Page 6 of Deserving Lara
Lara closed her eyes. She felt off-kilter…and ashamed. What happened to her was horrible. Terrifying. Life-changing. But she wasn’t the only person who’d been through something awful. Owl was proof of that. Hell, all the men who ran The Refuge were. As were all the guests.
She was being selfish. And that made her feel even worse about herself.
“Look at me,” Owl ordered.
Reluctantly, Lara lifted her gaze to his.
“I might not have experienced the same things you have, but I know how you’re feeling. And I’m in this for the long haul. You can stay here as long as you want. If you need me to handcuff my wrist to yours so you can feel safe, that’s what I’ll do. He’s not going to win, Lara. I promise you that. If it takes me the rest of my life, I’m gonna do whatever’s necessary to make sure he can’t hurt you again. Got it?”
For the first time since she’d found herself locked in that basement, Lara felt a spark of…hope.
She swallowed hard, then gave Owl a barely there nod.
“Good. Now, do I need to dig out a pair of handcuffs?”
Her lips twitched. “Kinky,” she said softly.
A grin formed on Owl’s face. “I can think of worse things in life than to be shackled to you, sweetheart.”
When he said things like that, some of the old Lara surged to the surface. The woman who would’ve swooned if a man spoke to her like that in the past. But she wasn’t that woman anymore. She was hardened. Cynical. Terrified.
But she found herself relaxing all the same.
Owl looked down at his wrist. “It’s five. You want to get up and watch the sunrise at Table Rock with me?”
Lara blinked in surprise. “Table Rock?” she asked. “But that’s like…miles away.”
He shrugged. “It’s an easy hike.”
“It’s cold outside.”
“Not that cold. Spring has finally arrived.”
Still, she hesitated. Carter could be lurking in the woods. Waiting to grab her.
“We’ve got cameras all over the woods. And I’m not supposed to tell you this, but fuck it—there are buried bunkers throughout the forest as well. If something happens, if I feel even a second of concern about someone being out there who shouldn’t be, I’ll get us to a bunker and we can hide out until the others search the area and make sure we’re safe.”
Lara blinked at him. “Really? Why?”
“Why do we have bunkers? Because…when we built this place, none of us were in a great space mentally. We needed the reassurance those bunkers gave us. And they’ve come in handy. Alaska hunkered down in one when the human trafficker came for her, and Jasna was rescued from that asshole who kidnapped her and brought to one to make sure she was safe.”
“Oh,” Lara said, at a loss for words. She’d heard all about what happened to the other women at The Refuge and was amazed all over again at their resilience.
After a long moment of silence, she took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he asked, one brow rising in surprise.
“Yeah. I’ll go to Table Rock with you.”
He smiled then. And Lara realized just how much he’d been holding back with her. She’d been with him for months, and she didn’t think she’d ever seen such a genuine look of pleasure on his face. He held back because of concern forher.
Once again, those tingles in her body returned.
“Great!” he said quickly, obviously afraid she would change her mind. “Go change. Put on some thick socks, those fleece-lined leggings Henley bought for you, a long-sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, and I’ll grab my parka just in case you get cold.” He stood and put the blanket he’d just retrieved from his room on the couch, then held out his hand to her.
Without thought, Lara reached for it.
The second his fingers closed around hers, she panicked. Same as always. She didn’t like to be touched. Didn’t like the feel of someone else’s skin on hers. But also like always, the fear faded almost instantly. This was Owl. His hands were warm and calloused and gentle. Not cold and abusive like Carter’s.
