"Kane, I don't think I can do this."
"It's not too late to not testify."
"It's not even saying it, its just facing him and telling my parents for the first time, and Lily, and Kat." She started on the same rant as this morning and again I just pulled her close and held her.
"They'll understand, I promise. And remember what we agreed on, just look at me. Act like we are the only two in there."
I wish I could sit with her, or even just hold her hand, something while she had to relive it again, especially in front of strangers. Not to mention him.
"Just me and you."
"Just us. Are you sure Dani?"
"Yes."
Her lawyer was coming as the trial was starting soon and I pulled her close for a hug. She held on like I was the last person she would ever see.
"Oh, one second."
I went to the bench and picked up the wrapped gift.
"What is it?"
I had persuade her this morning to wear the black dress pants and white blouse, and thankfully she had.
"Just open it, right before you go in to the trial, open it."
"Why not now?"
"I want you to get a real smile in before facing him. Please do it, for me?"
"Of course. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet."
"Sorry, it's about to start, we have to go Mrs. Lodting." Her lawyer said professionally before Dani nodded, hugged me one more time and went to pull away but I held her close and whispered in her ear, "Just you and me in the room. Don't forget the gift."
"I love you."
"I love you more."
I winked and let her walk with her lawyer, she tried to turn back to look at me but her lawyer turned them around the corner.
I sat on the bench and closed my eyes until the public were allowed to enter the courtroom.
The evidence had all been shown and they just called Dani to the stand. When she walked out she had a tear in her eye and I smiled a huge grin seeing she unwrapped the gift.
She was wearing the green scarf I had gotten her, which brought out the green in her deep brown eyes. She also had the bracelet on her wrist that I had seen the other day in the store, it was thin silver with green emeralds along it. It matched the scarf so I wrapped them together.
Lastly in the gift there was a rose with a note I wrote to her on it, it was the quote from the door about smiling and I signed it with 'Kane xox' afterwards.
She caught my eye and stared at me until they asked her to swear an oath, and she had to look at the officer.
------
For the last hour and a half Dani had to go through the seven and a half years. The beatings, rapings, torturings, and nightmares. Everything was brought to the surface.
She had shed only one single tear but her voice cracked many times, but throughout the whole question time she had looked right at me. I was mesmerized by her and only caught half of what she was saying. I would nod to encourage her and smile when she mentioned escaping.
It truly felt like we were the only two in the room.
When she was done being questioned she was brought down from the stand and the officer whispered to her. I saw her question him and point towards me.
He hesitated before nodding and then she left the room.
I had no idea what that was about and soon the back doors opened and she walked in and sat beside me.
I raised my hand to put it around her shoulders, almost asking if it was okay, and she grabbed my hand and brought it closer so it was around her shoulders. She relaxed instantly when I left it there and I rubbed my hand up and down her arm slowly.
She smiled up at me and put her hand on my thigh.
"Do you want food, or would you rather just sleep?" I had driven us back to our apartment and she was exhausted and had a bit of relief in her eyes which made me happy that there was no fear or sadness, just relief.
"I don't have to eat?"
"I think you should, but I don't think I'd want to eat either. I won't force you to."
"I know, you never do. But it's a good thing you encourage me or I would probably still be underweight." She was still underweight, but only by a couple pounds, not like the fifty from before.
"So just sleep?"
She nodded and I carried her to the bedroom.
She started rifling through the drawers and I grabbed the shirt she wore last night and walked up behind her.
"This might be more comfortable beautiful."
She turned and smiled, "You don't mind?"
"Not at all. It looks so much better on you. And you said it was comfier."
"It is. Thanks."
"No problem."
I grabbed clothes and changed in the bathroom.
I was heading to the bedroom when my stomach growled. I detoured to the kitchen and mixed up two glasses of yogurt with granola and fruit in about two minutes before going back to the bedroom. After getting the okay to enter, I placed them on the nightstand.
I felt hands go up my back under my shirt and stop at my shoulders before running back down and wrapping around my front.
"I thought we talked about this."
"About what?" I knew she meant the shirt but I didn't want to assume, especially after today, she had been through so much already.
She slowly turned me around and grabbed the hem of my shirt, "This." She started pulling it up.
"Dani, you've been through so much already, don't worry about me."
"Kane, this doesn't bother me. I feel bad because you changed everything when I moved in." She paused as she took the rest of my shirt off and put it in the laundry basket, "Please, don't change this too. If you wanted to sleep in boxers I don't mind, I've changed so much in such a short time."
"Dani, you could've changed everything." I stopped talking as she ran her hands lightly down my chest and over my abs. I grabbed her wrists so she couldn't distract me, "I would change everything, this is a small sacrifice-"
"That isn't necessary."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." She hugged me and I put her hands around my neck as I laid her down on the bed.
"I know you said you weren't hungry, but I made you one because I didn't want to eat in front of you and not offer."
"You really think of everything."
"Pretty much just you."
She laughed and grabbed one of the glasses. I went to grab the other but she stopped me. She straddled me, both of us sitting, and ate a raspberry before giving me some yogurt.
"I thought we got past this," I joked.
"I could ask you to close your eyes."
"I'm pretty sure I would pass out in pain."
She blushed and I grabbed the spoon off the night table and we both ate from the one glass. She only had some pieces of fruit but I'm happy she ate.
The last piece of fruit we fought with our spoons over and I got, but held my spoon by her lips for her to take it. She slowly opened her mouth slowly and I gently placed it in.
She took it and put the glass on the nightstand.
"Are you still hungry?"
"Not really, I'll be fine."
"Kane, you should eat if you're hungry."
I rolled my eyes because she clearly wasn't taking no for an answer and grabbed the other one.
I gave her almost all the fruit and some yogurt and granola. But she insisted I eat most of it.
"Would you like more fruit?"
"No."
"You're thinking."
"Yeah, one of those things I picked up from you."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I sat up a little more and she inched closer to me and I took her hand in mine. I noticed she still had the bracelet on and I toyed with it in between my fingers.
"I don't know how to thank you for everything you did today, and don't say I don't have to, because I know I don't have to, but I want to, I just don't know how to show you how much you really did for me. Just for listening and looking at me, for the gifts, for being there, for- for being you. Thank you just doesn't say it all."
"Dani-"
"Kane, I'm serious. It's not even just today. What you did today was amazing, but even yesterday, I thought you would see me differently when you saw the scars but you just kissed them and didn't even flinch. You bought land, you do so much more for me than I could ever tell you."
"Dani, you do a lot for me too."
"Not as much. Hardly anything in comparison."
Then it dawned on me, that's why she felt bad for changing things at our apartment. "Dani is this why you wanted me to be comfortable when I sleep?"
"Yeah. You do so much for me, I figure it's something small I could do for you. But it doesn't even compare."
She was looking down at her hands and I grabbed them, "Everything I do for you I would do a million more times, I would literally go to the end of the world just to pick a flower you wanted, or just because you wanted me to. I would do anything for you, I told you, I don't deserve you, I never will, but I'm trying. Dani, you do things for me, just not in the same way. The fact that you trust me more than anyone shows me that you appreciate what I do, that you even give me the time of day blows my mind. You do so much for me just by being here. I had no one Dani, except my sister over the phone. I was alone. But you trust me, respect me, and love me and I don't know how to say thank you for that either."
"But you love me, trust me, respect me, cherish me, and more too."
"Yeah, please don't take this the wrong way," she nodded and I continued, "You can't hug friends and family without flinching, but yet you will lay right with me, and sleep right beside me. The trust you give me is more than anyone has ever given me before. I wish I could thank you for that."
"But-"
"How about we call it even? I do what I can for you and you-"
"Keep giving you my heart."
"Deal."
"Deal."
She leaned down and put her head on my chest but didn't fall asleep. Ten minutes later I had my eyes closed and was almost asleep when her lips left kisses up my abdomen and chest before her fingers followed the same path. She ran her hands down my arms lightly and went back up. I didn't realize she was still straddling me until her hands got close to my face and she held onto my hair and leaned in close, placing her lips on my neck. I shivered and she giggled quietly until I flipped her over and pinned her arms over her head. Her jaw dropped, her eyes were wide in shock and an amused glint was in her eyes.
Since she had been straddling me I ended up between her legs when I flipped her over and I backed away a little as my length was hard against her.
"Sorry if I woke you, I couldn't sleep."
"You sound sorry," I said with sarcasm and she smirked.
"Okay maybe I'm not sorry."
"Maybe?"
"Well maybe I am," she trailed off.
"No, but you will be."
After ten minutes of making her catch her breath over and over again she stared me in the eyes. She had so much love in them and something I couldn't quite place, then it hit me. Lust.
I'm sure mine were mirroring her own, but with a lot more lust and I fought to control it.
I licked her hickey before sucking on it again and her eyes grew wide as she moaned my name. I got harder than I was, which seems impossible, and nibbled it before making another about an inch lower than the first.
"Kane!" Her saying my name like that did nothing to help my control and I shifted so I wasn't pressed up against her again.
In the next three minutes I had her moaning so many times she closed her eyes and just breathed.
"Are you tired?"
She nodded her head and I laughed. "Are you going to sleep now?"
She nodded again and I laughed a bit louder.
"Are you sorry?"
She glanced down blushing and I realized through my pants she could probably see the effect she had on me.
She slowly nodded again and I kissed her long and hard before curling up against her.
"Thank you, for everything."
"Thank you beautiful."
"Goodnight Kane."
"Goodnight Dani." She fell asleep before I did, but that was because I had to calm myself down before I could even close my eyes without getting too many ideas.
The trial took three days because of the amount of evidence they had against Charlie, and Dani never had to go back on the stand, so I was relieved. We would sit behind her lawyer in the first row and I would hold her close.
Just like now.
The jurors were called back in with the verdict and Dani stiffened.
"What if he's innocent?"
"Look at me," I held her face in my hands as the jurors piled in, but I barely noticed them, caught in her beautiful deep brown eyes, "There is no way he will be innocent. Dani," she looked back up to me and I saw her relax, "The rest of his life is going to be in a jail cell, where he belongs."
She nodded, "I didn't really want to move to China, so that's good."
"You think he's going be innocent?"
"I don't want to get my hopes up."
"Look at the jurors when they look at him, they view him with disgust and hatred. They think of him just as he is. An animal. There's no way he is anything but guilty." She nodded again but I made her look at me, "Please say you believe me."
"I do, I believe you." I saw the sincerity in her eyes and smiled a grin that she returned before the judge hit his gavel and we both looked up.
He made a small speech and thanked everyone for their time before asking the representative to bring the verdict forward.
A short man with balding hair handed it to him and smiled genuinely at Dani before sitting down again. She must have noticed because she relaxed again and put her hand on my thigh.
I didn't catch the first part of what the judge said, only the last word.
"...Guilty."
The courtroom erupted in cheers but Charlie turned toward us with a smirk and went to gesture something to Dani but I turned her away before she could see what it was. I brought her head to my chest and held her.
"You never doubted it."
"There was no need to."
She smiled and put her arms around my neck. We were standing in the front row and I was just holding her close when her lawyer walked up. I tucked Dani to my side as they talked and Dani thanked her. I shook her hand thanking her as well before she walked off.
"Do you want to go home now?"
"Hours ago."
I laughed and we walked out. Her family, Lily and Kat had come to the first day when she testified but after that the trip was kind of far for her family, and Lily and Kat had to work. Dani didn't mind at all, actually I think she was relieved about that. I think Lily knew that and her and Kat stayed at the diner more so than they actually had to work.
She had fallen asleep on the drive home so I carried her inside and placed her on the bed.
I walked in the bedroom to check on her just as she was rolling over and she opened her eyes when her hand found no one in the bed beside her.
I sat on the edge and she curled up just staring at me. Her hair was across the pillow and she started to blush as I ran my eyes over every inch of her face, memorizing every detail there was, every curve she had, and every colour in her eyes.
'How did I get so lucky?'
"Do you want to shower?"
She didn't respond, just kept looking at me.
"Dani?"
She moved closer and I sat against the head board and she laid her head in my lap on a pillow, curling up beside me.
I didn't want to ruin the comfortable silence so I just stroked her hair out of her face and ran my fingers through her hair.
About ten minutes later she slowly sat up and straddled me. She looked down to my shirt that she was wearing and blushed seeing how high it had ridden up and pulled it down, but it didn't cover much more than before.
I pecked her on the lips to take her mind off the shirt, not wanting her to change, and she smiled at me. She had such a happy face, she was calm and relaxed, but was seeping happiness and joy, I was assuming because of Charlie being in jail for the rest of his life.
She ran her finger up my arm and when she got to the shirt midway up my bicep she frowned slightly and pouted at me.
Laughing I leaned forward to take the shirt off, but she stopped me, taking it off herself.
She smiled again and ran her hands lightly over my abdomen and chest before rubbing across my shoulders. I was going to move so my length wasn't pressing against her when she leaned forward and kissed right across my collarbone.
"Dani..." I breathed out into her ear and she shivered. I could feel the effect I had on her and I'm sure she could feel my arousal.
"I love when you say my name." She said.
"I love when you moan mine."
She blushed and put her head on my bare chest.
"I like that too." She sat up to look at me, still a bit pink.
"What?"
"When you blush."
"I only blush around you, I can't even stop it."
"Good," I smirked and she playfully smacked my shoulder and I started laughing.
"Kane." She warned.
"Yeah, it's better when you moan it."
She blushed again and got off me to climb out of bed but I caught her wrists and pinned her below me and slowly started kissing her. I nibbled up her neck and she shivered when my tongue flicked out over her hickey.
She held in a moan but I wanted to hear it, I had the sudden urge to make sure she knew she was mine, and I wanted her to say my name to prove it.
"Don't hold back now beautiful."
She blushed knowing I had caught her and went to make a comment but only a moan came out as I sucked on her hickey.
She moaned as I kissed her, "Dani."
"You don't play fair."
I laughed and she smiled, "I love your laugh."
I came closer to her and whispered in her ear, "You're not getting off that easy."
She sighed but I caught her lips and took her tongue into my mouth.
I pulled back so she could breathe and kissed down her neck.
"Kane!" I finally got her to say it when I sucked across her collarbone, not hard enough to leave marks but enough for her to think I had.
"That's the best sound ever." I continued and she said my name again, twice.
I stopped and stared her in the eyes, hers were full of lust, mixed with traces of love and happiness.
"You're beautiful. Words can't describe you."
She blushed and I laughed again, letting her wrists go and rolling over. She curled up against me and I held her close.
Court had adjourned at half past eleven and it was now one.
"Do you want to go to sleep?"
"Not now."
"Do you want to shower?"
"Maybe soon."
"Are you just going to stay where you are?"
"Would you mind?"
"Nope."
"Then yes."
I laughed and pulled her closer. She rolled over and laid down on me, putting her chin on her arms across my chest. I tucked a piece of hair that fell out of her braid behind her ear.
"Do you have to work tomorrow?"
"Depends, when do you work?"
"Lily gave me the day off, I don't go back to work until Friday, she wasn't sure how long the trial would be."
"So we have two days and the rest of today?"
"Yeah."
"Then no, I don't have to work until Friday."
"Kane, you can still work, don't let me make you behind."
"I have three months to finish the house and maybe two weeks of work, max, to do it in. Don't worry about work."
"Have you found a new client?"
"Sort of."
She looked at me confused.
"Well see, there's this couple that has known each other for a few months and they're building their dream house."
"What do you- Oh!" It suddenly dawned on her that I was talking about us and then she got really happy. "You do mean us right?"
"Yes Dani. I'm taking the summer off so we can build our house."
"You're not going to work all summer? Kane, I can't ask you to give up two months of work, minimum, for this."
"Think of it as an investment for the future."
"Kane still-"
I put my finger to her lips to stop her, "Don't argue. I want the house done, the sooner the better. I want us to have a fresh start. With your family trying to visit us in this little apartment, there is nowhere for them to stay. But in our house there will be."
She thought about it and soon a tear ran down her cheek and I wiped it away.
"I hope that's a happy tear?" It came out more as a question.
"Yes! Yes. I just- You're- How can you-"
"Stop questioning it and say thank you."
"Thank-"
"Not like that." I slid her body up mine and kissed her lips. I licked her bottom lip and she opened her mouth for my tongue. I kissed her slowly but she deepened it and soon we were both out of breath.
She moved back down to rest her chin on her arms across my chest again and seemed to be thinking.
"Don't argue with me about this summer, please?"
"I won't. It would be no use, you've already decided. I just... You want to build the house."
"Of course I do." I was confused, "Do you not want it? I figured you did because you were so excited about the land."
"No! I mean yes!" She paused to think, "Kane I do want the house, don't ever doubt that. It just blows me away that you want to live with me."
"I do live with you."
"Not like that I mean, live with me as your wife." She got really quiet towards the end.
"Well I wouldn't marry you and live on my own, that would be torture."
She laughed, "So you still want to call me your wife one day?"
"Yes Dani. I want nothing more than to be able to introduce you to people as 'My beautiful wife, Mrs. Dani Rider.' I hate that you have a different last name now, but I want you to be sure you're ready to wear an engagement ring."
"You're going to buy an engagement ring too?"
"Well I wasn't going to ask you to marry me and not give you a ring."
"I guess I didn't think about that. You really don't have to though. You're already building a house and you bought land."
"Yes, I told you, when I propose to you I want it to be special and memorable."
"I'm sure I won't forget it."
"But I want that because it was remarkable not horrible."
She laughed, "It will be perfect either way because I will be yours."
I was so happy she just said that. 'She's going to be mine', there was a thought I could only dream to become true.
"Kane?"
"Sorry, I was thinking."
"About?"
"What you said."
"That it will be perfect?"
"No, that you're going to be mine."
"I already am, but it will be official." At the grin on my face she laughed, "Yes Kane, I already tell people I'm yours."
"You do?!"
"Why wouldn't I? I don't think you're going anywhere and I definitely never am, so it works."
"Hell yeah it works." I smiled, 'Mine. The most gorgeous and incredible girl on the earth wants to be mine.'
She rolled her eyes, "Kane? Stop thinking. You need to leave your brain sometimes."
"I just love when you say that."
"Stop thinking?"
"No."
"That I'm yours? Because I am. I'm yours, always and forever."
"You're mine, always and forever."
She smiled and her eyes sparkled, "That does sound good."
"I hope so. You're mine. Now to make it official, I'll wait as long as you want."
"Then don't wait."
"What?"
"I want everyone to know I'm yours. Why wait?" She was blushing and sounded nervous.
"Then I guess I better hurry up." I had thought over the past couple weeks of how I wanted to propose to her and came up with an idea, but first I had to build it.
I poured concrete for the bottom already, last week, I was just waiting for it to dry before the trial and now I had to work on it, but was waiting until she went back to work.
"Can we walk through the bush on our land? On the paths."
The concrete was just off the path in a clearing I had found and I didn't want her to see it. "Yeah, we can go soon."
"I might not be able to go far, but I want to try."
"We can stop whenever you want."
She smiled.
"Shower now?"
"I probably should."
She slowly got off and went to the bathroom before I even got off the bed and I decided to just close my eyes for a second. Before I knew it I was asleep.
I reached my hand out to find Dani but she wasn't in the bed, then I remembered that she was showering.
"I'm right here." Her voice was close but distant.
I opened my eyes to see her sitting on the side of the bed, still in my shirt but her hair was in a towel. "How long did I sleep for?"
"Did you fall asleep when I went to shower?"
"Yeah."
"Then an hour."
"An hour?"
"Yeah. After I showered I called my mom and talked to all of them. I told them the good news and they're happy for me. Then I made salad so you could eat when you got up, but we don't have dressing so I was waiting until you woke."
"You could've woken me."
"No, you looked too peaceful."
"I had a good dream."
"About?"
"You."
In the dream I had finished the thing for the proposal and cut trees down to make a path to the clearing and planted all the flowers around and vines so they could grow up it. The dream ended right after I asked her to marry me and I wanted to close my eyes so I could hear her answer, but I knew it didn't work like that, unfortunately.
"Me? What about me?"
"A ring on your finger."
"Sounds like a good dream."
"If you take the ring."
"Of course I would, it's your dream. If not it would've been-"
"A nightmare."
She nodded and I slowly got out of bed. It was two in the afternoon and we decided to stay inside since it was still chilly outside and it was starting to cloud over.
"What do you want to do then?"
"Just be with you. I just want to relax and calm down."
"Sounds like a plan."
And that's exactly what we did.
(Author: One of the last chapters, so Vote/Comment/Question!)