Scars: Book One (18 page)

The
door behind me opened, and I turned as Antony stepped out, a glass of whiskey
in hand.

“Nice,
huh? Alexa drove my brother crazy with her perfectionism; she went through
about a hundred gardeners before she got it just the way she wanted. I’m pretty
sure he was tempted to firebomb it before she was through.”

I
let out a laugh, and he grinned, pointing one of the fingers that held his
glass at me.

“And
there we go!”

I
frowned. “What?”

“A
real smile. At last. You’ve been giving me polite smiles all evening. I’ve been
waiting for the
real
you to show through.

“Oh.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, and I cast my eyes downward.

“No,
don’t do that. Don’t do that submissive shit. I know it gets a lot of guys hard
but not me. I don’t go for that.”

I
looked up at him in alarm. “I don’t want to get you hard.”

He
shook his head and grimaced. “Sorry, that was a bad choice of words. I’m a
little coarse sometimes.”

I
moved away from him, grabbing my wine and taking a sip.

He
gently touched my hand. “Sorry.”

I
shrugged. “You haven’t done anything. You don’t need to be sorry.” I took
another sip.

“I
made you uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s
fine.”

Both
our eyes swung to the opening door as Aaron stepped out. His eyes darted
between us for a moment before saying, “C’mon, we’re going.” He turned, and I
moved to follow but Antony quickly took my hand again.

“Hey.
You look out for yourself, okay?” I nodded at him and went to leave. His grasp
on me tightened though, and he leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “You need
to look out for yourself around
him
, you know? He’s my friend, but…don’t
let your guard down, okay?” He released my arm. “You should go. Good night,
Rachel..or Paige.”

Aaron
didn’t speak to me on the way home. I leaned my head against the window and
thought about what Antony had said. It was something that I knew already, of
course, but it was nice of someone to warn me, I guessed.

Once
inside Aaron told me curtly to go to bed, and I did gladly. After I slipped off
my dress and folded it neatly on a chair, I slipped on a tank top that I
normally wore to bed and contemplated briefly putting on my shorts as well, but
it was too hot for that already. Once under the covers, I stared at the bedside
table beside me for a good while. There was nothing personal in this room, or
this house, whatsoever. No photographs, only his clothes and minimal toiletries
in the bathroom. All that told me was that he liked to use expensive shampoo;
that may have been the explanation as to why his hair always smelt so nice.

I
finally worked up the courage to open the drawer beside me after casting a look
at the closed door. I inched it slowly open. A handgun sat on the bare wood,
keeping it company were a bundle of cable ties and a pocket knife. I slowly
shut the drawer before lying down and clutching the covers to me. I wasn’t
really surprised. I turned on my side and listened for him. He didn’t come
until much later, and I lay there stiffly waiting as he stripped off and
showered. Water from his damp hair flicked off wetting me as he slipped in
beside me, and I flinched at it. I couldn’t pretend to be asleep any longer
after that.

I
turned over so I faced him. He lay on his back, staring at the shadows cast on
the ceiling. Moonlight lit the room, and in its glow his sharp features seemed
to be cast of stone. He was too pretty for what he was. He should have been
twisted and deformed so everyone could see what was inside him. I thought of
the red headed woman who had been earmarked by Alexa to be his date for the
evening. What if I hadn’t been there? Would he have taken her home and fucked
her conventionally, pretending to be charming and sweet, or would his darker
side have emerged? Maybe she’d like that, the darkness. Maybe normal would
never work for her…

Finn’s
smiling face danced before me. I thought of him and Melody, the perfect blonde
couple who would probably go on to have perfect babies and live in a perfect
house...I bit my lip hard at the thought.

“Stop
thinking. And stop staring,” Aaron’s words intruded.

I
kept staring at him for a good few seconds longer before I reached over and
touched his cheek. His head turned in my direction, and it was too dark to read
if there was surprise in his eyes. I held his cheek to keep it turned toward me
and then I leaned over and kissed him. He stayed still as if made of the stone
I had imagined before. I became more aggressive and still nothing came from him
and I tried to coax a reaction by gently nipping at his lower lip. When that
didn’t work, I full on bit.

He
shoved me away as his blood entered my mouth. His hand slammed into the light
switch, and he was illuminated as an angry mix of dark red blood and golden
features framed by black hair. I sat there and licked his blood off my lip, not
even flinching under his glare.

“What
the fuck, Rachel? You throw a tantrum like a kid if you don’t get your own
way?” He wiped his mouth with the palm of his hand.  Blood had transferred onto
the white sheets, staining them with bright red now.

“You
should have kissed me. That’s all I wanted.” My voice was even.

He
bit out a laugh. “What you wanted? Since when has that mattered?” He stared
hard at me for a moment, and then he was moving. He pushed me down, so I was on
my stomach and held down flat by his weight on me. His fingers searched in my
panties, and he started to stroke me softly. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you
what you really want, shall I?”

His
stroking intensified at a perfect pace, and I tried to wriggle to press harder
down on his fingers but he hindered my movement. Like everything, he controlled
this too. But soon I didn’t care anymore. I started to clench and moans escaped
me as I was so close to coming. His fingers picked up the pace, and I was
practically panting and then–

He
stopped.

His
hand was withdrawn and he rolled off me to the side. He stood up as I looked at
him through mussed hair in confusion.

“What?”
I spat.

He
shrugged. “You really hurt my lip. I don’t think you deserve to cum. Maybe
tomorrow. If you’re nice to me. ”

My
mouth opened. “Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t
get mad at me. You’re the one who turned nasty first. Anyway, get up. I need to
change the bedding, you got blood on the sheets.”

He
disappeared down the hall to the linen cupboard and returned a few seconds
later with neatly folded fresh sheets. I helped him spread the sheets out and
tuck them in, although I was sullen and silent. He seemed amused, happy almost.

After
we lay in bed again, he turned off the light and lay with his back to me. I lay
in the dark with my eyes closed and thought about his blood caused by my teeth.
He bled just like everyone else, and for some reason this turned me on. I
flipped over so I lay on my stomach as my hand snaked between my legs and took
over the stroking that he’d abandoned. I envisioned his face: wounded, maimed,
bleeding and pained. I ground myself down onto my hand as a moan escaped me. I
remembered licking his blood from my lip like a bloodthirsty vampire, and I
ground harder.

My
eyes flickered open slightly, and then they widened, and I stopped. Even in the
dark I could tell he was on his side facing me and resting his head on his
hand. His teeth flashed white. “No, no, no,” he told me.

He
pushed me onto my back and straddled me before he reached over to the side
table and switched on the lamp. The black cable ties appeared, and it was a mere
second before my hands were fixed firmly to the headboard.

He
sat back, still sitting across my legs and watched me. “You just couldn’t help
yourself, could you? I told you that you couldn’t cum.”

All
I did was glare up at him, frustrated as fuck. He reached out a hand and slowly
dragged it down over my breast. “You know, all those times I had you restrained
like this, I really wanted to do this. It was so hard not too…”

His
hand was on my other breast now, frustratingly slow, when all I wanted was for him
to pinch my nipples hard. I arched my back up to push them further into his
grasp. This made him grin, and he rolled one nipple between his thumb and
finger. “You want this, huh? Is this what you’re squirming for?” His grip
became firmer and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. I
closed my eyes, enjoying his touch. His weight moved off my legs, and he nudged
them apart before smoothly sliding into my soaking pussy.

He
pumped into me hard as he gripped onto my ass. He shoved himself up to the hilt
as he finished. “
Fuck!
That was good,” he panted.

“For
you, maybe,” I said clearly, disappointment evident. He laughed as he collapsed
down beside me.

“Don’t
be like that,” he rested his head on his hand as he looked at me where I lay
still bound.

He
leaned over then and kissed me with his wounded lip then he suddenly drew back
and hissed in pain as it started to bleed again. It was my turn to laugh again.

He
raised an eyebrow. “That’s not very nice, considering I hold your pleasure in
my hands.” And to illustrate the point he traced circles around my clit. He
made me cum. He fucked me again.

And
then we had to change the sheets one more time.

I
made him breakfast in the morning, even though it felt wrong to sully the
pristine kitchen. He was quiet again, so I stayed silent as well. Until I told
him I had to go to work.

He
looked confused. “You want to go to work?”

“No,
I
have
to go to work. I’m on my own. I have bills to pay. I can’t take
time off work.” This wasn’t strictly true. I actually had a small nest egg in
the bank thanks to Nora and her ‘gifts’.

He
dropped me off for my afternoon shift and grunted that he’d pick me up at ten
when I finished. Thomas gave me a relieved hug when I came in.

“Are
you okay? I’ve been so worried. I sent you a million texts and even went to
your apartment.”

“I
know, I forgot to charge my phone. Anyway, it’s fine.”

Thomas
frowned. “Are you sure? Miranda said that some of Nora’s less savory associates
took you. I thought I should go to the police but then…” his shoulders slumped
down. “I’m sorry. I’m a bad friend.”

I
shook my head at him. “No, you’re not.” I sighed. “I…know him, from before and
well,” I shrugged. “I told you before that I’m tough.”

“No,”
Thomas corrected. “You said that you used to be tough. But you’re not now.
Remember?”

I
forced a smile. “I told you. It’s fine. Let’s get to work.”

I
avoided Thomas for the rest of the night. He was going to ask questions that I
didn’t know how to answer. I had no fucking idea what was really going on or
how long Aaron would play nice for. What I did know that was I staying in the
nicest house I’d ever been in, I didn’t have weirdo Michael lurking around the
corner, and the coffee was good. All these reasons were superficial and
ridiculous. My original fear of Aaron had turned to wariness. That in itself was
probably stupidity on my part; it was probably just my brain going into
survival mode again.

Aaron
was early picking me up. I spied his car in the parking lot as I cleared my
last table for the night. For an instant I thought of going out the back, of
just heading to the nearest bus station and leaving. But I didn’t. I swung my
purse over my shoulder and opened the door to his car. He was texting on his
phone and informed me that he’d quickly drop me at his house then have to take
off again.

Once
I heard his car roar off, I explored the house that consisted of five bedrooms
and three bathrooms, all done in white of course, with the occasional artwork
adding a splash of color. But these were rare, and most of the art was in
blacks, grays and whites. All dour and depressing, I wondered if he’d chosen
them himself. A room filled with gym equipment and a sound system was the most
revealing. I flicked through his music collection which ranged from Beethoven
to Pearl Jam. Only one artwork interrupted the white walls. It was a mural of a
tree in winter with different dark tones to depict the twisted grooves on the
tree trunk. If you looked closely, faces emerged that were cleverly hidden.
Women and men with a variety of expressions looked down on me. I left the room
because I couldn’t stand them looking at me in all their creepiness.

I
woke up when Aaron got home, turning on the bedroom light as he walked in. He
looked tired, and his hair was messed. He looked briefly in my direction before
heading for the bathroom, shedding his clothes as he went. His shower was long,
and I was nearly drifting off as he slipped in beside me and reached a hand up
to turn off the lamp.

I
waited a moment, before saying, “Aaron?”

“You’re
not going to hassle me for sex are you?” he mumbled. “I’m too tired.”

I
sat up and switched the light back on as I stared down at him. “Are you making
a joke?” I said, witheringly. “I didn’t want to have sex with you anyway.” I
lay down again. “Where did you go?”

He
closed his eyes. “Work stuff. Don’t ask me about it.”

“Fine.”

He
opened his eyes again. “I have to go out of town for a couple of days. You can
stay here if you want.”

So
I get a choice?
“Without you here? That sounds…perfect!”
I said brightly.

He
didn’t look impressed. “Are you making a joke now? You shouldn’t. Neither should
I. We’re not very funny people.” He closed his eyes again. “Turn off the
light.”

“I
thought I had to stay here anyway. Didn’t you take me for a reason?”

His
eyes flickered open. “I took you because you can’t take care of yourself. Look
at the people you get mixed up with. And maybe to piss off Nora as well. Now
turn off the light. I’ve told you before that I get mean when I don’t get
enough sleep.”

I
flicked off the light and settled my head on the pillow. If anyone else had
said that, I would have been offended, but this was Aaron. Anything other than
insults coming out of his mouth was foreign.

He
left early the next morning. I sat blurry eyed in the kitchen nursing my coffee
when he came down the stairs carrying two black sports bags.

“Do
you need me to run through the security system with you again?” He dropped the
bags and picked up the cup of coffee I’d made for him.

“No.
I got it.”

He
sat beside me. “Let’s go over the rules.

“Rules?”

“I
don’t like people in my house, so no guests.”

I
raised an eyebrow. “But you had Antony and that other guy over here the other
day.”

“I
can have who
I
want.
You
can’t. Understand?”

I
looked away from his serious glare. “Sure.”

He
relaxed back. “It’s not really a concern anyway, since you don’t seem to have
any friends anyway.”
Ouch.
“Or family who care about you–“

“You
got your point across.”
Like you’re any better, asshole.

“Good.”
He looked smug. “Now get down on your knees and suck me off before I go.”

I
blinked, and my jaw hardened. I’d been stupid to think anything had changed. I
got down on my knees on the hard, cold tile and slowly freed him from his
pants. He was hardening already. I started at his base and kissed along the
shaft, dragging my tongue along slowly in a way that I hoped frustrated the
hell out of him. I neared the head and then reversed back in the opposite
direction, continuing with the teasing while I cupped his balls.

“Get
on with it,”
he ordered in a strained voice. I rolled my eyes and
finally took the head in my mouth. It didn’t take him long to cum. I prepared
myself from the coming onslaught of his seed into my mouth as he grabbed the
back of my head. But instead, he pulled out and tilted my head back so I was
looking up at him. His cum rained down on me in warm strings. In my hair, on my
nose, my mouth. I managed to shut my eyes in time to avoid them being hit and
kept them squeezed tight and froze until I knew he was finished.  Then I wiped
the cum off my eyelids before opening them. His semen smeared along my
fingertips.

Disgusting.

I
kept looking at my fingers while he stood and fixed himself up. I sank down
lower onto the floor, fruitlessly trying to wipe myself clean with the palms of
my hands but only succeeding in spreading the mess around more. I was covered
in the shit.

I
heard him pick up his bags and kept my eyes averted so he wouldn’t see the
tears of humiliation that were beginning to pool. I heard the jingle of his keys
as he grabbed them; then he crouched down beside me. A finger on an unsullied
part under my jaw forced my head up to look at him. He inspected me with an
emotionless face that was beginning to blur through all the tears in my eyes.
Suddenly, his face broke out in a grin that I wanted to slap right off. He
removed his finger before standing, and without another word, he walked
cheerily out the door.

I
took the bus to work. I had to change two different stops, and increasingly
creepy people got on the closer we got to my workplace. I ignored them and
discouraged anyone that tried to speak to me.

“You
okay? You look sick,” Thomas greeted me.

“I’m
just tired.”

“Okay…Guess
where I’m going!” he yelled excitedly.

“Where?”

“Miranda’s
taking me for a week of debauchery in Paris!” He clapped his hands together,
jumping up and down.”

“Really?
That’s great. The Paris part, not so much the debauchery.”

“Actually.
I’m looking forward to that part just as much.” He winked at me before going to
serve in his section. I washed my hands again. I was sure I could still smell
the pungent scent of Aaron’s semen on me.

My
section was filled with one asshole after another. I got called a bitch three
times, and a stupid slut at least four times. After my last customer had left,
I sunk down into a booth and rested my face on my forearms. I hated my fucking
life.