Read Strong Enough for Free Online Page A

to
block the pain as much as possible.
    Leaning back, my body slumped against the
brick building wall and my hands rested on the cold cement ground.
My eyes wouldn’t open, and I was having a hard time holding my head
up.
    Suddenly the little hairs on my neck stood
up as I could sense someone was coming toward me. Panic grew in my
chest as I attempted to breathe. The closer the steps came, the
more my breathing became labored and erratic, panic was setting in,
and each breath caused me to shudder from the stifling stabbing
pain in my chest.
    “Who’s there? Don’t come any closer, I… I
will scream,” I managed to get out, as the footsteps increased with
urgency.
    Oh my god, they are coming back for me.
Please dear God, please make them go away.
    The fear that ran through my body made it
hard to breathe. I didn’t want to die this way, alone.
    Just as the footsteps grew in intensity,
they stopped. I moved my head left and then right trying to see
anyone, anything. My eyes were swollen shut. The rest of my face
was swollen and my body felt like it had gone a few rounds with
Pacquiao. There was a burning aching pain between my legs. I really
just wanted to curl up and die.
    I softly whispered to myself,
“ God no, no…(sniff sniff) this can’t have
happened, not again .”
    “Please, d…d…don’t hurt me anymore,” my soft
and vibrating voice let out.
    I could sense someone standing over me, so
close to me. As the person hovering over me let out a mangled
breath I stiffened, confirming to myself it was a man. What was he
coming back for? Hasn’t he done enough?
    “Please.” Was all the protest I could muster
as a cry.
    With a deep and hard sigh, he leaned down
next to me, hovering so close but not touching me. I could feel his
heated breath close to my face. Even though the sun had been long
gone and probably closer to making a new appearance, I could feel
his shadow over my body which was acutely aware of his immense
size.
    He slowly, with the most tender and gentle
effort, slid his right arm under my limp legs while simultaneously
wrapping his left arm around my back. This man was huge! I could
feel the sheer size of his arms wrapping around me and it gave me
an instant sense of calm as he pulled me close with the smoothest
of motions into his arms.
    My brain was telling me to panic but my body
sensed something else from this man and melted against him. I was
able to tilt my head slightly to let it rest against his
well-defined chest that could be felt through his soft cotton
shirt.
    Being 5’9, I don’t consider myself a small
girl, which made imagining the man now holding me in his arms to be
quite a statue. He would have to be to make me feel so small.
    I managed to lift my left hand and rest it
in the center of his chest. His body tensed under me. My hand
splayed out pressing into him as if he was a lifeline. I couldn’t
see, but I could feel, smell and hear and I was on sensory
overload.
    I rested my head just ever so slightly back
and against where my hand resided and his pec muscle flexed under
me. His hand splayed out against my back and with the gentlest of
grips pulled me closer to him. Every muscle in my body was in pain.
I let a small whimper escape my lips as I resisted trying to open
my eyes.
    “Sssssshhhhhhhh, don’t try and move,” a
silky seductive southern voice spoke. The vibration of his voice
left me calm but anxious. Mmmmm, what a sexy
voice , WAIT, it’s him, he’s the
voice.
    Suddenly I was airborne and moving. The
jostling from his steps was causing my body to wince from the pain.
I turned my nose into his shirt and attempted a deep breath but was
only able to manage a decent sniff. He smelled seductive and fresh.
I breathed in again and got hit with a mix of grapefruit and ginger
wrapped with cedar and tobacco. His smell was intoxicating.
    “You keep breathing me in like that and you
really will feel the pain in your ribs,” he said with a slight
chuckle.
    Still unable to