Page 64 of Fighting for Scarlett

But not this.

This she wasn’t going to share with anyone.

The last few days, with everything else going on, she’d managed to forget about those hours the drugs had taken over her body, filling her with that raging need and no way to satiate it.

He couldn’t know about that.

Nobody could.

“Scarlett.” When his hand touched her shoulder, she jerked away, stumbling backward and crashing into the counter.

“I can't,” she whispered, tears blurring her vision. She’d promised herself she would take that to the grave and intended to do just that.

“You can, sweetheart. You're safe here. Whatever you need to say, you can tell me, and I swear unless it involves keeping you safe, I will never tell anyone. Don’t hold it in, sweetheart. Let me share this burden with you. Already, I've hurt you so much, let me help you this time instead. Please, sweetheart.”

She couldn’t let him do that … could she?

No.

She’d promised herself nobody would ever know.

For some reason, when she’d made love to Tate she hadn't even thought about what had happened to her in that dungeon, but now, the thought of him touching her made her sick and panicky.

“I won't let you down again, Scarlett. I’ll carry this load for you if you let me.”

He sounded so serious, and he was so strong, would it help to tell him?

Before she could lose her nerve, she blurted the words out. “Raul drugged me. With an arousal drug. Then he and his men stood around and watched while I burned with a need I'd never felt before. It felt like I was going to die if I didn't orgasm even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. They watched and laughed, and some of them got themselves off as I begged and pleaded to be touched. I'm so embarrassed.” She wept as tears tumbled down her cheeks. “I asked them to touch me. I didn't want to but it hurt so badly. I didn't tell him the formula for the drug though,” she added, worried he would doubt her.

“Oh, sweetheart, I know you wouldn’t have. You're so strong, Scarlett. So strong.”

Carefully, he drew her against him as though he wasn’t sure she would welcome his touch. But she did. She needed it. Scarlett curled her fingers into the soft material of his T-shirt and leaned against his solid frame, letting him take her weight.

“I didn't want anyone to know,” she cried, face pressed against his chest, her tears soaking his T-shirt. “That’s why I lied. I wasn’t ever going to tell anyone.”

“I wish I’d known before we slept together, I would have made sure I didn't do anything to trigger anything for you.” There was regret in his tone, but he had nothing to be sorry about.

Pulling back, she tightened her grip on his T-shirt. “I wasn’t thinking about Raul when you made love to me, Tate, I swear. All I was thinking about was you, touching me, making me feel good, and making me feel important and cherished. You saved me. Even though you thought the worst you still came for me and saved me. Even when your words were angry and you felt cold, your touch was always soft, always warm. I wanted you to be my safe place then, to hold me, and tell me everything was going to be okay because it felt like it wasn’t, and I didn't even know then what I'd been accused of.”

Tucking her back against his chest, she felt his lips touch the top of her head. “I'm here now, sweetheart. Holding you. Being your safe place. My touch will always be soft and warm when it comes to you, and I won't ever be cold toward you again. I've never been anyone’s safe place before, but with you, I want to be, baby. I want to be so badly. I’ll learn, I’ll learn how to give you everything you need, you won't ever want for anything again. Not attention, validation, or the words or the actions you need. I was an idiot to run from my feelings for you, and it’s not a mistake I intend to repeat.”

As badly as Scarlett wanted to believe Tate’s words, and she did, she knew he would never intentionally hurt her again, and he would be her safe place, but would it be enough to protect her from the danger circling around her?

January 18th

7:52 A.M.

Scarlett kept stealing looks at him when she thought his focus was on something else.

Too bad for her that if she was in the room, his focus was automatically mostly on her.

It probably didn't make him an ideal bodyguard, but on the plus side, there was literally nothing he wasn’t prepared to do to keep his girl alive.

Things had been … different … between them since she confessed the lie she’d told while taking the polygraph. Not bad, not by any stretch, and Tate was honored that she had trusted him enough to open up and give him the whole truth, even the parts she was deeply ashamed of.

They hadn't had sex last night. Given what Scarlett had been through he wasn’t going to push her for anything she wasn’t ready and willing to give. Since she hadn't given any indication that she wanted anything other than to just be held, that’s what he’d done.

As much as he loved her delectable body, it was her sweet soul that he loved more, and he had been perfectly content just to hold her close, making sure she knew that while she had faced that horrific ordeal alone she never had to be alone again. Whatever it took to help her heal he would do. If she needed time she’d get it. If she needed sex she’d get it. If she needed reassurance she’d get it.

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