Page 39 of Unwell
I leaned closer, trying to keep my voice low and reassuring. ‘Ginny…you mean the boy you told me about before? From when you were younger?’
Her eyes met mine, shining with near tears. ‘No. He comes here, too.’
‘Out in the woods?’ I asked.
Her breath quickened. ‘He comes here, too. Inside my room.’
A shiver snaked through me.
‘He’s here now?’
She nodded with frantic jerks, tears brimming along her waterline.
The room was empty but for Ginny and me.
‘How long have you known Elijah?’ It wasbecoming clear that Ginny was more messed up than I’d realised.
‘Since I was thirteen. Mama says he’s known me longer, but I didn’t meet him until then. Not that I remember.’ She shivered under the blanket.
The realisation of what that meant hit me like leaden weights. Either she’d been hallucinating for years, or had been abused during them. And with her swollen belly, there had definitely been a man involved.
Elijahwasn’treal.
He couldn’t be.
He was just a story she told herself to survive. A boy invented in the dark corners of her mind to cover a worse tale. A fictional lover couldn’t make her bleed, couldn’t cut her hair, couldn’t catch a baby on her.
But Ginny’s tears glistened, her face filled with sincerity. ShebelievedElijah was here.
‘Make it stop,’ she whispered while grabbing my sleeve. ‘Please. I need you to make me better.’
She forced my hand beneath her blanket with a surprisingly strong grip. Right under her nightdress and against her heat.
‘Make it feel better,’ she begged when I tried to pull away. ‘Please. Don’t leave me like this. Don’t let him leave me like this.’
My pulse quickened, my hand sandwiched between the softness of her thighs and the wet warmth between them. It was against every fiber of my being. Continuing would make me no better than Marney and the others.
‘I can’t,’ I whispered.But I wanted to.
‘Please.’ The word tumbled from her lips in a needy whine.
God, I knew I shouldn’t have. But my hand remained trembling against her bare skin.
Ginny shifted her thighs, opening them in a silent plea. My fingers slid lower.
Her breath caught, and the sound ruined me. I adored hearing such a sweet sound tumble from my sad girl. She turned her face toward me with lust-hazed eyes and lips parted.
I couldn’t look away.
Her gaze begged for something to make her forget. A kindness among all the hurt. As though my touch could tether her back to herself. My touch had never mattered to anyone before. With men I was merely a doll to me fucked. Whether my mouth or my pussy, they took what they wanted.
Like they had with Ginny.
I could be her solace.
Her hips lifted against my hand, demanding I move. The moan she gave made me squirm. I pressed a fingertip into her, delighting in the way it made her whimper. A rippling movement shifted against my arm, tightening as though the child within stirred at her pleasure.
‘See?’ Ginny whispered, clutching at my arm. ‘He’s here. He’s inside me. He won’t ever leave me.’
