Twisted Perfection (Rosemary Beach #5)(50)

“Did no one see she was unwell?” Woods asked as his thumb traced circles on my hand.

“No. No one saw us at all. No one knew I existed. We didn’t leave the house. Ever. My mother believed there was danger outside. She was keeping us safe.”

Woods sucked in a breath and I waited for the questions. The ones I’d answered a million times since her suicide.

“Where did you get food?”

“There was a local grocery store that delivered it. She called and ordered it.”

“Where did you get money?”

“My father had a very good life insurance policy. My mother sold the house in Nebraska and used her profit to buy one much smaller in a cheaper location so she could pay for it in cash.”

“School?”

“I was home schooled.”

“You never left your house? Ever?”

This was what was so hard for people to accept. It was a foreign idea to them and it had been my reality.

“My mother suffered from a severe case of agoraphobia. Because of mental illness ran in her family it made her case so much worse. The death of my brother and father triggered it and she became desperate to protect us. To the extent of taking away my life. I knew nothing of the world until I was old enough to sneak out at night. Braden, she’s my best friend and the reason I’m on this quest to experience life, lived next door. She was curious about us because she and her parents had realized we never left the house.

The night I snuck out the first time she saw me because she had been watching my house at night when she was in bed to see if we ever left. She was convinced we were vampires and she wanted to prove it to her parents. I didn’t get far. I only stood in my front yard and looked up at the moon and touched the grass. Simple things I’d always wanted to do. Braden came out and talked to me that night still thinking I was possibly a vampire. Our friendship grew over the years and my sneaking out changed and got more intense as I got older. Braden knew more about me than anyone. She was the only person who really knew I existed. She also knew I worried about losing my mom if anyone ever found out. So she kept my secret.”

I couldn’t tell him anymore. I needed to stop. This was enough. The other was too dark and it hurt too much.

“Where’s your mom?”

“She’s dead.”

He didn’t reply. His arms tightened their hold on me.

“I can’t talk about it anymore tonight. That’s enough.”

He didn’t argue. He just continued to hold me. We sat there in silence for a long time until my eyes got heavy and I slowly drifted off to sleep.





Woods



There were no words. I had held Della all night and she hadn’t woken up screaming one time. Now that I knew the horror she’d lived through, I wondered what she was dreaming that caused her to scream. I knew it had to do with her mother. There was more to that story than she’d told me but for now that was all she wanted me to know. It was enough.

I watched her sleep peacefully beside me as the sun rose and the early morning daylight began to dance across the water. Having her in my room and in my bed was perfect. Nothing had ever been this perfect. But my chest was tight and my heart felt heavy. There was so much pain and emotional abuse that Della had suffered and I wasn’t sure how to help her heal.

She stirred in my arms and I kissed the tip of her nose. She was mine. I would take care of her. I wanted to help her forget all this pain and darkness in her eyes. Her long lashes fluttered as her eyes opened and she looked up at me.

“Good morning,” I told her as she stretched in my arms with a sleepy smile.

“I don’t think I’ve slept that hard in a very long time,” she said then stifled a yawn.

“It’s because I’m so damn comfortable,” I teased.

“I agree. All this softness is comfy,” she said and grinned wickedly at me.

“Softness? I’ll show you softness,” I said flipping her on her back to press my morning hard-on against the crotch of her panties. “There’s nothing soft about that.”

She made a purring sound and opened her legs so that I’d fit comfortably between them. “No, nothing soft at all,” she agreed and lifted her hips to rub against me.

I could feel the wet silk of her panties through my underwear and I groaned in pleasure. She was already wet.

“I was gonna get up and make you breakfast,” I said as she continued to rub her damp * against my cock.

“Hmmm, that’s sweet. Why don’t you make love to me first,” she said, reaching for the bottom of my tee shirt I’d dressed her in last night before bringing her to bed. I’d also taken the liberty of taking off her bra because those couldn’t be comfortable to sleep in. This morning both round globes bounced freely in my face and I forgot about the breakfast and my good intentions. Even the words ‘make love to me’ that had startled me at first no longer mattered. Della was in my bed and she was getting naked. She started shimmying out of her panties when I decided to catch up and jerked my shirt off and then pulled my boxers off and tossed them aside.

Della opened her legs and smiled naughtily up at me. “Put it in bare. You can pull out,” she said, lifting her hips up to me in invitation. Pulling out wasn’t always safe but f*ck me I didn’t care right now. I wanted inside her without a barrier and the sweet nectar dribbling out of her opening was more than I could handle. I pressed her knees open and plunged in.