by Shae Black
“No Imani they did not, they couldn’t. My family had connections and my father was not someone they wanted to cross. Being on my father’s bad side could be fatal…except for my Aunt Angelica. She never gave a fuck about what my father said. She was the strongest woman I ever new, until I met you. She was his sister and she was blind but that woman never feared him, she was fierce and I could never understand why. Elena and I would sneak to Aunt Angelica’s house when mother went to sleep and that was not very often. She would feed us, bathe us, stroke our cheeks and show us love like no one else in the world. But she had no choice but to send us home; she knew my mother was sick, but she also knew her limitations, she was a Band-Aid on a critically hemorrhaging wound. She did what she could and we clung to these moments desperately. My dad had been gone on business for over a month, Elena and I were down to anorexic weights and exhausted from guarding each other every night. Mother went over the edge. We were ten years old and she came at Elena with a butcher knife screaming that she had swapped a sacred pendant with an alien so they could spy on her. She smashed through our bedroom door, we always kept a chair shoved under the door nob but that night she smashed through it and held the knife to Elena's throat.” I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until he stopped talking.
“What did she do to Elena?” I whispered.
“I talked her out of slitting her throat, told her that it was me who switched the fucking pendants. She turned on me and we fought- I was a ten year old boy, malnourished, completely vulnerable and weak there was no way I could fend her off. She stabbed me. That was the last time in my life that I did not have complete control over everything. I will never again allow myself to be exposed or vulnerable. I take care of myself and I don’t love anyone.” Gasping I tighten my hold on him.
“What happened to you?”
“She stabbed me, most of the wounds were superficial, but in the end she shoved it low into my belly, I thought she was going to cut my fucking dick off. I nearly bled out all over the bedroom floor.”
“Oh my God, Oh my God!” The scars, that’s what caused them. The thought of Marcus’s mother stabbing her own son physically nauseates me. Swallowing back the bile in my throat I pray that he’s finished with his story but he’s not.
“The sight of all the blood stunned her for a moment I guess, long enough for Elena to slip out and run for Aunt Angelica, who sent police and an ambulance. They took us all to the hospital where I underwent surgery. Elena was given IV fluids and they fed her. Mother was committed to the psychiatric ward and Aunt Angelica stayed with us until our Dad came home. That is why I will never have children; the scar tissue and a severe infection that developed as a result of the stabbing made me sterile. My own mother almost killed me and stole any hope of having a wife and family from me forever.” Fucking hell. I went through torture but it was at the hands of strangers not family. I can’t imagine a mother attacking her son like that.
“I.... I don’t know what to say, I’m so sorry Marcus.”
“I don’t want your pity any more than you want mine for what happened to you. I thought you should know what you are dealing with here I owe you that. My shit is seriously fucked up Imani and I want you, fuck I want you so much. But you should know all of it before we go any further.”
He’s giving me an out, but he has no idea that it’s impossible for me to take it, no matter what he tells me. I’m in this all the way there’s no going back. I’ve been hiding this from him to an extent, guarding my heart, knowing that he could crush it so easily. But now he needs to know how much I care, how far I would go for him. “Marcus you took my breath away the moment I saw you in that hospital bed and I haven’t been the same since. I’m drawn to you the way the moon is drawn to the earth I have no control. I couldn’t stop my heart from loving you if I wanted to.” Oh God, I want to vomit, shit who am I kidding I just did! I’ve just love puked all over Marcus. We turn until our bodies are molded together. Scooping my hair out of the crook of my neck he fans it out on the pillow behind me. I sigh as he trails his fingers up and down my bareback. If I could have one wish it would be to stay in this moment forever, feeling close to him, warm, safe loved and cherished.
His hand leaves my skin and I hear a click followed by a piece of beautiful classical music that I don’t recognize but it makes me melt into him. He knows how to take a wonderful moment and make it perfect. Sometimes when things are too perfect though uneasiness creeps into my soul, spreading through my body, wreaking havoc. Marcus senses it. “Stop worrying.”
“How do you know I’m worrying?”
“I know everything.” I can hear the smile in his voice and some of that uneasiness evaporates.
“Ok Mr. Genius, if you know so much tell me, what do I want to do right now?”
“You want to take a bath with me,” Hmm, not what I was thinking exactly but it sounds like an excellent idea.
“Holy shit, you do know everything don’t you?”
“Yes, I would never lie to you.”
“I thought you were tired.”
“I’m feeling a second wind coming on,” he chuckles.
“How do you propose we take a bath with you in a cast?”
“Imani, we have figured out how to do just about everything with this fucking cast in the way, bag it up and I will hold it on the edge of the tub, come on.” I hear a pop and feel the sting of a slap on my ass.
“Hey!”
“Up woman, let us bathe.” Personality change, or playful Marcus? I wonder. Who cares, I love it! Crawling from the bed it occurs to me that there is no tub in his Taj Mahal shower.
“So, there’s no tub in there, where we going to take a bath?” I ask, hitching my thumb toward his bathroom.
“Your bathroom, but of course,” he says with fanfare.
“Oh, of course how silly of me.” I say rolling my eyes. My bathroom, huh? I’ve only used it once but it does have a gorgeous claw foot tub. So we set out at almost 6 a.m. to take a bath.
In my lavender bathroom I set about running the water very hot the way I like it while Marcus leans against the vanity. He follows my every move until I kneel down at his feet in front of him to cover his leg with a plastic bag to keep it dry. After making his way to the tub, he smiles confidently and hands me his crutches. Curious as to how he plans on entering the water I watch him perch on the edge of the tub facing me for a moment. Twisting his torso he reaches behind him to the other side of the tub. Lifting all six feet four inches of his body weight with his arms like a gymnast on parallel bars he lowers himself into the water while resting his cast on the edge of the tub.
“Impressive upper body strength Mr. Castillo,” I say biting my lip.
“Mmm you ain’t seen anything yet. Wait until this thing is off and I will impress you with my lower body strength.” I giggle at his use of slang, it sounds so funny coming from Mr. proper English. That damn smirk is back in full force, eyewink and all. I shiver, not from the cold but from the thought of Marcus at full strength, it’s pretty damned perfect now, I can’t imagine it getting any better. “Get in, you’re cold,” he orders, mistaking my shiver for a chill.
Before I can lower myself down into the scorching hot water, he holds me still by my thighs. I feel the sting of his hand as he caresses the perfect red handprint on my ass. “You have such beautiful skin baby. Come here.” I sit down and scoot back between his legs, his arms circle me and I’m pulled in close, my back against his front. His cock presses full and thick, into my back.
“Water too hot?” I ask.
“No, not at all.” he answers. His strong hands glide over my caramel skin rippling the water until he curls his arms under mine. I drop my head back onto his shoulder and turn my face to his waiting lips; he kisses me gently before licking a trail across my bottom lip urging them apart. I part my lips to allow him access but he continues to tease me with his tongue, nipping and sucking lightly. When I feel him pull away I whimper at the loss of his warm mouth on mine,
he smiles against my cheek before he reaches to a table next to the tub for a bottle of body wash. My pulse races as I watch him squeeze the heavenly smelling gel into his hand. Nudging me forward he begins washing my back, circling his fingers over my trapezius muscles all of the tension in my body is immediately released. I drop my chin to my chest as his hands glide around to pinch each of my sensitive nipples lightly. I inhale sharply and he continues down my belly between my legs.
“Braid your hair real quick for me baby,” he says, in that godforsaken seductive voice of his and I immediately comply, braiding the ultra-long mess. “Mmmm better, I can see all of you now,” he says while he continues to slowly circle my clit with the fingers of his right hand while the left travels back to my breast. Rolling my nipple while he masterfully strokes my clit he finds a rhythm that launches me out of this universe. His breath on my shoulder is electric, my God how do I recognize my limits, how do I know if I can tolerate any more? Arching my back I surrender it all to him pressing my breast further into his hand.
“You like that, don’t you baby? Just. Like. That,” he says with a guttural groan. God I could have never imagined a more erotic scene than the one I see in the mirror on the wall at the end of the tub. Skin beaded with sweat, steam coming off the water, our eyes heavy with desire, he slides two fingers inside of me and continues stroking my clit with his thumb. That’s it, it’s over for me, I come hard, unexpectedly. Throwing my head back on Marcus ’s shoulder I grip the edges of the tub.
“Ahhhh!” My head is foggy from the heat of the bathroom and the heat we’re making together. When I’ve recovered just enough to open my eyes I see him staring back at me in the mirror with a tinge of his trademark smirk on his lips.
“I love watching you come.” He says setting his chin on my shoulder.
“I love when you make me come.” Finally, something we agree on 100%. He scoots me up in the tub in front of him and unbraids my hair. Pressing my shoulders gently down I cross my arms over my chest and allow him to submerge my body long enough to wet my hair. Breaking the surface face first I slide back into position in front of him. Shampoo in his hands he starts to work at washing my hair, which is no easy job; my hair is long and after all of our bedroom gymnastics lately it’s become very tangled. He works silently and meticulously starting at my scalp massaging and lathering. It’s amazing how such a mundane everyday task can be so tender and intimate. No one has washed my hair for me since I was a little girl. When he has finally worked his way to the ends of my hair he leans closer to kiss the side of my neck. After repeating the process he gets silly dunking me several times under the water, by the time we are finished I’m a bundle of giggles.
“There, all clean, even though I love you dirty,” he says, kissing the back of my head. I try so hard not to react to the L word, but I stop giggling and meet his eyes in the mirror. We continue until I break the uncomfortable the silence, announcing that I need conditioner or we’ll be cutting my hair into a bob. I’ve never had a man tell me that he loved me, other than my dad of course. The L-word is going on my mental Shit to worry about later shelf. That shelf is getting heavy; I need some time to sort through all of these new experiences soon. The water surrounding us cools and it occurs to me that he is still extremely hard behind me and this bath has pretty much been all about me.
I wiggle my ass against his cock, “What about this, should we figure out a way to take care of you in the tub too?”
“I am fine Imani, the bath was for you.” Uh yea right, I’m not seasoned in sex but I know how things work and I’m not about to leave him this way…. again.
“No , let me take care of you too, I want to.”
“Imani, no, we can work on it later, I have a lot to do today, hop up so we can go rinse off in my shower and get your hair conditioned.” I turn around in his lap to face him, trapping him with my legs over his, he’s twice my size and could flip me easily if he really wanted to, but I think he’s not really that opposed to the idea of me taking care of business before he goes to work. I press my lips together and he looks at me with warning. Ignoring his unspoken threat I taking him in my hands, stare him down and reach under the water to cup his balls. He hisses between clenched teeth as I run my finger across the space between his balls and his glorious cock. A moan slips from deep in his chest. “Imani...” he says, with more warning in his voice. “You don’t listen very well lady.”
“What?” I answer innocently, raising my eyebrows.
“You…don’t…need, oh fuck it that feels so fucking good, yea just like that.” It’s his turn to grip the sides of the tub now, and I love that I can make him lose control like this, me, Imani Jefferson; inexperienced, innocent, previously-terrified-of-sex Imani. Working him with both hands now I slide them up and down and over the top, just the way he showed me in his shower until he comes with a shout, spurting hot and slick into my hands. That was absolutely just as satisfying for me as it was for him. Kneeling forward, I kiss him chastely on the nose. “Now you are ready for work.”
We smile at each other and we laugh. Standing up I help him out of the tub, which incidentally is a little more difficult than getting him in but we manage. Wrapped in warm, thick, towels from a heated rack, we make our way back to his bathroom. I’m sure the house staff is awake and around at this time of morning, so no streaking this time. We shower, and I sit on the vanity naked while I shave his face for him, he leans on his crutches while I work with my legs wrapped around his waist. When I’ve helped him dress he heads to the dining room for breakfast while I work on my hair.
“Don’t be too long.”
“Why?” I ask.
“We have a full day, I have to go to Dominus and we are going shopping.”
“Shopping, what for?”
“You’ll see.”
“Uh oh, no way, if you’re thinking about shopping for me forget it, you spent a gazillion dollars on flowers yesterday, I can’t accept anything more.” I shake my hands back and forth in protest and take a step away from him. “Really Imani, I thought you’d finally learned my number one rule in life; I always get what I want, and I want to take you shopping, so we are going shopping, period. Dry your hair,” he bosses, leaving me with my mouth hanging open and frankly a little pissed. “Close that beautiful mouth Imani!” He calls over his shoulder, as he click clacks away. I turn to the mirror where I see my, mouth agape. I snap it shut and stomp my foot once in frustration. I love the flowers and I really don’t need anything else. I have no way of ever reciprocating his generosity. What could you possibly give to a man who has everything?
Chapter 26
“I want you to drive.” I’m surprised that he lets anyone other than Mr. Black. “What about Mr. Black?” I ask.
“I am sick of riding in the back, I really want to drive myself, but since I can’t that leaves you.”
“Oh well thanks for considering me as a last resort.” I snort, silently pointing at a plate of bacon Maria has prepared that’s out of my reach. He hands it over, but when I reach to take it he doesn’t let go.
“You are never a last resort Imani. Never,” he says seriously, releasing the plate. I was just kidding; Marcus needs to relax, even though it’s one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. “And I love your smart mouth,” he adds with a wink. Oh god the wink, he simply can’t do that at the breakfast table.
“Maria is everything lined up for this evening?” he asks, turning his attention to her. “Yes everything will be ready.”
“What’s going on this evening?” I hope his plans include me, I really need to talk to him about going back to work at the hospital.
“We’re having dinner in the formal dining room tonight.” Bingo, perfect, I can bring it up from across the table, sensibly where he can’t touch me and change my mind. I need a clear head for this, he’s not going to take it easily, and I know he’ll do everything he can to manipulate me into continuing on as his private nurse. But I can’t keep taking money for
doing nothing. I’ll stay here with him, as his girlfriend or whatever I’ve become but not as a nurse.
I plan on keeping my apartment, my family would freak if they knew I was living with a man I was supposed to be working for. And after only knowing him for a few weeks!
“What’s the occasion?” I ask.
“No occasion, I just want to dress up and have dinner with you. It’s still awkward going out, so I’m bringing Dominus to you.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Castillo.”
“You are most welcome Ms. Jefferson.” After breakfast we bundle up to go to Dominus, it’s been a cold fall and I hate the cold.
“You’re pouting baby, I love it, if you add that little foot stomp thing I may have to take you back to bed.” Biting one side of his lip to stifling a laugh, he watches me put on my coat and scarf.
“I hate the cold!” I didn’t mean for him to see my foot stomp, it’s childish but I can’t help it.
“Let me take you someplace warm then.”
“Oh no, you spoil me every single day, I will not accept anything else, especially a trip, uh uh.” I shake my head and he lets out an exaggerated sigh while rolling his eyes. “You are very stubborn lady, I will break you though, you will learn.” I am very stubborn; maybe he needs to learn that!
“There’s nothing to break Mr. Castillo, I am stubborn and if I need to learn something I will learn it whenever, where ever I want to,” I jut my chin out and cross my arms over my chest. Standing up he roars with laughter and adjusts his crutches As he moves past me he stops to kiss me on the forehead. Agh, he’s infuriating! I have to really resist the urge to stomp my foot! “Come on, you need to cool off before you drive me anywhere. I am afraid to let you behind the wheel while you are all worked up,” he calls over his shoulder as he makes his way through the double doors. And I can’t help it any more, I stomp. It’s just a tiny one, and there’s no way he could have seen.