by Kate Stewart
I kicked my mother out early this morning and kept busy by circling my house, taking inventory of the things that were missing as a result of my home invasion. I went shopping and bought a rug to cover the huge bloodstain in my entryway until I could get the floors replaced. I was in the middle of writing a list in the kitchen when I heard a knock at my door. Startled, I jumped where I stood, dropping my list, instantly terrified.
Snap out of it, Vi.
Taking deep breaths, I grabbed the closest thing I could to arm myself—a meat mallet—and walked to the door.
“Who is it?”
“Crete’s Messenger Service.”
Cautiously, I opened the glass door between us and stared at the seemingly harmless man.
“Who is it from?”
He glanced at the package then eyed the meat mallet before turning an irritated look at me.
Yeah, buddy, I’m crazy.
“Alex Harvell.”
I opened the door wider and signed where he indicated. Not wanting to see his expression as he took in the bruising on my face, I shut the door quickly. I’d made the mistake of thinking it would be an easy trip when I’d gone shopping earlier for the rug, but had caught the attention of everyone there. I was overwhelmed with the help I received while deciding on my purchase, which normally would have been appreciated, but I just wanted to be left alone. After locking the door, I walked into the kitchen then stood staring at the package for a few minutes before quickly making the decision that whatever I was offered, I would accept. I didn’t want a messy divorce. The marriage had been enough. It was a complete and utter failure.
I opened the envelope and saw that the official papers had been drawn. That was fast. I read it carefully. The house would be mine and would be paid in full and titled to me along with my car, and in lieu of alimony, I would get a lump sum. I had to turn the page to see the figure and when I did I froze.
Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars!
Well, a house and car, and close to a million dollars would do, I supposed. I was happy, more than happy, but I couldn’t bring myself to get excited. I called my lawyer and sent him the signed paperwork to be reviewed, with strict instructions to have it completed within the next day or two. I had been toying with an idea and I was now sure I wanted to see it through. I called Molly to ask a favor. I also called my regular doctor and made an appointment to have my neck and face checked the following day.
I had just finished inventory and was folding clothes when my phone pinged.
RHYS: Hi.
VIOLET: Hi.
RHYS: I can’t stop thinking about you.
VIOLET: I was sure you would have your number changed.
RHYS: Don’t regret telling me how you feel.
VIOLET: Right now I don’t trust how I feel.
RHYS: I’m calling you.
My phone rang and I picked it up, dreading the conversation.
I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “I was upset, Rhys. I was drunk, emotional, and scared last night.”
“You can’t take it back and I don’t want you to.” My heart plummeted at the sound of his voice. His effect on me was overwhelming.
I sighed at the thought that with Rhys, I may never have control. “Fine, I wasn’t taking it back, anyway. I was more or less explaining my behavior.”
“I happen to like it when you get a little crazy. It means you care,” he mused.
“I do, but, Rhys, is this really what you want? I feel like I forced myself into your life. And honestly, I feel a little pathetic,” I said, my voice shaking slightly.
“You forget that I started this, Violet. I did, not you. I need to see you. Can I come over after work?”
I closed my eyes, picturing his hands on my face, feeling his kiss on my lips. I wanted that more than anything.
“Rhys, I’m leaving.”
“Leaving?” I could hear his voice twist as he became upset.
I took a deep breath. “Before I passed out last night, I was thinking about the way we started and because of the way I’ve acted, you have every right to keep him from me. Bryce is your priority, as he should be. I’m not upset anymore.”
“And I’m happy about that, but what I’m really interested in is the leaving part,” he said gruffly, becoming more agitated.
“Not for long. Just a week. My friend Molly’s parents own a house in Grand Cayman and I want to get away and...I want to start dating you while I’m gone.”
“That’s kind of difficult, Violet.”
“No, it’s not actually. We can talk every day.”
A long silence followed before he spoke.
“What are you doing? Running?” he snapped. I could tell he was pacing.
“Please don’t get upset. I’m trying to get to know you. If we were in the same room right now, what would we be doing?”
“Fucking...and only because you would beg me to. You don’t have to leave to start dating me. I can keep my hands to myself, Violet. I’m actually quite disciplined in that department.”
My whole body heated at his dismissal of his own need for me. Instead of being perturbed by his statement, it turned me on. I was officially a sick woman.
“I don’t want you to keep your hands to yourself. I just really want to go to the Caymans, and according to my lawyer, when I get back, I will be a slightly wealthy divorcee. I need this trip. I want this trip. I think I deserve it. I have a bucket list to write. I want to come back healed and divorced. I don’t want you to look at me now and see that night. I want you to see me whole and without another man’s last name attached to me.”
“I’ll take you the way you are and here,” he insisted, his tone more of disappointment than annoyance. I understood it.
“Sounds like a sweet response, like the right one...but really, you are being selfish,” I noted.
“Fucking A I am,” he said testily. Silence lingered between us. He couldn’t exactly be the demanding beau he wanted to be and I had to keep from chuckling at the thought.
He let out a long breath. “I’ll date you, Violet. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you back on my porch, because next time you are there, I won’t let you leave.” The defeat in his voice tugged at my chest.
“That porch is cursed for me as far as I’m concerned. Rhys, I don’t expect you to be a Casanova. I just really want to know the basics like your middle name, favorite football team, and about your son.” I took out my large suitcase and started packing.
“It’s not like we wouldn’t have discovered these things if you weren’t leaving.” This time I let my chuckle break over the line.
“You find my pain amusing?” he bit out, using my words against me.
“Yes, Rhys, I do, but only because I know it’s killing you not to order me around. Though I’m sure if you wanted to order my pussy around right now, and you said it just the right way, I might not have a choice.”
I let the invitation sink in. I was testing him, and with his groan, I knew he had passed.
“I know better. I will give you what you want. I would’ve given it to you anyway because I want it, too.”
“Then we agree,” I said, hopeful.
“You aren’t giving me much of a choice, but yes,” he said grudgingly. “You’re punishing me.”
“Maybe...a little,” I said truthfully.
“I had every intention of telling you. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I want to believe you, Rhys.”
“You will…and, Violet, you are going to pay for every single fucking hard-on I get in the next week.”
“Make it RED,” I said sweetly then hung up. Minutes later, after my suitcase was zipped, I got a text.
RHYS: Just come back to me.
The tears fell and I wiped them away. There was no need for them. This wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning.
Molly’s parents had agreed to let me pay for a week, at my insistence. It was the only way I would agree to stay. I’d left Savannah withou
t seeing Rhys, because if I had, I wouldn’t be standing at the entrance of the most breathtaking villa in the Caymans. The house was large, a two-story stucco with a Spanish style roof that sat oceanfront. The views in every room held me captive for minutes at a time as I walked around the house. The windows were all open, offering a panoramic view of the property, making it feel almost as if it existed within a tropical rain forest. A mosaic of dark blue and aqua tiles lay at my feet and spread from corner to corner. I chose the largest bedroom with a huge, king-sized canopy bed and the best view of the water. It was magnificent. I unpacked quickly, getting the burden off my shoulders so I could go put my toes in the sand. The breeze was warm, light. I put on a large hat to shade the newly unveiled scars on my neck and face to protect them from the beaming sun, then made my way out onto the sand from the back porch. I took in a deep breath as I listened to the lulling of the waves. Peace was what I felt here. It was what I longed for, what I needed.
This is the life, Vi.
I spent the day rubbing on sunscreen and reading my first book in months. I kept the book clean, keeping to the rules Rhys had set early on in our relationship. When the sun set and I had soaked in as much soft, white sand and aqua blue water as I could get, I went into the house, realizing I had nothing to eat. After freshening up, I called a cab and made my way to a local restaurant the cabbie suggested. It was there, sipping a mango margarita, that I sent my first text.
VIOLET: It’s so beautiful here. The longer I’m here, the more I know it was the right thing to do. I’m just missing one thing.
RHYS: I come with a party of two.
VIOLET: I know. You can join Bryce if you like.
RHYS: Cute. What did you do today?
VIOLET: I spent it by the water.
RHYS: What color is your bikini?
VIOLET: Red.
RHYS: My favorite. I can picture you there.
VIOLET: No need to.
I sent him the selfie I had taken and a few others of the water and the house. I waited forever for his response.
RHYS: Do you have any idea how hard it is to tote a baby around with a hard-on!
I burst out laughing as my plate was served and apologized to him quickly.
VIOLET: I’m sorry.
RHYS: Don’t be, I just really don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.
VIOLET: What did you do today?
RHYS: Worked, picked up Bryce and took him to the fountain in Forsyth Park where he ran away from me as I screamed for someone, anyone to stop him. The kid is lighting fast and I swear he ran before he walked.
VIOLET: How old is he?
RHYS: Fifteen months.
VIOLET: And the mother?
RHYS: Is not and will never be in the picture. I come with no baby momma drama.
I laughed as I forked some enchilada and took a huge bite. Then the thought occurred to me.
VIOLET: Deceased?
RHYS: No, and I will tell you everything but only when I can see you.
VIOLET: Okay.
RHYS: No more secrets or lies between us.
VIOLET: Never again, not of any color.
RHYS: I’m going to get him fed and put him to sleep then I’ll call you.
VIOLET: Sounds good to me.
RHYS: Violet, you in that bikini. There is a place I want to lick.
The throbbing began at my core and I swallowed hard.
VIOLET: Hurry up. I want to hear your voice. Kiss him goodnight for me.
I finished my plate then headed to the local grocery store for odds and ends before returning to the villa. There was plenty of time to sightsee. For now, I was more fascinated with the house. As I sat in a cream-colored lounge chair on the back patio, I listened to the ocean, trying to write a bucket list. I sat for an hour, coming up completely blank. It wasn’t hard. There were a million places I wanted to see, a million things I wanted to do, but it all seemed so...unimportant. Travel wasn’t what mattered most. The thought hit home for me because, although I was wrapped up in the arms of paradise, the arms I craved were in Savannah, Georgia.
I just didn’t want to depend on those arms so quickly.
I’d meant what I said to Rhys. I didn’t want to be Mrs. Harvell the next time he saw me. I wanted to be free of the name and the scars, and anything else that could taint my new beginning—our new beginning. An affair of the heart was not what I had been after, but it’s what I ended up with, and I wouldn’t change a second of it. After another hour of staring at a blank piece of paper, I gave up and was thankful when my phone rang. I smiled and slid it to open, his voice greeting me instantly.
“I keep staring at this fucking picture and I want you. Fuck, I want you!” I squeezed my thighs together so tight I nearly fell off the chair. I dropped the phone and scrambled to pick it up. My breathing was erratic and I couldn’t stop picturing the things he could do to me. The way his eyes closed when he plunged his tongue inside of me. Calming my breathing and letting out a nervous laugh, I finally responded.
“There is a way to get even with me,” I rasped as I fought for control.
“Oh yeah?” His voice spiked slightly. “How?”
“Take a picture of Bryce and send it to me,” I murmured.
“Should I be jealous of my son?” he asked, amused.
“Yes, it took you a few months, it took him ten seconds,” I scolded playfully.
“Wow...maybe I could learn a thing or two from a baby who was playing in pigeon shit earlier. You know that stuff is toxic, right? God, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
I burst out laughing and he chuckled.
I loved this side of him. And then I thought of the passionate and disciplined lover who commanded my body. I stayed silent and he sensed my hesitation.
“Violet, what is it?”
“Rhys, we can have both, right? This and…the other. Don’t get offended—it’s just, am I wrong to want both? We—you and me—when it comes to the bedroom, we—”
“Absolutely,” he confirmed before I could finish.
“How?”
“Better leave it to me,” he said, a slight hint of arrogance in his voice, and God how I loved it.
“How long have you been in this lifestyle?”
“I started when I was twenty-one.”
Whoa. That gave him over thirteen years of experience. And man did it show. Jealousy coursed through me and I had to push it down. He had to have been with hundreds of women.
Don’t ask, Violet. It’s none of your business.
“So you have slept with hundreds of women?”
SHIT, Violet.
“You are a shitty phone date.” He sounded amused, but I knew he was on guard.
“Sorry, I’ve never dated a Dom before,” I said playfully.
“All the questions can’t be yours, anyway. I plead the fifth on my number. And you are the last and only woman I want to be Dom to. I mean that.” I sat stunned at his admission. It was the first time he had ever referred to a real future with me.
“Rhys, why were you in the chat room that night?”
“The same reason you were. It’s been a busy first fifteen months. I was bored. My days are pretty boring sometimes. You can only watch so many episodes of Bunnytown before you start to sing along then slowly plot the damn puppet’s death. I couldn’t exactly bring a sub home. I’d been a good boy.”
“But you managed to see me?” I asked, interest piqued.
“I can honestly tell you, I had no intention of doing anything but browsing. I was on my couch screening new members for the club. I saw you check in, a few hours later you hadn’t typed a word, so I spoke up.”
“And then?” I asked quickly.
“And then curiosity got the best of me. We were kind of in the same situation. We both needed the same thing at the same time. You wanted the experience, and I needed a sub without long-term expectations.”
“So, I kind of fell into your lap?”
“At first I was going
to let you seek out your own partner by using the club. It’s not something I’ve ever done. I just knew you were lost, and I was just as lost at one time. I felt I was leading you to a safer place.”
I thanked the stars that aligned for me that night then asked, “Why leave it? I mean, you just told me we could have both.”
“I couldn’t own that club. Like I said, it was never something I wanted. And honestly, no subs were interested in dating a single father. I wasn’t exactly interested in dating them either at that point. Some of their needs are…insatiable. I couldn’t run out at all times of the night to fulfill those needs. I couldn’t really justify doing or starting anything with you the next day. I was determined to leave it behind until I could find a woman more suitable. And then, I saw you on the security screen.”
I stayed quiet. I wanted to hear more. He had no idea what he was doing to me. I was on fire and so wet I could have slid off my lounger. The mere sound of his voice triggered every nerve ending I had.
“And?” I prodded.
“You are just dying to hear this, aren’t you, Violet?”
“Yes,” I said, breathless. “Please tell me.”
“Are you wet now, thinking of me sucking and fucking you? I know you are. I won’t let this go there tonight.”
“Damn it to hell.” I was gasping as he chuckled at me.
“I can control your body from Savannah. Tell me, is my pretty pink pussy aching for me? It’s probably throbbing right now, swollen and needy, hungry for me to push in.”
“God…please…shut up.” I stood and walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face.
“You shouldn’t have run away,” he taunted as my limbs fell heavy with need.
I stood in the bathroom, seeing firsthand what he did each time he aroused me. My nipples were drawn tight, my cheeks flushed, my skin blistering hot.
