Page 7 of Unwell
My fingers caressed my tummy, enjoying the little cherub stretching within. Safe. While she was inside me, she was safe.
A familiar scent caught my attention. Peppery. Manly. Musky and spiced.
Elijah.
Rising from the swing, I scanned the greenery. Hunting for him. The boy who’d stolen my heart at thirteen and had never let it go.
If anyone could find their way to me, it would be him.
My pulse jumped as I walked through the long grass, the yellowing blades scraping at my ankles. Hiking up my dress, I looked over my shoulder, but no one seemed to have noticed my absence. The thicket of trees drew me in, as though they screamed my name. Branches scraped at my naked arms, marking my flesh with pink trails.
A twig snapped to my left. Twisting, I stared into the knot of trees where I thought the sound originated.
‘Elijah?’ I said, eyes widening as fear raked its nails through my insides.
Had my mind been playing tricks on me?
Perhaps the asylum had already poisoned my thoughts.
A root snagged my ankle, and I tripped over my feet, landing heavily in the roughage. In a huff, I lost my breath, rolling onto my back as tears filled my eyes. Cradling my stomach, I waited until I felt my baby move, letting out a choked sob when she did.
Dirt gathered beneath my nails as I dragged myself to my knees. Another twig cracking had me snapping my head to the right.
A hand slapped over my mouth, an arm circling my chest and hauling me back against a hard body.
Panic seized me. My elbows flailed, connecting with flesh as I heard an ooft in my ear.
‘Ginny,’ a voice demanded, holding me tighter.
Then it hit me, the spiced scent of safety. My muscles relaxed, and I laid my head back on Elijah’s shoulder, closing my eyes.
‘You found me,’ I whispered.
‘You were never lost. I’ll never let you go.’ His voice rumbled in his chest, sending happy vibrations squirming through me. His timbre had always been a balm to my every torment.
Wrapped in reassurance, I let him pull me back tothe ground, leaning against him from my position between his legs.
‘How’s our little one?’ he asked, his lips grazing the side of my neck.
‘Unaware.’ Every kiss had my body yearning for him. Remembering him. ‘Oh, Elijah. Can you get me out of here?’
‘I will…’
‘Sneak me out the same way you snuck in?’ I begged, my breath catching as his hand skirted my thigh, hiking my dress high.
‘I can’t. It’s too dangerous in your condition.’
A lump formed in my throat.
‘Please? You can’t leave me here. They hurt people here.’
‘I won’t leave you. I’ll keep you safe.’ Elijah’s words were hot on my neck, intercepted with harsh bites along my skin.
‘Why haven’t you visited?’ My words brimmed with more accusation than I’d intended.
‘I can’t. I’m not family. They won’t let me.’
Insistence drove his hands over my underwear before tugging them to the right.
