Tame

by Colet Abedi

  I look over at Joseph and Carla and if they notice, they thankfully don’t let on. When Natalia leaves, Joseph grabs his drink and lifts his glass.

  “Cheers!” he says as he meets my gaze with a warm smile. “To Abby’s first time in Costa Rica.”

  We clink glasses and I take a long sip from the straw. The drink is delicious and I can’t taste any alcohol.

  “Careful,” Michael finally turns to look at me with an indecipherable look on his face. “These drinks tend to creep up on you.”

  “I’m a big girl,” I return coldly. “You just worry about yourself. I think I can handle myself just fine.”

  His jaw clenches and he narrows his eyes. I can tell he doesn’t appreciate my comment.

  I look away from him and smile widely at Joseph.

  “Do you give surfing lessons?” I ask him impulsively.

  “I do,” Joseph says slowly.

  “Can I bother you for one tomorrow?” I continue even though it’s the last thing on earth I want to do. But Michael’s last comment about me surfing has annoyed me more than I thought possible. How dare he?

  “Me?” Joseph laughs nervously as his eyes flicker over to Michael.

  If possible, Michael’s body language becomes more ominous, but I don’t care.

  “Maybe my teacher didn’t do such a good job.” I can’t help but jab at him with a good-natured smile. Joseph’s eyes round in his face and I can tell I’ve completely thrown him. I know I shouldn’t have put Michael’s employee in this position, but I can’t seem to help myself.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Carla suddenly chimes in as she looks from Michael to me. “Maybe you were nervous out there with Michael. I know when Joseph tried to teach me I was very uncomfortable so maybe a lesson from someone you don’t know might make you change your mind.”

  Joseph still seems uneasy. He looks over at Michael for his approval.

  “So what do you say?” I continue on, completely aware of the angry energy Michael is emitting.

  I glance over at him and cringe when I see the ice that blasts from his eyes.

  “You’re free to do as you please.” His voice is cool and emotionless.

  If for some reason they weren’t aware before, I’m pretty sure Joseph and Carla have caught on to the animosity that’s grown between us.

  “It would be my pleasure,” Joseph finally says with an awkward smile. “We’ll go out in the morning.”

  “Perfect.” I take another long sip of my drink.

  The last thing I want to do is go out and surf again, but I’ll be damned if I let Michael stop me.

  “So what do you have planned while you’re here?” Carla asks, changing the subject.

  “I don’t really have plans yet.”

  “No? Well, you definitely have to go zip-lining and you absolutely must go swimming with the dolphins. You’ll love that. It’s such an incredible experience.”

  “Abby isn’t like the women here,” Michael says casually, leaning back in his chair. “She’s posh and won’t enjoy anything that might chip a nail.”

  WTF?

  His insult is direct. Cutting. And it stings.

  But I’ll be damned if I let him know how much it hurts me. How bloody dare he?!

  “I think you should let Abby speak for herself.” I look at him with icy displeasure. “I would actually love to zip-line and swimming with the dolphins sounds like a dream.”

  I turn my gaze back to Carla and smile, hoping to dispel some of the awkwardness that Michael is hell-bent on causing.

  “If Michael won’t take you, I’m more than happy to,” Carla replies with a kind voice as she gives me a knowing look. “I have the week off school so it would be no trouble at all.”

  “Thank you.” I shrink back in my seat just wanting to disappear.

  Joseph’s phone rings and he excuses himself from the table to answer it, leaving the three of us alone.

  Luckily a waiter comes over with some seafood appetizers and places them down on the table for us. Unfortunately, none of the appetizing smells whet my appetite and all I want is for dinner to be over so I can go back to my room and nurse my breaking heart. I don’t even understand how we got here? What’s suddenly switched in Michael’s mind?

  Carla helps herself to some food as I watch in misery.

  “This looks amazing,” she says to no one in particular.

  “If you’ll excuse me.” Michael pushes back from the table and heads back inside the restaurant.

  I turn to watch him go and notice how Natalia saunters over to him when he reaches the bar. She leans into him and they begin to talk in a much too intimate way—heads bent in close together, bodies almost touching.

  I can feel my face flush with embarrassment.

  Again, he’s openly flirting with her right in front of me.

  I really can’t even believe it’s happening.

  I want to die.

  Carla grabs my hand and forces me to look at her. I know she can see the pain on my face. She gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “Don’t let Natalia get to you,” she says, her eyes narrowing in anger. “She’s a desperate fool.”

  “He doesn’t seem to mind.” I try my best to act like I don’t give a damn.

  “You’re obviously fighting,” Carla says with a knowing look. “We’ve all been there, and he’s just being a stupid man.”

  “He is a stupid man,” I mutter in return, agreeing with her astute observation.

  Carla laughs and I can’t help but join in.

  “Aren’t they all?” She squeezes my hand in reassurance. “This argument will pass.”

  I shrug my shoulders and look away from her knowing gaze. Carla doesn’t know our backstory and I’d rather not get into it with her. She’s obviously under the impression we’ve been together for a while, when that is far from the case.

  “Can I tell you something that I could probably get in trouble from Joseph for revealing?” she says as she picks up her drink.

  “What’s that?” I ask, my interest piqued.

  “Joseph says Michael’s never brought a woman to his home here before,” she tells me. “And he knows he’s had plenty of girlfriends. Joseph thinks he’s serious about you.”

  I’m happy I don’t have any alcohol in my mouth or I would have spit it out in Carla’s face. Her comment actually makes me laugh.

  Like, really laugh.

  Serious? About me? That’s rich.

  “What’s so funny?” Carla asks in confusion.

  “You’re so wrong.” I shake my head, laughing. “That can’t be farther from the truth.”

  “How can you be so sure? Even though he’s mad about something, I can still see the way he looks at you.”

  “How?” I hate myself for asking, but I can’t seem to stop the words.

  Carla’s smile is slow, sure.

  “The way a man looks at a woman he’s in love with.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Buenos noches!!” the lead singer of the band calls out on the microphone.

  The group of diners yells back at him in pleasure as he begins to belt out a song in Spanish. The music is beautiful and sexy and many people get up to dance, swaying their hips in excitement, letting the music be their guide.

  I take another long sip of my drink and settle back in my chair to watch the people dancing joyfully. We’ve gone through our appetizers and dinner and are now just drinking and enjoying the ambiance. Michael and I have both been quiet most of the night and let Carla and Joseph entertain us with their stories. He’s refrained from making any more insulting comments toward me, and I’ve done my best to ignore his presence.

  I’ve also silently obsessed about Carla’s conversation with me. I don’t want her words to consume me, but they do.

  They make me think.

  More than that, they give me hope.

  Thankfully, Michael hasn’t gone back inside the bar to visit with Natalia again, and I’ve been a
ble to relax if only for just a bit. I’m on my third jaguar drink and I’m definitely tipsy, but I don’t care. Carla and Joseph seem to be just as buzzed as I am. Michael, who’s had more to drink than any of us, is the only one who seems stone-cold sober. And still in a piss-poor mood.

  “Do you salsa?” Carla yells out over the music, clapping her hands in excitement.

  “I never have,” I yell back at her, shaking my head.

  “Come on then.” She pulls me up out of my chair and leads me to the dance floor.

  She begins to show me a few steps and I copy her movements until I finally get the hang of it. We move around for a bit and Carla smiles in pleasure when a man comes up behind me, his arms circling my waist as he begins to gyrate his hips against my back.

  “Dance with me, beautiful,” the stranger whispers into my ear as he moves with the music. “Feel the salsa in your blood.”

  He takes hold of my hand and twirls my body away from him. I follow his steps and before I know it, I’m moving my hips to the beat of the music, grabbing hold of my short skirt and using it as I dance around him. I’m having fun, the music pumping the life that Michael had managed to suck out of me right back in.

  I can’t stop myself from turning my head to see if Michael is watching.

  And he is.

  The heat from his gaze makes my heart pound in my chest, and I decide to give him a taste of his own medicine. I move up against the man, emulating every sexy movement I see around me and he holds me close against his body as we dance to the beat of the music.

  I can feel Michael’s eyes boring holes into my back.

  I can feel his anger.

  His jealousy.

  And if I’m poking a bear, I don’t give a damn.

  After the way he’s treated me, he deserves every bit of this.

  But my moment of power is short-lived because Natalia suddenly appears, making her way out between the dancers and gyrating her hips in the most sensual way I’ve ever seen a woman move. Clearly, she’s allowed dancing breaks at her job.

  I can’t take my eyes off her.

  She knows how to move. How to throw her beautiful head to the side. How to lift her hands and sway in order to entice anyone watching.

  I sneak a peek at Michael and my heart sinks when I see that his gaze is now focused on her. My stomach becomes unsettled and all I want to do is run away.

  I am not going to watch this, I think to myself.

  No bloody way.

  I excuse myself from my dancing partner and quickly walk away, appearances be damned. I reach the table and ignore Michael, grab my purse, and make my way to the bathroom as fast as humanly possible. I realize with despair that I can’t even grab a taxi and go back to his home because I have no idea what the address is.

  I’m bloody helpless here.

  Unshed tears blind my eyes and I do my best to blink them away. I will not cry because of him.

  I. Will. Not. Cry.

  Once I’m safely in the single bathroom, I let the sadness I’m feeling rush over me. How have things gone so wrong? What changed while I slept? Was he finished with me? Was this his way of showing me?

  He did warn me…

  Before my god-awful tears can explode like a bursting dam, the door to the bathroom slams open and Michael fills the frame with so much anger emanating from his body that it takes both my tears and breath away.

  My mouth drops open.

  How dare he?

  How dare he have the audacity to come in here?

  “What are you doing?” I ask him in outrage.

  His eyes are lit with fury.

  “What am I doing?” he barks out, slamming the door behind him, locking it for good measure.

  His stance is menacing as he slowly advances on me. Since the bathroom is so small, I have no place to go. No choice but to stand my ground.

  “Get out,” I hiss, my body trembling in anger.

  Michael gives me a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “That’s not the way this works.” His eyes smolder as he stares down at me. “I give the orders. And you follow them.”

  “Are you insane?” I yell at him. My hands clench at my side as fury takes over.

  “What happened when I went to sleep at the house?” I rant until he’s right in front of me. “What happened that’s made you act so callously toward me? How dare you treat me so disrespectfully!”

  Only inches away.

  My eyes rake down his body as my body trembles in anger.

  “I think you need a lesson on how things work with me.” His voice is silky with promise.

  “I think you’ve already taught me that lesson.” I shove past him but his hands reach for my waist, jerking me against his body. “Let me out of here.”

  God.

  He’s hard.

  And even though it’s the last thing that should matter to me right now, knowing he still wants me, makes my pussy throb in response.

  His erection pushes against my stomach as he grabs my hair in a fist and yanks my face closer to his.

  Desire floods my senses, temporarily distracting me from my anger. I try to push him away. I try to fight the insatiable fire that begins to sweep over me like a blazing inferno.

  “You’re not going to do this,” I whisper to him, even though I’m already wet with longing. Wanting him inside me more than I want to scream at him in rage.

  Goddamn my traitorous body!

  “Watch me.”

  His smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and I know I am in trouble.

  His lips crush my mouth, his tongue sweeping into my mouth with brutal force. I try to remain still. To be unaffected. But the assault on my senses is too much to bear. And within moments, I’m kissing him back with as much anger and passion as he’s giving me.

  Very quickly, it’s not enough.

  It never is with him.

  His hands reach under my short dress and squeeze my ass, pulling my body to his so he can grind his erection into my wet core. His hand moves to the front of my panties and before I know it, he slips two fingers inside, causing me to moan out in longing as I clench him tightly, dying for release.

  Suddenly he flips me around. I hear him rustle with his pants, pulling my panties down before plunging into me from behind so fully that I forget where we are—in a public restroom— and only care about him giving me satisfaction. He grabs hold of my hair again and jerks my head back so he can kiss my neck as he pounds into me with a force I need. Crave. More than I need air.

  “Look at me!” he commands.

  I open my eyes and stare at him in the mirror as he works my body from behind, fucking me harder, faster until my eyes blur in desire.

  “You belong to me!” His voice is rough, possessive, his eyes are lit with both desire and anger as he continues to pound into me until I’m crying out in need.

  “Say it!” he commands again, slowing down his movements until I’m whimpering for him not stop.

  “Michael…” I can barely speak. Let alone think.

  “Say it!”

  “I hate you right now!” I cry out as he teases me mercilessly with that magic cock of his.

  “I don’t give a damn.” His voice is possessive, his eyes hard, focused, and in control.

  He stops moving.

  His thick cock settles into my swollen sex, and I try to move against him, but he won’t let me. His hold is strong. His grip on my body, fierce.

  He nips my neck with his teeth, marking me, making me cry out, cursing him for making me feel this way. Hating him for making me want him so much. Hating him for turning on me.

  Loving him for all that he makes me feel.

  “Damn you!” I cry out in need.

  “Damn you, you little she-devil,” he says, his eyes blazing with need. “Did you think you would get away with that display?”

  I close my eyes and allow his words to permeate my soul. Whatever was going on with him, whatever battle he was trying to wage a
gainst me, it wasn’t enough to keep him from wanting me.

  When I open my eyes, I let him see it all.

  The secret I’ve kept in my heart for all these years.

  The desire.

  The need.

  The love.

  “I belong to you,” I whisper.

  His eyes glaze over in pleasure. In ownership. And he gives me exactly what I need. He fucks me until I can’t breathe or think. Until I don’t want to and I explode around him in a mind-altering orgasm that rocks me to my core.

  My body trembles in the aftermath as he comes inside me, filling me with his semen, calling out my name again and again until we’re both spent from desire.

  When my soul enters my body again, my senses become aware of my surroundings. I can hear the loud music from the band outside the bathroom, I can feel Michael’s labored breaths against my skin. He is holding me close to his body like I’m the most precious thing in the world.

  “You’re going to be the death of me,” he whispers against my neck, his voice tormented.

  He pulls out from me, pushing my panties back in place as my feet settle back onto the floor. My legs feel like Jell-O and I lean up against the sink, wondering if I’ll be able to walk out of the bathroom.

  “We’re going home.” His voice is hard.

  “Home?” I ask in confusion, thinking he means back to London.

  “To my house,” he says, rubbing his cheek against mine as he grabs hold of my hand and pulls me out of the bathroom.

  We’re both deadly quiet on the ride back to the house.

  We didn’t bother saying our goodbyes to Carla and Joseph and I was grateful because I didn’t think I could face them after what had just happened in the bathroom. Michael took care of the bill at the front and texted Joseph goodbye.

  When we reach his house, I jump out of the car and rush inside, craving the sanctuary of my room. Needing space from him so I can get my thoughts in order. I run up the stairs, not caring if he’s following or not, and make my way to my room. I shut the door behind me and before I even have a chance to breathe easy, the door bounces open.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he hisses out at me as I turn to face him.

  He’s still angry.

  My eyes are wide as I stare at his ominous form.