Ella

We spend the first part of the day talking with the police, so Cage can give his statement. Since he was part of their official search, we needed to visit them personally to verify he was actually found. Plus, they want his contact information so they can contact him for further details about the investigation. I’m fine with giving them what they need because I want them to be able to do their job properly.

Some of the female officers wanted me to press charges because he got me pregnant while I was still in captivity, but there’s no way I’ll ever pursue that. He doesn’t deserve it. I just want us to be left alone so we can be at peace.

However, it’s proving to be difficult as the reporters are still following us wherever we go. Even as we go to the zoo for a day so I can show him all the animals, they still track down our car and chase us all the way to the entrance.

I can’t wait until the interest dies down, and I can go back to my life as it used to be. With Cage, of course.

We hold hands as we stroll past the cages, and I point at all the animals inside, telling him about their origin, their movements, and their sounds. He’s captivated by all of them, no matter how big or small. From monkeys to insect and birds, he’s enthralled by watching them play and eat.

It’s immensely rewarding to watch him explore this part of life, to interact with the animals and actually see them up close. I take pictures of him and the animals while I’m here, knowing I could sell some of them to the magazines I work for. None that involve Cage, of course, because he wouldn’t be able to cope with all the attention. But also because he’s like my own little secret. He’s like a big kid stuck in an adult body, experiencing the world for the first time.

“Is this all of them?” he asks as we stroll through the open bird cage, admiring the birds flying freely across the enclosure.

“Nope. There are many, many more all around the world.”

“Wow …” He can’t stop gazing around him, marveling at their colors and beaks.

But the strangest thing is that they all seem to flock toward him. He doesn’t even need to lure them in; they just walk in front of him, perching on his shoulder and even on his head.

I giggle as one of them taps his little feet, digging his nails into Cage’s shoulder.

“Does it hurt?” I ask.

“Nah.”

Nothing hurts to him. Not when you’ve been hit by men a million times before. I guess pain doesn’t faze him anymore.

He pets the bird even though it’s not technically allowed, but I’m around, so I’ll supervise. I just want him to know what it’s like to live with them, and that he doesn’t have to fear them. In fact, he seems quite loving around them. Very different from the primitive man he was in the cell … and the brute he is in bed. I love how unapologetically dirty he can be, but I can get used to this side of him too.

He’s even grown to like the insects, which surprises me, considering how he kept rushing back into my home whenever they’d land on his arm or crawl over him. I guess you have to get used to the tickling sensation of their little legs.

However, the moment Cage comes face to face with the tigers and lions, he’s sold. Instantly. I giggle as he roars at them and they roar back, and he smacks his own chest like he wants to impress them or something. People keep glaring at him as if he’s lost his mind, but he doesn’t even care about any of that. He’s completely focused on the tigers and lions. He’s found his animals, that’s for sure. Which shouldn’t surprise me at all, considering their strength.

“I like their teeth,” he says as he watches one of them yawn.

“I’m sure you do,” I say, chuckling. “But they’d defeat you in a fight in no time.”

“I’d love to try …” he muses.

I wrap my arm around his shoulder and say, “Better not. The zoo won’t be happy about that, especially not when they have to rake your insides off the grass.”

“Who says I’d lose?” he asks.

“I do.” I grin.

He raises a brow. “What did you say?” He pulls me off his shoulder and immediately starts tickling me all over, kissing my neck along with it as he captures me in his arms. I’m helpless, completely left to his mercy, and I’m loving it.

“Say that again?” he growls, still showering me with kisses while alternating it with tickles.

“Okay, okay, you win.”

“See?” he muses. “Easy.”

“You won … me,” I say, and he kisses me on the lips.

“Only prize I want …” he murmurs between kisses.

“But you’re still not going to fight the lions or tigers,” I say, leaning back as our mouths unlatch. “I won’t allow it.”

“Oh, really?” The smirk on his face is so irresistible.

“Yes.” I cross my arms. “They’re dangerous. They could kill you, and I’d prefer to keep you alive, thank you.”

“Hmm …” The guttural sound from his throat makes goose bumps scatter on my skin, especially when he looks at me like he’s hungry for more. “I like this.”

“Like what?” I mumble.

“You … feisty.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my neck, only for his tongue to dip out and draw a line all the way up to my jaw. “Mine.”

God, that’s all he has to say to make me melt into a puddle.

He’s the damn lion, and I’m the lamb in his cage, waiting to be devoured.

And I don’t even regret it. Not even once.

* * *

The moment the front door is closed, Cage immediately grabs my ass and pulls me toward him, smashing his lips on mine. I giggle, but his lips cover my mouth quickly, preventing me from moving. He holds me tight and groans against my lips, pushing his half-hard dick against my thighs.

I can’t believe we’re doing this again so quickly, but I guess his appetite is never-ending. That’s what you get for shacking up with a beast … you get fucked, a lot.

But I’m not protesting, not one bit. Not even when he spins me around and shoves his fingers down my skirt, fingering me without holding back. Right here, in the hallway, where everyone could still see us because my door has a tiny window. But I don’t even care. All I want is his fingers and lips all over me. And oh, boy … does he know how to work magic with that tongue of his as he plants kisses right below my ear.

“Mine …” he grumbles, making my blood rush through my veins as lust fills my body.

“Yes,” I mewl, wanting to give in to him completely.

However, when I open my eyes and come face to face with Bo staring at us, I shriek.

Cage pulls his hand from my skirt and steps back as I clutch my body, embarrassed.

What the hell is Bo doing here?

The paper bag of groceries he was carrying drops to the ground as he stands with his jaw gaping.

My eyes widen the moment I see the pain in his eyes, cutting into my heart.

He spins on his heels, leaving the groceries spilled on the ground as he rushes off.

I don’t think twice. “Wait here,” I say to Cage as I open the door.

“Need help?”

“No, I got it,” I say as I run after Bo.

I have to catch up to him before he leaves. I can’t let him walk away like that. Not after seeing what he saw. I’m mortified. It was horrible that he had to see that, and I feel guilty … I have to fix this. I have to talk to him.

I sprint as hard as I can, reaching Bo just before he jumps on his bike. I stop him, through, placing a hand on his wheel so he can’t leave without giving me a chance to explain.

I’m sorry, I sign.

But the hurt is too big. It shows on his darkened face, his posture, everything. Even his body is tense.

“Please don’t,” he rasps.

Please, I sign, I don’t want this to get between us. I’m sorry you had to see that.

“Get between us? You mean that guy shoving his hands down your skirt as if he owns you? In front of the whole world?” he shouts.

Hearing it come from his mouth only makes it sound even worse.

But I never wanted him to witness that.

If I’d known you were coming, I wouldn’t have done that with him, I sign.

He turns and puts a foot on the bike. But if he leaves now … I might never see him again.

I quickly sign, Please, don’t go. We can discuss this.

“What’s there to discuss?” he barks. “I know what I saw. End of story.”

No. I shake my head. He’s being mean just to hurt me, and I get it, but it still hurts.

“He’s the father of your baby. I get it,” Bo says. “But other than that, what does he give you? Can he provide for you? Does he work? Does he do anything at all other than act like a caveman?”

I grimace. I understand he’s upset, but he’s taking it out on Cage now.

That’s not fair, I sign. Cage didn’t choose any of this.

“Yes, he did. He chose you,” Bo says.

What? No, it’s much more than that, I sign. We chose each other. I trust him and he trusts me.

He nods, but the look in his eyes feels like a sharp dagger. “You trust him, yet you never even told him anything about his brother. But you told me. When were you going to do that? Never? How can there be trust when he doesn’t even know the full truth? I don’t understand.”

My lips part, but nothing rolls off my tongue. All I can do is gasp at the realization that Bo just talked out loud about Cage’s brother … and that I still haven’t told him.

I know I haven’t. I was waiting for the right time. The right moment. If there ever is any.

But that has nothing to do with how I feel about Cage.

Bo puts on his helmet. “Whatever. I’m done.”

Please. Don’t do this, I beg him with signs.

“Do what?” he snaps. “All I wanted to do was help.”

And you did. Thank you for that, I sign. And for the groceries.

He makes a sour face. “Really? The groceries? That’s all that matters?”

No, of course not, I sign.

“All these years, Ella,” he scoffs, shaking his head. “Why can you talk to him but not me?” he growls. “You feel safe to use your voice around him but not me? A guy you’ve known for years?” His eyes are red and turn watery. “A guy you met in a cage and you trust him more than you trust me?”

I clutch my chest, my heart feeling like it’s breaking into tiny pieces.

I shake my head, not knowing how to respond.

It’s not true, I sign. I trust you.

I just don’t know any better. Signing is how I’ve always communicated with Bo. After my sister’s death, there … didn’t seem to be any voice left in me except when I was around my parents. But Cage changed that. He changed me.

And when I finally escaped and came back home, I reverted to my old self around Bo.

I didn’t use my voice because it didn’t feel necessary. I’d been signing to Bo for so long, I didn’t know anything else, so that’s what I kept doing. Because it felt safe.

But I never imagined it’d hurt him so much … especially to see me talk to Cage.

To see me … being kissed and touched by him.

Tears well up in my eyes. I’m sorry, I sign.

“Don’t,” he hisses, getting on his bike. “Just don’t. I wanted to help you, but I can’t. I just can’t fucking do it anymore. You want to be with him? That … animal?”

The word animal sets me off.

Turns a switch in my brain that I didn’t know existed.

Before I know it, I’ve already slapped him … right across the face.

I immediately pull back and put my hand in front of my mouth.

Bo just stands there idle, staring at me with pain in his eyes.

I can feel it to the bone. It scrapes and scrapes at me until nothing’s left but chiseled off dust. It makes me want to wish I could shrivel up and die.

I shake my head as he touches right where I slapped him with two fingers.

After a silence that feels like an eternity, he spits, “Fine.”

And then he bikes off quickly before I have the chance to say something … anything.

Speak.

That’s what I should’ve done all along.

Let him hear my voice.

Tell him how and what I felt.

So there wouldn’t ever be this hurt inside my heart and his.

“B-bo!” I call out his name as he drives off.

It’s the first time ever that I’ve yelled out his name.

And it makes him glance over his shoulder … just before he disappears out of view.