Secrets Of The Alpha 2: (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (His Secrets Series) (6 page)

“You could have gotten seriously hurt,” he said as he held the side of my face.

“I wasn’t going to leave you to die here,” I said again.

I know I had promised once that I wouldn’t put myself in harm’s way for his sake, but this was different. I would have left if I knew that he could handle himself, but I was a hundred percent sure that if I had left him there, I would have been called by the cops or something to identify his body or, even worse, have body parts sent to me one at a time.

I looked at him and shook my head.

“I wasn’t going to leave you,” I said again. “You mean… you mean the world to me Vincent, and the thought that I might lose you…” My voice trailed off as a tear rolled down my cheek. “I cannot lose you,” I finally said. He looked at me and brushed the tear off.

“It’s okay. I’m here now,” he said in a soft voice. I nodded as another tear rolled down the other cheek.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he looked at me. I nodded, and he held my face in his hands before he pressed his lips into my sweaty forehead.

“Vincent…” I started, but he pressed a finger to my lips.

“Baby, you cannot trust these people.” I nodded. “The things they were saying…the lies…” I nodded again. There was no way I could believe the things the woman had said especially after Vincent spared them.

“But, Winnie, some of what that woman said was true.”

I felt my heart skip a beat when he said that. I immediately thought of the family the interrogator had mentioned. The three beautiful kids and the wife. I was clouded with the million thoughts and possibilities that were running through my mind. What if what the interrogator said was true? Had he killed his family?

“The butler, Lou… I did kill him,” he said.

I looked at him and felt the disappointment growing. I couldn’t help but wonder, was he everything I thought he wasn’t? Had I fallen for the wrong guy? The dangerous guy?

“I did it because he was one of them,” he said pointing to one of the bodies on the floor. I frowned and shook my head.

“I don’t understand,” I said in a soft voice.

“Remember when you said that Lou Jameson was being a little too thorough with everything? Well, as it turned out, he was doing all that to avert suspicion. He was always snooping around and listening in on my private meetings,” he said. My mind flashed back to that day I found Lou Jameson outside Vincent’s room with his ear pressed to the door. I looked at him and gasped in shock.

“I didn’t tell you because… you had grown so close to him and I knew that this information would disappoint you. I didn’t want you to be hurt like that,” he said again.

I felt a little silly for having trusted the butler so much. How could I not have seen it? He was sucking up to me so that he could throw me off his scent. I shook my head and sighed. How could I have been so naïve? I was probably the reason why we were there in the first place. Maybe if I had smoked him out earlier, he wouldn’t have gained access to have enough information that would result in our abduction… or whatever the hell this ordeal had been. I had a tear rolling down my cheek again.

“Hey, everything is okay. It’s all over now,” Vincent said as he looked into my eyes.

“I’m sorry. I should have seen it,” I said in a soft voice. He shook his head.

“Don’t be.” He draped an arm around my shoulders.

“What about your family? I didn’t even know you were once married, Vincent.” He looked into my eyes and forced out a tired smile.

“I promise I will tell you about that, but not right now.” I shrugged and opened my mouth to speak but he pressed a finger on my lips.

“That’s a story for later, Winnie. All I am asking you to do is trust me.” My heart was racing, but there was calmness in me. I did trust him. I trusted him with my life. I nodded.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” He took my hand in his and led me out, but walking was a problem. The pain in my ankle was killing me.

“I can’t… I can’t walk,” I said wincing in pain. “My ankle,” I said in a whisper. He looked at me and nodded.

“Put your arm around my neck,” he said.

The tone in his voice was bossy, commanding even. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t think he could manage to carry me in his state, but the authoritative tone made me do exactly as he told me. He picked me up in his arms and carried me outside. I closed my eyes when I smelled the clean evening air. It seemed like forever since I took a breath of the fresh air thanks to being shackled in a god forsaken room for what seemed like an eternity. I leaned my head against his shoulder as we made our way to freedom. Every so often, I would lift my head and look around, scared that we might not have been as lucky as I thought, and he noticed it too.

“We are safe, baby. No one’s following us,” he said in a low tone. I raised my head and looked around again.

“I know…I’m just…scared,” I whispered.

“Don’t be. I will protect you, Winnie. I will always protect you,” he said.

I nodded and leaned against his shoulder as he carried me home. As soon as we got there, he gently put me down and looked around. The place had not changed since the last time we were there, the day the interrogator and her goons came for us. I was still looking around when Vincent walked to the big screen door. I watched him lock it and then press a concealed button behind the curtain that brought down an iron gate sealing the screen door. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. I didn’t even know that existed.

“Has that always been there?” I asked.

“I had it installed after the Nathan Hughes incident,” he said.

“But I never even saw the workers…” I started before my voice trailed off. This was not the time for this conversation. Vincent turned to look at me when he had secured the screen door.

“Get the doors… windows, everything!”

He was running around locking everything he could, and I was doing the same. The adrenaline that was flowing through me at that moment was masking the pain in my ankle. I found myself double checking the windows and doors he had already locked, and every so often, I was looking outside the window.

Maybe we should get drapes or something, I thought as I looked at the naked windows. Usually I would have seen the beauty in a ceiling to floor window, but now all I could see was the million chances strangers and predators had to spy on us. I was breathing hard and fast as I slowly sunk to the ground. All the adrenaline that had been flowing through me was no longer there. Everything was now slowly sinking in. I had literally just escaped death by a whisker. I didn’t have much, but the little I had, I could have lost it. I could have lost Vincent. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as Vincent walked towards me.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he looked at me. He squatted in front of me and looked into my eyes.

“Hey…no more tears baby. Don’t do that,” he said in a soft voice as he used his thumb to brush my tears off. I closed my eyes trying hard not to let the tears roll down, but it was like the more I tried, the more I cried. Vincent took my hands in his and lifted them to his lips before he helped me up.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get cleaned up,” he said in a whisper as he pulled me to his warmth. He planted a soft kiss on top of my head as he helped me up the stairs. It seemed like forever before we finally got to his room.

I was feeling completely pathetic as we walked into the room. I had never been this vulnerable especially not in front of Vincent. He had always known me to be a strong person, but now he was looking at a scared mess.

“It’s alright baby. I’m right here. It’s all over,” he said as he gently ran his hands up and down my arms. I nodded as another tear rolled down one cheek.

“I will never let anyone hurt you,” he whispered as he slowly undid the buttons of my plaid shirt. “I’m so sorry baby,” he murmured.

He was now helping me out of my tights. I put my hands on his chest and slowly let them run down to his waist. His belt was already unbuckled. All I had to do was to pull it from the belt loops. He looked at me as I pulled his zipper down and then his boxer shorts. I tried avoiding looking at his semi-hard cock and stood up with my hands on his shoulders. I was breathing hard as he slipped a hand behind me to undo the clasp on my bra. I gasped silently when the bra fell to the floor. He then took my hand and began leading me to the bathroom.

When he started the shower, he pulled me under it, and somehow, all the fear I had, the shock, and the panic were fading. He had his arms around me holding me tightly. I didn’t know how long we had been standing under the running water before he reached for the shampoo and squeezed a generous amount onto his hand.

“Do you want me to do it for you?” He asked as he looked at me. I nodded without turning around.

“Close your eyes,” he said in a soft voice.

I did as he asked and leaned against his muscular chest as he worked up a lather in my hair. It felt good having him rub my scalp. This was the first time in a long time I was actually relaxed.

“Tilt your head up,” he said in a low voice. I did as he asked, and he stroked my head. I could feel the warm water trickling down my scalp.

“There. All done.” His voice was soft and calm. I opened my eyes, and he handed me the shower gel.

I reached for a loofah and stepped away from him before I began scrubbing down. It was not until then I realized just how much I needed that shower. It was like having a nice long drink of water on a hot humid day. By the time I was done, Vincent was desperately trying to finish up. I could see him reaching for his back, and judging by the way the guards had gone to town on his back with their whips, I knew he was in agony.

“Let me,” I said softly. He shook his head and forced a smile. “Baby, please.”

My words might have been pleading, but my tone definitely wasn’t. I looked at him and saw the resistance written on his face. He eventually turned around, and I gasped. I knew it was bad; after all, I had seen the guards have their sadistic fun at his expense, but I never once thought that it was this bad.

“Oh my God, Vincent,” I said in a whisper.

“Don’t worry about me, baby,” he said softly.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. I was worried I would hurt him. And there was also the obvious risk of hurting him even more than he already was at that moment. He could sense my hesitation because my hand was hovering on his back for the longest time. He turned around and looked at me.

“Hey,” he said in a soft voice as he held me close. “Do you remember last time you were this worried, and I told you not to?” I nodded. “I healed then, and I will heal today… a little later, but it will happen.”

I looked up at him, the running water blurring my vision. I nodded. He held my hand and kissed it lightly before he turned around again. I walked out of the bathroom and walked to the towel rack where I got a washcloth before I walked back to the bathroom. I wet it and gently patted his back. He would wince every so often, and I hated myself for causing him pain.

When we got out of the bathroom, he gave me one of Ophagia’s concoctions and asked me to rub it all over his back. I looked at him as he lay face down on the bed. I was the only one who had bothered to cover up in a bathrobe; he was still in the nude, and for the first time since I knew him, I was not thinking of jumping his bones when I saw his naked body.

“Don’t worry. You won’t hurt me,” he said in a soft voice. I looked at him and raised one eyebrow over the other.

“Should I call Ophagia?” I asked as he lay down on the bed. He looked at me over his shoulder and shook his head.

“No, you can handle it,” he said softly.

I looked at him and gently applied the ointment. By the way he was relaxed, I could guess that the ointment had some kind of cooling effect. He turned around when I was done and looked at me. I looked down at him and shrugged.