Page 1 of Unveiled Wounds

Chapter 1

Nightmares of the Past

Meredith

I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept through the night. Smacking my pillow twice, I kept shifting until I found a comfortable spot. It never lasted long. I turned to my right again, plumping the pillow underneath my head. I was asleep, but my mind never silenced the constant thoughts attacking me.

A hairy arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back against a muscular chest.

“You’re safe, baby.” Grizz’s love language was physical touch, and the man had no problem showing it.

The intense contact at the beginning of our relationship had shocked me. He had always touched me, no matter what was going on. If we had watched a movie, he had draped an arm over me. If we had gone somewhere, he had held my hand or placed one of his own on my back. So much contact was unfamiliar to me, and it had made me uncomfortable, even though he hadn’t intended it.

“You need to warn someone when you’re going to swing that much man meat around,” I had joked, not wanting to show my discomfort.

“I’m a big man.” He had cocked his eyebrow at me, raising it a few times. “You fit perfectly against me, and I want to remember how you feel when we’re apart. If it reminds you that you’re mine, I’m good with that, too.”

Grizz could have benched pressed me if he wanted to. Six-feet-two inches, two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle. Big boy was an understatement, but he had never made me feel small or unseen, like I had been most of my life.

Fighting against my subconscious, my memories swallowed me whole, dragging me back to the morning everything changed. I had been standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open. “I have milk, but I don’t think there’s enough cereal. The eggs are expired, but we might still have enough for burritos,” I had called towards the bedroom.

“How do you take care of yourself when I’m not here?” He had walked into the living room, wearing only a pair of jeans as he towel-dried his long hair.

“We’re not getting married.” I had bent over at the waist, moving the milk to the side, when I had felt him wrap his bicep around my waist. Pulling me from the refrigerator, he had plopped me over the kitchen island, face down, ass up.

“You don’t have to remind me, Tef. I have to give you a proper proposal before you’ll even think about it.” I had only worn one of his t-shirts, and he had smacked the globe of my ass. The sound had vibrated around us.

“If you call me Tef, it’s an instant no. I hate that name.” I had tried to stand up, but he’d trapped me between his body and the counter.

“No, you hate that I’m right. You float through life, Mer, because everything seems to bounce off of you but me.” His fists had appeared on either side of my head.

“I don’t feel you bouncing.” I had wiggled my ass against his dick. Hearing the zipper of his jeans, I had given in, craving that connection, needing to feel something real.

“Brat,” he had whispered in my ear as he entered me.

I had lain on the counter, bent in half, as the last screams had left the back of my throat.

Grizz had pulled out of me, smacked my ass again, and told me to get dressed. “I’m hungry, and your pussy only satisfies one craving,” he had said.

The memory faded as I tried to push against his arm, creating a little space. I felt trapped, and if I couldn’t break his hold, I’d wake up in a panic. He must have felt me move against him but misunderstood the signal. His arm tightened around my waist.

You’re asleep. Stay asleep. It’s just Grizz. You’re safe.I replayed each statement over and over in my mind, hoping it reached the dark recesses. Grizz’s warmth should have soothed me, but I felt like I was suffocating. His arm was too tight. The air was too thick.

“Hey, Sweet Cheeks.”

My mind jumbled, and all I saw was Pulse, looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

“You paying attention back there?” He snickered, blowing me a kiss.

“You’re dead. This is just a bad dream.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “I distinctly remember my belt around your fucking neck.”

“You’ve always been a bitch, but someone’s tapped into their inner biker.”

“Not sure who you’re calling a bitch. My metaphorical balls are bigger than yours.” I clicked my tongue against my teeth loudly to annoy him.

The car smelled like stale hamburgers as we drove down the highway. I checked the passenger’s seat to see how Aunt Elizabeth was holding up, but as I started to say something, the image in front of me shuffled. She was gone.

“Where’s my aunt? She was just there.” I didn’t want him to hear the terror in my voice. He hadn’t broken me in the first kidnapping, and I wouldn’t give him the power to do it again in my hallucinations. I waved my hand around, but when I tried to lean forward, the seat belt strapped me to my chair.

---