Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Salvation [Sweet Awakenings 2] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Nicole Morgan

  “Shelby, I appreciate your desire to stand on your own two feet. But we worry about you. Are you sure you’d be okay?” Andrew was the first to voice what he knew Cullen was thinking, too.

  “Yeah, Shelby. No one will think less of you for not wanting to be alone,” Cullen assured her.

  “You’re wrong, guys. I would think less of me. I have to start taking care of myself sometime. Everyone is always taking care of me. Let me do it for myself this time. This is more important to me than I think even I realized until just moments ago.”

  Andrew and Cullen were weighing the situation. Andrew finally shrugged and gave in. Cullen followed suit.

  “Fine, but if you get scared at all, even a little, promise you’ll call at least one of us on our cells. Unless we get a call, we’ll try to stay in the general vicinity and keep an eye on your place,” Andrew said, hesitant about her plans to stay alone.

  Cullen and Andrew checked under every piece of furniture, in every closet and every cabinet, and left Shelby to face her demons alone. She knew they didn’t feel right about it. But she did. This would be a huge step for her. She’d be handling her fears all on her own. However, she wasn’t completely stupid. She got undressed and ready for bed before heading to her medicine cabinet to retrieve one of the sleeping pills that her therapist had prescribed to her for nights when she had trouble sleeping. Even though she wanted to be brave, she had the sneaking suspicion that if she didn’t give Mr. Sandman a little nudge, she would stare at the walls all night listening to every creak in the building. She swallowed the pill and headed for bed.

  Before she got comfy, she decided to go to the window that was broken into one more time. It was now locked securely. But she just had to be sure. She was surprised when Andrew told her that her window hardware was so old it was considered one of the easiest locks to unlatch, a favorite among many burglars. She had already made a very imperative mental note to get that taken care of tomorrow. Even though Andrew and Cullen didn’t think they’d hit the same place twice, she didn’t exactly relish the idea of wondering if her condo was being robbed every time she left her place.

  She lay down on her pillow and was already feeling the tug of her eyelids by the time she pulled the cool covers over her body. Her last thought before drifting off to dreamland was of Rex. She was trying to be brave, but God, how she wished he was here with her.

  Rex stumbled to his hotel room for the second night in a row. If it was at all possible, he was even more drunk tonight than he was last night. He finally got his room open after several attempts of fumbling with his key card. When he got inside, he practically tripped over his own feet. Sprawling on the couch in his suite, he stared up at the chandelier overlooking the dining room portion of the enormous room. It was sparkling and glittering and casting an illumination against the wall that reminded him of–what, what did it remind him of? He thought about it for a moment, and then it hit him. The sparkles looked like the rainwater that was glistening on Shelby’s skin the other night. The night when he threw everything out the window and held her like a woman.

  God, he hated this. Why couldn’t he get rid of this gut-wrenching feeling? He wanted her so bad, so bad, in fact, that the sweet lady who tried to pick him up in the bar earlier thought the hard-on he was sporting was due to her. Then, when Rex had to turn her down, she laughed at him and told him in explicit detail exactly what he would be missing out on. What the hell was wrong with him? He had no doubt that the hot little number who wanted to take him back to her room would have surely rocked his world. Why couldn’t he do it? Oh, sure, he could do it. But why didn’t he want to? He’d slept with so many women. Sometimes one at a time, sometimes two, and even a few times three at a time. He had fucked women in more ways than most could even imagine. So why the hell couldn’t he find it in himself to screw a gorgeous sex pot like the one downstairs? Glancing down at his very evident and very uncomfortable erection, he groaned in frustration.

  Getting up from the couch to go to the bathroom, he spotted his cell phone sitting on the bar where he had left it earlier. It was flashing with missed calls. He ignored it and walked to the bathroom. He didn’t want to know who had called. He didn’t care. After flushing the toilet, he staggered back out to the front room and grabbed his cell phone. The hell he didn’t want to know! He looked at the missed call log, and there it was, in plain English. He had several missed calls, and it was no surprise they were all from Shelby. He closed his eyes in a moment of almost sadness. God, he missed her. He staggered and stumbled some more to the bedroom of his suite. He landed on the bed with a giant thump and snuggled against a pillow, still clutching the cell phone. The next time she called, he swore to himself he would answer it.

  “Good night, Shelby. I miss you,” he whispered before he succumbed to the alcohol and drifted into a deep slumber that was sure to cause explosions in his head tomorrow.

  “No, please, stop. I don’t want to do this! Please, Mom, please don’t make me do this!” The pain in the back of her head was excruciating. She didn’t know how many days had gone by since that night in the kitchen when her mother forced her to do those horrid things. The thought of it still nauseated and sickened her.

  “Shut up, you good-for-nothing piece of trash. It’s time you started earning your keep. Now, if you’re a good girl, he will treat you really nice. He said if you didn’t cry this time, he would take you shopping afterward. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Her mother’s voice went from angry to soft and soothing in a matter of seconds.

  “No! No, that doesn’t sound nice. Mom, please, I’m begging you, don’t let him keep doing these things to me. Please, Mom, it hurts. It hurts so bad.” She was sobbing beyond any control.

  “Shut up! I’m so tired of your whiny complaints. You’re going to have to learn to like it. I’m teaching you a skill, damn it! You should be thanking me.”

  “Don’t worry, she will.” A man’s voice came from the doorway. “She might not thank you, but it’s only been five days.” He chuckled in amusement. “I’m just loosening her up. Maybe this time I’ll show her how to orgasm. Then she’ll thank you. Then she’ll thank both of us. Won’t you, sweetheart?” He came over and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

  When she went to smack his hand away from her, she found that she couldn’t move. Looking over at her arms in the poorly lit room, she realized both of her hands and legs were tied to the bed. Oh, God. How could she not have realized that she was tied up? “Mom, please, I’m begging you. I’ll do anything. Please don’t let him touch me anymore.”

  Her mother walked away, waving her hands in the air. “I just don’t understand you. You are so ungrateful.” Then she watched as her mother closed the door.

  “There now, sweets. Don’t cry. I’ll teach you how to enjoy it,” the monster climbing on top of her said, as he smiled down at her.

  Looking up at him, she brought up her chin, and she spit in his face. The subsequent blow came so fast she didn’t even realize it until she felt the fierce pain shoot across her cheek and slowly creep through her entire head.

  With a jolt, Shelby sat straight up in bed. She tried to scream, but she couldn’t. No sounds would come out. Her throat was so dry, and she was covered in her own perspiration. She reached for the bedside lamp to turn it on. Just as she turned on the switch, she watched the bulb flash and burn out. The surprise of it startled her. She ran to her bathroom and locked the door.

  Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw her face. It was as white as her crisp sheets, with black streaks of mascara running down her cheeks. Had she been crying while she dreamt? Oh, God, the dream. Samantha had said she might get pieces of those lost two months back eventually, but she had never expected it to be so horrific. Leaning against the door and sliding down to the floor, Shelby brought her knees up to her chest and hugged her body.

  Had it been true? Was what she dreamed really what happened? Had her mother really sat by and encouraged that man to rape her? Over and over again,
could she really do that to her own child?

  Rocking herself as she cried, she prayed for one thing. Rex. As she sobbed and waited for the tears to stop, she wanted nothing more than Rex. “Rex, where are you? I need you!”

  Chapter Six

  Shelby awoke to find herself lying on the bathroom floor. She had a horrible kink in her neck and a headache that was pounding inside her head. She stood up a little too fast and had to grab the counter to steady herself. She reached for some aspirin in her medicine cabinet. The pounding in her head was horrific. And the internal banging was so loud. After taking the aspirin, she decided to head to the kitchen. Maybe some toast and coffee would help her headache. Why was the banging getting so much louder?

  “Shelby!”

  She stopped in her path on the way to the kitchen and looked around. She could barely see out of her eyes. She had cried so hard that they had almost swollen shut.

  “Shelby, come on, Shelby. Please answer this door! You’re scaring me.”

  Tamara? Walking toward the front door, she looked out the peephole and saw Tamara close to tears. She immediately opened the door and was met with a fierce hug.

  “Thank God, Shelby. Why didn’t you answer the door? I was so worried about you. Andrew stopped by the house this morning and told us what happened last night. You should have let him bring you over. Jack and I were so worried about you. Then when I got here and you didn’t answer–”

  “Tamara, calm down. I’m okay.” As miserable as she felt, listening to Tamara ramble was only going to make her head hurt more. Tamara always started to ramble when her emotions got the better of her. There were times when Tamara could go on for five minutes, talking at the speed of light without ever taking a breath.

  “You don’t look all right. I can tell you’ve been crying all night long.” Tamara pulled her toward the kitchen and began to look through her freezer. “Don’t you have an ice pack for your eyes in here?”

  “Yeah, it’s on the top shelf.” Shelby sat down and decided to give in to the overwhelming pain in her head.

  “Ah, here it is. You put this on your head. I’ll make some coffee while you call work and call in sick.”

  “Actually, it’s my scheduled day off. Since the two attorneys I work for are both on vacation, they gave me the day off.” Thank God. There was no way she would be able to sit in an office typing all day with the pounding in her head.

  “No, I’m not going to take no for an answer. You just pick up that–what did you say? How are both of the attorneys you work for on vacation at the same time?” Tamara questioned.

  “Well, seeing as how they’re married to each other, I was given the impression they were taking their kids to Disney World together.” Why was Tamara talking so loud? It was like she was using a megaphone. “And could you keep it down? You don’t have to shout.”

  “I’m not shouting.” Sitting in the chair across from Shelby, Tamara reached across the table and took her hands. “I was just really worried about you. And I–well, Jack told me that you and Rex sort of had a disagreement and he had left town for a while. I normally wouldn’t worry about you because I know Rex is always here to take care of you, but since –”

  “Rex left town? Where did he go?” She couldn’t believe he really actually left town just to get away from her.

  “I’m sorry. I thought you knew. Rex left for Las Vegas a couple of days ago. What happened with you two anyway?”

  What did happen? Shelby didn’t fully understand it herself. “I don’t know. I wish I did. I think maybe I’ve become too dependent on Rex. It may be getting to him. He probably feels smothered.”

  “What? No way. There is no way Rex feels that way. He cares about you. You know that. He would never feel smothered by you. What on earth happened between you two to give you such an idea? Jack was vague, but I have the distinct impression that my dear husband knows more than he is letting on.” Tamara stopped for a moment and a look of concern washed across her face. “Shelby, did Rex try to–well, did he try to seduce you

  “No! Don’t look at me like that, Tamara. He didn’t try to seduce me. If anything, Rex treats me like I’m made out of glass.” The comment spilled out of her mouth before she realized just how accurate it was. When he had kissed her, it was so tender. It was like he was afraid she was going to break. That if he touched her too much, she would shatter. Did he still think of her as a victim? Was she not a woman in his eyes? Or was she just the girl he took care of after she was raped? The thought of that hurt her more than anything else ever could. She needed Rex to see her as a whole person, not some wounded shell of a woman.

  “Okay, if he didn’t try to seduce you, then what happened?” Tamara waited. She seemed more than a little intrigued to hear the answer. Shelby and Rex were pretty much inseparable. The one thing that she was able to pry from Jack’s tight-lipped mouth was that Rex hadn’t been dating or having sex for quite some time. Could there be an underlying attraction with them? She hoped not. Shelby wasn’t ready for intimacy. Or at least Tamara didn’t think she was. The truth of the matter was there was only one person who knew Shelby that well, and that person was Rex.

  “Truth? Tamara?”

  “Of course, you know I’m not going to judge anything you say to me.”

  “The other night, after Rex took me out for a celebratory dinner, he kissed me. And not the usual friendly way we do. But a sensual kiss. One that had my knees going weak and my insides melting.” Shelby took a breath to steady her nerves. She hadn’t planned on talking to Tamara about it. “The truth is I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that before. It was sensual but gentle. Erotic, but tender. And before I knew what was happening, he was pulling away, apologizing and running out the door as fast as he could.”

  “Wow! I hadn’t expected you to say that. And gentle? Rex?”

  “Tamara!”

  “Okay, I’m sorry. So you kissed, and it sounds like it was passionate on both of your ends. What happened after he left?”

  “Well, I can tell you what didn’t happen. I didn’t sleep. Then I didn’t hear from him at all the next day. Then after work I get a phone message from him saying that he was going away for a while to give us some space. He apologized some more, and by the time I tried to call him back, he wouldn’t answer his phone.” She leaned her head over and laid it to rest on her arms on the kitchen table. “I don’t know what to do, Tamara. Rex has been my best friend for so long, and now it’s like, different, you know? Heck, he can’t even remain in the same state as me. He had to fly to Vegas for Christ’s sake.”

  With a sympathetic stare Tamara offered a suggestion. “I know what you need to do.” Tamara expression turned into a slanted, mischievous grin.

  “Oh, no, I’ve seen that look. I don’t like that look. It usually means you’re up to something,” Shelby said hesitantly.

  “No, but I have the perfect idea. Let’s go to the spa. It’s early on Friday. I’m sure we can get in. Let’s get a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, the works. Come on, it’ll be so much fun, and I know the massage will help with your headache.”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  Tamara laughed. “Yeah, like I’ve never woken up from crying all night. If you didn’t have a killer headache then I would think there was something wrong with you.” Pulling Shelby up out of her chair, Tamara pushed her toward the bathroom. “Now come on. You go get in the shower, and I’ll call the spa. Come on, get.”

  After calling the spa, Tamara made a call. When Jack answered she let the flood gates open, “Jack Peyton, you have some serious explaining to do. There was no way you didn’t know about the kiss Shelby and Rex shared.”

  Rex woke up to the sound of banging on the door of his hotel suite. Attempting to stand upright, he stumbled and nearly fell about three times on the way there.

  “Yeah, all right already, I’m coming.” Rex opened the door to glare at a tiny bellboy. Rex could normally intimidate just about anyone. But the appearance he
had today, along with the scowl on his face, was downright terrifying.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Metcalf, um, sir, um–my manager said that I must give you this right away. A Mr. Peyton has called for you numerous times and says it is an emergency.” The young hotel employee held the note out to him with shaky hands.

  Rex snatched the note out of the young man’s hand. Without waiting for a tip, the bellboy all but ran down the hall away from him. Shrugging, Rex closed the door.

  Rex opened the note, which simply said to call Jack immediately and that it was urgent.

  Deciding that Jack was being overdramatic, he threw the note in the trash and headed toward the bathroom. Walking into the huge bathroom off of the bedroom, he glanced at his appearance in the mirror. Scary couldn’t begin to describe the way he looked. He was sporting an almost full beard. His hair, which he always kept very short and had trimmed once every two weeks, even looked unusually long. He took a big whiff and realized that he smelled. He didn’t just smell. He stunk to high heaven. Looking back over the past couple of days, he couldn’t really recall taking a shower. He had a vague recollection of a woman hitting on him last night in the hotel bar. How could she have? He looked only one step up from a pile of cow manure.

  Rex reached into the shower to turn the water on hot. Going to the bedroom to dig in his duffel bag for clean clothes, he saw his phone. It was flashing again. He must have more missed calls. They were probably from Shelby. He couldn’t deal with her yet. What would he say? What could he say? Hey, Shelby, I know we’re supposed to be friends and all, but I want nothing more than to rip your clothes off and take you in more ways than are imaginable. He reached for the phone and turned it off. He couldn’t take the temptation. He couldn’t call her. If he called her, he would remember the kiss they shared. The kiss that had him hightail it out of town and running to Vegas. The kiss that rocked his soul to the core. The kiss that he couldn’t forget and, God help him, the kiss that he wanted to do again.