Becky White sat in the middle of the big bed and stared at the closed door. What had Glenn meant when he said she couldn't ever leave? Why couldn't she? She gave a snort of laughter. Why would she want to? It wasn't as if she would ever go back home. Home. A word that was supposed to instil a sense of well-being in a person, not terror and hatred. She wondered if she would ever know a home like that and her eyes looked around the room she was in. She could make a home here, she thought. Her eyes went to the door again and she sighed. No point in putting it off, not if she wanted to know what he was talking about.
She moved off the bed as fast as her back would let her and opened the door, moving into the main living area and seeing Glenn busying himself in the kitchen. It wasn't a huge cabin by any means, but it wasn't tiny either and it seemed to fit the big man working so comfortably at the stove.
He turned when he heard her behind him and watched as she walked slowly over to where he was working, her eyes taking in the food he was preparing. "Can I help?"
"Sure," he murmured, feeling a bit odd with her standing there next to him, especially after what he had just said. He wasn't sure, even now, if he could actually say the things to her that he had planned. "Here, chop this," he said, thrusting a red pepper under her nose and sliding a knife along the counter.
Becky looked at him whisking eggs up and frowned. "I thought you said you couldn't cook?"
Glenn froze briefly. Damn, he thought. "Er...yeah, not very well. I get by," he said, relief flooding him as he thought of something to say. In reality he could cook quite well, but he couldn't let her know that or it would foul things up.
"Oh," she said, twisting her lips thoughtfully. He had said he could only cook stew, but here he was making what appeared to be an omelette. She gave a mental shrug. Most people could make things with eggs. "Are you making an omelette?"
"Yeah a Spanish omelette," Glenn replied without thinking, and then could have kicked himself. "I...er...I saw how to make one once, so I thought I'd try it."
Becky looked up at him openly now, studying his face and certain that he was lying. There was only one reason she could think of for that. "You can cook can't you? Really? Glenn...are you just making up a job so I don't have to go back?" she asked shyly, looking up at the huge man.
He thought of what he had planned and tried not to look uncomfortable, giving a shrug of his big shoulders and not saying anything.
"You're a really nice man," she murmured, her eyes going over his face again and a tingle running up her spine at his looks.
Glenn slammed the knife down on the counter as guilt overrode his speechlessness. "I'm not nice!" he growled, glaring down at her from underneath his lowered brows, and she jumped, dropping her own knife with a clatter.
"I...I'm sorry..." she whispered, wondering what she had said.
"Do you want to know what sort of job I was really offering you?" he asked, the self contempt in his voice coming across to her as anger and she backed away a couple of steps as he advanced. "Sure, I wanted you to cook and clean, why wouldn't I? But what I really wanted was you in my bed!"
"Wh...what?" she gasped, backing up more the further he came towards her.
"You heard me. I wanted you in my bed, warm and willing and being paid for your services!" he barked out at her and she felt the blood start to drain from her face as he continued towards her, making her step backwards faster as she tried to move away from him. Her hands came up and she held them in front of her, trying to stop his progress.
"I don't...I don't underst-stand..." she stammered, her eyes getting bigger.
"Of course you don't, you think I'm nice," he growled, closing the distance between them and pinning her against the wall, his hands resting on either side of her head although he didn't touch her in any other way.
Becky tried to swallow, but her dry mouth wouldn't let her and she glanced up at him, scared of the way he was looking at her and of what he had said. She closed her eyes to block him out and waited to see what he would do.
****
Mark frowned in his sleep as a noise disturbed him, and he rolled over onto his stomach, rubbing his forehead on the mattress and yawning. The noise came again and his eyes opened, the frown intensifying when he looked across the bed and saw that Ellie wasn't there. He sat up abruptly and listened, hearing the faint noise again. Getting off the bed, he slipped on his robe and made his way into the bathroom, turning on the light when he entered the room and could hear her whimpering in there somewhere. He froze when he saw her curled up against the toilet, a blanket over her shoulders, her head resting on the seat and her hands clutching her abdomen as she made small distressed noises.
"Ellie?" he said softly, crouching down next to her and reaching out to touch her arm.
She jumped briefly at the contact and the noises became louder as she started sobbing. He had to strain his hearing to make out what she was saying, and when he did he winced. "Please don't...please don't..." she sobbed quietly over and over again.
He looked at her helplessly, seeing that she had been sick. His words earlier came back to haunt him, when he had told her if he could take the food out of her she had already eaten then he would. Not knowing what else to do, he lifted her small body up in his arms and carried her back into the bedroom, laying her down on the bed and smoothing her hair back from her face. The act of tenderness felt alien for a moment. "Ellie, tell me what's wrong."
Ellie felt so sick she could barely answer him, and she felt a hysterical giggle work it's way up her throat. He didn't know what was wrong? He had done it, how could he not know? She couldn't even tell him, because then he'd likely get angry again and she couldn't take anymore pain, she'd rather leap off the roof. She started crying harder as her situation got to her and Mark stood up, staring at her for a few minutes in confusion before rushing away to get Lizzy. She would know what to do, he thought.
He came back with her a few minutes later, the older woman looking disgruntled as he had obviously woken her up, but her face changed to one of concern when she saw Ellie. "Oh my dear, what's wrong?"
Ellie lifted wet eyes to the woman and briefly flicked them to Mark, shaking her head. Lizzy immediately turned to Mark. "Why don't you go downstairs and make some coffee?"
"I don't want to make coffee," he said, looking impatient.
"Why? Don't you remember how to do it?" Lizzy shot back, raising her eyebrows imperiously as though she were the boss and not he.
"Of course I remember, old woman, but it isn't my job," he replied.
"Maybe not, but you ain't staying in here, boy, not while I'm checking this young girl over. Now get," she said, waiting until he gave in and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Lizzy turned back to Ellie and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Now you tell me what's wrong sweetheart, and I'll make it all better. Come on, he's not here now."
"I hurt," Ellie sobbed, indicating where with her hands. "He hurt me."
Lizzy frowned and shook her head, muttering as she walked into the bathroom and started running a bath. When she came back she sat down on the bed. "I'm gonna have to take a look darlin', see how bad it is. Okay?"
Ellie was embarrassed beyond belief but Lizzy made her lay back whilst she examined her gently, making tsking noises. "It's not too bad darlin', but you're going to be sore for a few days." She sat down and pulled Ellie into her arms so she could comfort her. "First times can be pretty bad, and I know he isn't a patient man, but it will get better. Did he take you more than once?" Ellie nodded and felt her face bloom with heat. "That's what I thought. Well, he'll have to learn to wait, because you won't be doing anything like that for a while now!" She pulled back from Ellie and helped her off the bed, drawing her into the bathroom where the bath had nearly finished filling. She efficiently stripped her and made her get into the water, adding some powder and swishing it about. "There, that should help some. You relax there for a minute and I'll get some balm. We'll have you better in no time!"
Ellie relaxed her head against the back of the tub and closed her eyes, feeling the pain in her body start to ease in the warm water. Her stomach still felt unsettled, but she felt better being alone.
Lizzy went straight down to the kitchen and walked up behind Mark, slapping the back of his head and glaring at him when he swung around. "What the hell was that for?" he bellowed, raising one hand and rubbing his head.
"That's for giving that poor girl more pain!" Lizzy snapped, going to the large cupboard that held medication and searching through it until she found a tube of cream that would be useful in this situation. Mark looked down and saw what she was holding and frowned.
"What are you doing with that?"
"Helping her heal after the way you've treated her, that's what! Are you totally insensitive?"
He frowned in confusion this time. "Heal? What's wrong with her? And what do you mean by insensitive?"
"Exactly what I say, but I guess I'll have to spell it out. She was a virgin, correct? It hurt her, correct?" Lizzy waited while he went slightly red and then nodded. "Didn't it occur to you that you shouldn't have taken her more than once tonight?"
His eyebrows raised up. "Oh," he murmured, understanding at last. "Is she...I was a bit, er..." he cleared his throat and turned his back on the older woman, busying himself making coffee. "Is she okay?"
"She will be," Lizzy murmured, looking pleased that he had shown some emotion other than anger, even if it was just embarrassment. "But Mark, you can't touch her for a while, do you understand? She was sick because it hurt her so badly, and she needs a few days rest."
"I haven't ever heard of such a thing," he muttered, feeling guilty and not liking it one bit.
"Well of course you haven't, you're a man. And usually you're an angry man, at that. That can't have helped her, the poor thing. I'll go and see to her," she said, shaking her head as she turned away.
"No," Mark said, stopping her in her tracks. "I'll take care of her. She's my wife." He held his hand out for the balm and Lizzy handed it to him with a smile, thinking that maybe there was hope for him after all.
Mark put together a tray with two full coffee cups and sugar and cream, and put the small tube next to it all, carrying it up the stairs and into his room. He put it down on a bedside table and then picked the tube up, reading the instructions, such as they were, and making his way into the bathroom.
He looked down at her in the tub, her eyes closed and her lashes making a dark fan against her pale cheeks, and he felt guilty all over again. She looked so small laying in the tub and now he knew he had hurt her. His brows drew down as he realised that must have been the reason she had tensed up before, she hadn't been playing some game, she wouldn't even know how. He watched as her eyes flickered open when he cleared his throat again and then they widened, her hands trying to cover herself up under the water.
"It's okay," he said quietly, crouching down next to the tub and looking only at her eyes. "I won't hurt you again, I promise. I didn't know that I had, I thought..." he broke off and shook his head. "Come on, get out and I can use this cream," he said, grabbing a huge towel and holding it up for her.
Ellie swallowed down her embarrassment and slowly got up, feeling a fairly intense soreness still, but trying to ignore it. At least it wasn't so bad now that it was cramping her stomach, she thought. She reached for the towel and he automatically wrapped it around her body, lifting her slight weight in his arms and carrying her through to the bedroom where he could lay her down on the bed. When he started drying her off, she tried to protest, but he stopped her with one look and she relaxed, letting him do it. He reached for the cream once he was satisfied she was dry enough and started parting her legs, and she panicked, trying to get away from him. "No, Ellie, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to do that again now, okay? I want to make you better," he said, feeling acutely uncomfortable himself.
She stopped moving and stared at him. "I can put it on," she whispered, still keeping her legs tightly closed. But Mark shook his head.
"No, I caused the damage, I'll make it better. Just relax," he said soothingly, his voice deep and smooth. He felt her relax a tiny bit and prised her legs open again, moving in to see how bad it was himself. Her delicate flesh was so red that he winced, but there was no blood, thank God, her thought. She had small bruises on her thighs where he had gripped her flesh too tightly as well, each tiny bruise imbedding itself into his mind so he wouldn't forget what he had done, even if he hadn't done it on purpose. He opened the small tube and squeezed some of the cream onto his fingers, applying it as carefully as he could and making sure she was covered in it, inserting the tip of one finger gently inside her to make sure he got to every sore spot. She moved slightly with discomfort, but otherwise remained quiet, giving a sigh when he finished and went to the chest of drawers to get her one of his large shirts to wear. She allowed him to dress her in it and then he sat her up on one side of the bed, tucking the covers around her waist and then getting one of the coffee cups and handing it to her. "Drink this, it will probably settle your stomach a little," he said, staring at her as she took it and sipped slowly. Her eyes lifted to his and then darted quickly away when she found his eyes still fixed firmly on her face. It was obvious she didn't trust him, and he didn't blame her, he had given her no reason to yet. The awful feeling of remorse settled over him and he abruptly stood up, startling her. "Get some sleep, I'll make sure Lizzy brings you some breakfast," he muttered, gesturing impotently with one hand and then walking out of the room and leaving her on her own. Ellie couldn't work out why he had gone, or why he had just been nice to her again after the way he had acted earlier. But she couldn't worry about it now, she decided, otherwise she would never get any sleep. And she needed all the rest she could get to be able to cope with him again.
