Текст книги "Tell Me"

Автор книги: Olivia Cunning

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

Chapter Twenty

The next morning, Gabe left Melanie and Beau to sleep and climbed in his truck to go visit Lady.

Lady was so happy to see him, the vet assistant threatened to make him leave the room so the dog didn’t pull out her stitches with her overenthusiastic tail wagging. Lady tried to get up to greet him, but didn’t make it to her feet. He didn’t know if it was weakness or the awkwardness of her cast, but he figured she shouldn’t be standing anyway. He entered her temporary kennel and sat on the concrete floor beside where she lay on a thick pallet. He petted her face, head, and shoulders, careful to avoid the large white bandage on her side and the cast on her foreleg. He bent to kiss her whiskery nose and said, “What am I going to do with you while I’m on the road for the next two weeks? Do you think you can stand it in here for that long?”

She whined piteously and swatted at him with her good leg.

“I know it’s not ideal, but I can’t imagine taking care of you on the tour bus. Your regular dog sitter can only come out once a day, but maybe I can hire someone else to stay with you fulltime.”

The vet assistant was working at a counter at the end of the cavernous room, but she apparently had good hearing.

“Why don’t you take her to your parents’ house?” she suggested. “They’re good people. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind taking care of Lady while you’re gone.”

One problem with living in a small community was that everyone knew who your parents were and everyone knew all your business.

“They’re busy,” Gabe said.

“Lady can stay here while you’re gone, but she’s sure to get really lonesome. Some dogs get so depressed when they’re injured and abandoned that they fail to thrive and…” She shrugged.

He didn’t want to think about what she meant by that shrug. Lady was the type of dog that craved constant attention. And his parents liked his dogs. Maybe they wouldn’t mind keeping her at their place for a couple weeks. Well, the entire summer if he was being truthful about the matter. But maybe in a few weeks Lady would be able to stay at her own home without constant care and supervision.

“If they’re too busy,” Gabe said, “would you be interested in keeping her for a couple weeks? I could pay you.”

She chuckled. “I don’t think my cats would appreciate that. And Lady is a high-strung dog. She’d be much calmer around people she knows. Besides, your mom is a people doctor, so I think she could handle the limited care for an injured dog. And doesn’t your dad have the summer off?”

How did the woman know so much about him? He couldn’t place where he knew her from, but he must know her fairly well. Of course, her back was to him, so he couldn’t see her face clearly.

“He works on his research over the summer,” Gabe said. But compared to his school-year schedule, summers were a lot less busy for his physics-professor father.

Gabe guessed he could try persuading his parents to help out and if that didn’t work, he’d see if any of his local friends would watch over Lady. If all else failed, he’d pack her up on the tour bus and try to keep her as calm as possible. He didn’t really see that as a reasonable option. Maybe Melanie would be willing to take her back to her apartment in Kansas. But how would they transport her there? He doubted Lady was in good enough condition to fly. And Melanie had work and other life responsibilities, so he couldn’t expect her to stay at his place to take care of his dog.

He sighed. Yep, parents, it was.

Even though it made the most sense to ask them for assistance, he hated to ask them for any help. It must remind them of what a disappointment he was to them.

“So how are your sisters?” the vet tech asked, as if to shred his pride a little more. Neither of them were disappointments to their parents. “I haven’t heard from Leslie in years.”

Gabe suddenly recalled that the tech and Leslie had been in the same graduating class in high school. She’d been one of popular-cheerleader-Leslie’s many, many friends.

“She’s in Boston finishing up her second residency,” Gabe said.

“I always knew she’d be a doctor. Smart as a whip.”

Following in her mother’s footsteps.

“And Jennifer?” the tech asked.

“Associate Professor of Mathematics at MIT.”

Another doctor in the family. Gabe was the only one without any letters behind his name. Hell, he hadn’t even finished his bachelor’s degree. He was surprised his family hadn’t disowned him already. Even his grandparents on both sides were either medical doctors or had their PhDs.

“And then there’s the black sheep of the family—their little brother, the famous rock star,” the tech teased, turning from her work at the counter to grin at him. “How did that happen in a family of brainiacs?”

Gabe shrugged. “Debauchery by proximity.”

“Ah yes, so how is Jacob Silverton, Mr. Debauchery himself?”

Jacob would have graduated with Leslie and the tech-whose-name-escaped-him if he’d actually finished school. Even Gabe’s tutoring hadn’t kept Jacob in school long enough to earn his high school diploma.

“He’s fine,” Gabe said, not wanting to revisit old times.

“And Adam? I heard he’s had a few episodes of overdosing and is lucky to be alive.”

One of many reasons why Adam never wanted to come home. People talked, a lot, and for some reason it made them feel better about their own pathetic lives to focus on the worst part of a successful person’s plight.

“He’s doing well.” Thanks to Madison, he added silently. No way was Gabe going to feed the small town gossip.

“I always figured Jake and Adam would be famous rock stars one day, but I wouldn’t have put my money on you becoming one.”

Gabe shrugged. That would have made two of them.

“You were the geekiest thing in high school,” she added with a nostalgic laugh.

Okay, ouch. Enough already.

“So can I take Lady home today?” he asked, hoping to deter the woman from further prying and from delivering additional kicks to his pride.

“I doubt Dr. Nelson will release her just yet, but I’ll go ask her.”

Gabe stroked Lady’s soft fur absently as he waited for the tech to return. He wondered how different his life would have been if Jacob hadn’t recruited him as the drummer of Sole Regret. Would he have been happier as a geeky physicist? He doubted it. His current life rocked. But he supposed he’d never know. Even though he wondered about what he could have made of himself had he chosen differently, he didn’t regret leaving college. He didn’t even regret being the odd man out in his family of doctors. He would probably always wonder what he could have been if he’d taken a different path, but didn’t everyone?

The tech returned and leaned over the kennel door.

“Dr. Nelson thinks Lady should stay at least one more night. Can you pick her up tomorrow?”

“It’ll have to be early. I have to catch a flight back to New Orleans in the morning.”

“You could always ask one of your parents to come get her.”

And after all his mental back and forth, he still didn’t want to ask them for assistance. But he would. For Lady’s sake.

“I’ll make it work,” he said. He bent low to kiss Lady on the head and closed the door to the large kennel behind him as he let himself out. “Be a good dog,” he said in parting. She didn’t open her eyes, so he doubted that she’d heard him. She didn’t know how to be a good dog anyway, but it didn’t stop him from loving her.

On his way back home, he thought about driving past his house and to the stately colonial a mile down the road, but he was missing Melanie already, so he turned in to his drive instead of going directly to his parents. He found her sitting on the front porch steps, Beau at her hip, while she stared at her phone with a scowl on her face.

Beau wagged a greeting, but Melanie only offered Gabe a slight nod when he dropped down beside her on the step. He’d been hoping to find her still in bed so he could wake her with an orgasm and a smile.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“I still haven’t heard from Nikki. It’s been two nights, Gabe. I’m really worried about her. Do you think I should call the hotel?”

“Will it make you feel better?”

“Only if she answers.”

He cupped the back of her head and slid his hand down to give her neck an encouraging squeeze. “I’m sure she’s fine, but go ahead and call her so you can stop worrying.”

She stared at her phone for a solid minute. “She’s probably still asleep at this hour. Maybe she’s learned to be responsible and doesn’t need me, so that’s why she hasn’t returned my calls or texts.”

“If she’d learn to be responsible, she would have returned them so you didn’t worry about her.”

Melanie sighed and nodded. “If she hasn’t called by noon, I’ll call the hotel.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She shoved her phone into the pocket of her shorts and smiled at him. “I missed you this morning. How is Lady doing?”

He’d left Melanie a note by a freshly brewed pot of coffee explaining where he’d gone. Apparently, she’d found it and had been able to read his illegible scrawl.

“She was awake for a while and she knew who I was. She looks pretty beat up, though. I have to find someone to take care of her while I’m on the road.”

“I wish I could help, Gabe, but there’s just no way.”

He took her hand and held it. “I know, baby. Don’t look so guilty. I was thinking of asking my parents to watch her, I just…” Need you there to support me. “…uh, thought maybe you’d like to go with me so my mother can fawn over you some more.”

“Will I get to meet your dad?”

“He should be home. He occasionally takes a Sunday off.”

“Let me get my shoes.”

She let Beau into the house with her. Gabe closed his eyes, basking in the Texas heat, listening to the serenity around him. Except for the hum of insects, the occasional chirp of a bird, and a persistent toad croaking in the distance, his ears were blessed with silence. His home life was so different from his life on the road. And he was ready to share it with someone special. But was someone special ready to share it with him? He’d wait a while before asking her. He didn’t need to rush. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away by moving too quickly.

The screen door bumped closed, and he glanced over his shoulder at Melanie, who had her shoes on now. She also had all of her hair stuffed under the cowboy hat she wore.

“Nice hat,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to offend your parents with my bed hair,” she said.

He almost said that if his hair didn’t offend them, nothing would, but his hair did offend them. “You look cute,” he said, “but you know I love that hair of yours, even when birds are eyeing it as nesting material.”

She laughed. “Not birds,” she said. “Raccoons.”

Since it was only a mile to his parents’ house, he convinced Melanie to ride with him on one of his ATVs and take the scenic route. He made her trade her cowboy hat for a helmet and zoomed across a pasture, weaved through trees in a bumpy wooded area, and splashed through a creek at the bottom of a heart-stoppingly steep hill before skidding to a stop behind his childhood home. While Gabe’s log house blended with the woods and the scenery, his parents’ stately colonial looked like it belonged in a Louisiana bayou. It was impressive, to say the least.

“That was fun!” Melanie said breathlessly.

“Better than fishing?”

“Well, dryer than fishing,” she said.

He wiped a few splatters of mud from her bare leg. “Potentially,” he said.

“Gabriel!” his father called from the back porch. He pulled himself out of his favorite rocking chair, using a heavy wooden cane for assistance, and hobbled down the steps on his stiff left leg to meet them in the yard. Melanie took off her helmet and attempted to smooth her untamed hair. It was a losing cause; raccoons were already closing in.

“Is this the young lady that has your mama mooning about grandbabies again?”

“Nice, Dad. Let’s terrify her before you’ve even been introduced,” Gabe said. “This is my old man, Luke. And this is my new girlfriend, Melanie.”

Melanie’s gaze darted to Gabe’s as he tried out the girlfriend word for the first time, but she didn’t make him retract the statement, so he was feeling pretty good about his prospects of making it a reality.

His dad extended his tanned and weathered left hand because his right was tightly gripping his cane. Melanie naturally extended her right hand so instead of shaking hands, they ended up awkwardly holding hands, but her charming giggle melted the old man on the spot. Gabe was feeling pretty good about that too.

“Come up on the porch in the shade,” his dad said. “You’ll bake your brain in this heat.”

By the time they made it to the porch, his mother had brought out a pitcher of iced tea and four glasses.

“So glad you stopped by,” she said. “Even though my Gabriel only lives a mile down the road, I hardly ever see him.”

“You saw me yesterday,” Gabe reminded her.

“How’s Lady?” his dad asked. “Mom told me she was hit by a car.”

“I visited her this morning. She’s going to be fine.” It was a perfect opening to ask if they’d be willing to take care of her while he was on tour, but he reached for a glass of tea instead.

“That’s great,” his dad said. “Kathy made it sound like your dog was pretty banged up.”

“I thought she was,” his mom said. “Will she be okay by herself while you’re gone?”

Opening number two, gaping wide. Gabe took a sip of his tea and glanced at Melanie, who gave him an odd look.

“I wish I could stay and keep an eye on her,” Melanie said, “but I have to work.”

Opening number three slipped right by.

“Do you need someone to watch her?” his dad asked.

“Well…”

Melanie squeezed his leg beneath the table.

“I could probably use a hand with her,” Gabe said, “but I know how busy you both are.”

“Yeah, watching this grass grow all summer keeps me overextended,” his dad said and then laughed.

“Aren’t you doing research this summer?” Gabe asked.

“Didn’t we tell you?” his mom asked.

“Tell me what?”

“Your dad is starting to hand off his unfinished projects to the junior scientists in the department so he can retire next spring.”

“Dad’s retiring?” Gabe sputtered. But only old people retired. Sure, his dad was in his sixties, but he was far from old.

“I know we told you,” his mom said, patting his father’s hand. “We told him, Luke. Didn’t we?”

“No one told me anything,” Gabe said.

“We told you on the phone months ago,” his mom said.

Gabe shook his head. He would have remembered that his father was retiring. It was sort of a big deal.

“Maybe we told Leslie and Jennifer and forgot to tell him,” his dad said, looking reflective.

“All anyone in this family ever tells me is what a huge disappointment I am,” Gabe blurted.

“What are you talking about, Gabriel?” his mother said sternly. “No one ever—”

“He had such a promising future before he joined that rock band,” he mimicked her exact words from the night before. “Leslie is our MD and Jennifer our PhD and Gabe, well, let’s just say he turned out a little different from what we expected.” He’d heard her tell some stranger that a couple of months before.

“We aren’t disappointed in you, son,” his dad said, “but you are a little different.” He chuckled at Gabe’s expense

“I’m glad he’s different,” Melanie blurted. “It makes him that much more wonderful.”

Stunned, Gabe glanced at Melanie, who covered her mouth with trembling fingertips and looked from one of his parents to the other, a horrified expression on her face. He couldn’t tell if she was about to cry or punch someone in the nose, but he could tell that she was upset. And once again standing firmly in his corner.

“I can’t believe you think we’re disappointed in you, Gabe,” his mother said. “I never thought you’d take my bragging the wrong way.”

“You have a right to brag about Leslie and Jennifer,” Gabe said, “they’re both everything you expected them to be.”

His mom reached over and patted his face, rather harder than necessary. “You, hush. I was bragging about you. Every family has a doctor. Hell, ours has twelve, but not everyone can say they have a rock star for a son. But I still hate those damned tattoos. On. Your. Head. Gabe. Why did you have to get them on your head?”

Melanie giggled.

“The young lady seems okay with them,” his dad said.

The young lady seemed okay with everything about him. And for the first time in a very long time, he found he could relax in the company of his parents. He still didn’t quite believe that his mother actually bragged about him, but he almost believed that they weren’t entirely disappointed in him and hadn’t written him out of their will.

“So about that dog of yours…” His father prompted, giving him opening number five or number six. Gabe had lost track.

“Would you mind going to pick her up from the vet’s office tomorrow and nursing her back to health?” Gabe asked.

“On one condition.” His father lifted a finger at him, and he half expected him to require he get the dragon tattoos removed from his scalp.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“That Beau stays here with her so she doesn’t drive me nuts with her constant need for attention.”

Gabe smiled, his love for the man squeezing his throat. “You have a deal.”

“Good,” he said. “Now I insist on Melanie telling me everything about herself since I already know all about you.” His dad winked at him and then turned his attention to Melanie. She soon discovered that she was the most popular rock star at this particular table.

Chapter Twenty-One

Finding herself sprawled naked across Gabe’s bed once again, Melanie touched the back of his head, her eyes closed in bliss. Sparks of pleasure danced along her nerve endings as he sucked at her nipple, apparently intent on making it as hard as a diamond.

“Do you think they like me?” she asked, still thinking about their visit with his parents. She and Gabe had returned to his house less than ten minutes ago and before she could ask him if he thought things had gone well, he’d had her naked and moaning in his bed. His parents had made her feel welcome during their short visit, but maybe they were that nice to everyone.

“My lips definitely like you,” Gabe murmured.

“I mean your parents. Do you think they like me?”

His head popped up, and he stared at her, his long nose crinkled in displeasure. “Please tell me you are not thinking about my parents right now.”

She couldn’t help it. Meeting them had been a big deal to her. “I just didn’t expect them to be so friendly.”

Gabe dropped his forehead against her chest. “I can’t believe you’re actually thinking about my parents right now.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Please continue.”

She grabbed his head and directed his mouth back to her nipple. His warm, wet tongue traced the sensitive tip and she shuddered.

After she enjoyed another moment of his tender assault on her breast, the thoughts racing through her busy brain still refused to quiet, so she asked, “Why are you always so tightlipped about your home life? Whenever I ask you questions about yourself or your family, you change the subject.”

He bit her nipple, hard, and she sucked a breath through her teeth.

“Is it because you’d always had your family’s approval and now you think you don’t?”

“Maybe,” he said.

“That really bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Gabe sighed loudly. “This calls for some assistance,” he said and rolled off the bed.

She lifted her head and watched his sexy ass flex with each step he took toward his armoire. He was after his toys again.

“I’ll be quiet,” she promised. But she really wanted to talk about his reluctance to share his personal life. Maybe he’d be more open to conversation after he took care of the raging hard-on he was currently sporting. There were times to be nosy and times to shut up. She’d completely missed the mark on this one.

“Too late,” he said. He scooped armloads of gadgets against his chest, carried them to the bed, and dropped them on the mattress beside her. “Maybe, I have a gag in here somewhere.”

“I’ll be quiet,” she said again.

“I don’t want you to be quiet. I want you screaming. But not about my parents.”

He lifted an oddly shaped phallus from his collection of implements, inspected it, and then set it aside. She wondered what it was for and whether he’d just placed it in his use-it or his reject pile. He held several gadgets up to her breast, added them all to the pile that included the intriguing phallus and then he lifted a very long, slender rod. He tested its flexibility against his palm before setting it aside. As he reached for the next tool in his arsenal, Melanie slid the discarded slender rod into the growing assembly of inventions she assumed he planned to use.

Her pussy tingled and throbbed as she anticipated the variety of pleasures Gabe was undoubtedly about to bestow upon her.

He finished fiddling with what looked like a small saddle with two holes in it and again studied his piles of toys. He frowned at the relocated rod. His head jerked up and his gaze settled on hers.

She smiled timidly. “I thought I might like that one.” Even though she had no idea what it was for.

“I guess I’ll just have try out everything,” he said, “since I can’t decide what will make you scream my name the loudest.”

“I don’t mind experimenting,” she said.

He grinned, and her heart stumbled around in her chest like a lame antelope.

“All in the name of science,” he said.

“I have a feeling this is going to be a Nobel Prize-worthy discovery,” she said, fingering a wide, flat piece of red latex and wondering what the hell it was for.

“I don’t think they have a Nobel Prize for production of the greatest female orgasm.”

“Only because they’re afraid you’ll win every year.”

He touched a finger to her lip. Must be time to stop talking and start screaming.

“Today we’ll start our experiment with your lovely nipples.”

He tried clamps that squeezed, nubs that vibrated, and pinchers that released mild shocks. She enjoyed all of the sensations, but Gabe seemed unsatisfied with her soft gasps and moans of pleasure. He next chose a harmless-looking cup that covered more than half her breast. Something inside the cup rubbed, massaged and pulled at her nipple until she had to squeeze her legs together to keep from coming.

“Oh God, Gabe,” she cried.

“I think we have a winner,” Gabe said. He located the device’s twin and placed it over her exposed breast.

“Wait!” Melanie gasped, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stand having both nipples stimulated by his ingenious invention. “Something else on that one. Something that hurts a little.”

One corner of his mouth quirked upward. “You are just full of surprises, Miss Melanie.”

He clipped a metal clamp to her free nipple and turned up the voltage. She couldn’t decide if the shocks hurt or felt good, but there was no doubt that they turned her on.

“Ah fuck,” she groaned and rocked her hips to ease the building need between her thighs. Every pulse of energy at her breast travelled down her belly and to her pussy, making it clench with need.

Her hand moved between her legs. She dipped her fingers into heated wetness and then rubbed herself to release using rapid strokes against her clit. She shattered, pleasure coursing through her body as her thighs clamped shut over her hand and she quaked with bliss.

“Fuck, you’re sexy, Mel,” Gabe said.

She forced her thighs apart, still rubbing her clit slowly to ease herself gently back to earth.

“Mmm,” she murmured, but her relief was short lived. The stimulation to her breasts was already moving her toward the point of painful arousal once again.

Gabe used both hands to push her trembling thighs farther apart. He was kneeling between her legs on the bed. She’d been too lost in sensation to know when he’d joined her, but her pussy throbbed with excitement as she stared at the thick cock standing rigid between her open thighs.

“I want you,” she said, her voice thick and low.

Gabe’s belly visibly quivered. “I love the tone of your voice when you’re turned on. Tell me what you want, Mel.”

“You,” she said.

“How do you want me?”

“Inside me. Slow. Deep. Your thumb rubbing me here,” she said, massaging her clit in gentle circles.

He grabbed a pink object off the bed and inserted his thumb into it. He moved her hand aside and stroked her the way she’d asked, except his rubbery thumb attachment added stimulating pulses of vibration to an already pleasurable experience.

“I was going to use this on your sweet pussy,” he said, lifting the oddly shaped phallus she’d seen earlier. He lowered it and rubbed the tip against her opening. “I was going to shove it inside you and fuck you with it until you begged me to stop.”

She whimpered, suddenly aware of the emptiness she felt deep inside.

“But I’m feeling a bit selfish at the moment.” He tossed the tool aside and crept forward. “I need to feel that hot pussy around me.”

She groaned in admiration of his so-called selfishness.

“Lift your hips for me, baby,” he said.

Her butt rose off the bed, and he shoved a pillow under her lower back to help her maintain the angle. He stared down at where his thumb massaged her clit and watched his cock penetrate her one agonizingly slow inch at a time. His mouth dropped open a little more with each inch he claimed and his green eyes glazed over with pleasure. Melanie’s fingers dug into the mattress beneath her as her inner walls clenched rhythmically around his thick cock, drawing his fullness deeper. Deeper. Good God, Gabe, fill me. Fuck me.

“Stretched around me like that, your pussy looks fantastic,” he murmured. His eyes drifted closed and the muscles of his face twitched. “And it feels even better.”

He began to move inside her, maintaining the slow rhythm she’d claimed to desire. But the pleasure and pain rippling through her nipples and the vibrating pulses coming from the thumb massaging her clit soon had her pleading for more.

“Faster, Gabe. Please.”

He massaged her clit faster, but his deep, slow thrusts never lost their unhurried cadence.

“I think I’m coming,” she gasped, surprised by the intensity of her pleasure. There were no accompanying waves of release, just a building of ecstasy.

“You’re not there yet,” he said, changing the direction of his massaging thumb. The motion sent even more waves of pleasure spiraling through her core.

By the time she finally let loose, she was screaming his name.

He pulled out unexpectedly and straightened his body to rise above her. “Watch,” he said.

Her eyes sought out his slick cock. He gave it two sharp tugs that sent cum shooting across her lower belly. She’d watched him come for her during their video chats, but feeling his load splatter across her skin added a level of eroticism she had not expected. She reached up to pull him against her, squashing his hand and cock between them.

“God, you make me hot, Gabriel Banner.”

He chuckled. “The feeling is mutual, baby,” he said in her ear. After a moment, he shifted away slightly. “So what do you want to try out next? We have all day to continue with our experiments.”

She blindly groped the mattress beside her and picked up another of his unidentifiable toys. “This thing,” she said. She wasn’t sure what it did or even where it went, but if Gabe had designed it, she had no doubt she was going to love it.

~ ~ ~

Melanie had relished her morning of being Gabe’s sexual test subject, but there was something soul-satisfying about just hanging out with him in his cozy kitchen. When they’d found the strength to join the living world—ravenous hunger had driven them from Gabe’s bedroom—they’d made a trip to the store and purchased enough perishables to make a large lunch. They worked well in the kitchen together. Well, he spent most of his time on the deck grilling their steaks and ears of corn while she tossed a salad and baked potatoes, but even though they weren’t in the same room, she felt like part of his life when she was in this house.

“Medium rare,” he said, placing a rather bloody plate on the counter. “And well done for the lady.” He deposited her steak next to his.

“Smells delicious,” she said.

“I’m a much better cook when my mother isn’t breathing down my neck.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s been a great day, hasn’t it?”

It had. There was only one small dark spot on all her joy. She still hadn’t heard from Nikki. On their way to the store, Melanie had called the hotel in New Orleans and they’d patched her through to Gabe’s room. Nikki was supposed to be staying there, but she hadn’t answered. Recognizing Melanie’s distress, Gabe had taken pity on her and had sent Adam, who was staying in the same hotel, to knock on Nikki’s door. She hadn’t responded his summons either. Maybe she’d decided to go back to Wichita after all. It would have been nice of her to let Melanie know that.

The steaks were delicious. The company was delicious. But Melanie’s sense of dread was unsavory at best.

When a familiar ringtone began to blare from her purse in the living room, Melanie paused mid-bite.

“That’s Nikki,” she said and scrambled from her chair, her heart racing.

She pulled out the phone and answered just before it went to voicemail.

“Nikki?” she said. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick.”

The only sound Melanie heard was a sniffle on the other end of the line.

“Nikki?”

“Can you come get me?” Nikki said, her voice strained.

“Where are you? Are you still in New Orleans?”

“Y-yeah.”

“I’m in Austin, hon. I can’t come get you until tomorrow.”

“He hurt me, Mel.”

“Who hurt you? What happened? Are you safe?”

“Please. Please, just… just… come get me.” Nikki’s broken gasps tore Melanie’s heart in two.

“Do you need me to call an ambulance? The cops? Nikki, what happened? Tell me.”

“I need you,” she said brokenly. “Please, Mel.”

“I’m on my way.”