Page 26 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
"Tell me what happened," David said. His face had gone so pale I almost kind of worried for him. I reached up to run my thumb along the line of his tightly clenched jaw. "I can tell something terrible happened," he said. "It's not just that you slept with a ton of guys during your few months of college, is it?"
"No." I shook my head. "I never really did anything with anyone until..." Until the night my son had been conceived.
"Until what?" Flames burned behind David's eyes. I could tell he was keeping the fire subdued for my sake, even though he wanted to rage. At the world. At whoever had hurt me. In a very selfish way, it felt incredibly good to see him like that. I didn't want him to be upset, but knowing that he was upsetfor my sakemade me feel warm.
I could only hope that he'd still feel the same way about me when he knew.
"I was at a party after Nigel broke up with me," I said. "Well, actually, we kind of broke up with each other, I guess. The long-distance thing really wasn't working out, you know? I don't think I ever really wanted more than sex from Nigel. I wasn't in love with him. I don't think he was in love with me either." I rambled, only to avoid saying the next part.
"What happened at the party?" David asked as if he knew I needed the prompting. He looked a little bit as if he wasn't sure that he actually wanted to know. But he needed to, anyway.
"I had a few drinks," I said. "It was fun at first. I must have... I must have had too much to drink or something. Aiden says..." I stopped. Could I really claim the excuse Aiden had offered me as the truth?
"What did Aiden say?"
"Aiden thinks someone slipped something in my drink."
David's eyes narrowed and his grip on my hand tightened. "Some asshole drugged you? Is that what happened?" he demanded, a quiet rage simmering in his voice.
"I don't know if that's what happened."
"But Aiden says--"
"Aiden wasn't there!" I interjected. "I don't know what happened, okay? Maybe I'd just had too much to drink." All I knew was that the next morning I woke up with a hangover and a sore ass and flashes of memories that didn't make sense. And a couple of months later I found myself pregnant. "I probably just did something stupid," I said with a shrug. "I tend to do that. I just don't want everyone to know."
"Please don't tell me you're blaming yourself for this." David's voice was sharp. He was taking this way too seriously, getting way too upset. It was all in the past. What did it matter now? I needed to get over it, that was all.
"Who else would I blame?" I asked softly, hoping that if I lowered my voice, David would too.
Yeah, no chance of that. David's voice boomed as he spoke again. "The assholes who took advantage of you!"
Took advantage of me? I'd never thought of it that way.
When I didn't say anything, David continued. "I swear if I knew who they were I would find each and every one of them and make sure they can never have sex again."
"That's a bit drastic," I said, even though I kind of liked the idea.
"It's not drastic. It's completely justified!" David claimed. "What they did was despicable, and you're not the one who should be feeling ashamed."
"But I let them."
"Oh, Sam." David exhaled, and I could tell that his grip on his self-control was still shaky at best. I had no doubt that if one of the alphas who'd fucked me had been in the room with us now, David would have snapped the guy in half like a twig.
I squeezed his hand. "I'm okay."
David drew me into a hug and I held on tight. I really was okay, now that I had David, now that I never had to see any of the men who'd done this to me again. "I'll never let anyone touch you again," David said. I gave a short laugh, even as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. It was all just too much.
I looked into David's eyes. "That's a little extreme, don't you think?"
"Well, okay, maybe your parents can hug you, but that's where I draw the line."
"I didn't know you could be so possessive."
David squeezed his arms around me. I let my head rest on his shoulder as he whispered into my ear. "I only want to keep you safe."
"I'm safe," I responded. "Perfectly safe." And I didn't feel bad anymore either. Let people think what they wanted. As long as I had David, I would be fine.
David kissed me, only making my feelings for him grow stronger, if that was even possible. They already were frighteningly intense, to be honest. Way, way bigger than anything I'd ever felt for Nigel for sure. Almost too much for me to hold inside of my body. Sometimes when David touched me, when he kissed me, it felt like I was at the point of overflowing and wrapping my arms around him was all I could do to hold myself together.
