Her Outlaw Saviour

Facing the Pain

Elspeth was in the hospital for three weeks before she was released. Connor was allowed to be with her, as she was all he had. His laughter and constant tender affection made her feel like something still mattered.

Every day, she received a visit from the amazing Lee Harper. He would sit and play with Connor or just be by her bedside while she talked of her family, her parents, and the places she lived growing up.

Lee was shocked to learn that Elspeth was also Texas born. She sounded like she was from another country, but he could not place her accent.

"I spent a few of my formative years in Scotland. Up north by Inverness. It's right near Loch Ness, you know?"

"Really?" Lee answered. Jokingly, he added, "Did you ever see Nessie?"

Elspeth wished she had something she could throw at him."No, I never saw the waterhorses. Many do believe in them, though."

"Why did you come back here?"

She could only assume he meant the U.S.

"Didna have a real choice in the matter. When I'd heard that Mother had died, I had to come be sure, and my travel visa expired during that time. Being that I was born over here, I was forced to stay. I miss Scotland, but my dearest blessing is right here." She said, holding her beloved boy close to her heart.

Lee could feel his barriers dropping at an alarming rate. He didn't really know this woman. However, he felt somehow that he NEEDED to be near her. 'Dear god, what will I do if they find me now?'

Elspeth could not bear to even breathe as Lee pulled into the drive of her house. She was renting it, and now all she wished was that it was burned to the ground. There was so much pain, torture, r**e and control, and the bastard had used her baby boy to gain that control.

Looking back at how she had even met Kevin Treacle, she was disgusted with herself. Elspeth had been a heavy drug user when they had met and conceived Connor. She had left him standing in a carpark outside an ex girlfriend's apartment when she caught him f*****g her. 2 years later he had come back begging for a chance to be a father. He had destroyed her relationship with the man she was with when he came back by claiming they had slept together, when she had awakened to his first assault. She became pregnant and he beat her until she miscarried. She had to step in the way too many times when he tried to hit Connor. One day, she woke up to her boy screaming,and when she got to him, he had a hand-shaped bruise across the whole right side of his face...

"You do not have to go in." Lee said, fully aware of the anguish she was feeling. "Make a list, and I will grab whatever you need, then I can take you somewhere, ANYWHERE ELSE."

Elspeth wrote down a list of things she needed, hygiene, feminine needs, clothing, and a few food essentials for Connor, since she had grabbed most of his things the night she ran.

Lee took the list and opened the car door. "I'll be right back. Do not worry. No one will harm you as long as you're with me." He opened his coat slightly to reveal the concealed Colt, 1911, in his jacket holster. "No one is gettin' past my buddy here."

Lee opened the door to the house and was hit with an overwhelming smell of rotting blood and feces. He already knew what Kevin had done to Audrey. The report he'd read was gruesome. Kevin had taken a kitchen knife and stabbed her 62 times. One of those strikes pierced her intestines. As he looked about, he became enraged. How could anyone be so brutal? The only time he had ever done any real damage to another person it was to stop what he was seeing right now from happening. He turned on the light in the foyer and immediately wished he hadn't. There was blood everywhere. The walls and ceiling were spattered like a horrible paint job, and the floor was sodden scarlet. He nearly wretched. Lee covered his face with his sleeve as he made his way to the room she directed him to. He could all but see the struggle that had occurred. Every treasure that had been on the dresser was shattered. Pieces of glass from photo frames were everywhere. Her jewelry box was in 1,000 pieces. Lee vowed that he would make her a new one. He was awe struck by her. Elspeth was not his usual type. She was nearly as tall as he was. She had long red hair, not copper red, but a deep violet red that he was becoming obsessed with. She was curvy as well. Wide hips with a round ass and massive breasts that could not go unnoticed. He was beginning to ache in his want for her. He had to be patient, and he knew it. A woman that just went through what she did would likely not want to be even slightly touched, much less have what he desperately wanted to give to her. He ached to hold her, to make her his. For some reason, he felt like he had always known her.

He gathered everything on her list, then made his way to the front door.

"WHO THE f**k ARE YOU?" Shouted a male voice from the doorway. "WHAT THE f**k ARE YOU DOING HERE? THIS IS MY HOUSE!"

"You must be Elspeth's landlord." Lee politely said, but didn't get a chance to speak another word.

"That w***e destroyed my rental house. She owes me 7 months rent and I will hold everything in this house til I get what I am owed."

Grifyn Charles was blaming Elspeth for the unpaid rent, though he had loaned thousands of dollars to Kevin. Lee was furious. Through the discussions with Elspeth, he had learned that Kevin was still using and was blaming the money issues on her.

He pulled a packet of papers from the officers giving permission for Elspeth to send a proxy to gather essential belongings from the residence. He gave Grifyn a look that DARED him to move or utter even one more word.

Grifyn stormed out of the house.

"This isn't over you f*****g cunt! Ill make sure Kevin gets exonerated for your lies!" Then sped off in the ugliest old Ford pickup Lee had ever seen.

Elspeth was trembling with fear when Lee made it back inside the car. He didnt offer touch as comfort. Instead he spoke.

"I have everything you put on that list, plus a few important looking things. I grabbed all the photographs that looked important, the jewelry scattered from your jewelry box, and the cane that was hanging from your bedroom door handle. I thought it might help you walk a little easier. "

He didn't expect the impact his word had on her. She did weep, hard tears that he could see, but he did not expect her to reach over and hug him so tightly that he almost couldn't breathe. When she pulled back from the embrace, there was a sensation neither of them expected. Then their lips met in the briefest, most tender kiss.