CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The huge biker leaned forward, his hazel gaze going soft again, one massive hand over hers where they knotted under the covers. "Aw, honey girl, no! You didn't do a single thing wrong. You just got tangled up with a bad dude, that's all. Wasn't your fault. None of it."
She unwrapped one hand from the covers, and he took it in his, big and powerful and so, so warm that she cradled it to her chest on instinct. "Tell me," she pleaded. "Even if it's bad."
His eyes softened, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Okay, here goes."
He proceeded to tell her a story worthy of a TV reality show, of a man called John who made a date for an encounter with a pretty woman, one new to 'the business'. John took her out to dinner, then took her back to her place, a small old resort called the Pine Cabins. They shared sex, then John took his leave, but not before tipping the woman a couple extra hundred, above the amount he'd paid earlier for her.
He then returned to the clubhouse where he lived with some brothers.
One of them remembered an ugly story about the man who had arranged the 'date'. A story so ugly that John returned to get her out and away. He found a muscle man guarding the woman, who had been beaten, bound and left in a small, dirty, cold storeroom, no doubt to punish her for trying to leave, and prove to her she could not escape the shit-hole place or the ugly men there.
"So it all started Friday night," T-Bear told her. "That's when you and me met. Now, it's Sunday."
The nurse returned with her soda and crackers. "You need anything, you use that call button," he told Manda.
He left, and Manda watched, bemused as T-Bear rose and opened the packet of saltines, then opened the can of Coke and poured it over ice for her. He added a straw to the glass, pushed the swing-table closer to her, and walked over to the window, peering out as she picked up the glass of Coke and took a sip, then another.
As she sipped, more flashes of memory popped.
T-Bear sitting across from her at a restaurant table, laughing. T-Bear behind her in the bed, moving mightily as they both strove for pleasure, and found it. Here she squirmed a little in the bed, because this memory was so visceral, and pleasurable. Then, T-Bear gone, leaving only money on her nightstand.
Her horrible encounter with Rezan and his muscle man—an encounter that made her heart race and cold sweat break out on her skin, just remembering it. She had a feeling it would be a very long time before the effects of that encounter left her.
And last of all, she remembered T-Bear bursting into that cold, dirty little storeroom, and carrying her out.
"You're right about one thing," she said to his broad back. "Rezan Faro is a major asshole. A user. And you're right about him turning out to be a-a pimp. But you're wrong, too. Because he's not my pimp."
He turned and leaned back against the window. He folded his arms, and said nothing, his face expressionless.
Manda's face burned. "He's not!" she said in a hard voice. "He told you that I was a whore. That's a filthy lie! I'm not. Wanna know the lie he told me? That you were a friend who was coming off a bad break-up, who just wanted a n-nice girl to go on a blind date."
At this, T-Bear's head went back, and his lips parted.
But Manda didn't wait for him to speak. "And I'll tell you what I told him. Someday I might sink so low and be so desperate that I'd sell my body for money. But I'm not there yet. I didn't know anything about his scheme to get money from you. So take your two hundred dollars and...and just go away."
So saying, she struggled over on her side away from him, and pulled the blankets up over her head. The movement hurt, badly, but in that moment it was worth it to block out his story, and the look of skepticism in his eyes.
“Aw, now.” A big, warm hand settled on her shoulder, and stroked gently. Even through the blanket, she could feel the warmth of that hand. She half-hated it and half-wanted to beg him to stay and hold her close.
But tears were leaking down her battered face, and she refused to let him see her weakness. So far, that's about all he'd seen from her. And she refused to show how much it hurt that he believed the worst about her.
"I'm sorry, honey girl," T rumbled. "So fuckin' sorry. Didn't mean to insult you, although I've known some real nice women who, uh, made a living that way. But if you say that's not you, I believe you. Guess you and me both fell for Faro's bullshit line."
When she refused to answer, he sighed deeply. Then he leaned closer, his voice as quiet as a deep one like his could be. "Want you to know somethin', Manda. You're safe now. No matter what, Faro's not gettin' anywhere near you, ever again."
When she did not respond, he rose, the bed easing as his weight lifted. "Okay. Guess I’ll go now. But someone will be around, keepin' eyes on ya. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
When the sound of his booted footsteps faded, she pulled the blankets from her head, because it was hot and stuffy under there, and swiped her wet face on the fabric. Tomorrow... what was she going to do tomorrow? They'd let her out of here soon, which was good, but then what would she do?
She heard T-Bear's low voice out in the hallway. "Leavin' you on guard, brother. No one gets in here who don't have a badge—hospital or cop."
Another man answered, too low to understand.
Manda's head hurt too much to think about why T-Bear seemed to be watching out for her, or why he'd left one of his friends guarding her while he was gone.
Tomorrow she'd ask him about that, as well as what had happened to Rezan. Also, if he minded if she used the two hundred dollars for a bus ticket. Just as a loan. She surely wasn't ever going back to the Pine Cabins. They were the last place on earth she wanted to be. The second to last place was her mother's apartment, but right now, she had no choice.
With no money, no car and no clothing but the ensemble in the hospital bag, there was nowhere else for her to go. Aunt Macy was gone. Chloe had no room for her. Manda had other friends, but none good enough for a favor this big. That left her mother.
One thing was for sure, she couldn't depend on T-Bear to look out for her. He'd ridden to her rescue like a knight in an old pickup truck. But she couldn't ask anymore from him than that, and she wouldn't. He'd just disappoint her, like all the other men in her life.
She'd depended on her daddy, and he'd walked away without goodbye.
As for Tim, he'd worked hard to break down her defenses and gain her trust. But when he’d needed collateral to pay a debt, he'd taken everything she owned and used her..
Finally, she'd had no idea Rezan Faro was in cahoots with Tim. He’d sure pulled one over on her—acting like her friend, pretending he wanted to give her a leg up on the long climb back to independence, to being her own woman.
And look where all that dependence got her—in a hospital bed, broke and nearly broken.
She was done with men. In fact, she should be more like a man herself. Hook up when she wanted sex—not that she was going to be in the mood for sex anytime soon, but someday—and the rest of the time? Keep them at a safe distance. Even T-Bear, with his seductive smiles, and muscles and ginger curls, and that big cock of his.
She pushed the call button to ask for more painkillers. Too bad the kind nurses here couldn't bring her a new life, as well.