Beckham was gone when she woke up.
But the indentation from where he had slept was still visible. It was even a little warm. Evidence that their perfect night had really happened.
There was other evidence too.
Like the scream that erupted out of her when she tried to stand. The pain as she hobbled across the room and into the shower. Her lower half was sensitive to the touch. They’d definitely gone even harder than she’d thought. She’d have to be gentle with herself for the next couple days until her body recovered.
The bruises on her hips were a road map to their pleasure. She took care tracing them across her hips to her ass. She liked them.
Despite the pain, she liked it all. It was proof that this life was real. Perhaps next time she wouldn’t need such a powerful reminder, but it wasn’t as if she hadn’t wanted it. She’d begged for it. And she’d do it again.
Her only regret was that she’d never gotten around to asking Beckham about Laura’s wedding dress. She’d had it on her to-do list and then it had just slipped her mind. Like most things did when they were together. It had been so long since they’d been together that she couldn’t blame herself for losing track of everything but him. She’d make it a priority for next time…when she wasn’t acting like a sex-craved teenager. Hopefully Becks could figure something out on such short notice.
Reyna spent the rest of the day in bed, trying not to move around too much. She knew eventually she’d have to go downstairs to eat, but she didn’t want to answer the inevitable questions. Her stomach was grumbling so ferociously by dinner though that she had finally had to put on the loosest sweatpants she had and a baggy T-shirt. Her hair was in a topknot and she knew that she looked like shit. But she was too hungry to care.
She was teetering toward the door when a knock sounded through the room. “Come in,” she called, because hurrying wasn’t an option.
Jodie poked her head in. “Where the hell you been all day?”
“I haven’t been feeling great.” Not entirely a lie.
“I brought you some dinner,” she said, holding up a bag.
“You’re amazing.”
Jodie shut the door and wandered into the room. Reyna took the bag from her and eased her way back across the room.
“Why are you hobbling like an old lady?”
“I told you, I don’t feel well.”
“Uh-huh,” Jodie said, unconvinced. “Explain these symptoms.”
Reyna’s cheeks heated as she crawled back into bed. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh man, please tell me that you got fucked so good you’re waddling. You look like you’ve been riding a horse!”
Reyna buried her face in her hands. “Jodie!”
“Come on. Tell me you got some.”
“Fine,” Reyna said. She pulled herself together and started picking out the sandwich and water Jodie had brought her. “I had sex last night.”
“So…vamp, huh? What’s it like? Did you let him bite you?”
“Jodie!”
“Girl talk, Reyna! Give me the goods. I was locked up for ten years. I need this.”
“It was amazing. And he didn’t bite me. He didn’t want to lose control.”
“Lame,” Jodie said.
“What? Lame?” Reyna squeaked.
“Yes, lame! If your vamp boyfriend wants a sexy snack mid-fuck-session, you want that shit. I heard it makes it ten times as intense!”
“Well, I do want it,” she admitted. “But last time, it got out of hand. That’s…well, afterward I ran out, and then I got kidnapped and taken to Visage. So, he’s gun-shy.”
“Damn. Was it better with the bite?”
Reyna considered. “Different. When it was just Becks, it was already the best sex of my life. Like he understood exactly what I needed and then took it. When I had the bite, it was a complete loss of control. It took over and heightened everything. I’d take either as long as I have him.”
“Well, fuck. Sign me up!” Jodie said with a laugh. “Where do I find my own vampire boyfriend?”
Reyna shook her head. “You’re outrageous.”
“Sounds right.”
“Did I miss anything today while I was gone?”
“Nah,” Jodie said, slouching back into a chair. “Laura has been out of commission too. Meghan disappeared early this morning. I’ll tell you…I’d really like my own room sometime soon so I don’t have to hear her come and go.”
“Yeah. I think most people are bunking up. I’m surprised I don’t have to share.”
Jodie rolled her eyes. “With vampire boyfriend on your side? Puh-lease.”
Reyna laughed. “Vampire boyfriend. I love that.”
A knock sounded on the door. “Come in!” Reyna called.
Meghan stuck her head in the doorway. “Hey. Just the people I was looking for.”
Jodie raised her eyebrows. “You were looking for us?”
“Yes,” Meghan stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “I talked with Reyna the other day, and I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation. And I want to help you. Both of you. I know what you went through was horrible, but we are not Visage. We want you to be happy. We would love to help you find anyone if you have people you want to bring in. Do you have someone we could look for?”
Jodie shot a look at Reyna, who held up her hands in surrender.
“You want to help me?” Jodie asked.
“Yes,” Meghan said. “I do.”
Jodie glanced down at her hands where she threaded her fingers together and then apart. “Then why did you never come for me?” It was the first time Jodie had sounded vulnerable. “Why did you leave me in there for ten years?”
Reyna could feel something slice open in Jodie. Her heart ripped and she spilled all the inner turmoil onto the floor. The abandonment, the years of tests, the hopelessness. It all came tumbling out.
Meghan’s eyes welled with tears. “Ten years?”
“You saved Reyna after eight weeks, but left me forever. Left all of those other kids forever? How could you do that?”
“I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I didn’t know, Jodie.”
“How could no one know?”
“I didn’t have access to that information. I had no idea that they had done this or that they had you or even that there were others like you. I found out when I went in and we got you out. I would get everyone out of there if I could. That is what we want long term. What we have always been fighting for.”
“You really didn’t know?” Jodie asked.
“No. And if I had, I would have done something about it. We’re still building up to the resources we need to make a break of that caliber. But I don’t want anyone in there any more than you do, Jodie.”
Jodie deflated. As if all the pomp and swagger she had been riding on had just dissolved. “I have a cousin, June Gardner. They took me from her.” Jodie looked up into Meghan’s face. “Can you help me find her?”
Meghan nodded automatically and shot both girls a bright smile. “Of course. I would love to help you find your cousin. Why don’t we start now?”
“You’re serious?”
“I think she is,” Reyna said.
“What’s the catch?” Jodie asked.
“There’s no catch, Jodie. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that we’re not Visage for it to sink in with you.”
“Probably a few more.”
“Come on. I bet Tony in tech can point us in the right direction.”
“Reyna, do you want to come?” Jodie asked uncertainly.
Reyna nodded. “If you don’t mind me hobbling around?”
Jodie snorted. “I don’t mind.”
“Why are you hobbling around? Are you sick or injured?”
“You could say that,” Reyna muttered.
“She’s been fucked properly.”
Meghan laughed. “Oh dear God, I don’t even want to know.”
Reyna carefully got out of bed and hobbled behind Meghan and Jodie. The idea of finding June had clearly already brightened up Jodie. She seemed more relaxed and less wary. If they could help her, maybe they could help all those people who had been stuck in Visage. One day she was going to make sure that Harrington paid for what he had done to all of those people. For what he had done to Jodie. For what he had done to her.