“He… I mean, I guess he just got obsessed with me or something. He started showing up at places I was. Called me incessantly. God forbid I tried to go out with anyone else. He’d show up on the date and tell the guy that I was a whore.” My voice faltered a bit.
“Motherfucker,” Mason growled before visibly fighting to rein in his temper.
“I finally got desperate enough to tell my brother about it, assuming he’d lose his shit. But he actually kept a handle on his temper and instead helped me to get a restraining order. My parents, of course, wanted me to come home. I’d graduated by then, but I wasn’t about to let that asshole run me out of the city I wanted to be in. Plus, I’d already gotten a good job.” I looked over at him and saw him nodding in understanding.
This was the hardest part. I’d never had to tell someone aside from my family and Lily what had happened, and I felt an unsurprising amount of reluctance to share all the details.
“Then there was an incident,” I said, looking again into the fire, “and he went to jail. I didn’t have to worry about him for a year. When he got out, the police assured me that he’d moved to California. I haven’t heard from him since.” I shrugged with a nonchalance I didn’t feel.
“Ellie, baby, look at me,” Mason commanded gently.
I looked over at his handsome face and swallowed audibly. He took my wineglass from me, placing it on the coffee table, and pulled me across the couch into his lap. His hand stroked reassuringly over my hair and down my back. “What type of incident?” he asked quietly, his gaze intent on mine.
“Mason.” I sighed, looking away. “We should be at the fun getting to know you stage. The making love and going out with friends stage,” I argued against sharing any more.
“We are at that stage, baby,” he assured me, cupping my jaw and gently guiding my gaze back to his. “But I’m not interested in a fling with you. I know we just met, but the minute you let me inside that amazing body of yours, you became mine and I became yours. Actually, I think for me it happened the first night we met. I can’t explain it. It just happened. I don’t just want the fun, light side of you, Ellie, I want it all. I also want to understand you and protect you. In order to do that, I need to know exactly what happened,” he said firmly. “I’m not going to run away. I told you, whatever it is—whatever happened—I’m here. Okay?”
“Okay,” I breathed, taken by his words and feeling more fortitude to continue. I moved to get off of him, and he let me get as far as out of his lap before wrapping an arm around me and pulling me to his side.
“You tell me with us touching. I want you to know I’m not going anywhere and that I’ll hold you through anything,” he demanded, kissing my temple.
I nodded, clearing my throat to continue. “Once I got the restraining order, he seemed to just disappear. I was so relieved.” I sighed, leaning into his side, feeling safe and secure in his arms. “I felt safer going out again. I didn’t dread it every time my phone rang. Then one night, I was leaving work late. I was still trying to prove myself as a new coordinator. I was hit over the head on the way to my car in the lot, knocked unconscious.”
The answering tension in Mason barely registered as I was pulled deeper into the nightmare I’d spent so much time trying not to relive.
“When I woke up, I was locked in some sort of room. It was so dark, I could barely see. I had the most painful headache, and my mouth was so dry I would have killed for a glass of water. I was in there for a really long time. The smell was awful—like something rotten. It was suffocating. On the one hand, I wanted to get out so badly, while on the other, I knew what might meet me on the other side. When Brian finally came in, he told me that I’d done this to myself. That I needed to be punished for denying him what was rightfully his, what he’d claimed.” I swallowed loudly, reliving the smell in that dark and dank little room. The look in his eye had been one of pure madness. “He hit me a couple of times, telling me he was just working up to the real punishment. I knew that whatever he had planned I might not survive, so when he had his back turned for a split second, I hit him over the head with my boot as hard as I could and made a run for it.” I grimaced, remembering that feeling of desperation as I’d run out of the room and through an unfamiliar loft, trying to find the exit. “He recovered and chased me as I screamed with everything I was worth. It felt like one of those dreams where you’re in quicksand. My voice was hoarse and didn’t sound nearly loud enough, and my whole body was sluggish and not nearly fast enough.
“I finally found the door, and he clobbered me just as I wrenched it open. He wanted to pull me back inside, but it was too late. I’d been screaming too loud and made too much of a fuss, so someone had called the police, thank god.” I trembled, feeling cold despite the heat from the fire. “He had me on the floor beneath him and took my head in his hands promising me that I’d see him again, that this wasn’t over, and then he was gone.” My voice wavered a bit, and Mason squeezed me. “I went to the hospital with a concussion, some cracked ribs, and a few cuts and bruises. They picked him up a few days later, and he went to jail for kidnapping and assault.” I sat up, surprised that I wanted to meet Mason’s eyes. “I was scared for a long time after that,” I said quietly. “I went home for a while and stayed with my folks. I got some therapy and took some self-defense classes. When I came back, Lily looked out for me. Everyone thought I was crazy to get my own place, but I loved finally feeling independent. Free of him and the fear he wanted me to live with. But I have a hard time getting close to people. It’s not that I’m some meek, scared girl. Just reserved, careful. But I hadn’t wanted to date much. Here and there a bit, but I hadn’t felt a real attraction to a man, a feeling worth that risk… until you,” I said quietly, meeting his intense gaze.
He put his hand to my neck, cupping it gently, his thumb stroking my jaw.
“I’m not broken,” I stated firmly. It was important to me that he understood that. “It scared the shit out of me and still does. Especially since he got out last year. I still have the restraining order, and I know my parents worry. But I refuse to let him have any control over my life,” I said adamantly.
“You’re amazing,” he said reverently. “Thank you for telling me; I know that was hard,” he said gently.
“I feel bad that everyone is so worried,” I fretted, my brows knitting.
Mason sat up, pulling me so his face was almost touching mine. “He will never touch you again. I swear,” he said with an intensity I’d had yet to see in him, and I’d seen him be pretty intense. “But Ellie, this is part of the whole protecting you thing. You have to understand that I’m going to look into this. I want to know where that fucking bastard is. I want to know every detail of his miserable life. And if he moves so much as an inch toward our state line, I’m going to know about it, okay?” he asked with quiet determination.
I just stared at him for a moment, unable to process why he wanted to take this on, to take me on. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in the country, and for good reason.
“What’s that look?” he asked intently, pulling me so that I lay underneath his body on the plush couch.