TIGER LILY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter EIGHT

River O'riley

The creak of the bedroom door wakes me from my restless sleep on the sofa. I had let Lily take my bed for the night and decided to stay in the living room next to Lovey's crib. Just to be safe..

I hear the soft tip-toe of her footsteps as she creeps down the hallway.

"Master River?" She whispers and I don't move..

I don't know why I pretend to be asleep, probably because I don't know what else to do.. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure it out, but the more I do, the less sense it makes..

Who the feck is Li Jun?
Her ex boyfriend? Her pimp?
Is he going to show up here looking for her? And what will I have to do if he does?

In the dark, I watch as her slender, slinky shadow moves around the couch to where she lays on the floor down by my feet, dressed in one of my old sweatshirts that falls beneath her knees..

No fucking way.

I sit up.. "What are ya doin', Wallflower?"

She jerks in shock, startled by the sound of my voice, pushing up on her palms to peer at me.. "Am afraid."

I sigh exhaustedly.. "You're safe here, Lilly, and ye' can'nae sleep on the feckin' floor. Go back to bed."

"Oh.. Yes Master , mercy." She sobs, climbing to her feet to obey my command and I realise what I've done..

Damn.. I have to stop doing that, telling her what to do.. She takes everything I say so literally it's almost painful.

"Feck it.. Wallflower.. Wait-- that wasn't an order.. I-- shite.. I'm sorry.." I swing my legs over to stand up, rubbing my tired eyes.. "Is there somethin' I can do that'll help?"

"Too dark.." She mumbles embarrassedly, hiding behind a curtin of sunset-pink silk..

"It's too dark for ya? Alrite, that's easy enough." I creep around to the place where Lovey's little unicorn night light is plugged in, pulling it from the wall socket.. Then, Lilly follows me as I stagger sleepily up the hall to the bedroom.

When I plug it back in by the bedside, her face illuminates in the soft pink glow and I can see some of the tension leave her weary body.. She is so frightened it radiates through the room.. "Aye, there. S'that better?" I ask.

She nods with a meek smile.. "T-thank you."

Cute and coy.. She's something special..
Something I could never have predicted and will possibly never understand..
A strange feeling for me, considering I understand most people, no matter where they come from or what language they speak..

I shake my head to clear it.. "Mmmkay, now try to get some sleep--"

"Stay?" She whispers.

I turn to fix her with a frown, halfway to the door.. "I already said you could stay--"

She shifts on her feet.. "No.. Master, you stay."

We stare at each other, unmoving on opposite sides of the bedroom.. "Lilly.. I don't think--"

"P-please.. Ma--um-- River.." She stutters, struggling to speak..

Drawing an invisible line down the middle of the room in my mind and commanding myself not to cross it, I heave a sigh and push the door wider open so that Lovey can be heard if she wakes, before I sink down to sit on the floor at the foot of the bed. It's not like I was getting any sleep tonight anyway. "Alrite.. I'll stay rite' here til mornin'.. S'okay?"

She studies me in appreciative wonder before scrambling back beneath the sheets, curling up into a tight little ball of stress.. "Yes." She hums.. "Mmm.. Angel."

"What?" I turn to watch her, peeping out at me from beneath her cotton candy crown..

"You.. " She mumbles though a yawn.. "My guardian angel.."

I chuckle to myself.. "Aye, an angel, me? You've not set a very high bar there, Wallflower."

"Hmm, nice to me." Her lovely eyes drift closed..

"Well yeah, cus you deserve that much, sweetheart.. I'm not a fuckin' animal.." I state the obvious, the poor girl is so starved for kindness that it makes me sad.. I'm pretty sure I could beat her with the sharp end of a stick and still seem like a saint compared to her previous owner.

The unnerving thought catches me unprepared..

Fuck..
No!
I'm not her fucking owner!

The possessiveness of it makes my skin crawl.. People shouldn't be owned by other people..

"Don't have to do that.." She argues without any real force or conviction, as if she doesn't believe she deserves to be treated as human..

"Yeah.. I do." I whisper..

"Why?" She breathes..

"B'cause-- I wanna know where you come from, Lilly.. I wanna know everythin' about ya.. And if you're ever gonna tell me the truth, I gotta prove you can trust me.. Innit?"

She mumbles, almost completely zoned out now, milliseconds from sleep.. "Can't say--"

"Can't say, don't know.." I hum her mantra.. "Yeah.. I remember, Wallflower, I hear ya."