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Lyla relaxed fractionally. She closed her eyes and let his presence wash away the horror. Her shaky breaths filled the room. Gavin’s hands moved over her gently, as if she were made of glass. Tears soaked his shirt. Neither of them said a thing.
***
Lyla woke with a scream.
“Shh, baby girl, I’m here.”
Lyla shoved at the man until she focused on his face. Lyla wept into Gavin’s chest as he held her. Lyla wasn’t sure if hours or minutes passed. She dozed fitfully and took turns demanding he not touch her or plastered against him. Gavin didn’t say a word and obeyed whatever dictate she issued. He didn’t leave the bed. He fed her bland foods so she could take more pain killers and forced her to drink water. He held her hair when she barfed it all up and filled the bathtub when she was so cold that she couldn’t stop shaking. He carried her back to bed, blocked out the sunlight and slid in beside her. No one disturbed them and neither spoke.
Chapter Ten
Lyla woke on her side, facing Gavin. She wasn’t sure how many days passed since she and Gavin locked themselves in his master bedroom. He was asleep with his hand gripping hers, their only skin contact. It was the first time she woke without lashing out or trying to defend herself from a dead man. Her body was still sore, but she felt better. Although she had been in bed for days, she was exhausted. Her mind and body were weighted down with the knowledge of what lurked outside these walls. She had been touched by pure evil. Her mind desperately tried to punch through to fresh air, but her heart cowered in darkness, trying to piece itself together.
Lyla slipped her hand from Gavin’s. He shifted and reached for her, brow furrowing. She hesitated a moment before she ran a hand down his face. He relaxed instantly as if he recognized her touch and settled into deeper sleep. He had dark circles under his eyes and hadn’t shaved in days. He looked dark and dangerous even in sleep. There was a layer of tension around him, a coiled readiness to strike out. Instead of making her back away, it made her want to burrow into him. Gavin kept his word. He killed the pervert with his bare hands.
Lyla went into the bathroom and filled the tub. She had more baths in the past couple of days than she would in two weeks. Lyla tossed in salts and oils before she slipped in. She sat with her arms wrapped around her legs and let the hot water penetrate her aching body. It was hard to think of anything but what happened in the warehouse. She couldn’t get her captors faces out of her mind, couldn’t think past Pervert’s attack. She was grateful that she didn’t remember... But, what did Gavin see? Lyla moaned and buried her face against her knees. It felt like a lifetime that she had been back in Las Vegas. In less than two weeks, she changed irrevocably. There was no way to backtrack or deviate from the path laid out in front of her. She was on a bullet train and there was no getting off.
Lyla heard the door open and Gavin appeared. He sat beside the tub, watching her. Lyla didn’t meet his eyes. She couldn’t. There were things she wanted to say, things she wanted to know... and not know.
“The doctor will be here in an hour,” he said.
With the test results. Lyla clenched her teeth and nodded. It was better to know what Pervert did to her.
“Do you want to see Carmen?”
She shook her head. Carmen was over the top and Lyla couldn’t handle that right now. She could barely handle her own emotions, much less someone else’s.
“Do you want me here when the doctor comes?”
Lyla turned her head and looked at him. He still looked tired, but his eyes were clear and lethal. He was still on edge. So was she.
“Do you want to be?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s fine with me.” After rescuing and caring for her, his presence was a welcome buffer between the horror of what happened and reality.
They sat in silence until there was a knock on the bedroom door. When Gavin went to answer it, she got out of the tub and slipped into a robe. The same doctor from the night of the assault was in the bedroom and wasted no time.
“There was no trace of STD, semen or anything else,” the doctor said.
Something within her loosened. For the first time in days she felt as if she could take a full breath.
“You’re looking better. Let’s take a look at your tear.” The doctor gave Gavin a long, direct look, but when he didn’t move and Lyla didn’t object, she snapped on her gloves and got to work. “It looks good. You’re not spotting?”
“No.”
“Great.”
The doctor checked the wounds on her wrists and ankles and approved of Gavin’s dressings before she prodded Lyla’s concussion. Lyla still felt like she might pass out, so the doctor prescribed more rest and pain killers. She asked if Lyla wanted to speak to a counselor and when Lyla declined, handed her a business card in case she changed her mind. When the doctor left, Lyla changed into yoga pants and Gavin’s sweater that stopped at mid-thigh.
“I want to go outside,” she said.
Gavin didn’t say a word. He opened the bedroom door and they came face to face with Blade. Knowing that he witnessed her being carried out of the warehouse, her breakdown and probably her outbursts over the past couple of days, Lyla didn’t meet his gaze. She passed him and walked down the staircase, through the kitchen and thrust open the door that led into the backyard. Lyla stepped onto heated tiles and tipped her face up to the sun. She didn’t have to look around to accustom herself to her surroundings. An Olympic sized pool took up most of the yard. In the middle of the pool was a sunken cabana with oversized pillows and cushions.
Lyla stood there until she felt uncomfortably warm before she crossed the oversized stones that led to the sitting area in the middle of the pool. The sound of the waterfall cascading into the other end of the pool soothed her. Gavin followed and settled nearby, never taking his eyes from her.
“What did you see?” she asked.
