The Alpha's Assistant & The Dom Next Door: A Billionaire Romance Collection by Michelle Love, Eliza Duke (4)

The horses thunder down the track in front of us. The afternoon is warm and I find myself pulling my jacket off and rolling up the sleeves on my white button-down. “Have a mint julip, Cyprian,” my father says as he passes a tall, slender glass down to me.

I am sandwiched between two brunettes. Simone has green eyes and Joanie has dark eyes, nearly black. They latched onto me as soon as I came to my father’s private booth. He’s now the new owner of Charlemagne’s Choice, a feisty thoroughbred he’s had his eye on for some time.

Joanie places the cold drink in my hand. “Here you go, drink up. I have plans for you soon.”

Simone looks around me, at the other woman. “Back off, Joanie. I want him all to myself.”

“Ladies, there is no need to fight over me. I won’t be needing any special attention from either of you. I’m not feeling it, today. Sorry,” I tell them and earn a frown from them both, and my father.

“Come with me, son,” he says as he gets up and goes to the back of the small but elaborately decorated room. He rests his hand on my shoulder as I meet him. “What’s been going on with you? You haven’t been coming around to the parties. Did the girls I sent you last night treat you well?”

“Papa, I’ve messed up. I met someone. A good woman. A great woman, actually. The girls you sent me, ruined that for me. She wants nothing more to do with me. She caught us. And I am devastated.” I take a long drink of the minty liquid to numb the pain that’s overwhelmed me since she left me.

“So, you think you found a woman? Like a girlfriend?” he asks as he goes behind the bar and mixes himself up something to drink.

“I did,” I tell him as I take a seat on one of the tall barstools. “But I blew it. I should’ve sent the girls away but I let them toy with me.”

“If you had a special lady friend, why did you feel the need to mess with the girls I sent you? Is your special lady not sexually satisfying you?”

I cock my eyebrow as I say, “She wants love before sex. And she doesn’t want sex, she wants to make love.”

His laugh is low and deep as ice cubes splash into the amber liquid in his short glass. “Love? What do any of us know about love?”

“I had to read some books on it. The life we’ve led had nothing to do with love. But I want to experience it. I want to experience it with her. Camilla Petit is her name. She comes from New Orleans, originally. And she is gorgeous, sweet, funny, and amazing. And I blew it, all for a piece of ass. I am morally corrupt, just like she said I was.”

“She called you names?” he asks then takes a sip of the concoction he made himself. Making a face, he looks around the bar and comes up with a single cube of sugar and drops it into the glass.

I watch it melting as I say, “Not exactly. She’s not mean. She’s honest. I don’t know why I did it. I really don’t. I think it might be because I have been conditioned to accepting sex.” I look at my father. “At times I feel like a machine, work, work, work then play, play, play. It matters to me where I make my money from but when it comes to me, personally, well, it hasn’t mattered where I got sex from. But Cami wants a commitment, which I offered her. She refused it. She wasn’t willing to accept the condition of sex being part of the commitment. And I was left alone. Papa, I’ve never felt more alone in my life.”

“You are feeling sad and hopeless, aren’t you?” he asks me as he stirs his drink with a red swizzle stick.

I lean on the bar. “I am.”

“Do you see what love and relationships do to a person? This is exactly why I’ve stayed the hell away from them. You see, I had myself a girlfriend in high school. At first, it was great. Then she and I started bickering over nothing at all. She wanted a hot dog and I had bought her a hamburger. I was thoughtless, she told me.” He stops and takes a drink as if the memory stirs things in him, he’d rather be left alone.

“So, was she your only girlfriend?” I ask as I sit up and listen to him.

“No, I had another one in college. She was smart and classy. The kind of woman you can take home to mom and dad, you know?”

“I do know. Cami is that kind of a woman. Very respectable.”

He nods. “Well, then you can expect her to want you to be just as respectable as she is. That’s how mine was. She hated my drinking. Said it wasn’t a thing she wanted me to do, except on occasion. So, I modified my nightly Scotch to every other weekend when we went to social functions.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I say. “It’s a healthy way to live.”

“It is. And if it would’ve been my decision, it might not have started to bother me. But that wasn’t enough. You see, I found my love for the racetrack while I was in college. And she found gambling to be deplorable. So, she told me she didn’t want me to do that anymore.” Another long drink has his glass empty and he stares at the bottom of it.

“She was controlling,” I say as I nod.

“As are all women of that nature. The ones you can bring home to meet the parents are all the same. The want you to straighten up and fly right by their side. They will dress you, make you eat what they deem, appropriate. They will make you bend to their rules of how things must go if you are to stay in a peaceful existence with them. Which, by the way, is quite impossible, even if you bend until you break.”

“I read where things are not supposed to go peacefully in healthy relationships. Arguments occur because men and women see things differently. The key to a happy relationship is learning compromise. But even once that’s learned, arguments will still occur. There is no getting around them,” I tell him as he shakes his head.

“Why would you want that?” he asks as he looks deep into my eyes. “Why would anyone?”

“I guess to procreate. It’s bred into us.” I look back at the ten women my father brought along to the races today. “You want women around, Papa. The women you want around are paid, though. They will act however you want them too. If you want docile, they will be that. If you want aggressive, they will be that. It’s an act. The whole thing, including the sex, is an act. It’s not real.”

“But it is peaceful. There are no arguments. They may be paid and it all may be an act but what isn’t, son? Isn’t life just a series of acts you must do each day? We must get up every weekday and attend to our work, whatever kind you have. It’s an act. No one really wants to be doing it but it has to be done.”

“I liked to go to school and I like to go to work. I find it stimulates my brain. I need that stimulation. I crave it.”

He shakes his head. “I did not. I did what I had to, in order to make the kind of money that would support the lifestyle I imagined for myself. And I made that happen. You came along and I saw my chance to groom you to take over and give me the rest of my vision. The freedom to never work again. To completely relax.”

“And I’m glad I can give you that. I am different, though. I need the problems and I love to solve them.” My wheels start moving as I think about what I’ve just said.

I love to solve problems!

Could I have made the decision to be with those women last night, in order to create a problem where there wasn’t one? Could I have done that, so I would have to use my brain to fix the problem between me and Camilla? Am I really that person who does that kind of thing to themselves?

“You are different, Cyprian. So, this woman you’re upset about, how come she broke things off with you? Had you given her a commitment already?” he asks as he looks behind the bar and comes up with a platter of meats and cheeses.

“We did not have a commitment, no,” I say as I pick up a slice of salami.

“Then why would she end things? You were a free man. Did you not explain that to her?” he asks as he piles meats and cheeses on a cracker.

“I did but it did no good. She was right to do it. We had barely finished an amazing date. Literally, five minutes after I dropped her off, I was with two other women. It hurt her, I saw it in her eyes. She was devastated. And now, so am I.”

“I can give you some advice. It’s a mental game, one sometimes must play when trying to get a woman. I’ve never used it, as I lost any want to mess with relationships after those two nightmares.” He comes around the bar and takes a seat next to me.

“I’m not into games, Papa.”

“If you want a relationship then you should know, you will have to play some. Now, jealousy is a great catalyst. You want this woman to know you will not sit around and wait for her to come to her senses. She needs to know that.”

“I think she already does. She’s not dumb, Papa. She’s a scientist. She’s extremely smart. She’ll be on to me, quickly,” I tell him, as I’m skeptical about making her jealous. She simply ended things with me with the first bit of that.

“If you don’t want to play that card just yet, then keep the pressure on her. Send her flowers and candies. See her as often as you can. Is there somewhere she goes you could show up at?” he asks as he watches another set of horse’s race.

“She works at a little store at the edge of town. That’s where I met her.”

“She’s a supposed scientist who works at a store?” he asks as he shakes his head. “She’s a liar, son.”

“No, Papa, she’s not. She’s still in college, at Clemson University,” I say then laugh at my father’s skepticism.

“If you have a place where you can go see her that’s what you need. Be nice to her even if she’s short with you. Remind her of any good times you had together. And end every short visit with an invitation for her to come to you. If after a while that doesn’t work, you can get aggressive with her. Treat her like you own her.”

“That woman will never accept that kind of treatment. Not ever. That would be a fatal mistake. But you may be right about the seeing her every chance I get. I will put that plan into action and see what happens.”

“I’m telling you, son. Show up with a pretty girl on your arm and watch her move mountains to get you back into hers,” he says, making me think he might be right. But I’d like to give a shot at the other way.

I’ve already hurt her enough as it is…

Chapter 2

CAMILLA

“Men have needs, dear,” Gina tells me as we clean out the coffee machines in the back of the store.

“I have the need to know I’m loved first and that I love the person I’m about to give myself to. What about my needs?” I ask as I slosh bleach water around in one of the glass coffee pots.

She stops scrubbing a pot someone left on the burner too long and coffee burnt to the bottom of it. “It sounds to me, that date he took you on and how he acted toward you, showed promise. He cares for you, at the very least. And I can see you care for him.”

“He’s a man with no morals,” I say as I rinse the pot and place it on a rack to dry.

“Teach him what you expect. In turn, he’ll teach you what he expects. And that means he expects his girlfriend to give him the sex he needs to function. You don’t understand how some men’s minds work. I’ve been married three times. I’ve studied the beasts. They are simple creatures. Feed them, coddle them when they need it, and keep them happy in the bedroom, or where ever they feel like getting frisky. Don’t be such a prude, Camilla.”

Prude!

“I am not a prude, Gina!”

“I think you are a bit of one. How do expect you and this man to know if you are compatible? Let’s say you don’t have any sex and you fall madly in love with one another, if that can happen without having any sex? Then you get married and the wedding night comes and boom, he sucks! What then? You got yourself into a marriage with a crappy lover.”

“I didn’t mean we had to wait until we got married,” I say with a huff. “I’m not that bad. I just meant until we were sure we didn’t want to see other people. That’s all I meant,”

“But, didn’t you tell me he did offer you that? Just before you left him?” she asks.

“Well, yes,” I say as I toss the dishrag I wiped my hands on, into the dirty rag bucket. “But he had one condition. Sex being the condition. I’m not into that.”

“You aren’t into having sex being a part of a real commitment?” she asks as she shakes her head. “You’re being unrealistic. Why have a commitment at all if not for that reason?”

“Life is about more than sex, Gina,” I say as I walk away with the chirp of the door that means we have a customer. “I’ll take care of this one. You have your hands full.”

“Not to a man, it’s not!” she calls out to me as I leave the backroom.

“Welcome to Ty’s…” I stop as I see Cyprian, waiting at the counter.

“Hi,” he says.

I shake off the panic my body is suddenly filled with and walk forward. “Let me guess, you need more condoms?”

“No,” he says as he places his hands on the counter top. “I need you. That’s all I need.”

“Aww,” comes from behind me as Gina is eavesdropping.

I turn and glare at her. “Those coffee pots won’t clean themselves, Gina.”

“Hi, Gina,” Cyprian calls out to her. “How’s it going tonight?”

“Well, and you, sir?” she asks.

“It would be better if a certain someone would forgive the imbecile I have been and see fit to give this old dog another chance,” he says.

“Aww, Camilla, don’t be a stubborn fool. Why, I’d jump through hoops for a man like him,” Gina says and I wave my hands to shoo her away.

I turn back as she disappears to the back again and I make my way to the man who has torn a hole in my heart with his immoral ways. “Cyprian, look, at this point, there are no hard feelings on my part. You are the man you are. I merely cannot deal with that.”

“I was a fool who was in a state of sexual frustration. I am not blaming you for that, I am merely stating a fact. And all that can change but that’s up to you, Cami. I want you. I want all of you. I want to see you every single day. I’ve never wanted to see anyone that much.” He smiles as if that’s going to make anything better.

“Lucky me,” I say, sarcastically. “And let’s pretend for a minute that it is possible for me to give you sex whenever you need or demand it. Because there will be certain situations which will arise when I will not be able to have sex. Physical reasons, you know?”

“I am not an addict, Cami. I do have the ability to deal with the fact you are unavailable for that at certain times of the month and when you’re sick. It’s not like I need it all the time. But I do want it on the table. I need it on the table. I’m willing to give you the commitment. It will be only you, I see. I will stay away from my father’s parties and the track but I will expect you to fill that empty space.”

“Cyprian, I hate the way you make things sound. It sounds like a business deal you’re making with me. In return for your faithfulness to me, I am to let you fuck me whenever you please,” I say then huff and cross my arms in front of me.

“Isn’t that, essentially what a relationship is, Cami? And there’s no reason to use vulgar terminology when describing sex. Also, it won’t be anytime I please. It’s not like you’re my sex slave. It will be a relationship. We promise to be faithful to one another while also seeing to each other’s needs. I’m sorry if you feel I’m being too straight forward. I don’t know any other way to be. I know business and that’s the way I think is best to handle this thing with you,” he says and thumps the counter top with his fist. “Come to my place when you get off and we can hammer out any details you want.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Cyprian, I am not about to sit down and write out a contract for us. Bye.”

I walk away, leaving him staring after me. He turns away and leaves and I feel a weight on me.

Did I have to be that hard on him…?

Chapter 3

CYPRIAN

“Give me her address,” my father says as I sulk on the sofa in his den. “I’ll go talk to her. I’ll explain things to her about you.”

“Papa, she’d rip you apart. She doesn’t like how you raised me,” I let him know before he makes a huge mistake.

“Rip me apart?” he asks as his hand flies to his chest. “I highly doubt that.”

“I don’t. She’s pretty snappy with her words. And she is sure to have some choice ones for you. I’ve been at her store every night this last week. She’s brutal,” I say and take another long drink of the Scotch my father gave me to settle me after another brutal night of trying to unruffle Cami’s very ruffled feathers.

“I’ll take my chances. Her address, Cyprian? Please don’t make me find it for myself.” He picks up his cell phone, getting ready to make a call that will get him the information he wants.

“Papa, you need to let me fight my own battles with her. I did this to myself. I should’ve sent those women away. I do deserve this.” I take another drink and watch him tap away at his phone. “What are you doing?”

“Your mother is in town. I’m sending her to go talk some sense into the tenacious woman.”

“Papa, no! She isn’t Mother’s fan either. Please, let me handle things!” I get up and pace around the room. “Why must you bother yourself with my personal affairs?”

“I’ve never butted in before,” he says. “I just can’t stand to see you so unhappy. I have to do something about it.”

“You have butted in before. Many, many times. The day you asked me to come to that first party that was you butting into my personal life. You taught me that was the only way to socialize. You cheered me on when that woman, that grown woman, led me up the stairs to my bedroom. The whole room did. No wonder I am immoral and incapable of having a normal woman. Cami’s right, I am asking too much of her and I’m just now realizing that.” I move toward the door. “I have to get out of here.”

“Cyprian!” my father calls out. “You are not at fault here. You did nothing wrong. You and she had no prior commitment. Stop apologizing. Be a man!”

I hurry away, ignoring him. He’s wrong and I know he is and now I know I’ve been wrong too. Ashton is waiting in the car for me as it’s Friday and I told him I wanted to talk to my father, briefly but I wanted to be gone before any of his guests arrive.

He’s out and opening the back door of the Cadillac he drove me to work in today and I get in. “Take me to Cami’s.”

“Sir, that’s such a bad…”

I interrupt him, “Just do it!”

He closes the door as he shakes his head and goes around the car to get in. He’s quiet as a church mouse all the way to her house. I see her car in the drive and get out.

She opens the door just before I get to it. Her green smock is in her hand. “I don’t have time for this, Cyprian.”

She tries to go past me but I grab her arm. “I only want to tell you one thing, Camilla. I want to tell you I am sorry and I’m taking my offer off the table.”

She stands perfectly still and looks into my eyes. “You are?”

With a nod, I turn and leave her alone. I’m not trying to hurt her or manipulate her. I am merely giving her the information that I will no longer be asking her for anything. I’ve tried to rush things just so I can get her into my bed and I am done doing that to her.

Tonight starts a new way of living for me. And I don’t need Cami in my bed to make changes. I need to be the best man I can be and stop thinking about my damn sex life or lack thereof.

She’s right, there is more to life than just sex. There’s so much more and I’m about to discover just what else there might be in this big old world that I’ve left undiscovered.

If love is meant for me, it will come my way. But I can’t take Camilla, just to give me the experience. It’s wrong in so many ways.

As I get back into the backseat of my car, I see Cami getting into hers and I have to wonder what she’s thinking about what I said.

I hope she wasn’t hurt by it…

Chapter 4

CAMILLA

An entire week has passed without me seeing hide nor hair of Cyprian. I watch each night for one of his many cars to pass by on his way home after work but have yet to spot one.

He told me he was taking his offer off the table but I didn’t think that meant he was really done. There’s an empty spot inside of me with him gone. I didn’t realize it was there until he left me completely alone.

I find myself looking at my cell phone many times a day and thinking about giving him a call. Which I know I shouldn’t do. I’m sure he’s staying at his father’s and getting all the ass he can since he missed out on so much of it as he wasted his time on me.

It’s Saturday night and I’m closing the store, looking around for any sign that Cyprian is around, maybe looking out for me. I see no sign and know I went too long and too far. He’s over me.

I deserve it, I know I do. I gave him no slack at all. As time has passed, I made some realizations about the man. His past is a thing I didn’t take into consideration when I was so hard on him for being with those escorts, as they call themselves.

He is a man who has had terrible examples in his life. I should’ve been nicer to him about it. I could’ve said things nicer to him. I didn’t have to give in and take him up on his offer but I didn’t have to be so mean with how I told him things.

As I look back at all the different things I said, as he came in each night, I have to admit I was harsh. And I’d like to apologize for being so judgmental. It’s really not like me at all.

Driving down the road, I see his gate and look up the drive and see the house is all lit up. I wouldn’t dare pop in on him.

Never again will I subject myself to that!

But I might give him a call to tell him I’m sorry about how I talked to him. He has the capacity to be a good man. I saw it that day on our day-long date. It’s there, just beneath the surface.

A surface that’s been hardened by a life of repetition with no influences to show him how a loving relationship works. And I talked to him as if he was to blame for that.

He was a child, for God’s sake!

Pulling into my drive, I find myself feeling extremely remorseful and I go inside and plop down on my sofa. The pale green fabric is threadbare as the furniture came with the place.

Still looking at my phone, I know it’s late. It’s two-thirty in the morning. Instead of calling and waking him up or hearing tons of women in the background, I find it safer to send him a text.

-I’d like to apologize to you for the words I’ve said. I understand if you don’t want to talk to me. I’d love to apologize to you in person or at least over the phone.-

When nothing comes back, I place the phone on the coffee table and go to bed. I had an idea he’d want nothing to do with me. And he’s right to be that way.

I berated the man who had nearly no control over what he did. That had been ingrained in him, since he was five-years-old. Only ten years later, sex was thrust upon him. And I tore into him like he had complete control over himself.

It’s like screaming at a person who can’t see, for stepping on your toes. Cyprian did do things wrong. But it was obvious by how he acted that he knew it was wrong. He never knew that before.

Everyone he was around, accepted him having sex with whoever he wanted to. I go on one date with the man and think we’re a couple and treat him like I was his wife.

Was it shameful for him to screw two women after dropping me off minutes earlier?

For certain!

The thing is, I never gave him a chance to talk it out with me. I just judged him, harshly and walked away. Every bit as coldly as he did to me, in the beginning.

I don’t deserve a second chance. I know that. But I do want him to know I am sorry for how roughly I’ve treated him. It was wrong and I merely want the opportunity to tell him that. But it seems he doesn’t want to give me that and I have to accept the fact, I will not get what I want. And I’ll have to learn to be okay with that.

But, damn, this feels terrible…

Chapter 5

CYPRIAN

After a two-week retreat to cleanse myself from the poisons that have been fed to me since birth, I have found a guru to help me find the inner me who’s been shoved down my entire life.

Tabitha is a fifty-year-old woman who looks much younger, thanks to learning how to live life in a positive manner. She’s had just as many hardships as any of us who attended her retreat have had and she has managed to not only overcome them but learn from them and use them as stepping stones to help her get out of the hole she was in. She taught us a lot of techniques to use to help us achieve the same goals.

Our phones were the first things to go, so we could immerse ourselves in getting to know our true selves. The instructions told us to leave them at home, which I did.

During the retreat, I found I want more from this life than I ever imagined. I never took the time to stop and think about what it was I wanted.

Kids have always been a thing I thought I was incapable of raising but I found a deep desire to see myself in another human being. So, now kids are part of what I want to experience in my life.

Tabitha says we only get one life and we should live it to the fullest, which means something different for each person. She’s a wise woman. Her little sayings run through my head often.

I’m about to walk into my home, for the first time in two weeks, and pick my phone back up and begin my normal life again but with a whole new attitude.

Work is to be eight to ten hours a weekday and no more than that. I thought I couldn’t take any time off. Somehow the company made it just fine without me for two weeks, so I think they can manage to have me a few less hours each day.

Each weekend, I am to schedule something I’ve never done before. This upcoming weekend I will go skydiving. Tabitha says it was an amazing experience and everyone should do it at least once in their lifetime.

Sunday’s should be days for reflection and one should take it easy. Rest as much as you want to and find something uplifting to read or watch. I got a book from the Oprah book club site and will be reading that on Sunday.

My body and mind feel so much better than I ever recall feeling before. I do believe finding Tabitha’s website and going to her retreat was a great thing for me.

Today is Sunday and work begins tomorrow. Back to the normal world I go then and have to see if I can really incorporate some of what I’ve learned into my real life.

Ashton pulls to a stop at the front door. “Here you are, sir. Did you miss the place?” He stars to get out of the car to help me out.

“No, Ashton, let me get my things. I appreciate your help but I can do for myself,” I say as I open my own door.

He pops the trunk, so I can get my bags, and I find him getting out, anyway. “Cyprian, I am paid to do this for you. Allow me to do my job, please.”

“I’ve been spoiled for too long.” I pick up one bag and find him picking up the other.

“Spoiled is not what you’ve been, sir. You pay me to do this for you.” He begins to carry the bag to the door and I follow behind with the one I picked up.

“Ashton, you don’t need to call me, sir. Call me by my name. You’re older than I am. You shouldn’t talk to me as if I am your superior. Tabitha says we are all equals and should act that way.” I wait while he disarms the security system he had put in while I was away.

I asked him to get that done for me just before I got out of the car at the airport the day I left for the retreat. I also had him change the code to the gate. I want no more surprises from anyone.

Once he’s opened the door, he hands me a card. “This has the codes for each panel, Cyprian. And as far as calling you, sir, that’s a thing I’ve grown accustomed to, so it may pop out now and again. Take no offense by it. I’m old and set in my ways.”

“Speaking of old, just how old are you, Ashton?” I ask him as I thought he was around fifty.

“I am fifty-three,” he says as he takes my bag inside.

“Well, I’m not trying to be rude at all but Tabitha is fifty and she looks much younger. She says taking supplements along with a diet rich in raw veggies and organic spices is the key to that. You should let me give you her diet plan. It could take years off you. And it might help your wife too,” I tell him as we go inside.

“That’s very nice of you,” he says. “Shall I take these up to your bedroom?”

“No, I’ll do that. I just want to settle in and meditate for a little while.”

“I’ll leave you to that then.” He turns to leave and I take the bags and make my way to my room. “Good to have you back, Cyprian.”

“I hope it’s good to be back, Ashton. See you in the morning. We will see how this all goes.”

Getting into my bedroom, I put my things down and see my cell phone, sitting on the bedside table where I left it. It seems the maid has plugged it into the charger and it’s ready for me to see what I’ve missed in the last two weeks.

I told my parents what I was doing and both were very supportive. My father conceded that he had no idea how to parent, he wished me luck on finding the ‘me’ I want to become. Mother was a bit put off by where I was going. She thought it sounded cultish but told me she approved of me trying to better myself.

It did feel kind of like a family with Tabitha. She made us all feel at home on the small farm we stayed on. Small cabins dotted an area in the back of her quaint farm home. There were six of us. She says she keeps the groups that small, so we can all get her special attention.

She’ll be coming into town on Wednesday. She’s going to do a workshop with my staff at work. I think they all could use a dose of her mental medicine. I can’t wait to see what they all think after hearing her talk.

Sitting on my bed, I pick up my phone and find myself afraid for some reason. I’ve hidden from my reality for only two weeks but it’s felt like an eternity.

I’m not wanting to come back to it.

But I must, so I start looking through my phone and when I open my text messages, one pops up at me. “Cami.”

I’ve put her in a place in myself for safekeeping, leaving the obsession out of it. She’s apologizing for how she spoke to me. And my heart is thumping hard in my chest.

Tabitha said it would be a bad idea to get involved with anyone right now. She described my soul like a wound that has been opened and scraped and needs to heal before bringing anyone else into it. The desperation I felt before is gone. But the want for Cami is still present.

So, I decide to leave that alone for now. I’m not strong enough to handle her right now. I have to give myself time to heal and acclimate to my surroundings once again. This time, doing things my way.

But I do text her back to let her know I got the text and am not ignoring her.

-Cami, thanks for the apology. It’s appreciated. I’ve been working on myself. When I feel ready, I will come and see you. Then we can apologize to each other in person and put the past where it belongs.-

That should ease her thoughts about me if she was worried or something. I didn’t mean to worry her with my leaving. I just had to work on myself.

I wonder if she was worried about me…

Chapter 6

CAMILLA

It’s been a week since I texted Cyprian and he’s just now texting me back, telling me he was working on himself and when he’s ready, he’ll come talk to me. I’d like to see him right now but it sounds as if he’s ready to put me in his past. A thing I’m finding hard to swallow.

I have the day off and it’s barely noon. To sit just down the road from him and not go over there will be hard to do. But I suppose I have to.

-Cyprian, thanks for answering my text, I was worried about you. Glad to know you are okay. I look forward to the day you feel like talking to me again.-

Getting off the sofa, I grab my running shoes and decide it would be best to run off some of this anxiety I’m beginning to feel. I didn’t realize he’d crept so deep inside of me that the idea of him leaving me behind is affecting me so much.

It’s not as if I had any grand ideas he and I’d end up together. I didn’t think that at all. I assumed he was at his father’s place, fornicating like a rabbit with random women. To find out he was somewhere, working on himself, is so very different from what I was thinking.

I take off out of the house and start running in the direction which will have me passing by his estate. It’s a long shot I’ll even catch a glimpse of him or him of me but it’s a gamble I’m willing to take.

I just want to see him, even if only for a moment!

Jogging down the country road, my mind refuses to stop thinking about the man. I wonder where he went to work on himself. I wonder if he did that for himself or me. I wonder if what he learned about himself made him think he and I are too different and would never work out.

I know I’ve had those thoughts. Taking him home to meet my family would go over very badly. I feel the same way about him taking me to meet his parents, who I think should’ve never been allowed to have a kid in the first place.

Maybe he and I aren’t meant to be together.

Maybe there’s someone else in the world meant for him. A woman with tons of patience and empathy. A woman who can help him work on his demons. A woman who will be everything to him, the way I wouldn’t allow.

What’s wrong with me?

I had a chance to be with a gorgeous, muscle-bound, nearly perfect specimen of male anatomy and I stood on my high morals, refusing to give him the one thing he needed from me. Everyone at work thinks I’m an idiot. Not just a little one either, a huge idiot who has blown her chance with a man who could buy and sell this entire town.

With Cyprian missing, I Googled him and found out he’s beyond wealthy. He’s uber-rich. A multi-billionaire, who’s highly respected in the business world.

I saw picture after picture of him with his colleges. Some of whom are women and he didn’t look like a man-whore at all. He looked like he treated them with respect. It was a thing I didn’t see in him.

It was my misfortune to have judged him before I really knew him. I saw him as a womanizer and nothing more than that. I saw him as a man I needed to guard myself against.

And now it’s most likely too late to let him know I was wrong. I was wrong for withholding my affection. I was wrong for trying to make him be someone he wasn’t. I was wrong on so many levels, it’s not even funny.

Suddenly, my train of thought is broken as his gate comes up. I jog in place as I look at it and can see the house that looms far back off the road.

Fuck it!

I jog up to the security box and tap in the code, 696969. Only to find it buzzing at me. The code’s been changed!

Hurrying away, I have no want for him to see me on his camera, I see now is at the gate, pointing in my direction.

What an idiot I feel like!

He’s changed the code, no doubt to keep me out. He has moved on, that’s obvious. I have to do something to get him out of my mind.

Something huge!

Maybe I will accept the next date that’s offered to me. I have to do something to get him out my head. He’s made a place there and even in my heart. I have to do something to move him out. He’s moved me out of where ever I was in his head.

Could he have a girlfriend? Could he have found a woman more compatible with him and left me behind? Did I let that happen to me? To us?

Have I been a fool…?

Chapter 7

CYPRIAN

The week has been long as I’ve had to drive by the store Cami works at each night, knowing she’s there as I see her Mustang parked at the side of the store. But Tabitha and I have talked every day about how I need to guard myself against everyone right now. I’ve followed her advice and only texted my parents that I still need time away from them to get my head on straight.

It’s Wednesday and Tabitha is doing a workshop with my staff. It was my idea and no one was really on board with it. I had to insist, though. I need people around me who understand how I need things to be.

I’m waiting for the workshop to end as I invited Tabitha to stay at my place for the night instead of putting her up in a hotel room. She was kind enough to open her home to me and others like me, I can repay the favor.

The door to the meeting room opens and my employees come out. It’s nine at night and most of them seem to be impatient to get out of here. They all give me smiles and nods as they file past me but no one says anything.

Finally, Tabitha comes out, looking happy and radiating positive energy the way she always does. Her blonde bobbed hair is bouncing as she nods at me. “It went fantastic! Thank you for setting this up. I do believe your staff has been brought to the light, Cyprian!”

My secretary, Mrs. Peterson, looks over her shoulder at me and then at Tabitha then looks away. I didn’t see new beginnings in her brown eyes. I saw concern.

Why would she be concerned?

Tabitha links her arm with mine and allows me to escort her out of the office. “I’m sure some of them get it and some don’t. That’s how things go. Like you say, we are all on different levels.”

“That we are, Cyprian. And I think I can help you tonight with your situation with the Camilla woman. Do you think she’ll be at work? I think it’s essential for your recuperation if I meet her. I’d like to gauge her true persona. I fear you might have only been taking her at face value and thinking her beauty means she’s a good person. Which hardly ever means that. Most beautiful women are hard-hearted.”

“Surely, you don’t really believe that Tabitha,” I say as we get to the car. Ashton opens the back door of the town-car, and I let her get in first.

When I get in, I find her frowning at me. “I know it to be true. You see, Cyprian, many men are easy targets for women of beauty.”

“You’re beautiful, yourself, Tabitha. Are you saying you have used that to hurt men?” I ask her as I watch her light blue eyes dance.

“I have.” She looks me in the eyes. “As old as I am, do you really think I’m beautiful?”

With a nod, I say, “I do. You are beautiful. A glow radiates within you. You’re a beautiful woman, inside and out. I am privileged to know you.”

She laughs a bit. “And I, you. You handsome devil.”

Her hand runs over the top of mine and she takes my hand and holds it. “Do you need some of my positive energy?” I ask her as she told us at the retreat about the different ways we can share our energy and receive it. Holding hands, hugs, and things of that nature are perfect ways to receive positive energy and give some away as well.

“I am in need of some,” she says. “You see, I am going to need all I can get, so I can stay positive when I meet this woman who has motivated you to make changes in yourself. I’m afraid she will see my work with you as a threat.”

“I don’t see why she would,” I say. “We aren’t a couple. That was her doing. Well, my messing around had everything to do with that but still, she never saw fit to accept my apology and give me another chance. I don’t think she wants me. I believe the damage I did is irreversible. It’s a thing I am working on accepting. Something I did caused such a reaction it must’ve dissolved any feelings she was growing for me.”

She looks away then back at me. “I hope you’re right.”

I’m a bit stunned by her words. I hope I’m wrong!

“Please just do me a favor and hold tight to my hand or maybe even put your arm around me, to lend me your positive energy, so I can handle my reaction to her. After what you’ve told me about her, I’m finding it hard to like her. I want to like her.”

“I don’t hold what she’s said to me against her. Neither should you,” I say as I don’t understand her right now.

“I’ve come to care about you, Cyprian. You are a rare gem of a person. Your father and mother, I can understand why they did, what they did with you. They were unaware of what they were doing, after all. I feel, Camilla is very aware of what she was doing to you. Withholding sex to make you do what she wanted you to. It’s a manipulation some women use on men.”

“Well, I don’t think she was trying to manipulate me by doing that. She has good morals. She wanted to be in love first. I can see her point. It’s pretty respectable.”

“And outdated. And out of the question once she knew about your circumstances of having so much sex since you were only fifteen-years-old. She should’ve been more supportive of what your needs were instead of making you feel immoral for them. And she is a scientist as well. An educated person, who should know going cold turkey on anything, rarely works. So, please do hold her accountable for what she’s said and done. You have to, for your own self-preservation.”

I don’t say it out loud but I don’t think I can hold her accountable for doing what she did. She was trying to preserve her own morals, after all. But I have no want to argue with Tabitha. “I’ll try my best.”

She pulls our clasped hands up to her heart. “That’s all you can do, Cyprian.” Then she kisses my hand and lays our clasped hands back on the seat between us.

As we near the convenience store, my body starts to sweat and my heart starts to pound. Seeing Cami, after almost three weeks is going to be hard. Because I think I’ll want to throw my arms around her and ask her for more than she can give me right now.

And more than I can give her as well…

Chapter 8

CAMILLA

The store is dead at nearly ten on a Wednesday night and I am bored out of my mind as I’ve gotten everything on the to-do list, done. I let Mary, the older woman I was working with tonight, go home early. Her back hurt and there’s no reason to keep two people here with no customers and all the work done.

Leaning on the counter, I look out the window and think about closing early and wondering if that would get me fired. Most likely it would.

A black car pulls up right in front and my heart skips a beat. “Cyprian!” I wait to see if it is him, which I’m pretty sure it is.

The door opens and he gets out and I find myself wanting to run to him and grab him up in a hug. Walking around the counter, I freeze and walk backward to get back behind it. He has a woman with him and they’re holding hands.

Tears burn the back of my eyes, making me blink them like crazy to get rid of the shininess that has to be going on in them. The chirp of the door opening has me taking a deep breath to steady my nerves which are overloaded. “Hello, Cyprian,” I say with a shaky voice.

“Cami, how are you?” he asks as he lets the woman’s hand go and puts his arm around her. “This is Tabitha. She’s helping me to make some much-needed changes in myself. She’s been a Godsend.”

“Good,” I say but I find myself not meaning it. “So, you are feeling better about yourself then. That’s fantastic. Nice to meet you, Tabitha.”

She extends her hand and I shake it, feeling her hand tight on mine. “Camilla, I wanted to meet you. Cyprian has told me every last detail about your little fling.”

Fling!

“Is that what he called it?” I ask, instantly pissed.

“No,” he says. “I didn’t call it that. What we had was much more than a fling. It was ill-timed, though. I wasn’t the man you needed.”

“Nor were you the woman he needed,” she says.

I want to scream at her but I don’t. “I suppose I wasn’t. I was wanting to speak with Cyprian, in private, to talk to him about the harsh things I’ve said to him and apologize for them. His past was a thing I didn’t take into consideration when I spouted the hateful things I did. I was hurt and I struck out at him. I’ve felt terrible about that.”

“For how long?” Tabitha asks me.

“What?” I ask as she’s confusing me.

“He told me he came to see you every night after he got off work for a week. He apologized over and over to you and you sent him away each and every night, making him feel like a deplorable human being,” she says as she looks at me as if she’s an attorney wanting her client to get a much better apology than what I gave him.

“Look, lady, I really don’t have to explain myself to you. Cyprian and I can talk later, in private.”

She holds her hand up, stopping me. “No, you won’t. I’m staying with him tonight and I’ve counseled him about you. He’s much too raw for you two to talk alone at the moment. You have a tendency to be abrasive with him and I simply cannot allow it.”

My eyes leave her and go to Cyprian, who is looking more than a bit sheepish. “Is that how you want it, Cyprian?”

He nods then looks down. “Tabitha is a smart woman.”

“I can see that. I can see she’s got you by the reins.” I cross my arms over my chest because I can see right through the woman.

She looks young at a glance but when I look hard at her, I can see the lines at the corners of her eyes. I’m sure she’s in her late forties or so and she has a gleam in her eye for Cyprian.

Of that I am sure!

He looks at Tabitha, who he still has his arm around. “Since you’re right here, do you think she and I could talk alone for a moment? Perhaps in the back?” he asks her.

Her head shakes as she looks at him and runs her hand over his cheek. “Cyprian, you are much too fragile.”

“Ha!” I laugh. “He’s not fragile. He is a strong man. I’ve never seen him like this and quite frankly, I don’t like it.” I walk around the counter and find her moving in front of him.

“No, you cannot be alone with him right now. I was afraid of this.” She looks back at Cyprian. “We need to leave now.”

He nods and backs out the door as if I’m a terrorist, trying to get to him. “Cyprian, call me later. Please.”

His eyes bore into mine as she backs him up. “He will not be calling you. I can see it in your eyes. You are not the woman he thinks you are. You are a selfish and manipulative woman. Out to get his money, most likely. Hence the reason you withheld sex until you forced him to find some love for you in his heart, thus trapping him, eventually into a marriage.”

I look at Cyprian. “She’s nuts and you know that. Call me, Cyprian. I care about you. I miss you. And I’m worried about you. Call me.”

He’s pushed out the door, still looking at me. It’s obvious she’s using her expertise as a con artist to get to him. My heart is pounding and I find myself following them outside. She has him in the back before I can get to him and it has me madder than I ever recall being. Even when I caught him with those escorts!

She will not get away with this…

Chapter 9

CYPRIAN

My head is spinning as we walk into my house. “I would like to talk to her, Tabitha.”

She takes my hand and pulls me along with her. “Show me your home, Cyprian. We can have some wine. You need to forget about that woman. She is bad for you. I fear she is the reason for your mental breakdown.”

“I wouldn’t call it a mental breakdown. I simply wanted to be a better person, Tabitha.” I stop and she has to stop with me.

“Show me to my room first, please.” Her eyes sparkle at me.

Ashton walks in with her suitcase. “I’ll take this up there too.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. Leave it by the door. I’ll take it up later, Ashton. Be a dear and leave us alone. I need to help Cyprian through what looks as if it might turn into a crisis if I don’t intervene with some drastic actions.”

I look at Ashton who gives me a frown. “You sure about this, sir?”

“What?” Tabitha asks as she shoos him out the door. “This man is safer with me than anyone who is currently in his life. Goodbye. See you tomorrow. If I leave then. He may need my help for a while.”

He looks at me again. “Sir, are you absolutely sure about this?”

Tabitha looks back at me and puts her hand on her hip. “Cyprian, will you tell him you’re sure?”

I nod my answer and he turns and leaves me but I can tell he doesn’t want to. My hand is snatched up again and then she runs my arm around her waist. “Okay, I’ll show you where your room is, Tabitha. I suppose you’d like to freshen up.”

We go upstairs and she notices the many doors up here. “Which room is yours?”

I gesture to my door and she smiles. Then I walk all the way to the end of the hallway and catch her frowning. “Why so far away from yours, Cyprian?”

“For your privacy,” I say. “I want you to feel like you have some.” I open the door and stay at it while gesturing for her to go inside. “Here you go. I’ll be downstairs in the main living area at the bottom of the stairs when you get done.”

She takes both of my hands and pulls me into the room with her. “Cyprian, we need to talk. I can see you need more help from me. You’ll fall back down that rabbit hole that is Camilla Petit, if I don’t do something drastic.”

“You keep saying that.” I look at her and wonder what the fuck, drastic, means.

“It means, you are in need of some physical help. I need to help your energy field with some skin on skin touching. I am not effectively filling you with positive energy with hand holding or even by putting your arms around me. You are searching for the negative, which is Camilla Petit, to fill you again. I need to fill you with some of my positive energy.”

“Skin to skin,” I ask as that sounds kind of like she wants to be naked with me.

She takes a step back and begins to unbutton her sheer tan shirt that covers a brown camisole top. “Take off your clothes, Cyprian. I need to hold you, skin to skin, to deliver a good dose of my positive vibes to you. You’re in desperate need of them.”

“I can’t do that, Tabitha.” I shake my head as she continues to undress in front of me.

“You can, Cyprian. It’s merely one human being helping another. I’ve done this on occasion with some of my other patients. It works wonders. Like I said, I will stay with you until I see an improvement on your handle on how you want to live your new life.” By the time she’s done talking, she’s standing, stark naked, in front of me, holding her arms open. “If you’re unsure of how much it will help you, hug me with your clothes on and mine off and see how good it feels. See how much better you feel.”

I’m frozen and unsure about any of this. But she steps forward and takes my hands, placing them on her ass as she hugs me tight. “Tabitha.”

“Shh. No talking. Close your eyes and feel the energy I’m sending to you. My entire body is sending you positive energy.”

I do as she says since I’m not naked and try to feel the energy she’s sending me. She was right on the other occasions. Holding hands with others and hugging them did help me feel more positive energy.

After a few minutes of her holding me, she lets me go and looks at me then unbuttons my shirt. I take her hand, stopping her. “Tabitha, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Nonsense,” she says. “I can still feel the negative coming from you.” She quickly takes my shirt off and puts her body back in my arms and places my hands on her ass again. “Give my cheeks a good squeeze. Think of them like the stress balls I gave you all at the retreat. Use them to ease your tension.”

Her breasts are smashed against my naked chest as I do as she’s said and my mind is being dragged into a very bad place. I try hard to think of this as therapy but my cock is thinking other thoughts. “Tabitha, we have to stop this. I’m having inappropriate thoughts.”

“It’s not inappropriate to want to feel more. We can do that. We can exchange our energy. I will take your negative while you take my positive. I can rebuild my energy much more quickly than you can, after all. Let me help to heal you, Cyprian.”

Her hands find the button on my slacks and she has my pants down, quickly followed by my underwear. “Tabitha, I can’t. You said I’m not to be doing anything like this, remember?”

“With anyone you currently know as they are all out to hurt you, Cyprian. I am here to heal you. Now come with me to the bed and bury yourself in my positive chamber, so I can take away your pain and fill you with light.”

She lets me out of her arms and looks down at my shoes and socks, the only thing left on me. “Kick those off and ditch the socks too. We need skin to skin with nothing in between us, for this to work.”

“I’ll need a condom. I have some in my bedroom,” I say, trying to escape this situation I feel has gotten out of hand.

“No need for one. I am clean and healthy and on the pill. So, you can relax. Come on, Cyprian. I can help you more than you know.”

As I let her lead me to the bed, I find myself fighting this with every step.

Am I really about to do this…

* * *

Chapter 1

CAMILLA

Cyprian’s car pulls back up to the front of the store and I ready myself for another battle with the broad who seems to think Cyprian needs to be defended against me, of all people. Instead, it’s his driver who flies into the store. “Can you come with me, Camilla? Cyprian needs you!”

Making a drastic and quick decision, I grab my keys from under the counter to lock the store up, turning off the lights as I go. “What’s wrong?”

“That woman,” he says as he hurries me out. “She’s going to take advantage of him. I can tell it. Come with me.”

I get into the passenger seat as he jumps in the driver’s seat and peels out of the parking lot. “Ashton, what if he wants to be with her?”

“He doesn’t. He seems clueless about the woman and her motives. I can read her like a book. She wanted to be shown to her room right away and wouldn’t allow me to accompany them to take up her suitcase. She actually told me to leave them alone, so she could do something to him to avoid a meltdown or some shit like that.”

“A meltdown?” I ask. “Has he had one before?”

“No,” he tells me. “That woman’s pulling something over on him. I’m not sure if she just wants in his pants or if she wants much more than that but she is one determined woman and that has me worried about Cyprian.”

“What if I go in and catch them going at it, Ashton?” I shake my head. “I can’t see that again. I can’t! It hurt too much last time.”

“He needs you, Camilla,” he tells me as he pulls up to the gate and punches in the code.

“But what if they’re having sex?” I ask him. “Is that a real possibility?”

He’s not saying a word as I watch his expression change from worried to sick. “I hope not. I didn’t see that want in Cyprian’s eyes but I sure as hell saw it in hers. He’s not one to turn down sex, just so you know. But with her, I feel she’s using a trust he’s put in her to manipulate him into it. A thing I can’t stand. I’ll be with you, Camilla. I just know he’ll be more responsive to you.”

We stop in front of the door and my heart stops beating. “Please, don’t let him be with her that way!” I get out of the car, my body shaking like a leaf.

Ashton punches in a code at a new box on the outside of the front door. The light turns green and we go inside. A suitcase is right next to the door and I hear nothing.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Ashton whispers.

I follow him, nearly sick as we go up the stairs and I still hear nothing. Just as we get to the top of the stairs I hear Cyprian’s voice, saying, “Really, I can’t. I didn’t expect this from you, Tabitha. I’m going to my room. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Ashton and I drop back to hide on the staircase. It seems Cyprian can take care of himself. But as I peek around Ashton, I see Cyprian is carrying his clothes and is naked. Anger fills me and then that damn woman is in the hallway, naked too. “Cyprian, come here. Don’t be like that. I’m merely wanting to transmit my positive energy to you, via penetrating contact. You don’t even have to make any strokes if you don’t want to. Although that does help to get more out of it.”

He stops his retreat and spins around. “That’s called sex, Tabitha! Do you think I am some naïve boy?”

My entire body is shaking with pure hatred for the woman. “Cyprian, as your therapist, I must insist on this. You are close to a breakdown. Closer than you realize.”

Before he can say a word, I barrel around Ashton and run right at the woman, screaming like a banshee, “You fucking bitch!”

Her eyes go huge and she quickly steps back into the room and locks the door. I pound on the door but she’s not about to unlock it.

“Cami?” Cyprian asks as he comes up behind me.

I turn around and see he’s pulled his pants on. “What the hell were you doing naked, Cyprian? Do you have any sense at all?”

“Yes!” he shouts at me. “And thank you for coming!”

My body’s shaking and I pull him into my arms and start bawling like a baby. “Cyprian, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“Shh, don’t cry,” he whispers as he strokes my hair. “It’s alright.”

I pull away from him and shake my head. “Why were you naked?”

He pulls me with him down the hallway and then he sees Ashton. “You brought her here?”

He nods. “I saw what that woman had planned for you, even though you didn’t. I had to get her to come help me. I knew she’d have the right amount of anger to handle that old bitch.”

Cyprian smiles at the man who’s driven him around for the last few years. “Thanks. I was pretty sure she’d hound me all night.”

“And she would’ve too,” Ashton tells him. “I’m going to take her to a hotel for the night and make sure she gets her ass on a plane in the morning. Please tell me you’ll have nothing else to do with that woman.”

Cyprian nods and looks like he’s a bit smarter now. “You can count on that. I never saw it in her. I had no idea she’d do something like this. I’ll report this on her website so future clients will know how she is. She told me she’d done this sort of positivity sharing with some of the others she’s helped.”

I shudder with how awful the woman is. Preying on people who come to her for help. “Positivity sharing? I’d like to share my fist with her face, the nasty whore.”

The creaking of the bedroom door behind us has us all turning back to find Tabitha dressed and looking mad, of all things. “Nasty whore?” she asks as she comes toward us.

Now it’s me and Ashton who get in front of Cyprian to keep her away from him. “Yes, you are one devious, malicious bitch of a whore. What you’ve done is a crime. This man came to you for mental help and guidance and you used his trust to manipulate him into having sex with you. You are one of the lowest people I’ve ever had the misfortune to run into,” I tell her as I glare at her. “I’d like nothing more than to rip your fucking head off and play soccer with it.”

“Would you, now?” she asks with a condescending tone. “Cyprian was well aware of how we use physical energy to help heal others. He did spend two weeks with me. Voluntarily, might I add.”

“And I suppose you’re trying to tell me, you and he have a special connection or some shit like that?” I ask her. Cyprian takes my hand and holds it tight, behind me.

“Not like that, Cami,” he whispers.

The woman squares her narrow shoulders and looks past me to Cyprian. “I’ve never hurt you and never would. I am only here to heal you. You are breaking down right before my eyes with these people to aid you in the most negative of ways. Anger is flowing through them and they’re all over you, sending you into a negative state of being. If you tell them to leave, I can take that negativity away.”

“By having him fuck you?” I ask then shake my head. “No fucking way. Cyprian’s driver will take you to a hotel now and you will get your ass on a fucking plane that will take you back to wherever you came from. If you so much as send a fucking text to Cyprian, I will blow you up on social media and ruin your farce of a career.”

“Who would believe you?” she says with a laugh.

Ashton steps forward and takes her by the wrist. “Oh, there’s more than a few people who can corroborate her accusations. Time to go.” He pulls her along as she tries to get Cyprian to look at her.

“Cyprian, please. You know I won’t hurt you,” she says as she’s pulled away.

“You already have,” he says as he looks at me.

“Get her the hell out of here, Ashton,” I say as I run my hand over Cyprian’s cheek. “Would you care to drive me back to the store, so I can close it, the right way?”

He runs his hand over my cheek. “I would. Thank you, Cami.”

“What are friends for?” I ask as I take his hand and start walking down the hallway. “You might want to put on a shirt and some shoes.”

We stop just before his bedroom door for him to get the clothes he left on the floor. Instead of picking them up, he picks me up in his arms and hugs me tight. “I’ve missed you more than I realized, Cami.”

“I’ve missed you too. But I knew I was missing you,” I say then find his mouth on mine and I melt into him like a chocolate candy bar on a hot July afternoon.

Could we be on our way to making things work…?

Chapter 2

CYPRIAN

Her body feels right in my arms as I kiss her the way I’ve only dreamt about being able to do for what seems like a very long time. The way she’s wrapping herself around me has me thinking she’s finally forgiven me for my stupid weak moment.

Easing the kiss, with soft pecks, I find tears in her eyes and not ones of anger this time. “Cyprian, I’m sorry I let you leave with that woman. I shouldn’t have.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Cami.” I let her out of my arms and pick up my shirt and put it on. “I’ve being grasping at straws to reinvent myself. I shouldn’t have gone to a retreat put on by a person with no real credentials, in the first place.”

“Why are you trying so hard to make big changes, to yourself?” she asks as I pull on my last shoe and take her hand to head out.

“I need to make some changes. I’m not what I can be. I’ve made some discoveries about myself, while I was at the retreat. It wasn’t at all bad. Tabitha wasn’t like that when I was there with a group of people. She only started that crap once she and I were alone. I don’t know what got into her.”

“You are hot as hell, Cyprian. That’s what got into her.” We go out to the garage and I watch Cami’s eyes light up as I turn on the overhead lights. “Shit! You have a lot of cars, Cyprian!”

“Pick the one you want to take,” I say as I wait by the peg board with all the car keys on it.

She points at the red Lamborghini. “How about that one?”

I look at her with uncertainty. “Cami, I haven’t driven that one yet. It was delivered while I was gone. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Me?” she squeaks as she shakes her head. “I’m not going to drive it. Plus, I have to pick my car up. You pick which one you want to drive.”

“Or you could leave your car there overnight and come back here with me. We could take a little cruise in the Lambo. What do you say?” I ask her and find myself crossing my fingers behind my back.

After a long moment, admiring the car, she nods. “I say, yes.” She looks at me then winks. “I think you could use some company, after what you’ve been through.”

With a laugh, I pick her up and carry her to the car. “Good! Tomorrow, I’ll drive this little beauty around to get used to her.”

“I’m so excited! Come on, Cyprian. Let’s see what she can do!”

I help her get into the driver’s seat and watch her eyes roam all over the car. “You like it?”

“Love is the only word one can use for something this special,” she says.

“I agree,” I say and close her door. And I’m not talking about the car, either.

After I get in and strap myself down, I put my hand over hers as she places it on the console between us. “You ready for this?”

She nods. “Are you?”

With a nod, I say, “More than ready. Let’s take off, baby.”

“I’m more than a bit uneasy about this,” she says as she looks at the intimidating dashboard.

“There’s nothing to be uneasy about. It’s just different. Take it easy, though. This thing has a lot of horses,” I caution her.

I hit the remote to open the garage door and she pulls out, slowly. “Oh my God, I can feel the raw power already!”

Now, I’m feeling nervous about her driving and have to look out the window and bite my lip, so I don’t say the wrong thing and fuck things all up again.

Down the long driveway we go and she’s doing well. “How’s it feel? Think you can handle it on the open road?”

She laughs and it kind of scares me. “Hold on and let’s see!” The gate opens and she eases out of it then turns onto the desolate road that goes into town. “Here we go!”

I grab my seat and hold on tight as she peels out. “Shit!” I scream as she flies down the straight stretch of road.

My heart is in my throat as we haul ass down the dark road. “Wow!” she shouts as she goes.

Looking at her, and watching her smile with excitement, I find myself smiling too. Even though I’m scared shitless. I am scared in more ways than just this one.

This might be the real deal. She just might be the girl for me. And I am so far from being the man she needs and deserves. I’m not sure how to do this.

My first try at improving myself has failed, miserably. I can’t rely on myself to make the right decisions about how to go about changing the man I am. And I have to change for her. I know I do.

But do I have it in me to become the man who is perfect for her…?

Chapter 3

CAMILLA

Vanilla ice cream drips down my arm as I hurry to the kitchen to wash it off. My drumstick ice cream cone, Cyprian bought for us just before I closed the register down, has sprung a leak as I’ve taken too long to eat it.

He’s sitting on the counter top, smiling at me as I make a run for it before I get ice cream drops on my clean floor. “You better hurry, speed demon!”

I laugh as he’s come up with a clever nickname for me. He claims I was driving his car excessively fast. I think I was driving it appropriately, as it is a monster of a machine.

Making it to the sink in time to stop the drip from making it to the floor, I pop the rest of the cone into my mouth and wash my sticky hand and arm off. Suddenly, I feel arms go around me and I’m turned to face Cyprian. My mouth is full of the cone and he smiles at me and kisses the tip of my nose.

Waiting for me to swallow, he kisses me with soft kisses until I am putty in the man’s hands. “Cami, I want you to know something.”

After a few more small kisses, I ask, “What would you like me to know?”

More kisses come then he says, “I’m not going to ask you to make love with me tonight.”

Running my hands up and down his bulging arms, I find myself a bit disappointed. “Cyprian, I can be what you need me to be for you.” I bite my lip and wait to see what he says about that.

A smile moves over his face, taking over his sultry expression. “Cami, we can take this slow.”

I nod but think we have been taking it slow. It’s been over a month since we met and have hung out together a few times now. Both of us realize we missed one another. And now that I’m putting sex on the table, he’s taking it off?

What the hell?

But I stay quiet about it as he takes my mouth with a deep kiss that sends a wave of need all the way through me. I don’t usually make out this hard with someone if I’m not intending on going all the way with it. I think Cyprian is in store for a shock if he thinks he can stop at just making out.

With my arms wrapped around his neck, he pulls my legs up and I wrap them around him. He moves with me then sets me on the stainless-steel prep table and grinds himself against me. Suddenly, I think about what time it is and how the store’s alarm is about to set itself. “Cyprian, we have to get out of here!”

He growls and pulls me off the table and takes my hand. “Yes, we do!”

Grabbing my keys off the counter, I follow him out the door and lock it. We don’t even get to the car before I hear the three beeps that mean the store’s security system has been activated by the main office. “We barely stopped messing around in time. We’d have been locked in until six in the morning if we had stayed any longer.”

He opens the passenger door with a smile on his handsome face. “That would’ve sucked. Mind if I drive, speedy?”

I get in, laughing. “Nope, not at all. I’m dying to see if you can control yourself with this beast.”

“Control is my new middle name, baby.” He closes the door and goes around the car and gets inside.

“Control?” I ask him as he puts on his seatbelt.

“Yes, I will be exercising my control with you.” He takes my hand and kisses it as he looks at me. “I will become the respectable man you need.”

“I’ve told you not to change for me.” I frown at him.

Starting the car, he takes off, spinning the wheels and burning out of the parking lot. “Whoa! This is a powerful thing, isn’t it?”

He seems to be onto other things and our conversation about him needing to change for me is put in the past, quite quickly as he turns up the radio to just below a deafening level and heads toward town.

It’s a little past midnight, making me think his plan is to drive for a while before we go back to his place. And what will happen when we get back there, I wonder.

He’s said he’s going to be exercising his control with me. I’m a little worried he thinks we can make out like crazy and do nothing more than that. He must think that’s how I want it. Which is far from true.

I’ve had to fight myself to stay strong where he’s concerned. His touch turns me inside out. His kiss fills me with desire. I can’t make out with him and that’s it!

He takes a sharp left and we get onto the highway. With the flip of a switch, I see a radar screen light up and he looks at me with light in his eyes. “Hang on, baby! The highway is clear!”

“Shit!” I scream as I hang on and he accelerates.

Lights flash by so fast they’re like strobe lights. I find I’m still shrieking as he goes down the road. I close my mouth and my eyes but can still feel the car’s energy as it hauls butt down the empty highway.

Finally, he slows down and we’re both panting as he turns the radio down. “What a rush, huh?”

I can only nod as my stomach is in my throat. He takes the next exit and we head back toward home, going a moderate ninety miles an hour. Finally, I manage to swallow enough times, my tummy goes back to where it belongs. “That was amazing!”

“You look like you were about to pass out,” he says with a chuckle “Did I scare you?”

“Hell, yes you did! But I found trust in you, eventually.” I laugh as exhilaration runs through me.

“I’m glad you found trust in me, Cami.” He touches my hand with his fingertips. “I’m going to show you all night, just how much you can trust me.

I blink at him as I have a fear I know what he’s going to do to me. And I have no idea if I can take that kind of pressure. “What are you going to do, Cyprian?” I ask to make sure I’m right.

“You’ll see. I am going to learn more about self-control. You are an expert at it. You can help me.” He gives me a smile.

I feel a bit sick as I know he thinks I’m some kind of expert at keeping myself somewhat chaste. But I had made a decision to give him what he needed if he ever gave me another chance.

Now, he’s sitting here, telling me he wants me to show him how to keep things from going too far. “How far do you want to go?” I ask him as I have no clue.

“You tell me,” he says as he pulls up to his gate. “You are the expert at knowing the point not to go past, after all.”

I am not!

I have no idea how far we can go before I need it all. And I have an idea he wants to test his limits tonight. That means mine will be tested as well. I’m not sure I can handle it!

As he pulls back into the garage, I have to ask, “Cyprian, do you feel ready to make the commitment of seeing only each other, yet?”

He looks at me for what I deem, too long, before he says, “Cami, I want to be the man you deserve before I go that far. I want to be sure I can be the best man I can be before I ask you not to see anyone else.”

“Does that mean, you and I can go out with other people, if we want to?” I ask as I’m unsure what the man wants.

He sighs and gets out of the car and comes around to help me out. His arm goes around me as he helps me up and his forehead rests on mine. “If you feel you want to go out with someone else, you are still free to do that. But I can tell you right now, I will try to monopolize your time.”

“And what about you?” I ask him as he’s making me feel uneasy about things.

“I have no want for anyone else right now. But that door is open to me as well. I don’t want either of us to have to go through a break-up if we don’t think we can be what the other needs. Do you agree with that?”

“I suppose that’s how everyone who dates, without a commitment, does things. So, I agree to those terms.” I’m not sure how I feel about things but at least we’re going forward, somewhat.

“Good,” he says as he puts his arm around my waist and takes me inside. “Tonight, we get to know one another on a different level. We know all about each other’s pasts and families. Now, we can get to know what kinds of things we like to do. And you can teach me how to control myself where sex is concerned.”

With a sigh, I go with him to explore unknown territory and find I’m more nervous than if he was taking me straight to his bed.

How am I going to handle this…?

Chapter 4

CYPRIAN

The ambiance is perfect as we sit on a leather sofa in front of a picture window that overlooks the back of the estate. A full moon fills the upper left corner of the huge window and stars dot the sky.

Cami and I sit right next to one another, our legs touching as I have my arm around her shoulders. “I have no idea how to be gentlemanly about this, Cami. You have to teach me what’s expected.”

She shifts a bit to look at me. “With the other women, the escorts, how did that work? Did you pick them or did they pick you?”

“They most often picked me. There were very few times when I found one I had to have. But there were a few times.” I play with one of her curls that she’s let down out of the bun she had them trapped in.

I gave her a T-shirt and a pair of my pajama bottoms, instead of having her too close to naked with only the T-shirt on. I changed into a pair, too. We both have the same amount of clothing on and have had no alcohol to lessen our inhibitions. I’ll need my wits about me to learn how to do this only to a certain point.

“Did you have to entice those women to come to your bed?” she asks.

I smile at her naivety. “That’s not how escorts work. I merely pointed and wiggled my finger and that was all I ever had to do.”

“I see. And just how did that all go? Did you have foreplay?” She searches my eyes and I find myself wondering if she really should know this. “I need to know how your experiences were, so I can gauge where your weaknesses are.”

“Well then, you should know there would be one, two, or three women each time. Foreplay was going on even while we were still in the ballroom at the party. Once we took it up to my bedroom, we pretty much got down to business.”

I watch her expression go scientific as she nods. “How many orgasms would you typically have in one session?”

“It varied. Anywhere from five to ten. And most of the time, we’d sleep until morning and have another session, where I climaxed another three to five times.” I tell her and she seems to be taking it all very clinically, which is better than I expected. But then again, I never expected her to ask me for such details.

“And you did this on Friday and Saturday nights?” she asks as she seems to be tallying things up in her head.

“Yes. In total, there would be up to ten times on Friday night. Add five more for Saturday morning. Add ten more for Saturday night. Another ten for Sundays.”

“Ten on Sundays too?” she asks, looking puzzled.

“Yes, around five in the morning. Then we’d go to the track and those times were usually one by one as the women would hit me up, one at a time and we’d have quickies in the bathrooms. Or other secluded areas.” I say and see her frown a little.

“So, you like to have sex in semi-secluded places,” she says as she’s weighing the information I gave her.

“I didn’t say I liked it or preferred it. It’s just how I was introduced to it all. I want to find my own way to enjoy it now. I want to do things with you and find our own way.” I run my hand over her shoulder and trace her red lips as I look into her sapphire eyes. “I want to be a different man for you, Camilla.”

She nods. “I can see, no matter how many times I tell you not to change for me, you will never listen, will you?”

“I want to change for myself too. And I don’t have to have that many climaxes every weekend. That was mostly because there were so many different women who were around. Plus, I never had sex on weeknights or Sunday nights. If you and I do decide to become exclusive, then I could have sex on those nights too. It’s not that I have to have that much sex. I just have had that much. Do you understand?”

She nods and looks at me in a different way. “Will it offend you if I treat this somewhat like a science experiment? I’ll still have real feelings, don’t get me wrong. But I’d like to see if a man who’s lived this way, doing the same thing, sexually for twenty years, can really make this big of an adjustment.”

“It doesn’t hurt my feelings at all. Go right ahead. I’m more than interested, myself,” I tell her as I run my hand through her satin-like dark curls.

“You will need to be completely truthful with me,” she says as she plays with my bicep. “You will need to let me know if you begin to feel it necessary to climax while we’re still in the phase of teaching you self-control. And if we move on to a committed relationship, you will need to let me know if you are happy and comfortable with the amount of sex and type you’re getting. It’s vital I know that and you be truthful. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings.”

“Okay,” I say and move my lips over her cheek until they come to her ear. “Can we begin?”

“We can,” she says as her hands move over my back and I move around in front of her and hold the back of her neck as I move my mouth back to hers.

Our lips press together, using no tongue, I kiss her with little pecks, alternated with long kisses. Her lips part after a while and I venture in. Our tongues intertwine and we explore one another’s mouth, learning how it feels to be aware of the kiss.

It’s not as hard as I thought it’d be to keep my cock from running off with me. I’m not allowing my mind go into the dark, I’m staying focused on the kiss and that’s it. When our mouths part, she asks, “Are you okay?”

I nod and move my hand to her breast. “Second base?”

She nods and pulls me back to kiss her again while I massage her breast. It becomes a little harder to control myself but I think about Cami and how much I respect her and how I need to treat her respectably too.

Her body is soft and supple as I run my hand under the T-shirt and cup her naked breast in my hand. I’m doing fine with this, so I push it further. Pushing her to lie back on the sofa, I kiss my way to her breast and take it in my mouth while I play with the other one.

Her hands run through my hair and she moans a little. Her moan has me smiling as I can see she is into it and even that still has me controlling myself with her.

It would be at this point that my dick would already be rock hard and aching for relief. But so far I’m comfortable. It occurs to me that Cami may not have had sex in a long time and this may be more difficult for her.

Pulling my mouth off her delicious tit, I look at her and find her biting her lip. “Cami, how long has it been since your last orgasm?”

She looks up at the ceiling. “It’s been a long time.”

“I’m doing fine with this. And I’d like to really test myself with you. Could I give you an orgasm, no penetration, of course?”

She eyeballs me for a moment then sighs. “That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

Then I get a bright idea as I recall a kid back in high school who was so proud to tell everyone who’d listen how he and this one girl dry humped until they came.

“Have you ever dry humped?” I ask her as I gauge her reaction. “I never have. I think it might be a way we could release tension while not exactly having sex. What do say to that?”

She looks a little nervous. “Won’t your pj’s get kind of nasty?”

“I can change them. But we don’t have to go that far if you think it’s an inappropriate thing to do. Is it too physical for you? Is it too invasive? Too much too soon?”

“It’s not really having sex. So, I think it’ll be okay.” She pulls me back but I stop her.

“Wait, that’s not helping me to learn how to make-out without having my own release. Can I use my mouth to give you an orgasm?” I ask her as I think about the other way defeating my purpose. “Also, I want tonight to be about you.”

She looks at me for a long time. Her body is tense as she makes her decision. “It’s not fair to you.”

“I need to learn about self-control. Please.”

With a sigh, she nods and I move my body over hers. “Okay, but a little dry humping to start out with. I want to see if that does anything for me. This may sound insane but I’d like to have a hard-on when I taste you for the first time.”

She moans and pulls me to her. “Damn it, Cyprian, you are a Rake, aren’t you? You are irresistible.” Her mouth is hot as I’ve gone too far for her to retain self-control.

I’m not sure if that matters or not. It’s me she’s counting on to keep my cock out of her.

Am I up to that yet…?

Chapter 5

CAMILLA

His tight and taut body is all over mine, grinding against me, making the soft cotton material move back and forth over my clit, igniting a hunger in me.

I can’t believe he wants to do this without going all the way!

I’m close to going over the edge when he stops kissing me and pumping away on me and moves down my body, pulling the pajama bottoms down only far enough so he can get to the goods.

I arch up to him as he blows on me. My fingers curve into the soft leather of the sofa. He blows and blows until I’m about to go crazy, I want his mouth on me so damn bad.

Just before I beg him, his lips touch me and I moan, long and hard, as his tongue moves in ways I didn’t know were possible. “Cyprian. Yes.”

He hums his response, sending a vibration deep into me. I can’t stop moaning and twisting as he makes magical things happen inside of me. On and on he goes, giving me his intimate kiss which rivals what he can do with my mouth.

One thought keeps coursing through my head. I don’t ever want to let him go. I want him more than I did before. I can’t think of anyone else doing this to me.

I want to scream out that I’m his and his, alone. I want to shout it out loud for everyone to hear. No one can make me feel this way. No one!

My body starts to tremble as it grows closer to reaching a place it hasn’t in over a year. My moan goes a pitch higher and then one more as the wave climbs to new heights. I shriek with my release and find him holding my ass in his strong hands as he pushes his tongue into me and sends me even deeper into the sweet ecstasy he’s found in me.

When my body eases, he looks at me with my juices wet on his face. His dark eyes are ravenous, like that of a wild wolf’s. He swallows hard, making his Adam’s apple bob in his throat.

I feel as if he’s working against himself right now. His chest is heaving as he tries to steady himself. I pull my shirt off and wiggle my finger at him. “Would you make love to me now, Cyprian? Because I’m pretty damn positive that I do love you. Do you think you might love me too?”

He nods and pulls his shirt off too. Then he goes savage and yanks my pajama bottoms all the way off then drops his and picks me up. I wrap my legs around him as he holds me higher than he is and looks at me as he lowers me to him.

“I have beaten you,” he growls. “I have made you into what I was afraid of.”

I shake my head. “No! No, I know I love you. I do. You haven’t beaten me. This is right. It’s good. We care for one another. This means something.”

“I want it to,” he says as he grits his teeth. “Are you on birth control?”

“Yes, you can be free with me, Cyprian. You’re safe with me. I’m clean and you must be too with all the condoms you’ve bought from me.” I giggle a little, earning a snarl from him.

“I’ve never done this without a condom, sheathing me.” His eyes grow bright and hunger fills his face. Then his eyes roam over the room and he stops them on something.

Grabbing my hand, he pulls me along with him as he makes quick strides toward a small round table with a few chairs around it. He spins me into his arms to face him. “Cyprian, can you tell me you love me?”

He nods as he caresses my cheek. “I love you, Camilla. I think I’ve loved you before I even met you. Now, don’t be afraid by this, but animal lust is burning inside me. I’m about to get very aggressive with you but after that, I will make love to you. It’s been too long and I have to get this part out of the way.”

My heart is racing as excitement runs through me. “Do what you need to do.”

His mouth crashes onto mine so hard, I taste a bit of blood as one of us has cut the other. I can’t feel any pain as adrenaline runs through me. I’m shaking with anticipation of what he’s about to do to me.

He ends the hard kiss then turns me around, quickly and pushes the top half of me down on the table, holding me down with one hand and running his other one over my ass.

Two hard slaps have me quivering with need then he slams into me and goes brutal on me. Slam after slam is made as he slaps my ass hard every so often, sending heat pouring through me.

I’ve never been treated this way and I’m on fire with how animal it is. His breathing is hard and even that has a lusty tone to it.

“Do you like it?” he asks between clenched teeth as he smacks my ass again.

“Yes,” I say and it comes out quivery.

“This is fucking, Camilla. This is all I’ve ever done. This is all I know. You will teach me how to make love in a little while but first I will show you what I know how to do.”

“I’m not complaining, Cyprian,” I manage to say as I’ve never been this stimulated before.

I find I’m pretty pissed at myself for holding the man off at all. He’s amazing!

My body starts to shake and my knees go weak as he takes me harder and more furiously. I shriek with the hardest orgasm I’ve ever had and he groans as he comes along with me. Then his teeth are on my back as he leans over me, biting me with his release.

I know it should hurt but it doesn’t, instead it sends me even deeper into the zone he’s putting me into. A level of Heaven I have lived my life unaware existed.

Before we’re all the way through with the orgasms, he pulls me up and I find him lying me on the floor where he moves over me. His eyes are glistening as he looks at me. “That was fifty times better than anything I’ve ever done before.” He kisses me, softly and sweetly. “Now it’s your turn to show me how you like it.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I pull him to me and hug him. “No, you know exactly what you’re doing. I don’t need to teach you a damn thing. I think I’ve only been with men who were doing it all wrong. Show me your ways, Cyprian. Take me into your world. Mine’s a bore.”

He laughs and gets up, picking me up with him. “To my bedroom then. The staff gets here at seven and I’d rather them not find us in here.”

“Do you really think we’ll still be at it by then?” I ask as he carries me up to his bedroom.

“Far past that, baby. Far past that. I’ve never had such a feeling. You may tire of me and the appetite I’ve found for you,” he says then growls again.

“I don’t know. I’ve found one for you as well.” I lean my head against his wide chest as he goes up the stairs.

“I’m sorry I’ve managed to change you instead of the other way around. I was trying so hard to be the one to change.”

“I know you were.” I trace a pattern on his chest as I think about how I’ve never been that fulfilled and he’s not even done with me yet. “I promise you. The way I’ve been doing it would leave you wanting more. Now I’ve seen what it can be like, you’ll play hell getting rid of me.”

He stops on the top step and gives me a serious look. “I can’t imagine wanting to get rid of you.”

I sigh as he kicks his bedroom door open and takes me inside. “I hope you don’t get tired of me.”

“I hope you don’t get tired of me,” he says then tosses me onto the bed. “So, you want the real deal, huh?”

I nod as I look at him and turn to lie on my side, watching him stand at the side of the large bed. “I do.”

“How many times have you ever climaxed in a single night?” he asks me as he opens a drawer next to the bed.

“Um, the most I can recall is two. And a few hours apart.”

He shakes his head as his hand comes out of the drawer with a large dildo he turns on and it begins to glow pink. “Then you need to be conditioned to what will become your new normal.” He drops the thing which is vibrating and pulsating on the bed, making it vibrate too then he reaches back into the drawer and comes back out with a pink lace piece of cloth. “I’ll tie this over your eyes, so you can’t let anything else interfere with your experience.”

He picks up a remote and loud music fills the room. It’s got a hard beat and makes my insides shiver with the deep base of the music. I sit up and he puts the blindfold over my eyes. I can still see shapes but nothing else.

He hoists me up the bed until my back is against the headboard. Propping pillows behind my head, the next thing I feel is cold metal on my wrist then he pulls my left arm up and cuffs me to the bed. I find myself biting my lip as he does the same thing to the other.

Moving my legs up until my knees are bent, I feel him moving in between them and then the vibration begins on my clit as he touches the machine to me.

I can see his shadow as he moves his body up mine, taking the thing off me. His lips touch my ear. “Do you trust me, Cami?”

“Yes,” I say as I feel my insides squirming in anticipation. I have never done anything like this!

“If it gets too much for you, I want you to say the word lemon. You will shout for me to stop but I won’t. If you really need me to stop, say lemon.”

“Why would I tell you to stop?” I ask as I can’t see that happening.

“Sometimes the pleasure can become so great, you want away from it. Hence, cuffing you to the bed. But I want to go on as much as possible, so I can get you on my level. Okay?”

“Yes,” I say and feel fear, suddenly. “No one’s ever died of an orgasm overdose, have they?”

“Not under me, they haven’t. But then again, I’ve only dealt with professionals. So, you be sure to let me know if you can’t take it anymore.”

My heart is racing as he leaves one hard kiss on my mouth then I find the vibrator placed on my lips. “What?” I ask but it’s too late. He’s put it into my mouth.

Back and forth he goes with it. I suppose he’s teaching me how he likes his blowjobs which I’m not experienced at, so I may as well learn on this thing.

His cock is moving over my stomach as he moves the thing in my mouth. It’s growing harder and harder. Then the thing’s pulled out of my mouth and he slides it into me. I have never used one of these things and the sensation is totally different from anything I’ve felt before.

It’s stimulating everything and then something is placed against my rectum and I tighten up.

“Push, Cami.”

“Huh?” I ask. “Push what?”

“Like you’re taking a shit,” he says.

“What is that you have there?” I ask as it feels kind of small.

“My little finger. Now push and stop asking questions. Just feel it. Experience it.”

I shut my mouth and do as he’s said and feel his little finger enter me. I moan as he pumps and everything is going at me at once. I feel an orgasm tapping at the door and explode when he turns the vibrator up even higher.

I’m screaming with the way it feels. It’s not stopping, it’s climbing higher somehow and he makes the vibrator go even faster and it warms up. His little finger is moved and a larger one goes in and I shout as the orgasm won’t ebb. It’s hard and making me want to squirm but I can’t. My hands are immobile with the cuffs and he has my legs held down by his, somehow. I can’t move and the pleasure is too much.

“Cyprian, stop!”

He pulls the vibrator out and then I’m filled with him. “Yes, you’re primed for me. Your pussy is wetter than I bet it’s ever been. It’s pulsating all over my cock. I’ve never got to feel how wet a woman can get. It’s amazing. Keep it going, baby. Keep it up. You’re better than anyone I’ve ever had.”

With his praises, I manage to stop feeling so overwhelmed and get into a rhythm with him. The hard orgasm is finally subsiding into a dull throb as he moves, expertly.

“I love you, Cyprian,” I whisper, raggedly.

“I love fucking you, Cami. I’m completely addicted to you now.” He bites my neck and I shudder.

Addicted? I was looking for something else there. And he loves fucking me, not me?

Have I just made the worst decision I ever could’ve made …?

Chapter 6

CYPRIAN

Yellow rays peek through the curtains as Cami is nestled in my arms. She did better than I ever expected her to. And my need for her is still raging. I thought I’d have her once and be over it but that was far from true.

Nibbling her neck, I whisper. “I have to go to work but you can stay here.”

She grumbles and moans. “I can’t. You need to drop me off at the store to pick up my car. I have a test later this afternoon at the college. It’s a final, I can’t miss it.”

“Then get your lazy ass up, girl,” I joke with her as I give her a light smack on her ass.

“Ow!” she groans as she rolls over. “I’m sore all over.”

“I bet you are,” I say then kiss her swollen lips. “I think tonight I’ll add some spice to it.”

Her sleepy eyes open and she squints at me. “Um, you need more spice?”

I nod and smile at her then get up, pulling the blanket with me to uncover her naked body which wears my marks all over it. “I did eat you up, didn’t I?”

Her hands move over her body and I love the way they look as they do. “You did.” She smiles at the memory.

Throwing her clothes on the bed, I make my way to take a quick shower. “Do you prefer blondes or brunettes, Cami?”

“Um, I guess blondes. I consider you in that category. I never had a type before.” I glance at her over my shoulder and wonder how she’ll take what I want to watch her experience tonight.

As the warm water pours over me I think how lucky I am to have found a woman who is normal with an abnormal sex drive much like mine. It was destiny that brought us together, I can see that now.

When I get out of the shower, I find her dressed and pulling her wild hair into a ponytail. She smiles at me when I come into the room. “So, how’s this going to go, Romeo?”

“I’d like you to stay over as much as you can,” I say then go to find a suit in my suit closet.

“Okay. I have to work tonight. Only until eleven, though. Is that too late for you?”

“No, that’ll work for me. I can’t wait for tonight.” I pull my clothes on then go and take her up in my arms and deliver a kiss to her sweet lips. “You’re a rare find, Camilla Petit. I suppose it’s the French in you that has you so daring.”

She giggles and a pink blush fills her cheeks. “I suppose so. I am sore, though. I’m not sure how much I can take tonight.”

“No worries, a softer touch will be used on you tonight. You do trust me, don’t you?” I ask her to make sure.

She nods as I take her hand and lead her out of the house to the waiting car. Ashton meets us at the door and opens it for us. “Well, good morning you two. What a surprise this is.”

“Good morning, Ashton,” Cami says as she ducks into the back seat.

“Get used to this. She’ll be here a lot,” I tell him. “Did you get the crazy lady on a plane yet?”

“I did,” he says with a nod. “At six this morning. She’s no longer an issue.”

“Cool,” I say as I get into the back seat with Cami.

She rests her head on my shoulder as we ride to where she works. I nuzzle her cheek and whisper, “I can’t wait to get at you tonight, baby.”

She sighs and looks at me. “I love you, Cyprian.”

Looking into her blue eyes I see it there. It wasn’t before and now it is. To be in love with someone with the same kind of adventurous sex drive is a thing I never even wished for.

“I’m going to show you things you never even thought about before, Camilla.”

She shivers and I find that a good sign. “You are?”

“I am. You will never be bored with me. Not in bed anyway.” I kiss her waiting lips and relish how they feel on mine.

All too soon, we pull up at the store where her car is and I have to let her go. Walking her to her car, I hold my hand out for the keys and unlock it for her. “Until tonight,” she says then gets into her car.

I wave and go to get back into mine. I cannot wait to see how she takes my surprise!

I know it’s a thing she’s never done before…

Chapter 7

CAMILLA

My body has been on edge all day with the thoughts about what Cyprian has in store for me. I’m just about to start shaking with nervous anticipation as I pull up to his front door.

He meets me at it with a tall glass in his hand. “Drink this down fast. It will steady your nerves and ease the soreness from last night.”

I gulp it down without bothering to ask what it is. It tastes like a lemon-lime soda. “Thank you,” I tell him as I hand him the empty glass back.

He takes my hand and leads me straight up to his bedroom. “I bought you something pretty to wear. It’s open in the crotch area.” He stops at the edge of his bed and I see a dark blue lacey negligee on top of the blanket. “Go put it on and get your hair out of that bun. Make yourself look sexy for me, baby.”

I smile as he sits on his bed, wearing only a pair of dark blue, satin pajama bottoms. As I change into the little thing, I look at myself in the full-length mirror. I’ve never worn anything like this. I look kind of sizzling hot!

With my hair, free, I look positively savage and smile at my reflection. “Ready to get dirty?”

Leaving the bathroom, I find the lights have been dimmed, the music is on but not loud, and Cyprian is waiting for me with a blue satin blindfold and two sets of the same color blue, fluffy hand cuffs are lying on the bed. He points at something across the room and I follow his finger and see a video camera. The light’s red, it’s not on yet. “You still trust me?” he asks with a wink.

“Oh, Lord. You want to record this?” I ask, feeling shy about it.

“I do. It’s the first time you’ll be experiencing this and I’d like for you to be able to see it later.” His smile is broad as he seems so excited about this new thing he’s going to do to me. “With your permission, of course.”

“What are you going to be doing?” I ask. “Because if it’s going to look odd or parts of me will be too much on display then I’m not cool with that.”

“No, nothing gross. Nothing to make you look ugly or anything like that. I merely want it, so you can see for yourself how you enjoyed it all.”

“Well, okay then. I do trust you. Cyprian, do you really love me or love doing this with me?” I ask as it’s stuck in my mind what he said last night.

He moves his hands up and down my arms. “Both.”

I sigh and nod. “I suppose I can handle that.”

“I love having sex and when it’s with you, it’s beyond compare. Thank you for that, Cami.” His lips touch mine for a moment. Then he’s stepping back and holding up the handcuffs. “Ready to get into position?”

“Is the safe-word still, lemon?” I ask as I get onto the bed.

“It is. Tonight, I want you to really think before you say it. I’d rather you not say it at all. Just like last night. You made great strides in getting your body up to where mine is. I think you can handle just about anything I can,” he says as he closes the cuff around the bedpost.

“I’m not too worried about it. You’re teaching me a lot about just what the human body is capable of. I find it both interesting and enjoyable.” I sneak a kiss on his cheek as he leans over me to cuff the other arm to the bedpost.

“Good. Tonight, will be an eye opener into the world I come from, Cami. You see, I’d like to get to a place where you feel comfortable going to my father’s for a party every now and then.”

I gulp as that is something I’m unsure I can handle. “I don’t know about that, Cyprian,” I say as he takes the blindfold and puts it over my eyes.

“It’s your ignorance of why we do what we do at those parties that has you thinking that way. I’m going to show you why we do what we do at them. Didn’t you feel more relaxed than you’ve ever been, today?”

“Well, yes, I did. But my mind is cool with it because of how much I care for you.”

“And I care for you and I care about making you happy in every way possible. Do you feel that way about me?” he asks as a feather is ran over my chest.

“I do,” I say and find him leaning over me.

His lips touch my ear as he whispers, “Prepare to go to a place you never dreamt could be so satisfying.” The music goes loud and he moves away from me.

I can’t see a thing through this blindfold. My body is tense with what he’s about to do to it. He pushes my legs apart then I feel cool air being blown on me. His hands squeeze my tits and I feel the drink kicking in as I relax.

I’m in his hands and he knows how to make things work inside of me. So, I give myself up to him and let him work his magic on me. His tongue runs up and down my folds. It’s wet and cold. An ice cube is rubbed all over my sore area. It makes it less sore as the soft tongue moves over it.

Soft kisses are peppered over it. So soft, I can’t believe it. His hands leave my breasts and the feather is ran all over them, in their place. His mouth leaves me for a moment as he asks me, “Do you like the way that feels, Cami?”

“Yes,” I moan.

“Do you want more of that?” he asks and runs the feather over me where he’s been kissing.

“I do. Please give me more, Cyprian.”

“As you wish.”

Soft lips touch me again and kiss me, so deep and intimately, I can’t quite get over it. I could just let him kiss me like this forever. It feels so good. I’m not sure how he’s managed to learn to lighten up his kiss like this. It’s amazing.

His hands move over the lace fabric of the negligee, covering my stomach. His touch is light as well. I suppose that’s what he meant about things would be much softer tonight.

His intimate kiss is starting to work and I arch up as I orgasm. “Good, Cami. Let it out.”

I arch up and moan as the kiss goes on then I hear the sound of a vibrator. His lips are near my ear as his body hovers over mine. I can feel the tip of the vibrator on the edge of my vagina. “Let it all go, Cami.”

It sides into me and moves back out. He’s holding himself all the way up off me and somehow he’s managing to move it as if he’s wearing the thing.

“Do you have that strapped onto you, Cyprian?” I ask as it feels that way to me.

His lips are touching my ear again. “Shh, do you like it?”

The warmth of it is nice and the vibration is too. “I do.”

“You want it harder and faster?” he asks me.

“Yes,” I say as I moan and he moves it that way.

Over and over he goes until I’m groaning with another orgasm. Then soft lips are on mine and I taste myself as a small tongue goes into my mouth as the vibrator keeps going in and out as my body erupts with the hard climax.

The lips are soft, small, and the way the tongue is moving in my mouth is different. The body that’s now laying on top of mine is light and small.

My God! It’s a woman!

What the hell has he done…?

* * *

Chapter 1

CAMILLA

“Lemon! Lemon! Lemon!” I screech, once I manage to twist my head enough the woman has to stop her kiss.

“Lemon?” Cyprian asks as if he’s completely surprised. “You’re not in any pain, are you?”

“You mother fucker!” I shout. “Get her off me and get me out of these fucking cuffs!”

The woman scrambles off me. “She’s mad, Cyprian. This was a bad idea.”

“Mad doesn’t begin to describe what the hell I am,” I say with a low tone to try to get some kind of control over the emotions that are rushing through me like a tidal wave.

“Baby,” Cyprian says with a soothing tone to his deep voice.

“Shut up!” I shriek. “Get me out of these things!”

Finally, I feel him unlocking the handcuffs. With one hand, free, I pull the blindfold off and see the other woman, a small blonde, standing in a corner. She has on the same thing I do and I see Cyprian is still in those blue pajama bottoms.

He’s leaning over me to release the other handcuff and as soon as he does, I slap the shit out of him. “Fuck you, you pervert!” I roll off the bed as he looks at me with a stunned expression and a red hand print, whelping up on his face. A face that did look handsome to me but now sends anger through me so intense I’ve never experienced the likes of before.

“Cami?” he asks as I run toward the bathroom. “Cami, you liked it.”

“Shut up!” I scream at him and slam into the bathroom and turn on the shower to nearly scalding hot.

Ripping the little negligee off, I throw it at the wastebasket and get into the steaming hot shower and grab the shampoo, filling my hand with it and rubbing it all over my hair, face, and body. All the while I’m screaming and can’t manage to stop doing that.

The bathroom door opens, somehow. I did lock it, I’m sure I did.

“Cami, baby,” he says with a little cooing sound. “You liked…”

“I’m going to kill you! Get out!” I scream so loud I’m sure people can hear me from a mile away.

He laughs. The mother fucker is fucking laughing at me and I come completely unglued and jump out of the shower and tackle his ass. I scratch, bite, and punch him everywhere I can.

I can still hear him laughing and it infuriates me even further. “Camilla Petit, calm the hell down.” More chuckles follow his words and I can’t believe him.

Worn out, I get off him as I’ve managed to knock him to the floor and have straddled him, buck naked as I am, and find myself weak and full of sadness. Tears start flowing like rivers and I get off him and get back in the shower to rinse the soap off me.

I can’t look at him. I can’t talk to him. He’s sick.

“Cami,” he says, soothingly as he gets in the shower with me, as he’s taken off his PJ bottoms. His arms go around me and I bat them away.

“Don’t, Cyprian,” I cry out at him. “You need to get away from me. We’re done.”

“No, we’re not, Cami. I just went further, faster than you were ready for, that’s all. I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t know you’d react so badly to that. You were liking it.”

Then my stomach churns and turns and I am puking my guts up. Holding myself up with the tiled wall, I vomit until there’s nothing left inside me. Cyprian holds my hair back and rubs my shoulders.

I look up at him through tear-filled eyes and can’t believe he’d do such a thing to me. “I trusted you,” I croak. “And you did that to me. I can never trust you again. Not ever. We’re done. I don’t even want to be your friend anymore. You’re sick.”

He rolls his eyes and smiles at me. “I am not sick. Tons of people do things like that. And once you watch the video, you’ll see how much you enjoyed it. And I did too. Watching you getting off like that…”

I dry heave again as he talks about what just happened as if it was a beautiful thing. When I manage to stop, I look at him again. “I’m leaving. I’m not watching that.”

“Are you a homophobe, Cami?” he asks with a deep chuckle.

Shaking my head, I slip out of his grasp, thanks to the water on my skin, and get out to grab a towel and wrap it around me. “I am not anything like that. What people do is their business. You did that to me without asking me about it. That’s unforgivable.”

He turns off the water and gets out of the shower and wraps a towel around his waist then reaches out and pulls me into his arms. “I can’t let you go. You’re mad right now and there’s no way I can let you leave. We’ll have a few drinks and…”

I scream and he stops talking. “I am leaving and you are to leave me the hell alone. I’ve never been so upset in my life. If I had a gun, you’d be dead already.”

He looks shocked I’ve said that and lets me go. “You know what? Fucking leave then! You fucking liked that and you fucking know it! Your little act of being Miss Goody-Two-Shoes isn’t a thing I’m buying. You liked what I did to you and you liked what I had done to you. So, fucking leave if you want to!”

I’m left in his bathroom, stunned and amazed, as he storms out. My clothes are in here, so I put them back on and run my hands through my wet hair then try to gather my strength to walk out the door and most likely find him fucking that other woman.

Closing my eyes, I leave the bathroom and walk into his room. I find him lying in his bed and don’t see the other woman in the room. “Where is she?”

He doesn’t even look at me as he says, “I sent her home. She was worried you’d try to beat her up.”

“I’m not even upset with the poor woman. She was only doing what you paid her to do. I’m upset, no scratch that, upset is too small of a word, I’m furious at you, Cyprian. And you don’t seem to care at all.” I stand still and watch him as he closes his eyes.

“Camilla, I will say this only one more time. You said you trusted me to make you feel good and I did. End of argument.” He opens his eyes and looks at me then picks up the remote from the nightstand and presses a button. I see the large television screen that’s hung on the opposite wall, light up.

On the large screen, it’s me on the bed and my stomach lurches. “Cyprian,” I say as I turn to walk away.

“Come here, Camilla,” he orders me.

I turn back and look at him with my heart full of sadness. He was a man I put my trust in and he has hurt me more than he can understand.

The sound is turned up and I hear myself on the television panting and moaning as the other woman kisses my intimate areas. “I can’t believe you expect me to be okay with what you did. It speaks volumes about the real man you are. You are a sexual deviant wrapped in a very pretty package. You can think I am one too and just trying to hide it. I wanted to be with you. Not anyone else. I was giving myself to you. Not another person, woman or man. I let my inhibitions go with you, and I only ever meant to do that with just you. And you went and took the trust I placed in you and misused it. Goodbye, Cyprian. I’m not a woman who will be ordered around or used. We are done.”

I walk away and as my hand touches the doorknob, I hear him say, “Please, don’t go.”

I stand there for a long moment as I think about the man and all he’s been through and how he’s so different than I am. I think how he must’ve meant something else by what he did. But when it comes down to it, I cannot allow myself to trust the man. I cannot allow my morals to be corrupted by him and if I stay with him, he will surely corrupt every part of me.

Twisting the doorknob, I leave him, saying nothing else because there are no words that can make it right. The trust is gone and without that, you have nothing.

If this is the right thing to do, why the hell does it hurt so damn bad…?

Chapter 2

CYPRIAN

Watching her walk away from me, again, is so much harder than it was before. I know she can be what I want but her damn morals are in her way.

I turn my attention back to the television and watch her being very pleased with what was happening to her and have no idea why she freaked out. It wasn’t until the other woman kissed her on the mouth that she wanted things to stop.

Some women don’t like that and perhaps I should’ve gotten to know Cami and her hidden sexual wants better before I brought the other woman into play. I wasn’t going to have sex with the other woman, I merely wanted Cami to get to feel the soft touch of another woman. Almost every woman I’ve been with, liked that.

I watch the television and can see her body go tense as soon as their lips meet. She wrenches her head, making their kiss end and then she’s screaming the safe word and my expression is one of confusion.

When I was taking her cuffs off, I wasn’t able to see her face. Now that I can, I see she was disgusted and somewhat hurt. Then her hand flies back and she slaps me.

I run my hand over my cheek and still feel the heat from the hard slap. Pulling the blanket back, I find small scratches where she clawed at me. There’s a bite mark on my arm and I find myself thinking a little differently.

She was like a wild animal!

Could she really have felt so upset with me for doing that? Or is she just mad because I pushed her further than what she was ready for?

I turn the television off as the scene has become anything except what I intended it to be. I bought all the clothes to match so we’d have our own little video of us. It was meant to be romantic and a keepsake.

Pulling the blanket back up, I lie down and think about going to sleep. I need to. Work will come early in the morning and today the only thing that kept me going was my plans for tonight. With the way things turned out, on my mind, I doubt I’ll be any good at all tomorrow.

The darkness encompasses me as I close my eyes and try to think of nothing at all. But her face keeps coming to my mind. She was clearly upset. I’m lying to myself about her being anything less than disgusted with me.

Is she going to stick to being done with me? Can she really end it, just like that? Will she end it?

I can’t take her words at the moment, as she was angry and most words spoken in anger are taken back, eventually. Maybe tomorrow will have her seeing things differently.

If the shoe were on the other foot and she had me tied up and blindfolded and brought in another man, secretly, and had him do the exact same things to me, how would I take it?

I lie here and imagine that and feel my stomach wrap in on itself. Yes, that would be uncool in my book. But women are different. I’ve watched countless women get off on each other’s touch. Cami will come around. She has to.

But what if she doesn’t?

What will I have to do to win her back again…?

Chapter 3

CAMILLA

The smell of bleach fills my nostrils as I empty out the mop bucket. “Gina, you don’t understand. I can’t tell you why I broke it off with him. It’s too ugly.”

She looks at me with a frown. “How ugly could it be? The man looks like a Roman God. He’d have to do something very wrong for me to end things with the likes of him. Add in all that money, and you have a gold mine right there, honey. And, for some reason, you just keep on walking out on him. Are you sure you’re not legally insane?” She laughs and I’m finally sick of hearing her go on and on about how great Cyprian is and how dumb I am.

Placing the empty mop bucket in the corner, where it goes, I walk around the corner and scan the store to make sure no one is in it. Looking back at her, I say, “So, you want to hear the terrible thing he did to me?”

She nods and tosses the rag she was drying dishes with, in the sink and comes to me with wide eyes and open ears. “Tell me about it.”

“He had me handcuffed to his bed and blindfolded,” I say.

She laughs and shakes her head. “Honey, that’s fun!”

Shaking my head, I say, “No, that’s not the part I had a problem with. You see, the night before, he showed me some things about the way he likes to be intimate and I liked them too. I liked them a lot and maybe he got the wrong idea about me. Maybe he got the idea that I was a slut and he could do anything he wanted to me. I don’t know. All I know is the man went too far.”

“Like what?” she asks as her eyes go even wider. “Did he beat you with whips or chains? My first husband was into that and I liked it at first then it got old.”

“No, he didn’t do that. I kind of half-ass expected that and was prepared for something along those lines. No, what he did was worse. He violated my trust,” I say as I can’t seem to get the words to come out of my mouth.

“How’d he do that, Camilla?” she asks. “Did he hurt you, physically?”

“No,” I say then walk away to find my cup of coffee.

She follows me to the checkout counter and seems to be confused. “He simply violated your trust, you say. But tell me how he did that.”

I find my stomach knotting up as I recall it all and have to run to the bathroom. “I’m going to be sick.”

Gina waits and says, “My God! What did he do to you?”

I barely make it to the bathroom before it all comes up. Everything I’ve eaten all day, which wasn’t much as my appetite has been non-existent. Splashing water on my face, I look at my reflection and want to cry.

I see the same woman I was yesterday at this time but I know I’m different now. I’m a woman who has been with another woman. When people ask, I will have to say that I’ve dabbled in that department and that makes me furious at Cyprian. That should’ve been my call, not his!

I’m not going to lie and say it didn’t feel good, what she did to me. But I thought it was him the whole time and that’s where my head is all fucked up. My heart is pounding and I lean against the wall to stop myself from hyperventilating as I’m breathing hard and fast. “Stop. Calm down.”

Finally, I manage to catch my breath and go back out into the store. Several customers have come in and I see Gina waiting on one of them. A nice-looking man comes up to me and asks, “Excuse me, do you keep the condoms behind the counter or something? I can’t find any out on the shelves.

Anger boils up inside of me and I shout, “Pervert!” Then I spin around and go to the walk-in cooler and try to stop shaking with the anger that’s consuming me.

Tears well up and I can’t stop them. I run out of the cooler, going to the counter and grab my things and leave the store without saying a word because I can’t talk right now.

Everyone is watching me as I haul ass to my car and then I stop, dead in my tracks as Cyprian is standing next to it. I look around and don’t see any of his cars. He’s gotten dropped off, so I have to take him home. “No!” I turn around and start running.

I have no idea where I’m going but I’m running like the wind to get away from him. He’s not going to pull me back down to where he’s at. I’m not going!

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrap around me, stopping me. “Hey there. What’s wrong?”

I blink to try to get some of the tears out of my eyes and when I can see, I see it’s the guy who asked me out once. “Sorry, I have to go.” I look over my shoulder and see Cyprian coming my way.

“Hold her for me, will you?” he calls out to the man holding my arms.

“Oh my God,” I say under my breath. “Please let me go. Don’t let him get me.”

“Did he do something to you, Camilla?” the guy asks me and I nod.

This guy is nowhere nearly as built as Cyprian and I get afraid for him, immediately when he says, “Hold up there, buddy. He says you did something to her.”

I cower into the man’s chest and pray he decides to let me go, so I can run away from Cyprian. A few more people circle around us as the guy has brought more attention to us all.

Cyprian gets close enough to whisper, “Are you happy now, Cami? You’ve caused a scene with your theatrics.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Come on.”

I look up at the man with terror in my eyes. “Don’t let him take me. Please.”

He looks at Cyprian. “Tell you what. Why don’t you leave her alone for a while? It seems you two have had a fight or something and she needs to calm down.”

“Cami, come on,” Cyprian says again. “You know I’ve never hurt you and I never will. Now come on. Stop being so dramatic. We need to talk.”

Gina comes outside and shouts, “Should I call the cops, Camilla?”

“Should she?” Cyprian asks me. “Or should you stop being crazy?”

Now he’s made me mad and I find my backbone straightening as my courage builds. “You know what, you’re right.” I look around at everyone that’s gathered around us. “Come on, Cyprian, I’m taking you home.”

“That’s better,” he says as the guy lets me go and Cyprian and I walk, side by side, to my car.

Gina’s looking at me with confusion. “You going home, Camilla?”

“I am. Clock me out, please. I have some business to take care of.”

She gives me a nod and I walk away with the man who doesn’t realize he’s about to get his ass handed to him. His arm runs around my shoulders as he leans in close. “You had me worried, baby.”

“You should be,” I say as I unlock the passenger door and open it for him then walk around to get into the driver’s seat. He looks at me with an odd expression then gets into the car.

I suppose he thinks he can handle me but he’s far from being right. I slip into the seat and start the car up and leave the parking lot, nice and slow. The group of people is still lingering around, to make sure things are okay, I’m sure.

“Cami, I couldn’t think about anything today except for the fact you’re mad at me,” he says and puts his hand over mine.

I move it after I change to fourth gear and shake my head. “I don’t care.”

“You must,” he says as he reaches up and pulls the rubber band, that’s holding my hair in a ponytail, out. My hair cascades over my shoulders and he takes a lock of it and pulls it to his nose, taking a sniff. “I missed this scent this morning when I woke up, alone.”

I don’t bother to speak as I’m mentally preparing myself for what I’m going to say to get him to understand, we are through. The gate comes up and I punch in the code and in we go.

When I stop in front of his door, he looks at me for a second then grabs the keys, turning off my car and yanking them out of the ignition then getting out of the car.

My first instinct is to scream at him as panic floods my system. Then I realize he’ll be handing them back in no time and telling me to get the hell out of here.

So, I get out and walk behind him as I take off my green smock and toss it in the open passenger window as I pass by it. I crack my neck and knuckles and find him looking back to see what’s making the noise. “You thinking about hitting me?”

I shake my head. “You thinking about trying to get me to change my mind about you?”

He nods and punches in the security code on his door then opens it and we go inside. He takes my hand and leads me all the way through the house and out to the garage. Placing my keys on the pegboard, he takes the Lambo keys off it and hands them to me. “I’m giving you the Lambo, Cami.” He reaches into his inside jacket pocket and pulls out a paper. “I put the title in your name today. It’s yours now.”

I take the keys and step to one side then look at him and smile. “No, thank you.” I place them back on the pegboard and take mine back. “And you can wipe your ass with that fucking title, you prick.”

Turning to go back inside and leave, I feel his hand on my shoulder. “Cami, just stop being this way. It doesn’t suit you at all.”

Spinning back, I throw my hand back to slap the shit out of him but he grabs my wrist just before I can connect. “Damn you!”

“I’m not going to let you hit me, Cami.” He pulls me along with him and we end up in the kitchen. “You look pale and I’m sure you haven’t eaten much today.” He doesn’t let me go as he gets something out of a bag on the countertop. “I picked this up for you on the way home. It’s a cheese burger and you’re going to eat all of it.”

“Sure,” I say as I take a seat on a tall stool at the island in the middle of the huge kitchen. “Suddenly, I am very hungry.” I take the burger and begin to eat it. He lets my wrist go and looks at me with a wary expression.

“What can I get you to drink?” he asks as he makes his way to the fridge.

“A beer. Better make that three of them. I don’t care what kind. Something strong, none of that light shit,” I say and take another bite. I’m preparing myself for battle and I’ll be damned if I go into it with an empty stomach and no stones to tell him what I think of him.

He places one beer on the countertop. “Let’s start with one, shall we?”

Looking right into his dark eyes, I pick up the beer and down it. Placing the empty bottle back down, I say, “Another please.”

He frowns and takes the empty bottle, tossing it into the recycling bin. I watch him get another one out of the fridge as I take another bite. The burger is delicious and I want to ask him where he got it but that would be too conversational and I don’t want to have a conversation with the man. I want to piss him off. And I want to do it, thoroughly!

Sliding the beer to me, he takes the seat next to me. “About last night.”

I hold up my hand. “I don’t want to talk about that. I’m eating and that subject matter makes me sick.”

He nods and looks away. “I thought about that. I thought about if you’d done that to me. Not another woman, as that would be fine but another man. I did find it to be a thing I wouldn’t want.”

“Great. Too late for me, though,” I say as I take another bite, followed by a drink of the beer. “You say if I brought a woman in and had her suck your cock and screw you that you’d like that, huh?”

“Yes,” he says as looks at me. “I have done that many, many times, after all.”

“And you should get back to that, Cyprian. You really should. You need to leave me the hell alone and get back to the life you know and love. Don’t let me stop you or get in your way,” I say as I slam back the rest of the beer. “How about another?”

“You’re going to get drunk?” he says but gets up to get me another beer.

“I am. I am going to get drunk tonight and wash this shit out of my mind. I am going to get back to the woman I was before I met you.” I take the last bite of the burger and watch him as he looks back at me with defiance dancing in his dark eyes.

“I see.” He brings me another beer but keeps it in his hand as he takes my hand and pulls me up, wrapping his arms around me. “I love you, Camilla Petit.” He brings his lips toward mine.

“If your lips touch mine, they will be met with a bite,” I say and find him stopping.

“You told me you loved me, only yesterday. How could you stop so quickly? Unless you were only telling me what you thought I wanted to hear?”

“I thought I loved you. But that was before I knew you for the real man you are. A pervert who destroys women’s trust.”

“If you call me a pervert one more time, I may find it necessary to punish you, Camilla.” His eyes dart back and forth as if he’s being serious.

“If you lay a hand on me, you will bring back a stub, Cyprian. I am not the woman to think you can do that to.” I level my eyes on his and find him letting me out of the hold he had on me.

“You have too much anger going through you still. I thought, by now, you’d have come to your senses about last night. It wasn’t ugly or perverted. You looked beautiful. I watched the recording many times and you’re face and body told me you did enjoy it.” He walks away from me, slowly.

“You would watch it over and over again. Tell me how you liked the part where I slapped the shit out of you,” I say then grab the beer he’s placed on the counter.

My body is about to start shaking as he reminds me about last night. I take a drink and blink back the burning of the tears that are threatening me, yet again. “I’ve thrown up more today than I ever have, and I had the flu once. I’ve cried more too. Are you still sure I enjoyed that?”

“You did, until your misplaced morals got in your way. It’s merely sex, Cami. Nothing more than that. It’s people making others experience pleasure. You’re making it into something society has changed it into.” He slips his jacket off and then unbuttons his white shirt and takes it off. “My body can bring your body much pleasure and vice versa. So why are you fighting everything so hard?”

“You should never have done that, Cyprian. And the fact you won’t apologize and keep shoving it down my throat, tells me who you really are and I don’t like that man. You know many women who will do what you want. Go to them.” I take another drink as he eyes me like a wolf does its prey.

“Camilla Petit, I have set my sights on you. It is you I want and need. I crave you. I was willing to change for you. When I found, you liked the same things I do, well, I had to venture out and see if you could really be a part of the me I was. If you think you can’t then I can change.”

I shake my head. “I have never asked you to change for me. Not once. I have repeatedly told you not to. While I liked what you and I did, alone, I don’t see myself ever wanting more than you in my bed. But for a moment, let me stick this picture in your head. Me in bed with you and another man. Let that little picture sink in, Cyprian.”

“That’s not a thing I’ve ever done. I like to be the dominate one in the bedroom. I like to rule over the women I bring to it. I like to orchestrate the scene to satisfy us all. And I’d like you at my side while I do that.”

“I don’t want your dick in any other female, or male, for that matter. I don’t want your lips on anyone else’s either. I don’t want their mouth on you, anywhere. I want you all to myself. It may sound selfish but here, in normal society, it’s widely accepted.” I place the beer on the counter and bait him some more. “So, I’m going to ask you something and see if you see fit to give me what I want.”

“Shoot,” he says. “The world is at your fingertips, baby.”

“This Friday night, take me to your father’s party and let me have sex with another man while you watch. If you like seeing me being aroused by another person, that is.” I watch his face go into a blank expression and his Adam’s apple lurches in his throat as he swallows hard.

“I thought you had to have feelings for a man before you allowed him to have sex with you? God knows you made me wait,” he says as he looks into my eyes. I think he’s trying to see if I’m serious.

I’m not sure if I am or not. But I say, “Since you brought a person into me who I had no feelings for, I figure why not do it with a random man too. Fuck, I’ve already been desecrated, what’s one more? And this time a man.”

Pacing in front of me, he seems to be thinking. I see a vein start to thump in his forehead. I’ve never seen that happened before. Finally, he stops and looks at me. “I can’t do that. I can’t see another man’s hands on you, much less him taking you.”

“But you let that woman take me,” I say and watch him shake his head.

“It’s not the same. I suppose it’s because she can’t get you pregnant and a man can. I don’t know, exactly. I just know I can’t stand to even think about another man on you, in you. The thought, alone, makes me crazy. And why would you even want that, if you love me?” he glares at me as I shrug.

“I’m just saying if you think watching another woman give me pleasure is what gets you off then why not let another man do it too?”

“Look, I can live my life never seeing that again. I can do whatever it is you want. You want a plain, old, boring sex life? I can deal with that. God knows I’ve had enough wild sex already.” He moves around the counter to come to me.

I get up and move away from him. “Boring sex life? Is that what you think I want? Is that how you felt when it was only you and me?”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re putting words into my mouth.” He comes toward me and grabs my arm before I can get away.

Pulling me into his arms, he puts his hand under my T-shirt. His hand closes over one of my breasts and I take in a sharp breath. “Cyprian, no.”

“I take responsibility for hurting you, Cami. I promise to never do that again. Now, can we get back to where we were? I want you. I’ll do anything for you.” His lips touch my ear then he bites my earlobe. “I’m addicted to you. You’re sweeter than any drug ever made.”

I press my hands against his chest as he’s driving my body crazy. “Cyprian, please don’t do this to me. I can’t,” I say but his mouth is on mine, stopping me from saying another word.

My mind is telling me to push him away and leave but my body is craving the man. He takes one of my hands and wraps it around his neck then he picks me up and carries me with him.

I want to stop kissing him, I want to stop liking it. I want to have more will power. But it’s fading fast. The anger is fading.

He lays me on a sofa and touches something on the table and fire springs to life in a fireplace. “I love you, Cami. Forgive me.”

I stare into his eyes and see more in them than I did before. Maybe he does love me. But do I love him, anymore?

Sitting up, I stand up and shake my head. “I can’t right now. I don’t trust you. I don’t know if you can earn it again. Plus, the fact you still think you’d like to have sex with other women is a huge red flag.”

He grabs my hand as I try to leave. “So, my honesty has cost me. Is that what you’re saying? Because I don’t want to be in a relationship if it means I have to hide things about myself or lie.”

“You still don’t get it, Cyprian. I thought you told me you were a child prodigy? When did you stop listening? I want you to be whoever the hell you want to be. I will accept who you are or I won’t. At this point, who you are right now, well, I can’t be with you. I have to be able to trust you and I can’t right now.”

“How can I make it up to you?” he asks as he pulls me back into his arms. His lips graze my forehead then he kisses me again. “Cami, don’t leave me this way. This is killing me.”

“I have to be true to myself. I am sorry you don’t understand. Just give me space, please. I need space and time. Maybe I’ll get over this feeling and maybe I won’t. But you pushing at me, so soon afterward, is just pushing me away.” I push his chest and he lets me go.

“Take the car I gave you,” he says then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of cash. “And this.” He holds it out to me.

“No, Cyprian. You cannot buy me.” I turn to leave and he stands still.

My heart is aching but I know I have to do this for myself. I must put myself first. I can’t lose myself in the man.

“Cami, look at me, please,” he says.

I stop and turn around. “Yes?”

“I love you,” he says then blows me a kiss. “I will be here, waiting for you. You come or call or send me a message and I will be there. I am sorry for hurting you and making you lose trust in me. And I hope you can forgive me in time. Can I hear you tell me that you love me one more time? You see, no one but you has ever told me those words before. No one. And you are the only person I have said those words to.”

What he said shouldn’t shock me but it does. He’s a 35-year-old gorgeous man with tons of money and no one has ever seen fit to ever tell him that he’s loved. Not even his parents.

“I love you, Cyprian. I suppose I always will. But I love myself too and I have to uphold myself to the standards I have and will always live my life by. I hope you can understand.”

He nods. “Thank you, Cami.”

I nod and leave him. Again, I am walking away. Each time I’ve thought it was the last time, I’d be leaving him. Yet, I’ve managed to come back. But this time he’s really gone too far and I know who he really is and I can’t be with someone like him.

I wonder how long it will take for the pain to leave my heart…?

Chapter 4

CYPRIAN

The moon still glows as it fills the sky and the stars still shine up in the dark sky. Life moves on, even though mine feels as if it’s over. She’s left me again and this time I don’t think she’s coming back.

With no idea of who to talk to as making friends was never a real concern of mine, I’ve asked Ashton to come over and talk to me. The emptiness I’m feeling is overwhelming. And my father’s advice isn’t a thing I think is right for this situation. He and I are too much alike for him to actually help me.

“So, you brought a woman into your love life, without Camilla’s consent?” he asks me then takes a long drag off a cigar.

I told him everything. And he’s been quiet for about five minutes. “I did. Now, what can I do to get her to forgive me and understand I’m an idiot?”

Ashton shakes his head as he looks up into the night sky. We’re out on a patio, the light has been bothering me all day and into the night. I have a migraine that could kill a horse.

“Cyprian, there’s not a thing you can do. That was terrible. She’s probably feeling violated. Much like a rape victim,” he says then looks at me. Not in a judgmental way but like a man who’s trying to get me to see right from wrong.

That line is so thin, in my mind, it’s nearly invisible. “Rape is too strong of a word, Ashton. And she was enjoying it, up until she realized it wasn’t me.”

“That’s because she was trusting that it was you. You know damn good and well, you knew what you were doing. You knew she had no idea it wasn’t you. What’s worse, is she’s aware of how much thought you put into the whole thing. It was premeditated. I’m telling you, that wound will leave a scar so deep, it may never go away.” He looks away from me and shakes his head again. “Best to move on and leave that woman alone. Entirely, Cyprian.”

His words are sinking in deep. I never meant for her to feel that way about what I did. I only wanted her to feel amazing things. That’s all!

“Ashton, I have to fix things. I have to! I didn’t think the way you are, about it. I guess she feels exactly what you’re talking about. My God! I have to fix it. I have to!”

“It’s too late, boy.” He gets up and walks over to the large potted plant at the edge of the patio and stubs out his cigar. “Leave her alone. Your face will only remind her of what happened to her one crazy night when she was in love with a man who made her do things that were never in her mind to do.”

I double over as my stomach cramps. “My God! What have I done? I am a monster, aren’t I?”

“You were created, Cyprian. Stay with the world you grew up in. You weren’t meant to be with a normal woman. You were made to be a man with a love for money and many, many women. Camilla is a special woman and she deserves to get to live a normal life. You will only ever hurt her. You’re not meant for that kind of life.”

The pain inside my body is excruciating. “Ashton, something’s wrong.”

He walks over to me and touches my head. “You’re not hot. You have no fever. Why are you doubled over?”

“Ashton, something’s wrong. I can’t straighten up. I think I need to go to the hospital,” I look up at him and see him shaking his head.

“It’s guilt, son. It hurts, huh?” he asks as he runs his hand over my head. “I’ll get you something stout to drink. It’ll knock the edge off.”

He walks away and I find myself gritting my teeth with the pain in my abdomen. I have to admit this is my first bout with guilt but fuck it hurts like hell.

I pick up my phone and call Cami. It rings and rings but she doesn’t answer. I don’t know why I thought she would. She left me only an hour ago. The anger is still white hot inside of her.

Why did I do that to her? What the hell is wrong with me? Is there any way I can change what I’ve done?

Ashton returns with a dark glass of something and hands it to me. “Sip on this and take a hot bath. This is what it feels like to fully understand your role in her pain. Yours is manifesting itself, physically. Hers is invisible. Her mind is where it resides and I’m sure she can feel it in her heart. I told you to leave her alone. You shouldn’t have pushed yourself on her. She was a good girl, Cyprian. She has to feel tainted by what you’ve done to her.”

Getting up, I stagger into the house and make it to the first bathroom. Starting the water, I take my clothes off to get into the hot tub to try to relieve this pain in my gut. It’s so bad, I can hardly think.

And what thoughts are filtering in are about her and that seems to make it worse.

What have I done…?

Chapter 5

CAMILLA

“Did you hear about the rich guy, last night, Camilla?” Kyle asks me as I come in for my evening shift at the store.

I pull my green smock on and shake my head. “Are you talking about that guy I used to see?”

“Yeah, Cyprian Girard. It was on the news. I was driving down the road when the ambulance left his house last night. There was a long black car following it and a BMW came out after that one.”

I stand perfectly still and look at him. “What happened to him? I just saw him last night.” And I had ignored five calls from him after I left him!

“He had appendicitis. He was sent to surgery and he’s yet to come out of the anesthesia. The reporter said it happens sometimes. He seems to be in a coma.”

My knees buckle and I have to hold the counter to stay up. “What hospital? Did they say?” I find myself taking my phone out and calling him. I cross my fingers that, by some miracle, he answers it and tells me he’s okay. But I don’t get that.

“I don’t know if they did say the hospital or not. It was the channel six news. Maybe you could check their website,” he says and I go to that next.

I find out which one he’s in and look at Kyle. “I need to leave.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know how to close the store. You have to stay, Camilla.”

I’m stuck! I’m fucking stuck!

Hurrying to the office, I start trying to find someone to come in to take my shift, who can close the store. The first call goes unanswered. “Of course, Gina isn’t answering. She has some high school reunion tonight. Damn!”

There’s only three of us who know how to close this damn store. Then I make a decision. I’ll leave and be back in time to close. I get up and walk out to tell Kyle what I’m going to do when three men in suits walk in.

I stare at them as Kyle greets them. “We’re from corporate. We have a pop-inspection and audit to do. Are you the night manager?” one of them asks me. I nod and another one gestures to the office. We should start up as soon as we possibly can. This could go until late.”

“The store locks at one-fifteen tonight. It can’t go longer than that,” I say as I go with them to the office.

“We can override that. It could take up until four or five. Depends on how well you all have kept the records and things in order,” the other guy says and I feel the blood running out of my head.

“All night?” I ask. “I really need to leave for at least a little while, please. I just found out my boyfriend is in a coma in the hospital.”

One of the men sighs, “Honey, we’ve heard every excuse in the book. You aren’t going anywhere, unless you’re ready to quit this job.”

One of the men holds up his hand. “And that’s not an option right now. You see, if you leave and things are found to be out of order and money or inventory is off, it’s you who’ll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. So, take a seat and let’s get this going.

My heart is pounding and I look out the office door at Kyle. He looks a bit panicked too. With a shrug, he turns around and I find myself feeling more unstable than I ever recall feeling.

God, I hope he wakes up…

Chapter 6

CAMILLA

The rising sun has me blinking and pulling on sunglasses at six in the morning. The manager is coming in as the three men and I are leaving after the all-night audit we managed to pass.

She gives me a look as she comes to the door we’re leaving. “What’s going on?”

One of the men hands her a paper. “Here’s a copy of our findings. You passed. You have yourself a very competent night manager. Keep up the good work.”

“I want the night off,” I tell her as I go to my car.

“You got it!” she shouts after me. “Take the next three nights off. And thanks!”

I’m a zombie as I go to my car and drive out to my house. I’m going to shower and change then call that hospital and find out if Cyprian woke up. If he did, I’ll talk to him over the phone then sleep. If he didn’t wake up, I’ll go up to the hospital.

I keep thinking this is my fault, somehow. Maybe the stress of our breakup caused it. I’m a scientist, I know that’s not very plausible but stress can do some weird shit to the body.

An experiment with lab rats where there was a very dominate female had all the other females becoming infertile as she was so aggressive to them anytime a male was introduced into their enclosure. It was weird but true.

Going into my house, I find my body trying to give up on me. My eyes go to my bed and my body migrates to it. “No! Cyprian’s in a bad spot. Come on!”

I shake my head to ward off the exhaustion and go to the shower. It helps me refresh and wake up some. I hurry to bathe then get out and throw on jeans and a T-shirt then slip on some sandals. My hair has to be tamed a bit, so I put it into a clip to hold my wild curls down. Then I leave the bathroom and find my phone.

The damn battery is dead so I plug it into the charger and make myself some coffee as it charges up, so I can turn it on. The pot is shaking in my hand as I fill it with water.

Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed by sorrow and slowly, go to the floor, leaving the coffee pot in the sink as I start crying. “Why didn’t I answer his calls?”

Have I missed any chance of ever hearing his voice again? Have I missed any chance of ever having him in my life? What have I done?

My phone makes a beep as it comes back on. I pull myself up and turn the water off and go back to my phone and find the number to the hospital. “AnMed, how can I direct your call?” a woman answers the phone.

“I need to ask about a patient.”

The phone makes some clicking noises then another woman answers, “Patient care.”

“Hello, I’m wanting to know if Cyprian Girard has woken up yet,” I blurt out.

“And you are who to him?” she asks with a professional tone.

“His girlfriend.” I cross my fingers.

“Oh. Um, well. I can’t tell you anything more than what room he’s in. His family has asked that of us.”

“Give me his room number.” I pick up a pen and write 228, on my hand, when she gives it to me. “Thanks.”

Dropping the pen, I grab my purse and keys and head out to the hospital. It’s about forty minutes away.

A long as hell forty minutes…

Chapter 7

CYPRIAN

Bright light filters through beige curtains, a steady beep is near my head, filling my ears as antiseptic stings my nose. “I made it,” I croak out.

The pain was unbearable. I asked Aston to take me to the hospital but he thought it would be better if an ambulance came to get me. He called my father and he got to me before the ambulance did.

I called Cami more times than I can remember. She never answered any of my calls. I guess she’s done with me. And I cannot blame her.

“Hey there,” a soft voice calls out to me.

I turn my head to find a nurse, in pink scrubs coming into my room. “Hi,” I say and find my throat is so dry.

She smiles and picks up a cup of water with a straw in it and gives me a drink. “The IV is keeping you hydrated but it can’t help the mouth stay that way. How’s the pain level, Mr. Girard?”

I recall the paramedics asking me that and telling them to register it between one and ten. It was a ten when they had me. “A five.” I point to my side. “Here is where it hurts.”

She nods. “That’s where they made the incision to take out that pesky appendix that ruptured on you a couple of nights ago. That will no longer bother you.”

“What did I do to make it give up on me?” I ask as I don’t recall ever finding that out in the past. “What makes them rupture?”

“There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent it from happening. It just happens to some people, not all. There’s no way to tell. You can be sure it won’t happen again, though. It’s outta there!” She laughs and checks my machines. “You gave your family quite a scare with how long you took to wake up. They’ll be glad to see those pretty brown eyes, open.”

“Did anyone else come to see me?” I ask her. “A beautiful young woman with curly black hair and dark blue eyes, perhaps?”

Her green eyes droop at the corners as her lips form a straight line. “No. Would you like me to help you call that beautiful young woman?”

“No,” I say then think twice about it. “Maybe.”

She picks up the phone next to the bed. “Give me her number and I’ll call her for you.”

“Is my cell phone here by any chance?” I ask. “I don’t have her number memorized.”

She shakes her head. “There’s no cell phone in here. Sorry. Perhaps she’ll see the news when they report you woke up and come see you.”

“I’m on the news?”

She nods. “Yes, your story was. Clemson is waiting to hear you’ve woken up. Everyone will be so relieved. You had many worrying about you.”

“Not many know me,” I say as I doubt her words.

With a gesture to one side of me, she says, “Then where did all these get-well cards and flowers come from?”

Turning my head, I see a ton of cards and flowers as well as balloons. “Wow!”

“Yes, wow. So, I’m going to run out to the nurses’ station and deliver the good news and send your doctor in to see you. Should I call your father and mother? We have their numbers.”

I nod and she leaves me. My heart thuds in my chest as I now know my story was on the news and Cami has not even checked on me.

Somewhere, deep inside of me, I thought she would give a shit. I suppose what I did was so bad, she never wants to see me again. And it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t care if I’m alive or dead.

It’s both good and bad to wake up alive. On the one hand, I have life. On the other, what good is it if you have to live it all alone?

A man in dark blue scrubs comes into the room, looking pretty happy. “Hi, man am I glad to see those eyes open. Mr. Girard, I was the man who administered your anesthesia. When you didn’t wake up, you had my nerves frazzled.”

“Sorry to do that to you,” I tell him then look out the window. “What time is it?”

“A bit after seven in the morning. So, do you feel groggy at all?”

“No, I’m sore and stiff but my mind is growing sharper with each passing moment.” And becoming more and more aware of how Cami really feels about me.

She’s done with me. I should leave this town. If I run into her, it’ll just continue to fuck my head up.

“Do you have anyone to help you at home, Mr. Girard?” he asks me as another man walks in with tan slacks and a gray button-down, a clipboard is in his hands.

“I have my staff.”

“Great,” the other man says. “I am Doctor Wilkins. I performed the surgery. You didn’t get to meet me. This guy had you out by the time I got to you. The procedure was complete and you will need to give yourself a full month to completely recover.”

The nurse comes back in and takes over where the surgeon left off, “No heavy lifting. Nothing over 5 pounds. No tub baths. Showers only.”

My father walks in and says, “How about sex, doc?”

The nurse looks at him then at me. “A month, I’m afraid.”

The surgeon taps my leg to get my attention. “Seriously. None until you see your personal physician for your one-month post-op appointment. And that doctor will be the one who will release you or won’t. If you don’t take good care of the incision and do what the orders say, you will end up needing more time to recuperate.”

I look back at the nurse as she pushes my hospital gown up so the doctor can inspect his handiwork. “By the look of those abs and the rest of you, it’d bet you make vigorous exercise part of your daily routine,” she says.

“I do. An hour every day.” I smile at my commitment to keeping myself fit.

“Yeah,” the surgeon says. “No more of that. Not until your doctor releases you. You can take small walks, no more than a half-mile. Then you can ease up to a mile.”

The nurse takes over again. “No more than that.”

“I know, I know. Until my personal physician releases me. Got it. Now, when can I get the heck out of here and go home?” I ask them all.

“Are you sure you have adequate care at home?” the nurse asks. “Because we have many nurses who could take shifts, taking care of you at your home. Your father has told us you have a large estate and you could have constant care. If you have no one else to do that for you. You will need tons of help, Mr. Girard. I cannot express that enough.”

“I’ll set it up, son. You’ll have nurses there to help you. Don’t worry,” my father says to me then my mother walks into the room too.

“Cyprian, you’re awake!” She sounds so happy. She’s all over me, kissing my whole face.

“Mother!” I say as I laugh. “You’ve never been so affectionate to me before.”

She takes my hand and holds it to her cheek. “My baby wouldn’t wake up. I was a mess. A complete mess, Cyprian. Did I hear them talking about you needing nurses?”

“You did. I think the staff will be enough. I don’t need any nurses. I’ll be fine.”

“Nonsense,” Papa says as he steps up to the foot of my bed.

I laugh a bit and find it hurts, so I stop.

But the idea of having women all around me, living in my home has me worried.

What will Cami think…?

Chapter 8

CAMILLA

The smell of the sterile environment has me rubbing under my nose as it threatens to make me sneeze. Not many people are moving around yet as it’s still pretty early.

I get onto the elevator, finding two more people getting on with me. I push in the 2 button and they each push in other floors. We get to mine first and I step off and look up and down the long hallway.

Easing down the hallway, I try to settle my nerves by twisting my hands in front of me. It’s not helping.

I know Cyprian will be glad to see me if he’s awake. If he’s not, I don’t know how I’ll cope with it. If I never hear his voice again, I don’t know what I’ll do.

The numbers tick off as I walk down the hallway. I pass a room with someone crying with low and long moans. It’s heartbreaking. The door is slightly open and I can’t help but peek in and see an old man sitting by an old woman, who seems to be sleeping in the hospital bed. “Bertha, please come back to me,” he whispers.

The sight and sound hurts my heart and it makes me wonder what I am willing to offer Cyprian if and when he wakes up. I see the numbers 228 on the next door, just across the hallway and my heart stops.

Walking across, I listen at the closed door. “Don’t worry, son. You’ll be well taken care of. I’ll only hire the prettiest nurses to care for you.”

I lean my ear on the door and listen harder. “Papa, you spoil me.”

It’s Cyprian!

He’s awake!

And asking for nurses?

“Only the best for our boy,” a woman says. I assume it’s his mother. “Only the prettiest.”

I hear him laughing and shake my head as I was so damn worried. And for what?

“I’ll get you a list of available nurses, Mr. Girard,” another woman says.

“Pictures with their files, please,” the man I think is his father, says.

Cyprian laughs again and I walk away. He doesn’t need me.

Any woman will do…

* * *