Saved by Lorhainne Eckhart Read Free Book Online

boat?” he asked as she brushed her hand roughly over her cheek and wiped away the tears.
    She shook her head. “I don’t know. It was dark out, and I was sent down below and sat on a narrow bunk. I was told not to move.”
    “That’s okay. What happened next, Abby?”
    “Seyed and the man who drove were arguing about something. I don’t know what because I couldn’t understand them. They were angry, though. Then I heard the engine start up, and the boat began to move.” Abby’s face took an edge as if she was trying to hide her discomfort. She pressed her fingers into her lower back and then leaned to the side, resting on one arm.
    “You all right? Your back sore?”
    “Yes, sorry. I didn’t want to…”
    He cut her off before she could finish, absolutely furious because she was trying to hide all her pain. “For God’s sake, Abby, if you’re hurting, you’ve got to say something.” Eric stood beside her and held his hand out. “May I?”
    She gazed up, a bit startled, and then nodded. “Okay.”
    Eric sat beside her on the bed and rested one hand on her shoulder, sliding his other across her lower back and massaging the stiffness. “How does that feel?” he asked. She wouldn’t look at him, but he could feel the tension in her muscles wound tightly, as if they were made of stiff wire that would snap before it would bend. He grabbed the extra pillows on her bed and plumped them higher. “Here, lean back against these. Hopefully that will feel better.”
    Abby slid back on the bed and rested against the stacked pillows. He saw her hesitate a second as though waiting for his permission to move.
    “Abby, lie down, relax.”
    She nodded, her eyes cast downward, and leaned into the pillows. Then she turned on her side. “Is it all right if I lie this way?”
    He couldn’t believe she was asking him this. He felt his throat thicken for whatever had happened to her to break her down so. “Abby, I know I’ve said this, but you’re safe here. You don’t need to keep asking to be comfortable. You need to tell us if something hurts.”
    She lifted her chin to look at him, but she was so uneasy, and she blushed a bright pink before nodding and then staring at her fidgeting hands. Eric still stood over her, and she lay there in front of him as if she expected him to stay there, but he couldn’t do that to her, so he sat back down and leaned back, tilting his head to look at her face, a face that, once free of bruises, he had no doubt would be absolutely stunning.
    “Abby, do you want to continue?”
    “I suppose you want to know all the details.” She didn’t wait for him to respond; she just kept talking. “The boat was moving. I don’t know for how long, as I was so tired I must have fallen asleep. I remember him shaking me awake, telling me to come up on deck. I followed him up in the darkness, seeing only a handful of stars in the sky. For some reason, at the time, I thought it must have been cloudy. Then I remember looking around for the other man, but he wasn’t there. I was alone with Seyed, and even after everything I’d been through, there was something about being alone with him on a boat in the middle of nowhere that absolutely terrified me. Even in the darkness, I sensed this look in his eyes that sent an icy chill up my spine, as if someone was dumping icy water on me. It was horrible.”
    “So how did you get away?”
    “I didn’t plan it. It just sort of happened. I remember I couldn’t breathe, and I did it without thinking. I removed the veil and abaya. It was so windy that my hair was all of sudden free and whipping around my face. I had to hold my hair back, but it was the most amazing feeling. I don’t even remember looking at him. I just remember him yelling, and I was so scared because he was furious and shouting in Arabic. I didn’t understand him, but I knew he was angry because I had taken off the veil. I didn’t have time to put it back on. He grabbed me by the hair