Broken Road (49 page)

“What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath and said, “I’m so scared. I don’t want to be alone.” She began to cry again and Jarrod slowly turned her so that she now faced him. He pulled her into the safety and warmth of his arms and held her while he stroked her hair and laid soft kisses on her head. He felt her tension ease away and her breathing slow down to an almost normal rate.

“Are you better now?” he asked, concerned. She nodded and smiled shyly.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be,” he responded. “I told you to call me if you needed me. Good girl for listening.”

At the mention of the words “good girl,” she tensed up and tried to pull out of their embrace, but Jarrod held her still.

“Don’t say that. Don’t call me that.”

“What? Good girl?”

“I said stop,” she said, raising her voice and finally pulling away from him brusquely.

“Angel, what’s wrong? What’s the matter? Tell me.”

She turned her back to him, not able to face him in her humiliation. “
He
kept telling me to be a good girl, and if I wasn’t…if I wasn’t…”

“If you weren’t, what happened?” he asked uneasily.

“If I wasn’t, he would hit me…hard,” she said tearfully. “I tried to be good. I swear I did. I tried so hard not to flinch when he would touch me, but I was scared. Every time he touched me, I’d cringe and he’d get…he’d get so mad.” She slowly turned to face him, but kept her head lowered.

“He did rape you, didn’t he?” he asked furiously.

Looking up, she said, “No. No, I swear, he didn’t. He would touch my face or try to kiss me and I hated it, so I’d turn away and that would infuriate him. But I swear, I wasn’t raped. Please believe me.”

“I do,” he said as he pulled her back into his arms. “I do believe you, baby. I’m sorry. It’s just that every time I picture that ass hurting you, I wish it was me who had pulled the trigger of the gun that killed him.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true. If I’d been the one to do it, then I think I’d feel some sort of relief.”

“No. In time, you would eventually feel regret. I’m glad you weren’t the one to kill him. But at least you got the chance to beat the living crap out of him first.”

“Yeah, that did feel good,” he said, smiling at her. He led her toward the bed so she could sit down. Her room was quite small, having only one queen-size bed, a small desk, and one armchair. The television was on the dresser directly in front of the bed, with a small mini-bar next to it. He walked over to the mini-bar and took out a bottle of water and handed it to her.

She shook her head and said, “Are you crazy? That’s a seven-dollar bottle of water. I could buy six bottles for that price at the grocery store across the street.”

“Well, I’m not going across the street to get a bottle of water, so here. My treat,” he said, smiling at her. She took the bottle, opened it, and took a long swallow. She eyed the bottle and said, “I still have about five bucks’ worth left.”

He chuckled and said, “I’m glad to see you’re joking around. Feel better?”

“I always feel better when you’re with me. I’m sorry I bothered you. I have to get used to being alone, but it’s my first time since…well, you know.”

Sinking down onto his haunches, he took her hands and asked, “What triggered it?”

“You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Try me.”

“I went to make sure the door was locked, and I looked down at the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign. Suddenly I went into panic mode. I thought to myself that I should place it on the outside, so if somebody wanted to break into the room to steal something, they would know someone was in here and it would stop them. Then I thought, well, if I do and they’re looking to hurt someone rather than just rob the place, then they’ll know I’m in here and—”

She was rapidly spewing these thoughts out to Jarrod, and he noticed she was precipitately becoming anxious again, so he cut her off by saying, “I get the picture.”

“Crazy, huh?” she asked timidly.

“Nope. You’ve been through a lot. It’s going to take awhile before you begin to feel safe and secure again. But you will. I promise. You’re like a flower in the rain. Every day you’ll grow stronger and more resilient.”

“Like you after the accident?”

He nodded and said with a slight grin, “Yeah, I suppose so. Although I’m not too keen on the idea of being compared to an itty-bitty flower.”

“Sorry, macho man. You’re like those big trees that grow in California. With time you grow stronger and tougher. Better?” she asked.

“Yup. Much better,” he responded as he jokingly flexed his biceps.

She laughed and asked, “What are those trees called? I forget.”

“I don’t remember. Alec would know. He’s good at that kind of stuff. He’s like a walking encyclopedia of useless information. Dante used to call him Professor Wentworth,” he said. As he thought of his friend, he face became somber.

Angel quickly noticed the change in him and said, “I wish I had met him.”

“Yeah. You two would have gotten along great.”

“You miss him a lot, don’t you?” she asked sympathetically.

He nodded and said, “You have no idea. He was like a brother to me.” He smiled tentatively at her and then said, “Alright. Let’s change the subject before I get all wishy-washy and you have to resort back to comparing me to a flower. I don’t want to lose my macho man status.”

She chuckled at his feeble attempt to lighten the mood and said, “Thank you for coming to my rescue. Again. I’m fine now. You should go back to your room so you can get some rest. Tomorrow’s a big day, so you need to be well rested and in top form.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying with you tonight.”

“No. You can’t. Your parents would freak if they found out.”

“First of all, they won’t find out. I’ll sneak out early in the morning before they wake up. Second, they just wouldn’t freak out. Angel, it’s different for a guy than it is for a girl. They wouldn’t be disappointed or shocked if they knew we were together. I suppose they expect it.”

“Still, they’ll think badly of me.”

“No, they won’t. Besides, like I said, they won’t even know. As far as they’re concerned, they know you have your own room. It’s not like we’re going around announcing anything.”

“What about Alec? He’ll know something’s up if you don’t return to the room tonight.”

“He won’t say a word.”

He moved to sit beside her on the bed and turned to look at her. Mesmerized by her beauty, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. She responded immediately, searching, grasping for more intimate contact. He gently lowered her into a lying position and positioned himself next to her. She was starving for contact.

Angel was already breathing heavily and pulling him closer and tighter to her body. Her hands found the broadness of his shoulders as they crept up to encircle his neck. As tenderness merged with passion, he threaded his fingers through her soft, silky hair. He laid himself atop her, trying not to press his full weight upon her. Their tongues danced to a soaring tempo, their kisses rendering them senseless, all the while sending rushes of desire and fervor throughout their bodies. Jarrod slowed his pace by softly lifting his lips off hers and tenderly raining gentle kisses upon her neck and lower as his hands lovingly roamed her body under his fingertips.

“Take your top off,” he said, and she obediently followed his instructions. He stared at her, in awe at the beauty of her naked breasts. “Everything about you is perfect,” he said. He continued to explore her body with his hands, causing shivers to flow through her. His lips followed the path of wherever his hands had been. Nipping, licking, and gently biting. She felt as if her body were on fire; the heat was so intense, she thought she’d explode.

“Jarrod…Jarrod?”

“Hmm?” he asked as he began to pull her lower clothing off.

“We need protection.”

Jarrod felt as though a bucket of ice water had been unceremoniously dumped over his head. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her in pent-up frustration. He began to rub his face.

“I don’t have any,” he said miserably. Why, for the love of God, did things always go wrong when they were so close to consummating their love?

“I do.”

“You do?” he asked, shocked. “How? Why would you—”

“Ile put condoms in my handbag, just in case.”

“God bless her,” he said as he jumped up from the bed to retrieve her handbag. “I owe her big time for this.”

Angel laughed as she sat up, not the least bit embarrassed by her half-nakedness. As he lay down next to her, she softly asked, “Would it be alright with you if we turned off the lights? Just this one time. I’m a little nervous, and I—”

“Whatever you want. I want this to be perfect for you, and I promise to take it slow and do my best to not hurt you. I love you,” he said as he bent his head down and kissed her again. Then he leaned over her and turned off the lights. “I love you here…and here…and here…and here…,” he said after every kiss he placed on her body, leaving a trail of passion and lust.

They made love for the first time that night. Angel had never felt so loved or desired, or more beautiful in her life. Jarrod had vowed to make it perfect for her and he had more than surpassed his objective. Although he was not able to prevent the quick, sharp pain she felt when he seized her innocence, he did his best to ease it by comforting her with tenderhearted words of love.

Chapter Forty-Six

A
ngel awoke at five a.m. and turned to look at the man she loved lying beside her, naked and beautiful.
He was exquisite looking
, she thought. She placed her hand gently on his back, feeling the sinewy muscles along them. So strong.

Jarrod opened his eyes slowly as he felt her touch. “Again?” he said happily, but quite shocked. She smiled and said, “No. It’s time for you to go.”

“You’re tossing me out?” he said groggily. “Damn. I feel so cheap and used.”

She laughed and smacked him on the back while saying “That’s right, mister. I’ve had my way with you, and now I’m done, so go.”

He stood up and stretched in his naked glory while Angel gazed at him in utter admiration of his toned and firm body.

“Very nice,” she said while smiling alluringly.

“Oh, no you don’t. Don’t you dare look at me in that sexy way. I’ll never leave if you keep that up.”

She laughed again and said, “Get dressed. Hurry up.”

He did as she said while she wrapped herself in a bathrobe. When he was done, she walked him to the door, where he kissed her long and hard.

“I’ll see you downstairs at nine thirty for breakfast, okay?”

“I’ll be there. But we better call down to the chef and forewarn him to cook a lot today. I worked up a tremendous appetite last night.”

“Me too.” He hesitated and then said somberly “Are you okay? I mean, I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly last night.”

She smiled at him and said, “If you did, I wouldn’t have asked for seconds, would I?”

“Or thirds,” he said jokingly.

“You’re the one who asked for thirds.”

“Ahh, but you were more than willing!”

“Go,” she said laughingly as she pushed him out the door.

“I love you,” he whispered as he leaned forward and kissed her again.

“I love you more.”

The Wentworths and Angel met for breakfast at precisely nine thirty. Jarrod and Angel were not kidding when they joked about having large appetites. They ordered their meals and yet continually picked from each other’s plates as well. In addition Jarrod ordered extra sides of bacon, sausage, and toast, which they quickly polished off. When Alec attempted to grab a slice of bacon, Jarrod smacked his hand with his fork, never even bothering to look up when doing so.

After breakfast they decided to head over to the ballpark a few hours early. Jarrod needed to warm up his arm after not practicing at all the past week. He grabbed his gear and as they headed toward the rented mini-van, he whispered in Angel’s ear, “I need a few minutes with my mom, okay?”

“Sure. Is everything alright?”

“Yup. I just need to talk to her about something that’s bothering me about Alec.” He quickly gave her a peck on the lips and ran over to his mother, who was standing in the middle of the parking lot, looking for the key to the car in her handbag.