Protege(87)

She was actually curious and a touch jealous, wishing she could feel what women like Sadie experienced. It seemed so intense and drugging, like nothing Collette had ever known.

Damien removed his belt, and for once she made out his words. “This will teach you . . .” Her attention clung to his promise, suddenly obsessed with what might have transpired earlier between the two. Her mind unraveled multiple possibilities with no clue which was closest to the truth.

The sharp clap of leather to flesh echoed, as if far away, and suddenly children were laughing and her mind was in a different place.

“Come on, Collette, it’s just over here.”

She chased Jason through the brambles as the tart scent of cherries thickened in the warm summer air. He climbed over the fence and a young Collette bit her lip, knowing they weren’t allowed this far from the house. But as Jason disappeared between rows of red blooming cherry trees, she feared she’d lose him.

Her foot pressed into the rail and she hoisted her weight over the fence. As she ran, her ribbon came loose and her curls broke free. Her neck moistened with sweat under the hot sun and the weight of her hair as she chased after Jason.

He jumped out and caught her arm, spinning her to a halt as they crashed on the ground. He grinned, holding his body over hers. “Let me see them.”

She shoved him and laughed. “Jason, get off me.”

He laughed. “Not until you show me.”

She’d let him get his wish once, and now it was a part of their daily game. Sighing, she said, “Fine, but you’re crushing me.”

He eased back, still holding her to the ground with the weight of his hips. She lifted her shirt.

“You have the prettiest titties I ever seen, Collette. Let me suck on them.”

“Ewww, no!” She rolled him off her. Showing was one thing, but she’d never let anyone touch her there before, especially not with their mouth.

“You’re no fun.”

She glanced around, disoriented by the endless rows of cherry trees. “Which way is the house?”

“Home’s that way, but we can’t go until we’ve eaten some.”

Collette stepped back, looking around for the ribbon that fell from her hair. “That’s stealing.”

Jason stood and plucked a plump berry off the branch, snapping some green leaves with it. “Nah. Look at all these. Mr. McElroy ain’t gonna find out.” He grinned. “Show me your titties again and I’ll let you have one.”

She rolled her eyes and glanced at the trees, snapping a cherry off a branch for herself. “No.”

They gorged themselves on cherries so long she was sure they’d be shitting pink for a week. They were walking back when all of the sudden there was a shout, followed by the bark of what sounded like a rabid dog.

“Run!” Jason shouted, and Collette’s knees pumped as fast as they could.

The dogs—there seemed to be a few of them—chased them, barking like a pack of hellhounds out for blood.

“Come on! We’re almost there!” he yelled, but she couldn’t see him.

Her heart beat in her ears as her breath sawed out of her. Her legs grew tired and clumsy, but the dogs were getting closer. She could hear the snarls and snuffles of the beasts in between their incensed growls.

When she spotted the fence her legs pumped faster. An ugly black mutt came at her, snapping its jaws in the air. She screamed and hurled herself at the fence, her foot coming down on a cracked rail and splitting the beam in two.

She fell to the grass, certain she was about to be eaten, and then Jason’s shadow fell over her and he used a voice she’d never heard him use before. “Stop!” The madness stilled and the dogs silenced for a brief moment. “Get up slowly and get behind me, Collette,” he whispered.

Trembling, she crawled up on her knees, now scuffed and stained with grass, and slowly got behind him. Her posture was hunched as she stood, as close to being invisible as she could get.

Jason reached in his pocket and pulled out a baseball, lobbing it into the cherry trees. “Go get it!”

The dogs chased after the ball and disappeared. He turned and looked at her. “You’re a wreck.”

She couldn’t talk. All she could do was look at him in awe, her hero. In that moment she would have shown him anything, but he didn’t seem interested right then.

That night, all through dinner, Collette watched Jason eat. She watched the way he spoke to his mother and how he resembled his father. He wasn’t the same person he was that morning, now that he’d saved her. He was different. Stronger.

After dinner there was a knock at the door and a noticeable shift in the atmosphere. When the door closed, she and Jason waited in the den as his father returned.

“What is it, dear?” his mother asked.

His father slowly turned around, a scowl darkening his face. In his hands he held Jason’s baseball and her hair ribbon. “Did you trespass on Mr. McElroy’s property today, boy?”

Jason was silent, his chest moving with each deep breath.

His father looked at her. “And this belongs to you, I suspect.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“You two trespassed, stole from his crop, and broke his fence. What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“It was my fault,” Jason said.

His father’s face showed deep disappointment. “On the chair.”