Because He's Perfect

by Anna Edwards

  Cane sweeping out in front of me from side to side, my thoughts remain on the woman still laying on the bed back in the room.

  When my therapist suggested a professional hugger, I thought it was ridiculous. Yet it only took one session to prove me wrong. There’s a closeness my life lacks. A nearness that goes beyond words that I know I can’t do without. Shutting myself off from the world for years only led to bitterness and anger. Made me hard and harsh. Changed me from the man I used to be into someone I don’t recognize anymore.

  She has no idea how much these visits have come to mean to me. There’s something about her voice. An energy that seeps right into my chest. It’s as soft as summer rain. The simple joy of being wrapped in her arms and listening to the thump of her heart is something I’ve come to crave. There’s no judgement. No pity. Only two souls garnering some warmth and closeness from being held. Kara has become a whisper in the dark. A step away from reality.

  From what I’ve felt of her, she’s slender and small. Her voice is youthful. Her hair long and sleek, it’s swept across my face enough times, but I don’t know the color. Her eyes. At times I’ve wondered what they look like. Blue as the sea? Brown like chocolate or a light green like I know mine are? Does she have freckles or clear skin? She favors vanilla; I know that much. There are calluses on her fingers. She’s never spoken of other work, but it must be manual labour. The clothes she wears are a little worn to the touch. Second hand at a guess or just over used. She never wears any jewellery apart from a watch on her left wrist. Even without my sight, I still know these small details about her. Things others might not notice. I’ve never initiated anything more than what we have. Know the expectations I’ve built won’t be real.

  The chill in the air alerts me to the fact the lift doors have opened along with the chime. Malcolm’s footsteps accompany me as I walk out. Voices murmur to my left, a couple talking softly. To my right, I hear the concierge talking on the phone from the one-sided conversation.

  The good mood Kara has left me in lingers. Perhaps I should extend our time or add another day.

  Chapter Four

  Kara

  Hurrying along the rain-washed street, I huddle in my coat as it pours down from above. The voice of Sam’s frantic girlfriend is still ringing in my ear. Her warning. Discovering him absent at the flat hadn’t been unusual, after my shift at the cafe. He always spends time with Cindy on a Thursday evening. Without her call, I would have been oblivious to the stupidity he’s been roped into.

  Checking the address I’ve scribbled on a napkin, I squint up in the dark at imposing gates. There’s a high wall around the property keeping everyone out.

  Nerves squirming in my stomach, I hope to god I can stop my younger brother in time. Tony has gone too far. Taking and stealing money from me is one thing, talking Sam into something illegal is another. Out of all of us, he has a chance to make something of his life. His college grades are good. He’s on track to make a decent career once he finishes his courses. I know my baby brother has probably gone along with this out of a sense of family loyalty. Something Tony would have played on. He’s always been good at playing the victim.

  Blinking rain from my eyes, I swipe damp locks from my face. There’s no sign of my brothers. Have they already sneaked inside? Anxiety threatens to choke me. I need to stop this before it goes too far.

  A shadow detaches itself from the darkness to my left. Startled, I gasp at the sight of my older brother. Eyes sunken, his skin is pasty as he stares at me angrily from within the hood of his sweatshirt. We don’t share many features apart from the colour of our hair. Our mother always said he looks more like our father.

  “Go home, Kara.”

  “Where’s Sam?”

  Tony’s expression turns hard. “Being a good little brother and getting me what I need.”

  My attention slides to the gates. He’s already inside. Legs moving before I even give it thought, I move to open it.

  A hand grabs my arm, the pressure cruel. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “After Sam before you can ruin his life.” Pushing against his chest, he’s not prepared for the force I use. The second I’m free, I slip through the half open gateway.

  “Kara!”

  Ignoring Tony’s hiss, I set off through the rain-soaked garden. The downpour is easing. It’s already been enough to drench my clothes. Lights brighten the darkness from the impressive house. It’s all on one sprawling ground level. Whoever lives here is wealthy, and it looks like they’re in. Praying Sam hasn’t entered the building, yet, or gotten himself caught, I creep around the empty flower beds. I can still talk him out of this madness. He doesn’t need to do this to prove anything.

  A growl makes me freeze.

  Large and deadly looking, a dog emerges from the shadows to my right, baring its teeth. A German Shepherd. The sound it makes is low and threatening.

  The thought of its jaws closing around my arms or legs has my breathing escalating with fear. Backing away slowly, movement catches my eye to the right. Another hound pads from the dark, just as big and menacing.

  Before my mind can formulate a route of escape, a breeze sweeps the back of my neck. Someone’s behind me. A hand clamps over my mouth. In the same instant, a strong arm loops around my waist, dragging me back into an unyielding chest. Scream muffled, I twist in my assailant’s grasp.

  “Stop struggling,” a deep voice grates in my ear.

  Like hell. I’m not about to go quietly. Bringing my leg up, I ram the heel of my foot backward into his knee. Taking him by surprise, he’s knocked off balance. The arm around me slips, then grabs again, hooking across my chest. One large palm clamp’s over one of my breasts.

  Even through the layers of my coat, the contact sends heat blooming through me as well as alarm.

  Swearing, the man jerks his hand free to return it to imprison my waist.

  “Even if you get free, my dogs will attack on command. Now, who sent you?” The gravelly voice warns.

  The grip around my jaw loosens enough to allow me to speak. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  Chapter Five

  Darius

  I know that siren voice. Soft and melodic, it can only belong to Kara. Anger dissipates and in its wake comes confusion. What’s she doing here? Has she somehow found out who I am?

  “Why are you here?” The words come out harsher than I mean. My palm still burns with the feel of the round perfect globe I’d accidently palmed. She’s been my fantasy for the last four months. My secret solace. This intrusion into my personal life has taken me by surprise.

  “I’m…I’m sorry…I…”

  She’s soaked through. I can feel the tremor in her small frame, hear her fear. How long has she been out here in the rain?

  A smashing sound from inside the house interrupts us. She isn’t alone?

  “Verne, Jules come,” I command the dogs, knowing they’re never far from my side. Releasing my grip from around her waist, I take a firm hold of Kara’s bicep. I’m not about to let her escape.

  “Inside now!” I snap, when she refuses to move. I’m close enough to the study doors to know my way inside. Letting the dogs out for their evening roam, I never go far without my cane if they venture further than the patio.

  The stiffness in the arm I’m holding lessens fractionally. A moment later, she walks slowly forward at my direction.

  “I caught a young man running for the front door, Sir. He broke the vase by the stairs.” Malcolm informs me grimly when I step through the threshold.

  Her boyfriend? The thought of her with someone has unfamiliar jealousy rising. Someone is about to be fired. My security is supposed to be air tight. I paid enough to have it installed. How the fuck did they just waltz in here? Alarms should have been sounding.

  “Oh, Sam.” Disapproval laces Kara’s tone.

  My dogs growl at the new intruder, who remains silent.

  “Verne, Jules sit,” I order before my attention returns to
my two thieves. “You’re in on this together? You thought you could steal from me? I should call the police and have you both arrested.”

  Did she plan this? Figured out I was blind and thought I was easy pickings? A fucking mistake on her part. I don’t like uninvited guests.

  “No!” Kara’s cry is desperate. She twists in my hold, trying to free her arm, but I don’t let her go.

  “What else would you call it? You invaded my home. Broke a very expensive vase…”

  “Please, Sir. My brother is only seventeen. He can’t have a criminal record.”

  Brother. The edge of my anger cools.

  “You both should have thought of that before you passed my walls,” I sneer. “You think you can go unpunished? What about the vase your brother broke?”

  “I’ll pay for it.”

  “Malcolm how much was that piece worth?” I enquire, knowing already its something far beyond her means.

  “Two million at the last valuation, Sir,” he replies evenly and calmly.

  I hear Kara’s voice hitch. “I…I can’t afford that.”

  The devastation in her words sends a brief twinge of pity through my chest before I push it aside. She should have thought of that before she invaded my home. Kara now owes me, and I’m going to get back every cent.

  “Malcolm take the young lady’s brother to the corridor and close the door. I want to have a word in private with his sister.”

  “As you wish, Sir.”

  I wait for their footsteps to recede. Listen to the door click closed before I know we are finally alone.

  At last, I release her arm. “Kara is it?”

  “Yes,” she replies, alerting me to the fact she’s moved away. The patio door is still open, but I know she won’t run. Not with the concern over her brother, who Malcolm still has in his custody.

  “I can’t just let you walk out of here.”

  “Please. It wasn’t his idea.”

  “Then who’s was it? Yours? Did you come up with this scheme? Did you think I was easy pickings being blind?”

  A small pause ensues. “No…I don’t even know who you are or that you’re...Please this is just a stupid mistake. Sam wasn’t thinking. He’s a good kid.”

  She’s not lying. I’ve learned to distinguish subtle inflections and changes when someone does. It’s rare now when I don’t catch one. She really has no clue who I am. That I’m the client who holds her in his arms once a week in a dark hotel room. I’ve always kept my voice deeper and rougher when we’ve been together. Another deception to keep my identity safe. This situation is something I never dreamed of finding myself in. Ideas swirl. Things I’ve fantasized in our hours together. Unspoken desires I knew went beyond client privileges.

  “I have an arrangement in mind that won’t result in a criminal record for either of you,” I tell her quietly. “You’ll pay off what’s owed for the vase.”

  She moves nervously the heels of her shoes tapping on the wooden floor. “I’m not a bad cleaner…”

  “I don’t need a maid.”

  “Then how?”

  I smile at her wariness. The tremble in her voice she just can’t hide. “With your body, my little siren.”

  “My…my body?” I’ve shocked and confused her.

  “You’ll move in here for as long as I see fit,” I explain, not giving her too much time to think. “Grace my bed with your presence every night, and when I’m done with you, you’ll go to your room.”

  “You want me to prostitute myself?”

  “You’ll be my mistress,” I counter.

  “You’re disgusting,” she replies, outraged and angry.

  “Fine. Let’s call the police instead then.”

  “That’s blackmail.”

  Ignoring her protest, I move toward the door. I’ll get what I want. I know I will. She’s so desperate to protect her brother she’ll give in eventually. It just all depends on how long I toy with her before she does.

  “All right, fine. I’ll…do what you want but only for a month…I have work...” Fire edges her defeat. I can only imagine the glare she’s most likely aiming in my direction.

  Who the fuck does she think she’s kidding? I never lose a negotiation.

  “Six months, that’s the length of time it will take to get the value of what your brother broke. Don’t think you can bargain with me.”

  She’s silent for a beat. “Ok, six months.”

  “I want all of your time. You’ll quit whatever it is you do,” I continue.

  “I can’t do that. It pays the rent for the flat we live in.”

  Irritation floods me. Of course, she would have a job and bills to pay. Expecting her to drop her life completely isn’t doable. “The hours are nine to five?”

  “Seven until six,” she clarifies stiffly.

  “The hours you are free, you remain here with me. Now come here.”

  “Why?”

  “Kara, you’re going to have to learn to obey me without question, in and out of bed.”

  I hear the distinctness of her light footfall drawing closer. Sense the moment when finally, she’s standing inches in front of me.

  “I don’t even know your name,” she mutters.

  Reaching out attentively, I find her shoulders. “Darius Cross.”

  Guided by the shape, my questing ventures up the side of her neck. My fingers follow the dips and curves. They paint a picture in my mind. The texture of the skin is smooth and flawless. I imagine it must have a healthy pink glow. It’s warm beneath my touch. She trembles as I explore higher, curving my palms around her cheeks. All those evenings holding her in my arms and it’s something I’ve ached to do but never dared.

  Kara’s mouth parts in a gasp when my thumb presses gently over it. The breath heats my flesh, stirring my cock.

  Chapter Six

  Kara

  His fingers sweep over my face. Starting at my chin, they slowly work their way upward. His touch is firm but gentle as he molds my features. It’s strangely intimate. Sends tingles in its wake.

  “Malcolm will drive you both home so you can collect your things and bring you back.” He sounds raspier and oddly familiar for a second.

  Moving restlessly, I remain still under his touch. “I could come in the morning…”

  Darius ends his exploration of my features, lowering his hands to his sides. “No. This arrangement starts now. And just in case you get ideas about refusing to return once you get there, this whole place has video cameras. I have proof you both broke in and that the vase was destroyed.”

  Tears prick my eyes. How can this man be so callous? He’s nothing but a harsh beast. A brute who’s blackmailing me into having sex with him. I’m to pay off the price of a vase with my body.

  I stare up into his handsome features. His angular jaw is dusted with stubble. Dark brown hair, curling slightly at the ends, frames his slender cheek bones. Unfocused moss green eyes are fixed to the left of my face. I’m more than aware of the muscles under the suit he wears, the strength of his bigger frame when he’d grabbed me in the garden.

  Swallowing the lump down in my throat, I nod then realize he can’t see it. “I won’t change my mind.”

  Darius’s blind eyes wander in the direction of the door. “Malcolm.”

  At the call, his servant enters. He’s just as intimidating as his master. Heavy set, his nose is bent as if it’s been broken more than once. Hair blonde and cropped short, he’s no less short of muscles.

  “Yes, Sir?”

  Sam looks pale and shaken beside him. His mop of ash blonde hair a mess where he’s most likely been running his fingers through it in agitation. I’ve never seen him look so scared. Not even on the day the hospital called to tell us Mum had died.

  “Please drive Kara and her brother home. She’ll be returning with you.”

  Surprise lights Malcolm’s expression, his regard shifting to take me in with an odd look. “As you wish.”

  I don’t wait for Darius to say an
ymore. Hurrying quickly to the door, I hug Sam tightly. Fear of what he might make me do is suppressed as my mind reels with everything I need to arrange. I can’t let Sam know what I’ve agreed to. No one can know. Six months isn’t long. To save my brother, I’ll do anything. I’ll have to cancel my hug clients. It hurts when I think of Mr. X. The agency probably won’t keep my spot and won’t hire me again for letting them down.

  “I’m sorry, Sis,” Sam mumbles miserably as Malcolm ushers us out the front doors. I watch the servant move to the car to politely hold the rear door open for us.

  “We’re not bailing Tony out anymore, do you understand? If he comes around the flat, don’t even open the door.” I don’t keep the bitterness from my tone.

  “What did that guy mean when he said you were coming back here?”

  “Mr. Cross wants compensation for the vase you broke. I agreed to work for him until it’s paid off.” Grip firm on my hand, Sam moves with me toward the expensive car.

  “He gave you a job?”

  “Filing and typing.” I lie. “I’ll still work at the cafe in the day. He’s given me a place to stay until it’s done.”

  “You’re going to live with him?” His blue eyes round with shock.

  “Enough, Sam!” I snap, hating any seedy ideas he might come up with from this information but loathing it more because it would all be true. “After this evening, I’m in no mood for this.”

  In silence, we slip into the plush interior. When the door bangs closed, we’re enveloped in the smell of leather and a sense of luxury. It’s starkly obvious how different our lives are from Darius Cross’s.

  “You’ll phone me.”

  “Of course I will. I’ll stop by tomorrow after work to make sure you’re ok. If you need me, phone,” I tell Sam, knowing if I leave it, he’ll end up living on toast and cereal.