Battered Not Broken

by Celia Kyle

  He’d found her. Her heart sank, and her fear rose. So quick, how did he always seem to be so quick? They hadn’t seemed to have noticed she had awoken, they continued their argument. With small, snakelike movements, she inched her way to the opposite side of the bed, their voices still low and angry.

  She blinked to clear the sleepy haze of her vision, and focused on three identical men standing in a circle mere feet from where she lay.

  Ohshitohfuckohshitohfuck!

  They stood, albeit preoccupied, between her and freedom. Her muscles ached and stung, making their protest known as she covertly shifted and squirmed to the opposite side of the bed, placing as much space as she could between her and them. She kept her attention focused on the men as she moved. She reached the edge of the bed, but just as she was about to tip over the edge and drop to the floor, one of the men noticed her.

  “Hey! She’s awake!” The man on the left elbowed the man in the middle.

  Three sets of crystal blue eyes swung to meet hers. Without thought she dropped to the ground beside the bed, grunting when her feet screamed in protest. She couldn’t think about pain now. Kyle had sent them to take her back. He was probably nearby and the moment he got his hands on her, she’d be dead. But she’d die fighting them before she gave Kyle the satisfaction of killing her.

  Gillian’s eyes darted around the room, searching for a weapon, but none lay within reach. Staying in a low crouch, her back struck the wall as she tried to put more distance between her and the men. Her heart hammered her chest while her breath came in great bellows. A panic attack loomed on the horizon, but she couldn’t let her panic overtake her, she needed to remain calm; hyperventilating wouldn’t get her out of this mess.

  Staying low, she eased to the foot of the bed, but the men kept their distance. It was now or never. Gillian gathered her remaining strength then darted for the open door. She made it to the doorway before muscled arms wrapped around her waist, halting her escape.

  Tears poured down her face as she hammered at her captor, struggling to free herself, but it was no use, his grip was like iron. The men’s voices raised, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying over the roar of her own heartbeat echoing in her ears.

  I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.

  Another set of arms scooped her away from her captor and the room fell silent. A few whispered words made it through, halting her struggles.

  “You’re not going to die, poppet. We’ll protect you. No one here will hurt you, ever.”

  The man who cradled her in his arms sat on the bed, placing her in his lap with care. Her heart raced and her breath came in frightened pants as two sets of blue eyes bore into her. One of the men reached toward her and she flinched on instinct.

  Gillian swallowed hard, wincing with the pain that remained. “I’m sorry I broke into your house. I’ll just get my shoes…” She tried to wiggle free of the man’s grasp.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” the man in front of her growled.

  The man holding her tightened his arms around her and growled back at the one before her. “Ronan. If you can’t stay calm, leave. Better yet, why don’t you both leave? Max, take Ronan out of here.”

  The man she now knew as Max tugged on Ronan’s sleeve and they both backed out of the room, leaving her alone with the man whose name she still didn’t know.

  He slid her off his lap and onto the bed, before dropping to his knees on the floor in front of her. His hand approached her face and she flinched again. She snapped her eyes shut and waited for the hit to come, but it didn’t. Why hadn’t he just hit her already?

  Opening her eyes, she found him staring at her, mouth hanging agape, eyes wide. He eased back, putting more space between them before he spoke. His hands rested on the bed, one on each side of her hips.

  “My name’s Conner. We’re not mad you broke in. Why don’t you tell me your name?” Conner’s voice was deep, soft, soothing her nerves and calming her heart as he spoke. Was he lulling her into submission before he pounced?

  “Gillian.” Her throat, still raw from Kyle’s most recent attack, ached.

  “Gillian.” His eyes flicked down her legs and she was reminded of the throbbing pain in her feet. “You’re hurt, Gillian.”

  Adrenaline had kept the aches at bay, but they were slowly returning with full force. Her ankles, feet and toes were covered in blisters and raw spots. Some of them oozed blood, staining the carpet and smearing on the floor.

  “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I’ll just clean up this mess and get out of your way. I’m so sorry.” She was babbling, she knew it, but couldn’t stop.

  Gillian reached for her snow-soaked shoes and socks and saw what she’d missed when she kicked them off before climbing into bed. Amidst the mud stains were dark splotches of red—blood red. The cold had deadened her nerves, making her poor feet numb and they’d paid the price. Her feet throbbed at the thought of putting the shoes back on. Conner’s warm hands wrapped around hers, and before she could snatch them away, he placed her hands on her thighs and released her.

  “We’d like you to stay. You’re obviously hurt. There wasn’t a car parked out front when we came home and it’s obvious you walked and we can’t, in good conscience, let you go back out in that weather. You’re welcome to stay here, Gillian.”

  Gillian twined her fingers as she thought about her options. Honestly? There weren’t any options. It wasn’t like she was in any condition to walk and her car had died along the road. If these three weren’t after her she now had to worry about them, too. If she stayed like Connor asked, what would Kyle do to them when he found her? It was no longer a question of if, but when.

  “But I’m a stranger to you. Your brother, Ronan, didn’t seem too thrilled with me…”

  His warm hands enveloped hers and Gillian’s gaze traveled up his toned honey-tinted arms across his broad shoulders and came to rest on Conner’s face. Kind eyes bored into hers and she felt as if she could get lost in them forever.

  “Believe me, Ronan doesn’t want you back out there any more than I do. Besides, we’re three men living in the middle of nowhere with only each other for company. It’ll be a pleasure to have someone to talk to.” Conner gave her a small smile, a simple tilting of his lips, barely revealing his bright white teeth.

  “You’re sure?” Gillian hated taking advantage of the brothers’ hospitality, but she couldn’t afford to turn it down, not with her feet shredded the way they were and her car not operating. She wouldn’t stay long, but she couldn’t run without getting some rest. She’d stay a day, two tops. Just spend some time recovering.

  “I’m more than sure.” Conner unfolded his body from the floor in one fluid movement. Gillian followed his progress with her eyes and was amazed at how tall he was. Sitting on the bed as she was, Conner towered above her. “Now, how about a bath? Or a shower?”

  Gillian looked over her clothes. Mud had spattered all over her clothes and still clung to the bottom of her jeans. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what the rest of her looked like now. Normally her hair hung in beautiful ringlets, but she was sure that by now they frizzed in every direction. A soak in a tub sounded divine, but there was no way she could lower her body into a big ‘ole tub of water and crawl out again. At best, she thought she could sit on the shower floor as the water poured over her.

  “Shower. A shower sounds good; I can just sit on the floor. Ya know, considering.” She wiggled her feet to get her point across.

  “No worries. We’ve got a shower that will take your breath away.” He bent down to her eye level, the same smile playing on his lips. “I’m going to lift you up and carry you to the bathroom, is that okay? Don’t want you injuring yourself more than you already have.”

  Nodding, she was swept into Conner’s arms before she had a chance to say "okay". Gillian let out a screech as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.

  He strode toward t
he door with Gillian holding on for dear life. Feet from the door, it swung open and Gillian stared into Max and Ronan’s eyes. She couldn’t tell them apart, but one of them barked a question at Conner.

  “Well?” That must be Ronan.

  “She’s staying with us for now. Back up, will ya? I’m taking her to the bathroom and I can’t get there with you two standing in the way.”

  Both men backed down the hall, grumbling while never taking their eyes off her. Maybe Conner had been lying when he said she’d be welcome. She couldn’t read the looks on Max and Ronan’s faces, but they definitely didn’t say, ‘Welcome!’

  Max swung the bathroom door open and stood back. His hand held Ronan’s wrist, seeming to hold him back as well. Conner kept his steps even and firm as he made his way into the bathroom. Turning sideways, he moved into the room with ease. Gillian was surprised when he kicked the door shut with his heel, keeping Max and Ronan out, but also closing them in the room together.

  This was it. The other shoe was falling in the form of Conner being a total pervert and forcing her to take a shower while he watched—or worse, participated.

  Conner knocked the lid to the toilet seat down before seating her on it. He left her there and went around the corner to what Gillian presumed was the linen closet and came back carrying a fluffy robe and towel.

  “So, we’ve got the fluffy robe, a towel, and a washcloth. I also grabbed an extra towel to dry off with for later.”

  “Why two towels?”

  A pale blush stained Conner’s sun-kissed face before he answered. “Well, I figured you could get undressed and wrap this one around you while I carried you into the shower. The second one is to dry off later. The shower is huge, with adjustable showerheads and a bench seat. We can get everything angled just right for you before I leave and then you won’t have to stand to shower. It’s not ideal…”

  “It’s perfect.”

  She earned a blinding smile from Conner as he rubbed his hands on his jeans.

  Twice in fifteen minutes Conner had proven he wasn’t anything like Kyle. She would have earned a smack for smearing blood on the floor, even if he had been the cause. And not once had Kyle ever thought about her comfort or privacy. It was always about what made Kyle happy.

  “I’ll just stand over here, with my back turned of course, while you get undressed. Yell when you’re ready.”

  Gillian waited until Conner disappeared around the corner then began peeling her layers from her body. First her jacket, then her sweatshirt, and finally her t-shirt, leaving her in her bra covering her breasts. Free of her clothes, the scent of sweat and mud hit her like a ton of bricks. Ew! Body odor did not even begin to describe her scent. How had Conner not wrinkled his nose at the thought of carrying her? She smelled ripe!

  Gillian flicked open the button on her jeans, lowered the zipper and began her own version of a caterpillar wiggle to get her jeans past her hips without standing. By the time she got them down to her thighs, she panted from the exertion. The soaked and soiled garment made a splat when she dropped it onto her growing pile of clothing.

  She looked around the bathroom to make sure Conner was still out of eyesight. He was, so Gillian repeated her caterpillar wiggle to remove her panties, draping the towel over her lap just in case Conner didn’t hold to his word. She held one side pressed between her chin and chest as she reached behind her to unlatch her bra. She added it to her pile of laundry before wrapping the towel firmly around her chest and making sure her lower body was covered. Happy she was as covered as she could be, she yelled—well, croaked—for Conner.

  “Conner?”

  He appeared from around the corner. His pale blush had deepened to a fire engine red. “All set?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” Gillian mustered the best smile she could, but inside she quaked like a leaf. Conner came to her side and scooped her into his arms without any apparent effort, but this time, she kept her hands to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was flash the man. The situation was awkward enough.

  He carried her around the corner where he had been waiting and she got a good look at the shower she had only glanced at before. Massive didn’t begin to describe the glass enclosure. The bottom half of the walk-in shower was what appeared to be a marble wall while the top half consisted of large panes of glass. The door, also glass, was propped open and Conner carried her into the shower and settled her onto a built-in bench.

  The shower room is what he should have called it. The space looked as if it could easily fit three or more people. There were showerheads in so many different places Gillian didn’t think she could count them all. Preoccupied with her surroundings, she’d completely forgotten Conner was with her. Well, until he plopped down onto the bench beside her. She let out a squeak of surprise.

  He held out some sort of wireless computer panel. Taking it in her hands, she stared at him.

  “And I’m doing what with this exactly?”

  “That controls all of the showerheads in here. All you have to do is pick one and a directional screen comes up and you can move it around until you like where it’s at. Then push ‘OK’. We each have our own settings pre-programmed, but we can program one for you while you’re here so you don’t have to mess with it so much every time you shower.”

  She needed to cut him off at the pass. If she stayed too long, Kyle would surely find her. “I’m not going to be here very long. You don’t have to program anything for me.”

  “Oh, it’s no trouble.”

  Conner took the computer panel back from her and messed with a few showerheads until he seemed happy with the array. “How hot do you like it? Lukewarm, skin burning, or somewhere in between.”

  “In between.” She wasn’t going to fight with the man if he wanted to program the stupid machine. It was his toy.

  “Girl after my own heart.” Conner winked at her before returning his attention to the panel and butterflies seemed to take up residence in her belly. Where was pesticide when she needed some? Gillian didn’t need to crush on some guy while she was running from Kyle. Getting tangled up with a man while on the run wouldn’t be a good idea. He’d try to convince her he could take care of anything and damn if she wouldn’t be tempted to believe him.

  When everything was settled to his liking, he rose from the bench. “Well, push this button here and the water starts collecting in the reservoir from the water heater. When it’s gathered enough of the water at the right temperature, it’ll come out of the showerheads, but not before it gives you a ten second warning.”

  “Okay.” She nodded.

  “Great! I’ll leave your other towel near the door. You should be able to reach it, but it won’t get wet. When you’re done and ready for me to come get you, just push the intercom button and speak. I’ll hear you no matter what.”

  “Okay.” Her smell was getting to her, how could he stand to be so close and in such a confined space with her?

  With a nod of his head Conner turned and was steps away from the shower door when Gillian called him back.

  “Conner!” When he turned to face her, she felt those damn butterflies flutter and bounce again. Stupid things.

  “I just…I just want to…” Tears were forming in her eyes, but she refused to cry in front of a near stranger. They could wait until she was snuggled in bed, alone. “I just want to thank you, for everything.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Gillian.”

  He turned away from her again and she yelled one last request. Well, croaked it at least.

  “Can you thank your brothers too? Tell them I’m sorry for making such a mess and…well, for everything.”

  “It’s no problem, Gillian. We’re happy to have you here. Now, enjoy your shower and just give a yell when you’re done.”

  Chapter Three

  When he stepped into the hall, Conner noticed Ronan’s handiwork right away—every trace of the mud and blood Gillian tracked through the cabin had been wiped clean. Their home appeared spotless o
nce again.

  Conner padded down the hall and he found his brothers just where he thought they’d be, pacing the living room and snarling at one another. The tension would only rise when he told them what he’d seen on Gillian.

  Ronan noticed his presence first and stomped to stand before him.

  “Well?” Did the man ever talk instead of growl or bark?

  “She’s taking a shower…”

  “You saw her naked? Shit. Lucky bastard.” Damn, Max’s mind was always on one thing.

  “No, I did not see her naked. I gave her privacy, which she deserves. Sit down, both of you.”

  “Why?”

  “Just sit down, Ronan.”

  They grumbled while they did it, but Conner’s brothers did as he asked. Thank God! He wasn’t sure where to start explaining what he’d seen and surmised from his time with Gillian, but they didn’t give him much time to think. They wanted answers, now. The moment Ronan’s backside touched the couch, his questions began.

  “Well? Is she staying? Of course she’s staying. You didn’t give her a choice, right?” Ronan pointed at him. “Right?”

  “Yes, she’s staying, but I gave her a choice, Ronan. We can’t kidnap her. I have a feeling she’s been manhandled enough.” He pointed a finger at Ronan, making sure his brother was paying attention. “You need to cool it with the caveman act. You scared her witless.” Conner couldn’t sit any longer, he stood and began pacing. “I’m pretty sure she’s been abused by a man. Why do you think she mumbled she didn’t want to die? I think dying by a man’s hands was a real possibility for her not too long ago.”

  His statement got Max’s attention and both of his brothers leaned forward, resting their elbows on their knees, eyes narrowed.

  “What do you mean?” The menace in Max’s voice was unmistakable. Ronan may rant and rave, but deep down, he was fair and level headed. Max, well, Max just wasn’t. “Gillian has bruising around her throat, four fingers and a thumb spanning her neck, and the same on her arms. I think she’s running from someone, and I don’t doubt she only plans to stay for a couple of days until her feet are healed enough to walk. Then she’ll be gone again.”