Page 60 of Save You

Chapter 22

Beth

“Ahhh!” I gasp when I try to move from my slumped position on the bed. Tears are continuing to leak out of me as I crawl on my hands and knees around the mattress. Eventually, I manage to climb up inside of the covers. Once inside, I remain leaning on my side because the mere thought of putting any pressure on my fresh wounds, makes me feel nauseated.

Breathing in and out with deep but shaky intakes of air, I begin to panic when I hear the sound of the doors clicking open. What if Oliver has returned to delve more obedience lessons upon me? The fear of that happening makes my welts throb even stronger, so I grasp hold of the sheet on top of me and clutch onto my cover for dear life. I only breathe again when I realize there are two sets of footsteps - soft tip taps from a pair of heels, and ungraceful thumps from a pair of heavy boots.

“Two minutes,” I hear Pru whisper, as though she’s conspiring with someone. “Any longer and he’ll get suspicious from the cameras in the hallway. I’ll wait by the door, just in case.”

No one replies, but I hear the door close again, this time being ever so much softer than when Oliver stormed out of here not long ago. I can’t move to find out who she’s talking to, but when I see a long pair of legs covered in black cargo trousers, I can instantly tell who it is. The knowledge of which has me releasing whimpers I have been trying so hard to keep inside. Leo’s broad figure soon crouches down before me with a soft expression and a hint of tears in his big bear eyes. My eyes are wet and puffy, and I’m still holding onto the sheet against my mouth for fear of letting all the hurt in if I let go.

Our eyes continue to search each other’s for a moment or two, until eventually, he lifts his giant hand to stroke damp strands of hair away from my face. He blows caution to the wind and leans in to rest his forehead against mine, an action which is enough to undo me altogether. Realizing we don’t have a lot of time together, he glances down my body and shuts his eyes, his jaw clenching up tight as my limbs still tremble in the aftermath of Oliver’s punishment.

“Are you decent?” he whispers.

I shake my head, feeling even more ashamed because of it, humiliated by my nudity in front of him. He nods slowly in understanding, then gestures toward Pru with just his eyes. She shuffles over with her barely-there footsteps.

“Mind if we take a look, sweetheart?” I hear Pru ask awkwardly.

Closing my eyes, I nod while Leo continues to hold my hand more tightly, keeping his eyes firmly on mine as Pru lifts the sheet away from my legs and exposes the welts to both the cold and her gaze. Her gasp travels straight through me, and, once again, Leo tightens his grip on my hand.

“Oh, sweet baby girl!” she mutters to herself.

“Don’t,” I cry, “please don’t tell me how awful it is. Leo, please tell me something…sweet. I don’t want to cry anymore. I need something good. Please?”

It takes him a few moments to snap out of his fury, but when he does, he loosens his hold of my hand and smiles softly. He looks like he does when we’re taking one of our walks through the park.

“When Max was three, he couldn’t say ‘cucumber’, instead, he said coobumbers,” he says with a flash of his teeth, smiling over the memory.

I return the facial expression over his jovial anecdote, relieved that his story is half-working in trying to cheer me up; to try and relax me.

“I’m afraid of spiders,” he laughs softly, “and if I see one, I army roll it right out of there, no joke!” This time I laugh a little with him and notice my legs have finally begun to still. “I own a neon green mankini, which I wore to a Halloween party one night,” he says, now blushing a little, “my balls had been hanging out the side of it for about an hour before someone had the heart to tell me.”

Pru tuts from the end of the bed as she readies a cloth with cold water, but I let out a laugh that begins to warm me from the inside. Leo chuckles too, with his eyes crinkling in pure joy when he sees me returning to something a little more human.

“I’ll go and tell your boy you’re still alive, just give me the word and I’ll do it!” he whispers with his face turning serious and his eyes telling me he’s being more than genuine with this offer.

The urge to tell him to go and find my white knight, my Xander, is so strong, I have to swallow back a few times before I eventually sigh and shake my head.

“No, I’m the sacrifice here,” I mutter sadly, “I’m doing this to give him and our daughter a life out of hiding. To keep them safe from all of this! I can’t risk them taking her; can’t risk what they’d do to him.”

“I understand, Beth,” he mutters as he looks down to our clasped hands, “I just wish I could do something, anything?”

“There is,” I tell him as I place my other hand on his cheek and rub away the tear falling into his whiskers.

“Anything, sweetheart, anything!” His face is dead serious and with a strong look of determination written across his manly features.

“Do you think you could find out what he called her? I just want…Ineedto know her name, please?”

“It’s done!” he says with a firm nod of his head, and I smile in thanks to him.

“I’m sorry, Leo, Beth, but two minutes have been and gone. If he doesn’t see you on your post outside, he’s going to get suspicious. I’ll look after her, Leo, I promise.”

Leo glances over his shoulder at a worried-looking Pru, then nods slowly before returning his gaze to me. I smile and mouth ‘thank you’ to him.

“One day, sweetheart, remember? I promise!”

He kisses me on the cheek before reluctantly getting up to go back into the hallway.

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