Mary gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. She could barely breathe. She’d apologized, but she hadn’t really had time to tell Connor what she was feeling.
When a very much alive Connor emerged from the woods, holding his tattered clothes to cover his nudity, she almost fainted. She let out the breath she’d been holding.
“Cover your eyes, girls,” she said quickly.
“It’s just nudity,” Melody said. “He’s all covered, anyway. We can’t even see the good stuff.”
Connor went to his car for a minute, then came over to her door wearing a pair of sweatpants. “I always keep these in the trunk in case of emergency.”
“Are you okay?” she asked nervously. His perfect body still looked intact, but he could have internal injuries or something else wrong. “I think you should go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere except to your place to make sure you’re okay.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “They were only teenage boys. They were never going to get the upper hand on me.”
“You didn’t hurt them, did you?” Melody asked with fear in her voice. “I know what they’re doing is stupid, but they really are good guys. They weren’t always like this. They fell in with a bad crowd.”
“I didn’t hurt them,” Connor assured them. “They’re going to have to turn themselves in to the police. This is far from over for them. You girls might even have to testify against them.”
“This isn’t going to be good for the company,” Mary warned him. “Have you told your dad about any of this yet?”
“I can tell him later. When I told him the first time, he didn’t believe me. What’s important now is that we get you guys home. I’ll follow you to make sure you get there safely.”
Mary’s hands shook as she drove them home. No one had much to say, so she ran through her apology in her mind. She’d been foolish, and now she had a chance to make it up to Connor.
“We’re going to bed,” Hilary said to Mary as they entered the house. “You two can head to your room if you want.”
“I’m sure you two need to apologize and make up,” Melody said as she walked up the stairs with her sister. “Nobody’s going to bother you guys. No worries.”
Connor came in a few moments later. “Where are the girls?”
“Upstairs,” Mary told him. “And Gina is already asleep, if she’s home. Could you come downstairs with me for a minute?”
He nodded and followed her down the basement steps. “What’s down here?”
“My bedroom.”
“Whoa.” He stared at the unfinished parts of the basement. “This is a little Cinderella-ish, isn’t it? Stepsister made to live in squalor?”
Mary laughed. “I asked to live down here. Gina was pretty angry when I did it by myself one weekend when she was working. I love the space because it’s all mine. Watch.”
She pulled the curtain closed and set up the Chinese blinds. “With these closed, it’s like I have this space all to myself. It’s like having an apartment of my own, almost.”
“Does this give you any kind of privacy? I would think they could hear everything upstairs through the heating ducts.”
“They can’t hear anything.” Mary put her hand over her mouth and screamed. “I used to practice this all the time. I wanted to know if someone broke in, would anyone be able to hear me upstairs if I screamed. Nope. Nothing. Whatever we say is just between us.”
Connor nodded. “I was pretty scared back there. Afraid of what would happen to you and the girls. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. Any of you, but you in particular.”
“I was scared too.” Mary sat on the bed and patted the space next to her. “I do have a hard time trusting you. That’s not going to change overnight. But what I want you to know is that I still love you regardless.”
Connor smiled. “You love me?”
“Don’t you love me? Isn’t that what I’m feeling in the energy between us?”
He put his hand on her chin and tilted her head toward him. He kissed her lightly on the mouth. “With all my heart.”
“Well, then, what do we do now?”
“Make it official.” He laid her down on the bed and moved her shirt away from her shoulder. “I have to bite you. If you’re as sure as I am about this, I can mark you now.”
“I’m sure.”
She braced herself for the pain, but it was more like a light scratch. She felt a rush of emotions and started to cry.
He kissed her tears away. “I know it’s a lot to take in all at once. I can’t believe you let me do that. I was sure it would take months for you to get there.”
“I can say I’m not going to trust you overnight, but in my heart, I already do. It’s my stupid brain that needs to catch up.”
He nodded. “That’s fine. By the time your brain catches up, it’ll be time for us to get married.”
She laughed. “I was going to say that’s a bit fast, but you’ve marked me. We’re as good as married already, anyway.”
“Exactly. But we haven’t done everything yet.”
“What’s left?” She leaned up on her elbows.
“We have to consummate our marking.” He grinned at her teasingly and tugged at the waistband of her leggings.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Mary had never been so excited to test out how soundproof her little room really was. Since it was Connor, she had a feeling they were going to put the soundproofing to the test.