The door slid open and she heard Malcolm's voice somewhere in the condo. The sound thrilled her guts all over again. All of a sudden, she halted in mid-step. Maybe she shouldn't tell Malcolm anything until she had a chance to talk to Trina herself. Trina hid this secret all these long, hard months. Maybe she wouldn't appreciate Abbie blabbing it to her father right away.
She smiled at him when she walked into the kitchen. Then she frowned. “What are you doing?”
“I'm making dinner. You cooked yesterday, so I came home early to take my turn.”
Abbie stared at him whizzing around the kitchen. He pulled this and that out of the fridge and worked over the stove like a master chef. “You didn't have to do that. I would have cooked. I've been home alone all day with nothing to do while you've been out there conquering the world.”
He grabbed her around the waist and gave her a quick kiss. “I want to, and if I'm going to conquer something, it's going to be you. Now get a bottle of wine out of the cupboard and pour. I'm parched.”
Abbie poured two glasses of wine and handed him his. “You're awfully happy. You must have had a good day.”
“I'm happy because of last night. I couldn't stop thinking about you all day.”
She sipped her wine. “I thought about you, too.”
“I can't wait to do it all again tonight.”
Abbie cringed. “Listen, Malcolm, I don't think we should do it again tonight.”
He froze with his tongs suspended over his frying pan. “Why not? I guess I should have expected this. I'm too old for you. You need someone younger.”
“It's not that. I had a great time last night, and I would like nothing better than to do it again and again, every night, if I thought I could keep up with you. It's just that I'm working here. I'm supposed to be Trina's nanny. Besides, if we did it again tonight like we did last night, I don't think I would be able to walk tomorrow morning.”
He flashed her a wicked smile. “Then you'd just have to stay in bed. I could come home at lunchtime and kiss your sore places.”
Abbie squirmed on her stool. “I'm sure you would. I'm sure you would make me all squishy and hot all over again, and that would only lead to more of the same thing.”
He came around the counter and took the glass out of her hand. “You bet it would, baby. I can't get enough of you.” He pushed between her knees and lapped up her kisses with his languid lips.
Abbie seethed up into his arms and pressed her breasts against his chest. “You know you drive me crazy. You know you're ten times the man as anyone half your age.”
He shoved his swelling hard-on into her spongy crotch. “If I can be enough of a man for you, that's all I want.”
“I mean it, Malcolm. I don't think we should do it again tonight. It's not good for the job.”
He pulled back. “Maybe you think we shouldn't do it again ever.”
“Actually, we probably shouldn't. It's not that I don't want to. It's just I'm still your employee. You're my boss, and here we are, having dinner together and drinking wine.”
He went back to his work. “I don't care who or what we are. I want you, and I'll take any of you I can get. If you're too sore to do it with me tonight, I'll just have to wait until you're fully rested. Just so you understand, though, I will never give up on trying to do it with you again. I'll never give up on getting you into my bed for good.”
Abbie stared at him. “What do you mean, for good?”
He set his hand on his hip. “Look, darling. I won't lie to you. I'm over the moon for you. I can't get enough of you. I'll never keep my hands off you unless you tell me not to. If I can get you in my bed or in my life, I'll do it. I don't care what it takes. I have to have you. I've lived without you too long. I'm gonna make you mine, and that's all there is to it.”
She smacked her lips. “Cut it out, Malcolm. I'm a nanny. I'm not cut out to be your....what do you call it?”
He raised his eyebrows. “My what?”
“I don't know. Your girlfriend or whatever you're talking about.”
“I'm talking about the whole nine yards, baby. I'm talking about the gold ring and living happily ever after.”
Abbie gasped. “You're crazy.”
“Crazy about you. I'm going crazy thinking I might never have another night like last night. I want you. I want all of you. I want the rest of your life. I want your sweet sighs and your legs around my neck and having dinner with you every night. I want it all.”
Abbie stood up. “I think you better find someone a little better suited to you than I am. You're a billionaire. I'm your servant.”
He fixed her with his glinting eyes. “Then I'll make you my servant. I'll make you bow and call me sir. I'll tie you to the bedpost and take you whenever I want.”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn't dare!”
“I would dare that and a lot more. Don't tempt me.”
She sank back into her seat. “You're the devil incarnate.”
“I'm the devil, and I'll make you my slave to sin. Now eat your dinner and don't argue with me, or I'll give you the spanking of your life when we get back upstairs.”
Abbie's blood rushed to her cheeks. She couldn't figure out if he was serious or not. He wouldn't really tie her up and spank her, would he? He wouldn't really leave her panting and moist and come back for her on his lunch break to lick her to screaming passion all over again. Would he?
Oh, yes, he would. She could tell by the look in his eye. He was capable of the most wicked sins, and he would make her cum all over his face and gush her cream all over his cock while he did it. He commanded her body, and he knew it.
He dished the meal onto the plates and set Abbie's in front of her. The fragrant steam wafted into her nostrils and made her senses spin. Then she spotted him putting Trina's plate aside, and she remembered.
“I'll go tell Trina dinner's ready.”
“Don't bother. She'll come out later and get it.”
“That's okay. She's been in her room all day, and I have something else to say to her, anyway.”
Abbie walked down to the living room and tapped on Trina's door. She received no answer. Trina must have her headphones in again. Abbie could knock all day, and Trina wouldn't hear. She tapped again and turned the knob.
Trina sat on her bed with her back to the door. Her phone lay on the bed at her side with the earphone wires angled into Trina's head. Abbie walked around the bed to get in front of her when her eye fell on the bed.
A spiral bound notebook rested on the coverlet in front of Trina. A zippered case full of colored pens and pencils sat open to one side. Trina moved a red pencil back and forth over the page to fill it with brilliant color.
In an instant, Abbie recognized Trina's signature style, but developed the next level higher than the art she saw in Trina's old notebooks. In a flash, she understood. Trina never gave up art. She merely kept it hidden from everybody so no one would see what she was doing.
Abbie stared down at the hands moving over the page. She was so stunned, she didn't react fast enough when Trina whipped around to confront her. Trina yanked the earphones out of her ears and shrieked. “What are you doing in here? I told you to stay away from me. How dare you barge into my room without knocking.”
Abbie opened her mouth. The most pathetic mumblings came out. “Trina! You're drawing!”
Trina scooped up the notebook in one hand and hurled it across the room. It slammed into the wall and crumpled to the floor. Trina jumped off the bed. Her voice echoed out the door into the living room. “Get out of here! Get out and leave me alone! I hate you! Don't you ever come near me again! You bitch! You tramp! You witch ! I'll kill you if I ever see you again.”
Abbie beat it out of that room as fast as she could, and Trina slammed the door in her face.
Chapter 7
Malcolm kissed Abbie by the elevator. “Are you going to be okay?”
Abbie smiled. “I'll be fine, but I think I better take a day off.”
She gave him one last kiss, and he disappeared into the elevator. Abbie sighed and hobbled to her room. She needed to catch up on sleep after a second night with Malcolm. This couldn't go on. He bruised her body with his all-consuming passion. She didn't notice it in the throes of massive orgasm. She only realized how sore and battered her body was when he left her alone.
She stretched out on her bed, but when she closed her eyes and relaxed, the same intoxicating images nagged her mind. A parade of sexual positions made her pussy wet all over again. If he walked into this room right now and prodded her knees apart, she wouldn't be able to resist cumming all over him. He turned her on as much when he wasn't here as when he was.
She started alert when she heard a door open and close in the direction of the living room. She didn't want to get up and go in there. She would much rather lie here and fantasize about last night. Malcolm took her to incredible heights of erotic delight. He screwed her harder than any man she ever met. His enormous cock rattled her very bones. She couldn't help but ride him to heaven and back.
She had to get up, though. She had to finish what she started, even if it didn't work out the way she hoped. She winced when she sat on her swollen, aching tissues. Once she got on her feet, it wasn't so bad. She crept down the hall.
There was Trina, back in her same place on the couch. Abbie paused near the stairs. She pitied Trina. This poor kid got lost in her own world with no one to pull her out of it. She could spend the rest of her life trapped in an internal hell of video games and wordless pictures.
Abbie tiptoed down the stairs, walked over to the couch and sat down next to Trina. Trina jumped to her feet faster than lightning, but Abbie moved faster. She plucked the phone out of Trina's hand, and when Trina darted for her room, the earphones popped out of her ears.
Trina whirled around with her teeth bared. “You give me that back.”
Abbie wound the wires around the phone and closed it in one hand. “Sit down, Trina. I want to talk to you.”
“I will never talk to you,” Trina snarled. “I hate you. You're a fucking bitch whore. Do you think I don't hear you fucking my dad all night long? Don't even think about giving me that fake nanny act. You're nothing but a tramp.”
Abbie colored, but she couldn't let Trina turn the tables on her. Trina kept everyone at arm's length. If Abbie backed down now, Trina would never find a way out of her depression. “Sit down, Trina. We're going to talk.”
“I don't have to talk to you. I'm going to my room.”
Abbie kept her voice calm and low. “If you don't sit down right now, you'll never get this phone back. You can go to your room, but you won't take the phone with you.”
Trina frowned down at her. Then she smacked her lips and threw herself down on the couch. She crossed her arms and glared out the window. “Say whatever you have to say and get it over with.”
Abbie took a deep breath. “You can't read, Trina. You're a brilliant artist, but you can't read or write. I guess you're worried about somebody finding out. That's why you keep so much to yourself. Something went wrong, and you slipped through the cracks. You've been hiding it all this time, and now you're so far behind you can't go to school anymore. Isn't that true?”
Trina went very stiff and still, but she didn't turn around. She stared out the window. Abbie waited with bated breath. “How did you find out?”
“I thought of it while I was looking at your artwork. You drew all those incredible pictures, but there's no writing. I've taken care of a lot of kids in my time. I've seen seven-year-olds writing novels in their art books, along with full-color illustrations. Once a kid learns to read and write, they don't stop. The words and and pictures get all mixed up together, but you don't have that. Your art kept developing, but there were no words, no letters, no math. That's how I figured it out.”
Trina held her shoulders perfectly still. All of a sudden, she sank into the couch with a tense outrushing of breath. “Does my dad know?”
“I haven't told him. I guess you've kept it secret from your mother and everyone else, too. I didn't want to tell your dad until I talked to you first.”
“If you ever tell him or anybody else, I'll kill you.”
Abbie pursed her lips. “Listen, Trina. You can keep this secret and continue living in your own private nightmare, or you can come clean and learn to read. You don't have to go to school to do that. I can help you here. I can work with you to bring you up to speed so no one ever finds out, but you have to learn to read. You'll never live a decent life if you don't.”
Ever so slowly, Trina turned around to face her. For the first time, Abbie saw a light come on in the girl's face. “I know. I want to. I just don't know how.”
Abbie's heart beat faster. “Do you want me to work with you and teach you? We can do that during the day, and your dad never has to find out.”
Trina's eyes widened. “You would do that? You would keep it a secret from my dad?”
“Of course. I won't tell him if you don't want me to. I only want to help you. Nothing matters as much as that. I know your dad would agree with me. If he knew what we were doing, he would want me to keep your secret. He wants you to be able to trust me, and I'll do anything to make that happen.”
Trina blinked back tears. “No one has ever done anything like that for me.”
Abbie held out the phone. “Whatever you decide to do, it will help you to have one person in the world who knows the truth. When your dad is out of the house, we can work together to get your reading skills up.”
“What about when I go home to my Mom's? What will happen then?”
“If we start right away, you'll be reading by the time you go home. If we work hard, we can make it so no one ever finds out.”
Trina bowed her head and nodded down at the phone in her lap. “Okay. I'll do it. Just don't let my dad find out.”
“Don't worry. You can trust me. Now tell me. How much you do you know? Do you know the alphabet?”
“I know the alphabet. I got stuck trying to figure out how to put all the sounds together to make the words. My first-grade teacher got frustrated with me, and she had too many other kids to work with to spend anymore time with me. She told my mom not to worry about it, that I would figure it out in time, but I never did. One year after another passed, and I managed to get everyone focused on my artwork so they never noticed I couldn't read.”
“And did you quit school when you couldn't hide it anymore?”
Trina nodded. “My last teacher wanted me to write a report on an art show in town. I didn't do it, and she said I had to do it as a punishment. She said I couldn't come back to school until I did it. That's when I said I wouldn't go back. My mom never found out the real reason why.”
“I see. Well, let's start with the basics. Let's get some paper and a pencil, and we'll start going over the sounds of the letters.”
Abbie got a notepad and a pencil from her room and settled on the couch next to Trina. Trina still cuddled her phone in her hand. Abbie wrote a big A in pencil. “What's that?”
“A.”
She went through the whole alphabet and even mixed up the letters. Trina got them all right. “That's very good. You're good at this. You're halfway there.”
Trina brightened up. “Really?”
“Sure. It's great you know the alphabet. That's half the battle right there. Now I'm going to point to a letter, and you tell me what sound it makes.” She pointed to the letter B.
“That's a B. That says B-uh.”
“Right. Great. Now, what's this?” Abbie pointed to the letter F.
“F-uh.”
“Terrific. You're doing great. What about this one? This is a hard one.” She pointed to the A.
Trina frowned. “A says Aye.”
“That's great. I knew you
would be good at this. If you can get A, you can get anything.”
Trina looked up at her. “Are you sure that's right? My old teacher said A says Aah.”
“It does, sometimes, but that's nothing you need to worry about. Keep telling me the sounds. What about this?” She pointed to the O.
Trina laughed for the first time. “That's another easy one. That says Ooh.”
Trina's laugh made Abbie laugh, too. “You're too good for me. Since you're so good, let's move on to something more complicated. What's this?”
Abbie wrote TO. Trina scowled down at the page. “I don't know that. That's too hard for me.”
“Think about it. You just told me the sounds of both these letters. What sound does T make?”
“T-uh.”
“And what sound does O make, Miss Smarty-pants?”
Trina's face cracked open in a big grin. “Ooh.”
“Now put them together. Smear them together like you're spreading jam on a piece of toast.”
Trina couldn't stop grinning. “ T-uh... Ooh.”
“Faster.”
“T...oe. Toe.”
Abbie burst out laughing. “Very good. That's excellent. It actually says Too, but you did perfectly . You said the sounds together perfectly. You're gonna be a great reader.” She put the notepad on the coffee table.
Trina looked back and forth between the notepad and Abbie. “Is that it? Aren't we gonna keep doing it?”
“That's enough for today. You did very well. If you keep going like that, you'll be reading in no time.”
Trina frowned again. “I want to keep going.”
“You don't want to do too much, too soon. If you want to do something, you can practice in your art book. Try writing the letters and putting the sounds together. That's the best thing you can do.”
Trina hopped off the couch. “Okay. I'll do that.” She picked up the notepad. “Can I take this and copy it?”
“Sure. Let me know if you need help with anything.”
Trina disappeared, and when Abbie peeked through her open bedroom door an hour later, she spotted Trina covering page after page with letters. Her lips moved with her pen.
Yes Sir Page 54