Her breasts are smashed against my naked chest as I do as she’s said and my mind is being dragged into a very bad place. I try hard to think of this as therapy but my cock is thinking other thoughts. “Tabitha, we have to stop this. I’m having inappropriate thoughts.”
“It’s not inappropriate to want to feel more. We can do that. We can exchange our energy. I will take your negative while you take my positive. I can rebuild my energy much more quickly than you can, after all. Let me help to heal you, Cyprian.”
Her hands find the button on my slacks and she has my pants down, quickly followed by my underwear. “Tabitha, I can’t. You said I’m not to be doing anything like this, remember?”
“With anyone you currently know as they are all out to hurt you, Cyprian. I am here to heal you. Now come with me to the bed and bury yourself in my positive chamber, so I can take away your pain and fill you with light.”
She lets me out of her arms and looks down at my shoes and socks, the only thing left on me. “Kick those off and ditch the socks too. We need skin to skin with nothing in between us, for this to work.”
“I’ll need a condom. I have some in my bedroom,” I say, trying to escape this situation I feel has gotten out of hand.
“No need for one. I am clean and healthy and on the pill. So, you can relax. Come on, Cyprian. I can help you more than you know.”
As I let her lead me to the bed, I find myself fighting this with every step.
Am I really about to do this…
The Rake
The Reconstruction
Of Cyprian
By Michelle Love
Chapter 1
CAMILLA
Cyprian’s car pulls back up to the front of the store and I ready myself for another battle with the broad who seems to think Cyprian needs to be defended against me, of all people. Instead, it’s his driver who flies into the store. “Can you come with me, Camilla? Cyprian needs you!”
Making a drastic and quick decision, I grab my keys from under the counter to lock the store up, turning off the lights as I go. “What’s wrong?”
“That woman,” he says as he hurries me out. “She’s going to take advantage of him. I can tell it. Come with me.”
I get into the passenger seat as he jumps in the driver’s seat and peels out of the parking lot. “Ashton, what if he wants to be with her?”
“He doesn’t. He seems clueless about the woman and her motives. I can read her like a book. She wanted to be shown to her room right away and wouldn’t allow me to accompany them to take up her suitcase. She actually told me to leave them alone, so she could do something to him to avoid a meltdown or some shit like that.”
“A meltdown?” I ask. “Has he had one before?”
“No,” he tells me. “That woman’s pulling something over on him. I’m not sure if she just wants in his pants or if she wants much more than that but she is one determined woman and that has me worried about Cyprian.”
“What if I go in and catch them going at it, Ashton?” I shake my head. “I can’t see that again. I can’t! It hurt too much last time.”
“He needs you, Camilla,” he tells me as he pulls up to the gate and punches in the code.
“But what if they’re having sex?” I ask him. “Is that a real possibility?”
He’s not saying a word as I watch his expression change from worried to sick. “I hope not. I didn’t see that want in Cyprian’s eyes but I sure as hell saw it in hers. He’s not one to turn down sex, just so you know. But with her, I feel she’s using a trust he’s put in her to manipulate him into it. A thing I can’t stand. I’ll be with you, Camilla. I just know he’ll be more responsive to you.”
We stop in front of the door and my heart stops beating. “Please, don’t let him be with her that way!” I get out of the car, my body shaking like a leaf.
Ashton punches in a code at a new box on the outside of the front door. The light turns green and we go inside. A suitcase is right next to the door and I hear nothing.
“Let’s go upstairs,” Ashton whispers.
I follow him, nearly sick as we go up the stairs and I still hear nothing. Just as we get to the top of the stairs I hear Cyprian’s voice, saying, “Really, I can’t. I didn’t expect this from you, Tabitha. I’m going to my room. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Ashton and I drop back to hide on the staircase. It seems Cyprian can take care of himself. But as I peek around Ashton, I see Cyprian is carrying his clothes and is naked. Anger fills me and then that damn woman is in the hallway, naked too. “Cyprian, come here. Don’t be like that. I’m merely wanting to transmit my positive energy to you, via penetrating contact. You don’t even have to make any strokes if you don’t want to. Although that does help to get more out of it.”
He stops his retreat and spins around. “That’s called sex, Tabitha! Do you think I am some naïve boy?”
My entire body is shaking with pure hatred for the woman. “Cyprian, as your therapist, I must insist on this. You are close to a breakdown. Closer than you realize.”
Before he can say a word, I barrel around Ashton and run right at the woman, screaming like a banshee, “You fucking bitch!”
Her eyes go huge and she quickly steps back into the room and locks the door. I pound on the door but she’s not about to unlock it.
“Cami?” Cyprian asks as he comes up behind me.
I turn around and see he’s pulled his pants on. “What the hell were you doing naked, Cyprian? Do you have any sense at all?”
“Yes!” he shouts at me. “And thank you for coming!”
My body’s shaking and I pull him into my arms and start bawling like a baby. “Cyprian, what have you gotten yourself into?”
“Shh, don’t cry,” he whispers as he strokes my hair. “It’s alright.”
I pull away from him and shake my head. “Why were you naked?”
He pulls me with him down the hallway and then he sees Ashton. “You brought her here?”
He nods. “I saw what that woman had planned for you, even though you didn’t. I had to get her to come help me. I knew she’d have the right amount of anger to handle that old bitch.”
Cyprian smiles at the man who’s driven him around for the last few years. “Thanks. I was pretty sure she’d hound me all night.”
“And she would’ve too,” Ashton tells him. “I’m going to take her to a hotel for the night and make sure she gets her ass on a plane in the morning. Please tell me you’ll have nothing else to do with that woman.”
Cyprian nods and looks like he’s a bit smarter now. “You can count on that. I never saw it in her. I had no idea she’d do something like this. I’ll report this on her website so future clients will know how she is. She told me she’d done this sort of positivity sharing with some of the others she’s helped.”
I shudder with how awful the woman is. Preying on people who come to her for help. “Positivity sharing? I’d like to share my fist with her face, the nasty whore.”
The creaking of the bedroom door behind us has us all turning back to find Tabitha dressed and looking mad, of all things. “Nasty whore?” she asks as she comes toward us.
Now it’s me and Ashton who get in front of Cyprian to keep her away from him. “Yes, you are one devious, malicious bitch of a whore. What you’ve done is a crime. This man came to you for mental help and guidance and you used his trust to manipulate him into having sex with you. You are one of the lowest people I’ve ever had the misfortune to run into,” I tell her as I glare at her. “I’d like nothing more than to rip your fucking head off and play soccer with it.”
“Would you, now?” she asks with a condescending tone. “Cyprian was well aware of how we use physical energy to help heal others. He did spend two weeks with me. Voluntarily, might I add.”
“And I suppose you’re trying to tell me, you and he have a special connection or some shit like that?” I ask her. Cyprian takes my hand and holds it tight, behind me.
&n
bsp; “Not like that, Cami,” he whispers.
The woman squares her narrow shoulders and looks past me to Cyprian. “I’ve never hurt you and never would. I am only here to heal you. You are breaking down right before my eyes with these people to aid you in the most negative of ways. Anger is flowing through them and they’re all over you, sending you into a negative state of being. If you tell them to leave, I can take that negativity away.”
“By having him fuck you?” I ask then shake my head. “No fucking way. Cyprian’s driver will take you to a hotel now and you will get your ass on a fucking plane that will take you back to wherever you came from. If you so much as send a fucking text to Cyprian, I will blow you up on social media and ruin your farce of a career.”
“Who would believe you?” she says with a laugh.
Ashton steps forward and takes her by the wrist. “Oh, there’s more than a few people who can corroborate her accusations. Time to go.” He pulls her along as she tries to get Cyprian to look at her.
“Cyprian, please. You know I won’t hurt you,” she says as she’s pulled away.
“You already have,” he says as he looks at me.
“Get her the hell out of here, Ashton,” I say as I run my hand over Cyprian’s cheek. “Would you care to drive me back to the store, so I can close it, the right way?”
He runs his hand over my cheek. “I would. Thank you, Cami.”
“What are friends for?” I ask as I take his hand and start walking down the hallway. “You might want to put on a shirt and some shoes.”
We stop just before his bedroom door for him to get the clothes he left on the floor. Instead of picking them up, he picks me up in his arms and hugs me tight. “I’ve missed you more than I realized, Cami.”
“I’ve missed you too. But I knew I was missing you,” I say then find his mouth on mine and I melt into him like a chocolate candy bar on a hot July afternoon.
Could we be on our way to making things work…
Chapter 2
CYPRIAN
Her body feels right in my arms as I kiss her the way I’ve only dreamt about being able to do for what seems like a very long time. The way she’s wrapping herself around me has me thinking she’s finally forgiven me for my stupid weak moment.
Easing the kiss, with soft pecks, I find tears in her eyes and not ones of anger this time. “Cyprian, I’m sorry I let you leave with that woman. I shouldn’t have.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Cami.” I let her out of my arms and pick up my shirt and put it on. “I’ve being grasping at straws to reinvent myself. I shouldn’t have gone to a retreat put on by a person with no real credentials, in the first place.”
“Why are you trying so hard to make big changes, to yourself?” she asks as I pull on my last shoe and take her hand to head out.
“I need to make some changes. I’m not what I can be. I’ve made some discoveries about myself, while I was at the retreat. It wasn’t at all bad. Tabitha wasn’t like that when I was there with a group of people. She only started that crap once she and I were alone. I don’t know what got into her.”
“Your hot as hell, Cyprian. That’s what got into her.” We go out to the garage and I watch Cami’s eyes light up as I turn on the overhead lights. “Shit! You have a lot of cars, Cyprian!”
“Pick the one you want to take,” I say as I wait by the peg board with all the car keys on it.
She points at the red Lamborghini. “How about that one?”
I look at her with uncertainty. “Cami, I haven’t driven that one yet. It was delivered while I was gone. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Me?” she squeaks as she shakes her head. “I’m not going to drive it. Plus, I have to pick my car up. You pick which one you want to drive.”
“Or you could leave your car there overnight and come back here with me. We could take a little cruise in the Lambo. What do you say?” I ask her and find myself crossing my fingers behind my back.
After a long moment, admiring the car, she nods. “I say, yes.” She looks at me then winks. “I think you could use some company, after what you’ve been through.”
With a laugh, I pick her up and carry her to the car. “Good! Tomorrow, I’ll drive this little beauty around to get used to her.”
“I’m so excited! Come on, Cyprian. Let’s see what she can do!”
I help her get into the driver’s seat and watch her eyes roam all over the car. “You like it?”
“Love is the only word one can use for something this special,” she says.
“I agree,” I say and close her door. And I’m not talking about the car, either.
After I get in and strap myself down, I put my hand over hers as she places it on the console between us. “You ready for this?”
She nods. “Are you?”
With a nod, I say, “More than ready. Let’s take off, baby.”
“I’m more than a bit uneasy about this,” she says as she looks at the intimidating dashboard.
“There’s nothing to be uneasy about. It’s just different. Take it easy, though. This thing has a lot of horses,” I caution her.
I hit the remote to open the garage door and she pulls out, slowly. “Oh my God, I can feel the raw power already!”
Now, I’m feeling nervous about her driving and have to look out the window and bite my lip, so I don’t say the wrong thing and fuck things all up again.
Down the long driveway we go and she’s doing well. “How’s it feel? Think you can handle it on the open road?”
She laughs and it kind of scares me. “Hold on and let’s see!” The gate opens and she eases out of it then turns onto the desolate road that goes into town. “Here we go!”
I grab my seat and hold on tight as she peels out. “Shit!” I scream as she flies down the straight stretch of road.
My heart is in my throat as we haul ass down the dark road. “Wow!” she shouts as she goes.
Looking at her, and watching her smile with excitement, I find myself smiling too. Even though I’m scared shitless. I am scared in more ways than just this one.
This might be the real deal. She just might be the girl for me. And I am so far from being the man she needs and deserves. I’m not sure how to do this.
My first try at improving myself has failed, miserably. I can’t rely on myself to make the right decisions about how to go about changing the man I am. And I have to change for her. I know I do.
But do I have it in me to become the man who is perfect for her…
Chapter 3
CAMILLA
Vanilla ice cream drips down my arm as I hurry to the kitchen to wash it off. My drumstick ice cream cone, Cyprian bought for us just before I closed the register down, has sprung a leak as I’ve taken too long to eat it.
He’s sitting on the counter top, smiling at me as I make a run for it before I get ice cream drops on my clean floor. “You better hurry, speed demon!”
I laugh as he’s come up with a clever nickname for me. He claims I was driving his car excessively fast. I think I was driving it appropriately, as it is a monster of a machine.
Making it to the sink in time to stop the drip from making it to the floor, I pop the rest of the cone into my mouth and wash my sticky hand and arm off. Suddenly, I feel arms go around me and I’m turned to face Cyprian. My mouth is full of the cone and he smiles at me and kisses the tip of my nose.
Waiting for me to swallow, he kisses me with soft kisses until I am putty in the man’s hands. “Cami, I want you to know something.”
After a few more small kisses, I ask, “What would you like me to know?”
More kisses come then he says, “I’m not going to ask you to make love with me tonight.”
Running my hands up and down his bulging arms, I find myself a bit disappointed. “Cyprian, I can be what you need me to be for you.” I bite my lip and wait to see what he says about that.
A smile moves over his face, taking over his sultry expression. “Cami, we ca
n take this slow.”
I nod but think we have been taking it slow. It’s been over a month since we met and have hung out together a few times now. Both of us realize we missed one another. And now that I’m putting sex on the table, he’s taking it off?
What the hell?
But I stay quiet about it as he takes my mouth with a deep kiss that sends a wave of need all the way through me. I don’t usually make out this hard with someone if I’m not intending on going all the way with it. I think Cyprian is in store for a shock if he thinks he can stop at just making out.
With my arms wrapped around his neck, he pulls my legs up and I wrap them around him. He moves with me then sets me on the stainless-steel prep table and grinds himself against me. Suddenly, I think about what time it is and how the store’s alarm is about to set itself. “Cyprian, we have to get out of here!”
He growls and pulls me off the table and takes my hand. “Yes, we do!”
Grabbing my keys off the counter, I follow him out the door and lock it. We don’t even get to the car before I hear the three beeps that mean the store’s security system has been activated by the main office. “We barely stopped messing around in time. We’d have been locked in until six in the morning if we had stayed any longer.”
He opens the passenger door with a smile on his handsome face. “That would’ve sucked. Mind if I drive, speedy?”
I get in, laughing. “Nope, not at all. I’m dying to see if you can control yourself with this beast.”
“Control is my new middle name, baby.” He closes the door and goes around the car and gets inside.
“Control?” I ask him as he puts on his seatbelt.
“Yes, I will be exercising my control with you.” He takes my hand and kisses it as he looks at me. “I will become the respectable man you need.”
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