by Belvin, Love
“I ordered these up a few weeks ago, but forgot they were in my office with other deliveries that I haven’t had the chance to go through yet. These should help today.”
His eyes bore into me, begging for words of comfort and approval of the state of us, but I had nothing for him. I took the boxes, examining the designers’ names on them, feeling anger stirring inside again. Azmir remained standing there, towering me, imploring with his eyes. He was back to his calm and resolved self, almost as if last night didn’t happen. I still needed my distance from him. I just needed time to think about exactly how nauseatingly crazy last night was.
“Boyd has arrived. What would you like for breakfast?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t have much of an appetite,” I murmured raspingly.
“How about your usual?”
“I guess.” I mean…really?
“I’ll tell him something lite.” Azmir got the memo. I needed space. He couldn’t cut his gaze of my wrists and it made me uncomfortable. I lifted my free hand, running it over the back of my neck. Simultaneously, his mouth collapsed as his eyes widened at the revelation.
“Are you going to make your appointment with Tyler this morning?” I could tell by his tone that he was urging me to cancel.
“I’ve already sent him a text canceling. My body is too sore,” I nearly choked out on a cry.
Azmir grunted profanities, much to himself as he let out an angry breath. “I’ll have Brett make you an appointment for the spa. We can go right after work today.”
We?
“I have counseling after work, so I’ll need to drive myself today.” Are you going to offer to attend my session with me, too?
His eyebrows furrowed immediately. He didn’t like my cold tone. “No. That won’t be necessary. I have a meeting with a bank this morning in Culver City and will be back at the rec after lunch. That’ll be plenty of time to think about how you’ll get to counseling,” he commanded, heading out of the closet, leaving me to the boxes.
One held a Évocateur Museum Capriccio cuff bracelet. It looked about six inches wide and was mostly black, decorated with music notes and gold trim. It was beautiful and most certainly ideal for covering Azmir’s animalistic indiscretions.
In the other, was an Auden Lunar cuff. It was designed with black beads inside of gold brass rings. Both bracelets were beautiful and miraculously came at the perfect time. They were both bold pieces that I would have never typically worn together, but I needed to mask my wrists and this was my only option. That Azmir sure had exquisite taste. After considering the color in the bracelets, I selected a champagne and black, horizontally striped silk sleeveless blouse. I was relieved to have found a solution.
Breakfast was odd. We ate with much discussion between Azmir and Chef Boyd, but very little talk amongst Azmir and me. I was anxious to get to work and away from him for a few hours. So excited that once we pulled into the rec’s parking lot, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
When the car stopped in front of the practice, I grabbed my briefcase and turned, prepared to exit when Azmir pulled me into an impassioned kiss that took my breath away. I didn’t want it, but per usual, my body readily accepted it. When he pulled back, I noticed the slant in his eye that wasn’t attributed to lasciviousness and his usual undeniable desire, but stress and anxiety instead. I knew that I was responsible for it and it made me wonder if he had gotten much sleep the night before. I told myself that I didn’t have time to be concerned with that, I needed to be mentally ready for my workday.
I didn’t want to acknowledge his caveman behavior. Couldn’t express how much it frightened me. So, instead I turned again to leave the car when Azmir took a firm hold of my thigh and decreed, “Don’t run. If you do, I swear with every fiber of my being, I will employ every resource I can afford and deploy every recovery professional I can find to locate you. That is my fuckin’ word, Rayna.”
I had no words to retort. There was something dark and honest in his eyes that were locked to mine, expressing sincerity of each word he spoke. My mouth dropped in sheer surprise and my ability to speak fleeted me. I heard Ray open my door and felt a sense of relief like none other. I finally got out of the car with his heated gaze still upon me.
With each step I took towards the door of my practice, the idea of escape grew more and more enticing.
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The conclusion of Rayna and Azmir’s love journey coming soon…
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