Conquer (Control) by M.S. Willis Read Free Book Online Page A

could actually, physiologically, drop to my stomach…it did so in that moment.  My arms came up to hug around Daemon’s and I squeezed him to me.   “Your mom?”
    It took him a moment to respond.  “Yeah…she cried a lot….when he…  Well, anyway, she cried; and so did you when I was mean.  It annoyed me that you would sit there and put up with it; that SHE would sit there and put up with it.  I couldn’t make her do anything to help herself, but I thought I could teach you how to put up a fight.”
    I didn’t think I could stomach continuing this conversation, but this topic needed to be discussed.  Without everything being out in the open, there was no way we could come to terms with our past.  “Were there other times where you hurt me badly?”
    “No.”  He sighed.  “All the other times were what you remembered; but I think after what your mother saw in the library that day, she kept an eye out.  I don’t know why she never stepped in or said anything.  I remember her trying to keep me busy a lot of the time away from you, but one way or another we’d find our way back together.”       
    A thought occurred to me and I sat up suddenly.  After spinning around to face Daemon, I asked, “So, you only really did something terrible on that one occasion in the library?!”
    Daemon looked confused by my sudden enthusiasm, but eventually answered.  “Yes…no!  Paige, I pushed you around all the time.  I thought I was helping you, but all I was doing was treating you like my dad treated my mom. I controlled you and did things to you when you wouldn’t listen.”
    I shook my head in objection to Daemon’s words.  “Daemon, you may have gone about it the wrong way, but you weren’t so awful that you couldn’t be trusted around me.  Don’t you see?  My memories aren’t completely incorrect.  You were trying to help me.  You cared about me.  My parents overreacted by sending you away.  Please tell me you don’t agree with their decision.”
    The sigh that escaped Daemon answered my question for me.  He did agree with what they did.  He honestly believed that he was an abusive person.   “Regardless of the relationship I had with you, I was a screwed up kid, Damsel.  I would have fucked it up sooner or later.”
    My eyelids were growing heavy.  A loud yawn escaped me, causing Daemon’s chest to rock with silent laughter.  “Let’s get you to bed, Damsel.  You have had one hell of a busy day.  We have all the time in the world to talk about this stuff later.”
    I moved out of Daemon’s way as he pushed himself up and out of the tub.  He wrapped a large towel around himself before reaching down to pull me into a standing position.  He wrapped a towel around my body before I had a chance to step out of the tub.  His arms came around me and he lifted me to carry me into his room.  After placing me on the bed, Daemon removed the towel and replaced it by covering me with a soft blanket.  He threw the towels into a hamper before crawling into bed.  His arms found their place around me once more as I was pulled tight against his chest.  It wasn’t long before sleep claimed me.
     

Chapter Three
    ~~ Daemon ~~
     
    “It’s okay, Buddy.  You need to quiet down now.  Mommy is taking care of you.  Remember our rule, little one….once the bandage is on, there are to be no more tears.”
    Mommy always said that after Daddy hurt me.  This time, I had spilled some milk out of my cereal bowl.  He got mad and pushed me out of my chair.  I hit my head on the floor and started to cry.  Daddy got mad at that too.  He dragged me out into the living room and scraped my knees along the floor.  Mommy just sat there.  She always just sits there.   All I could do was huddle into a ball and wait until he was done yelling at me.
    It’d been weeks since Mommy brought me back here.  She promised me that Daddy had been sick, but had gotten better.  She told me that