Free Seduced By A Wolf by Zena Wynn Page A

not for the empty streets due to the earlier rain, Von didn’t think she would have made it. Her vision was limited to one blurry eye and it kept tearing up. Good thing she lived only a few blocks from Derrick. Normally a five-minute drive, tonight it felt like a five hours.
    Never in a million years would she imagine Derrick turning violent. Not toward her, though she admitted she’d given him plenty of provocation. Again she muffled a sob, unable to believe what she’d done.
    Von managed to get into her apartment without running into any of her neighbors. Cold air hit her flesh as she closed the door. She looked down and realized her dress was open. She was virtually naked. Not only Sean but the delivery guy had seen her like this. My God, what they must think of me .
    The need to be clean overcame any other desire. She wobbled into the bathroom, shrugging off her dress as she went. Von caught sight of her body in the door mirror and her breath hitched. She’d purchased this set for her honeymoon. There’d be no wedding now. Derrick would never forgive her. Would she ever forgive herself?
    A steady stream of tears rolled down her face, but she really lost it when she saw the blood smeared on her panties. Her stomach heaved and the contents came spewing out. She made it to the toilet just in time. With one hand she braced herself over the bowl to keep from falling in, and with the other she held her head to keep it from exploding.
    In a small portion of her mind, Von knew that her reaction was too extreme, too erratic, too emotional, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. The possibility that she had a concussion crossed her mind. She needed help. She needed Marketta. But first she needed that shower.
    Von crawled into the tub and turned the nozzles. The initial blast of cold water jolted her but fortunately it quickly warmed. She poured bath gel on her loofah and scrubbed her skin raw. Still the taint remained. Her need to lie down drove her out of the tub. The ache in her head had eased enough that she could stand without blacking out. However, Von wrapped a towel around her body and another around her hair, then shuffled into the bedroom as quickly as possible. Her cell phone lay on the bedside table. She picked it up and quick dialed Marketta.
    “Where the hell have you been? I called you several times last night and today with no answer. I know you weren’t working. What happened to your promise to call me after your meeting with Sean?” Marketta blasted her as soon as she answered.
    “Ketta, come over. I need you.”
    “Come over? Don’t you know it’s raining cats and dogs outside? And what’s wrong with your voice. Are you drunk? Since when did you start drinking?”
    A sob escaped. “Please, Ketta.”
    “What’s happened?” her voice was sharp with concern.
    “Please,” Von said, unable to manage more.
    “I’ll be right over.” She could hear her cousin scrambling around before disconnecting the call.
    With only one eye able to open and tears streaming out of the other, Von rubbed the excess water out of her hair before going to her dresser and pulling out one of her winter granny gowns. The flannel gown swallowed her from her neck to her feet. Its voluminous folds left no hint of the figure inside. Sufficiently covered, she collapsed on the bed and let the darkness take her.

    ****

    Sean drove out of Derrick’s apartment complex parking lot to a nearby shopping center where he pulled in and parked. He gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles showed white. After his breathing slowed and he achieved some measure of calm, he took out his cell phone and dialed one of the numbers recently programmed inside.
    “’Lo.”
    “Spook, it’s me.”
    “Serge, checking in so soon? How’s the vacation? Seen your girl yet?”
    Sean let his head fall onto the driver’s seat backrest. “Not going so good. Got into a bit of a situation and lost control,” he confessed.
    In a serious tone,