TWENTY-FOUR
now
Reid glanced up as Jace pulled open the sliding glass doors and sauntered onto Reid’s backyard deck like he owned the place. “You know, knocking before you come into somebody’s house is usually customary.”
Jace grinned and handed Reid a beer. “I forgot. That head injury has made my memory shit.”
He snorted. “Right. Is that what you’re telling the girls you date when you forget their names?”
Jace laughed and sank into the lawn chair next to him. “The benefits of being hit in the head are vast. Although, it won’t impress women nearly as much as surviving a gunshot wound to save a damsel in distress.”
Reid closed the file he’d been working on and took a sip of beer. “Yeah, I’d have to leave out the part about her saving my ass right back.”
“Have you talked to her?”
He stared off in the direction of the setting sun, frowning. “No. Not since the hospital.”
And it was killing him. Brynn had been through her worst nightmare, and knowing she was facing all those demons alone kept him awake at night.
But she’d walked away. Didn’t love him enough to try. Some things he couldn’t command. No matter how much he wanted to.
Jace considered him, his normal humor gone from his face. “What happened in there?”
He sighed. “I told her I loved her.”
“And?”
“And she used her safe word.”
Jace winced. “Fucking brutal.”
Reid ran a hand over the back of his neck, wiping the sweat that had gathered there. “She’s terrified, man. That sadistic asshole fucked with her head, and now she’s convinced being with someone like me will rehash that terror every time I touch her. She was so close to pushing past her fear when we were at The Ranch, and now she’s scrambling backward.”
Jace’s tone hardened. “Makes me wish we could bring that fucker Davis back from the dead, just so we could have the pleasure of killing him ourselves. Slowly.”
“No shit.” He swigged his beer. “And this giving her space thing is driving me nuts. I wake up every damn day ready to pound on her door, throw her over my shoulder, and cuff her to me until she gives me another chance.”
Jace shrugged. “So why don’t you?”
He shot his friend a don’t-be-a-stupid-asshole glare.
Jace leaned forward, his forearms braced against his thighs. “Look, I’m not saying you actually kidnap her. But, whether Brynn wants it or not, she responds to submission—to you. She was so scared when I was getting her ready at The Ranch. I thought for sure she’d bail before the word ‘go,’ but as soon as she was with you, she relaxed and, unless she’s the best actress ever, enjoyed it. You need to remind her how it can be with someone who’s there for her pleasure not pain. Chase away the ugly associations she has about it by giving her a taste of your dominance again.”r: Roni Loren
She closed her eyes, the insides of her lids feeling like steel wool scraping against them. The scene in the basement kept playing over and over in her mind. All the things she could’ve done differently. How if she had just stayed and talked to Reid instead of running away to the party, everything could’ve been avoided.
Running. Always running. It’s what she did best.
“Ma’am.” The nurse’s hand on her shoulder made Brynn jump. The older woman smiled down at her. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”
Brynn dropped her feet to the floor and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Just waiting for visiting hours to start.”
She nodded at the door. “You’re all set. Doctor just finished with him. You can go in now.”
Wiping the bleariness from her eyes, she stood and thanked the woman, then moved past her and through Reid’s door. She had expected to see the same scene from the previous two days—darkened room, beeping machines, and a pale, sleeping Reid.
But instead, she was greeted with a lopsided grin and a gravelly voice. “Hey, sugar.”
Her heavy heart buoyed in her chest. “You’re awake!”