Exposed: An Anthology

by Brooke Cumberland

  “Oh, Princess, I will do whatever I want to you.” His words were serious, full of amusement. His dark hair was longer now. He brushed a hand through it, slicking it against his head. His dark brown eyes were fierce and intense. If I thought he was scary back then, he was a monster now.

  He gripped my shoulders with his hands and pushed me back, hitting the dresser once again. He held his grasp as he brought his lips down to my neck, suckling and moaning. My stomach turns at the way his voice rumbles across my skin.

  “Stop!” I yell as loud as I can, begging for Carissa or anyone for that matter to hear me. “Aiden, get off!”

  “Fuck, Velaney…you taste better than I remember, if that’s even possible.” It doesn’t take but two seconds for the F bomb to rattle me as the adrenaline pulsates through me.

  I jerk my knee up and slam it as hard as I can against his groin. I can tell he’s aroused which makes the impact that much harder.

  “Fuck!” he yells, releasing me, and hunching over. “Don’t you fucking think about it!” he screams, pushing a hand against me once again. I take my free arm and elbow him in the mouth as hard as I can as he hunches over, getting him square in the jaw.

  He finally collapses on the floor yelling and swearing. I tighten my towel and run out of my bedroom. I go to look for Carissa, but she isn’t in her room.

  “Riss!” I yell, searching for her in the bathroom and kitchen. “Where are you?”

  “She’s not here. I wanted you to myself, Princess.” Aiden limps toward me, one hand on his junk, the other rubbing his face. “It’s just you and me.” He cocks a smile, making me furious that I don’t know where my best friend is.

  “Where is she?” I demand, keeping as much distance from him as I can.

  “Don’t worry. She’s fine.” He winks, sending chills down my spine.

  “Get out or I’m calling the cops,” I threaten, but even I hear the uncertainty in my voice.

  He tilts his head back as he lets out a loud laugh. “Good luck doing that, darling.” He hits the side of his pants where my phone must be. “You aren’t calling anyone.” Damn, bastard stole my phone.

  I take a moment to figure out what I’m going to do. The door is too far away and no matter where I run he’ll catch me. I decide to run to Carissa’s room and lock the door until someone comes to find me. I knew the plan was pathetic, but it was all I had.

  I quickly dart toward her room, but he catches up to me and grabs my wrist, turning me around to face him. He smacks his body hard against mine, rubbing his hard-on over my thigh.

  “Stop it! You are one sick mother fucker!” I belt out. I gasp as I realize I just swore out loud. Either it was the adrenaline or finally something in me turned. He backhands me across the face, making blood gush from my lips.

  “Don’t you fucking talk to me like that! You fucking bitch! You were a worthless lay anyway…” Before he can spit out the rest, he’s being grabbed from behind. I gasp as he releases me, and the view of Eric behind him startles me.

  “Eric!” I yell, worry taking over my voice. Eric right hooks Aiden’s chin, and jabs him in the gut. Aiden falls to the ground and lets out a groan as Eric climbs over the top of him, and continues punching him in the face. “Eric, stop!” I yell, but not for Aiden’s sake. I see the fire in Eric’s face, and I can’t let him go to jail because of me.

  “Take my phone,” he throws it at me from his pocket. “Call the police and get dressed,” he orders as he takes one more jab with his fist hitting Aiden’s jaw again.

  I do as I’m told, begging the police to come right away. I lock myself in my room and dress as fast as I can. I wash the blood off my mouth, wincing at the pain. I open the door to see Eric’s hands covered in blood, and sweat covering his body.

  “Oh my god, are you all right?” His expression doesn’t give way, and I stare at him with the deepest sympathy I can manage. He places a palm on each of my cheeks and without saying a word, he leans in and places his mouth over mine. I don’t resist, but rather I welcome him in with my tongue while I run my fingers through his hair. He intensifies the kiss, pressing his body harder against mine. I can tell he’s being gentle, but it feels absolutely incredible being in his arms. The way he tastes and moans against my lips is something I never expected. He squeezes me closer to him, and he gasps for air. He leans his forehead on mine as we both try to even our breathing.

  We don’t speak. He never says a word to me after our kiss. He walks back to Aiden and makes sure he doesn’t get off the floor until the police arrive. I sit in the living room as I give my statement to an officer as they cuff Aiden, and take him to jail. One officer is speaking to Eric while a couple of others stand around shaking his hand and patting him on the shoulder like a hero. My hero. I glance over and smile at him, but he doesn’t smile back.

  The officer finishes writing his notes, and walks over to the other officers standing by Eric. My body starts to shake as the memory of what has just happened replays in my mind. I feel that at any moment I could have a panic attack, or perhaps a seizure.

  “Laney! Oh my god, what the hell?” I turn as I hear Carissa’s voice screech from across the room. I stand up and run to her with my arms out. She crushes into me, holding me in her arms. “What happened?” she whispers in my ear.

  “Aiden happened,” is all I say and she knows exactly what must have taken place. “Where were you?” I ask as I push her slightly back.

  “I got a phone call that my car was towed. It wasn’t in the parking spot so I called a cab to drive me to the damn lot and it wasn’t there either. So I took a cab back here, and saw all these police cars surrounding the building. I ran as fast as I could!” She squeezes me again, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Her tears are soon accompanied by mine. Except mine are from relief. Finally, relief.

  A lady officer approaches me, and says she needs to take me to the hospital to be checked out. I ask if Carissa can come with me, and she nods. Carissa holds my hand as she leads us behind the woman. I turn my head and stare at Eric who is staring back. I still wasn’t sure why he came back, but all I knew was that I owed my life to him.

  After filling Carissa in on the details on the way to the hospital, a nurse examines me. She apologizes for the way she has to take samples, and check my body over. I didn’t start getting exams until I was eighteen and on my own. My mother refused to take me. A part of me knew that she would be forced to face the truth…something my mother wasn’t willing to do.

  “You have a lot of scar damage down there, Velaney. However, it looks years old. Did the same person who attacked you today do this to you?” she asks, looking from my chart to my eyes. I simply nod, not able to look back at her. She nods back at me, understanding I did not want to go into detail. “I will let the reporting officer know, and add it to the investigation.” Before I can thank her, she’s out the door.

  “You did the right thing, Lane. You fought back. He deserves everything he gets from here on out.” Carissa squeezes my hand, letting me know she’s here for me.

  “Thank you for being here,” I say quietly. She leans in and hugs me tight as the door opens again.

  “Don’t mean to interrupt, but I need to speak with Velaney,” Eric says, walking toward the table I’m sitting on. Carissa squeezes me once more before turning to Eric and wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “Thank you,” she gushes into his chest. His eyes light up in surprise as he wraps his arms around her to reciprocate the hug. “Take care of my girl,” I hear her whisper before she heads out the door.

  I keep my eyes on Eric as Carissa closes the door behind her. He puts his hands in his front pockets as he walks over. My eyes get distracted by his tight t-shirt that hugs his biceps just perfectly.

  “Eric…” I stumble to find the words I need to say. “Thank you.” I don’t know what else to say to the one person who continuously saves me. He looks me over before placing himself between my legs. My hands go to his chest, rubbi
ng circles over the muscles that are piercing through the fabric. He places a finger underneath my chin and tilts it to look at him.

  “I have never been so fucking scared in my life, Velaney.” The word itself makes me twitch. “Just wait, please,” he begs as I grimace at the F bomb. “How many times do I have to rescue you before you see that we are meant to be together?” The question takes me off guard. I stare intently into his eyes, wishing I could be what he needs…what he deserves.

  “I would never be enough for you, Eric. I see the way you bring girls home…you have needs, needs I can’t fulfill,” I respond, embarrassed.

  “You would never be just another girl, Velaney. You are the girl. The way I feel when I’m close to you…the way my heart races so fast it nearly beats out of my chest anytime I see you. It’s unnatural, Velaney. You’re too damn good for me, and I tried to see you as just a friend, but I can’t.” He takes my hand, opens it, and places my palm against his chest. I feel his heart beating, racing. “This is what you do to me, sweetheart. No one has ever done that to me.” I can’t believe the way he is spilling his heart out to me. No guy has ever said these words to me…well, I’ve never let a guy get this close to me, yet, Eric was different.

  “Why me, Eric?” I ask, weakly.

  “Why not you? You are beautiful. You are gracefully clumsy. You look adorable in your just rolled out of bed look, but you’re hot as hell when you don’t even realize it. The way you move, the way you work, and good God…that smile. I swear, Velaney. I have never been so drawn to someone as I am to you. And I know you feel it, too.” He places his hand over mine that is still resting against his chest. “Please say you feel it, too.”

  Chapter Twelve

  With our hands still on his chest, I breathe in and out slowly. This day has been never-ending. The way Eric keeps reappearing in my life even after I push him away reassures my feelings for him, and that he feels them, too.

  “I feel it, too,” I say just above a whisper, scared to death of what I just admitted.

  He leans in close, placing his palms on my cheeks. “I have wanted to hear those words since the moment I carried you out of your bedroom that first night.” He smiles wide and brings his lips to mine. It’s soft and gentle as he strokes his tongue with mine. I openly welcome him as he reaches with one hand around my head, and brings me in deeper to him.

  “God, Velaney…” he says as he breaks the kiss, leaning his forehead against me. “Please, don’t run from me again. I couldn’t take it,” he pleads. I nod, letting him know I desire the same thing.

  “I’m going to need some time to process this,” I whisper, breaking the kiss. I hear him let out a small huff. I close my eyes as I wait for the storm to hit.

  “I understand, sweetheart. Just know that I will wait for you. I’m not goin’ anywhere, and I will do whatever it takes to help you see that,” he confesses, leaning his forehead against mine. The way he can so easily express himself scares me to death. I can hardly admit my feelings to myself, how am I going to admit them to someone else?

  “I’m so scared of getting hurt, Eric. I’m scared of hurting you. I’m scared of having these kinds of feelings. I’ve never had this before. Never.” He grabs my hands and links his fingers through mine. We’re still chest-to-chest as he continues looking in my eyes. I smile as relief floods over me.

  “We’ll take it slow. As slow as you need. I just want to be able to do this.” He gracefully leans down and brushes his lips with mine, flooding my entire body with butterflies.

  “Okay, you two. Let’s keep this PG. You’re in a hospital,” Carissa scolds as she whips the door open and sees our PDA. “However, I’m happy to see you two are finally kissing and making up.” She sticks her tongue out at me, knowing damn well how back and forth I’ve been. “Maybe now Lane can stop moping around the apartment and moaning your name in her sleep.”

  “Oh my god, Riss! I do not do that.” I turn back to Eric who’s now grinning ear to ear. “I do not mope. And I definitely don’t moan your name in my sleep,” I retort, embarrassed. “You are evil,” I mouth to Carissa who’s laughing.

  “Are you goin’ to explain this to me now?” Eric asks, and I nod knowing exactly what means.

  “I will, promise. Just not now. I just want to go home.” He nods and takes my hand in his. He helps me off the table as Carissa hands me my stack of folded up clothes. “I’m just going to change now.” I grab the clothes from Carissa and notice he’s not moving. “So…you need to leave now.” I playfully push him back toward the door.

  “Damn,” he whispers, grinning at me.

  Carissa helps untie my hospital gown, or lack thereof, and I dress while assessing the bruises I have up and down my arms from where Aiden aggressively held me.

  “These will heal,” she says quietly as she helps put my shirt over my head. I hadn’t realized Aiden had gripped me that hard, but seeing the marks all over my body just makes it more real that it actually happened.

  The three of us drive back to the apartment and as soon as we walk in, the memory of Aiden’s arms on me floods my mind. I cringe as Eric brushes his arm on the small of my back.

  “Are you all right?” he bends toward me and asks. I nod frantically hoping he believes me. “Come on. Let’s get you tucked in.” Carissa kisses me on the cheek and heads to her room at the same time Eric leads me to mine.

  “Thank you for being here. For always being here,” I say as I sit on the edge of my bed. If it weren’t for Eric, I can only imagine what that scumbag would have done to me.

  “I want to be the only one to save you, Velaney. I saw red the second I saw him pressed against you. I wanted to kill him, Vel. Like, rip his eyes out, gut his intestines up.”

  I squirm just thinking about it. If only my parents had felt the same, listening and taking me seriously.

  “You’re the first person besides Carissa that’s ever protected me. My own parents didn’t believe me.” I look down at my hands in my lap, unable to look at his sad, pity eyes.

  “I will always believe you. You don’t need to worry anymore. That asshat is going to jail now for good.” I bring my head up and smile back at him. He’s looking at me genuinely as if I actually matter. Which would be a first for me.

  “Thank you,” is all I can say. I don’t know what to say, what the right words would be, but thank you doesn’t express what I really want to say. He grabs my hand and leads me off the bed. He pulls back the covers and motions for me to get in. He takes his shoes and sweatshirt off before laying next to me.

  “When you’re ready to talk, Velaney, I’ll be here. Just please, don’t shut me out,” he says, stroking his fingers up and down my arm. He rubs circles around the bruises, making my whole body shiver at his touch. He lowers his lips to my arm and feathers light kisses on each mark, making them disappear as if they never existed. It was amazing at how his touch makes everything better…everything worth living for.

  “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, Eric. Just not now. I don’t want to ruin this time we have together.” I look up at him and smile. Given the circumstances, right now wasn’t so bad. He lightly places a kiss on my nose agreeing to my terms. “However, I do need to do some damage control,” I confess, thinking how I need to let Alex know I can no longer go out with him on Saturday night…or any night.

  “I could take care of that for you, if you wish,” he snickers, squeezing me tighter against his chest. I shake my head at him and laugh. Finally…finally someone who has managed to break thru my walls. Something I never deemed possible.

  “Are you going to tell me now how you keep getting into my apartment?” I ask, smirking up at him.

  “I have a key,” he smiles back.

  “What…how?”

  “The building manager gave me a universal key when I moved in since he knew I was a firefighter.” He smiles at me, and shrugs as I playfully pat his shoulder.

  “This whole time, you’ve had a key? Geez, I thought you had supe
rpowers or something,” I tease, chewing my bottom lip. He brings his lips to mine, biting my bottom lip between his teeth.

  “I’m the only one allowed to bite this lip now,” he teases, pressing his tongue in deeper, intensifying the kiss.

  It’s Friday night, and I feel much better. The bruises have gone down slightly, and I even feel energized to go for my run this morning. However, Eric had other plans as he came over this morning and crawled into my bed, making it far too irresistible to leave the heat and comfort of his chiseled arms.

  “Ready, kiddo?” Coach yells from a distance, bringing me back. The hockey players were loading on the bus as I grabbed my bag and headed in the same direction.

  “I’m ready.” I smile and follow him up the stairs. The bus smells, making me cringe. The players are yelling and hitting each other in the arms as they are getting pumped for the game.

  “Velaney, baby, why don’t you come sit next to me?” Andrew flashes a smile, making me laugh aloud.

  “No, I think I’m good up here with Coach. Thanks anyway,” I shout back, shaking my head. I never felt this happy and content before in my entire life. I can hardly believe how much has changed in just the last few days, but I finally feel ready to let those walls down and just let life carry on.

  The bus pulls out of the University parking lot, jerking me from my seat. I grab ahold of the seat in front of me as I balance myself. The ride settles, and I finally lean back waiting our arrival to the arena.

  My phone chimes, and I smile as I see it’s from Eric.

  Eric: I miss you already.

  Me: I miss you too. Coming to the game?

  Eric: I wouldn’t miss it. I’ll be watching your every move.

  Me: That’s creepy.

  Eric: I make no apologies for watching my girl.

  I shake my head and put my phone back in my pocket. The ride lasts only a half-hour before the bus pulls into another parking lot. Coach stands up and lets me out first, followed by the rest of the team.