Her Dirty Little Secret [R 18+]

10 | Our Passion Lies

I couldn't count the number of times I'd stood under the shower, my skin raw from scratching as memory after memory washed through my mind. Each time the small girl in my mind screamed as the woman she'd become thrashed to break free of the pain...

No matter how much I struggled or scrubbed, the images remained—paintings on every corner of my mind. 

Bile rose and for the third time this morning, I threw up the acidic bile in my stomach. Alaric had been cautious, treading around me like I was porcelain. I fucking hated it, but at the same time craved his tenderness. It was maddening. 

I reached out and wiped the foggy mirror, cold blue eyes looked back at me. Damp hair copper in color fell over my shivering shoulders. He'd given me a five-minute timer and said he'd come in if I didn't finish in that amount of time. It was like he knew I needed the accountability, needed something to anchor me to this reality. 

My phone had two more minutes left on the clock. Beneath it, there were multiple messages and calls from Linc, he was concerned with my absence. Somehow in my dazed state, the entire school week had passed and the weekend was once more on my doorstep. 

Alaric had remained around me the entire time, his entire focus on my wellbeing. He was silent, but his touch and presence felt like medicine to my shattered insides. He'd hold me through the nights when the flashbacks were the worst, through the day he'd feed me, wash me... ground me. 

Never once was he impatient. I was a treasure to him and he handled me with such care and sensitivity, that I cried and cried. Because no one had ever been as gentle as the devil who kissed my tears away. 

Bit by bit he was taking control of the nightmares, more and more when the little girl cried, Alaric stood in the shadows of that filthy room. He never left her alone with any of the cruel men, not once.

The sound of my brush falling into the sink jerked me back, picking it up, I returned it to the holder. Then I turned away from the stranger in the mirror. With a shaky sigh, I pinched my cheeks to bring some life into them. 

His words carried me through the house and into my bedroom. 

How long will you let them hurt you...

Looking between the sweats on my bed and my drawers, I took a deep breath and pulled out a fresh set of panties. Then I pulled on a white cotton crop top, black jeans and boots. Grabbing my jacket I trailed my fingers along the wooden walls and entered the kitchen. 

Alaric sat with his back to me, tense and larger than life. He tapped away on his laptop, somehow sensing my arrival he stood while closing the device. I was becoming an expert at reading Alaric's expressions, right now, there was a slight panic. 

Concern that I would fly into a manic episode. The same panic simmered beneath my surface, for the first time in a week since the first flashback, I spoke. "I want to show you something."