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The worst thing that can happen? Me never seeing Lara again. If the police find her parents, I’ll have to let her go.
I stroke the curls on the top of her head and plant a kiss among them. I may have been with her for only a few weeks, but it seems like an eternity. It’s going to be hard for me to give her up.
Still, if it means Lara will be with her family in a loving, secure home, I’ll do it. I’m not going to deny her what I didn’t get.
I place my hand on her little chest, right over the sparkling unicorn, as I look into her blue eyes.
“You deserve to have every good thing in the world, and I can’t stand in the way of that. I won’t.”
So there. I’m going to tell Antonio the truth and give Lara back to whoever she belongs to. I’ll have to apologize to him first, though.
True, he got carried away. The bulge that was pressing against my back is proof of it. But I didn’t hit him because of that. Frankly, his reaction flatters me. I didn’t hit him because he was hurting me, either, even though he was rougher than last time. I hit him because I remembered something I’d rather not.
I slap my forehead and sigh. Antonio and I are both haunted by our memories, aren’t we? Pathetic.
I don’t want to be. More importantly, I don’t want the things that happened in my past to keep me from having good experiences. Isn’t that what I told Antonio? I can’t live in the shadow of my past. I can’t be a prisoner of it. I have to break free.
If I want to leave my past and its monsters behind, I have to be brave enough to take the first step forward.
~
I draw a deep breath as I stand outside the bathroom door. I can hear the shower running inside. I know Antonio is there. Will he drive me away just like I did to him, or will my efforts pay off? Will he think I’m brave, stupid or crazy? There’s only one way to find out.
I push down the brass lever and pull the door open. Antonio doesn’t react. Probably, the water’s too loud and he didn’t notice me coming in.
I close the door behind me slowly but not completely so it doesn’t make a sound. Then I walk carefully to the shower stall at the end of the room. Even though my foot is healed, I still don’t want to put unnecessary strain on it. I can’t see Antonio’s body clearly through the frosted glass, but knowing that he’s there, just a few feet away from me, completely naked, is enough to send my veins buzzing. My pulse quickens.
When I’m within a foot of the glass, I take off my robe so that I, too, am naked. I draw another deep breath before undertaking the final and most difficult step of this plan – opening the door to the shower stall.
As it slides smoothly away, I see Antonio standing in front of me. Water trickles down his skin. As he turns his body to look at me, I stare at his bare, sculpted chest, his ripped stomach which only has a faint bruise remaining, and the rod of flesh hanging between his legs. I feel myself blush all over as I tear my gaze away. A lump forms in my throat.
“Triss?”
For a moment, Antonio’s gaze falls on my breasts. He pulls it up to give me a questioning look.
“What are you doing here?”
Good question. One I’ve prepared an answer to.
I try to remember it as step inside the shower. I swallow and remind myself to breathe.
“Continuing what you started.”
His eyes narrow. “I thought…”
I step forward and press a finger to his lips.
“I’m sorry I hit you. It’s not because I don’t like what you did. It just surprised me. It made me remember something I didn’t like.”
Antonio grasps my hand and puts it down. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to remember it ever again, but the only way for that to happen is for you to help me forget it.”
“How?”
I grab his hand and hold it between my legs. “Take me. Hard. Rough. Just how you want it. Just like last night.”
“And if I hurt you?”
“You won’t,” I assure him. “My foot is already healed.”
“It’s not your foot I’m worried about.”
“You don’t have to worry about anything, Antonio.”
He hesitates so I wrap my arms around his neck and look into his eyes.
“I trust you.”
I lean forward on the balls of my feet and pull Antonio’s face down so I can kiss him. He responds gently at first, just like last time. I tug on his lower lip.
He pulls away and I see lust burning in his eyes. That’s more like it.
