Deadly Expectations Read Online Free PDF Page B

being coherent.   He pulled me back to the bed and waited as I hesitated to get in.   I couldn’t lie on my side so I got in his.
    “Are you in there now?”
    I nodded, embarrassed.
    “You move fast.   You could have been on top of me before I had my eyes open.”
    I curled up closer.   “You usually have your eyes open when I’m on top.”
    “True,” he said and reached over to turn off the light.   “Do you want to tell me about it?   It won’t be in your head any more if you let it out your mouth.”
    I shook my head.
    “Are you sure?   It can’t hurt you,” he encouraged.
    He was right.   I was still learning to put my stubbornness aside when it came to Paul.
    “I was in a cabin.   The man who brought me there came in while I slept.   The fire had gotten low and the room was cooling off.   I didn’t know who it was at first.
    “He said, “I know you’re awake.” And he pulled me out of bed.
    ““You stink of him,” he said.
    “He hit me a couple of times and let me drop to the floor.”   I reached up to rub my cheek.   Even awake it still stung.   My words ran on as I watched it replay.
    “I don’t understand why he was so mad.   He kicked me on the ground over and over then he rolled me on my back and in the fire light I saw he had a beautiful dagger.   The guard was like lace sparkling in the flames.   He held it to my throat.
    “Then he heard something outside.   He picked me up with one hand and threw me on the bed.   He turned me to face the door and said if I moved we would both die.   Then he went to stand by the fire and pretended to clean his dagger.
    “Another man came in, crouched low with a knife in his own hand.   He didn’t see me right away and when he did, he stopped.
    “The man by the fire said.   “You’re too late.”
    “They stared at each other and the second man got down on his knees.   He dropped his dagger and opened his collar.   Then he lifted his chin and closed his eyes.  
    “The man who beat me walked slowly around behind him and grabbed him under the jaw.   He watched my face as he cut his throat.   His neck opened up.   His blood shot out and ran.   When he stopped breathing he let him fall.
    “He said “Are you still with me, Catherine?   I know you are.   Maybe he’ll have better luck next time.”
    “He cut my stomach open.   I died before I could watch him leave.”   My eyes were wide open in the dark.
    “It’s just a dream,” Paul whispered.   He held me tight like he was trying to hold me in the present.
    “I can feel the blows Paul.   If I walk over to the other side of the bed my feet will stick in the blood and I’ll trip over his body.   I can see it.”
    “Can you turn the light on so I can see something else?   Please?”
    He did.   Then he pulled the blanket up to my chin.
    “It’s over Sugar.   Just a bad dream.   Try and sleep now.”
    I tried but all I could see inside my lids was the dead man on the floor.
    In the morning Paul was quiet.   I was still too shaken to notice how withdrawn he’d become.   After a sullen breakfast downstairs he said goodbye in the room and went to his cab.
    I didn’t think he’d call again.   His no commitments casual sex girl had turned into something that was work.   Frightened.   Hiding.   Needy.   I upset myself with my behaviour.   It came out of nowhere and exposed a part of my character I worked hard to get by without.   He was a different man when he said good-bye than he’d been when he greeted me at the door the night before.
    I packed as fast as I could and fled.   The drained body was still on the floor.   Its dull eyes seemed to follow me wherever I went.   I jumped home as soon as I was clear of the city and slept for eighteen hours.
    A polite tap on the closed bedroom door snapped me out of my reverie.   Paul or Ray would just come in.
    “Miss Creedy?”
    Creedy?   I thought.   “Anna?” I answered.
    “No it’s Denis …