“Nothing.” Beccy’s cheeks flushed a magenta pink.
Liam spotted a junction up ahead. The Jag slipped into the inside lane, and he flicked on his indicators.
“Why are you pulling off the motorway?”
In silence, he followed the slip road and pulled in the first layby he saw.
He took a deep breath and turned to Beccy. Her face was filled with worried confusion.
“Listen to me carefully. I plan to know every inch of your body inside and out. It’s my responsibility as your dom to protect you and make sure nothing I do causes you any harm. You understand?”
Wide eyed, Beccy nodded.
“In order for me to do that, I have to know any pains, any problems with your body. I need to know if you have a dodgy knee or if eating bread gives you diarrhoea. I know your soft and hard limits from our discussions but being your dom is so much more than that. I have to know everything about you. It’s important.”
Beccy lowered her eyes and nodded.
“If there is something wrong, mentally or physically you have to tell me. So, I’ll ask you again. What’s wrong with your stomach?”
“It feels like period pains,” she said in a quiet voice.
“See, that wasn’t so terrible. Do you get bad cramps?”
“Only in the last few years, ever since I moved into my own place.”
“I’ll take you to my doctor as soon as possible and get you checked out. Anything else I should know?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. The rosy colour in her cheeks had spread to her whole face.
Liam took her hand. “You don’t have to ever be embarrassed about telling me anything. I want to know.” Liam paused. “I want to know everything about you. Now, let’s get this show back on the road.”
An embarrassed smile appeared on her face.
“Okay, I promise.”
A few minutes later the black Jag joined the increasing stream of cars on the motorway. Beccy settled back in her seat.
“It’s probably a good thing we’re heading back to my place because I wasn’t expecting to get my period yet.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. They do sell tampons in London too, you know.”
“It’s not just that. I didn’t bring my razor with me either.”
Liam glanced over at her with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”
“Well...you know...”
Liam shook his head.
“How women get more hairier when they’re on their period? I’d have had to shave my legs every day before I let you see me naked; otherwise, you’d have mistaken me for a yeti.” She smiled coyly.
Liam gave a slight nod, but he frowned.
“Why don’t you try to get some rest. It’s a long drive and you had a heavy night last night.”
“Good idea.”
Liam drove on as Beccy curled up on the seat and closed her eyes. He wondered if it was a universal secret that women never spoke again and somehow he was only finding out about it at the ripe old age of thirty-two. His frown deepened. It was more likely that Beccy had a weird hormonal problem or something worse. He didn’t want to ask her about it and worry her unnecessarily but getting her to a doctor had just jumped up his to-do list.
Chapter Eight
Tommy shut the door and leaned back against the wall. He shut his eyes and slid down until he felt the cold stone floor through his jeans. What the hell was he doing? His forehead thumped against his knees, and he wrapped his arms over his head. Without his brother to guide him, he felt as if he was wandering through fog along a crumbling cliff top, afraid the boogieman was at his heels, and any second he was about to tumble into an ocean of insanity.
If only his dad was there to help. He needed someone. He pictured his dad pacing the room as he’d often done when he’s been planning a job, flicking his pen knife open and shut as he thought.
“Go through the facts, Tom. What are you sure of?”
Tommy folded his arms over his knees and buried his head deep into his damp coat. What did he know for certain? Paul was missing.
“Well of course. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
Something chased—
His father interrupted. “Could’ve been a trick of the light...or a dog. Just the facts.”
Something had banged into the van. There was a fresh dent in its rear door.
“Good.” His father pushed the blade back into the case and nodded his approval.
“Mum said—"
“Facts! Don’t make me say it again.”
“Sorry, Dad.”
He’d gone back to the house at Sandborn and found nothing. After hours of waiting around he’d decided to search the nearby woods.
Then...
“Please don’t make me think about it, Daddy,” Tommy pleaded. His father crossed his arms and frowned.
Tommy took a deep breath and ran his fingers along the rip in his sleeve.
He’d been crouching in the forest. Something had jumped on top of him, growling...snarling. In between a sea of dark fur, he’d seen flashes of razor-sharp claws and glistening teeth. In the turmoil, he’d dropped his gun.
His father sighed and flicked open his pen knife.
Tommy had tried to grab the taser from his pocket, but the weight on his back, the powerful muscles pinning him to the ground, and the sheer terror coursing through his veins had made his fingers feel like he was trying to pick up a ball with snooker cues.
“Then...”
Then somehow he’d managed to grab hold of the small pouch and shake its contents over his shoulder. The weight on his back had lifted but his eyes roared with pain as if they’d been filled with chilli powder.
His father leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on his knife as he pulled the blade out with his fingernails and pressed it back in with the heel of his hand. Open. Closed. Open. Closed.
“Damn you, Dad. My brain won’t even let me imagine you saying, ‘well done’.”
He’d staggered after the creature...a wolf? It had seemed to change each time he’d glimpsed it with streaming eyes through the trees. Each time it was smaller...paler...more human.
“Your mind is wandering. Just the facts, Son.”
He’d followed it through the forest back to a cottage, that cottage. The creature had pushed open the back door and trotted inside. Tommy followed armed with his taser.
“See, Dad, I was brave. I didn’t run.”
“What did you find?”
Tommy raised his head and winced as he ran his finger along the deep wounds in his arm.
He’d searched the entire house and all he’d found was a woman—a naked woman asleep in the cellar. She’d opened her eyes and he’d tasered her.
“But then you left her didn’t you?”
“I had to check the house again.”
“You left her alone...with a phone.”
“I didn’t know there was one down there. I’d tied her up. Anyway, she didn’t get a chance to say much.”
“Who knows who’s coming now. The police are probably racing towards this house as we speak. Not going to look good for you is it? A naked woman in the cellar. You in the house dressed like fucking Rambo’s backward cousin.” His father ran his finger along the edge of the opened pen knife. “What are you going to do now?”