At last, she switched off the shower and dried herself with the threadbare towel the nurse had given her. When she was dry enough, she transferred the towel to her head and pulled her gown around her, reaching for her clothes as she left the bathroom. She returned to the ward where the other women were only just waking up and heard the medicine trolley doing the rounds. She let out a long breath as she slithered into the T-shirt and jogging bottoms she’d been given. They were the only clothes she owned now. Her own things had been ruined in the fire.
“How are you feeling this morning?” the doctor asked, when he came to see her on his rounds.
“Much better thanks,” she told him.
“Good, I think we’ll be releasing you this morning, just as soon as we get the papers signed.”
“That’s good,” she said, wishing she could feel more excited.
“Oh, and there’s some news of your friend,” the doctor added.
“Yes?”
“She came around this morning. She’s not out of the woods yet, but it’s looking as though she’s going to pull through. She’s an extremely lucky young woman.”
Kylie flopped back against the pillows, relief flooding through her. She shuddered as she remembered her dirty encounter in the showers, but she knew that she had done the right thing. Luck had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
34
Just as he’d feared, Craig spent a long, uncomfortable night in a cell. The other inmates were loud and restless, either high on drugs or too drunk to understand where they were. Every time he had started to nod off, he was rudely awoken by someone yelling or swearing. He really ought to be used to it, after all, he had spent enough time at her Majesty’s pleasure.
In the morning they finally brought him in for interview. The lawyer they had provided for him, one Liz Simmons, turned out to be a very capable woman and once he got the chance to explain the situation, she seemed pissed off that he’d been locked up at all.
“I’ll get the hospital to corroborate your story,” she said, making rapid notes in her notebook. “And we can get a statement from your girlfriend about the dog.”
“Please, don’t drag Kylie into it, not if we can avoid it,” he begged. “I don’t want her worrying about me. That’s all she needs.”
Liz’s eyebrows knitted together.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “But I’m not making any promises. You’re my client, Craig. And it’s my job to get you out, post haste.”
The interview was conducted in a small, stuffy room with the two officers who had arrested him the day before. He tried not to shudder, as he recalled the last time he’d been inside an interview room, but it was hard not to make comparisons, especially since this one had the same, slightly chemical smell. He smiled pleasantly as he sat down, reminding himself that he wanted to appear polite, but not stuck up, charming but not cocky. There was a fine line to be toed, and a lot came down to the personal inclinations of the officers involved. He could not afford to get on the wrong side of them.
He answered their questions politely, repeating his version of events as accurately as he could manage. It was hard to recall exactly what had happened the day before, it had all happened so quickly, and some of the facts got jumbled up in his head.
“I’m sure you can appreciate it was a very traumatic day for my client,” Liz spoke up for him. “But he is cooperating as best he can.”
The softer, female officer smiled at him, which he took to be a good sign.
“Did Fraser McCracken say anything to you about his dog before he died?”
Craig bit his tongue. He could tell the police about what Coach had done to Kylie, but he also knew that she would hate that. She might even hate him for revealing her secrets without her permission.
“He didn’t want the dog,” he said, looking for some middle ground. “He had promised him to Kylie. In fact, she had been looking after him a few weeks back. Locals will verify seeing her out with the dog, taking him for walks.”
Liz cleared her throat. “Honestly, I think you should let my client go with a warning. His heart was clearly in the right place. He was concerned about the welfare of an animal. Yes, he went about it the wrong way, but he had gone through a traumatic experience. Having spoken to the hospital, I’ve been told this man is a hero. He rescued his girlfriend from the blaze. Do you really want to see him back in prison?”
Craig looked from one officer to the other. The female officer looked sympathetic, but the man’s face was passive. Maybe he didn’t care that Craig hadn’t meant any harm. Perhaps he was only interested in getting credit for having caught him in the act.
Liz leaned forward.
“You’re a dog lover, Terry. Are you really going to charge my client for doing something you might have done yourself?”
Officer Terry flicked a glance at Craig. “How do I know he’s not just a dog thief?”
Liz laughed. “This isn’t some pedigree we’re talking about here. The dog in question is an old, scruffy little mongrel.”
Terry glanced at his colleague and sighed. “All right then, I’ll release him on two conditions.”
“Which are?”
“One, that he’ll pay for any damages he’s caused.”
“Fair enough. And the other?”
A smile formed on his face. “That the owner doesn’t press charges.”
“But the owner’s… oh!”
Liz was smirking slightly, and Craig resisted the urge to jump up and hug her.
“Thank you,” he whispered, not wanting to say anything more in case he put his size elevens in it.
An hour or so later, he hurried down the road, desperate to get to the hospital before Kylie was discharged. Liz had really come through for him, but his release had not been as quick as he would have liked, and by the time he arrived back on Kylie’s ward, he found her cubicle empty. The bed had been stripped, and the little side table cleared. There was no doubt that she’d been discharged.
“Did she say where she was going?” he asked the nurse.
“I’m afraid not,” she said. He wasn’t sure if she was being straight with him or not.
“She didn’t have anywhere to go,” he explained. “Our building burned down.”
The nurse looked worried. “She’ll be staying with a friend, no?”
Craig shook his head. “She doesn’t have too many of those. Knowing Kylie she’ll be sleeping under a bridge or something. She’d do anything before accepting help. Stubborn as a mule, that one.”
The nurse looked a little alarmed, but she shrugged her shoulders at him. “I wish I could help,” she said. “But I’ve really no idea. She did mention a stepmother. I wonder she might have gone to her?”
Craig nodded. Kylie had mentioned Cherry to him a few times. She had also mentioned the trouble she had had with some of her boyfriends.
“She didn’t give an address, I suppose?” he asked.
The nurse shook her head.
Kylie was tired of walking. She arrived at Cherry’s house only to find a man called Pete who was presumably her latest boyfriend.
“Did she say when she’ll be home?” she asked.
“Couldn’t say,” Pete said. “She went out shopping. Could be minutes, could be hours. Never can tell with that bint.”
Kylie bristled at his use of the word ‘bint’ but she hovered on the doorstep.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to wait inside,” she said. “I came here to ask if I could stay for a couple of days. Just until I find myself somewhere more permanent.”
Pete looked her up and down. “I don’t mind at all,” he said, chewing a substance that smelled like tobacco. “You can share our bed for all I care. Never had a mother and daughter before.”
“Stepdaughter,” she corrected him, stepping over the threshold. He was creepy, but no more so than any of Cherry’s previous boyfriends. She hoped Cherry wouldn’t be long.
“Maybe you could ring her?” she suggested
.
Pete shook his head. “She never answers when she’s out shopping. Reckons she can’t hear her phone in her bag.”
“Right.”
She switched on the TV and sat down on the sofa. Pete sat beside her, uncomfortably close. She could feel his eyes upon her, making her feel as dirty as ever. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His hand was inching towards her knee and she didn’t like it but what if she was meant to do this? What if it was all part of the plan?
“You know what, I might go and lie down,” she said, rising slowly.
She took the stairs up to her old room. There was still a bed in there, although the room was now filled with bric-a-brac, all the shit Cherry picked up on her shopping trips. An exercise bicycle took up the corner by the window with shoe boxes piled high on top of it. She cleared a path to the bed and sank down on the old mattress and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, the door swung open, and she felt a man’s lips pressed against hers. The kiss was passionate, his tongue flicking over hers, his hand resting gently on her breast. She felt him on top of her, crushing her with his body.
“You’re so beautiful, so delicate.”
She flicked open her eyes and stared at him.
“Craig!” she gasped. “How did you find me? And where the hell have you been?”
“The bitches at the café were more than eager to give me the address,” he said with a smile. “Had a few choice words to say about your stepmother too, but I think they’re just jealous. I bet none of them are getting any, while she clearly is.”
Kylie smiled. Their animosity went years back, so far that it no longer bothered her.
“You drive me crazy,” he murmured into her hair. “I must have you, Kylie. I must have you right now.”
“What, here?” she asked, indicating all the mess.
And Pete must be downstairs wondering what the two of them were doing.
“It’s either here, or out in the street,” he said. “I can’t wait, Kylie. Please don’t make me.”
She pulled at his clothes and he pulled at hers and she helped him slip the sheath over his cock. Their lips met and then he was pressing against her entrance. They both moaned with pleasure as he buried himself deep inside her. He began gently, but with her encouragement, his thrusts grew harder until he was fucking her senseless, making her come harder than she knew she deserved. She groaned with pleasure as a wave of endorphins flooded her body. He continued to pound her over and over, until he let out a grunt of his own.
He left her literally weak at the knees, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She was crying now. Ugly crying, knowing how bad she had been.
“Kylie, what’s wrong? I thought you wanted it as much as I did?”
“Of course, I did,” she gulped, her breath coming in short gasps.
“Then what’s the matter, my princess? Why are you crying like this?”
“It’s… I think it’s good crying,” she said at last, wiping the tears away.
The pain deep inside of her could never be erased. It didn’t disappear just because Coach was gone. She would always be broken and damaged. Always the one people whispered about, the girl who never quite fit in. And yet… And yet, she felt a certain quietening in her soul, as if someone had covered her heart with bandages, and she was finally beginning to heal.
Craig’s face grew grave.
“Kylie, I know we haven’t talked about this before, but I want you to have this ring.”
He held it out to her. A beautiful emerald. It sparkled as bright as her eyes.
“I want a woman who is completely mine, just as I am completely hers,” he went on, as she stared at the beautiful ring. “I want you to trust me and to take risks with me. I want us to find the pleasure in the pain.”
She stared at him, her eyes shining. She had not told him about the things she had done with Coach or about the voyeur she had encountered that morning. And yet there was something in his eyes that told her he knew enough. On a sub-conscious level, at any rate. And he demanded that she stop.
“I want to be the one to meet all your sexual desires,” he pleaded. “No matter how dark or disturbing. I want us to be as one, Kylie. I need you to give your word. If you’re going to be mine, you must be all mine. I can’t share you any more. Do you understand?”
She gulped, wondering how to answer. She wanted him more than anything, more than any man she’d ever met. And perhaps if she gave her word, then that would be enough. It would release her from all her other obligations, real or imagined.
“I just want a man who will stay with me,” she said at last. “And love me the way that I love you.”
“If you will be mine, I will worship you, Kylie.”
“And I will worship you.”
He placed the ring on her finger and slid it into place.
“I think we should celebrate at the hotel,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Unless you want to do it on this bed again?”
“No, a hotel would be lovely,” she said, wiping the tears from her face.
“Oh, and I have some good news for you. I managed to rescue Dexter.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly serious. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell it to you later when I’ve had a damned good rest. But all you need to know is that he’s been taken to Grey Street dog shelter. They’ll take care of him until we’ve found a permanent place to stay but then he’s all yours, Kylie. They won’t let anyone else take him. When I explained how much you love him, they promised.”
She hugged him tight and wondered how one person could produce so many tears.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No, thank you,” he said, helping her up off the bed. “We can go there now, if you want to see him?”
“I want to see him.”
“Very well. Your wish is my command.”
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About the Author
Hi,
I'm Paisley and I like to write dark romance and romantic suspense. I write from the heart so sometimes it's romantic, sometimes disturbing and I hope, always thought provoking. I love to hear from readers at [email protected]. If you put 'Newsletter' as the subject heading, I'll sign you up for my Readers' Club, so you can receive news, updates, giveaways and more.
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For my one true love.
They Won't Believe You (Scottish Dark Romance Book 1) Page 20
