“We’re going to buy you out, you disgusting piece of shit. Then kick you off your own land,” I threatened with a sneer. Which is when he dropped the bottle of Jack and jumped at me faster than I ever though he could for a drunk. He gripped me by the throat with both of his hands, cutting off any air, then slammed me up against the barn, the back of my head bouncing off the wooden surface with a mighty crash.
Stars flashed behind my eyes, and I kicked out desperately, but it wasn’t fast enough. Even as a drunkard, he was a swift and practiced bar brawler. He used those skills as if they were muscle memory when he smashed the back of my head against the barn again until those stars turned into swirling flecks of light and darkness, which was when he cocked his arm back and socked me straight in the face.
Excruciating pain imploded within my skull, and fire blasted against my cheekbone and eye.
I heard a fearsome roar that sounded like a lion or a tiger had found its way onto the property and was pissed as hell. Then my father was gone, pulled off my form by an unseen source. Then that lion was on top of my pa pounding his face into the earth over and over.
Only it was no lion. It was Sutton.
I slumped against the wall of the barn and slid to the ground, my head and my heart bursting with agony. Sutton’s mom exited his truck and rushed over to me, while a few of our ranch hands including Savannah’s Jarod ran to break up the fight.
“Oh, dear Lord.” Sutton’s mom cradled my cheeks. “You poor, poor thing. I can’t believe… Who does this to their own child?” She blotted at my face with a handkerchief, and I hissed at the pain as my vision went in and out. “We’re gonna need help. Someone call the doctor!” she screeched, sounding worried, when not a half hour ago, I’d been nothing but ugly to her.
“Why are you helping me?” I spoke and spat as blood spewed from my mouth, its coppery taste making my stomach jerk and heave once more. I must have bitten my tongue.
“Ma, move.” I heard the low, rumbling timbre.
“Sutton, dear, let me handle her until the doctor sees to her injuries.” She tried to help, but he was having none of it.
“I swear to Christ, let me see to my wife!” he barked for the whole world to hear.
That cat was for sure out of the bag now, alongside the fact that my father physically beat me. Though it hadn’t been as bad as this in a long time. Mostly because I avoided the bastard as often as I could. I shouldn’t have goaded him.
Sutton’s handsome face entered my fading view as excruciating pain filled every ounce of my frame. My new husband looked like pure gold, glistening against the backdrop of the sun’s light from behind him. Blackness started to blur the edges of my vision, and I tried to blink it away, but the pain was almost impossible to bear for much longer .
“Did you kill him?” I croaked, as blood slid down the side of my lip, dribbling down my jaw. “I hope you killed him.” My eyes were so heavy it felt as though magnets were pulling them together.
“He’s never going to hurt you again. Just breathe, baby. I’m gonna get you some help.” Sutton’s promise filtered through the inky blackness, swallowing me whole.
“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep,” I whispered, and let the darkness take me.
Episode 33
Why Are They Naked
SAVANNAH
The plane came to a speedy, rather bumpy halt at the Oslo airport. Erik lifted my hand and kissed my inner wrist. I quivered at the intimate touch as I realized that I’d reached out for his hand during the turbulence early on in our ride and had never let go.
He smiled brightly, his mustache and beard stretching across his handsome face. Erik was just so…so manly. His hair fell just past his chin in a wild array of messy locks that I wanted to run my fingers through. And his body—good God, it was unreal.
I cleared my voice and eased my hand from his.
“Better?” he asked.
I nodded. “Now that we’ve landed, I’m much better. Though I slept really well in this comfy chair considering how many hours we’ve traveled.”
“It’s definitely quite the journey, but the company was excellent.” His sleepy morning voice sounded like he’d gargled with a box of rocks, which had the added effect of making me warm and squishy on the inside .
“Are you ready to go to my home and meet my family?”
Until he said that.
I gulped and bit into my bottom lip before looking down and away, uncertain how to respond. I knew I’d be meeting his family at some time, it just never dawned on me that it would be the second we landed in Norway.
He frowned. “What is it?” Erik asked, reaching out and taking my chin with his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to face him. “Don’t be afraid to tell me anything. Ever. I’ll always be honest and forthcoming with you. I expect the same in return. Ja?” He used ja, the Norwegian word he’d taught me meant yes.
I pushed down the nerves and turned to face him as the flight attendant did her thing prior to us deplaning.
“It’s… I don’t know. We just got here. I’ve barely had the time to wrap my brain around us being engaged to one another, let alone meeting my future in-laws.” I scrunched up my nose. “What if they don’t like me? I mean, how could they? We’ve never met. They’ll be just as confused about this whole thing as we are, and I’m scared of what they’ll think of me when they learn the details behind how we became engaged.” I clasped my hands together in my lap so he wouldn’t see me trembling. “Does that make sense?”
He nodded and put his hand to my knee. It was warm and covered my entire kneecap and then some. Without thinking much about it, I covered his hand with one of my own, seeking his warmth.
“It makes perfect sense. First let me put your mind at ease on one of your concerns.” He smiled softly. “We do not have to tell my parents anything about our engagement. We met during our travels in Vegas. It was a whirlwind romance, and we wish to take the relationship to the next level. I promise you; they’ll be surprised but supportive.”
I could feel my lip trembling as hope filtered through my system. “Really? ”
“Really, elskede. My parents are very loving. Though they might find it surprising that we want to marry officially.”
I squinted. “Why’s that?”
“Norwegians don’t marry as often as Americans, and they definitely don’t marry young.”
I blinked in surprise. “Then what happens when you want to commit to one another for life?”
His corresponding grin was effervescent.
“We have children. And even then, many will not marry because we have the Children’s Act which gives both parents equal rights and responsibilities with respect to the child.”
“Huh, that is different. Now you have me curious about the average age of couples who do get married in Norway?”
“You ready to be shocked?” He chuckled.
“Lay it on me, big guy!” I teased, feeling the pressure of meeting the parents slipping away with each word my fiancé spoke.
“Forty,” he stated flatly.
My mouth dropped open. “No way!”
He nodded avidly and crossed a finger over his heart. “Swear.”