Chapter Nine
While Opal showered, he took the time to get caught up with his business. Unfortunately, the only way he could give her the honeymoon she wanted was by being in contact with his main office at all times. He fired up the laptop and checked through his mails, giving her plenty of time to soak and relax. Making sure they had a one bedroom beach house had taken some working as most of the houses had been taken in the holiday rush. He owned the whole resort but still needed to book in advance.
Richard had warned him to tread carefully, reminding him of Opal’s long-time crush. As if he needed warning. Tony had spent most of his time under the thrall of hero worship. When nothing of any importance showed up in his inbox, he closed the email down and unhooked his laptop.
After a quick glance around to make sure everything was still in order, he made his way up to the bedroom. The bathroom door lay open. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to the room where they would share a bed as a married couple.
She sat in the middle of the bed, drying her hair. He smiled as she looked up. The nerves were clearly written on her face.
“There’s plenty of hot water if you want a shower,” she said. Tony had to fight to keep his eyes above her chest. She wore one of those silk nighties, with thin straps and a whole lot of lace. It was a pale pink shade that worked wonders for her. He thought about their shopping trip and how he’d gotten her to model the dark red underwear.
“Ouch.” She ran a brush through her long hair. “I swear, one day, I’m going to get all this cut off.”
“Don’t you dare,” he said. Tony took the brush and the towel from her. “Why don’t you use one of those hair dryer thingies?”
“Because they are bad for your hair. Besides, I like brushing my hair, or at least I do when my conditioner does what it says for smooth and silky finish,” she said. He heard the grumble in her tone.
Tony chuckled. “Let me try.” He took the spot behind her, his legs on either side of her. Taking her by the waist he pulled her closer. He tried not to think about how good it felt with her body directly close to his. Or the way her skin looked so soft and flushed from the heat.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said.
“I want to. It will give me good practise one day.” He used the towel and stared to dry her hair. Gently, not pulling. Her floral scent invaded his nostrils, and he smiled thinking about how perfectly the scent suited her.
“Why will you need practise?”
“I might have a daughter one day who’ll want me to do her hair.”
She tensed, and he knew he’d hit a nerve.
“Do you really think you’ll have kids one day?” she asked. Tony smiled. He was hoping to have enough to fill at least seven bedrooms. Maybe more.
“We’re going to have children someday, Opal.”
He laid a kiss on her shoulder and finished drying her hair. It was surprising how happy he was to simply be with a woman. Opal wasn’t just any kind of woman. She was his woman and would be so for the rest of her life.
When he was done, he picked up the brush, careful not to hurt her.
He heard her yawn. “I take it I’m good with the whole hair brushing thing?” he asked.
“Much better than I expected.”
Tony spent a great deal of time on her hair until it was dry and silky smooth. “Maybe you should read the fine print on your conditioner. I’m going to jump in the shower.” He kissed her again before leaving her to go and shower.
With her being closer, he took a long cold shower to try to get rid of his hard on. He didn’t want her to be worried about him wanting to get his rocks off this early.
Twenty minutes later, he walked back into the bedroom. She sat reading a book.
“You’re into erotic romance, I see.”
She blushed, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “You can’t hide it from me. I pay the bills for all the books you read. Can’t you get one of those e-reader things that everyone is raving about?”
He switched off the main light. He was purposefully trying to keep the topic light so he could make it into bed without her panicking.
“I thought about it. I guess I should give it a go and stop allowing trees to be cut down,” she said.
Tony pulled back the cover. His got a glimpse of pale, creamy thigh. Ignoring the instant reaction in his body, he climbed into bed beside her. She leaned over and switched out the lamp.
“I’ve never slept in a bed with a man before,” she said as she settled down.
He knew that already, but hearing the admission come from her lips moved him a little bit more.
“I only want to hold you,” he said. They moved together. Tony wrapped one arm around her waist as the other snuck under her head. Her ass was against his groin. He pressed his legs against hers.
“This is nice,” she whispered.
“Get used to it,” he told her. A giggle sounded next to him. Tony smiled and laid a kiss on her head. “Go to sleep, Petal.”
She relaxed against him. Within moments he heard the change in her breathing. Sighing he held her, his hand stroking small circles along her belly and up. He wished the light was on so he could get a good look at her.
Opal never really opened up with anyone. Having her in his arms meant the world to him. He counted off the seconds until sleep claimed him.
****
Someone was calling out in their sleep. The bed shook with each quiver. Opal opened her eyes and saw the time on the bed side clock. Two o’clock in the morning. Glancing round, she saw Tony lying curled up in a ball at the end of the bed.
“Please, please, don’t hurt me,” he said.
Opal rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Panicked, she leaned over to switch the outside light on.
His shouts were getting louder. Not knowing what to do, she reached out and touched him on the arm.
“Tony?” she said. He responded lightning quick. Before she could stop him, Tony had her on her back with his hand around her throat. He snarled and shouted.
“Tony,” she screamed his name over and over again. The one fortunate point was the hold he had on her throat wasn’t too tight. “Tony. It’s me, Petal.”
With a final scream, he woke up out of his dream. He looked horrified as soon as he saw his hand round her throat.
“Opal. Oh my God. Did I hurt you?”
“You didn’t hurt me. What were you dreaming about?”
Tony withdrew. He sat up in bed, ran his fingers through his hair.
“I should leave you to sleep,” he said.
“Don’t leave me alone,” she asked. She sat up and rubbed her throat. “What were you dreaming about?” she asked. “Come on. If I’m going to be your wife completely, you can’t keep hiding stuff away from me.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
She took hold of his hand, kissed his knuckles, turned the light off and snuggled down.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Getting some sleep. Hold me, Tony.”
Opal rested her head against the pillow and waited. She didn’t want to make Tony relive something that hurt him.
After awhile he began stroking her stomach. Usually, she’d be upset with him messing with a large part of her. But she liked the feel of his arms around her and wouldn’t dream of making him stop.
“When I was growing up my dad use to hit me,” he said. Opal froze as everything she’d learnt about the man she was married to hit her square in the face. Charles had made a reference to him being like his father. “No one would believe good old Mr. Hunt would even dream of hurting his wife and kid. Whenever he had a bad day at work with no one to take the blame, me and my mum would take the pounding he couldn’t dish out to anyone else.”
She remained silent. Tears blurred her vision as she looked out at her side of the bed. She’d seen his father. He seemed like a kind man, but then her parents didn’t look the type to sell their daughter off to the highest bidder.
“At first it started with a couple of slaps here and there. My toys were lying around, so I got a slap to make sure I sorted my mess out. My mum cooked a bad dinner, so a slap to teach her to the follow the recipe.”
He stopped, and she couldn’t control the flow of tears. In her mind she saw a young boy cowering in a corner, terrified of when a parent came home.
“After a while he chose to use his belt. The leather ones with a metal buckle. When he couldn’t control his aim he moved to his fists and then a few kicks. My mum wouldn’t leave him. She thought his hits were a sign of love. He loved us so much he had to hurt us.”
“But you got out?” she said.
“Don’t cry for me, baby. As soon as I could, I was gone. My mum wouldn’t go. She didn’t see anything wrong in what was happening. I know Wayne and Richard had their faults with their parents, but they thought mine were amazing. I never had the heart to tell them how bad it was at home.”
“They don’t know?”
“No. You won’t tell anyone else this?” he asked.
“Of course not.”
“I’m surprised you’ll still let me hold you,” he said.
Opal turned to try to see him. “Why wouldn’t I want you to hold me?”
“Because of what I’m capable of.”
She sat up and turned the light back on.
“You’re not capable of raising your fist to anyone. I know you wouldn’t dream of hurting me. You’ve done nothing but protect me.” She held his face between her hands. “I trust you, Tony.” She kissed his lips before turning the light out and settling back down. The rest of the night he slept in peace.
Opal wondered why he’d never told any of his friends about the treatment he’d gotten as a child. She closed her eyes as sleep claimed her. The love she felt for Tony meant more to her than his fear about being like his father.