“What the hell happened?” I whisper when I reach her, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her face.
Not waiting for her answer, I take her hand and guide her back to my car. She comes with me without a fight, like she trusts me, which does nothing to lessen the guilt I’m feeling over what I was just doing while thinking abouther.
“What were you doing out here at this time of night?” I ask her.
She bites her lower lip and sucks in a breath. “I-I change up where I stay from time to time,” she confesses, confirming what I already knew about her living arrangements. “Some guy started hassling me…he got handsy…I scared him off by screaming, but not before…” She gestures to her face, fresh tears welling up as she begins to sob again.
“We should call the police,” I tell her gently. “You need to make a statement—”
“No, please don’t.” She stiffens, her eyes filling with alarm as she stares at me, clearly terrified.
“Hey, it's okay,” I whisper, pausing by the car and rubbing her bare arm lightly. I have no idea what to do with a barely legal teenager, and I certainly can't take her home in case Marissa and Kelsie come back. “I'll get you somewhere to stay for a while, okay?”
She gives me a watery smile and nods. “Thanks, Mr. Reed.”
At a loss for any other option, I drive to the nearest semi-decent hotel and book her a room for a few nights. I go in with her, just to make sure that she's okay. As soon as we enter, she seems much more comfortable, taking one of the robes from the closet by the door and wrapping herself up in it. I kick the heating on high for her, then I hesitate by the door, still unsure of what to do. She makes the decision for me.
“Mr. Reed?” Chloe asks, fixing me with those gorgeous big eyes again. “Will you stay with me for a bit? I’d like to have a shower, but I’m too scared to be alone…”
God, the idea of sitting here while she’s showering in the room right next to me sounds like a fucking bad idea, but I don’t have a choice. The poor girl was attacked. God knows how she’s feeling right now and me being here is the only thing that’s keeping her calm. I feel so bad for her that she was in such a position in the first place.
How long has she been living like this?
I need to stay. I don’t have a choice. Marissa and Kelsie will be gone for the night anyway, and it's not like I have anywhere else to be.
“Sure,” I say.
She offers me a soft smile, then gets to her feet and glides over to the bathroom. I hear the click of the shower door opening, then the water running, then a few moments later, the door clicks again. Which means she’s in the shower. Naked. She’s standing under a stream of hot water, trying to wash away her assault while I sit here rock fucking hard, thinking about how nice her tight little body must look right now. I disgust myself. I can dress it up all I like, but there is no getting around the fact that what I’m feeling isn’t right. And that’s all the more reason I should not be here right now, no matter how much I tell myself otherwise.
The water shuts off, and then I hear the bathroom door open. She appears a few seconds later, still wrapped in the robe, her creamy white thighs peeking out from the obscenely high slit with every step she takes. My throat constricts as I hunch forward to hide my arousal. It’s obvious that she’s naked underneath, and all I can think about are the soft curves of her perfect breasts. I force the thought from my mind and focus on her face, all while telling myself to calm the fuck down.
“Feel better?” I croak.
She nods and even manages a smile. “A little.”
She pauses, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, before she sits down on the bed, her dark eyes on me. Her lips tweak into a smile as she tucks a wet strand of hair behind her ear. She’s so beautiful it’s breathtaking, but I can’t let myself think about that. What I need to do is get the fuck out of here, but I can’t bring myself to move or tear my eyes away from her.
My head is a mess of conflicting thoughts, things I really want to act on but know that I can’t. She wets her lips, her gaze dipping downward before rising to meet mine again.
“I’m sorry I called you for help,” she whispers. “You must think I’m so needy.”
“God, no.” The words spill from my mouth before I can stop them. “I’m honestly glad I can help you, Chloe. I just wish there was more I could do for you.”
“Would you stay until I fall asleep?” Her cheeks stain pink, like she’s embarrassed to ask me that, which makes her seem even more vulnerable. “Please?” she adds when she senses my hesitation.
“Sure,” I hear myself murmuring. “Of course I can.”
She smiles and curls up beneath the covers in her robe, her eyes closed, her breathing fast and shallow. She falls asleep almost immediately, which doesn’t surprise me, given how exhausted she must be. Poor thing has probably had to sleep with one eye open for a long time, if her home life is as rough as I'm inclined to believe.
Sitting in the chair beside the bed, I watch her sleep for lack of anything else to do. I watch the way her chest rises and falls, the fluttering of her thick eyelashes. Then, she shifts, lifting her arm above her head. The sheet slides off her body, her robe rolling open, revealing way more skin than I should be seeing. I swallow and study the soft curves of her breasts and creamy, pale skin, only tainted by the nasty bruising that’s starting to show through on her left side. The robe unravels farther as she moves again. My fingers tighten, pressing into the armrests as my gaze travels down to her bare, sweet little pussy.
She is mystudent, I know I shouldn't be staring at her like this, but I can't tear my eyes away. I'm still under the effects of alcohol and increasingly sexually frustrated, given my interrupted night. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I know Ishould, I just can't look away. She's so fucking beautiful, it's maddening.
Driven by a need to immortalize this moment, I take my phone out and snap a picture of her, knowing I'll be able to look at it later, when I'm alone. My camera is soundless, but she must have felt my eyes on her, because almost immediately, her eyes flicker open. Her lips quirk in a smile and she shifts with a soft, sated moaning noise that does terrible things to my cling to self-control.
“That's the second time I've caught you staring at me, Mr. Reed,” she murmurs, her voice raspy, covering herself up.
I feel my cheeks heating. “Sorry.”