A few weeks went by and things seemingly started to get back to normal. We returned to work, and I stayed on with Grayson’s company and lived our day-to-day lives, but that was it. There was no sex. We would cuddle, but there was no actual physical intimacy.
Weeks had gone by, and I was beginning to go out of my mind. I didn’t think he would ever cheat on me, but at this point, maybe he was. I finally snapped one night when we were home having another boring dinner, after being turned down the previous night.
“Are you fucking someone else?”
He slowly turned toward me. “Why the fuck would you ever say that?”
I stood up so fast my chair fell over. “You didn’t answer the question!”
“No, I’m not fucking someone else. Why would you think I’m fucking someone else, Emmalin?” I stormed out of the kitchen, but he grabbed my arm and forced me to face him. “What’s gotten into you?”
“You haven’t touched me in weeks, and every time I try, you turn me down.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not trying to turn you down, Emmalin, believe me.”
I threw my hands up. “Then what? There’s someone else?”
He closed the distance between us.
“Baby, there’s no one else. Just you, I swear. Just you.” He closed his eyes tight. “I want nothing more than to fuck you, trust me.”
I looked at him in confusion.
“If I fuck you, it’s going to open another side of me, and I’m going to unleash that. I’d hurt you, and I don’t know if I’d be able to stop myself. I don’t want that to destroy us,” he whispered.
As anguished as he sounded, my body had a different reaction.
“Do it.”
“Fuck, Emmalin. Stop it.”
I stepped forward. “Grayson, do it. I want it.”
He grabbed my wrists. “Are you not listening to me?”
“You own my body, remember? You own my soul. You can’t hurt me. I promise to stop you if it becomes too much.”
He let out a moan, and I felt his erection digging into my belly.
“What’s your safeword?”
“Attic,” I whispered. We were both breathing heavy. We both wanted this.
“Are you scared?” He nipped my ear, and I swore I almost passed out on the spot.
“No.”
“You should be.” He ripped the buttons to my blouse and it fell to the floor. “Up against the wall.” He continued ripping my clothes off. “You made me very angry, you know that? You left me, and that fucking gutted me.” I heard him undo his belt and I started to turn around. “You have no idea what that did to me. Eyes forward! I didn’t tell you to turn around.”
I whirled back around in anticipation, breathing heavily as he grabbed my hair tightly.
“How long did you go for, Emmalin?” Before I could speak, he landed a lash with the belt on my backside. “Didn’t answer quickly enough.” He hit me again, harder, and I screamed. “I asked you a fucking a question!” He had landed three more blows before I managed to speak.
“Five.”
“I can’t hear you.”
“Five! Five days.” I was panting hard and tears were streaming down my face. Before he could deliver another blow, I bolted. I was fast, but not as fast as him, since he landed on me quickly and we both crashed hard to the floor.
“I was hoping you would run.” He flipped me over to where I was on my back, and I yelped from the pain. “I like when you fight, I’ll give you that. You want me to stop?”
“Go fuck yourself!”
He smiled at me menacingly. “Still needs to be taught a lesson.” He ripped my panties off, and I screamed as he bit down on a nipple and pinned my arms to the side to keep me from flailing.
“Fuck you, Grayson.” I was panting.
“No, fuck you.” He slammed into me violently, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. “You’re fucking drenched.”
I wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling him closer as he began fucking me with purpose, his thrusts becoming erratic.
“Don’t stop,” I whispered against his lips, feeling myself getting close.
His features were strained. “I fucking love you, Emmalin. I’ll always love you.”
That was my undoing. I needed him. I gasped as my orgasm powered through me with such force, I felt like I was floating. Grayson chased his own as a guttural sound escaped his lips, and he collapsed over me, completely spent.
We lay there, sated.
“Emmalin?”
“Hmm.”
“Are you okay?”
I smiled without opening my eyes. “That was perfect.”
Four months later
We were surrounded by families and children of all ages. I didn’t know how Grayson managed to exclusively rent out one of the world’s most famous theme parks for five days, but he did. Tyler and Molly were even here helping with sign-in, as well as Grayson’s niece and nephew.
He was making their dreams come true, even if it was just for a few days. He was giving them something, and I respected that. How could I not love him? I looked around the lobby, making sure I had all my stuff.
“Hey, you,” Grayson said. “I’ll check us in. You doing okay?”
I smiled. “I’m perfect. Everything looks great.”
He looked around at all the chaos in the hotel lobby. “Yeah, it’s hell right now, but it’s worth it.” He placed a kiss on my cheek and joined Tyler at the check-in desk.
I walked over to admire a painting on the wall then looked out at everyone. They all seemed excited. Aside from the families, there were lots of press and sponsors here.
I happened to glance toward the water fountain at a well-dressed man in a suit. As our eyes met, the blood drained from my face and I stopped breathing. I could recognize those eyes anywhere. I’d seen those eyes many times. They were the very same ones that haunted my dreams.
Those were the eyes of my stepfather…