As I flipped off the light to the bathroom, I noticed the light in my brother’s old room was on. Thinking that Heather’s son may be using the room, I darted inside to flip the switch off.
But it hadn’t changed a bit. All of Mark’s stuff was still on the walls. His old posters of Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, and other swimsuit models decorated the walls. They were torn and fading.
Laughing to myself at his old obsession with Baywatch, I turned to leave the room. Something in the corner of his dresser caught my eye. It was my senior cheerleading picture sticking out of the corner of a book.
I picked the book up and dozens of pictures of me fell out. Some were stuck together with a glue like substance. Puzzled, I placed the book back onto the dresser.
Something else was amiss. I caught a glimpse of lacy material hanging out of one of the drawers. Pulling it open, dozens of pairs of my old panties and bras were inside. They were yellowed with age and dusty.
But there was enough of a crusty substance on them for me to tell what it was.
Horrified, I clamped my hand over my mouth. I backed out the room. As I turned to race down the stairs, I ran straight into Mark.
“Hey, baby sis, where are you going? Why were you in my old room?”
“Mark…I just saw the light on and I went to—”
“Bullshit. You were snooping. So what now you found out my deep dark secret? That I’ve been harboring a hard on for my own sister?”
My stomach churned with disgust. I backed away from him.
“God, you’re beautiful, Amber. You always did remind me of Pamela Anderson.” Mark pushed me back against the wall.
I opened my mouth to scream. This was unreal.
“Don’t even think about yelling for Dad. The old man’s got a bad heart. You’ll kill him with this. Think of it as our dirty little secret.” Mark ran his hand over my breasts through my sweater. “I can’t believe you could get any hotter, but you have. Sweet little sis, wasn’t that a nice surprise Larry had for you?”
“What?” I hissed my mouth falling open in shock.
“But Larry, the old dumb fuck, got it all wrong. The five hundred dollars was to get you back to his place. He was supposed to hold you there until me and my buddies could get there.”
Shocked, I slid to the ground clasping my hand over my mouth. Oh my God, oh my God, this wasn’t happening! I felt as though I’d stumbled into a nightmare. “But Larry said…he paid money…” I trailed off.
Mark pulled me up from the floor. He pulled me to him clasping his hand tightly over my mouth. “Larry never paid a dime for you. We paid him. It was me, Bobby, Jackson, and Bryan. We all chipped in. Larry was down on his luck so we thought he’d be anxious to make some money. The only thing he had to do was to get you to his house. That nasty fuck Larry was never supposed to get a crack at you.”
I couldn’t breathe. My head was spinning. I felt the air around me hot and thick as my brother’s hot breath whispered in my ear.
“You never knew, Ambercakes that me and my buddies used to watch you? I drilled a tiny hole in the closet so we could. Used to charge them five dollars just to see you naked. But I was the only one who watched you in the middle of the night. I watched how you rolled around in your bed at night touching yourself. It was so hot watching you finger yourself while you moaned crying out that dumb ass boyfriend’s name, Luke.”
That did it. I heaved violently as he quickly moved to avoid being drenched with vomit. “You fucking animal.” I spit at him wiping my mouth.
Mark laughed looking at me. “I never wanted to hurt you, little sis. Just wanted a taste of you is all. Can you blame me? The way you walked around the house in your tight tank tops with no bra? You jiggled everywhere. In the summertime when you laid out in the backyard in your bikini, didn’t you notice all the guys staring at you? What the hell was I supposed to do? Even Mom bought you those Ace bandage bras just to keep you under wraps.
“Did Dad know? About everything…” I whispered.
Mark laughed.
“Hell no. He was clueless, so was the old lady.”
I sighed with relief knowing that at least my whole family hadn’t been monsters. I attempted to move away from Mark.
“Come on, Amber, it was your own fault! Can you blame me? What the fuck was I supposed to do?”
My stomach churned. This was worse than Larry. This betrayal…I was his sister, for God’s sake! He was sick…unbelievably sick.
“Larry was supposed to get you to his house. Then he was to help hold you down so we could all have a turn.”
His smile was so evil it made me want to faint. “I’m leaving, Mark. I never want to see you again. I hope you rot in hell.” Trembling all over, I tried to squeeze past him.
“Not so fast, Amber. You’re all grown up now.” He wrapped his arms around me pulling me to him. He pressed his lips to mine. I recoiled as I felt his tongue try to slither into my mouth.
No longer caring if my father heard, I brought my knee up as hard as I could slamming into his balls. I bit down on his tongue at the same time.
“Fuck!” He screamed.
I shoved him away. I raced down the stairs and out of the house.
As I bolted from the house, I drove away knowing I’d never return.
Twenty Seven
Ash
As the morning sun streamed through the enormous picture window of the suite, I momentarily forgot where I was.
Chicago.
Rolling out of bed, I walked into the sitting room where I expected that room service would be waiting. Instead, I found Amber with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees rocking back and forth in the sitting room.
“Amber! What happened?”
Not caring that I was only wearing a pair of tight black boxer briefs, I sat down beside her. Her face was streaked with muddy black streams of mascara.
I wrapped my arms around her.
“What’s wrong, Amber?”
She seemed almost catatonic just staring down unblinking. “I went to see my father.”
“Oh God, Amber, I guess it didn’t go well?”
She shook her head biting her lip. “My daddy…he didn’t betray me. It was…” She began to sob.
“Shhhh, it’s okay now.” I held her close to me.
“Mark, my brother!” She cried.
I knew that she’d been estranged from her family, but never knew exactly why. Over the course of the next few hours, she reiterated the entire horrible event.
“My God, Amber, I’m so sorry. And I brought you here.” I stood up pacing.
She brushed her hair off of her face. Her hands shook as she sipped the tea I’d brought her. “It’s okay, Ash. I did find out my daddy never betrayed me. And that was worth it. My brother…he’s sick.”
“Yes, he is. I’d go over there and beat him to a pulp if I thought it would help. But I know it won’t. You never have to see him again. Amber, this happened so many years ago. It’s the same thing with my mother. Whatever happened was years ago. Time to forget.”
She nodded her head holding the tea cup in her hand. “I know, Ash. But I can’t forgive him. Not now.”
“Amber, I’m going to have Rachel come and draw you a bath. You need to spend the day relaxing. I’m going to head over to the hospital and see if there’s any change. If not, we can head home later.”
“Rachel?”
“Whitmore’s personal assistant. Since he has an office here, I asked him to send his PA over. She’s a sweet older woman. Will you be okay until I return? Please promise you won’t leave the hotel.”
She swallowed hard nodding. “I won’t, Ash. I’m sorry to tell you all the traumatic things that happened to me. I feel so ashamed.” Her face flushed red as she looked down. I’d never seen her looking so broken.
“Amber, it’s okay. I’ve had my share of terrible times too. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re a beautiful, smart, with a loving heart.” I kissed her hand.
&
nbsp; She smiled at me some of the light coming back into her eyes. “You be careful too with your mother. Don’t let her upset you.”
Nodding, I went into the bedroom to quickly dress.
Rachel had arrived just before I left so I felt I was leaving Amber in good hands.
Arriving at the hospital, I found there had been no change in my mother’s condition. She remained in a coma. As I stood there looking down at her, I sensed she’d never regain consciousness. I wasn’t going to be given the gift of closure in this case.
Sadly, I knelt to press my lips to her forehead. I brushed the hair back from her face.
“Goodbye, Mom,” I whispered as I closed the door to her room.
I knew I would never be coming back.
Six months later
Twenty Eight
Amber
When Ash invited me out to lunch, I welcomed the distraction. The trauma of the last few months with his mother and my family had been tiring to say the least. The restaurant he’d chosen was a quiet, little out of the way place unlike the bustling Manhattan hotspots he usually chose.
“Amber, I asked you here because I’ve noticed something’s been bothering you lately.” Ash finished his salad and pushed the plate aside.
I couldn’t hide how much my hands were shaking as I placed my fork down. “It’s nothing, Ash.” I waved my hand at him. I had been hoping he’d been too busy with his mother to notice my problems.
“Don’t say ‘nothing’. Something’s up.”
Instantly, I saw him again.
Oh God, not here, not now. I thought. For weeks now, he’d been following me. I was so hoping it had been my imagination. I couldn’t believe it was him! My heart pounded and felt as though I was going to be sick.
Ash turned around to see what I was looking at. “Who is that?”
He was leaning against the bar with a drink in his hand. His eyes, so like much like Ash’s own eyed us coolly.
“Amber, just who the hell is that guy? This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him! Something is going on, what is it?” Ash tossed his napkin down on the table.
“He’s…he’s someone I used to know is all,” I stammered. I couldn’t believe he was back. I didn’t know Ash had noticed him before as well.
“Who, Amber? Why would he be following us?” Ash pushed his chair back preparing to stand up.
I grabbed his wrist. “No, Ash!”
We both looked back at him. As soon as he noticed Ash stand up, he grinned at us, then he sprinted off through the restaurant out onto the bustling street.
Ash looked furious as he stared at the man’s disappearing figure. “Amber, you need to tell me what’s going on, NOW,” he insisted.
I sighed deeply rubbing my hands over my face.
So, it had come to this.
Reiterating my relationship with Ayden to Ash was going to be difficult, but he deserved to know. I should’ve told him more years ago when it was happening, but I couldn’t. I was too ashamed. I wanted Ash to see me as a competent, professional businesswoman, not a sniveling weakling who let her boyfriend abuse her.
“Ash, you’re probably not going to like what you hear.”
2013
Things with Ayden kept getting stranger and stranger. His obsession with maintaining a spotless and odorless house was starting to drive me crazy. Each lash of his whip became harder and harder until true pain started to overtake me. I’d beg him to stop and use the safe word several times before he’d quit. He was starting to push my hard limits and it both frightened and titillated me.
Then I started to notice him standing outside my office building after work. The first few times he did it I merely assumed he just couldn’t wait to see me, but after a dozen or more times it was starting to be more than just annoying.
As I was preparing to leave work, I noticed Ash was still hard at work. I hated to let him know my personal problems, but I glanced out the window to see Ayden lurking about the entrance. Still, I couldn’t ask Ash to walk me down. Ayden was my boyfriend. I had nothing to fear.
But there was just something off about him.
Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Amber, aren’t you leaving? It’s after 8:00. Surely, you and your boyfriend have plans, don’t you?” Ash walked over to my desk.
I nodded throwing my purse over my shoulder. “Of course. I was just leaving.”
Ayden stood glaring at me as I stepped off the elevator. “It’s about time you got out of there. I thought I was going to have to come in and rescue you. Mr. Blackthorne kept you awfully late this evening.”
I smiled nervously.
Ayden slipped an arm around my shoulder.
“I just had a few things to finish.”
Ayden squeezed my shoulder tightly. His fingers dug into my flesh. “Surely, a man like Ashton Blackthorne has a lot for a beautiful woman like you to do. Are you sure he never asks you for personal assistance with his personal…affairs?” Ayden’s voice turned dark.
I started to get a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Not at all. I’m a professional, Ayden. Ash knows that.” I tried to wiggle away from his tight grasp.
Ayden began walking me towards the door.
“You know, Ayden, you don’t have to wait for me to get off work every day. I can call you when I’m home.”
Ayden looked at me like I’d suggested flying to the moon. “Amber, are you trying to get rid of me?” His fingers squeezed even tighter.
“Oh, no, Ayden, you’re just a busy man. I thought you probably had things you’d rather be doing than just waiting on me.”
His eyes bored into me.
I swallowed hard.
“Don’t be silly, Amber, of course I want to be here when you get off work. I miss you during the day. Daddy needs his Princess.” His full lips drew down in a sensual pout.
Nodding, I simply allowed him to walk me out to his car. Before getting in, I glanced back up toward my office. I saw a man’s shadow watching me.
Ash!
I desperately wanted to signal to him, but then realized how wrong that would be. Ayden was my boyfriend. Sure, he could be a bit ‘overprotective’ at times, but he was still my boyfriend. He loved me. He told me so every day.
Still, things were getting stranger with Ayden. The passion and lust I’d once felt with him was quickly morphing into fear. I never knew what would set him off. Some days he was upset with the way I stacked the towels. Other days it was the color panties I was wearing, or whether or not I wore a bra. I caught him constantly checking my phone while he thought I was sleeping.
And jealous! Oh, how jealous Ayden could be particularly of Ash. It was absurd, as Ash had never had any intimate contact with me of any kind. He was my boss and sometimes my friend, but that was all. Several times a day, I noticed when I looked out my office window that Ayden was down on the street gazing up at my office. It made my skin crawl.
Then tonight when we’d arrived home, he’d insisted on immediately having me remove my panties and sniffing them for any hint of sexual activity. I had no idea what that would possibly prove, but his ideas were insane.
That was exactly what he was becoming…insane.
He kept driving me to push my limits. One night he insisted we go out to a bar in an unsavory part of the city. To say it wasn’t our usual venue would be an understatement.
Desperately, I pulled down the tight, short, red dress Ayden insisted that I wear out. It was so tight I could scarcely breathe. My breasts were squished inside it forcing my cleavage to bubble over the neckline. My ass was barely covered and he insisted that I wear nothing but a G string with it. The material was so thin anyone could see my nipples protruding from it. My shoes were red 5 inch stilettos. I held Ayden’s hand tightly as we walked into the bar.
Ayden was dressed down this evening. He still looked as hot as ever in his tight jeans and tight black t shirt. He wore his leather jacket over it. His hair was waved back slightly and
he hadn’t shaved for a few days giving him a rugged, sexy look.
“I wonder what the big boss man, Ashton Blackthorne would think if he saw you dressed like this.” Ayden mused aloud as we walked into the seedy bar.
I laughed at the thought. Ash’s eyes would likely bug out of his head. I always caught him subtly checking out my cleavage. If he could see me now, braless, in the tight dress, I bet he’d be speechless. “He’d probably be speechless.”
“I’m sure he would, Amber. You look stunning.” He kissed me lightly on the neck. My hair was flowing in a mass of curls down my back just the way Ayden liked it. His hand grabbed my ass tightly as we entered the bar.
Everyone turned to stare at us as we walked in. Granted, we were not the usual patrons of this establishment. I couldn’t comprehend why Ayden had chosen this bar. Most of the clientele were older less educated people.
“See anything you like?” Ayden chuckled nibbling on my ear.
I shook my head. Several older men gaped at my body making me feel uneasy.
Ayden nodded at the bartender as we made our way to the back booth.
Sipping the scotch and water the waitress brought, I saw another couple enter the bar. They, too, stood out from the crowd. She was a gorgeous brunette with long hair. She appeared quite young. Her dress was short like mine, but hers was a light pink. Her tits were small and her nipples clearly showed through her dress. He was as tall as Ayden. His muscular build was evident through his t shirt. His arms were decorated with tattoos. His hair was dark and cut very short. His facial hair was as rugged as Ayden’s was today.
Ayden made a slight gesture to them and they began walking over to us.
“Do you know these people, Ayden?”
He shook his head. “Not formally. I only spoke with them online. Say hello to our entertainment for the evening, Princess.” He ran his hand up my thigh beneath the table.
What?
“Hi, I’m Sloan and this is Jax.” The sultry brunette was even sexier up close. Her eyes were a tantalizing shade of green. She was extremely petite with the tiniest waist I’d ever seen. I doubt she weighed more than one hundred pounds. Her tits were quite small and alluring.
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