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doesn’t even know me.
    “And then I’ll kill him again,” I hear a soft, lilting voice
coming from the doorway and turn to see Ellen standing with tears shimmering in
her eyes.
    Jake’s hand drops from my face and he softly takes my hand
in his.  “Let’s get you back to bed sweetheart.  I’m coming with you this time,
I’m fuckin’ tired.”
    “I’m safe here?  I can stay?  You’ll be close. ” I
mumble softly, the questions echoing through my head as I realize I kinda like
the idea of a hulking great biker being close by.  A hulking great biker who
could probably do as good a job as a Hooch dog, if not better.
    “You are, you can,” he murmurs as he leads me back to the
bed, stripping his shirt off as we go.
    “Okay, but you need to do some serious housework man.  This
joints a sty.”
    “Sure sweetheart, I’ll get right on that,” he murmurs again
as he stops by the bed to drop his pants to the floor.  Staring openly, I take
in the site of him standing only in his boxers.  Tattoos snaking up both arms
and up his neck, he has muscles on his muscles, all over his body.
    Hot damn.
    It looks like my self-appointed bodyguard is the hottest guy
I have ever laid eyes.
    Pointing to the bed, he watches as I climb in gingerly and
settle to one side.  Then, being careful not to bump me as he climbs in, he
rolls over onto his face, wraps his arms around his pillow and settles with a
sigh.
    “Sleep woman, I’m wiped,” his voice muffles from his pillow.
    “Okay,” I say as I roll to my side, facing him.  Leaving my
back and ass well out of range of any unwanted physical contact, I drift off to
sleep within minutes.
     
    *****
     
    Jake…
    I hear her breathing level out next to my shoulder and know
she is asleep.  Turning my head slightly, I look to see her facing me.  She is
resting on her left side, the only side of her body not ravaged by that mother
fucking asshole.
    From the small piece of her face that is not swollen beyond
recognition, I can see with clarity the clear beauty that she normally is. 
Even with her long golden blonde hair currently all matted with blood and
plastered against her head, I can see that she is normally a woman who takes
care of herself.  I can also see that any man who manages to gaze into those
eyes is going to struggle not to lose themselves in them.
    As sheer exhaustion from over twenty four hours spent
without sleep slides in, I vow to hunt that mother fucker down.  I vow to make
him regret every mark, bruise and scar he left on her tiny little body.
     
    *****
     
    Arianna…
    The next time I wake up it is late afternoon.  My entire
body is aflame with pain and I find myself groaning as I float to
consciousness.
    Somebody please kill me.
    Opening my good eye, I find that my bad one makes the
slightest attempt at movement.  An improvement.   Focusing my eye, I find
myself staring straight into the wide-awake eyes of Jake.
    “You need pills,” he says.
    “I need pills,” I agree.
    “You were groaning in your sleep,” he adds as he rolls away
from my face and swings his legs over the edge of the bed.  Standing quickly,
he strides to the door and disappears through it.
    Returning a short time later, I see he his carrying a glass
of water and big handful of pills.
    Holy shit.
     “I see you’ve decided it’s easier to finish me off.” 
    He grins slightly at my humor but shakes his head no.
    “Anti-inflammatories, pain killers and antibiotics.  I think
Ma might have shoved a multivitamin in there too.  She made me take one while I
was out there as well.”
    Grimacing, I slowly roll to my back and slide to a sitting
position.
    Nasty.
    Handing me the glass of water, he holds his hand out flat
with the mighty handful of pills.  Watching as I slowly put one in my mouth,
sip water and then repeat until they are all gone.
    “Twenty minutes.  Ma’s coming in to help you clean up. 
She’s going to wash your hair too.”
    “I need a mirror…” I