AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nod. “Of course. You don’t think you’re beautiful?”
“Dad always called me fat. Said that was why no man ever liked me.”
“The bruise on your shoulder?” I ask as I reach for the shampoo. “Your father’s work?”
She nods, saying nothing.
As I begin to wash her hair, she sighs, closing her eyes. I glance down at the bubbles, my cock twitching. I want more than anything to grab her, pull her from the tub, fuck her until she can’t walk.
“You are so beautiful,” I find myself saying, the words slipping out, unbidden but honest.
She dismisses the praise with a shake of her head, bubbles shifting with her movement. “I’m nothing special,” she counters, a hint of sadness in her voice that I wish I could wash away as easily as the shampoo from her hair.
“You will not put yourself down in my presence, ever,” I warn. “Clear?”
She nods but without confidence.
“You are safe with me,” I add. “You can be yourself. Start to believe in yourself.”
“Safe?” she replies. “Who protects me from you?”
“You don’t need protecting from me.” I rub her shoulders lightly. “So much tension. You can relax. I won’t hurt you.”
I could tell her about the guards outside the hotel, the car ready to whisk us away to a safe house at a moment’s notice. About the odds of us dying tonight. I choose to say nothing about such things. She’s already frightened enough.
“What do you want out of life?” I ask, genuinely curious about her dreams, about the woman she aspires to be beyond the fear and the bruises.
“To be a historian, like my mother. She loved history, wrote all these books about medieval France. I’ve always wanted to go there, see the places she saw. I researched some flights but I never could save enough money to go.”
“You will go one day,” I assure her.
“Yeah, right.”
“If you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything. Just look at your bank balance. The world’s your oyster. You want to do it, then do it.”
She turns her head and looks directly into my eyes.
Without a word, I lean in, the space closing as I move towards her. My lips meet hers with a gentleness that belies the storm of emotions raging inside me. I force myself to take things slowly.
Her response is hesitant at first, a reflection of the nervousness she feels, but then she melts under my touch, her lips soft and yielding against mine, stirring a desire so potent it threatens to overwhelm me.
“Wanted to do it, so I did it,” I murmur against her lips, pulling back slightly to look into her eyes. “I can help you achieve all your goals. If you’ll let me.”
She looks back at me, a hint of cynicism in her gaze. “All I have to do is put out, right?” Her words are a defense mechanism, a shield raised against potential hurt.
I shake my head, cupping her face gently in my hands. “Surely you can feel this,” I say, my voice low and earnest. “This bond between us, it’s special. You are special. Hell, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.
“In my world, it’s plastic tits and too much makeup. Designer dresses and wondering how much they can milk you for in the divorce. Either that or they find out who I am and they run. Not you though, you’re still here. You haven’t run.”
She manages a grin as I lean in to kiss her again. “Only because I’ve got nowhere to go.”
FIVE
Jess
The marble floor is cool beneath my feet as I walk through to a plush chaise lounge and a note saying, “Sit here.” I barely feel it. I’m walking above the clouds. He’s kissed me twice.
The first time, I could have convinced myself he’d made a mistake. But the second kiss proved it. He likes me. God knows why, but he does.
