AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Looking at her troubled, weary face, I knew it was time for the carrot, not the stick. I shed my anger and prepared to comfort her.
Sadie
The lounge attendant left us at the door to the tiny sleeping room. It was about half the size of our dressing room, with a double bed on one side. On the other side was a desk and chair. Through an open door, I made out a toilet, sink, and shower in a bathroom the size of an old-fashioned phone booth.
Simon locked the door and turned to me, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He was not smiling. His handsome face was unreadable.
“Please don’t spank me,” I said, fighting the urge to whimper.
“And why shouldn’t I?” He sat on the bed and pulled me down beside him, wrapping an arm around me and pulling the elastic off the end of my braid.
“Because I’m sorry for running out on you today. I am, really. Besides, you said you’re too angry.”
“I have cooled off and now we have this room and an hour to spare so let’s talk about this. Does being sorry undo what you did?”
“No.”
“Does it give me back that moment when I realized you’d bolted? Does it undo the damage you did to my heart, for just one second, knowing you’d decided to disobey on such a troubled day?”
“No.” I gave him my most repentant look, which was easy. I was remorseful.
He rubbed my arm and the warmth of his hand on my skin comforted me. He kissed my cheek and the tenderness of his lips on my skin eased my fears.
“I’m going to tell you something that may surprise you,” he said.
“Which is?”
“I am not always right.”
I giggled. “And I’m going to tell you something that may surprise you.”
“What?”
“Sometimes, you’re the emperor wearing new clothes and Layla and I are the only ones brave enough to tell you.”
Simon laughed at that, and I joined in, not because what I said was very funny but because it broke the tension and we both needed that.
After a long moment of laughing at something an outsider wouldn’t have understood, Simon leaned back on the bed and rubbed his chin. “I’m glad you find me so ridiculous,” he said, his voice mellow with affection.
“I do,” I said. “Everyone is ridiculous at some time. Sometimes it just feels like you take yourself so seriously, you forget that you are only human.”
“I never forget that I am a mere mortal,” Simon reached out for my wrist. “I have very human needs, and I’ve got one right now.”
The bulge in his trousers finished the thought. I laughed again and skirted around him.
“Got to pee,” I said, locking the bathroom door behind me. I sat and considered his side of things. When I said I couldn’t marry him that afternoon, a storm of emotions had twisted his face, raw, uncensored pain, and hurt. He’d recovered quickly but I suspected his reaction tonight came from that same place, from a place of love and vulnerability.
Sure, he masked his hurt with anger about my lack of obedience, but it occurred to me that he might not be as confident about me as he acted. I could make him suffer, too. Maybe I always treated him as if he was somehow invincible, not quite human. Who was the insensitive one now?
Simon rapped on the door. “Are you okay in there? I’m losing the mood out here, if you know what I mean.”
“One minute.” I washed my hands and face and slipped out of my sundress. Wearing only my embroidered panties and balconette bra, I stepped into the room.
Simon’s face lit up like a beacon. He moved in close and one second later my bra was off. He kissed my neck, my collarbone, all the while teasing my nipples with his fingers.
“Whoa.” I wriggled away from him. “We’re not done talking yet.”
He bent his head back, eyes closed. He fumbled for me like a blind man might. “Who put out the lights? Where’d Sadie go?”
