“Are you all right?”
He was on her now, slightly out of breath as he reached for her hand. Sophie stood rooted to the path as she watched the hand’s path toward her, and as his fingers closed around hers, she held her breath.
“Sophie?” There was genuine concern on his face. “Should I call an ambulance?”
She laughed out loud at the idea of Jared calling an ambulance. This was the man who had asked his friend, the doctor, to stick her with more than one needle in the past, and who’d insisted that same doctor, Daniel, show up the next day to check her over. Heat bloomed in her cheeks as she remembered precisely how he and Daniel had appraised her condition, and she shook her head at the recollection.
“No. I’m fine. What… what are you doing here?”
After all this time, it was all she could think to say. It seemed like an age since she’d stalked out of that restaurant, her head full of triumph at the thought she’d somehow got one over on him, when the reality was, she was no better off at all. Sitting down and telling the man who’d captured her that he’d had no right was initially cathartic, there was no doubt about that, but it hadn’t taken away the memories. Or the way Sophie still craved his touch, and the menacing murmur of his voice in her daydreams. Or every ounce of the pain and humiliation he’d created. Because she did—she missed all of those things—but mostly, she missed the pleasure.
Jared had torn orgasms from her body, even when she was spent, when she thought she couldn’t take any more. He’d detonated her, and he’d denied her, whenever and however he’d liked.
“I was just passing by,” Jared smirked down at her.
He was so goddamn tall. How had she forgotten how tall he was?
“It looked like you needed help.”
“You were passing?” Sophie glanced back at the desolate street behind him. “Why would you be passing here?”
“You’re welcome, by the way.”
She exhaled. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, ignoring the blush deepening on her face. “Yes, thank you. I… I got a little bit out of my depth.”
“Again.”
His succinct response was depressingly accurate.
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “Again.”
“Need a ride home?”
He arched his eyebrow at her in the way he knew drove her wild, and reflexively, she clenched the muscles between her legs. The ones that wanted him. The ones that demanded his attention.
“No, Jared. Thank you, though.”
“So,” he glanced around theatrically. “You have a car close by?”
His tone suggested Jared already knew the answer.
“No, I…” She fumbled for her purse. “I don’t, but I can call a cab.”
“You won’t get one for ages at this time of night, Sophie, and it’s not safe for a little girl like you to be wandering around here, waiting. Anything could happen to you. Anyone could find you.” His eyes drilled into hers, the intensity of his stare, reminding her someone already had found her.
“Thanks for your concern, but it’s really not your problem.” She stepped away, forcing her feet to move despite their reticence. “I’m sure I can hail a cab from further down the road.”
Although, as she looked around, it was patently clear that wasn’t going to be the case. The area seemed abandoned, save for a few passing motorists, and as she glanced further down the street, she could see an ominous group of young guys, loitering by the pedestrian crossing. Her belly twisted at the thought of what they might say when she passed them.
Of what they might do.
If Jared had taught her anything, it was some men simply couldn’t be trusted.
“But it is my concern.” Jared’s voice floated passed her ear. “You’re always my concern, Sophie. You’re my little girl, no matter what you say. No matter how you reject me, I haven’t forgotten the things we did.”
Sophie’s eyes fluttered closed. Oh, God. She hadn’t forgotten either. She would never forget. How the hell had she got herself into this?
“I remember the things we did,” she whispered into the wind, but Jared was there in an instant as if her voice had commanded him.
“Are you sure?” he breathed into her nape, and she shivered instinctively. “Are you sure you remember?”
She turned to meet his determined blue gaze.
“I remember everything. How you took me, how you bound me, how you tormented me.”
“How I loved you?” He inched in her direction, his dark locks catching in the wind as he gazed at her. “Do you remember that, little girl? How I gave in to you? How I held you, how I took you into my bed, and how I gifted you with the most incredible climaxes?”
He didn’t say it, but Jared’s eyes conveyed the rest of the sentiment.
How I gifted you with the most incredible climaxes of your life?
“Yes.”
Sophie had to push the word out, and he nodded in response.
“And how you tried to kill me?” His tone was deeper now. “How you left me for dead?”
She trembled at the memory of his lifeless body, sprawled out on the bedroom floor after she’d walloped him with his own martial arts trophy. Sophie had only acted in self-defense. When Jared had wrapped his hand around her neck and squeezed, she’d had no choice.
She had to survive—for her children.
“I remember.”
Their gazes met again.
“And do you recall the last time we saw one another?” His words were almost a sigh. “How you told me we were done? How you stalked out on me?”
Sophie’s back straightened. “You deserved it.” There was more venom in her voice than she’d realized as she hissed the reply up at him. “What did you expect? After everything you put me through, Jared. What on earth did you expect?”
He smiled at her, raising his brow. “I suppose you’re right, but you meant it.” Jared sounded surprised. “You actually were done with me. You didn’t try to make contact again.”
“I was trying to move on.”
Her hands rose to her hips in irritation. Why was she standing here, justifying herself to this man? She could have called a cab by now. She could have been on her way home.
“Is that what Mike was about?” Jared gestured behind him toward the house he’d just saved her from, and that idea resonated in Sophie’s head.
Whatever else transpired, Jared had saved her tonight. Clearly, Mike wasn’t going to allow her to leave, and just like Jared, he was too strong for Sophie to resist. If Mike had got her inside his house, anything could have happened. She could have woken up stripped and bound to another fucking bed, and this time, it might not have had such a happy ending—if that’s what she could call the conclusion of her time with Jared.
“Was he part of moving on?”
She inhaled. Damn it, why did she have such shitty luck with men?
They always seemed so bloody nice online, so interested in her and accommodating, but then, once she’d met them in real life, they were either ludicrously dull or turned out to be complete psychopaths like Jared. Not that she’d ever been to bed with any of the others, of course.
There had been no one since him.