“Y-yes,” I whimpered. My teeth were chattering, my entire body trembling beneath him.
“I’ll never hurt you, little one. But I warned you that you would see parts of me that would terrify you. This is one of those parts.” He knelt in front of me and placed his hands on my knees, rubbing his thumbs in soothing circles on my bare skin. A shudder wracked my frame. I felt cold. “I’m below you right now. I won’t ever put myself in a position where I’m looking up at anyone, little one, but I am for you. You’re safe with me,” he swore.
I swallowed thickly, feeling vomit rise in my throat. “I think I’m going to be sick,” I warned him.
He quickly grabbed a trashcan and put it in front of me just in time. I emptied my stomach, my body heaving, my stomach clenching as I threw up everything that I’d had for breakfast that morning.
Once I was finished, James set the trashcan aside and gently pulled me up from the chair. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me from the room. Adrian was waiting outside with three other men.
“Clean it up. Get rid of the body,” James quietly ordered. “I need to get her home.”
Adrian nodded once at him before they slipped into the room, none of them casting me a glance. I heard the lock click behind me, keeping anyone from coming in. James knelt and lifted me into his arms, carrying me out of a backdoor where our car was miraculously waiting.
James set me into the passenger seat, and I watched as he took his car keys from a man in a completely black suit with shades on. He nodded once before he strode around the hood of the car and slid into the driver’s seat.
“Are you scared of me?” James asked quietly a few minutes later.
I swallowed thickly, terrified to answer, but at the same, I was terrified to not answer. Licking my dry lips, I nodded my head at him. “Yes,” I whispered, my voice breaking on the single word.
James tightened his hands around the steering wheel. I flinched. He forced his fingers to relax before he glanced over at me. “I’m going to prove to you that you don’t ever have to be afraid of me,” he said quietly, “because I’ll never fucking hurt you, Emmaline. You’re mine to protect and to take care of.” He clenched his jaw before he worked it around, staring at the highway ahead of us. “Just let me get you home, and I’ll prove to you that I’m the one man in this world that you’ll never have to fear,” he swore.