Page 5 of Reaper
She nodded her thanks before she pushed open the door, scrambled inside, and shut it behind her.
She walked to the mirror.When she brought her gaze up to her reflection, she cringed back.Her hair had tumbled loose sometime during the night and knotted into a tangled mess.She noticed that her eyes hadn’t lost the dark smudges that lined the bottom of her lids, even though she hadn’t expected it after one good night’s sleep.
She turned away from her reflection.As she washed her face and untangled her hair with her fingers, she thought about how much her life had changed.
The day after she refused protection, she had gone to the public library to see whether her bank accounts were still intact.She had lived frugally and saved most of her earnings during her four years as an executive accountant, enough to go on the run until she could change her name and disappear, but she quickly found that her life had been stolen from her.There had been no records of her.Her name, her Social Security number, her bank account, everything that identified her.All of it had been wiped.With no address, no job, no money, and no identity whatsoever, she couldn’t run.
Despite knowing that her existence had been deleted, joy bubbled inside her because she was free.Free of the experiments, of the abuse.Everything else she could figure out when the time came.
After she had taken care of the essentials, she glanced longingly at the walk-in shower.But she had already taken too much time as she contemplated the situation she found herself in.
Walking to the door, she opened it and jumped back when she found him right outside.If possible, he seemed bigger than she remembered and the strength that rolled off his body had her easing away from him.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
Something deep inside relaxed, sensing the truth in his words, and when he reached for her hand and interlaced their fingers, she didn’t tense.As he pulled her out of the room and down the stairs, she ignored her surroundings as her eyes stayed on their locked hands.
“There are shutters on every window that are armed with sensors.There are alarm panels in every room.I have motion sensors surrounding the property, so no one will get in or out without alerting me.You’re safe here.”He paused for a long moment.“What’s your name, beautiful?”
“Ara.”
“I’m Reaper.”
Her eyes widened at his name, but he ignored her surprise and escorted her into the kitchen.
He pulled out a chair for her, and when she sat, she couldn’t keep her eyes away from him.For a man his size, she didn’t expect such agile movements as he roamed around the kitchen.His hands flashed as he first set the coffee to brew, moving on to chop vegetables for an omelet, before he peeled and sliced fruit.
When the coffee finished brewing, he poured her a cup and slid it in front of her.For a reason she couldn’t fathom, the smell of coffee had her eyes tearing up.Before she could reach for it, he rounded the island in a blur and gripped her upper arms in a gentle hold, lifting her until her face pressed against his chest and his arms surrounded her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I…haven’t had coffee in a long time.I don’t know why I’m emotional about it,” she admitted.
Her life had gone to shit and the entire time she had been confined, she wouldn’t let her captor break her spirit.But the moment Reaper had showed her basic compassion, she found that she couldn’t control the tears that poured down her face.He rubbed her back, whispering words of warmth until the tears slowed, and when she pulled back and took a deep breath to get her emotions under control, he still held her.
“Thank you.”She meant more than the words portrayed.For the first time, she was safe, because of him.
He pulled back and scanned her face.Satisfied that she wouldn’t break down again, he nodded before he walked back around the counter to finish breakfast.
When he plated their food and walked to sit next to her at the breakfast bar, her eyes widened at the amount of food he had given her.A sharp laugh brought her gaze to his face, before she happened a glance at his sizable plate and breathed a sigh of relief.
All she’d known for the last few months had been hunger and weakness, and now that she had food in front of her, she found herself starved.
She waited until he sat and picked up his fork before she did the same.When she took her first bite, she couldn’t help the moan that passed through her mouth as she tasted the eggs, and she closed her eyes to savor the moment.
His strangled words brought her back to reality.
“How did you end up at Standard?”
The moment she opened her eyes, she could see the fire banked in his and noticed his gaze focused on her mouth.Thinking that she had something on her lip, her tongue darted out and licked.His loud groan shot straight toward her core.
“I walked in on a robbery,” she blurted.
His scrutiny moved away from her mouth, and she became mesmerized by the way anger had etched lines on his face.He looked fierce, but for a reason she didn’t understand, she wasn’t afraid of him.Fascinated, but not afraid.
“What?”
“I had been working late and decided to grab a bite to eat at a convenience store close to my apartment.I hadn’t been aware of the quiet I had walked into, until I heard the clerk whimper.The gun cocked when I looked up, and before I could think about it, I had disarmed the man and shoved him into the counter, knocking him out.And I had done it all from across the room.”
