“That’s better,” Devlin said calmly. He patted her thigh with his large right hand.
Anna tried to fight back her tears as she worried that she had earned herself more punishment. She remembered Vincent’s cruel whip and the burning pain that it had caused her. She felt a tear roll down her check and she sniffled, trying not to cry. Devlin was staring straight ahead, disregarding her distress. Elaine, however, took pity on her.
“Oh, honey, you’ll mess your mascara,” she said sympathetically. She pulled a tissue from a dispenser built into the seat in front of them and gently daubed her eyes until they were dried. “There, there, now,” she said softly. “You’ll get used to it. Everything will be okay. I promise.”
Anna welcomed the pretty woman’s kind words. Would she get used to it? Would ev
