This was one of the most quiet rides Ruby had ever been on as she sniffled from time to time.
Jaxon seemed to get her as well as he didn’t bother her either. She curled up on the chair of the car in nothing but her dress, which was torn thanks to that Ape of a man, as well as Jaxon’s jacket, which he’d shrugged off and given her on their way home.
Ruby was over everything. She was tired physically and mentally and just wanted to go home. But what she mostly felt was irritation.
She absolutely hated the way her skin was marred because of the way the man roughly handled her and she hated the smell most of all. Her skin still reeked of the man’s scent and she nearly gagged if she thought about it too much.
She couldn’t also believe her sister had masterminded the whole plan and had really set her up to fail. How can someone be so heartless as to get their own sister kidnapped and almost raped?
She wondered if she had ever truly known Kim because never in a million years would she have thought Kim was capable of such things.
As she thought about it, it had been obvious Kim would and could not go that far because Kim had already been blackmailing her.
And Kim had done it all for what, money? She was sure that the money she had given Kim these past two visits was some people’s annual income payments. Yet she had wanted more.
Her mind flashed to what had happened in the hotel room and her eyes watered at the thought of what could have happened if Jaxon hadn’t shown up.
The man had seen her naked and had even violated her sexually. She curled into herself as her tears started to fall and she sniffled lightly. She felt hurt that her own sister could do something like that to her without a care.
Jaxon, who was at Ruby’s side, had thoughts of his own. He turned to Ruby and noticed that she was squeezing herself tightly but he thought nothing of it. It was when he heard whimpers that he looked at her properly and noticed her tears.
“Ruby,” he whispered as he scooted closer to her. He didn’t immediately take her in his arms because he noticed she was a bit more closed off than usual.
And he didn’t blame her, she had gone through something that was traumatic for most people. He didn’t even want to imagine what could have happened if he hadn’t come the time he did. First, it was Kevin, now that bastard. She had escaped rape attempts, twice.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” he told her assuringly.
“I’m with you.” He whispered as he placed a hand on her back. Ruby stiffened at first then relaxed against his touch.
He stroked her back gently until she gradually stopped shaking and her tears receded.
He didn’t move away after that and he left his hand on her back to let her know he would and will always be there.
His mind drifted to his earlier thoughts about the whole situation. He had asked himself time and time again since the ride began why she had been at that crappy hotel and how that man had gained access to it. Those were the million-dollar questions and would make what happened make sense to him.
He didn’t want to bombard her with questions because anyone, at first glance, could tell she was in a fragile state, both physically and mentally.
Just seeing Ruby on that bed, his blood had boiled and he wasn’t able to think of anything besides dealing with the man. His fists clenched and he hoped Ruslan and Lucas dealt with him accordingly. His Gem had almost gotten assaulted and he was pissed that he didn’t know why. It wasn’t just some random man who wanted to sleep with a beautiful woman, he could tell. But he couldn’t tell why this man wanted to and how he had gotten in contact with Ruby in the first place.
He frowned as he thought about the fact that Ruby was hiding things from him. There was no other explanation. She had been acting strange for a while and she’d refused to tell him what was going on, then this happened. He was even more pissed at the fact Ruby didn’t trust him enough to tell him what was going on with her until it backfired.
They get home and he helped Ruby up the stairs as she shivered. He ushered her into the bedroom, and as he helped her take her clothes off, he noticed the way she stiffened up again, just like she did in the car. He didn’t think anything of it at first but on closer inspection, he thought she looked… Scared?
He didn’t know why he thought about that but it had to be true. She didn’t look cold, and when they were in the car,, he had given her his jacket to wear over her dres, s, and that should have provided considerable warmth. His heart squeezed at the thought his Gem could be scared of him because of what she’d experienced.
He left her alone for a moment and shot a quick text to Ruslan to call the doctor as he was getting increasingly worried about her. He hoped she would recover from the situation quickly.
He turned back to her and helped them to the bathroom, where she immediately leaned over the toilet and vomited. Again. She’d thrown up when they got outside the crappy hotel and again when they had just gotten back and he wondered if she was sick.
Ruby vomited again, and this time, Jaxon came up behind her and patted her back gently. She was disgusted with herself. She felt so dirty and anytime her mind went to what happened in the hotel room, she would just want to throw up.
She hadn’t eaten anything in a while, so the contents of her stomach were mostly stomach acid. And anytime she threw up, her throat burned and her eyes would water.
She was really thankful for Jaxon because he had been nothing but helpful. He hadn’t asked her any questions or left her alone since he found her. He even helped her bathe, then he tucked her into bed, where she fell into a restless sleep.