Innocent Lies

by J.W. Phillips

  We rode in silence a couple of more miles until he pulled off the interstate. There was a strip of steak houses. He gave me my choice, but after the latest confession I found my stomach in knots. So I left the picking up to him. He picked a well-known steak place and pulled in. “The game hasn’t ended. I like playing.” He said as he jumped out of the truck.

  “What game?” I wasted no time getting out of the truck and slammed the door. If Ethan wanted to play, I would play.

  Ethan patted my ass as he held the door open for me at the restaurant. His eyes brightened. “Tit for tat. If you’re a good girl maybe when we get settled into the hotel we can play tits for something else.” Ethan chuckled.

  The smell of garlic and bacon assaulted my nostrils as soon as I stepped in the place. My knotted stomach instantly rumbled. Ethan escorted me across the joint, my feet crunching over the peanuts sprinkled over the flooring, and sat me in the corner. He ordered himself a beer and me a sweet tea, light on the ice. I glanced around the room. Parents were coaxing their unruly kids to sit down and eat. A group of women were openly eyeing Ethan. A group of old men were playing a game of Rook in a room off to itself. I was sure, not one other person there was running to save their own life.

  Ethan propped his arms on the table and brought his face within inches of mine. “My turn. Did you like our little scene this afternoon? I know it was fast and quick, but would you play like that some more?”

  “What scene?”

  “The scene where I tied you up and used that sweet pussy.” He ran his tongue seductively over his upper lip.

  I ducked my head. I started focusing on the faux wood grains printed on the tabletop. They tied me up. I never thought I would ever allow someone to do that to me willingly. I peeked up at Ethan. The way he looked at me made the pit of my stomach clinch together and soaked my panties. I focused on a single grain of salt and pushed it around with the tip of my finger. I didn’t know if I liked being tied up. But Ethan liked it and something deep down told me I needed it. I could do that with him. He loved me. “Yes,” I answered, I could so do that again with Ethan.

  “I’m glad because I’ve daydreamed about all the ways I wanted to tie you up and please you for years.”

  I stared back, struggling to think clearly. “Have you done that kind of stuff before?” I pressed my palms together and started to twist my fingers.

  “It’s the only way I would do it until you. I’ve never been a plain, vanilla guy.”

  He was being honest. I could hear the sincerity in his voice. I wasn’t dumb. I’ve been around, Ethan was admitting to me he was in to BDSM. Was Ethan a dominant? “That is the only way?” I took a sip, relieved the waitress had delivered our drinks. Would he be happy with the plain ole plain with me?

  “Look at me. I want this with you. It’s what I enjoy, but my beautiful love, I just want you. However I can get you.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “First, let’s get through the next few days. I will do anything to keep you safe. I will bend the rules, bend my principles, whatever it takes.”

  The talk of bending principles, the rules was too much. Will I ever get to just experience happiness? At least I knew what I was facing this time. I wouldn’t be pulled out of bed in the middle of the night. “What’s your plan?”

  “I don’t know. First I’m going to get you safely checked into a hotel room. Then I will go see my dad?”

  “Would it not have been safer to leave me at home?”

  “Oh no, my love, I’m not letting you leave my side until I get this shit straightened out.” Ethan unrolled his silverware and methodically placed them by his plate. “You need to order.” He picked up his menu and opened it. He worked his jaw back and forth.

  Our waitress arrived, tapping a pen against her pad. Ethan looked up and flashed her his sexy-as-hell smile. She tossed a strand of her long blond hair behind her ear and smiled back. Then she winked. “Hey, my name is Casey. What can I do for you tonight?”

  I slammed my menu down. I didn’t miss the fact she spoke only to Ethan. I will take care of him tonight, sweetheart. Eyes off.

  “His girlfriend is ready to order?”

  Ethan had definitely put the fire back in me. I had never been a possessive person, but Ethan was mine. That little hussy could take her sorry ass to another customer. Ethan laughed and reached across the table, clutching my hand. “My favorite girl gets what she wants too.”

  ‘Thank you.’ I mouthed over to him. The server reluctantly turned to me. She took our orders and then gave Ethan one more unnecessary smile. Luckily, he missed it. He was watching me.

  “Babe, we’re almost there. I got a room booked at the Peabody. Dylan, I don’t care if all you want to do is talk. If it is then that’s what we will do. I really don’t give a damn. I just want you with me. I like waking up next to you.”

  Wednesday, November 19, 2014

  The sensation of his smooth moist lips running over the sting on my ass from the bite of his hand was soothing. “Damn, I love you.” Ethan moaned and fell back on the bed beside me. “You are fucking beautiful like that.” He pinched the nipple on my breast hard.

  I yelped and tried to move, but was unable too. Trussed up in the air, I was coming down off the most amazing orgasm. He had tied me up until I was incapable of moving. He explained that if I couldn’t squirm I had to absorb it all. Oh boy, did I feel every inch. The only part of me not securely wrapped in rope was: my ass that was open to him, my tits, and my hands that were bound to my back and stuck up like a rooster tail. Maybe I was a freak, too. Because not only did I enjoy it, as much or more than Ethan, but the thoughts of what they did to me never crossed my mind.

  “You know you own my ass. I can’t even stop telling you I love you when I am playing with you.”

  “I love you too. Now are you ever going to untie me?”

  Ethan moved with lightening movements and had me untied. I collapsed on the bed, totally sedated and uninhibited. I rubbed my wrist that was chapped from the rope. Ethan kissed down my arm easing the tingling. “We need to sleep, my beautiful love. We have a long day ahead.”

  Before he even got the words out, I was knocked out in total bliss.

  I swatted at the fluttering going down my face. “Wake up, Privy.” Ethan said and continued kissing down my neck. I fought with my eyelids losing the battle. They refused to open. Ethan spent hours making love to me. My legs were still numb. My arms too floppy to move.

  “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.