Authors: Ashley Hunter
Chapter 3
The man looked at her and bit his lower lip, as though trying to think of where to start. There was a deep hesitation in his eyes, as though he was hiding something but wanted to tell her.
“I realize we’ve not been introduced. How about we start there? I’m Ben.”
He hadn’t answered her question yet, but the more he spoke, the more at ease she felt. Introductions were a serious thing to her, and she felt she was being rude.
So, she set down the apple and without a napkin to clean the juice, she wiped her palm on her shirt. She wasn’t about to get the sheets all sticky and gross.
“Kathleen,” she said, holding out her hand to him.
Instead of shaking it like all the men in her life had done, Ben leaned in and kissed her fingertips so gently she almost didn’t feel it.
“Kathleen, there’s not much I can tell you. Under orders, you see.”
“Orders?”
“Yes ma’am. I’m an officer in our military, but as I’m currently working, shall we say, undercover, I’m unable to tell you what branch.”
“Undercover? On American soil?” Then, whispering as though someone may be listening, she asked, “Are you on a mission?”
Ben smiled. “Yes, I am. I was meant to meet someone in that bar when your… husband?”
Kathleen grimaced and spat to the side in disgust.
“Stepfather, and a horrid one at that.”
“Yes, stepfather. Well, when he and the others entered, and the whole auction thing began, I couldn’t believe it. Does this sort of thing happen often around here?”
She shook her head.
“Never.”
“He’s a sick man.”
Kathleen smirked. “You don’t have to tell me.”
Ben gave a small, uncomfortable laugh and looked away. “No, I don’t suppose I do. I apologize. At any rate, when I realized what was happening, I had to step in. It just wasn’t right, and that man… It makes me sick to think what he would’ve done had he won. What any of them would’ve done.”
“You won me. What’re
you
going to do?”
“I,” he said, and straightened out a few wrinkles in his slacks, “am going to take care of you. You’re awake and able to feed yourself now, so that’s good. Rest, eat, recover. The doctor said nothing was broken, but there are a number of deep tissue injuries. He estimated a two to three week timeframe. When you’re well, you’re free to go. I wouldn’t recommend going back to that town, however.”
“So that’s it?”
Ben cocked his head toward her.
“That’s what?”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“So, you spend thousands of dollars on me, you get a doctor to see me, and you’re just going to take care of me and feed me, and then that’s it? I get to just… go?”
Ben steepled his fingers in front of him.
“Was there something more you wanted?”
“Wanted? No. Expecting? Yeah, you could say that.”
“Well I’m sorry to disappoint. This is all I have to offer.”
“No, no,” she said quickly, straightening out the covers.
“Not a disappointment. Just surprised, is all. Pleasantly surprised.”
Ben nodded and stood.
“Rest up. Eat if you can. You’ll be out of here in no time.”
“Thank you,” she said as he moved the chair back to the wall.
“You’re too welcome,” he said, and smiled over his shoulder to her before leaving.
As she watched him go, a massive wave of fatigue washed over her. Scooting down and settling her head on the pillow again, she couldn’t help but smile.
Ever since her mother first started seeing the man that would become her stepfather, Kathleen didn’t feel safe. The guy was creepy to begin with, and Kathleen did everything she could to try and protect her mother from him, but she was lonely.
Kathleen couldn’t compete with loneliness.
When he moved in, she didn’t have another good night of sleep again. It was horrible to feel uncomfortable in your own bed, in your own home.
If home wasn’t safe, there was nothing left. Home should’ve been the one place she could be comfortable, but he took that away.
Kathleen nuzzled her face against the soft pillowcase and sighed. This, here, was safe. Muscles that had been tense for the last three years let go, and she breathed with the relief of it.
Sleep came easily after that, and she didn’t wake again until that evening. Ben didn’t come again while she was awake, but there was fresh food on the table beside her. She wasn’t able to eat all of it, but it felt good to have food in her stomach again.
After examining the room, her body’s need to recover soon overtook her and she fell back to sleep.
Days passed in the dreary haze of a healing sleep, only waking long enough to eat something, contemplate the strangeness of her days, and fall back to sleep.
At first, her sleep was mostly dreamless, with only the occasional flicker of images to occupy it accompanied by emotion. Anxiety. Panic. These were commonplace, sending her into fits of startled wakefulness. The dreams made her concerned to fall back to sleep, but waking was always a pleasant experience once she’d calmed down.
There was always fresh food beside her bed, somehow steaming or pleasantly chilled. It never had the taste of having sat out for hours.
How did he know when she’d wake up?
As she healed and could think more clearly, she realized the food he left always coincided to what time of day it was.
Fruit, oatmeal, or cereal in the mornings. Soup and sandwiches in the afternoon. Chicken, steak, potatoes in the evening. There were always crackers available for when she wasn’t feeling up to a full meal, or the occasional cookie as a treat.
Once she’d had a dream he was trying to fatten her up to eat her, but the absurdity of it struck her the moment she woke up.
She’d yet been able to finish a whole meal. If he was trying to fatten her up, he was doing a terrible job of it.
That is, other than what she already carried on her.
Her stepfather always made sure to remind her that she was far from the ideal weight. He and his friends frequently made jokes at her expense, despite the fact that she ate perfectly healthy food. Some people just weren’t meant to be pencil-thin.
Four days passed, if the meals were any indication. She woke, as she normally did, and ate breakfast. Still unable to eat all of it lest she get nauseated, she settled in for the usual drowsiness to overcome her.
Yet, it didn’t.
Chapter 4
Kathleen used to lie in bed, awake, staring at the ceiling. It was almost a disappointment. She’d quickly grown accustomed to all of the rest. Still, when sleepiness didn’t rise up like a tide, she started to see it as the blessing that it was.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was growing kind of restless. She slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position and stretched delicately from side to side.
The muscles of her back ached from inactivity and were reluctant to stretch. After a bit of movement, however, they loosened. She’d be glad for some exercise.
Despite having eaten breakfast, there was almost no light in the room. The same dim lamps burned from sconces in the walls, decorating the room like some old French castle.
It was just enough light to see her food and eat, but was easily ignored whenever she closed her eyes to sleep.
Just as she started wondering how long she’d have to sit there in the dark until Ben came to change out her food, there was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in,” she called, grateful to see his face.
“Ah,” he said in a happy tone and opened the door.
“You’re awake. Excellent. Feeling better?”
“Much,” she said. “It still hurts everywhere, but I’m awake now.”
“That’s wonderful news.” He came beside her bed and picked up the tray.
“Would it be possible to talk? Maybe open a window, or something?”
“Oh, of course.” Ben set the tray down again and walked to the wall directly across from the foot of her bed.
Reaching up, he grabbed ahold and split the curtains. Kathleen hadn’t realized a window was right there.
“Cover your eyes, it’ll be bright,” he said, and walked one side of the curtains away.
The window went from floor to twelve foot high ceiling. The deep maroon curtains flowed like wine as he pulled open one side, and then the other, bathing the room in crisp early morning sunlight.
Kathleen tilted her head back and felt the warmth of it on her face. For a moment she just sat, her arms out to her sides, and soaked up the sensation of it all.
“It’s a beautiful day,” he said, and when she opened her eyes, she saw him staring at her with a smile on his face.
“Thank you again,” she said.
Ben shrugged. “I don’t think I did something anyone else wouldn’t have.”
“You’re wrong,” she said.
He walked to the wall again and pulled the chair up to her bedside. “That so?”
She shook her head, remembering all of the men in the bar. “It’s a terrible town.”
“I don’t mean to insult where you live, but since you’ve said it, I’ll politely agree.” Ben sniffed and picked a piece of lint free of his navy blue slacks.
“In my time here so far, I’ve yet to see anything redeemable about that place.”
“So you’re still going out?”
“Of course. As I said, I have a mission.”
Kathleen shrugged and played with the stitching of her comforter.
“You just seem to always have my needs taken care of. It can’t be easy.”
He gave a thoughtful frown and shook his head. “It’s not as difficult as one might think.”
She laughed.
“You seem so easy about it.”
He smiled, and then chortled.
“I don’t understand what you find so surprising. To me, this is normal behavior. I don’t know, I’m not thinking about it. It’s not extra effort.”
All she wanted to do was lavish him with compliments, but she could tell he wasn’t used to the praise, so she decided to change the subject. The last thing she wanted was to make him so uncomfortable that he left.
She was awake, and she wanted to talk to someone, damnit!
“So, this house is yours?”
“Sort of,” he said.
“It’s owned by the military. It’s my base of operations at the moment. When I’m done here, I’ll take my things and go, and they’ll station someone else here that needs to use it.”
“When will you go?” she asked, filled with a surprising feeling of loss. She didn’t want him to leave.
“At least two to three weeks,” he said, smiling as if he understood her concern.
“Don’t worry. You have plenty of time to recover.”
He looked at her, appraising her condition.
“You seem to be sitting up rather well. Can you move?”
“Some,” she said, stretching again.
“It still hurts.”
Ben nodded. “The doctor said as much. Still, if you were more active now, perhaps you’d like to soak in a nice bath and loosen up those muscles? I’m sure you’re stiff from sleeping for so many days.”
Kathleen exhaled in a groan.
“That’d be heavenly.”
“Right then,” he said, and patted her leg before standing.
“Enjoy the view. I’ll draw you up a bath.”
This time he didn’t move the chair back, but instead simply left the room. Alone once more, Kathleen lifted the covers and looked down at herself.
In all this time, she’d never stopped to think about what she had been wearing. All she had on were her panties, and a t-shirt. The t-shirt, she noted, was not hers. No bra.
Had he been the one to change her?
Kathleen put an arm over her breasts, knowing that somewhere inside she should’ve been embarrassed or offended at the idea of him having seen her naked to change her. But she wasn’t. In fact, it was exciting to wonder if he’d liked what he’d seen.
Faucets squeaked and water rushed through the pipes nearby. A shiver of delight ran through her as she anticipated slipping into the warm water.
It’d been days since she’d bathed! Ugh, she must smell horrible. Why hadn’t she noticed? Kathleen snuck a quick sniff at herself and blanched.
“How warm do you like your bath?” Ben asked from the door.
“Pretty damn hot,” she said.
“You got it.”
“You know, Ben,” she called, waiting until she heard from him before continuing. It took a moment, but he poked his head back around the corner.
“Hmm?”
“I couldn’t help but notice my clothing. Or lack thereof. You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you?” She tried to give him a knowing smile, but he shook his head.
“That was the doctor’s doing. He needed to disrobe you to examine your injuries. That’s his shirt. Smells a little, I’m sorry.”
Kathleen pulled at the front of her shirt and sneered at the discovery of the smell not belonging to her. Ben had disappeared again.
“That’s all right,” she called out.
“I appreciate it anyway.” There goes the hope that he’d taken advantage a little.
“The doctor is a lovely man,” Ben said, coming around the corner with a huge towel held open, “but he has some hygiene requirements that need to be met. Ironically enough. I’ve washed your clothes, but was sure you’d want to change into clean clothes only after bathing.”
“Oh yes, you’re right on the nose with that one.”
The pain drove up her leg to her back as she twisted at the waist and dropped her legs off the edge of the bed.
Ben held the towel out in front of him, his head turned as he averted his eyes.
“You can look, you know,” she said, slowly scooting herself forward.
Standing was going to hurt, but she needed to do it. Her body needed to remember what it was like to move.
“Wouldn’t be proper,” he said, “but you can take my hand if you need help standing.”
Kathleen reached up, and did just that. Once more she was surprised with how strong he was. As soon as she slipped forward to stand, he wrapped the towel around her, and in one smooth motion, had his arm around her waist and her arm over his shoulder.
“Oh, the shirt certainly smells, doesn’t it,” he asked, his face now inches from hers.
“It does,” she said, unable to take her eyes off of his strong jaw, and sharp cheekbones. The man was a sculpture.
“It’s good to know it belonged to the doctor, though,” she added, finally forcing herself to try and walk.
“I thought that was me smelling like this.”
“Heavens no,” he said.
“I’d be surprised if you did.”
“Oh?” she asked, taking a step. The pain was intense, and she leaned heavily on him for support.
“Of course,” he said, holding her up with little effort.
“I gave you sponge baths seven times a day while you were unconscious.”
Kathleen laughed so hard it made the injured muscles in her side spasm, and she hissed with the pain of it. For his part, Ben laughed as well and worked to support more of her weight as the pain made her buckle.
“Don’t make me laugh like that,” she said, still giggling.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t help myself.”
Through some careful stepping, they were able to get her to the extravagantly decorated bathroom. Marble sinks, gold curtain rods along the sides of the shower, and near the back, a large claw-foot tub filled with hot steaming water and bubbles.
“Oh wow,” she said.
“This is beautiful.”
“It really is. I’m grateful for every day I get to spend here. Especially this last week.”
Kathleen looked over, and saw him actually blushing as though he hadn’t meant to say that last part.
“You know, I’ll need some help getting into the tub.”
Ben blushed further, and looked around.
“I’m sure we can find a small step stool, or perhaps if you were to gently lean…”
Kathleen put her weight on her good leg and stood to face him.
“Ben, it’s okay.”
She ran her fingers along the collar of his shirt, holding onto him there.
“I want you too.”
“But,” he whispered, caught up in how close her face was to him. His eyes roamed her nose, her cheeks. She was certain she looked like a troll at the moment, but the way he stared at her, it somehow made her still feel attractive. He wanted her that much she was sure of.
In all her life she’d never met someone so brave and noble, willing to stand up to a bar full of men, and then be so respectful as he took care of a woman. The fact that he never took advantage of her made her want him all that more.
“I can’t,” he said, his hands holding her waist.
Kathleen ran a hand up his neck to the side of his head.
“Yes you can,” she whispered, and leaned in.
Ben sighed through his nose as their lips met. For such a stern, masculine man, his lips were surprisingly soft, as though relating to the kindness inside of him. His fingers tightened around her waist, holding her to him as they kissed.