Bought Deceit (Deceit Series Book 1) by Autumn Winchester

Author:Autumn Winchester [Winchester, Autumn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Dakota

The pain woke me up. At first, I was able to ignore it. It was just a small twinge. Something I had there constantly. It wasn’t too bad until I rolled over just slightly, and my entire torso was pressed against something.

I cinched my eyes tight, willing myself not to make a sound. Crying was for the weak. I wasn’t a baby, despite what happened.

Taking a deep breath in, it got lodged into my chest for a moment before I could force my body to relax. Only then did the stabbing pain edge away. Not nearly enough, but I could think through the pain momentarily.

With another deep breath came the smell of clean sheets. It wasn’t the same as the house I was in.

Where was I? What happened?

All at once, my body stiffened, and my lungs refused to work with me.

I tried to remember what happened after I was hit in the hallway. All I could remember was so much pain. And then too many people. I’m pretty sure I freaked out, too.

“You’re safe.” That voice was not anyone I knew.

I managed to get a grunt out, but I knew I wasn’t safe. I didn’t know where I was, who that was, or what happened. The word safe wasn’t something I was ever going to say I was.

Tears stung the corner of my eyes as I fought my rising panic. My thoughts swirled, and the pain increased as my body wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and die.

“Please don’t…” whoever it was trailed off, fighting back tears themselves.

It wasn’t like I could just stop it. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’d rather be numb, but apparently, my body didn’t agree.

My stupid body had gotten used to a small dose of niceness while in Sir’s care, and now it all exploded on me. It always did.

I shouldn’t have let Sir be so kind. I should have known things weren’t going to be better anywhere, even if he said it was. I should-

“Dakota?”

The rushing sound through my head instantly quieted at that voice. I went from being on the edge of something I loathed to stepping into the calmest waters ever.

I wanted to turn, to lay my eyes on the man, but what if he wasn’t real? What if I was only dreaming?

The bed behind me dipped as someone sat down. I refused to believe any of this was real, not with the pain radiating with each breath I took.

“Take a breath, boy.” The words were spoken with a hand touching my back gently before he went in circles in an attempt to calm me down.

I didn’t want to, but my body did as it was told anyhow. It was only then that I figured out I had been holding my breath. Light flashed behind my eyes as I breathed in as deeply as I dared.

Pain flared, and I couldn’t stop the cry that forced its way out of my throat on my next breath. My hands clutched against the blanket that was pressing against my chest.

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