Scarlet
“I knew you loved me,” I tease, watching David stroll over to me in the hot tub. He places a glass of bubbly next to me together with some strawberries. Once down, he taps the glass.
“Non-alcoholic, for the baby,” he winks.
I sigh as he sits down by the edge, his eyes roaming over my bulging breasts. That’s another thing about this pregnancy. My boobs are huge.
“You’re such a buzz kill.”
“And you’re still burying your head in the sand. At some stage, Scarlet, you’re going to have to start acknowledging the fact that you’re pregnant and going to be a mother.”
“Yuck,” I say, turning my head in disgust. “Don’t say that word.” Part of me is putting on a front. Inside, I am the most terrified I have been since my father.
“Why do you keep putting yourself down? I think you’ll be a great mother.”
“Yeah, like my mother was?”
“All the more reason to prove that you can be the best mother there can be.”
Wanting to change the subject, I say, “Aren’t you going to join me?”
I watch as he rises. He’s wearing a grey suit, white shirt and his purple tie is now loosened. He looks quite positively sexy. Then again, David always looks sexy to me lately. My hormones have been going crazy around him. It’s any wonder he comes home as I can’t seem to leave him alone.
“I’ll go get changed.”
I smile and watch as he leaves, his pert arse clenching with every step he takes outside. “Stop looking at my arse,” he shouts as he’s out the door. I smirk and then take a look at the strawberries next to me. I pick one up and bite into it. Immediately, the juices are overflowing and running down my chin. I hunch over, trying to capture the liquid in my hand. The strawberry is gorgeous. I take a sip of my non-alcoholic champagne, which tastes like grape. Disgusting. I need the real deal.
“Is this better?”
Looking up, I find David walking through. His bronze chest is bare with little to no hair in the middle. He’s not too muscular—just toned in all the right places. His hair has been cut shorter recently, which I kind of like, but I also miss running my hands through the longer strands and gripping them tightly as he fucks me.
“You’re giving me that look again. Keep your pants on for now. We need to talk.”
I snap my eyes away from his body and look into his light brown eyes. I never noticed before, but his eyes look even lighter than normal. You could even say they look green like mine.
David is careful as he takes two steps down into the hot tub and grabs a strawberry from the bowl. With a wag of his finger and a smirk, I get up from my seat and almost crawl seductively towards him. In fact, I would do just that if I wasn’t going to drown in the process.
“Open wide,” he instructs.
I do as I am told and he watches with interest as I bite into the strawberry. The juices run down my chin again, and I moan when David licks it all up. “You say you want to talk first, but then you pull a stunt like that. Are you trying to awaken the beast?”
“I love waking your beast, but not right now.”
I climb on top of his lap and throw my arms around his neck. I lean forward, kissing him seductively on the lips. “Did you have a good day at work, dear?”
David shakes his head on a laugh. “Look at you turning all domesticated.” I shudder, causing him to laugh even harder. “I’ll break you one day. You watch. You’ll be my little domesticated goddess. What’s the saying, ‘If you make her orgasm, she might just make you a sandwich?’”
I smirk. “I seem to recall I made you one the other day.”
“Yes, after you coerced me into licking your pussy for the third time. You’re fucking insatiable.” He shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Shit, even when I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you, we somehow end up talking about sex.” I try stifling a laugh and he nudges me. “Hey, I’m being serious.”
“Okay,” I say, putting my hands up in the air before moving away from him to the other side of the tub.
“You didn’t have to move.”
“Are you ever going to spit it out?”
He offers me a boyish smirk before saying, “Your mother’s reported you missing to the police.”
Well, that brought the mood down considerably.
“I don’t want to be found, David.”
He places his hand out in front of me. “It’s okay. I haven’t said anything. You’re safe here with me for now, but at some stage we’re going to have to think of something. Sooner or later, someone might recognise you. Your hair may be different, but your eyes certainly still give it away.” He sighs. “I don’t know how you would feel about this, but what if we sold up here and moved to LA? That’s where my main marketing company is based. I’ve done some research and picked a couple of areas where there are some fantastic schools and a semi-easy commute to work. I can set you up in an office where you can practice whenever you want around the baby.”
Information overload. “It sounds as though you’ve figured it all out.”
I look away, but out of the corner of my eye I see David manoeuvre over to me, placing an arm around my shoulder. “You don’t like the idea. It was only a suggestion.”
I turn, looking into his eyes, and I can’t help wondering how I ended up here. I keep thinking every time he pushes us, the urge to leave will grow, but it never does.
“If you’re worried about us, and you feel I’m suffocating you, then we can make arrangements for you to have a separate apartment you can escape to when it all gets to be too much. I just want us to be a stable family unit for the baby. I’m not asking for your hand in marriage. I just want a new life, and I would be honoured if you would want to join me. It just makes sense. It’s not wise to stay here anymore if you want to disappear. I’m in the middle of getting your new identity. Once the baby is here, and you’ve gotten your revenge on Reid, we can start a new life.”
I sit there for a moment, listening to the sound of the bubbles massage against my skin. It’s a deafening sound now that the conversation has turned silent.
“I don’t know what to say.” And I really don’t. I know he’s making sense, and I would be more than happy to get away, but then it’ll be with David. I would be in a place I have never even holidayed in before, let alone lived. I would be completely reliant upon him.
“There’s nothing to say for now. It’s a lot to process. Just think about it. For now, I’m trying to calm your mother.” I look at him when he mentions her. “She’s even gotten them to go round your house. It all looks suspicious, Scarlet. You haven’t paid any water or electricity bills in two months, your accounts haven’t been used since the day you disappeared, and there are signs of a struggle in your bedroom. Your mum thinks it could be linked to Richard.”
I suck in a breath at the mention of his name. If they start combing through my house, they might find Richard’s blood. That would make me the prime suspect.
“Shit!” I shout, turning around to lean my arms against the edge of the tub. This is all going to shit.
Soon, I feel a set of arms around me. “Everything will be fine.”
I shake my head. “Everything won’t be fine.” I shake my head. “Even in death, he fucking haunts me,” I whisper.
David pulls me around and takes me in his arms. I breathe in his new aftershave smell, and it’s comforting. “He can’t hurt you anymore. I won’t let him. I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore. You hear me?” I nod my head against his chest and feel when he visibly relaxes. “If you don’t want to be found, then you won’t be. We just need to be more careful.”