Page 38 of Protected Promise
“Many times. Towards the end it was nearly every night, like living in a nightmare stuck on replay. He would go to the bar after work and come home drunk. He would yell and scream, throw stuff, and often he would hit my aunt, but never like on the face or arms, never anywhere someone would see and suspect.”
“And you? Did he hit you too?”
I nodded as a tear slid down my cheek. “But that wasn’t the worst of it.”
“He touched you?”
My cheeks heated. I was so ashamed. “I shouldn’t have let him. I should have fought back more.”
“Kaitlyn, if a grown man touched you inappropriately, that is not your fault. You were just a kid.”
I could hear the disgust in his voice as I shrunk back into my internal shell a little more.
“Was there more?” he asked. I could feel his temper rising and his body was shaking.
“As I grew up, I did my best to hide my body from him, from everyone, but it became harder and harder to conceal certain things.” I was heavy chested for my size and even though I’d tried bindings, it got to a point where it was just obvious they were still there.
“You shouldn’t have to be ashamed of your body!”
“I know, but I was, and sometimes I still am,” I confessed. “I do little things, like spa days to pamper myself. It just makes me feel better about myself.”
He smirked. “Like waxing?”
I gasped and stared at him. The heat I saw in his eyes was more than I ever dreamed possible. I had been desired before. Even my uncle in his own disgusting way had desired me, but the look in Landon’s eyes was nothing like that. It wasn’t skeezy or sick. It was natural and made me feel like the most cherished woman on Earth and not something to be ashamed and embarrassed of.
“How can you even look at me like that after what I just told you?”
“Sorry. I can’t help myself. I am furious for what happened to you, and I am so sorry that I couldn’t be there to protect you.”
I laughed despite the situation. “You were just a kid too and a thousand miles away.”
“Still. Did he ever force himself onto you?”
“All the time, but I never had sex with him. He tried a few times towards the end, but I was bigger by then and could fight back. It made him mad and resulted in a lot of beatings. Mostly he just touched me while jacking himself off.” I gasped. “I can’t believe I just told you that. I’ve never told anyone that before, not in so many words.”
He wrapped me up in one of his big safe hugs as I started to cry again.
“Sawyer knows?”
I nodded against his chest. “And Damon,” I confirmed. “I had snuck out one night afterwards. He had tried to force himself on me and I’d fought for my life. I really thought he was going to kill me afterwards. Bloodied and weak, I’d climbed through my bedroom window to get away. I wanted to kill myself, Landon. I just wanted the nightmare to end. I was seventeen and it had been ten years living with that monster.”
I paused as he rubbed my back.
“As fate would have it, Damon was out late that night and our paths crossed. I knew him a little from around school, but as you can imagine, I didn’t exactly have friends. I was too ashamed to let anyone close. I’ve come a long way since that night, but I still struggle to trust easily, except for you it would appear. I do have friends, true friends now, and I’m a lot better, but it’s still… there.”
“What did Damon do?”
“He took one look at me and said, ‘Wow, you look like shit.’ I started crying like a crack in my dam had just broke free. I don’t know what possessed me to talk to him. He was dark and mysterious. He wasn’t even a Longhorn, he’d just lived and worked there for several years. Maybe that’s what I liked about him. He was a bit of an outcast too.”
I still remembered how angry I’d been at him.
“I made him promise me he wouldn’t say anything to anyone, but a few days later, I showed up with a black eye. It was the only time I can remember him ever hitting me in the face. Damon was so furious he ditched the rest of school that day and went to tell Sawyer.”
“Good. I assume Sawyer took care of the situation?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your uncle. He’s dead, right?”
