Page 21 of Beautifully Reckless
“I appreciate everyone trying to help me. Really I do.” Abbey’s sweet voice sounds sure and strong as she draws closer. “But no one has asked me whatIwant, and to be frank, I’m fucking sick of it.”
Fuck.
“Did she just swear?” JD murmurs next to me, and I nod absently, a smirk tugging at my lips.
My Angel has a pure heart, but it’s wounded and scarred, and the woman standing before us now with her hand running over the swell of her stomach is the same woman I caught glimpses of at the Western.
The same woman who, no matter how many times she’s been knocked down, keeps clawing her way back up.
“Sorry, Abs,” Lexi steps closer to my Angel. “I just thought because you wouldn’t accept our help last year, we kinda had to take matters into our own hands.”
I realise now what I hadn’t before.
They were all protecting her, standing in a line so we couldn’t get to her.
I canrespect the fuck out of that kind of loyalty, because I know what it’s like to care about Abbey Delany.
“Things have changed now,” Abbey continues. “You got me away from my family and Daniel, and now I need to do what’s right for my baby.”
Now standing before Lexi, I notice my Angel is a little taller than her friend, but as I watch them together, it’s easy to picture them as kids, growing up together, side by side, getting into mischief.
I wonder if Abbey realises that what her and Lexi have is more than friendship.
It’s unbreakable.
Like family.
Like sisters.
Lexi’s eyes fill with tears, and as usual, Ayden is right there to soothe her, running his hand down her back, keeping her grounded.
“Of course.” Lexi’s voice is thick with emotion. “What do you need, Abs? What can we do? We’ll do anything.”
Smiling, Abbey reaches out to squeeze Lexi’s hand before finally turning in my direction.
And fuck, I feel it.
Her caramel orbs lock onto mine for a few long beats before darting away just as fast.
Her head drops, chin lowering… And fuck me, the way she shifts into her submissive pose has my blood rushing straight to my fucking cock.
“Angel?” The word is out before I can stop it, and of course someone just has to fucking pick up the pet name I called her.
“Whythe fuck are you calling her Angel?” Crow snaps, but I don’t spare him a second fucking glance, my eyes remaining locked onto the woman who’s had me on the edge of insanity for over three fucking weeks.
“Eyes up,” I demand, and just like usual, she obeys, her gaze snapping to mine.
The thing with Abbey is, she was raised in a controlling environment. She likely didn’t even notice it until all the shit with her and Daniel happened. Until her parents’ control tightened to near suffocating.
She was raised to submit. To obey. To take direction and orders, fall into line, and never speak up.
That sort of submission is a turn on in the bedroom, but even in that environment, she’d have all the power with the simple use of a safe word.
Her parents never gave her that.
She’s never had the luxury of making her own decisions. Even now, after that little outburst, she won’t say what she wants because she’s spent her life terrified of how people will react.
How will they punish her? How will they make her feel bad for speaking up?
