Page 68 of Hunted Innocence

Instead of getting up and finding something to eat or ordering something to be delivered, I close my eyes again and will myself to sleep some more, telling myself that sleep is healing and that I’m not depressed.

But I know the truth.

I’m not healing when I sleep—I’m avoiding.

I'm avoiding reality, my present, and my future—everything. I’m pretty sure that I made a terribly rash decision, and I feel absolutely sick about it. I also don’t feel as if I can just jump into my car and go back to Nights.

I left my job and walked away without saying much of anything. I walked away from the men who saved my life, who protected me, and who cared for me. I basically spat in their faces because my feelings were hurt that Grayson didn’t want to keep me forever. How immature and selfish of me.

And I also walked away from the only two women who have ever been my friends. Just… vanished. I’m under no illusion that they couldn’t find me if they wanted to, eventually. But why would they after I treated them the way I did? I wouldn’t want anything to do with me if I were them.

Falling asleep again is the only way I can cope with my actions now that some time has passed. I am so damn stupid. So beyond stupid. And mean. What I’ve done, while unintentional, is without a doubt cruel to those people who care about me so much.

Self-preservation or not, it doesn’t give me the right to treat my friends that way. People who literally put their lives and livelihoods on the line.

God. I’m such a bitch.

Tears slide down the side of my face, landing on the pillow, and no matter how tightly I pinch my eyes closed, the tears keep rolling. My heart keeps breaking. My world keeps dimming.

GRAYSON

Sitting outside the cheap motel,I can’t help but wonder what the fuck she’s doing here. I admit that although I’ve fallen for her, I don’t know Nadine that well. I don’t know her habits, her idiosyncrasies, her passions. I do know her heart, her soul, and her body. But I didn’t imagine she would run to the beach, to a shitty motel at the beach.

I promised Theron that I would take care of this, and I will. I’ve been watching her room for a few hours, and nobody has come in or out of the front. It’s time for me to make myself known, though. Unfolding from the front seat of my car, I make my way around the back of the motel.

The rooms each have a sliding glass door that opens to a small patio that is directly in front of the beach. Walking distance to the sand and surf. So maybe the shitty motel isn’t quite as bad as I thought initially, but then I take the building in again and realize that it really is crappy.

The maintenance and upkeep have not been handled in probably a decade, maybe two. Continuing toward the door that I know is Nadine’s, I reach for the handle and gently tug on it. She’s left it unlocked, which is really fucking stupid. And I know that she is smarter than that.

Frowning, I slip into the room, my eyes scanning the space until they land on her. She’s curled beneath the bedding in the fetal position. She appears so small and even helpless like this.

I close and lock the door behind me, then move quietly into the dark room, walking over to the side of the bed and lookingdown at her sleeping form. She’s beautiful, though I can see the sadness in her face even in sleep, and I know I’m the cause of it.

I sink onto the side of the bed, at her hip, and search her sleeping face. Reaching out, I tuck her hair behind her ear and soak her in for one more long moment before I grip her shoulder gently and shake her softly.

“Nadine, baby,” I murmur. “It’s time to wake up.”

She moans as I repeat the motion. I know when she wakes up because her entire body stiffens before she cracks one eye open. Smiling down at her, I wait for her to fully realize what’s happening, and I know when she does because she opens her mouth, her lips parting as her eyes widen.

I know she’s about to scream, and the last thing I want is for her neighbor to call the police, so I shift my hand to her mouth.

“It’s me,” I murmur. “It’s Grayson. Everything’s okay.”

It takes a moment for her breathing to calm down, and only when I know that she is aware and realizes who I am do I release my hand from her mouth. When I do, I wait for her to speak because I have no doubt that she’s pissed off at the fact that I broke into her motel room.

Nadine pushes up so that she’s sitting up straight in the bed, her eyes narrowing on me. Well, at least I was able to guess her reaction to me because she appears indeed pissed off.

“What the fuck?” she hisses.

I’m a bit taken aback by her language. Not that I’ve never heard her curse before, but she doesn’t do it often, so it surprises me. Smiling, I let out a chuckle. “We need to have a chat,” I state.

Nadine crosses her arms just beneath her chest, pushing her tits up, and I can’t stop myself from looking. Fuck, they look good, too. Sliding my hands down my thighs, I clear my throat and shift around slightly.

“Okay,” I announce. “You’re going back to Nights.”

She opens her mouth, but I shake my head, my gaze connected to hers. She’s beautiful. Absolutely perfect in every way, and I want nothing more than to taste her right here and now. Every fucking square inch of her, but I can’t do that. If I do, then I’ll keep her. And I know that’s not something that can happen.

So I don’t reach for her, I don’t touch her, I don’t kiss her. I stay where I am, watching her. She shakes her head, closing her lips before she clears her throat.

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