Her Outlaw Saviour

Wreckage and Revelations

Elspeth woke with a start and a gasp. She hadn't realized how badly Kevin had injured her. She had been in so much pain from her strangulation wounds and her eardrum that she hadn't realized he'd stabbed her. The knives she had kept for cooking had been sharp enough that she hadn't felt it the way she thought a stabbing would feel. Every entry wound had been fast and brutal. Elspeth had wondered why him beating her had hurt worse than the last time.

She still could not stand on her own. However, after a 3 month coalescence in the hospital, she could no longer stomach flourescent lighting and the smell of disinfectant. She longed to see the sky and feel the sun on her face. Elspeth reached over and instantly was reassured by the solid, small form of Connor sleeping next to her. That wee lad was her whole universe. Everything she had suffered was to protect him. She felt down her ribcage and across her abdomen where the bandaging had finally been taken off and began to sob as the reality of what had actually happened that night truly hit her.

Kevin had always had a temper, but that night, it was pure malice, absolute evil she had seen in his facial expression. He did not simply mean to hurt her this time. He wanted her dead. The only reason she could think of was the discussion she had recently had with her broker in Scotland. She had known that he had overheard but had nothing to hide, so she had thought nothing of it. It turned out that THAT phone call, as innocuous as it had seemed to her at the time, had been the reason he wanted her dead. With her gone, Connor stood to inherit their family's estate and all of the holdings it included.

Elspeth had never brought it up, nor had she thought it to be important. She had never touched any of the money. It was never needed. She had her own wealth and stock portfolio that she had saved for over two decades. She still worked, lived in a rental house, and took the bus to work, which always lowered Kevin's opinion of her. He had thought she was monetarily worthless, even though when they needed anything, SHE always miraculously had it handled.

Kevin had actually, once, cornered her and accused her of having a sugar daddy. He believed she was wasting her time painting when a 9 to 5 job would have been more reliable, in his opinion that he often spewed at her. He had never gone to her gallery, nor had he bothered to come to any of her formal meet and greet occasions.She was Elspeth Ross. Beth in her professional world. She had sold many of her pieces to royals, nobles, and aristocrats all over the world.

She had decided at a very low point to change her life through her art, and it had worked astonishingly well. She had a bank account that her broker controlled for her, which was worth 3.6 million dollars. Sugar daddy, her ass.

The feeling of the scars underneath her fingertips only reinforced her iron clad resolve to survive. She felt the tears flowing down the sides of her face as she gasped for breath. She had survived her own murder. She should not be alive, and here she was, living. Her sobs wracked her whole body as she poured out all the pain and all the heartbreaking anguish as she cried.

Lee heard the noise and jumped up to go to her. He knew she still had severe mobility issues and wanted to be there if she needed help.Why did this woman out of everyone he knew make him feel like he HAD to protect her at all costs?

He quietly walked down the hallway to the bedroom he had given up for her comfort and security, and he opened the door. The sight of her horror at how badly she was scarred was heart-wrenching. How could anyone do this kind of damage to another human being? He thought about his sister. The one that had hurt her was much like the man that had hurt Elspeth. It was the first time he had ever had to take a life. It was beginning to look like it would not be the last.

Elspeth startled as Lee cleared his throat, announcing his presence. She hadn't heard the door open.

"Can I get you anything, Beth?" Lee asked as gently as possible.

"I know you are still very fragile and have almost no energy yet. I still can not figure out why you wanted to leave the hospital before you were fully healed."

"Oh, I simply couldna stand the place another minute. I was beginning to feel entombed in that bloody bed." She replied.

"It is much more pleasant here where I can make the room dark." She didn't add that the fact that this space had his scent, his personality, and his touch everywhere. It was being surrounded by him that made being here tolerable.

"Aye, Lee. If it's not too much trouble, I am awfully parched and a wee bit peckish. I dinna want to eat or drink lying down anymore. Can you help me get to the kitchen?" She asked after she had thought for a moment. She would eat, then ask if he could take her outside to see the sun rise. She was not sure she would ever see another one 3 months ago. She wanted to feel alive, and she wanted to share it with him.

After she ate, Elspeth asked Lee to help her out to the deck that had some comfortable seats, that happened to face the direction the sun was coming up.

"Lee? Can you sit with me?" Elspeth asked. "I want to know more about you. How did you come to Colorado?"

'Well, here we go.' Thought Lee. Then he braced himself as he told her everything.