I’d never had a girl in my apartment before her.

It felt weird to take her there after the ride in the cab. I kept her on my lap the whole time, barking orders at the taxi driver who seemed too freaked out by a shirtless tall as fuck dude to say a word back to me.

Finally, we pulled up in front of my building, and I gently lifted her out of the car and carried her inside.

The building sure as fuck wasn’t as fancy as King’s penthouse, but it was still nice; a townhouse in a row of houses that all looked the same. Possibly a strange choice for someone like me, but I liked living there. It was a tall building with too much space for just one person, especially given the time I spent in there, but I wouldn’t give it up for the world.

I carried Pet up the steps and opened the door, locking it behind us. She held on to me so tightly it almost felt like I’d have to peel her off me. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep holding her.

It was impossible to believe what that bastard had done to her, and I knew I’d regret not doing more damage to him when I’d kicked his ass. I didn’t understand why he didn’t fight back, because I wanted him to.

I wanted to kick him and punch him and hurt him while she watched. But he wouldn’t fight back. And the thing that hurt more than any of his hits, was the way Pet still looked at him.

I knew if he’d asked her to stay, I’d be leaving without her.

There was something between them, a connection I couldn’t understand. She couldn’t let him go until he made her do it.

She looked small and vulnerable in my arms as I carried her up to the bedroom.

It was the mostly sparsely furnished room in the house, with only a bed and a lamp in there. I set her down and she pulled me on the bed with her.

“Do you want to go see a doctor?” I asked her as she squirmed against me, making me hard despite my best efforts to think about something else. “We can go to the ER, or I can call someone for you, it will be discreet, I promise.”

“No,” she said weakly, and gripped on to me.

My shirt looked better on her than it ever had on me. She was naked underneath, and when I tentatively reached between her legs, I could feel several bleeding cuts from the bottle. I cursed out loud.

“You need to,” I told her. “Fuck, Pet. I’m going to call someone now.”

“No,” she begged, gripping me. “Don’t, please. Not today. I can see someone tomorrow. I just want to stay with you tonight. Please.”

I stared at her, her bottom lip quivering as her eyes filled with tears. This fucking girl… Only eighteen and she’d been through so fucking much already.

“Okay,” I told her. “Tomorrow though, first thing in the morning, I’ll have someone come over.”

She nodded and held on to me so tightly. She felt so good in my arms, like it was the only place in the world she belonged. I didn’t want to let her go.

I wondered what would happen if she wanted to go back to him the next day, because I knew by then I would never be able to let her leave me.

Holding her close, I buried my nose in her purple hair. It was a nasty reminder of him, because I knew it couldn’t have been her idea. I wanted it gone. I wanted every trace of that bastard wiped off her, from her memory, too. I wondered how I could possibly make that happen, and if she’d even let me.

It only took moments for her breathing to get heavy, and I realized she’d fallen asleep in my arms. But I couldn’t let her.

I felt anxious myself, nervous as fuck and needy for her.

I pressed my lips against hers, and they parted in her sleep, welcoming me in.

Kissing her as she slept, like she was my Sleeping Beauty, felt so fucking right. She barely moved in response, just moaned inside my mouth. I kissed her softly. Sweetly. In a way I’d never kissed anyone before, like my kiss could heal her of the shit she’d been through .

Her eyelids fluttered open when I moved back to look at her. She stared at me sleepily, and there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Am I yours now?” she asked, the words so soft I thought I’d misheard her at first.

“Do you want to be?” My voice was gentle, and my heart thumped awaiting her answer.

“No,” she whispered, and snuggled against me.

I held her and wished I’d killed King. Maybe then she’d finally be mine completely.

* * *

Putting Sapphire back together took weeks.

A day before she could walk.

The doctor came in and took care of her cuts, no questions asked. Thankfully, most of the damage was outside on her thighs, and the doc told us she’d be fine in a week or two.

Three days before she stopped flinching when I called her by her name, not the nickname he’d given her.

A week before she started responding to it.

Eight days for her to come out of the bedroom and sit with me in the living room, watching mindless shitty TV for a few hours.

She didn’t speak for the first few days either. And on day nine, she finally came up to me herself to ask for something.

I half-expected her to ask for him.

King had called me several times, but he hadn’t called her. I never answered, but I didn’t block his number either, and confused myself by not doing it.

It felt like it wasn’t my decision to make. Like I wasn’t supposed to intervene with her life in that way.

“I want to talk to Maria,” she told me, and I nodded right away.

The first nine days of her being with me were spent in the apartment. She barely left the bed. I had food delivered because I couldn’t bear to leave her alone, and I tried to use my shitty cooking skills to make her something edible. She never asked a question. Never asked for anything. We barely talked, and I needed her words so badly, but didn’t want to force her.

I gave her my phone to call Maria, and she didn’t question why I had her number saved already.

They talked for two hours, and I waited outside the bedroom like a moron.

At least she still slept in my arms every night. And every night, like clockwork, I’d kiss her when she fell asleep. She’d wake up for a moment and just stare at me before her eyes closed again.

The purple was starting to fade from her hair. She took long showers in the mornings and before bed, and the shower leaked purple down the drain once she was done. It was my favorite sight, and I felt like she was washing away her awful past along with that color.

The white-blond shone through her hair, only some streaks of lavender remaining. It looked pretty. I thought it made her look like a fairy princess or some shit.

She finally came out of the bedroom and handed me back my phone. There was a slight smile on her face.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so… weird,” she said, and I shook my head like it didn’t matter. “I’d like to pay you back… For everything you’ve done for me. Maria says I can stay with her now.”

It felt like she’d stabbed me in the heart, and I could only stare at her.

“She’ll pick me up tomorrow,” she said.

“I don’t want you to leave,” I told her. “I want you to stay with me.”

She let out a small laugh, saying, “But what’s the point? We have nothing in common. We can’t be together. You’re…”

“I’m what?” I closed in on her, and she flinched. I felt like a fucking jackass. “I’m sorry, Sapphire. You should be able to do what you want.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “What do you want?”

“I want you,” I groaned. “Isn’t it fucking obvious? I’ve only ever wanted you.”

“But I’m not…” She looked away for a second, then took a step towards me. “I’m not the right girl for you.”

“You don’t know that.” I wanted to touch her. I wanted more than just that nighttime kiss. I wanted back inside her. I wanted to own her body. I wanted to claim her mind. “Please, give me a chance. And I don’t fucking say please often.”

“Feels weird?” she asked with a giggle, and I grinned at her.

“Very weird, Sapphire.”

She didn’t flinch.

“I like sleeping next to you,” she admitted, and looked down.

I wanted her eyes on mine, and I couldn’t resist making her look up, my fingers holding her chin.

“I don’t know anything about you,” she said.

“I want you to know,” I told her. “I want to tell you everything, pretty girl.”

“Will you?” Her lashes were so long, and lighter without mascara. She looked so young without makeup.

“Yeah,” I promised. “Everything. Right now.”

I took her hand and led her to the bedroom.

The window was open, and it let in fresh air as we got on the bed and stared at each other.

I lay on my side, and she pulled her knees up and leaned against the headboard.

“I want to know…” she started. “Who you are. Everything.”

“Ask a question,” I grinned. “Anything. Ask away.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-two.”

“What do you do?”

I smiled. Already, a hard one.

“Mostly computer stuff,” I explained. “From home.”

“Like programming?”

“That too,” I nodded. “I freelance. So, whatever project I get, I pick up.”

“But that couldn’t have bought you this house,” she told me, smiling cheekily.

“You’re right,” I admitted. “It didn’t. The house was my grandpa’s.”

“Where is he?” Her voice was softer now.

“Six feet under.” My voice wasn’t as jokey as I wanted it to sound. It was sad, and a little bitter.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. Her hand brushed mine, and I wished I’d made more shitty comments, had a worse life, just so she’d touch me again. “Do you have other family?”

I thought about them all. Sisters, parents, all of them. The family I’d been running away from for years.

“I do,” I confessed. “I have a big family. But I don’t see them, ever.”

“Why? Do they live far away?” She looked curious.

“No,” I laughed. “Same city. Just… differences.”

“You should see them,” she said. “Not that I don’t get it. But you should. I’ll see my parents soon too. I need to tell them about…”

She looked away, and just like that, the spell was broken.

I saw the tears slip down her cheeks, and they were, surprisingly, the first tears I’d seen her cry since it all went down.

“Oh, pretty girl,” I groaned, and pulled her against me.

I felt her straining against my chest. Like she wanted to pull away, but couldn’t bring herself to. She didn’t say a word about him, but she didn’t need to, either. I didn’t want to hear their story. I didn’t want to know she’d choose him over me.

And then her body started shaking, trembling and quaking in my arms. She hiccupped as she tried to catch her breath and I held her even closer.

“Sapphire, please,” I asked her. “Try to breathe, please.”

She still didn’t say a word, but the sobs started to really wrack her body. She cried loudly, she cried like a little girl, with sadness so all-encompassing I had no fucking idea how to handle her.

Her hot little mouth reached for mine, and I couldn’t resist her. I kissed her through the sobs, I kissed her through it all, and she tasted like love and tears.

“Please, Sapphire,” I begged. “Please calm down, I need you to…”

She wouldn’t let me speak. Just kissed me and let me drink her tears, and she kept crying so hard I thought she’d come apart in my arms.

I held her back and watched her, her face blotchy and her chest heaving.

“Please,” I said again. “Just deep breaths, Sapphire. Deep breaths for me. Okay? Can you do that?”

She shook her head no, now having a full-on panic attack. It felt like the only thing holding the pieces of her together were my arms.

“Sapphire,” I said gently. “Listen to me, listen to me, pretty girl. It’s going to be okay. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay right here, and we’ll make it through, and you’ll be perfectly okay. You just have to let it pass. Look at me, pretty girl, look into my eyes. Let me make it better, Sapph, please.”

She looked up and we stared at each other. I felt like I was going to fucking cry too, and I blinked away the tears angrily.

“There you go, there’s a good girl,” I muttered, and she sighed.

It was those two words, and they worked like magic. She loved being a good girl.

She was still breathing heavily, but slowly calming down; slowly coming down from it.

“You’re such a good girl,” I told her sweetly. “Look at me, Sapphire. Do you want to know a secret?”

She looked up and her chest rose and fell as she nodded, whimpering those delicious sounds that made me want to fuck her, even if she thought she was a mess.

“Sapphire,” I breathed. “My name is Felix.”

She let out a sob and clung to me and I kept repeating it, stripping away the only shred of anonymity I had left.

“My name is Felix…”