by Skyla Madi
“That has never stopped you from bunking it,” my father said. “You’re not worried about your schoolwork, since your grades have obviously been dropping—”
“Michael!” My father was watching me with cold eyes. Once again he managed to ruin dinner. I pushed my half-eaten plate away before standing.
“Sit down, Alia.”
“Why?” I tilted my head slightly. “You don’t want me here anyway. Nothing I do is ever good enough for you! I’m sick of trying to make you happy.” I sucked in a breath. “Thank you for dinner, Mom. It was delicious.”
Chapter Six
School was a rush. We got forms we needed to fill in and stuff that needed to be signed. I had a pile of homework that needed to be done. It was my plan to spend the afternoon doing that, but I was surprised to find Stephen there when I got home. A forest green Ford truck was parked at the curb in front of the house. At first I thought it was one of my mom’s friends. Then I entered the house only to find him sitting in the living room. Apparently my mom was serious when she said I had to show him around town.
“Does your father always act like that?”
I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. “Only with me.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. It was something I wanted to know as well. Why only me?
“Where are we going?” I asked after another few minutes of silence passed.
“To my house,” he muttered.
My eyes snapped to him. “I thought I was supposed to show you around town.”
“I already know my way around town.” He glanced at me. “Your mother just assumed I didn’t. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to finish our talk.”
Before I could say anything else, the truck slowed. I glanced up at the house. It was simple, a two story with a small front porch and high walls surrounding it. Stephen parked the truck in the driveway before killing the engine. That strange feeling was filling me again. I was shaking. The door opened, making me jump.
My gaze locked with his before dropping to the hand he held out. I placed my hand in his, allowing him to help me out. Instead of dropping my hand like I thought he would, he gave it a squeeze. Stephen silently led me to the front door. He unlocked it then stepped aside for me to enter first.
The bottom floor was an open-plan. A spacious living room was to the left with the stairs that led to the second floor to the right. In front of me was a kitchen with an island and a bar separating the kitchen from the dining room. Sliding doors led out onto a wooden patio. Beyond it was the backyard, which held a pool and a barbecue area to one side. It was clear that this place belonged to a bachelor. The couches were black leather and the TV a flat screen with surround sound. My eyes moved to the stairs. There was a balcony overlooking the bottom floor.
“Are you hungry?” Stephen asked as he walked past me.
“No.” I stood rooted in place for a few more minutes before following him into the kitchen.
He was bent over, searching through the fridge. My eyes dropped to his butt. He had a nice butt—tight and firm. Heat flooded my cheeks. Stephen straightened then turned to face me with a blue Tupperware bowl in his hand.
“This is some of Nathan’s dinner. Or I could make you a sandwich?” He gestured to the bread on the counter. I shook my head.
“You don’t have to—”
“Look, I know you don’t know me, and I get that you’re scared, but I’m not going to hurt you, Alia.”
“I’m not scared.” His eyes snapped to mine. “I’m nervous. I know you won’t hurt me.” The bowl was placed down.
He turned to face me fully. “And how do you know that?”
“I feel safe and not threatened.” Stephen silently stared at me.
He was frowning down at me with this odd emotion in his eyes. Shaking his head, he muttered something under his breath before turning around. I watched silently as he heated the food and then grabbed two plates. He walked to the table to place them down before walking back to grab some forks. I hesitated but then walked over to the table to take a seat. Stephen appeared at my side but this time with a tall glass of ice water. He took a seat opposite me then held out the bowl for me. My stomach grumbled, a reminder that I barely ate anything today. I eagerly dished some of the pasta and gravy onto my plate before handing it back.
“You said we needed to go over a few things before we get started.”
“Eager, are we?” he asked softly. My cheeks heated. “We have about an hour before I have to get you home. Eat, then we’ll talk.”
After finishing, we moved into the living room. I clutched the glass as I waited for him to sit down. He surprised me when he took a seat next to me with only a few inches between us. Again he watched me silently.
“Stephen?”
“Yes?” His lips twitched.
“Can we start?” I glanced away from him toward the wall. When he didn’t answer me, I turned to look at him. He was smirking.
“This will be a mutual agreement,” he said softly. “No moonshine and roses or any of that shit. I don’t want any feelings involved, Alia. It’ll only be sex. No one will know about this apart from the two of us.”
“So I can’t even tell my friend?”
“No,” he leaned forward, “no one. According to the law, you’re still a minor. If it gets out, I could go to prison for rape. I’m nine years older than you. Do you understand?” I nodded silently as I calculated his age in my head. “We won’t be having sex until you’re ready.”
“Why? You’re supposed to teach me—”
“And I will.” His eyes narrowed. “There are a lot of things we can do that doesn’t include sex. You’re a virgin. Let me ask you this—have you ever been kissed on the lips?” My eyes dropped from his as embarrassment filled me. Of course not. The guys tended to stay clear of me just because my father was a cop. That’s probably the reason why I was still a virgin.
“Hey.” A hand cupped my cheek. I was forced to look at him. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. I like the fact that you’re completely innocent and that I’ll be the one to teach you.”
“You don’t think I’m a prude for still being a virgin?”
“No.” Stephen smiled. “I believe that everyone has a reason for doing the things they do. You have a reason for still being untouched, and I won’t judge you because of that. Is that the reason you placed the ad?” I frowned at him. “I’m not stupid, Alia. I’m a trained cop, so I’m pretty good at figuring out when someone is lying.”
“They call me the Virgin Mary. Or prude or anything else they can think of. I’m sick of it. It hurts.” Tears filled my eyes as I thought back to the months of abuse. “I don’t want—” I broke off when the front door suddenly opened.
A wave of fear washed through me when the familiar man entered the house. He froze in place when our eyes locked. Stumbling to my feet, I opened my mouth, but not a word escaped. Stephen stood and then turned to face the intruder.
“Ah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I thought you’d be busy for a while.”
“We finished earlier.”
“Alia, this is my stepbrother, Nathan,” he introduced us.
“I know who she is.” Mr. Pierce walked into the kitchen. “She’s one of my students.” Oh boy. I had a feeling that things just became even more complicated. My teacher’s stepbrother was going to be my sex educator. I glanced between them. I didn’t see how we were going to hide this from him. They lived together, so he was bound to figure things out. I just hoped he didn’t tell anyone.
***
The humid breeze blew gently through my hair. We were sitting under a tree on the hockey fields. Most of the smokers sat here during break. Delilah lit another cigarette before leaning back. Kate was typing away on her phone with a frown between her eyebrows. My mind trailed back to yesterday. Stephen had driven me home shortly after Mr. Pierce arrived. When he pulled up in front of my house, he had asked me if I had something to do this wee
kend. It was arranged that I would meet him at his house on Saturday morning.
My eyes moved to Dane. He was leaning against his bag with a book. I leaned back against the tree. A part of me was curious to see what he had planned. I was nervous too. My phone vibrated in my shirt pocket. I pulled it out and quickly unlocked it. There was a message from an unknown number. My heartbeat started to increase when I opened it.
Homework Assignment: You need to be comfortable with you own body. At some point you’re going to get naked. I want you to make a list of things you like about your body and things you don’t like. I’ll see you on Saturday at ten.
The message ended with a winking face. I frowned. What kind of assignment was this? How did he know I was uncomfortable with the way I looked? I licked my lips as I opened a blank word document. Might as well start since I had nothing else to do. I glanced at my friends again. They were all busy with their own thing. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. With another few seconds of hesitation, I finally started typing.
***
School couldn’t end soon enough. Mr. Pierce’s class was really awkward. I caught him watching me a few times during it. He had the oddest expression on his face. Thankfully, he didn’t mention anything about yesterday. We were dismissed at the end of the day with a reminder that tomorrow would be sport. I followed the line of cars driving out of the school grounds.
My mom wouldn’t be home for another hour or so. She usually visited my sister on Thursday after picking up Emma. My sister and Patrick lived just on the outskirts of town. I loved their house. It was big and spacious with a pool and an extra flat at the back. I switched on my flicker then turned down the street that would lead me to town. I wanted to get Kate’s son something for his birthday, which was in two weeks. Buying him something was going to be hard since I had no clue what to buy a three-year-old boy.
My phone vibrated. I frowned as I pulled it out of my pocket. Slowing the car, I glanced down. I had a message from an unknown number. It wasn’t Stephen since I saved his number after the text earlier. Stopping the car at the stop sign, I opened the text. A shiver of fear raced up my spine. It was a photo of me leaving the café the day I met Stephen.
I told you we would find out what you really look like, Alia Dune.
“Oh god.” I cupped my mouth with a shaky hand. This can’t be happening. Dropping my phone onto the seat, I shifted gears before driving forward. Doing any shopping now wasn’t even an option. What if they were following me right now? My eyes darted to the rearview mirror. It only took a second. I took my eyes off the road for a second when it all happened. When I looked back, a little girl stood a few meters from the car, holding a red ball.
A scream fell from my lips as I turned the steering wheel to the right. My foot stomped on the brakes. The car slid on the road before coming to a stop when the front hit a tree. My body jerked painfully, causing the seatbelt to dig into my skin and my head to hit the steering wheel. I groaned as I leaned back against the seat. Something was trailing down the side of my head. My body ached everywhere and my ears were ringing. The door was suddenly pulled open. I stared at the boy through blurry eyes. Black dots blurred my vision. He was talking, but the words didn’t register. My seatbelt was unlocked, and then he was pulling me out of the car. I couldn’t stand. I was shaking badly and my legs felt like jelly.
“Someone call an ambulance.”
Chapter Seven
I was sitting on the sidewalk with my back against the tree and a cloth pressed to the side of my head. The boy who pulled me out of the car was hovering a few meters away. A bunch of people had gathered to stare at the car and at me. Some had even taken photos. It didn’t bother me—not at the moment—since all I could think about was the little girl. Did I hit her? Was she okay? A shudder raced through my body when an image of her small bloodied body on the road flashed through my mind.
The sound of approaching sirens penetrated my mind. I glanced up just in time to see a police cruiser parking across the street. Please don’t let it be my father, I muttered in my head. My eyes dropped again when the door opened. Father would kill me. I would be an embarrassment to him if word got out. I was pretty sure the whole town already knew about it.
Commotion from across the street caught my attention. I glanced up just in time to see a woman storming past the people. She was crying and screaming as she fell down to her knees. I hit her. Oh god! Legs dressed in dark blue trousers appeared in front of me. I glanced up and instantly wished I hadn’t. My eyes locked with peculiar green ones.
“You saw what happened?” he asked the boy, who nodded. “Go to that officer there and give him your statement.”
I swallowed the lump that was suddenly in my throat. Stephen crouched in front of me. Without warning, he reached out and gently pulled my hand away from my head.
“Let me see that,” he muttered. “You need to go to the hospital.”
My attention was focused on the woman instead of him. I killed someone. I was going to rot in jail for murder.
“Alia?” My eyes snapped to his. Tears filled my eyes as reality started to set in. “Hey, you’re okay. There’s no reason to cry.”
“S-Stephen, the g-girl.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “I k-killed—”
“No.” His voice was hard. “She’s fine. You didn’t kill her, Alia. Like you, she’s in shock. There’s not a scratch on her.”
“The ambulance is here,” a man said. I glanced up at him. “Are you going with her or…?”
“I’ll go with her,” Stephen said softly. “You can handle things here.”
“Of course,” the man muttered before walking off.
“Come on.” Stephen gently gripped my arms as he straightened. The moment I was on my feet, the black dots appeared again. My ears started ringing as my stomach dipped. I thought I was going to be sick. “Alia?”
The world faded into darkness.
***
Everything ached. I wished I never woke up in the first place. My head was pounding in rhythm with my heartbeat. The light above me was too bright. I felt numb. My limbs felt extremely heavy, and my mouth felt dry.
“Alia.”
I blinked rapidly before turning my head slowly. I winced. Stephen stood beside the narrow hospital bed. Lifting my hand, I pressed it against the side of my head. There was a bandage.
“You had to get at least five stitches,” he muttered, “and you have a slight concussion, but nothing too serious.”
I had to get stitches. I was thankful I was out when they did that because I hated needles. Shifting on the bed, I groaned as pain shot through me. It wasn’t so bad, but I had a feeling it would be worse once the medicine worked out of my bloodstream. My eyes slowly moved back to Stephen. He was watching me silently with a hard look.
“The girl?”
“She’s fine, like I told you earlier.” He ran a hand down his face. “I know that you’re in pain, but I need to get your statement.”
I pushed myself up onto shaky hands before sitting up straight. My head was spinning again, but it faded after a few seconds. When my vision was cleared, I glanced around the room. It was a typical hospital room. With a small sigh, I turned my head to look at Stephen again. His eyes were focused on my legs instead of my face. I followed his gaze only to find my school skirt had ridden up almost completely. At least I wasn’t flashing him my totally unattractive gym shorts.
“I only took my eyes off the road for a second. When I looked back, she was in front of the car. I turned the wheel and hit the brakes, then the car hit the tree,” I told him. When his eyes snapped up to my face again, I turned to face him with my legs hanging off the bed.
“You didn’t see her run into the street?” I shook my head. “What were you looking at?”
I bit my lip. This could go two ways; I could either tell him about the message I received or keep it to myself while I tried to figure out who this guy was. “I was looking in the rearview mirror,” I whispered. The same fear I f
elt when I received the message flashed through me.
“I got a message just before the accident.”
“What type of message?”
“I—” My voice cracked. “S-Stephen.”
“What message, Alia?” His voice was cold. “Damn it, Alia.”
The next second, I found myself in his arms. I was pressed against his chest with his arms wrapped around my back. I wanted to blame the tears on what happened earlier, but I knew it was because of the fear. I did something stupid. All I was thinking about was losing my virginity and not what trouble it could cause. Because of my own actions, I was in trouble.
“I w-was so stupid!” I gripped his shirt tighter as tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Shh,” he whispered. “Tell me what happened, Alia.”
I pulled back from him. My eyes were focused on his chest as I wiped the tears away. For the first time, I became aware that he was wearing his uniform. The dark blue material clung to his muscular chest. His utility belt held everything he needed, including handcuffs. For a few seconds, my mind trailed off. I could feel my cheeks heating as I imagined him handcuffing me to the bed. Delilah had talked about it once.
“Alia.” I blinked. “What are you thinking about?”
“Handcuffs,” I whispered. “My friend says it’s pleasurable when you’re tied to a bed and your partner has full control over you.”
“Do you want to try that?” Stephen asked softly. “Would you like to be tied up while I kiss every inch of your body?”
My breath caught in my throat. I could feel the dampness between my legs as I imagined his lips on my body. Stephen stepped closer. He gently pushed my legs apart so he could step in-between them. His scent surrounded me. The air around us had changed again—just like at the café. My eyes locked with his. They had darkened and appeared almost black. I was waiting in anticipation for his next move, and he didn’t disappoint. He cupped my cheek with a slightly shaky hand. Stephen placed a finger under my chin to tilt my head up to his. His thumb softly traced my bottom lip, which made me part my lips. For a few seconds, fear washed through me, but I barely had any time to think about it. His lips brushed mine—barely touching. I sucked in a shaky breath before allowing my eyes to flutter closed. He pressed his lips harder against mine. They closed around my bottom lip gently as he pulled back slightly. His teeth nibbled gently before his tongue soothed the pain. A whimper fell from my lips. My stomach was quivering as the same unknown feeling from before filled me.