Innocent Lies (19 page)

“Let me sleep, please.” I moaned as
Ethan pulled my nipple with his teeth.

“You can’t. I’ve
got to go and I need to know you are awake and alert.” The urgency
in his voice startled me. I bolted straight up in the bed. Ethan
planted a kiss on the side of my hip. “I adore sleeping with you,
but I have to admit my all-time favorite is sleeping with a naked
you.”

I slapped his chest and tugged the
covers tightly around me. I reached for my old outfit when Ethan
swatted my hand and bounced up. “Put this on.” He chucked me an
emerald green sundress, a white sweater, new panties, and
bra.

I slipped into the dress and
frowned, remembering him pulling clothes from a drawer in the
dresser at his house. It was flattering and frilly, but not mine.
“E, did this dress belong to an ex?”

“What the hell are you talking
about?” His eyebrows worked together. He seemed pissed.

“I saw you get clothes out at your
house and thought . . . I wondered if maybe they . . . were clothes
old girls left?”

“My love, when will you believe
that you are the only female I have ever brought home? I went
shopping the other day and with the help of Sarah picked you up a
few things. I wanted you to have some space and stuff at my place.
I haven’t got around to showing you yet, because if you haven’t
noticed things have been kind of crazy lately.”

“Sarah helped?”

“Yeah, through text messages. She
informed me of your sizes and the brands you preferred. I picked
this out. It was sweet and feminine like you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.
And beautiful, I would never ask you to wear some other woman’s
clothes.

In the corner were multiple bags
of food, the counter was lined with cases of drinks, a stack of
movies leaned against the TV, and even a new e-reader set propped
on the chair ottoman. While I slept Ethan had barricaded the room
for war. “Ethan, why all the stuff?”

He didn’t answer right away
instead he held his mouth to my shoulder and took deep, even
breaths. “I’ve got a meeting with my dad and uncle in thirty
minutes. I need to know you’re safe. You can’t leave this room. Not
for anything. Understood?”

“How long do you
plan on leaving me here?” I glanced back around the room, noting
that he purchased at least a weeks worth of food.

“I hope a couple
of hours. I’m not really sure. I’ve got a key. Do not, I mean do
not open the door for anyone.” He kissed my forehead and shifted me
off his lap. He grabbed a sports coat off the back of the chair,
slid it on, and picked up his keys. He started to open the door,
but leaned his forehead onto the door facing. “I love you, Privy.”
He didn’t give me time to answer before he was gone.

It had been twelve
hours and fifty-eight minutes since Ethan walked out the door. I
had watched four DVD’s, read two free e-books I downloaded, and
tried on all the clothes Ethan had packed for me. I checked my cell
for the eight hundred and ninety-ninth time. Not a word. Tired of
waiting, I consumed three
Tylenol PM
I had in
my purse and laid down.

My eyes flew open. I wasn’t even
aware I had fallen asleep. I still had on the sundress and reached
around toward my back to unlatch my bra when I was immediately
stilled upon hearing the sound that had pulled me from my sleep.
The door clicked shut. I was too scared to move, much less look to
see who it was.

I heard someone kick off their
shoes and creep over toward the bed. I know I should’ve screamed,
at the very least think of a way to protect myself. Instead, I
remained frozen, knowing whoever it was, I was totally defenseless.
I prayed it was Ethan. The bed concaved under his weight, my
breathing ceased for a moment. Then calmness washed over me. At
that moment, I had no doubt it was Ethan. Only he has ever stopped
my heart and made me feel that everything was right. His lips moved
along the shell of my ear as he climbed under the covers. He
gripped me around my waist and dragged me against him, lacing his
fingers with mine. I let out a breath of relief.

He didn’t speak. I didn’t know if
he didn’t realize I was awake or if words failed him. He clutched
me as tight as he could and every once in a while, he planted
kisses along my jawline and down my neck. I wanted to ask him so
many questions but more I wanted him to hold me and never leave,
because there was no other place I belonged more than in his
arms.

We laid like that for an hour or
more. He never released his grip on me not even for a mere second.
He freed his fingers from around mine and cradled my head with his
arm. He trembled uncontrollably against me. I started to kiss the
side of his arm, his hand, anywhere I could get my mouth to. I had
no idea what made him break and didn’t care. I just wanted to take
the pain away. He needed comforting as much and possibly more than
I ever did.

As quickly as he appeared in my
bed, he slipped away never saying a word.

Friday, November 21,
2014

I kept fumbling with Ethan’s
watch, twisting and twisting it over again in my hands. It had been
two days, eight hours, and twenty-seven minutes since Ethan
slithered out of bed. I wrapped my arms around myself as the
reality permeated into my consciousness. He was with them. The
people I was no more than a payment to, a ransom for the man my mom
was screwing. The hollowness creeping inside of me expanded some
more. I had nothing, but an empty bed and unanswered
texts.

I gazed at the muted
television and memories of him, of us, filtered through my mind:
the way his eyes had that little extra sparkle when we went
stargazing, the way he always laughed when he told a joke, the way
I instantly relaxed in his arms, the first time we made
love.
Where the hell was
he?
I threw the watch against
the wall, I couldn’t take it any longer. I yanked my purse off the
chair, it was hanging on, when the door creaked open. Ethan walked
in, and I found myself washed in relief. He was different but
relaxed. I cocked my head to see if anyone had followed him home.
It was just us. He eyed my purse hanging from my shoulder. Worry
flashed across his face making his eyes wrinkle.

“Going somewhere?” He finally said
after a few minutes had passed between us.

“Should I be?”

Ethan took three giant steps
between us and gripped my upper arms. His eye had started to show
the beginning stages of bruising. The skin on his right cheek was
angry, bloody, and had a deep cut running across it. His upper lip
was swollen and had blood dripping from the corner. His neck was
ripped with various scratches. He still wore the same clothes he
was wearing when he left two days ago. They were ripped and covered
in blood, dirt, and grease. I reached up to touch his eye. He
winced and jerked away from me.

He softly cupped his hands around
my face. I wrapped my hands around his and felt the deep cuts over
his knuckles. He broke out in a crooked, swollen smile. “It’s over.
They tore up the contract for your life.”

“What happened to
you?” I wiped at the tears that had already formed in my eyes, half
in happiness, the other half in pure terror.

He pushed his forehead against
mine. “I pleaded with my uncle. I convinced him how much you mean
to me. That I love you like my dad loves my mom.” He cleared his
throat of the fear that was choking him. “But in reality, I love
you more.”

“Why all the
cuts?” I touched his face, his chest, his arms, his waist, his
back. My hands could not get enough of the warmth of the very man
that held my heart in his grasp. Each touch only reassured me he
was really there.

“I had to prove
that I could love you and still be loyal to the family.” He rocked
his forehead against mine. “Don’t ask questions, just know that
everything I did was for you. Privy, there is nothing I wouldn’t do
for you.” He clasped his hands around my waist.

I started to kiss him, but he
moaned out in pain. “Let’s get you cleaned up?” I took his hand and
led him to the bed. Taking a washcloth from the bathroom, I washed
the blood from his face. I wanted to question him about each mark,
bruise, and cut. Each one was in a different stage of healing. I
had been in jail the last two and a half days. He had been in hell.
I wouldn’t ask. His eyes were haunting and in time I would show him
he could trust me enough to open up.

Ethan stood up and stroked the
side of my tearstained cheeks. “I need a shower. I won’t be
long.”

I kicked my feet off the side of
the bed and listened to the water pouring out of the shower-head.
It ate at me that I didn’t know what had gone down the last few
days. But I trusted him.

Ethan walked back in
the room with a towel around his waist. It was then when I saw the
gashes that marred his back. He slid on a tee-shirt and a pair of
boxers, giving to his left leg the whole time.
Damn it, E, tell me who did that to
you.

He took a cold soda can from the
mini-fridge and placed it under his eyes. “I’m sorry, Privy. I
never wanted you to see me like this. It’s over with
now.”

“You‘re going to feel awful in the
morning.”

“No, I won’t, because I’ll wake up
next to you and you’ll be safe.” He pulled the covers back on the
bed. “Lay down, I haven’t slept in three days and I just want to
hold you.”

After switching off the light, he
crawled in the bed beside me and buried his face into my hair. “Oh
yeah, tomorrow, you’re going to meet my mom, my big brother
Charlie, and maybe my two sisters, Lydia and Kristina. I can’t wait
to show you off.”

Saturday, November 22,
2014

Holy crap,
I was not ready to meet anyone and
laid awake all night listening to Ethan snore. I did try to sleep.
I counted sheep, watched too much television, and even read on my
newest downloaded e-book. Anything to get my mind off the meeting
of the family and get a few ZZZ’s without having to move an inch
from Ethan’s side. He moaned a lot in his sleep and grimaced every
time he moved. The one thing he never did do was take his hand off
of me. He was hurting, but held me like I was the only source of
comfort he had ever needed.

Ethan reached around
and scooped the e-reader
off
my pillow. “Good morning, Privy. You were right I feel like shit
and hurt like a mother-fucker. But I can’t quit smiling because I
get to wake up to you.”

I rolled over and came face to
face with Ethan flashing a puffy, absolutely adorable, lopsided
smile. His left eye was swollen shut and the cut on his cheek was
boiling with crusty puss. He took my breath away. How could a guy
who obviously lost a few rounds in the boxing ring, still be so
damn sexy? “You look like shit too.”

He smoothly shifted his body until
he was on top of me, trapping me with his hips. He slid one leg
between mine, forcing them open and then grabbed my hands, pushing
them above my head. It was all so sudden, I screamed out in
surprise. “See babe, I can still handle you,” he whispered, running
his nose along the length of mine.

He released one of his hands from
my arms so that it was free to clutch my chin and held it perfectly
still. He seductively licked his upper lip then grunted. His eyes
closed as a brief moment of pain washed over him. I tickled his
chest. “Why don’t we get these clothes off so I can examine
you?”

His one good eye twinkled with
lust. “I don’t know. I might need a nurse. I would hate to be taken
advantage of.” He skimmed his thumb over my nipple, through my thin
cotton tee-shirt, back and forth until it harden under his
touch.

A playful Ethan. I
love a playful Ethan.
“I’m
not a nurse, but I did take a first aid course in high
school.”

“Well, why didn’t
you say so?” He murmured in my ear.

Ethan paused, leaned up, and
removed his shirt over his head, throwing it across the room. He
twisted to my side and shoved his hands down in my panties, cupping
my sex. “Right now, all I need is to bury myself deep in that
sweet, tight pussy and make love to you.” He worked his magic
finger with exquisite slowness over my engorged clitoris as he
licked over his upper lip. He suddenly jabbed two fingers deep
inside me. I squealed.

He worked his fingers in me,
bringing me to an unimaginable high. He withdrew his fingers and
brought them to my lips. “Suck baby, see how amazing you taste. My
sweet, sweet Privy.”

I swirled my tongue around his
finger as he plunged it into my mouth. His eyes rolled back into
his head as he involuntary licked his lips. I sat up and slipped
off the shirt I was wearing. Ethan liked me in dresses, but I was
positive he preferred me naked under him. I nervously pulled down
his briefs.