I'll get it," I called out to David, who I could see standing by the stove through the kitchen doorway. He glanced at me with an easy smile and nodded.
I walked to the front door with a smile on my face. He seemed to be doing better today. Maybe he had found some closure from talking to Paige on Friday after all, even if it hadn't gone well. We hadn't talked about it since, but maybe later I'd bring it up and feel him out. I unlocked the door and pulled it open, too lost in thought to think about checking the peephole. Imagine my surprise when I found Paige standing there with fresh bruises on her face and stark terror in her eyes.
Chapter Nine
David
"David?!" Natalie called from the living room with rising tension in her voice. My head snapped up immediately. Something was definitely wrong. I scooped the last piece of French toast out of the skillet with a spatula and set it on a plate, then hurried out to the living room. I jerked to a halt when I saw Paige standing just outside the open front door. Even from where I was across the room, I could see the fresh livid bruises on her face. I stood there in speechless shock as I stared at her.
"I...I need help," she said as she looked back and forth between Natalie and me, her voice desperate and filled with trepidation. I clenched my teeth together to stifle my first impulse to tell her to get the hell out of my house. Just her presence in my home set me on edge. After she left me, I didn't want to give up my childhood home, so I gave away everything that reminded me of her. Goodwill had a field day with my donation, and I had to replace half my furniture, but it was the only way I had been able to stay here. Now she was in my home, and I felt violated and vulnerable. Anger coiled up inside me, just waiting for a reason to explode. Wisely, I kept my mouth shut. Natalie gave me a concerned look. I'm sure she could tell I was struggling for control. She nodded in understanding and took over the situation.
"Come in, Paige," she said calmly, coaxing Paige into the house, so she could close the door. Paige glanced at me uncomfortably, picking up on my animosity; I'm sure. "Are you hungry?" Natalie asked her as she took the gym bag from Paige, that I just noticed she was carrying, and set it on the floor. Paige looked at Natalie again and nodded with pursed lips as she cradled her swollen belly protectively. I had to stifle the snarl that wanted to bubble up out of me. Why do you care about this baby and not mine?
"Let's go to the dining room and have a seat," Natalie suggested then glanced at me. "David can get us some breakfast, and we can talk." I nodded to her and took the hint, grateful for a reason to leave the room before I turned into an asshole again. I fled to the kitchen.
I walked over to the stove, turned off the burner, and stared unseeing at the plate piled with French toast nearby. My appetite was gone right along with my good mood. I began pacing back and forth across the kitchen in agitation. I didn't want to go back out there. I was seriously considering sneaking out the back door when Natalie walked in. She stopped in front of me, putting an abrupt end to my nervous pacing. I sighed and fought down my irritation as I met her gaze.
"You need to calm down, my love," she said softly as she cradled my face in her hands, her vivid green eyes intent on mine.
"I'm trying," I sighed out as I bit back the annoyed things I wanted to say. I closed my eyes and tried to relax into her gentle touch.
"Did you notice the new bruises?" Natalie asked quietly.
I nodded as I opened my eyes, taking in her concerned expression. How could I not see them? A surge of sympathy, that I didn't want to feel for Paige, rose up inside me. I took a deep shuddering breath and blew it out harshly. "We have to help her," I reluctantly admitted to Natalie.
"I know," she said with just as much reluctance.
I pulled her into my arms and held her for a few moments, relishing the feel of her familiar curves and her scent as she hugged me back. Thank God, she was here.
"Let's take the food out there and find out what we can do for her?" Natalie suggested as she stepped out of my arms. "And try to be nice this time, she's already scared enough."
"I'll try." I nodded. "And if I can't, I'll try to keep my damn mouth shut."
A small smile played across Natalie's lips as she caressed my cheek briefly. With her here, I just might make it through this uncomfortable situation. "Come on," she turned to pick up the plates of French toast and bacon, handing them to me. I watched her get three plates out of my cupboard and some silverware from a drawer, and I followed her out to the dining room, still feeling overwhelmed and angry.
We walked in to find Paige sitting at the table staring at George, who was standing in the doorway to the living room several yards away glaring at the interloper that had shown up out of no where in his house. He looked pissed off, and I sympathized with him since I felt the same way.
"You have a cat?" Paige asked disdainfully with a look of distaste.
"Yes," I growled out before Natalie could tell Paige he was hers. "I do." I leveled my own glare at Paige, waiting for her to dare to say anything bad about George.
"That's George," Natalie said as she shot a warning look my way. Right, I needed to be nice, but the disgusted expression on her face as she looked at the cat pissed me off. She didn't live here anymore. What did she care if I had a damn cat?
George was smarter than me. He gave Paige one more haughty glare and walked out of the room with his dignity still intact. I wasn't so lucky. I was stuck in this goddamn nightmare, eating breakfast with both my ex and current girlfriend. I wondered if I had done something horrible in a past life to earn this fresh hell.
I set the serving plates down on the table a lot harder than I planned to, earning another worried glance from Natalie and making Paige startle. The little bit of guilt that I felt still couldn't touch my anger and annoyance. Natalie set the table then passed the plates of food around. I filled my plate, not feeling hungry at all and trying to keep my damn mouth shut. The tense silence dragged on for far too long, and finally Natalie spoke first.
"Did he hit you again, Paige?" she asked in a quiet gentle tone to put Paige at ease. Paige stared down at her food for a long moment before answering.
"Yes," she said in a weak monotone without looking up. "I...I left after Aiden went to the gym this morning. I took a cab here." She shrank in on herself, her pain and fear pulling at me, making me feel unwanted sympathy for her again.
"How long has he been hitting you?" I asked gently, shocking myself when the words came out.
"Since he convinced me to move in with him." She glanced up at me with sad eyes. "I guess it's been almost eight months now. He wasn't always like this. Aiden was kind of controlling in the beginning, but he never hurt me before I moved into his house."
"Have you been dating long?" Natalie asked.
"Only ten months or so."
Wow, they moved in together fast, and it was a typical warning sign of an abuser. So was the fact that Natalie told me that he made her quit her job when she got pregnant.
"What about your mother or your friends?" I asked softly. "Why didn't you get help from them?"
"He...he said that they were trying to keep us apart, and that I couldn't talk to them anymore if I really loved him." She started to tear up and stared at her plate again, picking at it with her fork. "I believed him for a while, long enough to alienate my friends. I haven't told Mom because I'm ashamed I let this happen to me, and I don't want him to hurt her too."
Those were more classic domestic abuse warning signs. Damn, she was in deep and felt trapped, no wonder she was desperate enough to contact me.
"When I saw you at that wedding, I thought maybe you could help me, and I...and I wanted to apologize for what I did to you."
"Then why did you start denying it when Natalie and I confronted you?" I asked harsher than I intended, and I winced when Paige flinched.
"I...I was afraid," she stuttered out. "He's been getting suspicious since I tried to talk to you at the hospital. I was there with him for my doctor's appointment, and I told him I ne
eded to use the bathroom. I sneaked off and was gone longer than I should have been." She hung her head and closed her eyes. "That's how I got the bruises Natalie saw. He...he said I was trying to cheat on him, then called me a whore and hit me when we got home."
Now I was angry for a very different reason. I didn't know this Aiden asshole, but he was the biggest piece of shit I had ever heard of. Who hits the woman carrying their own child? Natalie and Syd were right. She didn't deserve this regardless of what she did to me. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to help her, no matter the toll it took on me.
"How can we help you, Paige?" I asked her in a voice that was finally calm and even.
"I...I need a place to hide for a while," she said tremulously as she looked at me pleadingly. "Just until I can figure out how to get away from him without him finding me."
I felt my jaw go slack in shock. Oh my God, she was asking to stay here, in my own damn house. What the fuck? This was too much. How could she even ask me that, after everything that happened between us? Rage surged up inside me. I stood abruptly and stormed out before I exploded. I stalked back to my room and began pacing in front of my bed, rubbing at my beard anxiously.
"David," Natalie spoke from the doorway, her voice filled with worry.
"You realize what she's asking, don't you?" I stopped moving and met her eyes.
"I do." She walked toward me slowly.
"She...she can't stay here," I said desperately. "I...I can't deal with that." I clenched my fists, trying to stem the anger vibrating inside me that was looking for a way out that I wouldn't give it. "Why can't she stay in a fucking hotel or a damn women's shelter?"
Natalie came up to me and grabbed my upper arms. "David, relax." She caught my gaze and held it. "Breathe."
Her calm gorgeous eyes helped me reel in my fraying emotions. She was right. I needed to get a grip on myself. I took several deep breaths until I managed to calm the storm inside me a little.
"Do you really think she'd be safe in either of those? They're probably the first places he'll start looking for her," Natalie said reasonably as she rubbed my arms comfortingly.
"Fuck." I breathed out as I closed my eyes in resignation.
"I know, my love," she said gently as she wrapped her arms around me, nuzzling into my neck. I sighed with pleasure as her scent engulfed me. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but what other choice is there? If he's already come home and found her missing, he'll probably beat the shit out of her or worse if she goes home now."
"I don't know how I'll stomach her being here with me," I whispered dejectedly. "How is this going to work?"
She leaned back and met my eyes again. "I'll stay the whole time she's here, okay? I can be your buffer. Will that help?"
I nodded gratefully. "Yeah, I think that might help, sweetheart."
Damn, I hoped it did, otherwise I was going to go insane. I was going to be living a nightmare, my ex and my girlfriend under the same roof with me. I hoped Paige being here didn't cost me my relationship with Natalie. If not, Paige would leave me with nothing for the second time, and I didn't think my heart could survive it again.
*********
The rest of Sunday was an uncomfortable nightmare of me desperately trying to keep my mouth shut for fear of what would come out, and Paige trying to get me to talk to her. Natalie tried her best to play interference between us. By the time Paige finally went to my guest room to go to bed, I was strung so tight that I'd be shocked if I could sleep at all and Natalie seemed frazzled. We headed to my room for the night, and I followed Natalie through the door, locking it behind me. It wasn't because I actually thought Paige might come in here, but for my own well-being. I needed to feel some control in at least one room in my own damn house.
George was already sleeping on top of my pillow. He'd been hiding in my room all day. I wish I could have stayed in here with him. Natalie went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, and I laid down on the bed fully clothed with my head next to George. He purred and chirped while I scratched his head.
"I'm sorry," I murmured to him. "I don't want her here either." George rubbed his massive head against mine as if to let me know we were okay. He got up with a long full body stretch, then crawled onto my chest and laid down facing me with his front paws curled under himself. His half-closed chartreuse eyes focused on mine as he stared at me and purred even louder. I actually managed a smile as I stroked his back for several minutes. I was finally starting to feel calm by the time Natalie came out of the bathroom.
"And here I thought I'd have to cheer you up," she said as she approached the bed. "I see George beat me to it."
"Us guys have to stick together." I smiled at her as she sat on the edge of the bed and caressed the side of George's massive head. We shared a comfortable silence for a few moments before Natalie ruined it.
"You know that you're going to have to talk to her at some point, my love," she said in a soft subdued tone. I closed my eyes with a sigh as my hand paused on George's back, making him chirp to get me to keep petting him.
"Not if I can help it," I grumbled under my breath.
"David," she chided me gently.
"I know. I know," I met her eyes and sighed again. "I will. I just...I just need some time. It's hard enough just adjusting to her presence here." Natalie was right, but I didn't feel capable of it yet. Maybe things would be easier tomorrow. Hopefully, she would be gone in a day or two. I wanted to get her out of here sooner than later, for the sake of my own sanity.
"How did she break up with you?" Natalie asked hesitantly, her eyes filled with empathy.
I snorted out a bitter laugh. "I left the Paige I loved to go to work one day, and came back home to a heartless bitch that I didn't even recognize. She packed up all her shit while I was gone and waited until I got home to blindside me. I never saw it coming. She said she couldn't be with me anymore, and that she wasn't ready to be tied down to one person. She said she couldn't see a future for us. It was three weeks before our wedding."
"I'm sorry, David." She reached out and caressed my forearm.
"You know what the worse part was?" I asked bitterly. "I begged and pleaded with her not to leave me. I even cried. It was pathetic." I shook my head in self-disgust and looked away from Natalie. "For the next week, I kept hoping she would take me back. I kept waiting for her to call and say she had made a mistake. I would have taken her back, too. I should have told her to go fuck herself and never looked back. Then maybe I never would have called her and found out about the abortion." My voice broke on the last word, and I could feel hot tears pricking my eyes as pain filled my heart. I stared at the ceiling in silence trying to ignore the single tear that I felt trickle out and slip into my hair. I guess I was still pathetic. I wanted to be angry again, at least that wasn't emasculating.
Natalie leaned forward and brushed her fingers down the side of my face. "David." The way she said my name was like a soft caress, chasing away some of my bitter pain and making me feel a little better. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to her ministrations, her gentle touch soothing me. I felt her lean in closer, her soft breath ghosting across my lips just before she kissed me. Her lips were warm and pliant as I began kissing her back. Desire roared to life inside me, and I wanted to lose myself to it, forget about my painful past and live in the now. To let Natalie's love fill in all the cracks of my broken heart, and make the pain go away.
I pushed poor George off my chest and grabbed Natalie, flipping her onto her back on the bed and covering her body with mine. I kissed her hard and deeply, my tongue pushing into her mouth roughly, taking what I wanted, demanding it. She shuddered and moaned under me, as she started clawing at my chest. I felt her nails dig into me through my shirt, and I growled from the sudden sting. It set me off into an animalistic frenzy as I practically tore Natalie's clothes off of her. As soon as she was naked, I went for one of her breasts, sinking my teeth into it, leaving a mark and making her gasp with pleasure. I bit
her again and again as she clenched her fingers into my hair and twisted them until it hurt. I fucking loved it and groaned my approval.
I switched to her unmarked breast and started in with my teeth again. By the time I was done, I had left my mark on her multiple times on each one. They would be there for days, and every time she looked at them; she would know that she was mine. I latched onto her lower lip and bit her again, worrying at it with more deep growls.
"David," she pleaded as she pushed her pelvis up into me. "Please touch me. Please." "
"Spread your legs," I demanded in a growl. She complied immediately. "Do you want it gentle and sweet, sweetheart?" I asked with a sly smile.
"I don't want you anywhere near gentle or sweet right now," she said wickedly as she returned my smile. I ground my denim covered cock roughly against her pussy, making her gasp.
"Good," I said in a deep gravelly tone. I shifted to lay on my left side next to her and slid my right hand down between her legs and over her soft folds. She was already swollen and soaking wet for me. "Mmm...so wet, so perfect," I moaned out with need. Natalie let out a long pathetic whine and wriggled her hips. I watched her eyes drift closed as I rubbed her clit gently for a few seconds, then I lifted my hand away and spanked her pussy, hard.
Her body jerked up off the bed as she gasped and started to wail, so I quickly pressed my hand over her mouth, muffling the sound. "Shh, sweetheart," I said in a low tone. "We're not alone in the house tonight. You have to be quiet." She nodded, but her eyes turned devious. She opened her mouth and sucked my middle finger in between her lips with a moan, the same one I had just been touching her clit with. She licked and teased it with her tongue like it was my cock.
"Fuck," I muttered, my eyes riveted on where her lips wrapped around my finger. I growled deeply and shoved it deeper into her mouth. "You are a very, very bad girl tonight, aren't you?"
She nodded and sucked harder, a sweet mewling sound coming out of her mouth. Holy hell, she was so damn hot. I unconsciously thrust my cock into her hip with a groan.
You Are My Love: Breathless Book 2 Page 17
