BEAST by Pepper Pace Read Free Book Online Page A

to re-wet it and then placed it on his fingertip. He had never done this before but had seen it done. She tried to peek at him and he waited patiently for her to look at the ceiling again. Then he pressed the lens into her eye and she quickly blinked it into place.
     
    “Better?”
     
    She looked up into his face, now able to see him clearly. “Better.” She managed to smile. He pressed the juice to her lips and she took a longer swallow. Then she took the drink from his hands, her hands covering his for a moment and then she gulped down the orange juice spilling some down her chin. When the container was empty she belched. He hid his smile. She was still half out of it but the sugar would bring her around fairly quickly.
     
    Ashleigh closed her eyes and placed her head on the man’s massive chest. She smacked her lips and then promptly fell asleep.
     
    Christopher was unsure what to do but he wasn’t going to wake her. He settled back in his chair and held her. She felt so damned good in his arms. He looked down at the top of her head. She was so little…well she was a big girl, but in his arms she was dwarfed. He wanted to…
     
    His arms tightened protectively around her.
     
    Ashleigh felt a sense of relief that she hadn’t felt in months. She didn’t remember what all had gone wrong but so much had been wrong for so long and now it was all right. She snuggled deeper in to DeAngelo’s arms. She’d missed him so much and it felt so good the way he held her in her sleep. Sometimes she knew that he’d think she was asleep and would hold her tightly against him and that’s how she knew that deep down he loved her; because if he didn’t why would he bother to hold her while she slept?
     
    “DeAngelo…” She muttered softly and sighed. Christopher watched her face. He instantly hated this ‘DeAngelo.’ He wanted to kill DeAngelo. Some other man got to hold her and she spoke his name in that way. But then her head snuggled against his chest again and all thought left him. Damnit, why did she have to feel so good in his arms? All softness and curves…
     
    TK walked into the commissary then. He eyed the two of them and then gave a lascivious grin. He gripped his crotch suggestively.  Christopher put on his meanest expression and gestured with his head for TK to get lost. The other man silently went to the vending machines and got himself a soda. He could tell that their wordless conversation had tickled the black man who raised his ever-present sunglasses to look at the two of them and then blow him a quick kiss.
     
    Christopher scowled but it disappeared as soon as he looked down into the woman’s peaceful face. She was beautiful, she had a teeny little peanut nose and perfectly formed lips. He used to look at pictures and photographs of lips; ones with perfect cupid bows ; like hers. Her face was round and girlish. He figured that she was in her late twenties. Her long lashes left dark shadows on her golden brown cheeks. She wasn’t pink, she was gold and brown like hot buttered toast.
     
    He wished that she would sleep like this forever.
     
    Ashleigh sucked in a loud breath as if she had been drowning under water. Her hands flung out and her eyes popped open; all at the same time. She was awake.  She looked up into the wary face of the man and let out a squeak of surprise. Oh my god. His face… she could see it up close and clearly now. Th ere were scars criss -crossing his face . His nose was flattened but his upper lips wasn’t exactly three separate pieces as she had first thought from her brief glimpse of him, but it did have deep scars as if it had been sewn back together; badly sewn back together. His hair was cut into a very short military cut but she could tell that it was red, just like his sparse eye brows and lashes.
     
    She realized that she was staring, but she also realized that he was allowing it. Ashleigh quickly pushed away from him. Oh my god, she had been snuggling against