Page 36 of Enter the Lair
Sarah swallowed.She’d expected the answer.She didn’t expect the sadness combined with relief.“Was Racheal...alright...I mean, physically.”
“I saw a bruise on her once.I asked her about it.She seemed distressed that I cared.She tried to hide her tears from the man, but I think he knew.”
“Racheal was...I meanisa good person.She would never have done this willingly.”I never thought I’d beg forgiveness from someone who attacked me.Devon shifted uncomfortably beside Sarah.He didn’t like that she was distressed.She felt his need to protect her.Help her.It only made what she had to do worse.
Cyril nodded.“I know.Racheal was forced to take fluid from my spine regularly.One day she refused, saying they had taken too much the day before.The man said if she didn’t, she knew what Gerald would do to Sarah.”
Sarah closed her eyes and let the shame consume her.She deserved it.Racheal didn’t have anyone else.Sarah was the only one who could be used against her.
Devon rubbed her back.“Cyril, you never mentioned Gerald before.Why?”There was no condemnation in his voice.
“I don’t remember things like I use to.I need something to dislodge the memories now.It’s like being in a fog that only occasionally clears...”His head drooped.“I know I’m letting you down.”
Devon stood with his hands on the bars.“You haven’t, Cyril.None of this is your fault.We’re going to catch them.We’ll find a way to make this right.”Sarah felt his desperation.Whatever he was feeling from Cyril concerned him.
Cyril didn’t raise his head.“There’s no making the things I did right.”Although he whispered the words, they screamed in Sarah’s soul.This man was brutalized by her friends.Her family.
“I’m truly sorry, Cyril.This wasn’t Racheal’s fault, but I assure you that the parties involved will be brought to justice.”She hoped he heard the conviction in her voice.
Cyril rubbed his forehead.“I never knew the doctor’s name was Racheal.”
Sarah blinked away her tears.“It is.”
“I heard the man talking on the phone once.He mentioned Racheal.”Cyril closed his eyes.The effort to remember evident by the lines that creased in his face.
Sarah leaned forward.“What did he say?”
Cyril opened his eyes.“He said there was an incident last night, that Racheal attempted to commit suicide, but he took steps to assure it didn’t happen again.”
Sarah couldn’t have stopped herself if she tried.She was up the steps from the cellar running in the forest before her actions registered.Devon was behind her, but he didn’t try to stop her.She reached a small grove of sapling trees before she dropped to the ground and screamed.She had nowhere to go.No one to turn to.Her whole life was a lie.And Racheal was paying for her mistakes.
She hadn’t let her emotions show like this since her mother died.Now she couldn’t contain them.Her tears flowed from her red swollen eyes.Her hands clutched the wet moss-covered ground.She felt minimal comfort from the icy pain that bit into her fingertips as she clutched the damp earth.
She didn’t stop Devon when he kneeled down and brought her close to his body.She felt his need to comfort her even though she didn’t deserve it.
She looked into his amber eyes.She felt his cougar.Its need to protect her as great as the man that held her.She silently apologized to her own feline.The one she could feel forming.Two bodies.Four beings.Sarah would destroy all of them.
* * *
Though they had returned to Devon’s home, Sarah was restless.She paced his living room floor while he watched her in silence.“When can we organize Racheal’s rescue?”
“Hunter will text me as soon as everyone has reported back.No one in the family will make a move until we know everyone is safe.Besides, we will need everyone to rescue Racheal.”
She couldn’t wait.She knew Devon would never let her go alone, but she wasn’t waiting any longer.I have to get out of here.As soon as she had the thought.She felt the sliding feeling under her skin.She became aware of Devon’s scent.He was beside her before she registered, he had moved.
His hand cupped her cheek.“Sarah?”
She felt his soft caress and nuzzled his hand, pressing closer to him in the process.He kissed her cheek, intensifying the potency of his scent.She rubbed her cheek against his neck before stepping back.“What’s wrong with ME?”She hadn’t intended to say it aloud.
“This is the way of mates, especially during transformation.It’s perfectly natural.”His hand ran down her back and cupped her ass.“And frustrating.I’ve had a permanent hard-on since the moment I met you.”His eyes flared with lust.
Her mind was fraught with indecision and chaos.Her body had already made up its mind.Her mouth was on his before she could think twice about what she was doing.She grasped fistfuls of his hair, holding him to her as her tongue dueled with his.Images formed in her mind.Things she had never thought of or done before.Instinct took over.
Sarah slid seductively down his body.Her lips nipped his skin as she kneeled.Her hands unzipped his jeans, sliding them off his hips as her tongue lapped over his skin.Her tongue did a foray over the head of his penis before sucking him deep into her mouth.Her hands continued to roam, memorizing the feel and texture of his skin.Her lips locked around him in a sensual slide that had him groaning in pleasure.
Devon yanked her up.“Enough!”His tone was guttural.His desire burning through her, hotter than her own.
He backed her up to the sitting table in front of his main window.She knew she should feel embarrassed that she was taking her clothes off in front of an uncovered window, instead, she sat up on the wooden top so Devon could pull her pants off.He kneeled between her legs looking up at her.The warmth of his breath on her heated core excited her further.