Naughty Angel (Sexy Nerd Boys #2) (19 page)

He strikes the side of my face hard enough to cause my ears to ring and the world to tilt. I gasp at the pain. My head was still throbbing from the earlier blow, but now the pain has redoubled.

“The Lord says that just like the head controls the body so is the husband the head of the household. You will be obedient to me Eve. It is the Lord’s will.” His voice is cold and I don’t even see the next blow coming. I let out a strangled cry as I taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I respond coldly.

He uncuffs me from the heater and then cuffs my hands together before grabbing my hair by the roots and steering me towards the bathroom. Once we’re in he reaches for the zipper on my jeans and I jump back violently.

“I can do it,” I bite out, reaching down with my cuffed hands to undo my pants.

It wasn’t exactly easy but there was no chance in heaven or earth that Brahm was going anywhere near my lady garden. He stands in the bathroom doorway and watches me expectantly.

“You’re seriously going to stand there and watch me use the bathroom?” I look at him incredulously. He doesn’t respond, simply continues to stand watching me.

“Fucking perverted freak,” I mutter under my breath.

He strikes forward and wraps a hand around my throat. I gasp as his fingers squeeze my windpipe.

“That’s enough with the language.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things ought not to be so.
”

I nod desperately needing to get oxygen into my lungs. He smirks, satisfied that I’m responding how he wanted me to and then he releases me.

“It doesn’t have to be like this, you know how a proper woman is to behave, and once you do so then I can lay only gentle hands on you as I am so desperate to do.”

The sour taste of bile rises in my throat once again. If he means that he’s going to try to have sex with me I am legitimately going to castrate him if he puts his manhood anywhere near me. Once my breathing slows and my heart rate returns to normal I lower my pants and sit on the toilet, holding his gaze defiantly the entire time.

Eve

Two weeks. Two godforsaken weeks of captivity. On the bright side he hasn’t tried to rape me. On the negative side I don’t have a plan for escape and I’m bloody, bruised, and weak because I will not submit to him. I don’t care if it kills me.

“You are willful Eve. I can’t say that I’m not impressed with your spirit,” Brahm says with fondness in his voice.

I narrow my eyes at him with distaste. I don’t speak to him unless it can’t be avoided. To keep my sanity I’ve kept up an inner monologue to Asher, of all the things I wish I could say to him.
He certainly has a strange way of showing it, doesn’t he, Asher?

“But, it’s becoming clear to me that there’s only one way to get through to you. We’re going to make love.”

“No!” I shriek, pulling at my handcuffs on the heater, hearing the aged metal groan in protest.

“Yes, Eve. Then, you’ll see how right we are for each other.”

He caresses my cheek and I turn my head and bite down as hard as I can on his fingers. He wails and pulls back. I spit a mouthful of blood out and continue to glare at him.

“You insolent bitch.”

He storms to the bathroom and slams the door.

My heart is pounding. It’s going to take him awhile to stop the bleeding, he probably needs stitches. I have no doubt that he’s going to be even more motivated now to try to tame me now.

I pull desperately at the cuffs again and I hear the metal of the heater give another small groan. Hope sparks in my chest and I yank again, harder this time. The grate breaks with a loud clang that echos through the cabin. Silent tears fall down my cheeks as I hold my breath, expecting Brahm to storm out of the bathroom at the sound. I look towards the bathroom door and listen for Brahm. I hear the water running and I know this will be my only opportunity. I get to my feet clumsily, my hands still cuffed together, and my legs numb from weeks of disuse and I flee through the front door as quietly as possible, into the pitch black forest.

Asher

It’s been three weeks since my heart was ripped out of my chest. I feel like I can’t take a full breath. I feel hollowed out and empty. I’ve hardly slept or eaten, and the police have all but indicated that at this point they’re looking for a body rather than a missing person. She’s out there. I know she’s out there
alive.
She fucking has to be.

A buzzing noise breaks through my thoughts and I realize that I’ve been staring at the static on the TV for god knows how long. I reach for my phone.

“Hello,” I answer in a monotone voice.

“Asher, It’s Detective Fitch,” The male detective who interrogated me a few weeks ago says on the other end of the phone.

My stomach lurches, he could be calling me to tell me that they found her. But, I may not want to know in what condition.

“Yes,” I respond breathlessly.

“We believe we’ve found Eve.”

“Oh my god.” I jump up off the couch. “Is she...I mean...Is…” I can’t say the words, I just can’t.

              “You’d better come to the hospital,” He says.

I hang up the phone and race for my car.

              When I get to the hospital Abby and Nikki are already waiting there. I’d called them on the way.

              “Have you guys see the detectives or the doctor? Did they say…?” I ask, rushing over to them, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

She’s okay, she has to be okay.

They both shake their heads. I look around for someone who can give me information. I find the detective down the hall speaking with a nurse.

              “Where is she?” I demand briskly.

“Now just calm down,” Detective Fitch instructs me.

              “I’m going fucking insane here. Just tell me already.”

              “She’s in bad shape, but she’s alive,” He reveals.

My knees give out with the relief the floods my body.

She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive.
I cling to these words like a life raft.

              “I need to see her.”

              “You can’t. She’s unconscious. The doctor said that they’re working on contacting her parents and when they arrive it will be up to them to determine who they’ll let in to see her. Unless Eve wakes up first,” He informs me.

My fists clench and it takes every ounce of willpower for me not to punch a wall. Instead I stalk over to the waiting area and I settle in, because there’s no way I’m moving until I get to see my girl.

Her parents arrive the next day. They took one look at me and declared that there was no way I was going to see Eve. She still hasn’t been conscious and no one will give me any updates.

In an effort to endear myself to the nurses, in the hopes that maybe someone will break the rules and let me in to see her when her parents aren’t around, I had Nikki bring me brownies and cookies to give to them. They smiled at me with pity and I returned to my spot in the waiting room.

Eve

              I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. The first thing I’m aware of, even before I open my eyes, aside from the pain, is the stinging smell of antiseptic and the beeping of monitors.

I’m in a hospital.

And, suddenly memories flood me. Brahm attacked me, kidnapped me, held me prisoner for over two weeks. Then, I’d escaped.

It probably wasn’t the best idea to flee from his cabin in the dark because I was immediately lost in the woods.

I’m not sure how long I wandered lost, cold, starving, and so thirsty. Everything had started to blur together. I couldn’t even be sure I wasn’t walking in circles. As I’d lain weak and unable to go any further I had been glad at least that Brahm had never gotten to defile my body. As I lay dying in the woods I was comforted by the thought that Asher was the only man I’d ever loved, in every way. And, then everything had gone dark.

My eyes fly open and I let out a sob of relief at the realization I’m not dead. I look around and see that I’m in a room by myself. It looks like every inch of my arms have tubes inserted into them. I turn my head from side to side, trying to find the button to call the nurse. Unfortunately, it’s well out of reach. So I decide to do the next best thing, I take the monitor off of my finger so my machines start alarming loudly.

              A young nurse rushes into the room looking panicked. When her eyes land on me she smiles with relief.

“You’re awake,” She says in a friendly, southern accent.

“What happened?” I rasp out, my voice gravelly from disuse.

My throat is dry, my mouth tastes like garbage, and I’m vaguely aware of the fact that I feel a layer of grime covering my body. I can’t help but wonder how long I’ve been here.

“You were missing for three weeks sweetheart,” She tells me gently.

“I remember that part,” I rasp. “How am I not dead?”

“A hiker found you and called an ambulance. You were severely dehydrated and malnourished. You received several blood transfusions and have been on fluids. You also sustained an injury to the head which had caused brain swelling, so you’ve been in a coma for about two days. How do you feel? Can you remember anything?”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus,” I admit. She nods sympathetically. “I remember everything through.”

              “Do you know who attacked you?”

              “My ex-boyfriend, Brahm.”

Her eyes go wide.

“Oh my lord,” She murmurs.

“I need to see Asher,” I ask desperately. “Has he tried to come see me?”

She lets out a little laugh.

“Honey, he’s been camped out in the lobby for two days. He’s been going crazy worrying about you. He’s such a sweetheart, always bringing the nurses little treats. It’s after visiting hours so I’m not supposed to let him in,” She tells me, gnawing her lip with indecision. “But, I do have to go let the doctor and the detectives know that you’re awake, so I’ll be leaving you alone for awhile. If he were to happen to sneak back here without my noticing, that would hardly be anyone’s fault.” She says with a little wink.

I smile gratefully and she turns to leave.

Asher

              If you’ve ever considered spending any length of time sleeping on a couch in a hospital waiting room, I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m drifting in and out of restless sleep when a hand on my shoulder jolts me awake.

              “Mr.Wright,” I recognize the polite southern drawl of Carrie Anne, one of Eve’s nurses.

              “What’s going on? Has there been a change in Eve’s condition?” I ask drowsily.

              “She’s awake.”

I jump up the moment the words leave her lips.

“Mr.Wright, it’s past visiting hours so I can’t let you see her. I need to go make some phone calls to the doctors and the detectives, so you steer clear of room 212, you understand,” She instructs, and then gives me a little wink before heading into an office at the end of the hall.

My legs feel like jell-o as I make my way down the hall. This has to be a dream.

Please, don’t let it be a dream.

When I reach the door to room 212 I stop and close my eyes, taking several deep breaths, and then push the door open.

“Asher,” Her voice is cracked and dry, and as soon as I lay eyes on her I let out a broken sob of relief.

“Angel,” I want to grab her and pull her into my arms but every inch of her seems to have tubes coming out of it.

She lifts her arms up slowly, trying not to disrupt all of the medical equipment, and I’m able to wrap my arms around her waist.

“You’re really okay?”

“Well, I’m in desperate need of a shower and every inch of my body hurts, but other than that I’m just peachy,” She laughs.

“Was it Brahm?” I ask immediately.

“Of course,” she says grimly. “I would ask you to try to climb in and snuggle with me but I don’t believe I bathed in the past three and a half weeks so I’m pretty gross.”

I let out a short laugh.

“‘Do you need me to write you an equation for how many fucks I give? Now scoot over.”

“You are such a nerd. You know I feel bad for all of those girls who came to you looking for a bad boy, tattooed, rocker and got Stephen Hawking instead,” She teases.

I swallow the lump in my throat. I carefully climb in beside her and do my best to cuddle close to her without disturbing her tubes.

“I doubt Stephen Hawking has his dick pierced,” I point out.

“Okay, you’re sexy Stephen Hawking,” She concedes.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whisper against her temple before planting my lips there. “I thought you were dead. And, they wouldn’t tell me any updates about you. I thought that even if you died they wouldn’t tell me, because your parents didn’t like the way I looked.”

“I’m okay, I promise I’m fine,” She murmurs in a soothing tone. “Do you want to know what I was thinking when I thought that I was about to die?”

“If you want to tell me.”

“I was really mad at Brahm for taking me away from you. I was thinking that I had so recently worked up the courage to tell you how I really feel about you and we had so much ahead of us. I was thinking about us getting married, and having children, and growing old together and I was so mad that Brahm was stealing it away from me.”

Feeling her small body against me I feel like I’m whole again. Tears of relief streak down my cheeks. No one has ever wanted those things with me.

“I’m going to give you all those things,” I promise her.

“Good, but not until I finish college,” She says with a laugh.

I nuzzle my nose into her neck and revel in the fact that my Angel is alright. I thought I would never get to hold her again, never get to kiss her, or tell her a corny joke.

“Don’t tell the guys I cried, okay?” I say with a small laugh.

“You’re secret is safe with me,” She assures me, kissing my cheek gently.

“Hey, what do you call it when a pepper won’t leave you alone?”

“What?”

“Jalapeno business.”

She throws her head back and laughs. God I love the sound of her laugh.

A knock on the door startles us both, we look over to see the detectives entering. They give me a suspicious look immediately and I fight the urge to give them the finger. I understand they were doing their job by questioning me, but for christ sake I think it’s obvious at this moment that she’s clearly not afraid of me.

“Ms. Moore,” The young, female officer greets her. “I’m detective Johnson. We want to talk to you about your attack.”

“Sure,” Eve nods.

I make a move to get up but Eve’s hand on my arm tightens, a silent plea for me not to leave.

“Maybe it would be best for Mr. Wright to give us a few minutes alone,” The older male detective suggests.

“Why? I want him to stay,” Eve protests.

I gently pry her hand off of me and kiss her nose.

“I can’t stay sweetheart, I’m a suspect.”

“What?” Eve practically shrieks, sitting up so rapidly that she nearly pulls all of her tubes out. “Asher didn’t hurt me. It was my ex-boyfriend Brahm. He’s a complete psycho. He’s been leaving me creepy notes for months, too. You can go get them for evidence, they’re in my dorm.”

My eyes go wide. That asshole has been bugging her for months and she never told me? She gives me an apologetic look.

“Sorry, I just figured that he’d get the hint eventually and back off.”

“Let’s start from the beginning,” Detective Johnson suggests, pulling out a notebook.

Eve tells them all about the attack and the subsequent captivity. My hand remains tightly grasping hers the entire time as she relays details about Brahm striking her repeatedly, how he would watch her use the bathroom, and how she was chained to a fucking heater for three weeks. My eyes drop to her wrists and I notice the purple bruises there. If I ever see that fuckwad I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.

“Ms. Moore, it’s important for us to know if he raped you,” The female detective inquires gently.

I flinch at the question and consider covering my ears. I can’t hear this. I can’t hear her talk about him forcing himself on her, taking her delicate body violently.

“No,” She says firmly, looking directly at me so that I can see her eyes and know that it’s the truth. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

“He said he was going to and then I bit his fingers and made him bleed. While he was trying to stop the bleeding I escaped into the woods.”

“Good girl,” I kiss her forehead fiercely. “I am so proud of how strong you are.”

“Alright, I think that’s all we need for now. We’ll take him into custody as soon as we find him.” She places a business card on the nightstand and the detectives leave.

“Stay,” She says, grasping my arm.

“Baby, nothing in this world could pull me away from you right now,” I assure her. I kiss her forehead again and pull her against my chest. “Now, sleep baby.”

Eve

The sound of muffled, angry voices wakes me. I blink several times, attempting to orient myself to my surroundings. There’s just something inherently disorienting about waking up in a hospital, even if it is for the second day in a row. I’m alone in my room again and the angry, conversation seems to be taking place in the hallway.

“Asher?” I call out, my voice slightly less raspy than yesterday.

The voices suddenly stop. Then, the door opens.

“Are you okay, Angel?” He asks peeking his head in, concern filling his eyes.

              “Who are you talking to?” I’m met with a reluctant, furrowed brow.

              “We have a right to see our daughter.” My mother’s shrill voice carries through the door.

I frown and then nod reluctantly, letting him know it’s okay to let them in.

              “You can see your daughter,” Asher concedes.

              Just then the doctor arrives.

“Is everything alright here?” He asks, edging past Asher, into my room.

              I nod sheepishly.

“We haven’t officially met, I’m Dr. Andrula,” He introduces himself.

He looks me over and tells me that they want to keep me at least one more day for observation. I thank him for his care and he leaves.

              “Eve, do you want me to let your parents in?” Asher pops his head in and asks once the doctor is gone. I nod reluctantly, I should face them I suppose.

“Um, yeah. Could you tell everyone else that I’d rather see them after I get home and shower tomorrow?” I ask.

              “Sure, I’ll give Nikki a call while you talk with your parents. But I’ll be right out in the hall so if you need me just shout, okay? Do you need anything else?”

              “A cheeseburger?” I ask hopefully. “And a milkshake,” I add excitedly. “From that place I like across town.”

              “You think that I’m going to go all the way across town to get you lunch?” Asher asks with feigned aggravation.

I flash him a ‘you know you will’ smile and bat my eyelashes at him.

              “Please? I almost died,” I add.

              “Alright, alright.”

              “Oh, and a cookie.”

He pretends to scowl at me and I laugh.

“I almost died!” I remind him.

              “You know you’re not going to be able to use that for everything,” He warns.

“I almost died,” I retort.

“You know that I love you?”

He, makes his way over and presses his lips tenderly to mine.

              “Not as much as I love you,” I tease.

He nips my bottom lip playfully. He pulls away and his lips move to my ear, his breath on my neck sends an excited ripple through me.

              “Baby, I have to tell you...you’re breath is horrendous.”