Montana D-Force (Brotherhood Protectors Book 3) by Elle James Read Free Book Online Page A

seven years.”
    She glanced at the trees and vegetation near the corner. “He must have been waiting in the brush. I didn’t see him at all, just walked toward my house, like I did every day.”
    Her fingers curled around the armrests. “Then something came down over my head. A bag or burlap sack. I couldn’t see. Whatever it was covered my head, shoulders and arms. Then strong arms wrapped around me. I couldn’t fight with my arms and hands. They were trapped against my sides. He must have wrapped rope around the sack to keep me from getting loose. I kicked and screamed, but it didn’t do any good. He threw me over his shoulder, carried me a short distance, and then dumped me in the backseat of his truck. He drove across some very bumpy roads and stopped.”
    A shiver rocked her body. For a long moment, Mia didn’t say anything, as she relived the terror and pain of that day so long ago.
    Bear took her hand in his and squeezed gently. “You don’t have to go on.”
    Mia found his big, callused hand comforting. “No, it’s okay. Sometimes, I pretend it was someone else, not me, who was attacked. But I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else. I can truly say it was the worst day of my life.” She stared down at the scars on the back of his hand. “You must think I’m foolish.” She traced one of his scars with her fingertip.
    “I don’t think anything of the sort.” He glanced her way. “Why do you say that?”
    She shrugged. “I was raped and lived. I didn’t lose a limb or suffer a spinal injury. Basically, I came out of it intact.”
    Bear shook his head. “Nobody comes out of anything as traumatic as what you went through intact. I suspect you had posttraumatic stress issues, just like soldiers who survive wartime attacks.”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know about posttraumatic stress. A lot braver men have suffered more than I have and are managing to live normal lives.”
    “And a lot of them commit suicide because they can’t manage day-to-day life as a civilian.” Bear shook his head. “How did you manage to get away from your attacker?”
    “He left me tied to a tree. I think he expected me to die of exposure that night. It got really cold, but I didn’t give up. I rubbed the ropes against the tree bark until they frayed and finally broke. When I pulled the bag off my head, it was already getting dark. I didn’t know which way to go.
    “I remember being worried about my parents. I wondered if they’d found my backpack, or called the school to see if I’d taken the bus home.”
    Bear slowed his truck, letting her finish her story before they entered Eagle Rock, for which she was grateful.
    “I found my clothes, but not my shoes. After dressing, I walked for a long time, until I came to a paved road. Then I walked some more, barefoot, bleeding, and probably in shock.” She drew in a deep breath. That feeling, as though all that awful day had happened to someone else, blanketed her, insulating her from the horror.
    “I finally saw a light in the distance. It was a vehicle coming my way. I was afraid it was him, coming back to finish me off. I dove into the bushes and hid until it went by. Then I continued until I came across a mailbox. Then another, the one with our address on it. Somehow, I’d found my way back to where it had all begun. I ran all the way down our driveway, ran through the door and collapsed in my mother’s arms.”
    “If you didn’t tell your parents what happened, how did you explain your disappearance and battered condition?”
    “I told them I’d chased a rabbit into the woods, got disoriented, lost my way and fell down a ravine. They’d called the sheriff and had half of the county out looking for me when I showed up.”
    “Why didn’t you tell your parents what really happened?”
    She laughed, though the sound was hollow, even to her own ears. “I was sixteen, scared, deeply ashamed and horribly embarrassed.”
    “Jesus, Mia. You had no reason to be ashamed