Page 56 of Saviour
I’ll go back to running.
Imake my way to the boxing ring, bending my body to move under the ropes and sit on the edge, resting my arms over the bottom rope and letting my head fall. What the fuck has happened?
Rori hasn’t been herself for the past three weeks since she gave herself to me. I know she doesn’t say I love you back every time I say it. I know she hasn’t said it a single time since that first time, but I just assumed she was trying to come to terms with her feelings, especially after having sex with me.
I know she’s had a traumatic past and if she wasn’t still sleeping with me, then I’d worry that I pushed her too fast too soon, but almost every evening, she climbs underneath me, asking for me to claim her again.
I look up and run a hand through my hair. What if she’s doing that because she thinks I want it and this whole time she doesn't? Would she do that? Put herself in a position she doesn’t want to be in for someone else? Of course she would, Rori is the most selfless person I know.
Fuck!
I pull at my hair, trying to steady my breathing as a panic starts to take over at the thought that in some way, I’ve been forcing Rori into doing something she doesn’t want to do.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Rori coos, her hands pulling at mine to stop me from tugging at my roots.
I look up to see her close, worry dancing in her eyes, her silver hair still messy and loose, way past her shoulders and breasts.
“Rori, did I make you? Have I? Did I?” I stumble on my words and she shushes me, her hands palming both my cheeks so my eyes look directly into hers. “Did I force you?”
She’s silent for a few seconds and the panic starts to rise again.
“Force me to what?” she questions innocently, and I can tell in her eyes she has no idea what I mean.
“Since that night, every time since, have you been doing it for me?” I whisper, the pain laced in my tone.
Her eyes glisten and a tear slips free and I prepare for the worst.
“God, no!” she exclaims and her hands grip my face firmly and she leans in until we’re nose to nose. “Dax, you listen to me. I have never once regretted giving myself to you. I asked you to take me and I meant every fucking word of it. And every time after. You’ve never forced me or made me feel like I should do anything.”
I nod a little until she demands an answer and I clear my throat.
“Okay,” I say quietly, lifting my hands up to her hair, stroking my fingers down her thick mane, then getting caught in the knots.
“Rori,” I start, but she stops me instantly.
“I love you,” she says, threading her fingers through mine. “I do love you, Dax, I promise.”
I want to say something, but I’m not sure what. Maybe, why don’t you ever say it back? Or, are you sure? Or, you don’t have to say it just because I do. But her words stop me again.
“But I need to tell you something before you say anything else.”
I stare at her intently and wait with bated breath for what’s going to come out of her mouth.
“I’ve been lying to you, Dax. Carlo, he… when Carlo caught me staying at the hotel, it was him who scared me away. He knew who I was and he threatened me, so I ran. And when you found me, I knew I shouldn’t have gone back, but I couldn't say no to you, Dax.”
“What do you mean he knew who you were?” I ask, but she continues without answering my question.
“At Sophie’s the next day, I had every intention of running again, but he cornered me there, brought me here. Well, you know that part.” She flinches a little, remembering her entrance into the mansion a few months ago, gagged and bagged.
“Dax, Carlo knows I ran from my foster home. He knows about Maxwell, what he did to me, why I’ve been running. I don’t know how, but he knew, and he said if I didn’t do what he said, he’d send me straight back. And I couldn’t go back, Dax. I couldn’t go back to Maxwell. I’ve been running for two years. I’m finally free of him. I can’t go back,” she rambles on, and as much as I want to comfort her, I need to know the rest.
“What did he ask you to do?” I ask, my palms starting to sweat.
“He… he told me to distract you.”
It’s silent for a moment, her eyes glistening with tears, but I’m still confused.
“Distract me from what?” I ask, but she stays silent. “Distract me from what, Aurora?”
