Suffering & Salvation Read Free

door and opened it. She went in and absorbed what the space had to offer, trying not to think too much about the reasons for his overly kind gesture. Her mind raced, but she was too tired to be analyzing anything. The small room was sparsely furnished, with a large couch, TV and stand, and a small coffee table dominating most of the area. Through an open doorway near the corner closest to where Simi stood, she could make out a bed that had Cougar immediately thinking comfy and inviting.
    “It’s my apartment when I stay here. I’ll take the couch. You won’t have to worry about anything, little one, I swear it.” The words jumbled together, one into another, and she took a moment to decipher their meaning.
    She nodded. “Cougar likes it.” Simi turned around to face him, his body filling the doorway. “And I do too.” A couple of small steps brought her before him, then an easy shift of her muscles had the two of them hugging. Arms resting around his waist, she did her best to do what her body asked: to let go and relish this embrace of her own making. To not be the victim anymore. Stop overthinking and open her heart, just a crack, and show this kind stranger who the real Simi was. “Thank you.”
    Something touched the top of her head, lips or fingers or both, and though she and Cougar didn’t care which, Simi was proud of herself for not stopping Brand from doing it. He held her tighter against his solid frame, his erection pressing into her. She didn’t push into it, but she also didn’t shy away, either. And for her, not running away like a scaredy-cat felt like something of an accomplishment.
    Brand released her and stepped back before turning her around and marching her farther into the room. “The bedroom’s through there. You can probably scrounge up something to sleep in. And I’ve got more food in the mini fridge. I’ve gotta go and help supervise for a little while, so just keep the door locked.” He turned her around again, this time to face him. “You scream for anything, and I’ll come to you, okay? No one has a key to this room but me, and I’ll yell through the door before I open it, all right?”
    She nodded, staring at his glittering eyes, imagining that his need to protect her was projecting from them. “Okay,” Simi replied.
    Brand moved his head in agreement. “Good. Eat, watch TV and get some rest. I shouldn’t be but a couple of hours.” He moved away from her and headed back toward the door. He stepped into the doorway, but before leaving, he turned back to her, and said, “Take care of yourself, little one. I can’t believe I’m saying this to you, but you’ve—” Brand sighed “—you’ve become…uh…important to me, and I’m not really sure why.”
    Then he suddenly left the small apartment, the soft click of the lock engaging trailing after his rushed departure. She hurried to the door, ear pressed against the thick wood, listening to his retreating footsteps—her sense of safety quickly dissipating the farther away he got. She double-checked the lock to make sure it really was secure.
    Confident that it was, she pushed away from the wood and twirled around to admire her new surroundings. Considering where she’d been for the past few weeks, this was paradise. Heaven on Earth. She shuffled through the living room, hand trailing over the fabric of the worn couch. Even that seemed like it was a luxury.
    Simi padded into the bedroom and stopped in awe. And it wasn’t the bed that had her drooling where she stood. No, she and Cougar both rejoiced at the area connected to the bedroom. Holy crap, it was a bathroom. A great, glorious bathroom, complete with the most inviting garden tub. Cougar couldn’t swim in it, but she could at least bathe in some nice, hot water and splash around a little.
    Tearing her attention away from the prized tub, she took in the rest of what the apartment had to offer. There was a large dresser against one wall, and a washer and dryer