Safe Harbor by Tymber Dalton Read Free Book Online Page A

anything.”
    Her face reddened. “Everywhere.”
    He knelt in front of her. “If you don’t want me to—”
    “It’s okay.” She took a deep breath. “If it’ll help later, help nail him.”
    “I’ll make it fast. I promise.”
    “Okay.”
    “Let me focus first, before you drop the towel.” He prepared as best he could, then told her to move the towel. Shooting quickly, he fought back the bile in his throat. From the dark purple of some of the bruises over her breasts, he suspected they’d been nearly black when fresher. “Okay, that’s it.”
    She wrapped the towel around herself while Mac swooped in to drape the robe over her. Sully spotted the tears in Mac’s eyes.
    So did Clarisse, apparently.
    That finished her. She broke down crying again. This time Mac consoled her. When she composed herself, Sully tried to offer her a comforting smile, although he suspected his anger had given him a harsh look.
    “Go take a nice hot bath, take as long as you want. Do you want any Tylenol or anything? We’ve got hot tea.”
    She nodded. “That’d be great. Thank you.”
    Mac jumped up and raced to get them, leaving Sully alone with her. He knelt in front of her again. “Take your time. We can visit until eight tonight. We’ll see if we can eat dinner with him.”
    “Okay.”
    He left her alone.
    Clarisse sat there for a moment before willing her legs to stand.
    She figured why close the bedroom door? They were gay, what difference did it make?
    Maybe she could trust Sully one day. Not right now. Not this

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    soon. She sensed he wasn’t an ax murderer. Still, it made her uncomfortable baring her soul to him.
    Mac was a different story. She trusted him, instinctively sensed he would die before he let anyone hurt her. Considering the men were all she had, she was willing to trust that much.
    She’d crawled into the tub, comfortably immersed in the water, when Mac knocked on the bathroom door.
    “I have your Tylenol and your hot tea.”
    “It’s okay. Just bring them in.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah.”
    He opened the door and cautiously stuck his head in. “I didn’t know if you wanted sugar in your tea, so I brought some.” He walked in and set everything on the counter. He handed her two capsules and a cold bottle of water. When she downed the medicine, he took the bottle back and handed her the tea. “Sugar?”
    “No, that’s okay.” He sat on the edge of the huge tub after he handed her the mug. She didn’t bother trying to cover herself or sink lower in the water. It was too exhausting, and, frankly, she didn’t want to expend the effort and feel her muscles scream.
    He looked like he wanted to say something but caught himself.
    “What is it?”
    “Can we take you to the doctor? We’ll pay for it.”
    She blushed and shook her head. “I let them look me over at the ER before I checked myself out. They x-rayed my ribs, said I wouldn’t die. It would have been stupid to waste time sitting in a hospital when I could have been moving.”
    “Aren’t you hurting?”
    She laughed, setting off pain in her ribs. “Yeah, worse than I ever have in my life. I’ve got a high pain tolerance, though. It’s okay. I once smashed my hand in the rigging. When Uncle Tad wanted to turn around and head to dock, I wouldn’t let him. I just stuck it in ice for a few hours and kept sorting. My mom was pissed, but my dad
     

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    was proud of me.” She studied her left hand as she flexed it.
    A light scar traced across her palm. “Did that when I landed a lemon shark one night. Took ten stitches to close it when we got back, but I used butterfly bandages on it and didn’t let Uncle Tad see how bad the shark got me.”
    Mac gently caught her hand in his, kissed it, and gently traced his fingers over the scar. “How long has he been hitting you?”
    She didn’t pull her hand away. “Verbally? From day one.
    Physically, this is only the second time he laid his hands on me. And the last.”
    “You