giving me time to get where I needed to be,” he responds.
I nod. There’s nothing I can say. It was his voice I heard telling me to fight, so no matter what he thinks, it was him who gave me the strength to fight. I will always fight if it means being with him. No matter what. Leaning into his arms I listen to the low buzz of voices around me as Lawrence is led out in handcuffs. A female officer gently asks me questions and I feel Blake’s rage as I explain what happened.
Finally, she is satisfied that she has everything she needs to know and thanks me for my help before exiting the room, leaving me blessedly alone with Blake.
“I need to call Mama,” I whisper. I’m so tired.
“I’ll call her for you, angel, but first we need to get you upstairs.”
I think I nod. I mean to anyway, but it doesn’t matter. I’m okay. I’m right where I need to be. With Blake, as he carries me into his room and lowers me against the soft bed where he made love to me earlier. The rest of the morning is nothing but a bad dream. The mattress dips as he lays down beside me, carefully pulling me close and holding me against his chest. The steady thrum of his heart against my palm calms me as I curl closer to him and slowly lift my heavy eyelids.
“Love you,” I mumble thickly.
He kisses me so softly, like I’m made of the most fragile spun glass. “I love you too, Ells. Rest if you can. I’m not going anywhere.”
I’m not either. I close my eyes. I’ve finally found where I belong and I’m never letting this man go, but he needs to know.
“I pushed you away because I was scared that I would never learn to be strong if I had you willing to fight my battles.” I admit into the silence. He makes a sound of disagreement, so I open my eyes and force myself to meet his gaze. “I was wrong. Loving you is what gave me the strength to fight when I felt weak.”
“I’m glad,” he whispers, giving me time to say more if I want to, but that’s all I have. Exhaustion makes my eyelids heavy and I let them drift shut, trusting him to keep me safe while I sleep in his arms.
Epilogue
Ellie
I slip out the back door onto the back steps of Mama’s yard, leaving Auggie sleeping on the sofa in the living room. He’s completely worn out from all the excitement. I peek into the Pack n Play set up by the back door under a pop-up awning and smile happily at the sweet sleeping faces of Ana and Xavier’s newborn twins, Lennox and Layla. Their little rosebud mouths are pursed in identical puckers around their binkies. My hand drifts down to settle briefly over my flat tummy before smoothing the skirt of my smoky grey dress over my hips.
“Hey angel, Auggie all settled?” I look up into Blake’s excited emerald gaze. He looks beyond perfect in his black slacks and crisp white shirt with his tie loose and the sleeves rolled up to reveal his corded forearms. I’m so used to his laid-back jeans and t-shirt look that seeing him like this, freshly cut hair and his jaw that was shaved silky smooth just a few hours ago, makes my mouth water to taste him.
“Yep, he’s out cold. Mama is finishing up with the food. She said after she showers and changes she will wake him up.” She came straight home
after the christening and immediately started cooking. Xavier offered to hire a caterer, but she wouldn’t hear of it, she told him that no baby born in her family would have food prepared by anyone but her. She takes her role as grandmother to the twins very seriously. X conceded, of course, and Mama started planning the menu.
When Ana and Xavier asked Blake and me to be Lennox’s godparents, and Faye and Travis to be Layla’s, I thought Blake was going to burst with pride and excitement. The man that never had a family now has a big one and my heart is close to bursting with happiness with the secret that I’m announcing after we eat.
“I’ll go see if she needs a hand with anything,” he says, dropping a sweet kiss to my forehead before walking inside to check on my mom. My heart clenches when I hear him ask, “Need help, Mama?” I’m so happy that my mama is his now, too. After what almost happened to me they bonded even more.
Gray’s girl, Nikki, is sitting by the empty firepit sipping a mimosa with Ana. She’s come a long way in the last couple of months, and if I didn’t know what she had suffered at the hands of Dominic and his men I would never suspect that she was a survivor of such heinous abuse. Watching her learn to navigate life after her kidnapping has been nothing short of inspirational, even though I suspect she would roll her eyes and laugh if I ever said that out loud. I cross the yard to join them, a little sad that I can’t have one of the tasty drinks this time, but happy about the reason why.
“Hey, ladies,” I say, pouring myself a glass of orange juice instead before lowering myself into an empty chair.
“You aren’t having one?” Ana asks, lifting her glass and wiggling it teasingly. I giggle and shake my head negatively.
“Not this time,” I shrug and take a sip of my juice.
Nikki eyes me shrewdly but doesn’t say anything. We’ve gotten close, and since I usually enjoy a mimosa when we all get together. I’m pretty sure that not having one is a dead giveaway. At least to her. She’s very good at reading people.
“Are you…?” Ana lets her words trail off in a question.