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By the time I pulled into the driveway, the house was dark. I glanced at the clock as I killed the engine. It was almost eleven...still early enough. Double-glazed windows smothered the sounds from outside. They wouldn’t even hear me. Movement came from above as I climbed out and closed the door.
I lifted my gaze to the shadow in the window on the third floor. In the same room that’d once housed my mother's medical equipment, and now her…
I stilled, staring at her as she watched me. She had to see me, had to know I saw her, too. Maybe she didn’t care…maybe little Ryth Castlemaine wasn’t a mouse at all. The idea of that sent a shudder through me. My fucking pulse raced. I swallowed hard and turned away, watching from the corner of my eye as the blinds fell back into place.
My keys slid into the lock and I twisted, slipping into the house without a sound. Silence greeted me, low creaks of the house all that reached me as I closed the door behind me, locked it, activated the alarm system and slid the chain into place. My steps were soundless as I climbed the stairs all the way to the third floor, then stopped in the hallway outside her room.
I wanted to go in there, wanted to see her curled up in bed, wanted to see those eyes once more…until a sound drifted up through the darkness.
A moan.
Low…demanding…and coming from the second floor.
I glanced over my shoulder as the sound came again.
Only this time, the moan was feminine.
And coming from my dad’s bedroom.
FIVE
ryth
I clenched my jaw,willing the ache in my bladder to ease as I tossed and turned on the bed, wrestling the sheets. I'd taken too long trying to pretend I didn't need to go and now it was all I could think of. That and the sound ofhissteps as they quieted outside my bedroom.
Not my bedroom.
Theirs.
This wasn’t my house. Wasn’t my family. Wasn’t anything other than a place to stay while we figured this all out. I turned my head, and tried to listen for movement. Had he gone to bed already? Had I missed the thud of his bedroom door? I had to peesoon.
That pressure in my belly grew, shooting agony deep inside me. I winced and curled my knees to my chest.Don’t think about it…don’t…think about peeing. I shouldn't have had that second cola, no matter how much Nick urged me to take it. But I wanted to fit in…wanted them to like me. And look where that had gotten me now.
In agony.
My insides clenched, clamping around the heavy weight in my abdomen. I couldn't wait, not any longer, or I'd wet myself. I opened my eyes and rose from the bed, wincing with the agony as I took a step toward the door and listened.
Silence.
That's all I heard. He had to have gone. I reached for the handle and cracked open the door before waiting again. But he wasn't out there, not standing at the entrance to the stairs watching me, or glaring at me from outside his bedroom. So I opened the door wider and tiptoed hurriedly for the bathroom just past his bedroom. My pulse boomed, filling my head with thunder as I closed the bathroom door and hurried to pee.
Relief made me shudder as I leaned forward and emptied my bladder. I wiped, then rose, panic filling me as I turned. Should I flush and risk them hearing? I couldn't leave it all night. No way. They'd know it was me. I closed the lid quietly, praying the sound wasn't loud, and pressed the handle, wincing as the rush filled the air.
But it wasn't loud, just a muffled roar that was over in a second. "Thank God." I moved to the sink and washed my hands before drying them on my towel and left.
Half of me was expecting him to be waiting outside. But he wasn’t. He wasn't anywhere. I smiled and walked past his bedroom, slower this time. No doubt he'd be in bed, or sulking, his hearing muffled by those gaming headphones I'd seen yesterday when I walked past the open door to his room.
Tobias was an asshole, unlike his brothers, who'd actually gone out of their way at dinner to be nice to me. They understood this was only temporary. By tomorrow, or the day after, mom would be able to access her accounts, then we'd be out of here. I licked my dry lips and glanced toward the open door to my room, my body still aching a bit from needing to pee. A glass of milk, then I'd be able to settle. It had always worked at home.
I eased down the stairs, until a muffled sound made me still. But it was gone in an instant. Probably nothing…until it came again...low...tortured.
"Fuck, you feel good," a male voice growled. I jerked my gaze to the closed, darkened door and realized the bedroom was Creed's.
Heat raced to my cheeks. I carefully turned away, until a woman's voice followed. "Harder, Creed...for God's sake, fuck me harder."
I jerked my gaze to the door as an icy wave of shock slammed into me, punctured by the loud sounds of flesh on flesh.
“Creed…”Mom moaned.
