Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

glimpse of her broken, bruised body when he picked her up off the floor, wrapping her in the sheet, but her robe had covered most of her. She’d stayed hidden after that, refusing to al ow anyone to go near her. They’d al respected that because her eyes had been so hol ow, so fil ed with sorrow she’d nearly torn their hearts to shreds. But he couldn’t stop his slow steps forward, his hands from reaching out to slowly unbutton her shirt until it began to gape open.
    El e stayed stil , holding her breath, her head high and he knew it cost her, that smal show of courage. Jackson swept back the shirt to reveal the whip marks, some cut so deep he knew they’d leave scars. There were bruises and bite marks marring her soft skin. Without a word, he pushed the sweatpants down over her hips to see the slashes cutting across her hips and buttocks, down her thighs and even across her feminine mound. His breath burned in his lungs and rage erupted like an exploding volcano, but he shoved it down until it seethed below an ice-cold glacier, a boiling mass of brutal need for retaliation.
    â€œI should take you to the hospital, El e,†he said, his voice a soft ribbon of sound, completely monotone. At her instinctive withdrawal, he locked his fingers with hers, preventing her from covering up. “I’ve seen worse, though, so I think we can deal with it ourselves. I do want your sister to give you a shot of antibiotics and then prescribe them for you.â€
    â€œI don’t want her to see.â€
    He tugged her sweatpants up, careful to keep the material from brushing her body. “She won’t intrude. You know Libby, of al your sisters, is the least intrusive.†He began moving her toward the bathroom. The hal way was wide and opened up to a large bathroom with a sunken tub and a wide window with an ocean view. He saw her gaze shift to it and look hastily away. “Does it bother you that half the house is windows?â€
    She shook her head. “Not in the sense that Stavros’s vil a was glass. I know even if a boat was out there, no one on it could see me like this, but stil , it feels as if I’m exposed to the world.†She looked away from him. “To you.â€
    â€œDon’t feel that way about me, El e. Whatever I know about you, you know about me. We’re in this together. You have to look at it that way.â€
    â€œI don’t have a choice. I can’t let you out of my mind and I think I’m afraid to let you out of my sight.†She flashed a ghost of a smile.
    He tugged on her hair. “Bath or shower? We have to wash those wounds and make certain you don’t get an infection.†He frowned as he pushed the shirt from her shoulders. “He either wasn’t very experienced at this or he’s a true sadist.â€
    â€œWhat do you mean?â€
    â€œWhat was his goal? To force compliance? To punish you? Why leave permanent marks on you? If he was a dominant, he wouldn’t have done that, not unless he real y likes hurting people.â€
    â€œHis brother showed him how to ‘punish’ me when I didn’t comply. I had the feeling he was giving him a crash course in ‘breaking’
    a woman, although he took to it very fast.â€
    â€œHis brother?†Jackson prompted, his voice careful y neutral. “You haven’t said much about the brother.†He only knew she’d spoken of him that once with such fear and loathing.
    She didn’t want to think about Stavros’s brother with his dead eyes and his hungry expression. Now there was a sadist. He definitely liked to inflict pain on women, and she had been so terrified of him, she’d actual y looked to Stavros for protection. She was ashamed of that—horrified even—and didn’t want to see Jackson’s reaction. He had been in her mind and had seen that moment when her breath had caught in her throat and she had made an involuntary move toward Stavros. She’d seen the triumph in the Greek’s eyes, but right then it hadn’t mattered, only his protection of her from his even crueler, far too hungry brother.
    â€œIt wasn’t because I was a desirable woman,†she mused aloud. “They both sensed I was psychic, yet I didn’t know they were. I just thought they had natural barriers as some people do, but I underestimated