Savage Cinderella (24 page)

In spite of the voices around her, Brinn was
distracted by a stabbing shot of needles that pricked her spine.
She looked over her shoulder. The men from the lineup were filing
down the hall in the opposite direction and as he came out of the
room, Roy Stockman looked down the narrow corridor, met her eyes,
and let a wide, evil grin cross his face, a facade of charm showing
even from a distance. He mouthed the words, but Brinn heard it as
if he had whispered in her ear. "I will find you. I promise."

Bad Dreams and Lullabies

Brinn woke screaming into the darkness, her
body rigid with terror. The light flicked on and her mother was at
her side before she could register where she was or what was
happening. Every cell in her body seized with the dread that
consumed her. Uncontrollable sobs broke the surface.

“
Shhh. It’s all right,
Brinn. I’m here, Angel.” Her mother held her, rocked back and
forth, and whispered assurances.

“
Will it ever stop?” Brinn
sobbed, her limbs aching and her stomach clenched so tight she
could barely breathe.

“
Tell me what you were
dreaming.” Brinn rocked in her mother’s arms, a slow and soothing
rhythm. Warmth wrapped around her like a comforting
blanket.

“
I-I-I can’t.” The words
shuddered and shook as she sniffled.

“
Letting it out is the only
way to make it stop. You can’t keep it all bottled up.”

If only it were that simple. Just let it out
in words and have all the pain and torment disappear from her mind.
She wished her mother was right, but Brinn wondered if she would
ever be free of the sense of loss she felt or the paralyzing fear
that gripped her in the night. How could she make anyone
understand?

“
Sweetie, I know it’s hard,
but you need to talk about it. Trust me, please. I think it will
help.” Shimmering blue eyes looked down into her face, confident
and strong.

Her mother was a doctor, a healer, someone
she respected. Maybe she was right. Talking about it might bring
the horrible memories to the surface enough that they could escape
the confines of her dreams.

“
I’ll try.” She sat up
straighter, pulling away from her mother’s embrace but unable to
make eye contact as she focused on the remnants of the nightmare
she’d just escaped. “I was in a barn. It was cold and damp and
smelled of...blood and...death.” A cold numbness seeped into her
bones as she recalled the memory. “I tried to run away, but he
caught me. He dragged me by the arm into the barn. He hurt my
shoulder and his grip on my wrist felt like he was crushing the
bones.”

She rubbed her shoulder and then her wrist.
Her heart pounded and sweat beaded on her forehead, the sensations
coming to life as she spoke the words. The room disappeared and she
saw herself as a young girl, the event as clear as it had been in
her dream.

“
There were large hooks
hung from the ceiling. And there were slabs of meat hanging in long
rows. It was so cold. And it smelled...awful.”

A shudder quaked through her body. Hot tears
spilled down her cheeks, her eyes wide with the terror of what came
next. “He tied my hands together with a thick rope and then
he...hung me on a hook between two...” She couldn’t finish the
sentence. Her stomach churned with acid and she closed her eyes
against the memory. “He left me there for two days and two nights.
I thought he wasn’t coming back. I thought I was going to die...I
prayed for him to come back...but then when he did...”

She looked up at her mother, her eyes
refocusing and seeing the horror and anguish on the woman’s face.
“He said if I ever ran away again, I would wish he had let me
die.”

Her mother’s lips quivered but she didn’t
speak. Her eyes were wide and clouded, the storm of emotion beneath
fighting to surface.

“
He was right. When I tried
to run away that last time, he beat me so badly I did wish for
death. I woke up in the woods and couldn’t move. My ribs were
cracked. Every breath hurt. Leaves and dirt covered me and I had to
claw my way out to breathe. I lay there shivering in pain until
numbness took over and I couldn’t feel anything anymore. I knew
he’d kill me if he found me alive. I had to get away from him. I
remember hearing noises and thinking he was coming back or that
some animal would come along and eat me before I was dead.” She let
out a strained laugh that seemed incongruent with the intensity of
the moment.

The sound of it brought her fully back to the
present. She brushed the tears away. “If he hadn’t wrapped me in a
blanket covered me with leaves, I would have died that night.” She
sighed, pushing the dark memories aside. “Eventually, I found
shelter, water and food. But those first days and weeks in the
mountains were like one long nightmare. The only thing that kept me
going was the lullaby you used to sing to me before bed—about the
angels—do you remember it?”

A sad smile curved the edges of her mother’s
mouth. “I do. The Japanese lullaby my grandmother taught to me as a
child. I used to sit in your room after you were gone and sing it
to your teddy bear, hoping that wherever you were, you could hear
me and have something to hold on to.” The porcelain skin of her
cheeks was pale and her eyes were red and puffy from salty tears,
but she was still as beautiful as any angel Brinn had ever
imagined.

Her mother crawled into the bed next to her
and wrapped her in loving arms that warmed her to the core. She
hummed the familiar tune, gently stroking Brinn’s hair, soothing
the ache that had settled over her just moments ago. When her
mother finished the song, Brinn smiled up into the blue eyes so
like her own. “Thank you, Mama. I did hear you all those years ago.
I knew you were with me—you and the Angel of the Forest. She helped
me to survive.”

“
You survived because you
are strong and brave, Briana.” An undeniable expression of
admiration and affection filled her mother’s eyes. The warmth of
love spread over Brinn like a healing balm.

“
I survived because I
didn’t want to get eaten by bears.” Brinn let a smile catch her
lips. "Come to find out, bears don’t really eat people.”

Birds and Bees

Three months had passed since Brinn had
returned home. It was a hot day in late August, and she missed the
cool breezes and shade of the high canopy that sheltered the
mountain. She was patiently waiting for Stockman's trial and
finally felt a sense of peace that he was at least off the streets
and she was now free to come and go without his constant threat, or
the need for twenty-four hour security. The press had died
down—probably only a short reprieve until the trial date—but at
least she felt like she could breathe.

When she went to visit the little Weston girl
after she was released from the hospital, Brinn was glad to see her
smiling and happy. Carrie was seven, and had only been taken a few
weeks before she was found, so she hadn’t endured Stockman’s
cruelty for long, but Brinn knew how much damage that monster could
inflict in a very short period of time. Even though the girl smiled
and played with her dolls when Brinn stopped by, the haunted look
that crept across her face when she talked about her time at the
farmhouse reminded Brinn of the nightmares they would both have to
live with. She hoped that in time, the two of them would find
strength in being kindred spirits.

Mama was teaching her how to drive and Justin
was still trying to help her make up for lost time by showing her
all over the city—although he refused to let her drive his BMW,
claiming that the steering mechanism was “sensitive” and the clutch
was kind of “tricky.”

Moreover, he refrained from kissing her
again. The passionate embrace they'd shared at the park was
replaced by friendly pecks on the cheek or forehead. Frankly, Brinn
was frustrated. She understood his apprehension. After all, she was
the one who had pushed him away, giving in to her doubts and fears.
Maybe it was time to take her future in hand and prove to him that
she was ready to take the next step—whatever that might be.

They strolled side by side along the wooded
trail behind her house. The humidity hung heavy in the air. The
floral scent of hydrangea and honeysuckle lingered as Justin took
her hand and led her further into the sheltering trees.

"Justin, could you take me up to the mountain
next weekend? It's really pretty this time of year, and it will be
cold and rainy if we wait much longer."

A look of sympathy filled his eyes. "You miss
the cabin, don’t you?"

"I called it my home for a long time, and I
really want to collect my belongings. Besides, I want to see if
Kitty still remembers me."

Justin laughed. "I can’t imagine she would
ever forget you. I’m not sure she wants to see me again,
though."

Brinn grinned at the memory of Kitty sitting
on top of him and the wild look of shock he’d had on his face. A
lot had happened since Justin had found her in the woods that
afternoon in May and had stayed in her little cabin for those three
wonderful days. She blushed at the memory of seeing him unclothed.
Brushing away the warm desire that rose in her belly, she changed
the subject.

"I also promised Abby a visit." Her friend
hadn't heard from Phillip in over a month. She had caught him
kissing another girl and they'd had a big fight, his only defense
being, "Men have needs." Although he had agreed to Abby's decision
to remain a virgin until their wedding night, he apparently chose
not to abstain himself. The engagement was off and Abby's heart was
crushed.

"We can go up on Friday. I'll spend a few
hours with Abby and then we can hike up the mountain and stay at
the cabin overnight."

Justin remained silent for a long time,
apparently pondering her suggestion.

Brinn had plans for getting him alone. She
wasn't sure if she was ready for what she knew men and women who
loved each other did in private, but she wanted time alone with him
to figure it out. Her love for him was not in question, though she
hadn’t said the words. She couldn’t imagine ever wanting any man
other than Justin to touch and kiss her the way he did. It
terrified and thrilled her all at once, but there was an undeniable
trust there that made her feel safe. At least as safe as she ever
would be. The truth was she had no idea if she could ever be in a
real relationship.

Other than malnourishment, some scars, and
several healed fractures, the doctors had given her a clean bill of
health. Her counseling sessions were getting easier and she finally
slept through the night, but the responsibility of sharing a life
with someone seemed overwhelming and far too distant. Allowing the
doubt to rise for an instant, she quickly shoved it back down. A
life with Justin and a family of her own was something she only
dared to dream was a possibility, but it was what she wanted with
all of her heart, and Justin deserved someone who could love him,
body and soul.

She squeezed his hand a little tighter,
sending him a shy smile. The thought of being intimate with him
made her heart pound with a mix of fear and anticipation.

He swatted at a bee that stubbornly flew
about his head. Grinning, Brinn hummed a high-pitched buzzing sound
through her teeth and the bee retreated.

“
How do you do
that?”

“
What?”

“
Talk to animals—even
insects. You seem to have a gift for communicating with them.” He
let go of her hand as she climbed the big boulder that edged the
property. Justin climbed up and sat beside her, clearly enjoying
the shade of the oaks and maples lining the trail.

“
I guess I understand them.
When you live life in the forest, you realize that all living
creatures are connected. From the tallest tree to the tiniest bug,
we are all dependent on one another for survival. You become like a
family.” She gazed around at the trees and settled on a large hawk
high up in the branches of a white pine. “It’s like you’re a part
of something bigger than yourself. It’s hard to explain. In time,
communication comes naturally, I think.”

“
Kind of like us, I
suppose.” His fingertips stroked the back of her hand, drawing her
attention to the sensation that sent a warm shiver up her arm, and
lifted the tiny hairs. “From the first moment I saw you in that
stream, I knew you were meant for me.” He said it softly, dimples
deepening. The ruddy glow that spread from his cheeks to his ears
made her smile back, her heart bursting with happiness.

“
Was it my amazing fishing
skills or the way I threatened you with my knife that made up your
mind?” she asked, joking, trying to lighten the mood and ease the
awkward sensations that danced through her flesh.

Justin laughed, brushed the hair out of her
face, and tucked it behind her ear, sobering before he said, “It
was your incredible courage and strength of will. You are the most
amazing girl I’ve ever met, Brinn.” His eyes turned to deep pools
of emotion. “I can’t imagine my life without you.” He touched the
end of her nose with a gentle fingertip. “Besides, who else could I
recite Dickinson with?” His lips tenderly touched the end of her
nose where his finger had just been and Brinn’s fears
scattered.

Flirting With Disaster

He was right. Whatever connection they had
formed was undeniably a special bond that held seemingly endless
possibilities. Her impatience squirmed uncomfortably down low in
her belly. She wanted to know in this instant whether her past
would be an insurmountable obstacle that would eventually destroy
this precious connection that was growing by the day. When he
innocently kissed her nose, stubborn desire rose in flames, heating
her flesh with curious pleasure and confusing her further.